And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
This short line opens a whole new block of teaching that runs to the end of chapter 7 — the "law" of each offering. The chapters before it told Israel what to bring. From here the LORD teaches the priests who handle those gifts.
In English Bibles chapter 6 starts seven verses earlier. Commentators say those verses belong with what came before, and that the real break falls at verse 8.
These seven verses are a fresh command which the LORD spoke to Moses. Even so, they are the proper end of chapter 5, as the Hebrew Bible has them. They should not open Leviticus 6, as they do in the English Bible… That cuts them off from Leviticus 5:14-19, which they complete. It also upsets the right order of the laws of the offerings, which begin at what is here numbered Leviticus 6:8.
What follows is not a repeat of chapters 1–5 but a second layer of detail.
From verse 8 of chapter 6 to the end of Leviticus 7 we have the law of the various offerings. In each case the "law" gives further details: how to bring the offering to the Lord, and above all how the priests were to deal with the parts not burned before Him.
Verse 8 leads straight into a command for Aaron and his sons. The hearer has changed.
The first chapter of this priest's guide book sets out the details of what was due to the LORD, but in chapter 6 you have the law of the burnt offering. In the first chapter, the words spoken were for the common people, for every worshipper in the assembly. But the law of the offering in chapter 6 was for Aaron and his sons, the priests. The priests were let into closer secrets, if I may put it that way, about the nature of this worship.
This gives a method for reading the offerings well:
Most of these laws speak to Aaron and his sons (6:8, 14, 19, 24). So they show us how the priest stands in relation to the offerings. In the law of the trespass offering and the peace offering we find no address to Aaron and his sons. The right way to study the offerings is this: first read what the beginning of Leviticus says, then read the law of each offering alongside it, to learn how each relates to the priest and the people.
Everything from here on is called the "law" of an offering. That word carries a particular sense.
The word "law" means "divine teaching" (Torah). In the details of the offerings in the first five chapters, the offerer is more in view. But in the law of the offerings, the priest is more in view — how the offerings were to be handled, offered and dealt with… So the law of the offerings teaches the priesthood what is involved in these things, and the right way to present them for the pleasure of God.
The address repeated through this section reaches beyond one family in Israel.
The phrase "Aaron and his sons" comes up again and again. It puts the priestly family in the foreground, and every child of God, without exception, belongs to that family. It is tied especially to "the law of the offerings," which shows the principle that must govern our service to God in the matter of the offerings.
The first thing this new word from God secures is a fire that never goes out.
In general this law stresses the priest's portion. The burnt offering never stops (Lev. 6:8-13); its fire keeps burning, and that reminds us that the work of Christ is effective forever. Whenever an Israelite turned his eyes toward the altar during the whole year, he could see the glow of fire. It reminded him that the sacrifice was always before God. Our Lord's sacrifice is the same — of eternal value. There is never a time when God's holiness stops being satisfied by what Christ has offered.
The mention of night in that law carries its own comfort:
And how blessed that the night is mentioned! The night is the present age; and it will be followed by the morning, when the day dawns. What comfort this gives us! We are down here in the wilderness, tested, tried, failing and stumbling. All that time our perfect burnt offering is ever present with God, and the sweet savour rises from it.
- New word. Verse 8 starts a fresh word from God. The Hebrew text breaks the chapter here, and the law of the offerings runs to the end of chapter 7.
- New hearer. Chapters 1–5 spoke to every worshipper bringing a gift. From verse 8 God speaks to Aaron and his sons, letting them into closer detail about the same offerings.
- New teaching. "Law" here means divine teaching — how to handle the offering, not just what to bring.
- New family. The repeated "Aaron and his sons" covers every child of God without exception, so this teaching belongs to all believers.
- Never out. The first thing that law secures is a fire burning all night until morning. Christ's sacrifice keeps its value, ever before God through the present darkness.
Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt-offering; this, the burnt-offering, shall be on the hearth on the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it.
This chapter turns from the worshipper who brings the animal to the priests who tend the altar. Why must this one sacrifice burn all night, and what does the fire say to anyone who looks at it?
God addresses this law to Aaron and his sons. Without it, one writer notes, you might have assumed the offering burned only by day.
Spoken to Moses, this was a command for the priestly house. All who belonged to it were concerned... The law of the Burnt Offering is set out clearly here. It was to be on the hearth upon the altar all night until the morning. Without this, it might have been thought that it was only for the day, so that the offerer could rejoice in seeing what was for his acceptance. Here, on the contrary, the stress falls on its burning "all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it."
The verse gives the reason for the offering's name. At night it had the altar to itself.
