Leviticus 9

Under the old covenant, God’s people had a priesthood; under the new covenant, God’s people are a “holy priesthood’’ and a “royal priesthood’’ (1 Peter 2:5, 9). Every believer in Jesus Christ can say with the apostle John: “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion, forever and ever’’ (Rev. 1:5–6 nkjv).

God’s desire was that the entire nation of Israel be “a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation’’ (Ex. 19:6), but they failed Him and became “a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity’’ (Isa. 1:4). One reason the nation decayed morally and spiritually was because the leaders failed to be holy and obedient as God commanded. God finally had to send Babylon to chasten Israel “for the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests’’ (Lam. 4:13). “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land,’’ said Jeremiah. “The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?’’ (Jer. 5:30–31 niv)

God wants His church today to be “a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that [they] may declare the praises of him who called [them] out of darkness into his wonderful light’’ (1 Peter 2: niv). The Jewish priests were a privileged people, yet they despised their privileges and helped lead the nation into sin. Even after the Jews returned to their land from Babylon and established their worship again, the priests didn’t give God their best, and God had to rebuke them (Mal. 1:6—2:17).

Leviticus 8—10 describes the eight-day ordination ceremony for the high priest Aaron and his sons. As God’s chosen priests, they had to accept three solemn responsibilities: submitting to God’s authority (chap. 8), revealing God’s glory (chap. 9), and accepting God’s discipline (chap. 10).

Aaron and his sons had obeyed God’s commandments. Thus when the week was over, they were ready to begin serving the Lord at the altar. Up to this point, Moses had been offering the sacrifices; now Aaron and his sons would take up their priestly ministry.

Sacrificing on God’s altar (vv. 1–21). Aaron and his sons had to offer a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering; from then on, they would be offering a burnt offering on the altar every morning and evening (v. 16; Ex. 29:38–42). Each day must begin and end with total consecration to the Lord. Being imperfect, the priests had to offer sacrifices for themselves first before they could offer sacrifices for the people (see Heb. 7:25–28).

Their ordination, however, also involved offering sacrifices for the people (Lev. 9:3–4): a goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb for burnt offerings, and a bullock and a ram for peace (fellowship) offerings, along with the meal offerings. To have sanctified priests without a sanctified people would not be right. How gracious of God to provide for sinners a way of forgiveness, dedication, and fellowship; we have all of this in our Lord Jesus Christ!

Moses spoke to the people and told them that the glory of the Lord would appear when the ordination was completed (Lev. 9:6), just as His glory had appeared when the tabernacle was erected (Ex. 40:34–38). One of the main purposes of the tabernacle ministry was to glorify the God of Israel whose glory dwelt on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies. The pagan nations around them had priests and sacrifices, but they didn’t have the glory of God. Instead, they “glorified Him not as God’’ and “changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image’’ (Rom. 1:21, 23). God hates idolatry because it robs Him of the glory that is due to Him, and it robs God’s people of the blessings He wants to share with them.

When Aaron had completed all these sacrifices, he and his sons and the people of Israel were forgiven, dedicated wholly to the Lord and in fellowship with Him. The order of the sacrifices is significant: We must first deal with our sins before we can dedicate ourselves totally to the Lord; then we can enjoy fellowship with Him.

Sharing God’s blessing (vv. 22–23a). One of the privileges of the high priest was that of blessing the people; on that first day of his ministry, Aaron gave them two blessings. He gave the first one alone, after he had offered the sacrifices; he gave the second one along with Moses after they had come out from the tabernacle when the ordination ceremony was finished.

The first blessing was probably the high priestly blessing recorded in Numbers 6:23–26. It followed the sacrifices. This reminds us that every blessing that we have comes because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Eph. 1:3–7). Unless we know Jesus Christ as our own Savior and Lord, we don’t have any spiritual blessings of our own, and we can’t ask God to bless others through us. The second blessing followed the time Moses and Aaron had in the tabernacle, and this reminds us that we must be in fellowship with God and one another if we’re to be a blessing to others.

Seeing God’s glory (vv. 23–24). The glory of the Lord had appeared when Moses finished erecting the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34–35), and it would appear again at the dedication of the temple (2 Chron. 7:1ff.). How gracious on God’s part to share His glory with sinful people!

The glory that dwelt in the tabernacle eventually left the camp because of the sins of the people (1 Sam. 4:21). It returned at the dedication of the temple, but then the prophet Ezekiel watched it depart because the nation had become so sinful (Ezek. 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18; 11:22–23). The glory came to earth when Jesus was born (Luke 2:8–9) and tabernacled in Him (John 1:14), but sinful people nailed that glory to a cross. Today, God’s glory dwells in the bodies of His people (1 Cor. 6:19–20), in each local assembly of His people (3:16–17), and in His church collectively (Eph. 2:19–22). One day, we shall see that glory lighting the perfect heavenly city that God is preparing for His people (Rev. 21:22–23).

The fire of God consumed the burnt offering (see 2 Chron. 7:1–3) and gave the people the assurance that Jehovah God was among them and with them. “Our God is a consuming fire’’ (Heb. 12:29), and that fire could have consumed the people! This reminds us that the wrath of God fell on His Son rather than on sinners who deserved to be judged (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24).

The paradoxical response of the people helps us better understand the experience of worship, for they were both joyful and overwhelmed. There was joy in their hearts that the true and living God had deigned to dwell among them and receive their worship, but there was also fear as the people fell on their faces in awe. The two attitudes balance each other. “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling’’ (Ps. 2:11). Paul saw this as a desirable and normal experience in the local assembly (1 Cor. 14:23–25). If our ministry doesn’t glorify God, then God can’t bless it and use it to help others and win the lost.