In the opening of this chapter we see an example of man’s great transgression and dishonor of God
in the presence of God’s glory and grace. The elder sons of Aaron fell because they despised the
burnt offering, and God’s fire which had come down in acceptance of it. As a result, Aaron and
his two remaining sons were instructed to guard against the expression of grief or the allowance
of excitement. In these things others might indulge, but not those who had the privilege of drawing
near to His sanctuary. They were also instructed as to the eating of the meal offering and the
sacrifice of peace offerings. There remained the solemn injunction that the priests should eat the
sin offering. Their failure in this respect closes the chapter, deeply appealing to us who, though
of a heavenly calling, are no less apt to forget what it speaks to our souls and means before God.

"And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt:and he was
angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron which were left alive, saying, Wherefore have
ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you
to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? Behold, the
blood of it was not brought in within the holy place:ye should indeed have eaten it in the holy
place, as I commanded. And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin
offering and their burnt offering before the Lord; and such things have befallen me:and if I had
eaten the sin offering today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? And when
Moses heard that, he was content" (Lev. 10:16-20).

Thus we see that the rest of the priestly house, though not guilty of the error fatal to Nadab and
Abihu, broke down in a weighty part of their obligations; and all this was, sad to say, at the very
beginning of their history. How humiliating is God’s history of man everywhere and at all times!

Perhaps it would not be possible to find a more wholesome warning for our souls in relation to
our brethren. We are bound to identify ourselves in grace with the failures of our brethren, as they
with ours. It is a fact that we all and often offend; and we are exhorted to confess our sins or
offenses to one another. Is this all? Far from it! We have to fulfill the type before us, to eat the
sin offering in the sanctuary, to make the offence of a saint our own, seriously, in grace before
God, to behave as if we ourselves had been the offenders.

In this same way the Lord, when indicating by His symbolical action in John 13 the gracious but
indispensable work He was about to carry on for us upon departing to the Father, let the disciples
know that they too were to wash one another’s feet. But here we are as apt to fail through
ignorance or carelessness, as Peter did doubly on that occasion.

The apostle Paul had to censure the insensibility of the Corinthian saints in 1 Cor. 5, but later on
had the joy of learning that they were made sorry according to God, as he expressed it in 2 Cor.
7:9. Again, to the Galatian saints he wrote, "Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law
of Christ," instead of meddling with the law of Moses to the hurt of themselves and of each other.
Individual responsibility remains true:each shall bear his own burden; but grace would bear one
another’s burdens.

Intercession with our God and Father is a precious privilege which it is our shame to neglect. It
keeps God’s rights undiminished, and exercises the heart in love to our brethren. Let us never
forget that grace condemns evil far more profoundly than law ever did or could.

FRAGMENT
When Daniel confessed his sin and the sin of his people, he was surely eating the sin offering.
And such an identification of ourselves with the sins of God’s saints is greatly needed for all of
us. This will be realized more among us as we grow in our knowledge of the cross. Alas! the
slight knowledge of God’s grace may allow a light treatment of sin, or else, perhaps, a bitter
judgment of it. But a real eating of the sin offering makes one equally serious and tender. Who
can harshly judge when Christ has borne the judgment? Who can treat lightly what brought Him
to the cross?

FRAGMENT
Subjection of will is the secret of all peaceful walk in this world. It is Christ’s work which gives
peace to the conscience; but it is a subdued will, having none of our own, which in great and in
little things makes us peaceful in heart in going through a world of exercise and trial.