It was called the burnt-offering because it burned all night upon the altar. By day and by night the burnt-sacrifice was being consumed, but by day other sacrifices were burnt upon it. By night, with its accompanying meal offering (Num. 28:5), it was the only sacrifice upon the bronze altar. So God arranged to have the self-surrender of the Lord Jesus to do His will in death always before Him... Night after night that lone column of smoke rose to heaven. Those who kept the charge of the whole congregation may have understood little about it. Yet there was a voice in it for God. In the middle of midnight darkness and silence it spoke to Him of that act of His Son, by which He would be for ever glorified.
The verse ends with an order about the fire. Writers read that flame as God's holiness and name what it feeds on.
The fire on the altar consumed the burnt offering and the fat of the peace offering. It was the fitting expression of divine holiness. That holiness found in Christ and His perfect sacrifice a proper material to feed on. That fire was never to go out. There was to be the constant maintenance of what set forth the action of divine holiness. Through the dark and silent watches of the night, the fire blazed on the altar of God.
The fire never went out, so an Israelite could see it at any hour.
The perpetuity of the burnt offering (Lev. 6:8-13), seen in its continual burning, reminds us of the eternal efficacy of the work of Christ. At any time in the year, an Israelite could turn his eyes toward the altar. He would see the glow of fire, and it reminded him that the sacrifice was always before God. So it is with our Lord's sacrifice — of eternal value. There is never a time when the holiness of God ceases to be satisfied by what Christ has offered.
One writer takes the night as the present time and draws a personal conclusion from it.
It was burning "all night until the morning." In the darkness of the night, Israel was asleep, or perhaps grumbling in their tents. In the middle of that darkness the sweet savour of the sacrifice was going up before God. Is it not night now?... If we drift away from the Lord in heart and back into this world — right away from the Lord — is our acceptance before God changed? No; for the sweet savour of the sacrifice of Christ before God is as fresh as ever, and in that we are accepted... Our appreciation of it may change; sadly, it does.
One writer contrasts this offering with the sin offering.
This continual burnt offering, with its fire that never went out, is the type of Christ. He continually offers Himself to God, and in Him all believers have the assurance of their full acceptance. It was different with the sin offering. There could not be a continuous sin offering, because Christ giving Himself as an expiatory sacrifice cannot be a continuous act. But it is different with the burnt offering. While on earth He always presented Himself before God, and the fire of His devotion never went out. So He continues in the heavenly sanctuary, appearing in the presence of God for us. And how blessed that the night is mentioned! The night is the present age, and it will be followed by the morning, when the day dawns.
- Night. This offering burned through the night, when no one was watching. That night pictures the present age.
- Offering. All night the sweet savour of the sacrifice rose to God, so the fire had to stay lit.
- Fire. The flame stands for God's holiness. It feeds on Christ and His perfect sacrifice, so it never goes out.
- Acceptance. The value of that sacrifice before God never alters, so our acceptance never alters either. Only our enjoyment of it rises and falls.
- Morning. The command runs "until the morning." The night has an end, and the morning will come.
And the priest shall put on his linen raiment, and his linen breeches shall he put on his flesh, and take up the ashes to which the fire hath consumed the burnt-offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.
Leviticus 6 turns from the people back to the priests. The priest's day opened with two small acts, and both carry great weight: he put on linen, and he cleared away the ashes of the night's burnt offering.
The clothing came first. One writer notes where else these same white garments were worn.
The priest who made the offering carefully put on the linen garments that spoke of spotless righteousness. These were what the high priest wore when he entered the holy of holies on the day of atonement. Yet the priest had to put them on even to take up the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire had burned on the altar, and to lay them beside it.
The verse names a second piece, worn against the body. One writer notes what it had to cover, and what that rules out.
Thirdly, the text plainly says that the linen undergarments were to cover the flesh, reaching "from the hips to the thighs" (Exodus 28:42). Activity of the flesh — flesh on show — and priestly service cannot go together. We should note in passing that the Lord Jesus had no sinful flesh: "in him there is no sin" (1 John 3:5).
Hebrew has two words for ashes, and this verse does not use the everyday one for the ash of mourning.
The word used for these ashes appears only with the sacrifices, and it literally means "fat." Some think that is because the fat was burned on the altar and would soak into the ashes. Whether or not that is so, the word is significant and suggestive. Ashes are the witness that the fire has done its work, the witness of a completed and accepted sacrifice. So the margin of Psalm 20:3 reads, "The Lord turn to ashes your burnt sacrifice." That explains the word translated "accept." This witness of an accepted sacrifice is not a sign of sorrow — the ordinary word carries that. Nor does it speak of worthlessness and emptiness. There is nothing worthless in connection with the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The priest in white linen lifts the proof of a finished sacrifice. Writers read the whole scene as a picture of Christ.
