Priesthood

The Commencement of the Mediatorial Work of the Priesthood

The primary action of Lev. 9 is the offering of sacrifices. Up to this point the sacrifices the Lord commanded to be made were offered by Moses, but here the Lord assigns this work of mediation to those who had been chosen and dedicated for it… to Aaron (the brother of Moses) and his sons. Sacrifices had to be made.

Sin offerings

peace offerings

grain offerings

burnt offerings

These offering were made by Aaron for himself first, and then he made the offerings for the people of Israel. More than once, Aaron makes these sacrifices and his sons hand him the blood of those sacrifices. The blood is applied to various parts of the altar. The blood is put on the horns of the altar, thrown against the sides of the altar and poured in the base of the altar. The bodies of the animal sacrifices are slaughtered and dismembered. Parts are burned on the altar and parts are taken away from the Tabernacle and burned. The Lord’s instructions were clear, and had to be followed exactly. The consequences for not carrying out the work of the priesthood according to the Lord’s commands were severe as is made clear in the next chapter.

All of this killing and blood is unfamiliar to us. We may find it unsettling when we slow down enough to try to imagine the scene described in this chapter. But as shocking as this scene may be to our sensibilities, the purpose of all this blood, when identified is equally astounding.

Why all the killing and why all the blood?

end of verse 4: for today the Lord will appear to you.

or in verse 6: that the glory of the Lord may appear to you

or in verse 23: the glory of the people appeared to all the people

This was the prize. The presence of the Lord. And all through this chapter, a phrase appears: drew near:

the congregation drew near (5)

Aaron drew near to the altar (7,8)

But in order for anyone to draw near to the Lord, blood had to be spilt. Sacrifices had to be made. Yes, God dwelled with His people. Yes, the people of God could have peace with God and enjoy His presence… but not without sacrifice. The work of the priesthood was to mediate the sacrifices on behalf of the people.

Today, no animal sacrifices are necessary to atone for sin or to have peace with God. No animal needs to be slaughtered, nothing needs to be burned and no blood needs to be spilt. But what we have in common with God people from the OT is what is most precious: the presence of the Lord. That anyone can be in the presence of the Lord without fear of His judgement is priceless, and in fact as we will see later in the service, we are called to draw near to God. The final sacrifice of our High Priest has been made, so we are bid to draw near to our Lord because the final sacrifice has been made.

Leviticus 9:1–24 ESV

1 On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, 2 and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. 3 And say to the people of Israel, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering, 4 and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the Lord will appear to you.’ ” 5 And they brought what Moses commanded in front of the tent of meeting, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. 6 And Moses said, “This is the thing that the Lord commanded you to do, that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.” 7 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people, and bring the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded.” 8 So Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. 9 And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar. 10 But the fat and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 The flesh and the skin he burned up with fire outside the camp. 12 Then he killed the burnt offering, and Aaron’s sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. 13 And they handed the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head, and he burned them on the altar. 14 And he washed the entrails and the legs and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar. 15 Then he presented the people’s offering and took the goat of the sin offering that was for the people and killed it and offered it as a sin offering, like the first one. 16 And he presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the rule. 17 And he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning. 18 Then he killed the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings for the people. And Aaron’s sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. 19 But the fat pieces of the ox and of the ram, the fat tail and that which covers the entrails and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver— 20 they put the fat pieces on the breasts, and he burned the fat pieces on the altar, 21 but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses commanded. 22 Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 24 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.