Leviticus 6:8-13 – Keep our zeal for the Lord fervent

A casual reading of Leviticus 6:8-7:18 gives us the sense that Moses was repeating what he had already said in Leviticus 1:1-6:7.  But on a closer look, we will see the difference between the two groups of people he was addressing. In the earlier chapters, he was addressing and instructing the people, or more accurately the worshippers. But in Leviticus 6:8-7:18, he was addressing the priests, the repetition of the materials makes reading this portion of scriptures boring. This latter section can be further subdivided. hence, we will begin with Leviticus 6:8-13.

In these verses, Moses was giving specific instructions to the priest concerning the burnt offering. Here he told the priest to keep the fire on the altar situated in the courtyard burning day and night. In Exodus 29:38-46 we first read of the perpetual or continual offering, where two one-year-old lambs would be sacrificed. One would be sacrificed in the morning, another in the evening, to keep the altar perpetually burning. It was upon these perpetual offering that all the other offerings were made. The reason why the second lamb would be offered in the evening was to keep the fire on the altar burning. The continual burning on the altar served to remind the people of the necessity to keep short accounts with God. There must be continual repentance of sin and offering of prayers and thanksgiving. Like the perpetual burnt offering, the cross of Calvary serves as a constant reminder that we need to keep short accounts with God. We must not allow sin to remain unrepented. And we must also not cease praying and offering our thanksgiving to God.

In these verses, we also see the specification of the attires the priest had to wear to remove ashes left by the burnt offering. When he was moving the ashes to be deposited in a clean place outside the camp, he had to put on a different garment. These changes of garments tell us that the things of God ought not to be treated lightly. They must be handled with seriousness and must be treated with absolute sacredness. The fire to be kept alive on the altar indicates that endless service of excellence must be offered to the Lord. All these remind us that worshipping God must never cease and that we must perpetually offer our praises, prayers, and thanks to God. Indirectly, the perpetual fire on the altar also tells us that the God who receives our praise and prayers and thanksgiving never sleeps. Furthermore, this ceaseless fire tells us that we must let our worship of God continue from morning to nightfall. We start in the morning and even when night falls, we don’t stop worshipping God. Let our devotion to God be an ever-increasing fervor and not proceeding out of the fading ashes of our hearts.