I Offer My Life: To Love is To Sacrifice (Leviticus 9:1-7)

“All that I am, all that I have, I lay them down before you, oh Lord.” – Don Moen 🔥

Dear purpose pursuer,

Have you asked yourself for the reason why you are alive? Do you think you’re just a worker bee in this world’s corporate hive? Or do you think that the one in charge is you, that there’s no life-or-death consequence with the things you do?

There’s just two ways to live: It’s either you live for God or not. The second option is when you have another god other than Jesus Christ. It could be you, money, or anything you hold as your first priority. How you choose to live will determine your afterlife. You’ll either have eternal life or face eternal death. Do you want to go where you’ll forever smile for all tears are wiped away or where you’ll forever weep and gnash your teeth day by day?

We’re on year 2022 now. Happy New Year! It’s fitting that we’re starting with Leviticus now. You might think this is just for the Levites or the priests, but Peter tells Christians that they're being built up as “a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5).”

Let’s take a glimpse of what the actual sacrifices were.

Leviticus 9:1-7 (NKJV)

It came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. ² And he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a young bull 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, ‘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 a grain offering mixed with oil; for today 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 stood 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, offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people. Offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as the Lord commanded.”

Moses instructing Aaron (created in Animal Crossing: New Horizons)

The first five chapters of Leviticus are God’s instructions to Moses on the offerings of the Israelites. Chapters 6 and 7 are the laws on the offerings. Chapter 8 is the consecration of Aaron the high priest and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Our passage today is the beginning of their priestly ministry. This is why I wrote it's fitting for the new year.

The chapter opens 8 days after the priests’ week-long consecration. Dr. McGee (1967) says in his radio program, Thru the Bible, that the Hebrew word for consecration means "filling the hand." People who want to serve God must be consecrated in the sense that they empty themselves, count their possessions loss, and see that they can’t boast of anything before God. They must come empty-handed for Christ to fill them. During the priests’ stay in the tabernacle, all they had with them were God’s provisions, the garments as their clothing and the flesh of the ram and the unleavened bread as their food.

They started their ministry by offering sacrifices for themselves and for the people. The first thing offered was a sin offering for Aaron. This is sacrificed for unintentional sins (Leviticus 4:2). Next was a whole burnt offering. The skinned animal was to be completely burned on the altar. This shows the offerers are dedicating their lives to God (Jones).

The next offerings were for the people as they were commanded in verses 3-4 of our text. A sin offering and a burnt offering were offered for them as well. Then the priests sacrificed peace offerings for them. This offering was for consecrating a meal between two or more parties before God and sharing that meal together, committing to each other’s future prosperity (Garrett, 2014). Lastly, they offered a grain offering. This one was for acknowledging God’s provision, could be personalized, and was given out of free will (Got Questions Ministries).

What they didn’t offer was the guilt offering because it’s for amending the violation against the holy things (Leviticus 5:15) and against God’s commands (Leviticus 5:17). Since they’re just beginning the ministry, they’ll have to deal with particular sins committed by the people after this.

After all their offerings, the glory of Lord appeared to the Israelites. Fire came out and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. This means God accepted their sacrifices (Jones).

Priests serve their deity as mediators between the deity and his worshippers (Ritenbaugh). As God’s royal priesthood, we must strive to bring people to Him. Let our lives show the love of the Lord. That is a sacrificial love. He offered Himself to do what the limited offerings couldn’t do, to pay for the world’s sin. This is life’s purpose, to love. I aim to live this: To God and to people, my love I bestow. It takes sacrifice because I put them above and me below.

Let Your sacrifice teach us how to love generously. Lord, let me give You all of me. Use me to share You to others that they may be part of my sisters and brothers. I pray that they pray this, too. There’s nothing better in life to do.

With love,

Celina <3

 

References

Garrett, J. (2014, July 29). The 5 Offerings in the Old Testament. Retrieved from Seedbed: https://seedbed.com/5-offerings-old-testament/

Got Questions Ministries. (n.d.). What is a grain offering? Retrieved from GotQuestions.org: https://www.gotquestions.org/grain-offering.html

Jones, P. (n.d.). Leviticus 9. Leviticus | Holy. Westminster, California, United States of America: Through the Word.

McGee, J. V. (1967). Leviticus 8:14—9:24. Retrieved from Oneplace.com: https://www.oneplace.com/ministries/thru-the-bible-with-j-vernon-mcgee/listen/leviticus-814924-926367.html

Ritenbaugh, J. (n.d.). What the Bible says about Priest as Mediator between God and Man. Retrieved from BibleTools.org: https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/11888/Priest-as-Mediator-between-God-Man.htm

Next: Holy, Holy, Holy: Set Apart from the Mundane (Leviticus 16:15-16, 20-22)

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