Tending God’s Fire

A Sermon from Leviticus 6-9 by Jim Hammond

Series Title: Life Lessons from Leviticus? (For More In This Series )

Arizona's largest wildfire in 12 years started last Wednesday, South of Prescott. The whole sky was smoky above Mingus mountain. Wednesday night, the moon was blood red.

People didn’t have a chance to go back into their homes to get items that they wanted to take with them. One woman said that she had only 30 seconds to get out. Isn’t it amazing how a relationship with fire can be so dangerous. Fire can be wonderful if you’re in a right relationship with it. It is terrible if you’re in a wrong relationship with it. It really doesn’t matter how large the fire is for this to be true.

Today we are talking about tending God’s fire. Fire. It is often a symbol, or a metaphor. We do Candlelight Christmas Eve services. We often see a candle lighting service at the beginning of the wedding.

Linda Huckins Malden, from Massachusetts tells the story about the time she had the privilege of lighting candles at her daughter’s wedding.

At the beginning of my daughter's wedding ceremony, I was to light one of the candles. Not realizing the potential hazard, I got too close and set my acrylic nail on fire.
Trying not to ruin my daughter's big day, I calmly lit the candle from my flaming nail and then, like a gunslinger with his six-shooter, I blew it out. Needless to say, my blackened nail was the talk of the reception. [1]

D. L. Moody was visiting a prominent Chicago citizen when the idea of church membership and involvement came up.

"I believe I can be just as good a Christian outside the church as I can be inside it," the man said.

Moody said nothing. Instead, he moved to the fireplace, blazing against the winter outside, removed one burning coal, and placed it on the hearth.

The two men sat together and watched the ember die out.

"I see," the other man said.[2]

FOCUS: While no man has succeeded ... without some spark of divine fire, many have been more successful by taking better care of a precious small spark than others, who have been careless with a generous flame.

In chapter 6 of Leviticus, the altar fire is discussed. It is a sacred fire to be tended. It is never to go out. The sacred duty of tending to the divine flame is a theme we will look at today, and next Sunday as we look to the next 5 chapters.

An infraction against people is an infraction against God

Leviticus 6:1-7 The Lord said to Moses: 2"If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the Lord by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him, 3or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do-- 4when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, 5or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering. 6And as a penalty he must bring to the priest, that is, to the Lord, his guilt offering, a ram from the flock, one without defect and of the proper value. 7In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the Lord, and he will be forgiven for any of these things he did that made him guilty."

Examples:

Deception about something entrusted to our care.
Stealing
Cheating
The American Lie: “Finders keepers, losers weepers.”

What to do: REPENT:

How to do it:

1) Admit you are wrong.

2) Seek reconciliation with man by making restitution in full, and adding a fifth

3) Seek reconciliation with God through God’s provision for atonement.

4) Accept God’s forgiveness offered through the sacrifice.

I. Tend the Fire

⁸The LORD said to Moses: ⁹“Give Aaron and his sons this command: ‘These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar. ¹⁰The priest shall then put on his linen clothes, with linen undergarments next to his body, and shall remove the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed on the altar and place them beside the altar. ¹¹Then he is to take off these clothes and put on others, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a place that is ceremonially clean. ¹²The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. ¹³The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

The fire on the altar of life must be tended. It must not go out. (9, 12, 13)

Leviticus 6:9 "Command Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This is the law for the burnt offering: the burnt offering itself shall remain on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire on the altar is to be kept burning on it.
Leviticus 6:12 'And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. It shall not go out, but the priest shall burn wood on it every morning; and he shall lay out the burnt offering on it, and offer up in smoke the fat portions of the peace offerings on it.
Leviticus 6:13 'Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out.

The priests were never to forget: the fire of the Burnt Offering was to be kept burning, never allowed to go out. The frequent re-emphasis of the point is striking: God wanted the sacrifice always before the faces of His people. They were never to forget that atonement or reconciliation with Him was through the sacrifice and the sacrifice alone.

