Leviticus 9:23

And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation,.... They went out of the court where the altar of burnt offering stood, and where Aaron had been offering the sacrifices; and they

And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people. Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle.

Moses went in with Aaron to direct him, and to see him perform those parts of his office which were to be done in the holy place, about the lights, and the table of shewbread, and of the altar of incense, upon which part of the blood of the sacrifices now offered was to be sprinkled, according to the law, ,18. Blessed the people, i.e. prayed to God for his blessing upon the people, as this phrase is explained, , &c., and particularly for his gracious acceptation of these and all succeeding sacrifices, and for his signification thereof by some extraordinary token, which accordingly happened, The glory of the Lord; either a miraculous brightness shining from the cloudy pillar, as ; or a glorious and visible discovery of God’ s gracious presence and acceptance of the present ministry and service, as it follows.

(23) Went into the tabernacle of the congregation.—Better, went into the tent of meeting. The sacrifices being ended, there still remained the burning of the incense on the golden altar which stood in the tabernacle. Hence Aaron, conducted by Moses, left the court where the altar of burnt offering stood, and where the sacrifices had been offered, and went into the holy place where the altar of incense stood to perform this last act of the ritual. (See Exodus 30:7, &c.) Having already delivered to Aaron the charge of all the things connected with the sacrifices in the court, Moses now also committed to him the care of the things within the sanctuary, showing him, at the same time, how to offer the incense, how to arrange the shewbread on the table, how to light and trim the lamps of the candlestick, &c., all of which were in the sanctuary. There can, however, hardly be any doubt that whilst there they prayed, as tradition informs us, for the promised manifestation of the Divine presence. And came out, and blessed the people.—According to an ancient tradition embodied in the Chaldee Version of the Pentateuch, the blessing which Moses and Aaron unitedly bestowed upon the people on coming out of the sanctuary, was as follows :—“May the word of the Lord accept your sacrifice with favour, and remit and pardon your sins.” And the glory of the Lord appeared.—To show his gracious acceptance of the institution of the priesthood, and of the whole service connected therewith, God manifested himself in the more luminous appearance of the cloudy pillar. This glorious appearance which, in a lesser degree, always filled the tabernacle, was now visible in greater effulgence to all the people who witnessed the installation. (Comp. Exodus 16:10; Exodus 40:34; 1 Kings 8:10-12.)

Verse 23. Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle] It is supposed that Moses accompanied Aaron into the tabernacle to show him how to offer the incense, prepare the lamps and the perfume, adjust the shew-bread, c., c. And the glory of the Lord appeared] To show that every thing was done according to the Divine mind, 1. The glory of Jehovah appears unto all the people 2. A fire came out from before the Lord, and consumed the burnt-offering. This was the proof which God gave upon extraordinary occasions of his acceptance of the sacrifice. This was done probably, 1. In the case of Abel, Genesis 4:4. 2. In the case of Aaron see above, Leviticus 9:24. 3. In the case of Gideon, Judges 6:21. 4. In the case of Manoah and his wife. Compare Judges 13:19-23. 5. In the case of David dedicating the threshing-floor of Ornan, 1 Chronicles 21:28. 6. In the case of Solomon dedicating the temple, 2 Chronicles 7:1. 7. In the case of Elijah, 1Kg 18:38. Hence to express the accepting of an offering, sacrifice, c., the verb דשן dishshen is used, which signifies to reduce to ashes, i. e., by fire from heaven. See Psalms 20:3. In such a case as this, it was necessary that the fire should appear to be divinely sent, and should come in such a way as to preclude the supposition that any art or deceit had been practised on the occasion. Hence it is not intimated that Moses and Aaron brought it out of the tabernacle, professing that God had kindled it there for them, but the fire CAME OUT from BEFORE the Lord, and ALL the PEOPLE SAW it. The victims were consumed by a fire evidently of no human kindling. Josephus says that "a fire proceeded from the victims themselves of its own accord, which had the appearance of a flash of lightning" εξαυτωνπυρανηφθηαυτοματον, καιὁμοιοναστραπηςλαμπηδονιὁρωμενοντῃφλογι· "and consumed, all that was upon the altar." - Antiq., lib. iii., c. 8, s. 6, edit. Haverc. And it is very likely that by the agency of the ethereal or electric spark, sent immediately from the Divine presence, the victims were consumed. The heathens, in order to give credit to their worship, imitated this miracle, and pretended that Jupiter testified his approbation of the sacrifices offered to him by thunder and lightning: to this VIRGIL seems to allude, though the words have been understood differently. Audiat haec genitor, qui foedera fulmine sancit. AEn. xii., ver. 200. "Let Jupiter hear, who sanctions covenants by his thunder." On which words Servius makes this remarkable comment: Quia cum fiunt foedera, si coruscatio fuerit, confirmantur. Vel certe quia apud majores arae non incendebantur, sed ignem divinum precibus eliciebant qui incendebant altaria. "To sanction the covenant signifies to confirm it; for when a covenant was made, if there were a flash of lightning, it was considered to be thereby confirmed: or rather because our ANCESTORS lighted no fire upon the altars, but obtained by their supplications divine fire," c.

23. And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting] The meaning of this action is not explained and the clause has been interpreted in various ways. If it be regarded as introducing Aaron to the tent of meeting, and to the duties which he had to perform there, the reason why Aaron has not hitherto brought any of the blood into the Holy place is apparent.

Aaron, having now gone through the cycle of priestly duties connected with the brass altar, accompanies Moses into the tent of Meeting.

23. Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle — “Tent of meeting,” (R.V.) This is the first recorded entrance of any human being into the tabernacle after its dedication, when it was so filled with