Leviticus 6: The fire on the altar
Begin in prayer
Before we read Leviticus 6, where God requires restitution for wronging a neighbor and commands that the altar fire never go out, let us pray together. Ask the Lord to search our hearts and show us the finished sacrifice of Jesus.
Lying lips are an abomination to Yahweh, but those who do the truth are his delight.
Proverbs 12:22
Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that wronging a neighbor is a trespass against You, and teach us to trust Jesus, whose one sacrifice is enough forever. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.
See where we're going
Leviticus 6 finishes the law of the trespass offering and then gives the priests their instructions for the sacrifices. If anyone deals falsely with a neighbor about a deposit, a robbery, or a lost thing, he has trespassed against the LORD. He must restore it in full, add a fifth part to its owner, and bring a ram for atonement. Next, God commands Aaron and his sons to keep the fire burning on the altar all night and continually, so it never goes out. The priests eat the remainder of the people's meal offering without yeast in the court, while a priest's own meal offering is wholly burned. Finally, the priest who offers a sin offering eats it in a holy place, unless its blood was brought inside the Tent.
As you read Leviticus 6, look for the answers:
- Who has a man sinned against when he deals falsely with his neighbor, and what must he give back? (verses 2 to 5)
- What does the LORD command twice about the fire on the altar? (verses 12 and 13)
- Where must the priests eat the meal offering and the sin offering, and which sin offering may never be eaten? (verses 16, 26 and 30)
Reflect together
Key truth
Wronging a neighbor is sin against God, and He forgives the guilty through the sacrifice He appoints.
When someone lied to a neighbor about a deposit, a robbery, or a lost item, verse 2 says he committed “a trespass against Yahweh.” Every wrong done to another person is first a sin against God. The guilty man had to return the item in full, add a fifth part, and bring a ram for atonement (verses 4 to 7). Restitution did not buy forgiveness, which came through the blood, yet a forgiven sinner had to make right what he stole. Next, verses 8 to 30 give Aaron and his sons their duties for the burnt, meal and sin offerings. Twice God commands, “Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out” (verses 12 and 13). Those priests stood every morning adding wood and offering the same sacrifices, which could never take away sins (Hebrews 10 verse 11). Christ offered one sacrifice for sins forever and sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10 verse 12).
How does Leviticus 6 show us that wronging a neighbor is sin against God, and He forgives the guilty through the sacrifice He appoints?
Deceiving or robbing a neighbor is a trespass against the LORD.
In verses 2 and 3 a man lies to his neighbor about a deposit, robs him, or keeps a lost thing. Verse 2 calls all of this “a trespass against Yahweh.” He had to restore it in full, add a fifth, and bring a ram for atonement (verses 4 to 7). When Jesus saved Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus gladly repaid what he took, because grace makes us honest with our neighbors (Luke 19 verse 8).
The fire on the altar must be kept burning and never go out.
Each morning the priest put on linen garments, cleared the ashes, and carried them outside the camp (verses 10 and 11). Then he laid fresh wood and the burnt offering on the fire (verse 12). Verse 13 commands, “Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.” The offerings on that fire never stopped, and those daily sacrifices could never take away sins (Hebrews 10 verse 11).
The priests eat the people's meal offering, yet burn their own whole.
After burning a memorial handful, Aaron and his sons ate the rest without yeast in the court (verses 15 and 16). God provided for the men who served at His altar. Yet when a priest brought his own meal offering, verse 23 says, “It shall not be eaten.”
The sin offering is most holy, and blood brought inside means it is burned.
The priest who offered a sin offering ate it in the court, and the clay pot was broken (verses 26 and 28). Yet no sin offering whose blood was brought into the Tent was eaten, for “it shall be burned with fire” (verse 30). Christ fulfilled this when He suffered outside the gate and brought His blood into heaven (Hebrews 13 verses 11 and 12).
Memorise
Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.
Leviticus 6:13
Looking to Jesus in my life
Ask yourself in your heart, have I lied to anyone or kept back what belongs to them?
In Leviticus 6, the priests had to tend the altar night and day. Verse 13 commands, “Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.” Morning after morning the priest cleared the ashes, added fresh wood, and laid another burnt offering on the fire. And anyone who lied to a neighbor or stole from him restored it with a fifth and brought a ram so “he will be forgiven.”
Why did the priests lay offerings on that fire morning after morning? Because the blood of bulls and rams could never take sin away, and every wrong to a neighbor is a trespass against a holy God. Only Jesus Christ could finish that work. On the cross He bore the fiery wrath of God for His people's sins and paid their debt in full. On the third day He rose from the dead, and after offering one sacrifice forever, He sat down at the right hand of God. Nothing is left for the priests to add.
You do not need an earthly altar, and paying people back cannot wash your soul clean. Turn from your sin and put your trust in Jesus. Whoever trusts Him is forgiven, made clean, and taught to walk in truth.
Parent's note
Tell your children that lying or stealing sins against God, and that giving it back cannot save us without Jesus' blood. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.
Pray together
Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins forever and sat down at the Father's right hand, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.
His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Hebrews 1:3
Father, thank You that when Jesus had purified His people from their sins by Himself, He sat down at Your right hand because the work was finished. Please forgive us for every lie and every wrong we have done to others. Give us faith in Jesus, and help us speak the truth and make wrongs right this week. Amen.