Holy Fire Worship God - Jemima Varughese - 12 July 2026

Today I want to talk about a holy fire, a holy worship, and a holy God.

I want to talk about this story in Leviticus and then work out how this relates to us in 2026.

Leviticus 9 verse 1 says, On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.

He said to Aaron, Take a bull calf for your sin offering and a ram for your burnt offering, both without defect, and present them before the Lord.

Then say to the Israelites, take a male goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb, both a year old and without defect, for a burnt offering, and an ox and a ram for fellowship offering, to sacrifice before the Lord, together with a grain offering mixed with olive oil.

For today the Lord will appear to you.

How amazing that the Lord was declaring that he was going to appear to them.

For seven days, that was the eighth day, for seven days straight, Aaron and his sons were with God at the tent of meeting, being trained, tested, and set apart as priests.

Then on day eight, after a whole week of consecration, in a staff camp, in a staff advance, in a carrier's advance, as priests, they stepped out to lead the people in offerings and worship because the Lord said he would appear to them.

There were five offerings that they presented.

The sin offering, which was to remove sin.

The burnt offering was a sign of surrendered life.

The grain offering was a dedication of their resources.

The peace offering was an act of communion with God.

And a wave offering was a sign of thanks and celebration.

Five offerings.

You only had to do one a few weeks ago.

These guys did five.

Leviticus 9, 22 says, then Aaron lifted his hands towards the people and blessed them.

And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering, the fellowship offering, he stepped down.

Then Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle.

And when they came back out, they blessed the people again.

And the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community.

Fire blazed forth from the Lord's presence and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar.

When the people saw this, they shouted with joy.