Why Did Aaron Offer Sacrifices for Himself First in Leviticus 9?

In Leviticus 9, Aaron offered a sin offering and a burnt offering for himself before officiating at the people’s sacrifices. He then presented the people’s sin offering, burnt offering, grain offering, and fellowship offering in the prescribed order. After everything had been completed, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.

Aaron and the people prepared the commanded offerings

On the eighth day, Moses summoned Aaron, Aaron’s sons, and the elders of Israel. He told Aaron to present a bull calf without defect as a sin offering and a ram without defect as a burnt offering. The Israelites were also to prepare animals and grain for their sin offering, burnt offering, fellowship offering, and grain offering.

Moses said that the LORD would appear to the people that day. When they heard this, they brought everything Moses had commanded to the entrance of the tent of meeting. The whole assembly also came forward and stood before the LORD.

Before the congregation could witness the glory of the LORD, something first had to be done. Pointing to the prepared offerings, Moses explained that this was what the LORD had commanded. Aaron and the people prepared the sacrifices according to the instructions they had received, not according to a method of their own choosing.

Aaron first offered sacrifices for himself

Moses told Aaron to approach the altar and offer the sin offering and burnt offering for himself. He was then to present the people’s offerings and make atonement for them. Moses concluded by once again telling him to do everything as the LORD had commanded.

Aaron first slaughtered the bull calf as a sin offering for himself. When his sons brought him the blood, he applied it to the horns of the altar and poured the rest at its base. He burned the fat, the kidneys, and the long lobe of the liver on the altar, while the flesh and hide were burned outside the camp. The passage confirms that this was done just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Aaron then presented the burnt offering for himself. He splashed its blood against the sides of the altar and burned the pieces of the sacrifice, including the head, on the altar. After washing the internal organs and legs, he burned them with the burnt offering.

Aaron’s offering of sacrifices for himself first shows that even the person officiating at the people’s sacrifices was not exempt from the prescribed rites. He did not immediately begin handling the people’s offerings. Only after completing the sin offering and burnt offering for himself did he proceed to the sacrifices for the people.

The people’s sacrifices also followed the prescribed order

Aaron slaughtered the goat for the people’s sin offering and presented it in the same way as the earlier offering. He offered the burnt offering according to the prescribed manner. From the grain offering, he took a handful and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning’s burnt offering. He then slaughtered the ox and the ram as fellowship offerings.

Aaron’s sons continued bringing him the blood and the designated portions of the sacrifices. Aaron splashed the blood against the sides of the altar and burned the fat on it. He waved the breasts and the right thigh before the LORD as a wave offering. Once again, the passage records that this was done as Moses had commanded.

After completing the sin offering, burnt offering, and fellowship offering, Aaron raised his hands toward the people and blessed them. Moses and Aaron entered the tent of meeting, and when they came out, they blessed the people again. The preparation, sacrifices, and blessings all took place in the commanded order.

After the sacrifices were completed, fire consumed the offerings on the altar

When Moses and Aaron blessed the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to the entire assembly. Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When the people saw it, they shouted and fell facedown.

Leviticus 9 does not present the manifestation of God’s glory as an isolated event. It records that the glory and fire appeared after Aaron had first offered sacrifices for himself, completed the various sacrifices for the people as commanded, and blessed them together with Moses. Repeated expressions such as “as the LORD commanded,” “in the prescribed manner,” and “as Moses commanded” emphasize that no part of the sacrificial procedure was altered at human discretion.

For one practical step today, you could read all of Leviticus 9 and mark each passage corresponding to words such as “commanded,” “as,” and “in the prescribed manner.” This will help you trace, in the order presented by the text, the repeated acts of preparation and obedience that preceded the final appearance of the fire and the glory.