Holy Fire - Leviticus 9

One thing to note about chapter 8 was that it was the inaugural sacrifices that happened when the tabernacle was first dedicated. It was a 7 day event where Moses preformed all the sacrifices because Aaron and the other priests weren’t ordained to the priesthood service yet. Chapter 9 begins with Aaron and his sons and other relatives starting to perform the sacrifices. After performing all the sacrifices on the 8th day “there came a fire out form before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat, which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.”

It's interesting to consider why God would send down the fire to consume the ashes of the sacrifices at the end of the sacrifices and not at the beginning. Consider the way it would have made the people feel if he had sent down the fire right when Moses started, right when Aaron started, and right when Aaron finished. If He had sent down the fire right when Moses started, it would have felt like God was initiating the ordinance. If He had sent it down when Aaron started, it might have signified to the people that Aaron was more significant in God’s sight than Moses. Because God sent down the after Aaron finished the last sacrifice, it symbolized that God had accepted the offerings and approved. The people had to initiate the ordinances, they had to complete them, they had to make all the effort, and God accepted.

Then the fire was there from God and had to be tended 24/7 so that it never went out. It was holy, divine, consecrate fire that would always be with them and that had to be cared for so that it stayed lit. This is similar to our testimonies that must be tended constantly in order to stay alive. If our testimonies are not constantly tended to then it fades, burns out and takes incredible effort to rekindle. It also makes me wonder how the fire stayed lit while the Israelites traveled between places. If I recall correctly, the altar had to be hand carried using the poles through the rings on the sides, so does that mean that the fire stayed kindled while being hand carried through the desert by people? Interesting to think about. I wonder if we’ll ever know.