Leviticus 6

Read Leviticus 6 here or at Bible Gateway.

The Hebrew paragraphs:

6:1-7 {p} The law of the ram of the trespass offering (asham) when restitution is due a neighbor
6:8-13 {s} The law of the perpetual whole burnt offering (olah)
6:14-18 {p} The law of the grain offering (minchah) that must be eaten
6:19-23 {p} The law of the perpetual grain offering (minchah) that must not be eaten (brought by the priests)
6:24-30 {p} The priests’ portion of the sin offering (chattath)

The Chiastic Structure for the perpetual whole burnt offering:

I could not get over how many times the command was Repeated that the fire on the altar must always be kept burning. The priests were to tend the fire daily so that it never goes out.

We have seen before when we were in Exodus, that the design and function of the tabernacle was a Natural Picture teaching a spiritual truth; for example, that the action of the priests, in tending to the menorah night and day, was a Natural Picture teaching a spiritual truth. And the law of the perpetual whole burnt offering is as well.

The whole burnt offering – that is, the olah – is a voluntary offering brought by a man in right relationship with God. Paul calls us the “living olah:”

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Rom 12:1

As the Greek word for “sacrifice” here is equivalent according to the Septuagint, of the Hebrew word olah – the whole burnt offering.

And the fire that consumes the whole burnt offering is to never go out.

Haven’t we been baptized with the fire of the Holy Spirit, a consuming fire which never goes out?

I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. – John the Baptist, in Luk 3:16

The natural picture of the priesthood is telling us the spiritual truth that staying in a right relationship with God requires tending, morning and evening. The fire consuming our reasonable worship and service, is the fire of the Holy Spirit, with which we have been baptized. Fires go out if not tended. We must tend to our relationship with God, morning and evening daily, as Leviticus is telling us, if we would preserve it. We must not let the fire of our fervor go out. All the law of the tabernacle, the furniture, the priesthood, the sacrifices, and whatever is perpetual is teaching us how.

If there are questions, these are good resources:

Leviticus 1, The living olah – Christine Miller
Leviticus 6:8-13, The perpetual whole burnt offering – Christine Miller
The Perpetual Commandments of Torah – Christine Miller