“Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offerings and burnt offering and the peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.” Leviticus 9:22-24
These words of Scripture struck me in a new way this morning. I think the book of Leviticus is so good, so prescient, for our present day. Because it reminds us of what our sin costs. Aaron, the high priest, had to offer “sin offerings and burnt offerings and peace offerings.” Each time a person sinned, an animal’s blood was required. That’s what sin costs. Someone or something has to pay the price of offending a Holy God. Now Christ, our perfect High Priest, has shed all of His blood for all of humanity who will believe in Him. How great Thou Art!
Secondly, I see something about the fire of the Lord. It consumed the burnt offering on the altar. As stated earlier, we don’t have to sacrifice burnt offerings today, because of Jesus, but there is still something that God requires. He requires our very lives to be laid on His altar, to be burned up with His Holy Fire. Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” The book of Leviticus gives a us a bolder, bigger picture of what “a living sacrifice” really means. We are to lay our very lives down on the altar of God to be consumed by Him.
Third, I see the right response of the people of Israel. “When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.” There is only one appropriate response to seeing the Glory of God. It is to fall on our faces and worship. The Israelites realized, in that moment, their complete inability to be seen by a Holy God and not be obliterated on the spot. Instead, He consumed their sacrifice, which was pleasing to Him.
“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14