He said to Aaron: take a bull calf for your sin offering and a ram for your burnt offering, both without defect, and present them before the Lord. The first offerings of Aaron's official priestly ministry mirror the offerings of his ordination: a sin offering (a bull calf) and a burnt offering (a ram), both without defect. Aaron begins his ministry by offering for himself before he offers for the people. The priest who will mediate between the community and God begins by acknowledging his own need for atonement. The sin offering before the burnt offering communicates the theological sequence that the ordination established: atonement before consecration, personal need before communal service.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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