Verses 1-2 And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; 2 And he said unto Aaron, Take thee a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the LORD.
So the animal sacrifices and rituals in chapter 8 were to establish the priesthood and to sanctify the tabernacle of God and the altar and all the vessels used in the religious rituals of the Law given to Moses personally by the Word of God. Now, after Aaron’s and his sons’ seven day stay in the tabernacle, more offerings were to be made by Aaron the High priest and his sons. But this time it was to cleanse and sanctify the Hebrew people before the appearing of the LORD.
Verses 3-4 And unto the children of Israel thou shalt speak, saying, Take ye a kid of the goats for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering; 4 Also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD; and a meat offering mingled with oil: for to day the LORD will appear unto you.
There were to be three types of offerings: one for sin with the killing of a baby goat, one for a burnt offering with the killing of a baby cow and a baby sheep, and one for a peace offering with the killing of a male uncastrated steer, and a male uncastrated sheep.
Verses 5-6 And they brought that which Moses commanded before the tabernacle of the congregation: and all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD. 6 And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commanded that ye should do: and the glory of the LORD shall appear unto you.
Scripture does not say whose animals were chosen to be killed, nor does it say if the animals taken from Egypt when the Hebrew people were led out of Egyptian captivity became communal property of if they remained the property of those who originally had them while living in Goshen. Remember that most of the cattle belonging to the Egyptians were destroyed in the ten judgements sent upon them by God. However, at this point in the Hebrew history the people were obedient to the commandments from God given to them by the Prophet Moses. One has to wonder if they remembered their sin of having Aaron make a golden calf for them to worship when they thought Moses was not going to return from the mountain where he was communing with the LORD and receiving the Law.
Verse 7 And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering, and thy burnt offering, and make an atonement for thyself, and for the people: and offer the offering of the people, and make an atonement for them; as the LORD commanded.
Application: The High priest always had to make an atonement for himself for his own sins before he could offer sacrifices for the rest of the people. Jesus Christ was without sin. He is the Christian believer’s High Priest. And it is because He offered Himself as a sin offering and as a peace offering, becoming the final sacrificial Lamb for sin, that people can receive forgiveness for their sins and have peace with God Almighty. Remember that God is a Spirit and manifests Himself as Father (Spirit), as Son (Jesus Christ) and as Holy Ghost. It was the body of flesh that God took on in order to minister among people of flesh that died on the cross and that shed blood. And according to Scripture, there is no remission or payment for sin without the shedding of blood. Jesus Christ paid it all, and He ended all animal sacrifices forever. “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission” Hebrews 9:22 To repeat a spiritual fact, Jesus Christ paid it all, and He ended all animal sacrifices forever.
Verses 8-10 Aaron therefore went unto the altar, and slew the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. 9 And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him: and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar: 10 But the fat, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver of the sin offering, he burnt upon the altar; as the LORD commanded Moses. 11 And the flesh and the hide he burnt with fire without the camp.
While the Hebrew people were gathered and watching, Aaron killed the calf which was spoken about in verse 2 above to cover his sins so he could proceed with the religious rituals of the Law. Notice that it was only the blood of the animal that was used, pointing to the shed blood of Jesus Christ. That blood was applied to the altar. The rest was simply destroyed by fire.
Application: The animal sacrifice offered to atone for sin did not pay for the sin. It simply allowed the Old Testament saints to be at one (atone) with God. The rest of the animal was burnt up which pointed to the fact that Scripture describes God as a consuming fire. “For our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29 It was God who appeared in the burning bush in the wilderness that Moses saw while tending the sheep. The bush did not carbonize but it was on fire with the presence of Almighty God. Unlike the sacrificial animals whose bodies not only saw death but saw destruction through fire, Jesus Christ’s body rose from the dead and never saw destruction. It never decayed in the tomb. It merely changed its composition so that it could go through walls and ascend up into Heaven. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice remitted sin or paid for it so that people could be righteous by His blood. And all the believers in Jesus Christ will have their bodies resurrected on the last day and changed in composition so that their resurrected bodies can enter the Heavenly Kingdom of God and live forever in eternity when time is no more.
Verses 12-14 And he slew the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled round about upon the altar. 13 And they presented the burnt offering unto him, with the pieces thereof, and the head: and he burnt them upon the altar. 14 And he did wash the inwards and the legs, and burnt them upon the burnt offering on the altar.
Aaron then killed the ram mentioned in verse 2 above and offered it as a burnt offering to the LORD as commanded by Moses. None of this offering was saved for Aaron and his sons to eat later in the day. It was totally to be given to the LORD.
Verses 15-17 And he brought the people’s offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and slew it, and offered it for sin, as the first. 16 And he brought the burnt offering, and offered it according to the manner. 17 And he brought the meat offering, and took an handful thereof, and burnt it upon the altar, beside the burnt sacrifice of the morning.
After Aaron had shed animal blood to allow himself to be at one with God, he then continued to minister the rest of the animal sacrifices according to what he had been told to do by the Prophet Moses. The meat offering was a gift to God and it usually was made up of grain. Meat in Scripture usually refers to food of some kind and not just the flesh of animals.
Verses 18-21 He slew also the bullock and the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people: and Aaron’s sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled upon the altar round about, 19 And the fat of the bullock and of the ram, the rump, and that which covereth the inwards, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver: 20 And they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burnt the fat upon the altar: 21 And the breasts and the right shoulder Aaron waved for a wave offering before the LORD; as Moses commanded.
Finally, Aaron offered the sacrifices for peace for the Hebrew people as commanded by Moses.
Application: Besides being one of the longest church services ever attended by such a large mass of people, this would have been a messy service with the blood of all the animals slaughtered all over the altar, the ground, Aaron and his sons, and no doubt everywhere else around the area of the altar. It would have been a day to remember just because of all the death and blood shedding. So why did God put this system into place? The purpose of all this killing and bleeding was to break the hearts of people so that they would quit sinning and therefore not be the cause of more animal death. However, over time, the people became accustomed and desensitized to the sacrifices and continued to sin and then simply buy or raise more animals to cover their sins. Like all of the requirements of the Law, no man could keep it and no man ever did. Only the Son of man kept it in its entirety, the LORD Jesus Christ.
Verses 22-24 And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings. 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people. 24 And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces. (Leviticus 9)
After all the sacrifices were over, Moses and Aaron his brother blessed the people or offered a benediction to signal that the religious service of over. It was then that God appeared in the form of fire and burnt up what was left on the altar of sacrifice. The Hebrew word translated as “shouted” is “ranan” and it means to be overcome, to cry out, to cry aloud, or to shout for joy. Whether the people were afraid or joyful is not clear in these verses, but the outcome of this miracle from God was that all the people humbled themselves and fell to the ground with their faces in the dirt. They were humbled before a mighty and glorious God.