If you’re still with me after the previous eight chapters of Leviticus, then my hats off to you. It’s been a long, somewhat-confusing journey for me, so I can only imagine how difficult it is on the receiving end of these posts. At times, I’m not even sure if I knew what I was talking about.
Your patience is about to be rewarded though, because for the first time in this book, you’re going to see all the different types of sacrifices in action. They’re not theoretical anymore; now, we get to see how these five types of offerings relate to each other.
First up is the sin offering. In Leviticus 9:1, Moses tells Aaron to offer one for himself (using a bull), then take a ram and offer it as a burnt offering, also for himself.
If this process sounds familiar, it’s because Aaron literally just offered those exact two animals in Leviticus 8. But that was eight days ago. Aaron and his sons have spent a week in the doorway of the Tabernacle, and they needed to be fully cleansed before taking part in religious worship again.
Then, Moses tells Aaron to take a male goat for a sin offering and a calf and lamb (both without defect) for a burnt offering. These aren’t for him though—they’re to be offered on behalf of the people.
I don’t know why, but I’m still impressed by the fact that Aaron offers the sacrifices for himself in front of everyone (Leviticus 9:5-8). I know he’s supposed to, but it shows a distinct humility in Aaron that he doesn’t resist this act at all. Immediately after offering the sacrifices for himself, he then offers the sacrifice for the people (Leviticus 9:15-16).
The sin and burnt offerings are now complete, so it’s time to move on to the grain offering, which he does in Leviticus 9:17. The peace offering comes in Leviticus 9:18, and then Aaron “waves” the breasts and thigh from the peace offering in Leviticus 9:21.
This chapter is unique in that all five types of Levitical offerings are mentioned in the exact same breath, but what’s the relationship between them all? Why were all of them necessary on a day like today?
In a sense, you could say that this was the priests’ first day on the job, so it was necessary to perform all five of them so Moses could make sure they did them correctly.
That sounds way too corporate for me. I think it only makes sense that the very first act of the priests was to atone for sins, while also giving thanks for the peace that they enjoyed with God. Those five sacrifices represent the entirety of Israel’s worship to God. After this day, there would little question as to what the process looked like moving forward.
