After telling them what they must do, God now tells Moses to get started. The first place to begin is ordaining the priests, Aaron and his sons, to office, so they can begin offering the sacrifices for the people.
First the priests are washed with water (baptized?). He then puts on tunic, sash, robe, turban and headpieces (source of miters in church today?), ephod and breastplate, with Urim and Thummim in it. Altar and priests were then anointed with oil.
The priests lay hands on the bull, Moses killed it and smeared some blood on the altar horns and poured the rest at the base of the altar. He burned the fat on the altar and took the rest of the body outside the camp to be burned. Again, the point here is that God gets the best of the animal (the fat).
Next a ram was offered in similar fashion, except the whole body was burned on the altar. A second ram was killed, and Moses dabs its blood on Aaron and sons' right ears, thumbs and big toes.
Now the priests take a more active role. Moses has done all the work so far, to the priests. Now Moses and Aaron work together, with Moses still leading. Moses takes the fat (God's portion) and right thigh of the ram (priests' portion), and some bread and puts them in Aaron's hands. Then Moses takes it all back and burns it on the altar.
Verse 30 is a surprise to me. In an unprecedented act (as far as I recall), Moses takes back some of the oil and blood that was already on the altar, and sprinkles the priests with it. Then the priests eat their portion of the ram and bread, and stay in the tabernacle for 7 days.
The principle here is that the relationship between Yahweh and His priests is solidified. They partake of His altar, eating His sacrifices and being sprinkled with His blood.
Chapter 9
Now the priests begin to serve the people, instructing in what sacrifices to bring and offering the animals for the people.
It begins on the eighth day, which may refer to the 7 days of creation/consecration/establishment of creation/institution of the sacrifical system. As Adam's work began on the eighth day, so Aaron's does, as well.
I believe there is significance for our worship today in the instructions Moses tells Aaron to give the people. While most aspects of this system have been abrogated, there are still principles that carry over and illumine our understanding of salvation and our worship today. Here, Aaron is to offer for the priests a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He then tells the people to bring a goat kid for a sin offering, a yearling calf and lamb as a burnt offering, and a bull and ram for a peace offering.
Notice the order and type of what is required. I believe it is a pattern for our worship today. When we come into God's presence, the first thing we do is acknowledge and confess our sin. Then we set our whole selves apart for service to God (the whole burnt offering) by hearing His word. Then we offer and receive back a peace offering, which symbolizes are fellowship with God, which we eat together with the priest (Communion today; perhaps also prayer and an offering of our gifts).
At verse 8, Aaron now becomes the primary actor/sacrificer. He sacrifices for himself first, then for the people. He does the same thing he has seen Moses do several times already: burn the fat on the altar, smear some blood on the horns of the altar, pour the rest at the base, take the rest of the body outside the camp. Burnt offering: blood sprinkled; fat, meat and other pieces all burned on altar.
Then Aaron offers the sacrifices for the people. Sin offering, then burnt offering, then peace offering. Afterward, Aaron raises his hands and blesses the people (our benediction), then comes down. The service is over. He would have used Numbers 6:22-27, presumably:
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 23 “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’ “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”
As happens later with Elijah on Mount Carmel, fire comes down from God to light the altar, to show that God accepts the sacrifice.
To sum up, I see a pattern of 5 C's which applies to our worship today. Notice from Hebrews 13:15 that sacrifices today, after the abrogation of these rituals, involve the fruit of our lips: our words. So instead of killing an animal before the LORD, we speak to Him, and hear Him speak.
1. Call to worship - 9:3-4
2. Confession of sin - 9:15 - the offering for sin. We use words to confess.
3. Consecration to God - 9:16-17 - here, we ourselves are represented by the animal. The Word of God is a knife that pierces our joints and marrow. As we hear God speak we are cut apart and rearranged on the altar, and ascend in smoke to God where we will commune with Him.
4. Communion with God - 9:18-21 - all the meat was returned to the worshipper, except the right thigh, to eat by the third day. Bread was also involved (7:11-14).
5. Commission - 9:22-23 - we are blessed by God through the priest.
For more on this, I highly recommend "The Lord's Service" by Jeff Meyers here.
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