A priest, it seems, was one part butcher and one part pyromaniac. And that pleasing aroma to God -- the smell of burning flesh and animal hair.
Building on a thought from the last reading, again God makes allowance for the non-Hebrew, the "aliens." During the Passover, "An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the Lord's Passover must do so in accordance with its rules and regulations. You must have the same regulations for the alien and the native-born." [Numbers 9:14] Those who wanted and who want to follow Him can.
For some reason, I didn't know that the Feast of Weeks, Harvest or First Fruits was the Day of Pentecost. But this make sense. After the sacrifice of God's only son, the church is born as one of this sacrifice's first fruits.
The idea of the scapegoat as an offering for the attonement of sins is interesting. We talk so much of scapegoats. It's interesting to see its religious roots and to realize that Christ is our scapegoat. Presented alive to the Lord, the scapegoat is sent into the desert to die. It will die under God's direction as will Christ.
The Day of Attonement is the only feast that's not really a feast. It's a fast and a time of confession. All of the other feasts are celebrations of what the Lord has done for us. Only this one is a confession of what we've done. I think most of our lives, most of religion, most of following and glorifying God should be a joyous celebration of what He has done.
Are the percentages of celebration to confession presented by the character of these feasts to be followed in our lives? Maybe only one part of our walk should be acknowledgement of our sin and confession so that guilt doesn't overtake us. We should only feel one part guilt and that guilt should be overcome by the overwhelming celebration of God's grace and guidance.
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