This Divine fire was the emblem of the Holy Spirit.

Some Biblical concepts connected with FIRE

Genesis 15:17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.
Exodus 3:2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
Exodus 13:21-22 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Exodus 19:18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently,
Exodus 24:17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.
Acts 2:3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
Isaiah 10:17 The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers.
Hebrews 12:29 for our "God is a consuming fire."

A relationship with God is not to be taken for granted.

God refuses to be ignored - there will be consequences for ignoring God, or ignoring “the fire” of God, his gift to us.

Keep this fire concept in mind as we jump ahead to Chapter 8.

II. Stick to the Divine Blueprints

“As the Lord Commanded Moses”

Leviticus 8:4 So Moses did just as the Lord commanded him. When the congregation was assembled at the doorway of the tent of meeting,
Leviticus 8:5 Moses said to the congregation, "This is the thing which the Lord has commanded to do."
Leviticus 8:9 He also placed the turban on his head, and on the turban, at its front, he placed the golden plate, the holy crown, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Leviticus 8:13 Next Moses had Aaron's sons come near and clothed them with tunics, and girded them with sashes, and bound caps on them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Leviticus 8:17 But the bull and its hide and its flesh and its refuse, he burned in the fire outside the camp, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Leviticus 8:21 After he had washed the entrails and the legs with water, Moses offered up the whole ram in smoke on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Leviticus 8:29 Moses also took the breast and presented it for a wave offering before the Lord; it was Moses' portion of the ram of ordination, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Leviticus 8:34 "The Lord has commanded to do as has been done this day, to make atonement on your behalf.
Leviticus 8:36 Thus Aaron and his sons did all the things which the Lord had commanded through Moses.

AN EXAMPLE OF THE SPECIFICS: The priests were instructed on the special clothing to wear. They were to wear special linen clothing and undergarments for removing the ashes (a symbol of the righteousness of Christ to remove the ashes or dirt of sin) (v.10). They were to take off the special clothing and put on regular clothing to take the ashes outside the camp (a symbol of Christ bearing and taking sin away from man) (v.11). Christ became sin for us and bore away our reproach.

Emphasize Strict adherence to God’s Declared Will

The result of precise obedience

You Can Expect the Fulfillment of Divine Promise

Leviticus 9:1-6 On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. 2He said to Aaron, "Take a bull calf for your sin offering and a ram for your burnt offering, both without defect, and present them before the Lord. 3Then say to the Israelites: 'Take a male goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb--both a year old and without defect--for a burnt offering, 4and an ox and a ram for a fellowship offering to sacrifice before the Lord, together with a grain offering mixed with oil. For today the Lord will appear to you.' " 5They took the things Moses commanded to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the entire assembly came near and stood before the Lord. 6Then Moses said, "This is what the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you."

Specifically they were obeying the specifics with the expectation here stated in 9:4, 6, leading to

Leviticus 9:23-24 Moses and Aaron then went into the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 24Fire 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.

When you picture this fire coming from the presence of the Lord, what are you picturing? Are you picturing dark clouds in the sky violently cracking with a thunderous lightening strike igniting the altar? I don’t believe this is the right picture. Where is the presence of the Lord? The whole point of the tabernacle was that God had chosen to allow his manifest glory to dwell with his chosen nation in the tabernacle. Neither was the “glory” a small light, as if a priest brought a candle out from the tabernacle. I picture a brilliant glory that causing the crowd gathered at the entrance to the tabernacle to have to shade their eyes. First the glory filled their vision, then with a rumble and a flash, from that glory a streak of white hot light ignited the altar. The response of the people was immediate. It was not rehearsed or pre planned. They needed no worship leader coaching them to cheer, “Give me a “L”, “L”, Give me a “O”, “O”, give me a “R”, “R”, Give me a “D”, “D”. “What’s that spell?”

