Page 74 - Pentateuch - Student Textbook

3. Before a person could bring an offering for the sin of stealing or false swearing or lying about lost
property, what must he do?

4. To consecrate Aaron for the work at the Tabernacle, blood was placed where on each man?

5. How did God show his approval of the dedication of the Tabernacle and the priests?

6. What was the response of the people?

7. What happened the next day at the altar?

8. Where were the bodies of Nadab and Abihu taken?

9. What new regulation was given to the priests?

10. What two distinctions were the priests to make for the people?

9.5 Let’s Personalize this Lesson…

We can only speculate about the actual response of the average Israelite. Some never thought
beyond the immediate demands of the law. Many of these would have given up obeying in
anything more than a minimal way. They may have kept appearances to fit in.

Others would have wrestled continually with their consciences. God created each human with the ability
to watch and hear all he does. Our consciences accuse or excuse us, even apart from the law (Romans
2:15). In these sacrifices, God was educating the Israelites about that inner voice. In connection with the
sin offering, they were instructed: “when anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these
matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned (5:5).” This is the first instance of the word for
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“confess” in the Hebrew Bible. Earlier people groped toward confession to God. Conscience speaks.
Guilt is experienced. Now God gave his people a way to evaluate their feelings and to quiet the
conscience. A thoughtful person might work toward the idea of a better sacrifice and the permanent
stilling of that conscience. God was calling them to him for forgiveness rather than running from him in
fear (1 John 1:9).

Desiring a relationship with YHWH and rejecting the practices they saw in other nations, they would be
driven to consider the promises of God. “Will God provide for me like he did for Abraham?” “Why did

81 Gane, Leviticus , p. 124.

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