Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

what a marvelous scene of the process of acceptance of the people by the Lord.

It must have been an awesome sight.

for the last week Moses had been offering the sacrifices for Aaron and His sons as they were being consecrated for this service.

Now that was finished, they were consecrated and ready to begin the ministry God had for them.

What was the purpose of all of this? , so that His people would know and worship Him.

God wants His people to know Him.

To know someone you have to spend time with them.

You have to dwell with them for a time.

but how do you get to know God who is holy when our unholiness prevents us from being in His presence?

That is where this chapter and this book comes into the picture.

It is a precursor to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now to help us discern this there are three sections in this chapter,

I.

The promise of His presence, 1-7

II.

The path to His presence, 8-21

III.

The product of His presence, 22-24

I.

The promise of His presence, 1-7

The thought that God wants to make Himself known to you and me is mind boggling to say the least.

Nevertheless, He wants us to know him.

2x, v.4,6 Moses states “the Lord ill appear to you.’ the first time it is in perfect tense.

He speaks as though it has already happened.

Emphasizing that His appearance is certain.

the second time it is imperfect and the idea is that of purpose.

Aaron and his sons have been consecrated to the Lord.

They are holy and fit to serve as Priests.

Their holiness remember is not their own, but what has been provided them through the divinely given coverings, consecrated vessels and the sacrifices that make atonement for them and the people, v.7.

So now Aaron, through no merit of his own is prepared to make sacrifices for himself and the people.

And they come to the front of the tent of meeting where they stand before the Lord.

Notice the times it says “before the Lord” v.2 “offer before the Lord”

v.4 “sacrifice before the Lord”

v. 5 “stood before the Lord”

These coupled with the 2 mentions of the Lord’s appearance makes clear the promise of His presence

The fact that the sin offering, burnt offering, for the priests, and the sin, burnt, peace, and grain offerings for the people underscores the necessity of forgiveness for sin before one can be in God’s presence.

“Kaiser is certainly right when he states: “The closer one follows the Lord in obedience and service, the more conscious that person becomes of how short each individual falls from the holy standard of God.” ( Rooker, M. F. (2000).

Leviticus (Vol.

3A, p. 150).

Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)

Atonement has to be made for sin before one can enjoy God’s presence.

1 Rooker, M. F. (2000).

Leviticus (Vol.

3A, p. 150).

Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

II.

The path to His presence, v.8-21

This path is spelled out in two aspects, that of the High priest and that of the people.

Notice the process of the offering.

Aaron has to offer a calf for himself which most surely corresponds to the sin of the golden calf.

With the animal slain, blood applied, the proper sin offering burned, with the carcase burned outside the camp.

Then the burnt offering and blood applied.

This atones for his sin.

then we have the offering for the people, v.15-21 with the sin, burnt, grain, peace offering made.

the blood applied and wave offering made before the Lord.

The order of the offerings is once again of importance.

As Wiersbe asserts, “We must first deal with our sins before we can dedicate ourselves totally to the Lord; then we can enjoy fellowship with Him.”1

1 Rooker, M. F. (2000).

Leviticus (Vol.

3A, pp.

152–153).

Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Of the three concepts enunciated, the one that had priority concerned cleansing from sin, denoted by the sin offering.

When proper atonement had been made, the worshipper was to surrender his life and labour to God, as indicated by the burnt and cereal offerings.

Finally, he was to enjoy fellowship with God within the context of a communion meal, which the peace offering furnished.

III.

The product of His presence, 22-24

A. Aaron’s prayer of blessing,

Jewish tradition says this was prayer more for the people to experience God’s power, presence and peace.

After that He came down from the altar which was about 4.5 feet tall, where he finished offering the sacrifices that provided the path to His presence.

the blessing of the people was one of the duties of the Priest, ; .

This reminds us of the work on the cross of Jesus

This reminds us of the work on the cross of Jesus

B. The glory of God appears,

Moses and Aaron had entered the holy place of the tabernacle, and remember according to the tabernacle had already been filled with the glory of God so this is only about a week later.

They blessed the people together when they came out.

Maybe the same blessing.

The glory of God appears and fire consumes the offering.

This shows that God accepts them.

The glory of the Lord- associated with the cloud at Mt. Sinai,

This reminds us of the work on the cross of Jesus

The glory of the Lord- associated with the cloud at Mt. Sinai,

.

it rests on the tabernacle, now it does here.

It shows God’s desire to dwell with His people.

as seen during the exodus.

It left the people of Israel under Eli in

It filled the temple at the Dedication of the temple of Solomon

the glory leaves the temple

Returns with Jesus John 1:14

It will fill the whole earth one day,

; ; .

Isaiah speaks of a coming time when all will see His glory and He will be present with men, ; .

Isaiah speaks of a coming time when all will see His glory and He will be present with men,

; .

This showed in our text God’s approval and acceptance of Aaron’s blessing and sacrifices.

The glory that dwelt in the tabernacle eventually left the camp because of the sins of the people ().

It returned at the dedication of the temple, but then the Prophet Ezekiel watched it depart because the nation had become so sinful (; ; , ; ).

The glory came to earth when Jesus was born () and tabernacled in Him (), but sinful people nailed that glory to a cross.

Today, God’s glory dwells in the bodies of His people (), in each local assembly of His people (3:16–17), and in His church collectively ().

One day, we shall see that glory lighting the perfect heavenly city that God is preparing for His people ().

Then fire comes down V24

1 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996).