No. They needed no cheer leaders. Their shout was spontaneous. They needed no artificial psyching up for them to utter words of worship. The manifest presence of the Holiness of God will cause a response. The response was probably a startled scream at first. The text says they “shouted for joy.” But immediately they all fall face down to the ground in awe and worship. We need to picture in our mind’s eye a glimpse of God’s glory and worship. Remember your awesome God. This vision helps to rekindle the fire within you. As the glory filled the Old Covenant temple, God’s glory can fill you, his New Covenant temple. This vision of reality will help keep you from going off to tend a “strange fire” (the subject of the next chapter). Forget God’s holiness, and you will take him for granted like taking a spark of fire for granted on a the dry tinder of a forest floor in a long drought. Watch out!

Sometimes expositors erroneously conclude that this miraculous consuming of the sacrifices represents the initial kindling of the altar fire. It is to be remembered, however, that (1) the daily morning and evening sacrifices had been offered from the first day of the erection of the tabernacle (Ex 29:38, 39; 40:29); (2) that sacrifices were offered during the seven-day consecration of Aaron and his sons (8:16-28); and (3) that sacrifices had been offered earlier in the day by Aaron, probably at the time of the morning sacrifice (9:10-20). The obvious intent of this miracle was not simply to kindle a divine altar fire, as was commonly done in the legends of the heathen, but to give a heavenly confirmation and acceptance of the sacrificial service of Aaron and his sons.

For today the Lord will appear to you (cf. v. 6).

God instituted sacrifice so that His Chosen People might, in spite of their innate sinfulness, have access through atonement to Him as the holy God, and that He might dwell among them and be their God (cf. the significant passage, Ex. 29:42-46).

Exodus 29:42-46 "For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the Lord. There I will meet you and speak to you; 43there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory. 44"So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. 45Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. 46They 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.

We need to back up again to chapter 8 and the concern to be washed, that is consecrated, made clean and set apart. There are two sides to it. The Lord ultimately washes us clean, however, we have an active role in seeking to be washed. The priests consecrated themselves before coming to the Lord to be consecrated.

III. Wash before you Worship

Leviticus 8:6 Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water.

Wash before you worship. Wash before you serve in any of the Lord’s work.

Leviticus 8:10-12 Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them. [11] He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them. [12] He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him.
Leviticus 8:15 Moses slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood, and with his finger he put it on all the horns of the altar to purify the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. So he consecrated it to make atonement for it.
Leviticus 8:23 Moses slaughtered the ram and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot.

We are washed by the shed blood of Christ. That is how we are consecrated. Touching these parts of the body with blood perhaps symbolizes the need for priests to be ever ready to hear God’s voice, ever ready to serve Him, and ever ready to follow Him. We also need Christ’s purifying power to cover what we hear, or put into our minds, what we do, and where we go, how we walk or live.

Leviticus 8:30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments.

The phrase “for seven days” (vv. 33, 35) lets us know that though it only takes a moment to defile yourself, it takes a long time for sanctification.

Leviticus 8:33 Do not leave the entrance to the Tent of Meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for your ordination will last seven days.
Leviticus 8:35 You must stay at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting day and night for seven days and do what the Lord requires, so you will not die; for that is what I have been commanded."

Exacting obedience was required of the priests, with a warning that if they were not careful they could die (v. 35). This was not the first time such a warning was given (see Exodus 19:21).

NEXT WEEK we learn what happens when people take God’s command, and God’s Holiness too casually. The fire of blessing becomes the fire of judgment.

WORSHIP

Leviticus 9:24 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.

Listen to Galatians 5:19f. in “The MESSAGE New Testament

Galatians 5:19-25 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence? It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom. But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely…. Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.

The Good news is this, when we tend to the divine flame, we are not alone. Our savior also tends to the divine flame, no matter how dim it is.

Isaiah 42:1-3 1“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. 2He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. ³A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

[1] Linda Huckins, Malden, Massachusetts. "Rolling Down the Aisle," Christian Reader.

[2] Keith Long, Room to Grow (Hendrickson, 1999), quoted in Men of Integrity (3.2)