Here the priest stands as a picture of Christ, and the white linen garment sets out Christ's personal righteousness. He gave Himself up to the death of the cross to do the will of God. Then He entered heaven in His own eternal righteousness, carrying with Him the memorials of His finished work. Those ashes, placed beside the altar, showed that the fire had consumed the sacrifice — that it was not only a completed sacrifice but an accepted one. The ashes of the burnt offering declared the acceptance of the sacrifice. The ashes of the sin offering declared the judgement of the sin.
The ashes also answer a question: could that death ever need repeating?
Everything was completely consumed when Christ died. There is no repetition of His death, and no fresh sprinkling of blood.
The ashes were not simply dumped. The priest laid them on one particular side of the altar, and that direction carries meaning.
Looking at the ashes, one could say, "The fire has fully done its work." Looking at the death of our blessed Lord, we can say, "All is finished. Divine justice can ask no more." Fittingly, then, this witness of a perfect work lies on the east side of the altar, toward the sunrise. It suggests that nothing now remains after the cross but our Lord's resurrection. That resurrection is also the dawning of a new eternal day for all who take hold of the infinite value of His finished work.
The task came round every morning, and the priest handled even the leftovers with care.
Every morning the priest had to put on his linen garments. These emphasise the moral purity of the Lord Jesus as great High Priest. He then removed the ashes from the altar and put them beside the altar. He was not to treat even the burned remains carelessly. Then the priest changed his garments and carried the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. What remained was only the reminder that the sacrifice had done its work. So the sacrifice of Christ will never be forgotten.
- Clothed. The priest wore the same linen as on the day of atonement, even to lift ashes. Righteousness is the uniform for the lowest task, not just the highest.
- Covered. The linen undergarment kept the flesh out of sight. Flesh on show and priestly service cannot share the same work.
- Consumed. This word is not the ash of mourning; it literally means "fat." The ashes witness that the fire finished its work, and nothing about that sacrifice was worthless.
- Accepted. The priest lifted the ashes as proof that the offering was not just complete but accepted. That death never needs repeating.
- Toward sunrise. The proof of a finished work lay on the east side, facing sunrise. It points to resurrection, and a new day for all who rest on its value.
And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place.
Leviticus 6:11 comes in the "law of the burnt offering" — the daily instructions for Aaron and his sons at the altar. The priest changes his clothes and carries the leftover ashes out of the camp, and God fixed every detail of that small errand.
One writer follows the word used for these ashes and what they declare. He quotes Psalm 20 in an older translation:
Psalm 20 stands suggestively close to the great sacrificial Psalm 22, the sin offering psalm. There we read, "Remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice." The word "accept" means, word for word, "turn to ashes." ... Used of a sacrifice, the word is "fat ashes" — which suggests the richness of what they speak of. Looking at the ashes, one could say, "The fire has fully done its work." In the same way, looking at the death of our blessed Lord, we can say: all is finished. Divine justice can ask no more. So this witness of a perfect work is fittingly placed on the east side of the altar, toward the sunrise. It suggests that nothing remains now after the cross but our Lord's resurrection — the dawn of a new eternal day for all who take hold of the infinite value of His finished work.
The ashes looked like any other ashes. Their handling was still God's to decide:
To outward eyes they might have seemed no different from ordinary ashes. Yet they had been on the altar. So they were to be dealt with as God directed, and placed in a clean place.
The priest first put on linen to lift the ashes from the altar and set them beside it. Only then did he change. Those linen clothes were not ordinary working clothes:
Then we read of the careful clothing of the offering priest with the linen garments that spoke of spotless righteousness. These were what the high priest wore when he entered the holy of holies on the day of atonement. The priest had to put them on even to lift the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire had consumed on the altar, and to place them beside it. But he took these off and put on other garments to carry the ashes at last to a clean place outside the camp.
One writer ties the linen garment to Christ's own righteousness, then separates two kinds of ashes:
Here the priest stands, as a picture, in the place of Christ. The white linen garment shows His personal righteousness. He gave Himself up to the death of the cross to carry out the will of God. He has entered heaven in His own eternal righteousness, bearing with Him the memorials of His finished work. The ashes declared the completion of the sacrifice, and God's acceptance of it. ... The ashes of the burnt offering declared the acceptance of the sacrifice. The ashes of the sin offering declared the judgement of the sin.
