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This week our parasha is Shemini, which means “eighth”, and covers Leviticus 9:1–11:47. In this parasha we will see the serious consequences that come from violating the Lord’s commands.
Leviticus 9 details the sacrifices of Aaron and his sons on the eighth day of their dedication to begin their service as priests of the Lord. With detail, this ceremony is recorded to show the seriousness of being ordained as a priest of Adonai. The chapter ends with the Lord sending down fire to consume their burnt offering to show His approval of Aaron and his sons. Sadly, their service would be immediately blemished by the actions of two of Aaron’s sons.
Chapter 10 records an incident that occurs soon after the dedication of Adonai’s priesthood. Two of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, decided to offer “strange fire” or “unauthorized fire” to the Lord, violating the Lord’s instructions. In response to their sin, the Lord sends down some of His fire which kills both sons. This dramatic event has been interpreted and used in modern times for various lessons, some of which have no direct connection to this story.
We are not told exactly what the “strange fire” of Aaron’s sons was. Contextually, it does seem clear this was a sacrifice offered to the Lord in a manner different than what He had commanded. It is also possible the sons were drunk based on the command later in this chapter that priests cannot drink while serving the Lord. Some may feel this is a harsh penalty for just a single incident but when we consider the seriousness of the incident it is very understandable. Remember this took place soon after spending days dedicating themselves to this service to the Lord. Also, the altar of the Lord was the place where atonement was made for all people. The seriousness and holiness of this place and service cannot be understated. To knowingly violate the Lord’s holiness in such a brazen way demanded a serious response to communicate how serious atonement and the Lord’s commands are.
After this incident, the Lord tells Aaron that He will be sanctified by His priests and glorified by His people. Those who serve the Lord are held to a higher standard. To violate the Lord’s commands through ignorance is bad, it is even worse to do so fully informed of how serious a matter that is. The Lord also told Aaron and his remaining sons not to publicly mourn the deaths of Nadab and Abihu or else they would be killed as well. This section concludes with the Lord declaring that His priests must distinguish between the holy and the common, between what is unclean and what is clean. The rest of chapter 10 explains how the sin offering should be eaten by the priests.
In chapter 11 we are given specific details about which animals are considered kosher, fit for eating, and what animals cannot be eaten. Entire books have been written on this chapter and time does not permit me to cover the specifics in detail. This chapter and parasha end with one of the purposes of the Kosher laws, and a lesson we can learn today even though we are not under the Mosaic Covenant. The chapter ends with the Lord reminding our people that we must distinguish between what is unclean and what is clean. The Kosher laws, along with many of the other commandments, provide a practical daily reminder to consider everything we do carefully. Everything we do should be evaluated by the Lord’s standard and not our own. It is much more important that our actions are following the Lord’s will and not a standard set by others who do not care about God.
Parasha Shemini serves as a powerful reminder that the holy standards of the Lord are not something we determine. While we are not under the Mosaic Covenant, we are told that as part of the New Covenant, we are all to be priests holy to the Lord. We do not determine what is holy, what is clean, or what is right. The Lord is the source of all holiness and all truth.
In our modern society, we like to believe that all truth is subjective. We are taught that each person can decide what is true and that we should affirm others’ “truth”. While this is fine in matters such as fashion or what foods we like to eat, not all truth is subjective. We call truth that is independent of our opinion’s objective truth. If we build a bridge and violate the truth God has created for our world in its construction, the bridge will collapse and kill many people. The commands of the Lord are also a type of objective truth and violating them also leads to death.
Each one of us is born into this world, heading to death for violating the holiness of the Lord. In this passage, we see the judgment of the Lord for our sin dramatically in the death of Aaron’s sons. But we also see His mercy in providing a way for atonement to be made possible. Today, we have the better atonement found only in Messiah Yeshua. Our Messiah also revealed to us more about His holiness and the standard for how we should live our lives. The bar has been raised, not lowered, in the New Covenant.
When considering the holiness of the Lord we see even more clearly that we are unholy and unclean. But for those who are priests of the New Covenant Adonai has made us holy and kosher for His work. This is because the source of all holiness now lives inside us. Through the Holy Spirit, we are given everything we need to resist sin and grow in holiness every day. Through the atonement of Messiah when our heavenly Father sees each of us, He no longer sees our sins but the holiness of our Messiah.
May the Lord be sanctified by His priests and glorified by His people. May each one of us be transformed by Adonai into priests fit for His service. May we each worship God acceptably with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire.