Leviticus 8: The Consecration of the Priests

*A Quick Word of Explanation for What Will Follow:

I teach 3 Bible studies a week that follow the same basic structure of going through a book of the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse. I have teaching studies like this for the last 13 years and have gone through every book of the New Testament in this way and many books of the Old Testament. Occasionally when I am gushing to someone about how much I got out of Hosea or Judges or Galatians, I will get a request for my notes...to which I sheepishly respond that I have none. Then I frown as I imagine all the page of material that could have been given had I simply written a little about whatever chapter we were studying each week.

Well! I am finally going to attempt to do that! I use various resource books and information and the Bible studies are very free-flowing with everyone welcome to contribute and participate as we move through the Scriptures. Feel free to join the conversation as I submit these brief thoughts for your consideration. I am starting with the books I am studying now and will try to tag them in such a way that they are easily located later, but you will have to bear with me and forgive me for plunging right into the middle of Leviticus without background information. I hope this may be of some use to you and that together we can “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18)

Leviticus 8: “The Consecration of the Priests”

As we begin the next section of Leviticus about the ordination of the priests, it is important to keep a few New Testament fulfilments in mind.

• Jesus has fulfilled the role of our high priest. (Hebrews 4:14-16)
• As His spiritual children, we are called to fulfill the role of priests, as well. (1 Peter 2:5, 9)

It is with those principles in mind that I read this chapter.

First of all, why were priests even needed? Because the people of Israel were unholy, yet attempting to approach a holy God and He set aside a class of people who would go before Him as intercessors and representatives of the people, who would, in turn, represent Him to the people. Aaron and his sons were these first priests, and yet, they themselves were unholy and needed to be set apart. Moses in this chapter, as the prophet, intercessor, and mediator, fulfills the role of High Priest to ordain Aaron and his sons.

First, an overview of what happens to them in this chapter.

1. The Lord tells Moses to gather everyone together for the ceremony.
2. Aaron and his sons are washed with water.
3. Aaron is clothed with the garments of the high priest.
4. Moses anoints the tabernacle and everything in it with oil, then pours the oil over Aaron’s head to sanctify him.
5. Aaron’s sons are clothed with their priestly garments.
6. A sin-offering is made.
7. A burnt offering is made.
8. A consecration offering is made and Aaron and his sons have the blood applied to their right ears, right thumbs and right big toes, then wave their portion before the Lord, then Moses receives his portion.
9. They are commanded to stay in the Tabernacle for seven days until the days of the consecration are at an end.

This may seem like an obscure ritual to you, and if so, hang on to your seat, because this is unbelievably applicable to our lives! Remember, everything in the Old Testament is in principle true and is fulfilled in the New Testament! There are reasons for all of these things which we should take note of--if these things were necessary for the priests to approach God in their ministry then, the principle is still true of us to approach God in our ministry today! The process is endlessly fascinating to me and I am sure there are depths that I will not reach in this short analysis but give me leave to point just a few things out point by point.

First, this is all done by the commandment of the Lord, which is pointed out continuously through the section. In fact, Exodus 28-29 gives us the specific commandments of the Lord which are fulfilled in this chapter. Everything is arranged and provided for in this process. The same is true for us. God has a specific plan we must follow, and He has provided the means for us to do it through the cross, resurrection, and outpouring of the Holy Ghost! The way has been prepared, but we must still follow the plan!

Secondly, Aaron and his sons are washed with water. In this instance, they are washing their whole bodies with water, unlike the future when they will merely have to wash their hands and feet when they minister before the Lord. (Exodus 30:17-21; Exodus 40:30-32) That alone brings to mind the words of Jesus when he was washing the disciples’ feet and Peter passionately requested for Jesus to wash his whole body, but Jesus responded: “He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.” (John 13:9-10) Yet, the initial washing in this ceremony was essential and we must all go through it! Once we do, the truth in Hebrews 10:21-22 is for us!

“And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”

When does this washing happen? We, too, begin with our bodies being washed, even as our high priest began with His body being washed!

"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him." (Matthew 3:13-15)

And here, I see the type being fulfilled, as the prophet Moses inducted the high priest, Aaron, so the prophet, John the Baptist, inducts our high priest, Jesus! We must follow in the footsteps of our high priest and be baptized in His name as His sons and daughters! That is the first step in our becoming priests!

Thirdly, Aaron is clothed with the garments of the high priest. I could spend a lot of time here going through each piece of his clothing and what it means but I’ll reserve that for a time when we study Exodus 28. Suffice it to say that as the priest bore the names of the people of Israel engraved on stones our high priest bears our names engraved on the palms of His hands. I am unavoidably also reminded of Isaiah 59:16-21, when YHWH, seeing no man, no intercessor, clothes Himself with garments and comes as our Redeemer to establish a new covenant!

Fourthly, the Tabernacle is anointed and set apart and everything in it, specifically, the altar, which is sprinkled seven times and the laver. What is the purpose of this anointing with oil? As far as I can tell, oil symbolizes that these items are set apart for God’s specific use. They are not to be used in any other capacity. Then the oil is poured over Aaron’s head to sanctify him and set him apart for God’s specific use. Notice that the High Priest is anointed before the sacrifice is made and the blood applied, and that his sons are anointed afterwards. (vs. 30) Just as the Spirit descended and remained on Jesus at His baptism, signifying His anointing before the sacrifice was made, we cannot receive that same anointing until the blood is applied. Our High Priest had to go before us.