The clean place outside the camp was already in use. The priest burned the body of the sin offering on that same ground:
In Leviticus 6:10-11 the priest carried the ashes of all that was burnt on the bronze altar outside the camp "to a clean place." Connect this with Leviticus 4:12, where the body of the sin offering bull was burnt at the same spot. Whatever differences of detail are appointed, both offerings were killed on one spot. In the end their ashes mingle outside the camp. They picture one Christ, and one and the same work of death and judgment-bearing, while both are "most holy."
The move from beside the altar to outside the camp changes who can see the ashes, and that is the point:
Then the priest was to take off his garments and put on others. He was to carry the ashes outside the camp of the tabernacle into a clean place, the place reserved for the ashes. He was to handle and keep them with care. Why? Because they were a memorial of that sacrifice in the holy place. Beside the altar, the ashes were a witness to the priests themselves ... but outside, the ashes were a witness for the whole camp. So the death of Christ has its place in the life of the family of God, and in the worship of the people of God. It has its place also as a witness to the whole world.
- Finished — the ashes say, "The fire has fully done its work." At the cross, divine justice can ask nothing more.
- Accepted — the ashes of the burnt offering declared the sacrifice accepted; the ashes of the sin offering declared the sin judged.
- Garments — linen first, for spotless righteousness. Then a change of clothes for the walk outside the camp.
- Clean place — the ashes looked worthless, but the priest carried them to ground God Himself had marked out. There the sin offering's ashes mingled with them, picturing one Christ.
- Witness — beside the altar the ashes spoke to the priests. Outside the camp they spoke to everyone. So the death of Christ speaks to His people and to the world.
And the fire upon the altar shall be kept burning on it it shall not be put out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt-offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace-offerings.
Leviticus 6:12 comes from God's instructions to the priests about the burnt offering — not how to bring it, but how to tend it. Why did this one fire have to burn without a break, and why did the priest have to feed it every morning?
The fire consumed what was laid on it. One writer explains what that burning showed about God.
The fire on the altar consumed the burnt offering, and the fat of the peace offering. It was the fitting expression of divine holiness. That holiness found proper material to feed on in Christ and His perfect sacrifice. That fire was never to go out. What showed the action of divine holiness had to be kept up without a break. Through the dark and silent watches of the night, the fire blazed on the altar of God.
What did that unbroken burning mean for the people who saw it?
The burnt offering went on without a break (Lev. 6:8-13). Its continual burning reminds us that the work of Christ is effective forever. Whenever an Israelite looked toward the altar during the whole year, he could see the glow of fire. It reminded him that the sacrifice was always before God. Our Lord's sacrifice is the same — of eternal value. There is never a time when what Christ has offered stops satisfying the holiness of God.
One writer pictures the priest at the altar early in the morning.
Rekindling the fire? No. That was never to go out (Lev. 6:12). What, then, was he doing? He was re-arranging the altar. He removed the ashes left from the evening burnt offering, put fresh wood on the fire, and laid the morning burnt offering on it. All night the fire had been burning, kept up by the evening burnt-offering. All night God had seen what was well pleasing to Him. The column of smoke rising through the night spoke to Him while the people in the vast camp were fast asleep. It spoke of the death of His Son, and of His self-surrender to God's will. That reminder was never to be absent from the eye of God. We rightly think of how that sacrifice has perfectly met our need. God thinks also of what it is to Him.
Every priest was expected to know this fire, and no worshipper could miss it.
There was a fire which everyone engaged in priestly service should have been familiar with. It was the one that burned continually upon the bronze altar. (Lev. 6:12-13.) It met the eye of everyone approaching from outside. The bronze altar was the first thing within the court. There could be no approach to God apart from the death of the victim upon this bronze altar. The fire also gives us a picture of the judgment of God. In Leviticus 1 the fire consuming the burnt offering only brings out more fully the sweet fragrance which God received from the death of the unblemished victim. This judgment of God, fully searching Christ on the cross, found only what God could delight in.
The verse ends by putting the fat of the peace offerings on this same fire. What sort of offering was that?
Apart from the Lord's claim on the fat and the blood, the peace offering was for shared joy, not at all for expiation. It was thanksgiving. It was not for Aaron and his sons like the grain offering. It was for the united joy of all who took part — the Lord, the priest, the offerer and his guests. But the Lord's portion was to be burnt on the burnt offering. So on an occasion of joy the link was clear with that deepest display of Christ's obedience right up to death.
The priest supplied fuel every morning. One writer asks what happens when we try to live on past devotion instead.
I remembered times when I had tried hard to revive old enthusiasm and past devotion to Christ and His service by dwelling on them. I was raking together the smouldering ashes of the past, and I found it all in vain. As I thought it over I said to myself again and again: it cannot be done. If the fire is to keep burning, it will not be by dwelling on the past, but by finding fresh fuel. The present and the future will be as joyful and vigorous as the past in no other way. The fire must have fresh fuel every day if it is to burn with a steady glow.
