Exodus 29: 15-22, “Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar. And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head. And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him. Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of consecration:”
When the priests were dedicated they were asked to identify with the sacrificial animals by putting their hands on the head of the animal before it was sacrificed. The Lord doesn’t ask us to offer human sacrifices. This is well illustrated in the story of Abraham when he was asked to offer his son, Isaac as a sacrifice on Mt Moriah (see Gen 22). The Lord tested Abraham but then he told him not to offer his son as a sacrifice. The purpose of this was for Abraham to offer his son as a living sacrifice to the Lord. Isaac was old enough to carry the wood for the sacrifice so he was probably bigger and stronger than Abraham, this means that he could have resisted Abraham but he cooperated with the offering as well. The Lord calls on his servants to be living sacrifices in His service. People who have given up their lives to serve the Lord and not their own interests. The priests identified with the sacrificial animals and showed that they were to be living sacrifices in the Lord’s service. They didn’t have their own inheritance in the Land because they were dedicated to the Lord.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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