Leviticus 10:12-20

Leviticus 10:12-20

[12] And Moses  spake  unto Aaron,  and unto Eleazar  and unto Ithamar,  his sons  that were left,  Take  the meat offering  that remaineth  of the LORD  made by fire,  and eat  it without leaven  beside  the altar:  for it is most  [13] And ye shall eat  it in the holy  place,  because it is thy due,  and thy sons'  due,  of the LORD  made by fire:  for so I am commanded.  [14] And the wave  breast  and heave  shoulder  shall ye eat  in a clean  place;  thou, and thy sons,  and thy daughters  with thee: for they be thy due,  and thy sons'  due,  which are given  out of the sacrifices  of peace offerings  of the children  of Israel.  [15] The heave  shoulder  and the wave  breast  shall they bring  with the offerings made by fire  of the fat,  to wave  it for a wave offering  before  the LORD;  and it shall be thine, and thy sons'  with thee, by a statute  for ever;  as the LORD  hath commanded.  [16] And Moses  diligently  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,  [17] Wherefore have ye not eaten  the sin offering  in the holy  place,  seeing it is most  and God hath given  it you to bear  the iniquity  of the congregation,  to make atonement  for them before  the LORD?  [18] Behold,  the blood  of it was not brought  in within  the holy  place: ye should indeed  it in the holy  place, as I commanded.  [19] And 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?  [20] And when Moses  heard  that, he was content. 

What does Leviticus 10:12-20 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Following the judgment on Nadab and Abihu, Moses instructed Aaron and his other sons to finish eating the rest of their portion of the sacrifices that they had offered for the nation.
"When the P [1] code prescribed that every hatta"t [2] except that brought for severe sins should be eaten by the priests ... it took a giant step towards eviscerating the magical and demonic elements from Israelite ritual. For it must be assumed, in keeping with the evidence from the ancient Near East, that ritual detergents were always destroyed after they were used lest their potent remains be exploited for purposes of black magic. By requiring that the hatta"t be eaten, Israel gave birth to a new and radical idea: the sanctuary is purged not by any inherent power of the ritual but only by the will of God." [3]
Aaron did not finish eating his portion of the sin offering, however, because of God"s judgment of his eldest sons. Perhaps the holiness of God so impressed Aaron that he felt unworthy to eat what he had offered as a sin offering. He probably concluded that mourners should not take part in sacrificial meals (cf. Deuteronomy 26:14). [4] This explanation is preferable to one that suggests Aaron refused to eat simply because he was grief-stricken by the death of his sons. This motivation probably would not have been as acceptable to Moses as the former. Moses gave Aaron permission to leave the rest of the sin offering uneaten. God is more gracious with those who fear Him and make mistakes than He is with those who do not fear Him as they should.
"In the case of purification [5] offerings priests did not have an automatic right to the meat. It depended on what was done with the blood of the sacrifice. If the blood was smeared inside the tent of meeting, the animal"s carcass was burned outside the camp ( Leviticus 4:1-21). If, however, the blood was smeared on the altar of burnt offering outside the tent of meeting, the priests were entitled to eat the meat ( Leviticus 6:11 ff. [5]). Ch9 mentions two purification offerings, one for Aaron ( Leviticus 9:8 ff.) and one for the people, namely, a goat ( Leviticus 9:15). Moses" anger is aroused because they have not followed the rules with the second offering. They have burned the meat instead of eating it themselves as they were entitled to ( Leviticus 10:16-18). Since the blood was not brought into the holy place, i.e, the outer part of the tent of meeting, you ought to have eaten it." [7]
This concludes the narrative of the induction of Aaron and his sons into the priestly office (chs8-10). The events of these eight days in Israel"s history made an indelible impression on the people and pointed out the necessity of worshipping their holy God as He specified.