THE FACE OF HOLINESS
Leviticus 9 and 10 tell us of the day the Tabernacle was dedicated (the eighth day) — I would say one of the most important days in all of Torah. It is the moment when God places his home in the heart of Israel in order to be with them. It is both the culmination of everything that God has done for his people up until this point AND the beginning of a new phase in their relationship. It does not replace what came before, by the way. God doesn’t change. Think of the week of creation: each day building upon the previous. His work is always additive.
And I think at this point in Israel’s story, we should really ask the obvious question: what exactly is God trying to do for his people? What is the primary goal of his work in them? In Exodus 29, we can see what He means to accomplish through the Tabernacle specifically.
Exodus 29:43–46
…I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.
“So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”
The perfectly Holy God wants to dwell with His people. And since they are imperfect people, this is quite a thing. And since God cannot make himself unholy, it is the people who will have to willingly change. This is quite a thing.
And it’s actually more than dwelling with them that he wants. The end of Leviticus 9:4, says:
“…For today the LORD will appear to you.”
And that ups the stakes a bit higher. If we remember, just a few short chapters ago, God tells Moses,
“you cannot see my face (panim), for no one may see me and live.” Exodus 33:20
And this word for face “Panim” in reference to God’s face seems to represent His full attention. It is the full force of His holiness — and to a sinful human, it is un-survivable.
Yet, we see this word used 16 times in Leviticus 9 and 10 as the people draw nearer and nearer to God, and God turns toward them. It is beautiful courtship taking place in his courtyard. And it must have been terrifying.
So, how can an unholy people dwell with a perfectly holy God? We’ll see as this story unfolds, when a holy God and sinful man occupy the same space, things don’t go well.
Leviticus 10:1–3
Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when he said:
“‘Among those who approach me
I will be proved holy;
in the sight of all the people
I will be honored.’”
At a glance, this may seem like an overreaction. Could they have simply forgotten? After all, it is only their eighth day on the job. And what about forgiveness? The more I have sought answers to these types of questions, the more I realize, my blind spot is taking God’s holiness for granted. And I don’t think I’m alone in that. For how much the word “holy” is used, I’m not so sure we understand its implications.
A CONSUMING FIRE
You see, God is a consuming fire. Literally, anything he sets his face upon must be holy, or it will be made holy through fire. And this can and probably should make us uncomfortable. It is so bizarre to our way of thinking that some even prefer to think of the God of Israel as somehow cruel in this very story. If you feel that way, please keep reading.
I want to come back to these verses once we’ve had a chance to settle in to the context a bit more.
Back in chapter 9, Aaron the High Priest is instructed by Moses the mediator to offer a series of offerings, remembering that the goal of the day is to create a holy environment for God’s holy presence to appear to his currently less-than-holy people. So, Aaron must offer for himself a couple of offerings, then he will offer a few on behalf of the people. And I want to focus mainly on the offerings given for the people and the types of offerings commanded here. Because I think they can serve as a model for our own path to holiness within the temple of our hearts, or in other words the path to where God is, much like the ramp up to the altar.
THE SIN OFFERING
The sin offering serves as a means of purification. The animal is slaughtered and its blood is used to cleanse the altar and the priests. It’s fatty parts (signifying sin) are burned up on the altar and the rest of it is carried outside the camp to be burned. This is the foundation of holiness. In effect, it makes the space itself holy. And even though God requires it, it is not described as a pleasing aroma to God. One thing to keep in mind is that the book of Hebrews speaks of Yeshua as a sin offering on our behalf.
It’s worth noting here: God doesn’t appear yet, there’s more to be done.
THE OLAH
Second is the Olah or burnt offering, which here is a lamb and calf. This offering is only possible because it builds on the holiness of the sin offering. It is offered in a freshly cleansed environment. And it too is fully consumed with fire, but it remains on the altar. Its fat parts representing sin are removed and burned, and what’s left is burned completely as a pleasing aroma to God. In a general sense, this offering is an act of worship. And we too are to join the lamb in complete worship. This must be the offering Paul attributes to us in Romans 12:1–2:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1–2
As important as the Olah is, God still does not appear.
THE MEAL OFFERING
Next, Aaron brings a meal offering, which in this case is some grain mixed with olive oil. He takes a portion of it and burns it on the altar, the rest is set aside to be shared by the priests. This offering speaks of yet another level of God’s incredible intention on this day. He doesn’t just want to dwell with his people, he doesn’t just want to appear to them, he wants to meet their basic needs, and to break bread with them. This is a deep level of intimacy.
