June 12, 2013
OBEDIENCE > SACRIFICE
Leviticus 9
Collin Aufhammer
Central Truth
Sacrifices to God are important, but obedience to His commands is far more important.
Key Verse | Leviticus 9:6
Moses said, "This is the thing which the Lord has commanded you to do, that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.'' (Leviticus 9:6)
Leviticus 9
The LORD Accepts Aaron's Offering
1 On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, 2 and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the LORD. 3 And say to the people of Israel, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering, 4 and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the LORD will appear to you.’” 5 And they brought what Moses commanded in front of the tent of meeting, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD. 6 And Moses said, “This is the thing that the LORD commanded you to do, that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.” 7 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people, and bring the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as the LORD has commanded.”
8 So Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. 9 And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar. 10 But the fat and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the LORD commanded Moses. 11 The flesh and the skin he burned up with fire outside the camp.
12 Then he killed the burnt offering, and Aaron's sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. 13 And they handed the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head, and he burned them on the altar. 14 And he washed the entrails and the legs and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.
15 Then he presented the people's offering and took the goat of the sin offering that was for the people and killed it and offered it as a sin offering, like the first one. 16 And he presented the burnt offering and offered it according to the rule. 17 And he presented the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning.
18 Then he killed the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings for the people. And Aaron's sons handed him the blood, and he threw it against the sides of the altar. 19 But the fat pieces of the ox and of the ram, the fat tail and that which covers the entrails and the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver— 20 they put the fat pieces on the breasts, and he burned the fat pieces on the altar, 21 but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before the LORD, as Moses commanded.
22 Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 24 And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
Dive Deeper | Leviticus 9
God is pleased with sacrifice. "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." (Romans 12:1).
I work hard at this. I serve in Starting Blocks, volunteer with The Porch, and facilitate at GroupLink. I daily seek to grow my love for God and His people. But I am also self-centered, prideful, performance-driven, and a poor steward of my resources -- all in disregard of God's commands.
In Leviticus 9, God gives clear instructions to the Israelites who have spent a year traveling from Egypt. These guidelines explain, in detail, the sacrifices they are to offer to God. The sacrifices were important, but the manner in which they were conducted was more important. Moses proclaims in verse 6 that obediently offering sacrifices is how "the glory of the Lord may appear to you." God wanted obedient hearts, not just sacrifice.
Before long, however, the Israelites would skip right over God's instructions and offer sacrifices their own way. Saul, King of Israel, did exactly this in 1 Samuel 15. He disobeyed God's instructions and offered a sacrifice that did not align with God's commands. Samuel, Israel's priest, responded, "Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams." (1 Samuel 15:22). Similarly, the prophet Hosea pleaded for "acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6:6, NIV). God is clear -- obedience to His commands is greater to Him than sacrifice.
The problem with living sacrifices is that they are always crawling off the altar. We must strive, as followers of Christ, to obey the commands He gives, not just offer sacrifices. It is a difficult task, and one I struggle with daily, but obedience is what allowed the Israelites to see God's glory and experience life in relationship with Him.
Discussion Questions
1. In what ways is God asking you to be obedient?
2. What sort of sacrifices have you been making when God really wanted obedience?
3. How is obedience more important than sacrifice?
4. What does our obedience say about God?