Leviticus
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Leviticus Chapter 9

• Leviticus 9:1 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. 
• 3 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 today the LORD will appear unto you. 

The Lord was going to appear and they had to prepare. When the blood of Jesus covers our sin, we can come boldly before the throne of grace and petition the Lord without an earthly mediator. Christ has become the only mediator between God and man. Yet even in that we must prepare ourselves and come to Him with reverence and respect. Some of us have lost that reverence and attempt to come into his presence forgetting that He is an awesome holy God. 

Without returning to the error of going through man as mediator, we need to prepare ourselves and come before the presence of God with respect, reverence and awe. 

When we find ourselves in error we tend to over correct the error by going too far one way or the other. The pendulum swings back and forth so many times in the church from legalism to licentiousness. Balance is the key. 

We see by studying the Old law that they could have the presence of God in their midst but they had to prepare themselves first. All these offerings for sin, for peace, for thanksgiving, and offering their service in worship had to proceed the presence of God coming into their midst. Remember that it is sin that broke mankind's fellowship with God in the first place. To allow sin to return is to break the fellowship once again. 

That is why Christ as a mediator is so vital and necessary to reconcile us back to God. The Old Testament worshippers though came before Christ and had to observe all these ordinances and sacrifices that reminded them of the seriousness of sin and that they needed forgiveness and cleansing. It is a picture of the wonderful perfect salvation to come. 

Just as Christ had to be without sin Himself and without spot of blemish, all animal sacrifices had to be without blemish of any kind. If Christ would have sinned just one time, it would have polluted His offering of Himself and He would have had to die for His own sin and could not die for our sin. Glory be to the Living God. Christ lived among us for about 33 years without sin keeping the law of God in every point. 

• Leviticus 9:5 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. 
• 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. 
• 8 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. 
• 12 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. 

Before they could bring an offering to atone for the sins of the people, Aaron and his sons had to atone for their own sins and offer an offering for themselves. 

This shows us again that sin separates us from God and we can't come into His presence until it is cleansed. 

The scriptures say in Proverbs,

•  "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." 

If we regard sin within our heart, the Lord doesn't answer unless its a prayer of repentance and coming to Him for salvation. Here is an example of what I mean:

• Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 
• 10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 
• 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 
• 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 
• 13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 
• 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Holy is the Lord. Christ our intercessor has made the way that we can come boldly to the throne of grace and have His holy presence in our lives by way of the Holy Spirit. Humility that is sincere accompanies this boldness. We come with humility, reverence but also with boldness that comes with faith. It's not an arrogant boldness but one that is full of faith believing in what God says.

• Leviticus 9:15 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 a handful thereof, and burnt it upon the altar, beside the burnt sacrifice of the morning. 
• 18 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. 
• 22 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. 

After they offered an offering for themselves, they offered an offering for the rest of the congregation. Then and only then could the presence of the Lord come in their midst showing us that when Christ came to offering Himself as an offering, it broke down that wall between us and God and we too can enjoy the presence of God. Notice that they shouted and fell on their faces. They had a reaction. They knew God was real and His presence was among them.

The thing to remember though is that it only counts for those that repent of sin and believe in these things. If we want to hold onto our sin and still claim to believe in Christ, it does not work. 

If we want to be cleansed of sin and yet reject Jesus Christ, we will have no power to do that. No matter how good we try to live, there is no power over sin except by the Holy Spirit that is given to those who come to Jesus Christ to be cleansed of sin. 

• Titus 2:10 Not purloining, but showing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. 
• 11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 
• 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 
• 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; 
• 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 

This is the gospel in a nutshell. Jesus came to save us from sin, not save us in our sin. Sin separates us from God so sin has to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus in order for us to inherit eternal life. 

This chapter in Leviticus points out the holiness of God and the seriousness of being cleansed of sin before coming into His presence. 

Again as I mentioned before in the verse 24 of Leviticus 9, it mentions that the people shouted when the Lord consumed the offering. They fell on their faces before the presence of God. 

This is why some people fall down when they are in the presence of God. This is why some will shout, some will weep and some will speak with tongues, some will sing. God's presence is not taken lightly. Our flesh will react in some way to His presence. He is so awesome and holy that we can't just be our normal selves. Yet we must remember that the Spirit of God is gentle also and we never lose our self-control. He always gives us the freewill to choose, for His blessings are poured out on willing hearts not the rebellious and those that want to keep their sin. 

DC