Leviticus 8 - Bloody Worship
We're going to spend two days in Leviticus being reminded what it take to be in a right relationship with God.
Read / Listen to the chapter:
Reading the chapter in an outlined format will really help with Lev. 8
Leviticus 8 (ESV)
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Take
Aaron and his sons with him,
and the garments
and the anointing oil
and the bull of the sin offering
and the two rams
and the basket of unleavened bread.
3 And assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.”
4 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the congregation was assembled at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
5 And Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded to be done.”
6 And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water.
7 And he
put the coat on him
and tied the sash around his waist
and clothed him with the robe
and put the ephod on him
and tied
the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him,
binding it to him with the band.
8 And he placed the breastpiece on him,
and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim.
9 And he set the turban on his head,
and on the turban, in front,
he set the golden plate,
the holy crown,
as the Lord commanded Moses.
10 Then Moses took the anointing oil
and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it,
and consecrated them.
11 And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times,
and anointed
the altar and all its utensils
and the basin and its stand,
to consecrate them.
12 And he poured some of the anointing oil
on Aaron’s head
and anointed him to consecrate him.
13 And Moses brought Aaron’s sons and
clothed them with coats
and tied sashes around their waists
and bound caps on them,
as the Lord commanded Moses.
14 Then he brought the bull of the sin offering,
and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on
the head
of the bull of the sin offering.
15 And he killed it,
and Moses took the blood,
and with his finger
put it on the horns of the altar around it
and purified the altar
and poured out the blood at the base of the altar
and consecrated it to make atonement for it.
16 And he took
all the fat that was on the entrails
and the long lobe of the liver
and the two kidneys with their fat,
and Moses burned them on the altar.
17 But
the bull
and its skin and its flesh
and its dung
he burned up with fire outside the camp,
as the Lord commanded Moses.
18 Then he presented the ram of the burnt offering,
and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.
19 And he killed it,
and Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar.
20 He
cut the ram into pieces,
and Moses burned
the head
and the pieces and the fat.
21 He washed the entrails and the legs with water,
and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar.
It was
a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma,
a food offering for the Lord,
as the Lord commanded Moses.
22 Then he presented the other ram,
the ram of ordination,
and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.
23 And he killed it,
and Moses took some of its blood
and put it
on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear
and on the thumb of his right hand
and on the big toe of his right foot.
24 Then he presented Aaron’s sons,
and Moses put some of the blood
on the lobes of their right ears
and on the thumbs of their right hands
and on the big toes of their right feet.
And Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar.
25 Then he took
the fat
and the fat tail
and all the fat that was on the entrails
and the long lobe of the liver
and the two kidneys with their fat
and the right thigh,
26 and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord
he took
one unleavened loaf
and one loaf of bread
with oil and one wafer
and placed them on the pieces of fat and on the right thigh.
27 And he put all these
in the hands of Aaron
and in the hands of his sons
and waved them as a wave offering before the Lord.
28 Then Moses
took them from their hands
and burned them on the altar with the burnt offering.
This was an ordination offering
with a pleasing aroma,
a food offering to the Lord.
29 And Moses took the breast
and waved it for a wave offering before the Lord.
It was Moses’ portion of the ram of ordination, as the Lord commanded Moses.
30 Then Moses
took some of the anointing oil
and of the blood that was on the altar
and sprinkled it
on Aaron and his garments,
and also on his sons and his sons’ garments.
So he consecrated
Aaron and his garments,
and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
31 And Moses said to Aaron and his sons,
“Boil the flesh at the entrance of the tent of meeting,
and there eat
it
and the bread that is in the basket of ordination offerings,
as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’
32 And what remains of the flesh and the bread you shall burn up with fire.
33 And you shall not go outside
the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days,
until the days of your ordination are completed,
for it will take seven days to ordain you.
34 As has been done today,
the Lord has commanded to be done
to make atonement for you.
35 At the entrance of the tent of meeting
you shall remain day and night for seven days,
performing what the Lord has charged,
so that you do not die,
for so I have been commanded.”
36 And Aaron and his sons did all the things that the Lord commanded by Moses.
Leviticus 8 Summary
Leviticus 8 gives a tiny glimpse into the vast gulf that exists between our holy God and sinful mankind. At God's command, Moses consecrated Aaron & his sons (made them holy) so that they could go on to represent the people to God.
This processes of consecration and atonement (making payment for sin) of Aaron & his sons involved several actions:
Anointing them with oil;
Putting on an extensive garment with lots of symbolism;
Slaughtering and cutting up a bull and two rams;
Presenting the blood, entrails and other organs of these animals in various ways.
This process of being ordained (being set apart to do specific work for the Lord) took seven days to complete.
Dig Deeper
Notice that all of the people were assembled to watch this process. God wants His sinful people to realize how big a deal it is for these sinful men to approach His throne. Serious preparations needed to be made.
As we read this in our culture, it seems like a completely disgusting experience, as the life was literally drained out of the sacrificial animals and their blood and guts poured out and smeared on various parts of Aaron & his sons. Yet this was all being done in the context of golden temple furnishings and beautiful garments these new priests wore.
We're reading these two chapters in Leviticus this week for two reasons.
We need a reminder that sin must be paid for with blood, and that breaking God's covenant results in life being cut up.
As we begin Hebrews next week, we will appreciate much more what Christ's blood accomplished for us as it was poured out for the complete atonement of our sins.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: A holy God who requires sin to be atoned with blood in order to come into His presence;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God to help you truly appreciate what Christ accomplished for you, especially as we begin reading Hebrews next week.
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
