Would the Lord have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today? (Leviticus 10:19)After the death of his sons Nadab and Abihu, Aaron and his two younger sons were forbidden to show their mourning. Later in the day, Moses found out that a sin offering had been completely consumed by the altar fire even though the priests were commanded to eat it. Aaron defended himself and his sons by reminding Moses that the sin offering (which was not to be completely burned up, but used as food by the priests) was followed by a burnt offering, which was required to be completely burned up upon the altar.
We don't know exactly why Aaron and his sons did not eat the sin offering, but it is probable that it had to do with the deaths of Nadab and Abihu. Even though they could not show their mourning by taking off work, or by tearing their clothes, they may have been too burdened to eat, or even have been fasting.
Having heard Aaron's explanation, Moses was satisfied that the digression was birthed out of sincere hearts, and not an offense against God.
Have you ever hurt so bad you didn't know how you could go on, but had to persevere anyway?
Wow. You know, I remember the listing of the various kinds of animals, etc. but I have no recollection of that story of the two getting consumed by the fire, so it's new to me. My initial thought is to wonder why something as basic as mourning would be set aside, but I suppose in this case they simply had something more important and less self-focused that just had to be done first. What comes to mind for my own life is the work that was required to deal with my father's death, some stuff just *has* to be done no matter what the current emotions may be.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure everyone has a time like that (or many!)... those in positions of authority or duty where others are depending on them even moreso. - Amy