How does Leviticus 9:14 emphasize the role of priests in worship practices? The Text in Focus “ He washed the entrails and the legs and burned them on top of the burnt offering on the altar.” (Leviticus 9:14) Priestly Mediation on Full Display • The “He” is Aaron—Israel’s first high priest—acting in obedience to God’s explicit instructions (Leviticus 8–9). • Washing the entrails and legs: – Demonstrates meticulous concern for purity; nothing unclean touches the altar (Exodus 29:17). – Shows that only the priest is authorized to handle and prepare the most intimate parts of the sacrifice, underscoring his mediatory office (Hebrews 5:1). • Burning them “on top of the burnt offering”: – Signals total consecration; every part is surrendered to God through the priest’s hands (Leviticus 1:9). – The priest ensures that worship progresses in the correct, God-ordained sequence—wave offering, blood application, burning—so the people’s atonement is accepted (Leviticus 9:22–24). A Pattern of Holiness and Order • Priests uphold God’s holiness by scrubbing away all impurity before the offering ascends (Leviticus 11:44). • Their careful obedience teaches Israel that worship is never casual or self-styled (Numbers 3:10). • The priestly role forms a living parable: sinners need a sanctified mediator to approach the Holy One (Job 9:33; Hebrews 7:26). Implications for Worship Today • While Christ has fulfilled the sacrificial system (Hebrews 9:11–14), the pattern of priestly exactness reminds believers that God still desires worship marked by reverence and order (1 Corinthians 14:40). • Every Christian, now part of a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9), is called to the same wholehearted purity pictured in Aaron’s washing of the sacrifice—offering every aspect of life “a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1). |
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