CHAPTER 9

(1490 B.C.)

OFFERINGS OF AARON

¹And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the Elders of Israel (this Chapter describes Aaron in his role of mediation as the High Priest; it symbolizes Christ in this intercessory role, which He now occupies [Heb. 7:25]; the eighth day corresponds with Jesus being raised from the dead, which He was, in essence, on the eighth day; He was raised on the first day of the week, which was eight days after a full Sabbath week; according to ancient tradition, the eighth day of Aaron was the first day of March);

²And he said unto Aaron, You take a young calf for a Sin Offering, and a ram for a Burnt Offering, without blemish, and offer them before the LORD. (Concerning this, Seiss says: Everywhere, even in our holiest moods and most sacred doings, there still flashes out the stern and humiliating accusation O man, you are a sinner! All your goodness is but abomination apart from Christ! Your only hope is in Him Whose body was broken and Whose Blood was shed for the remission of sins!

All of this means that our hand must be ever kept on the brow of the Atoning Lamb. We must never cease to rest upon Jesus and His offering of Himself for us. We must ever look to the Cross.)

³And unto the Children of Israel you shall speak, saying, You take 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;

⁴Also a bullock and a ram for Peace Offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD; and a Meat Offering mingled with oil: for today the LORD will appear unto you.

PREPARATIONS

⁵And they brought that which Moses commanded before the Tabernacle of the congregation: and all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD (all of Israel was commanded to bring forth the specified Sacrifices, which, no doubt, the Elders of Verse 1 did, on behalf of all the people).

⁶And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commanded that you should do: and the Glory of the LORD shall appear unto you (if it is to be noticed, everything depended on the Sacrifices; this means everything presently depends on the Cross, of which the Sacrifices were a Type; if the true Glory of God is to appear, it can only be done through and by the Cross of Christ).

⁷And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the Altar, and offer your Sin Offering, and your Burnt Offering, and make an Atonement for yourself, and for the people: and offer the offering of the people, and make an Atonement for them; as the LORD commanded. (Atonement means reconciliation. Its ultimate conclusion is the reconciliation of God and man through the Sacrificial Death of Jesus Christ, of which all of this was a Type.)

OFFERINGS FOR THE PRIESTS

⁸Aaron therefore went unto the Altar, and killed the calf of the Sin Offering, which was for himself (Aaron, although the Great High Priest, still, was a sinner who needed the saving Grace of Christ).

⁹And 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 (without the shedding of blood, and only a particular blood at that, the Blood of Christ, there is no remission of sins [Heb. 10:4]):

¹⁰But 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.

¹¹And the flesh and the hide he burnt with fire without the camp. (Proclaims the fact that all sin would be completely expiated in the Death of Christ, which means to do away with the guilt incurred. The whole curse fell upon the Substitute. The Atonement was not completed until the whole sacrifice was consumed.)

¹²And he killed the Burnt Offering; and Aarons sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled round about upon the Altar.

¹³And they presented the Burnt Offering unto him, with the pieces thereof, and the head: and he burnt them upon the Altar (the Burnt Offering symbolized the Perfection of Christ, and Him giving that Perfection to the sinner).

¹⁴And he did wash the inwards and the legs (portraying the purity of Christ), and burnt them upon the Burnt Offering on the Altar.

OFFERINGS FOR THE PEOPLE

¹⁵And he brought the peoples Offering, and took the goat, which was the Sin Offering for the people, and killed it, and offered it for sin, as the first (sin has to be dealt with first of all!).

¹⁶And he brought the Burnt Offering, and offered it according to the manner (with sin handled, then the Perfection of Christ can be given to the cleansed sinner, typified by the Burnt Offering).

¹⁷And he brought the Meat Offering, and took an handful thereof, and burnt it upon the Altar, beside the Burnt Sacrifice of the morning (this was a handful of flour, which was to render thanks for God accepting the Offerings that had been presented).

¹⁸He killed also the bullock and the ram for a sacrifice of Peace Offerings, which was for the people: and Aarons sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled upon the Altar round about (with the sin question settled, and thanksgiving offered, and the Perfection of Christ rendered to the seeking one, the Peace of God, which had been interrupted, is now restored, typified by the Peace Offering),

¹⁹And the fat of the bullock and of the ram, the rump, and that which covered the inwards, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver:

²⁰And they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burnt the fat upon the Altar:

²¹And the breasts and the right shoulder Aaron waved for a Wave Offering before the LORD; as Moses commanded. (The Wave Offering signified that all the Blessings came from above, which means that Redemption would come from above, and would do so in the form of the Lord Jesus Christ, of which these sacrifices were Types.)

²²And 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. (The lifting up of the hands of the Priests became a custom in blessing the people when completing their duties for them in the rituals; however, the blessing could be pronounced only on the basis of the completed sacrifice, i.e., the Cross.)

²³And Moses and Aaron went into the Tab ernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the Glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people. (There is no Glory other than through the Cross.)

²⁴And there came a fire out from before the LORD (it came from the Holy of Holies, actually from the Ark of the Covenant, and passed through the Veil and, as well, the hanging curtain at the front, without burning it), and consumed upon the Altar the Burnt Offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces. (This was a visible manifestation of the Judgment of God upon the Sacrifice. It was a type of the Judgment that Jesus would take while on the Cross, all on our behalf. But remember the following:

That judgment is assuaged only by Christ and the Cross; otherwise, it comes upon the individual, irrespective as to whoever that individual might be.)