- Fire — the flame on the altar stands for God's holiness. In Christ's sacrifice it found something it could feed on with delight, not destroy.
- Never out — it burned through every night, so the offering was always before God. The value of Christ's work never lapses.
- Never relit — the priest cleared ashes, added wood, and laid the offering in order. He never started the fire; he only kept it burning.
- Never rivalled — this was the one fire in the courtyard, and the altar was the first thing anyone met. There was no way to God except through the death of the victim there.
- Never stale — the fat of the peace offerings went on this same fire, so shared joy rests on Christ's obedience to death. Joy like that needs fresh fuel daily, not yesterday's ashes.
A continual fire shall be kept burning on the altar it shall never go out.
Israel's camp had one fire that was never allowed to die. The law of the burnt offering ends by pointing not at the animal or the priest, but at the flame. God required it to burn day and night. Writers ask what that unbroken fire was meant to say.
The command is not given once. The same instruction returns again and again in a few verses. One writer treats that repetition as the point itself.
Notice, as I read these verses, how this continuity is emphasised and repeated. "It is the burnt offering, because of its burning on the altar all night until the morning" (verse 9). "It shall not be put out" (verse 12). "Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out" (verse 13). Why do these words occur over and over again? God repeats nothing in His word, except to press it more deeply upon our forgetful hearts.
So what was that flame? One writer answers from what the fire fed on.
The fire on the altar consumed the burnt offering, and the fat of the peace offering. It was the fitting expression of divine holiness. That holiness found proper material to feed on in Christ and His perfect sacrifice. That fire was never to go out. This showing of divine holiness in action was to continue without a break. Through the dark and silent watches of the night, the fire blazed on the altar of God.
What does a fire that never goes out say about the sacrifice it consumed? One writer answers.
The perpetuity of the burnt offering (Lev. 6:8-13), seen in its continual burning, reminds us of the eternal efficacy of the work of Christ. All year round, an Israelite could turn his eyes toward the altar and see the glow of the fire. It reminded him that the sacrifice was always before God. So is our Lord's sacrifice — of eternal value. There is never a moment when God's holiness stops resting satisfied in what Christ has offered.
The night hours belonged to this offering alone. One writer listens to what that smoke said, and to whom.
By day other sacrifices were burned on the altar as well. By night the burnt offering, with its grain offering, was the only sacrifice on the bronze altar. So God arranged that the self-surrender of the Lord Jesus, giving Himself up to do God's will in death, would always be before Him. This law hints, and the New Testament plainly teaches, how precious that act of the Lord was to God. The Lord Himself spoke of it as the ground on which the Father's love flows out to Him in a special way (John 10:17). Night after night that lone column of smoke went up toward heaven. Those keeping the charge of the whole congregation may have understood little about it. Yet there was a voice in it for God, to whom it went up. In the middle of midnight darkness and silence, it spoke to Him of that act of His Son, by which He would be for ever glorified. It was a secret then, known in any fullness only to God... All night to the morning it was burning, while the world was asleep.
Every fire in the sanctuary had one source. One writer turns that into a rule for worship.
In chapter 6:9, the point is — and a very important one it is — that the fire was to be burning always. As in Isaiah 6, all came from the bronze altar. There is no real prayer or praise, or anything of that kind, except in connection with the sacrifice of Christ... Take it as a rule: use no fire except from the bronze altar.
A fire that never goes out has to be fed. One writer found in that a lesson about his own devotion to Christ.
I remembered times when I had tried hard to revive old enthusiasm and past devotion to Christ and His service by dwelling on them. I was really raking together the smouldering ashes of the past, and I found it all in vain... If the fire is to keep burning, and if the present and future are to be as joyful and strong as the past, it will not come by dwelling on the past. It will come by finding fresh fuel. The fire must have fresh fuel every day if it is to burn with a steady glow.
- The fire is holiness. The flame on the altar showed God's holiness in action. It found its fuel in Christ's perfect sacrifice.
- The fire never dies. The command comes three times in a few verses. It marks a work whose value never fades, and a holiness never for a moment unsatisfied.
- The fire burns unseen. Through the night, while the world slept, the offering still spoke to God of His Son.
- The fire is the only fire. Praise and prayer that God accepts rise only in connection with that one sacrifice. No fire comes from anywhere else.
- The fire needs fuel. A fire that never goes out must be fed. Fresh fuel today keeps love for Christ glowing; raking over yesterday's ashes will not.