This verse highlights Aaron’s faithful obedience to God’s instructions and underscores how Israel’s sacrificial system anticipated a more complete sacrifice in the Messiah.
“They placed the portions of fat on the breasts; and he offered them up in smoke on the altar” (v.20). In this scene, the newly ordained priest, Aaron—who lived in the mid-fifteenth century BC and was the brother of Moses—faithfully follows God’s instructions to prepare and sacrifice the portions of fat alongside the meat of the offering. The fat in biblical practice often symbolized the very best part of the animal, signifying abundance and honor given back to God. By placing the fatty portions on the breasts, then offering them in smoke on the altar, Aaron demonstrated a heart of true worship and obedience, acknowledging God as the source of Israel’s prosperity.
In ancient Israel, the act to “offer them up in smoke on the altar” carried the idea of ascending to God. The Hebrew term for burnt offerings, “olah,” derives from a word meaning “to ascend,” capturing the imagery of the smoke rising upward as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. This visible transformation of the sacrifice from solid to smoke illustrated the spiritual truth that the dedicated gift was being presented to God above, who accepted it. In this moment of worship, Aaron and the people recognized the holiness of God and their need to approach Him in reverence and faith.
These intricate sacrifices also foreshadow the ultimate perfect offering of Jesus Christ, who willingly gave Himself as the Lamb of God and took away the sins of the world (John 1:29). The temporary, ongoing sacrifices of fat portions and animal flesh in the Old Testament point forward to the final atonement achieved through Christ’s singular self-sacrifice (Hebrews 9:14). Although Jesus’s offering would come centuries after Aaron’s ministry, this verse in Leviticus reminds us how God used ritual worship to illustrate the depth of His plan for redemption.
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Leviticus 9:20 meaning
“They placed the portions of fat on the breasts; and he offered them up in smoke on the altar” (v.20). In this scene, the newly ordained priest, Aaron—who lived in the mid-fifteenth century BC and was the brother of Moses—faithfully follows God’s instructions to prepare and sacrifice the portions of fat alongside the meat of the offering. The fat in biblical practice often symbolized the very best part of the animal, signifying abundance and honor given back to God. By placing the fatty portions on the breasts, then offering them in smoke on the altar, Aaron demonstrated a heart of true worship and obedience, acknowledging God as the source of Israel’s prosperity.
In ancient Israel, the act to “offer them up in smoke on the altar” carried the idea of ascending to God. The Hebrew term for burnt offerings, “olah,” derives from a word meaning “to ascend,” capturing the imagery of the smoke rising upward as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. This visible transformation of the sacrifice from solid to smoke illustrated the spiritual truth that the dedicated gift was being presented to God above, who accepted it. In this moment of worship, Aaron and the people recognized the holiness of God and their need to approach Him in reverence and faith.
These intricate sacrifices also foreshadow the ultimate perfect offering of Jesus Christ, who willingly gave Himself as the Lamb of God and took away the sins of the world (John 1:29). The temporary, ongoing sacrifices of fat portions and animal flesh in the Old Testament point forward to the final atonement achieved through Christ’s singular self-sacrifice (Hebrews 9:14). Although Jesus’s offering would come centuries after Aaron’s ministry, this verse in Leviticus reminds us how God used ritual worship to illustrate the depth of His plan for redemption.