My two summer reads that have stood out so far are Richard Russo's Straight Man and Ernest Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon. I found the former to be more entertaining, the latter to be more informative. I might be heading to Spain in the next year and would like to catch a bullfight. Now that I know what I should look for, or at least what I should have looked for had I watched a bullfight in the 1930s.
The reason I tell you this is that both in some ways follow the same literary mode of Leviticus up until this point. Russo has a tendency in his books to spend many, many pages characterizing his characters. By the time a plot develops, the reader knows the characters well enough that actions can be anticipated and irony injected with ease. Russo is able to make a brief mention in the second half to an old joke or story from the first half that the reader will understand and appreciate. That is, he gives his reader a strong base to understand the narrative.
Hemingway takes a similar approach in Death in the Afternoon, though because the book is so long, large amounts of information appear interspersed with narratives that demonstrate the importance, legitimacy, or irony of the information and say something about it. It is Russo's technique repeated throughout the book, rather than characterizing all at once.
The bible's method of presenting information and narrative is similar to Hemingway's. The latter part of Exodus contained a large amount of instructions regarding the building of the tabernacle and the ordination of the priests. The first seven chapters of Leviticus are comprised of instructions regarding sacrifice. But here, in chapters eight, nine and ten, the narrative unfolds into a thrilling story of life and death (stories of sacrifice are usually about life and death, but not always thrilling). You have (or have not) put up with the lengthy factual sections. Here is some action for you.
The Rites of Ordination: Leviticus 8.1-36
The Lord tells Moses to gather Aaron, Aaron's sons, the vestments, anointing oil, a bull, two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread, and assemble the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Moses then carries out what the Lord has commanded in Exodus. He washes Aaron and his sons, dresses them, anoints them and the altar and utensils, and proceeds with the sacrifices.
The bull is sacrificed, as prescribed, as a sin offering. The first ram is sacrificed as a burnt offering. The second ram is offered as a sacrifice of ordination.
Moses then anoints the altar, Aaron, his sons, and their vestments, with oil and blood.
Aaron and his sons are instructed to boil the flesh at the entrance of the tent. They are to eat it and burn what is left. They are then to remain at the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days before their ordination, not leaving during that week. This seems to be a test to prove their devotion to God. The week inside the tent of meeting puts them in a liminal state, between the world of the Israelites and the face of God. After the week is over, they will be able to serve as intermediaries between God and the people, a status that is symbolized in the week-long ceremony.
Aaron's Priesthood Inaugurated: Leviticus 9.1-24
On the eighth day Aaron and his sons make a sin offering and burnt offering themselves, as well as a sin offering, burnt offering, two offerings of well-being, and a grain offering for the people. The sacrifices are required to cleanse the priests and congregation before the Lord appears in the newly-created tabernacle, "For today the Lord will appear to you" (Lev. 9.4).
Aaron performs all these offerings, and then lifts his hands and blesses the people. Moses and Aaron then enter the tent of meeting and come out and bless the people, presumably imbued with holiness. The glory of the Lord then appears to all the people in the form of fire. In a brilliant display of pyrotechnics, fire "came out from the Lord" (or more likely where the Lord would sit, on the mercy seat) and consumes the burnt offering and fat sitting on the altar (Lev. 9.24). The presence of God legitimates the ceremony and serves as the climax of the story. The people shout and fall on their faces, just as Moses fell on his face when he first encountered the Lord.
Nadab and Abihu: Leviticus 10.1-20
Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each take his censer, puts lit coals in it, and lays incense on top. They offer "unholy fire" (literally "unauthorized coals") before the Lord, in a way that has not been commanded.
For not following God's law, fire again shoots out from the ark of the covenant and consumes Nadab and Abihu, so that they die before the Lord. It is a grotesque irony. The purification of the sons and the congregation had just been completed, and now through an act of disobedience all of Israel has been polluted by the deaths. The more obvious gruesomeness, of course, is that the subversion of purifying effect of fire in sacrifice. Now fire does not purify but rather serves as retribution for sin. Through the second fire, everything is sullied.
The elements are rearranged and reversed. Priests performing sacrifice properly purify themselves and others through fire. Priests performing rituals incorrectly are themselves destroyed by fire as through a sacrifice.
There is a lesson in this Moses tells Aaron:
This is what the Lord meant when he said,The Lord has certainly shown himself holy (read: apart from sin). The Lord has also certainly demonstrated the importance of proper glorification (as sacrifice is a form of glorification).
“Through those who are near me
I will show myself holy,
and before all the people
I will be glorified.”
(Lev. 10.3)
Aaron falls silent, further emphasizing the reversal of the scene. Whereas the first fire invokes the noise of the people, the second fire invokes silence.
Moses tells Mishael and Elzaphan, Aaron's cousins, to carry away Aaron's departed sons outside the camp. The two brother carry their dead cousins by their tunics out of the camp as commanded. Moses then warns Aaron's other two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, against disheveling their hair and tearing their vestments, which are traditional signs of mourning. Otherwise they will die and wrath will strike the congregation. The brothers, after all, still have to aid their father as priests. The rest of Israel, however, may mourn. The sons further are warned that if they leave the entrance of the tent of meeting, they will die, for the anointing oil is upon them.
The Lord tells Aaron that he and his sons should not drink wine or strong drink when in the tent of meeting (which presumably means they may not be under the influence while there) or they will die. The reason for this is that the priests are to serve as an intermediary between the divine and mundane realms:
You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean; and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.Moses tells Aaron and his sons that they are to eat of the grain offering in a holy place, as commanded. The elevated breast and thigh, however, may be consumed by Aaron's family in a clean place.
(Lev. 10.10-11)
Moses then confronts Aaron about a purification offering that had been entirely burned, instead of offering a portion to God and keeping the rest to eat. After all, this offering, when eaten, makes atonement for the entire congregation. Aaron responds that he offered a sin and burnt offering earlier in the day, but that tragedy had befallen him nonetheless. Aaron is wary about eating the flesh of a sacrifice that led to such a disaster. Instead, he presented the entire sacrifice to God. Moses agrees with his assessment.
Today's reading is a perfect example of the dialectical tensions of the bible. For not following God's commands precisely, Nadab and Abihu lose their lives.
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