Leviticus 8

v1-13: What had been commanded back in Exodus 28-29 “is here commanded to be done now.” Laws had been given concerning sacrifices, but they “could not be observed without priests.” Aaron and his sons needed to be ordained to this office. They needed to be cleaned, because though “no dirt could be seen on them, they must still be washed, to show their purification from sin, with which their souls were defiled, however clean their bodies were.” They also needed to be clothed with the holy garments that communicated the glory and holiness of the God they were serving.

v14-30: By offering up sacrifices of each kind for themselves, the priests would be able to offer up sacrifices for the people, “not looking down on” them, but “remembering that they themselves had had sacrifices offered for them.”

v31-36: “Being consecrated to their service,” the priests “must give themselves wholly to it and attend continually to this very thing.” In the same way, “each one of us must do what God requires.” Before God, we each have “[a responsibility] to fulfil, an eternal God to glorify, an immortal soul to provide for, necessary duties to be done, and our generation to serve.” God will “call us to account for how we have lived our lives.”

Leviticus 9

v1-7: Aaron needed to offer his own sacrifice first, to make atonement for himself, because he was a sinner. “But we have a High Priest who was separate from sinners and needed no atonement. When our Messiah was cut off as a sacrifice, it was not for himself, for he knew no sin.”

v8-22: After offering the sacrifices on behalf of the people, Aaron “lifted up his hand towards the people, and blessed them.” The Lord Jesus, after offering Himself up as the once for all time sacrifice on behalf of His people, “at his ascension, lifted up his hands, and blessed [His people],” and He continues to do so.

v23-24: The fire ate up the sacrifice showing God’s acceptance of it in two ways. First, “it showed that God turned away his wrath from them.” Instead of consuming them for their sins, it consumed the sacrifice showing “God’s acceptance of that as an atonement for the sinner.” Second, it showed God’s communing with them, as “[the people] ate their part of the sacrifice, and the fire of the Lord ate up his part.”