One more note on that comes from Psalm 133, which compares brethren dwelling in unity to the oil that flowed down Aaron’s beard. What a weird comparison, huh? But I think the Psalmist is drawing out the point that dwelling in unity sets us apart, even like the high priest was set apart to intercede for the people. There’s an anointing and blessing in unity that enables us to be the representatives of God to the people of this world!

Fifthly, Aaron’s sons are clothed with their priestly garments. A couple verses seem appropriate here:

Psalm 132:9 Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy. 

Psalm 132:16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Just as Moses clothed Aaron and his sons, the Lord clothes us with righteousness and salvation! Our clothing is Christ’s own righteousness! Once we are baptized in His name and anointed by His Spirit we receive the garments of praise in exchange for our filthy garments (just like Joshua the priest in Zechariah 3)!

Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

What a glorious, powerful truth this is!

Sixthly, (is that even a word?), before they can begin ministering, a sin offering is made. I won’t go into too much detail here because it is discussed in such detail in Leviticus chapter 4, but I will again point out that Jesus became our sin offering for us.

Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Isaiah 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Rom 8:3 For what the law was not able to do because it was feeble through the flesh, God, sending his Son in the image of the evil flesh, and as an offering for sin, gave his decision against sin in the flesh: (BBE)

Whether we sinned ignorantly or presumptuously, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered outside the camp. (Hebrews 13:12) His blood was offered for us that we might approach God.

Seventhly, (just work with me), the ram for the burnt offering. The fact that it’s a ram immediately draws our mind back to the ram that took the place of Isaac in Genesis 22 when Abraham said in faith, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.” Again, Jesus took our place, wholly offering himself up for us as a sweet-smelling savor, but then asks us to take up our cross and follow Him, fully offering ourselves up, every piece cut up and the insides washed with water, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is our reasonable service. (Ephesians 5:1-2, Luke 9:23, Romans 12:1) Aaron and his sons were wholly devoted to the service of the Lord, and though the ram took their place in death, they offered themselves up for God’s service in life.

Eighthly, the consecration offering, which is new out of the sacrifices described in Leviticus chapters 1-7 but was commanded in Exodus 29. It functions as a peace offering essentially, except there’s a bizarre part added where blood is put on the priests’ ear, thumb and big toe. What’s that all about, huh? Well, there may be deeper reasoning than I have here, and if so, please inform me, but the priests are stepping into a place of authority. (That’s why it’s all on the right side. The right hand is the place of authority.) As leaders, their ear must be consecrated so that they hear what the Lord is speaking and can discern what the people say. Their right thumb is what enables them to hold and to grasp and to pick up, and every action they take must be consecrated in this way. The right big toe is what they lead with whenever they walk anywhere, and wherever they go must be consecrated before the Lord. What a beautiful reminder for us. Finally, they wave the offering before the Lord, and heave Moses’s part, and partake of this sacrifice. With the unleavened bread, the categories of sin offerings, burnt offerings, peace offerings, and grain offerings are all represented in the inaugural ceremony of the priests and they partake of this before the Lord. At this point, Moses also sprinkles them with oil and blood--the mingled oil and blood applied is necessary for them to approach the Lord, cleansed and set apart for His service, but now fully able to partake of the glorious sacrifices provided for by the Lord.

Ninthly and lastly, there is the poignant commandment to stay in the Tabernacle for seven days until the days of consecration are complete. What does the seven days remind you of? I think the seven days motif is always designed to throw us back to the initial creation, in which after seven days God completed His work, and on the eighth day, there was a new beginning! More on that in the next chapter, but, of course, God is instituting a priesthood for the first time--something new is being created in Israel, and they must abide in the Tabernacle for seven days until the consecration is completed. Then on the eighth day, God’s glory will fall. Interestingly enough, when Jesus rose from the dead on the 3rd day, He appeared to His disciples for 40 more days, making 43 days after Passover, then told His disciples to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. Then when the day of Pentecost was fully come, (50 days after Passover when Jesus died), they were all with one accord in one place and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost! By my reckoning, they were tarrying for seven days until their priesthood was established. More on that in chapter 9.

What’s the application for us? I submit for your consideration, that once we’ve been baptized in water, and clothed with righteousness and anointed with the Holy Ghost and the blood has been applied to our lives...we are then asked to abide in the presence of God until the end. Until the completion, we are to stay in the house of God, consecrating ourselves before the Lord for His service. Isn’t that a great picture for our lives?

This has been far longer than I anticipated, but I believe in studying something that may seem obscure and irrelevant to us--the consecration of the Old Testament Levitical priests--we can see, just as when we turn a jewel a different way to catch the light in a dazzling new display, a picture of who and what we are called to be in just a slightly different way than we may have seen before, and be reminded of what Jesus has fulfilled for us, enabling us to approach as kings and priests to God!