Leviticus 9

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:32:11utc

9:1-24.

After the detailed description of the sacrifices in ch. 8 it almost seems redundant that the offering of the animals for the dedication of the priests is given in such detail. This shows us that God is a God of detail. For Him there exists no routine. It is also characteristic for the sense of God's presence that Moses and Aaron must have had, that everything is remembered so precisely. Our brain always registers all details whether we are conscious of this or not. God's presence makes our brain and our awareness function as they should.

The day on which the priests enter into their duties is the eighth. This suggest resurrection. We are not told whether the first day of dedication coincided with the first day of the week, but the phrase "eighth day" suggests the day after the Sabbath, which is the day on which Jesus rose from the dead. The suggestion is important in as much as this priesthood is a shadow of the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ. According to the writer of the Hebrew epistle Jesus' priesthood started with His resurrection.[ 1 ]

With this reference to the resurrection there is, at the same time, a reminder of death. Aaron and his sons have to bring first a sacrifice for their own sin. The bull that was sacrifices was a sin offering and the ram a burnt offering. The fact that a male goat had to be sacrificed for the Israelites as a sin offering suggests that the leaders of the people represent the people as a whole in this ritual. Yet, all the people are present at this inauguration ceremony.

There is a specific promise given, at this occasion, that the Lord would appear to the priests and to the whole community. Vs. 6 tells us: "Then Moses said, 'This is what the LORD has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.' " In connection with this promise Moses gives the last instructions regarding the sacrifices Aaron and his sons have to bring, first for themselves and then for the people: first the sin offering for the priests themselves followed by the burnt offering. After this the sin offering for the leaders of the people then burnt offering, the grain offering and the fellowship offering. The sin offering for the priests here is not brought completely in accordance with the regulations in ch. 4. The blood is not yet sprinkled before the curtain in the Holy Place. The reason for this is, probably, that the glory of God had not yet descended upon the ark and, consequently, it would have made little sense to sprinkle the blood at that place. Apart from this difference all the other sacrifices are brought according to the prescribed rules.

Vs. 17 also mentions a morning's burnt offering. The regulations for this sacrifice are found in Ex. 29:38-46. There we also find the remarkable verse: "There also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory." (Vs. 43). Evidently, in Hebrew, the word that is translated here with "the place" can apply to people also. Some translations have "they will be consecrated by my glory."[ 2 ]

After all the sacrifices have been brought for the priests and for the people, Aaron lifts up his hands and pronounces the benediction. The text of this benediction is given in Num 6:24-26, "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." This triple blessing corresponds with the apostolic one in II Cor. 13:14, "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." In the blessing and keeping we recognize the love of God the Father, making His face shine upon us corresponds with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the turning of God face toward us and giving peace are brought about by the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

After this Moses and Aaron both enter the tent. This is now made possible because of the blood that had been poured out. The way into the sanctuary is now open, if not for all then, at least for the representatives of the people. After this they both come out and repeat the blessing for the people. Up till that moment everything was done in faith because there had been no visible manifestation of God's presence. The blood that was poured out and the pronouncing of the blessing make the revelation of God's glory a visible reality. We are not told what exactly happened. Fire falls upon the altar, probably in the form of lightening that struck. But this was not the only proof of the undeniable presence of the "Shekinah." At the dedication of the temple we read how the glory of the Lord filled the newly constructed temple of Solomon. "When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple."[ 3 ] Whether the manifestation was the same here, in the form of a cloud, we are not told. The cloud and the pillar of fire which accompanied the people out of Egypt must have been present. We do not know when they disappeared. Possibly at the beginning of the forty years of punishment. But this is stated nowhere. It is possible that it was the cloud that appeared here.

I have often tried to imagine what it would have meant to have a physical experience of the presence of the Lord, like the Israelites had. Their five senses were involved in their worship. Yet, as New Testament Christians, we lack nothing. The presence of Christ within us, the hope of glory, may not be perceived by our five senses, yet, it is a greater reality than the Old Testament one. The biggest difference is in the condition of man. For Israel the Lord's presence was always a kind of condemnation. The blood of animals could never completely quiet the accusing voice of their conscience. We have the spiritual and emotional experience of inner cleansing.

In Tolkien's book Lord of the Rings, Frodo and his friend and Gullum stand before "the crack of doom" to throw the ring in it. One brief moment they see the eye of Sauron and they are hypnotized by the presence of evil. If Satan can cause such a physical experience of the senses in the negative, how much more would seeing the glory of the Lord have been an experience that was overwhelming, healing and uplifting.

The glory of the Lord consumes the burnt offering, which was the expression of divine surrender in love. From now on the fire that burns on the altar is the fire of the Lord.

The reaction of the people is interesting. We read in vs. 24, "when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell face down." It was a spontaneous reaction of real worship. It resembled the worship we read about in heaven, where the twenty-four elders fall down before the throne and cast down their crowns. The worship of the people of Israel at this moment was much more real that the formality that passes for worship which we can see in churches in our day. In one African country people who watched the Jesus Film burst out in spontaneous applause when they saw Jesus come out of the grave. Ethan the Ezrahite says: "Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD. They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness."[ 4 ] If Israel would have kept this vision we would have a different world today.

[ 1 ] See: Hebr. 4:14,15; 5:5,6,9,10; 6:19,20; 7:15-17, 23-25; 8:1,2.

[ 2 ] NBG in Dutch, for instance.

[ 3 ] I Kings 8:10,11

[ 4 ] Ps. 89:15,16