Day 33. Leviticus 10-12

Leviticus 10-12

Leviticus 10

¹And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.

Going through what we've read so far, I don't see the exact specifications for god's incense.

²And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.

God ate them. Burning the wrong incense will get you devoured by god.

The drawing to the right is apparently before they were consumed.

³Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.

Aaron didn't express any outrage that his sons were killed. Moses made sure of that.

⁴And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.

⁵So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said.

Again, we see that Aaron's sons were still of a higher class than anyone else. Aaron's sons couldn't carry out their dead brother, it took some cousins to do that. But then, priests aren't supposed to touch any dead thing.

⁶And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled.

Moses doesn't even let the brothers cry for their dead.

⁹Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:

It is kind of a leviticacism, but it deals directly with the levites.

Next, is the story of one day when there was too much food left over. Well, of course there's going to be leftovers, two of the people who were supposed to eat were killed by god.

¹⁶And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt: and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron which were left alive, saying,

¹⁷Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD?

Why wasn't Moses back there feeding his face day in and day out?

¹⁹And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD; and such things have befallen me: and if I had eaten the sin offering to day, should it have been accepted in the sight of the LORD?

²⁰And when Moses heard that, he was content.

Moses didn't stop to think that god was killing people he didn't like, so since Aaron wasn't killed yet, god obviously wasn't too angry.

Leviticus 11

²Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.

Here we get the list of edible and non-edible animals. Well, the others are edible, just not for Hebrews.

³Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.

Animals that are clovenfooted include pigs, deer and sheep.

⁴Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

Camels don't have split toes.

⁵And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

⁶And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

Coney's are rabbits. Hares are also rabbits.

⁷And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.

In order to be eaten, it has to pass both of the criteria, cloven footed AND chews cud. If it only does one, it's unclean.

You'll note this is the first time where the list of unclean animals is presented, it is roughly 1334. Yet somehow, Noah knew the difference back in 2348.

⁸Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.

Don't eat them, don't touch their dead bodies.

⁹These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.

Fish with fins and scales are clean.

¹⁰And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:

Catfish are an abomination. Shellfish are an abomination.

Next is a list of the birds that are unclean/abominations.

Eagle, ospray, vulture, raven, owl, hawk, swan, pelican, stork, heron, lapwing...

bat.

¹³And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; ¹⁹And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

That's right, if you didn't know this, bats are fowl.

Next is a list of insects that you can eat.

²¹Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth;

Locust, beetle, grasshopper... Wait, did that say that these animals had 4 legs?

²⁹These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind,

Don't eat them.

³⁰And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole.

No more escargot. No more... chameleon soup.

Next is a warning to not touch any of the unclean animals dead bodies.

³⁹And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even.

You will be unclean if you touch the dead body of a clean animal. Even means when the sun goes down.

⁴²Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

⁴³Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby.

Something with more feet is abominable.

⁴⁴For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Exactly what kind of defiling are we talking about?

⁴⁵For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

God likes to harp on the Egypt thing. Which is odd, because he's telling these people as they are wandering. They are still eating quail and manna, I'd assume they'd kill for a pig right about now.

⁴⁶This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth:

⁴⁷To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.

So, now we see that this is the law of the clean and unclean animals. How did Noah know?

Leviticus 12

²Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.

Childbirth makes one unclean. Being unclean is a sin. Therefore giving birth is a sin.

³And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

Don't forget to do that.

⁴And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

After giving birth to a boy, a woman is basically unclean for 33 days.

If she gives birth to a girl, she's unclean for two weeks, and needs to be purified for 66 days. Giving birth to a girl is twice as sinful as giving birth to a boy.

⁶And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:

A woman who gives birth must bring a sin offering. There, you see, giving birth is a sin. If she can't afford a lamb, she can bring two turtledoves.

Points to ponder:

1. I've asked you to ponder this before, but think about it again... Where did Noah get the list of unclean animals 1000 years before?

2. Giving birth is a sin.

3. What kind of incense produces an essence that will incense god to kill?