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Leviticus 9:1
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1 It came to pass on the aeighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.  
2 And he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a young abull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord.  
3 And to the children of Israel you shall speak, saying, a‘Take a kid of the goats as a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering,  
4 also a bull and a ram as peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and aa grain offering mixed with oil; for btoday the Lord will appear to you.’ ”  
5 So they brought what Moses commanded before the tabernacle of meeting. And all the congregation drew near and stood1 before the Lord.  
6 Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord commanded you to do, and the glory of the Lord will appear to you.”
7 And Moses said to Aaron, “Go to the altar, aoffer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people. bOffer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as the Lord commanded.”  
8 Aaron therefore went to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself.
9 Then the sons of Aaron brought the blood to him. And he dipped his finger in the blood, put it on the horns of the altar, and poured the blood at the base of the altar.
10 aBut the fat, the kidneys, and the fatty lobe from the liver of the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses.  
11 aThe flesh and the hide he burned with fire outside the camp.  
12 And he killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons presented to him the blood, awhich he sprinkled all around on the altar.  
13 aThen they presented the burnt offering to him, with its pieces and head, and he burned them on the altar.  
14 aAnd he washed the entrails and the legs, and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.  
15 aThen he brought the people’s offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and killed it and offered it for sin, like the first one.  
16 And he brought the burnt offering and offered it aaccording to the prescribed manner.  
17 Then he brought the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, abesides the burnt sacrifice of the morning.  
18 He also killed the bull and the ram as asacrifices of peace offerings, which were for the people. And Aaron’s sons presented to him the blood, which he sprinkled all around on the altar,  
19 and the fat from the bull and the ram—the fatty tail, what covers the entrails and the kidneys, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver;
20 and they put the fat on the breasts. aThen he burned the fat on the altar;  
21 but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved aas a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses had commanded.  
22 Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, ablessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings.  
23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people,
24 and afire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they bshouted and fell on their cfaces. 
Commentaries:
Forerunner Commentary
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<< Leviticus 8:36   Leviticus 9:2 >>

What Does Leviticus 9:1 Mean?



Leviticus 9:1-10

This series of verses follows immediately after the giving of the instructions for the offerings. The priesthood's ordination and installation into their offices of service at the altar and Tabernacle are about to take place. Verses 2-10 are unique because they are instructions for what will be the first offerings given by the Aaronic priesthood.

Does it not seem plausible that they made the offerings in the correct order the first time they performed them, when little time had passed for people to forget God's commands or even deceitfully corrupt their purity? Moses received the instruction from God, he passed them on to Aaron, and the priests carried them out.

They did so in an interesting progression. Obviously, the order of instruction from God in the first few chapters of Leviticus begins with the burnt offering and proceeds through the meal, peace, sin, and trespass offerings. Did the priests place the offerings on the altar in exactly the same progression? Does it make any difference? Yes, it makes a difference to us because it made a difference to God.

The Bible provides two different orders. The teaching order is given beginning in Leviticus 1. God, it seems, wants us to learn first about devotion to Him and fellow man portrayed by the burnt and meal offerings, as well as our devotion's fruits—gratitude, peace and fellowship—pictured by the peace offering. Following that, His instruction proceeds on to the sin and trespass offerings. However, when the rituals were actually performed at the altar, the sin offering happened first.

Leviticus 9:8 clearly states that the calf of the sin offering was killed first. Aaron then placed the blood from that calf upon the horns of the altar and poured the remainder of its blood at the base of the altar. Following that, its fat, kidneys, and liver lobe were burned on the altar (verse 10), but its flesh and hide were burned outside the camp (verse 11). Not until those ceremonies were fulfilled was the ram of the burnt offering killed, its blood caught, and all its parts burned atop the altar along with its meal offering (verses 12-14).

Investigating why the instruction order was given one way and the practical application order another should prove both logical and helpful. It helps to remember that Christ is the object of all the offerings. The burnt offering pictures His perfect devotion and obedience to God in keeping the first four commandments. The meal offering depicts an equally perfect devotion and obedience in keeping the remaining six commandments, which apply to relationships with other men. The peace offering shows the perfect communion produced. This sequence portrays His sinless performance in living 33½ years, enabling Him to become the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world.

This describes what made Him the perfect sin offering. We cannot approach God as a whole burnt offering because we have not devoted ourselves to God and man in perfect sinlessness. Our devotion is flawed. We are not qualified to be a sin offering because we have sinned. We are imperfect, to say the least.

The only way we can approach God is to have the way cleared before us by a perfect sin offering made in our behalf, which in turn prepares the way for us to become acceptable burnt and meal offerings. The perfect sin offering must precede us so we can be accepted before God. We cannot come to God through our own works because they are badly tarnished. We may come to Him only through the work of the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Once God accepts us into His presence, the love of God begins to be shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). This works to change our heart, preparing us to yield and keep His commandments faithfully in both letter and spirit.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Six): The Sin Offering

Related Topics: Aaronic Priesthood | Burnt Offering | Devotion | Living Sacrifice | Meal Offering | Offering, Burnt | Offering, Meal | Offering, Peace | Offering, Sin | Offering, Sin and Trespass | Offering, Trespass | Offerings of Leviticus | Peace Offering | Sacrifice as a Way of Life | Sacrifice as Metaphor | Sin Offering | Trespass Offering




Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Leviticus 9:1:

Leviticus 10:1-7


 
<< Leviticus 8:36   Leviticus 9:2 >>

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