Yet, God still does not appear.
THE PEACE OFFERING
Then, the peace offering is presented. And it’s actually 2 animals in this case: a ram and an ox. And they are carefully prepared, their fat parts removed and burned on the altar. And Aaron holds up the breasts and the right thigh (which are to be eaten by the priests) as a wave offering unto the Lord. True shalom can only be shared. And it happens in a community unified by holiness.
Yet, God still does not appear.
THE BLESSING
Then, Aaron stands on the altar and he blesses the people. If it was the Aaronic blessing it would make a lot of sense. It includes 2 more instances of the word panim.
Numbers 6:24–26
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
What a beautiful thing to say directly before all of Israel will witness the Holy One’s presence.
Yet, God still does not appear.
Now, they have accomplished all that the Lord commanded them to do on this day. So where is He? Well, the cloud has been above the ark for a week now. So, Moses (the mediator) and Aaron (the high priest) go into the tent of meeting to meet with God. And they come out with another blessing that doesn’t just come from man, but God himself. Let’s read starting in verse 23:
Leviticus 9:23–24
…When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.
THE FACE OF GOD
So, here it is. God has appeared to them and they maybe could have seen his face if they dared to look, but their faces were right where they needed to be, bowed in worship to a God who has made a way for them to be with him.
For a moment at least, the Earthly tabernacle built by human hands is feeling a lot like the Heavenly tabernacle that was not built by human hands. And here we learn the path to dedicating the temple of our hearts resulting in God’s presence in our lives. We must be guided by our high priest, Yeshua, to obey Torah according to our mediator, Yeshua. If we do that, the temple of our hearts will match the Heavenly one.
Yes, we may already be redeemed by Yeshua’s blood. (Don’t forget, Israel was redeemed way back in Egypt by the blood of the lamb.) The Holy Spirit may be dwelling within the holy of Holies in our hearts, but it will take total worship, total dependency for our bread and true fellowship in shalom with others in order for his presence to be seen by us or anyone else through us. In other words, God doesn’t just want to live in our hearts, he wants us to become fully functioning tabernacles: our lives burning with heavenly fire.
Now, there is only one thing that can interrupt this perfect moment: if we don’t respect it for what it is, and how far God has brought us and we start to improvise and steal the show. If we start to take his holiness for granted…
Leviticus 10:1–3
Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when he said:
“‘Among those who approach me
I will be proved holy;
in the sight of all the people
I will be honored.’”
Aaron remained silent.
Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary.” So they came and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses ordered.
Let’s revisit our question: how can God be honored or proven holy by this horrible event? It only makes sense if we understand the way God’s holiness works.
Here we see his fire completely consume 2 very different things: the Olah, man’s total worship, and the brothers who were consumed and removed from the camp. This fact is interesting to me because it is the same process that was to be done with the sin offerings if we remember; the sin offering was to be removed from the camp.
And Rashi taught something similar: that God actually sanctified the tabernacle through the brothers’ death. And we can take this meaning a step further and see what God is teaching us through the very concept of burnt offerings. In other words, why does he require animals to be burned at all? Why burning? I think it is a picture of what it is actually like in God’s presence. Human beings in the presence of a holy God are either consumed in worship, offered up from the altar like an Olah, OR like the brothers, a person becomes in effect their own sin offering.
You may ask, what if a person has been cleansed by the ultimate sin offering, Yeshua? Paul seems to indicate that it is possible to have salvation, yet still have ungodly deeds be burned up, heaven forbid.
1 Corinthians 3:9–15
For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Messiah Yeshua. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved — even though only as one escaping through the flames.
And he has more to say on the topic in 1 Thessalonians 4…
1 Thessalonians 4:1–8
As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Yeshua to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Yeshua.
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.
Some of the big questions we may have are answered only through His holiness. Why does God feel so far away sometimes? What’s taking his will so long? What are we supposed to be doing in the meantime?
I think we should spend our lives walking up the ramp to his holy altar, cleansed by the sin offering Yeshua has provided. And then, with him as our high priest and mediator, we join him as an Olah, offering our entire selves in worship and service, trusting him for our daily bread and fellowship with him and his people in shalom. And may his holy face shine in our lives.
