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Fire Falls and the Pig Dies

     The commentaries say the fire came down like a pillar into the Holy of Holies, then to the Golden Altar, and then to the outer Altar. This caused the incense and the sacrificial parts to go up in smoke. Henceforth the people began to fall down and praise YHVH.

    At the end of Chapter nine of Leviticus, we see in verse twenty four the fire of YHVH coming down and consuming the burnt offering. This is not the first time we’ve seen fire coming down from YHVH in the scriptures. YHVH’S fire will either be one of acceptance or rejection. We read how the fire came down at Mount Carmel with Elijah and burned up the offering and even licked up the water. It was a fire of approval. In acts we see tongues of fire coming down and sitting on each person’s shoulder, again approval. At Mount Sinai there was fire, lightning, hail and approval. In this weeks reading it came with “judgment” on two brothers. What is fire, but the Torah of YHVH. It will either condemn you or deliver you. In the end times that word judgment that seems so fearful to even pronounce, can either be “deliverance” for the righteous, or “judgment” for the unjust.

What you see later is a small difference of opinion between Aharon and Moshe as to the eating of the sacrifices by the priests that day. On the day a close relative dies, the mourner is called an onen. The laws are very strict for that day as opposed to the following days. A mourning priest was not supposed to eat of the offerings or even participate in the services. The High Priest however, had to continue his job, mourning or not. Yet on this occasion of the inauguration it was different. The controversy arose because of the different types of offerings that were being done that day. Two offerings would never be done again, but the Rosh Chodesh offering would. Aharon thought they should only partake of the offerings that would never be offered again. Moshe believed they should eat from all the offerings. After discussing it, they came to an agreement that Aharon and his sons would not eat of the Rosh Chodesh (head of the month) offering as it would be an every month service. You will notice that Moshe did not direct his harsh inquiry to Aharon personally out of respect for Aharon’s office as High Priest, but directed it toward his sons. The sons did not answer Moshe out of respect for their leader, Aharon however did the replying. The sons were the go between you might say for Moshe.

     The offerings that would never be repeated were called the kodshei offerings. The others that would always be a part of the Tabernacle service were called the kodshei doros offerings. It is the kodshei doros offering Aharon and his sons never partook of.

     In verse sixteen of Chapter ten you’ll see two interesting words. It says, And Moshe “diligently sought”, or some texts say “inquired insistently.” On the surface these two words do not appear to mean a lot to us. However, in most printed editions of the Pentateuch, it contains a Masoretic note that these two words are the “exact halfway mark” of all the words of the Torah. This teaches us that the entire Torah revolves around constant inquiry, we must never stop studying and seeking more understanding of YHVH’S word in our daily lives.

     This is your chapter of all chapters on what to eat or what not to eat! It’s really not very hard to know what animals are clean and unclean for the most part. If it chews the cud and has a cloven hoof (such as a deer) it’s ok to eat. If it only has a cloven hoof, but doesn’t chew its cud, then it’s disqualified. If it’s a fish, it must have “fins and scales.” Someone once asked me, well what if the catfish is farm raised. That has nothing to do with it! Farm fed or not, it still must have fins and scales. What if you fed your pig only the tastiest foods, would that make the pig ok to eat then? No, but it would make you highly stupid for spending all your money on fine food for a pig. As for birds, they should be ones who do not eat dead flesh. The Torah names twenty non-kosher species. As for insects, if you’re in to french fried ants, in my humble opinion, you’ve got more problems than keeping kosher! But some insects are ok and the Torah tells us which ones they are by how many legs they have and etc. I won’t go into detail on them, since I don’t think too many of you have an appetite for grasshoppers, at least I hope you don’t!

      One subject is also clear in this chapter and that is, you shouldn’t touch any dead animal. It will make you unclean until evening if you do. (even after you’ve washed) Also, if you pick up a dead animal or transport it, you should wash the clothes you had on. The dead animal will also contaminate any vessel it may have been in. So we see three degrees of contamination in this chapter. The first degree is the source, the animal itself, the second degree is the container it may have gotten into, and the third degree is any contents that may have been in that container at the time. The contents must (if food) be thrown away and the other items must be ritually washed in water.

      The end of Chapter eleven sums everything up pretty clearly. Basically, verses forty six and forty seven of Chapter eleven tell you that you are to be set apart, as YHVH is set apart, and learn these things so you will recognize the difference between clean and unclean in your lives. In the mean time, until you’re sure of what to do, stay away from such dishes as pigs in a blanket, clam bakes, or leaping lizard casserole:). So let the fire fall and the pig die in your life! Shalom