LEVITICUS
CHAPTER 8
Aaron and his sons are washed, anointed, clothed in their priesthood robes, and consecrated before all Israel—Moses and Aaron offer sacrifices to make reconciliation and atonement with the Lord.
2 Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread;
3 And gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
4 And Moses did as the LORD commanded him; and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
6 And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.
[ They are being prepared to enter a new space so to speak. The washing is to remove the old. We are washed clean in this life through baptism. It is like a new baby after they emter this world they are washed and then clothed. Next we will see how Moses will clothe them and why. ]
7 And he put upon him the coat, [ Notice it is "the coat". Or the coat of skins, the garment. This was an under layer to be worn close to the skin. Like the garments given Adam and Eve just before the were expelled from the garden. ] and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, [ Notice it is "the robe". Coronation clothing is described as two separate garments. The clothing attributed to the Aaronic priests consisted of white linen undergarments and outer royal robes. The scriptures often speak of of their clothing in terms of their meaning rather than of physical appearance. Thus the outer one is called "majesty" representing the the powers of kingship and the other "glory" or "honor" representing the authority of the Priesthood. Job 40:10 "Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency and array thyself with glory and beauty." There is always the combination of two and they represent royal and priestly authority and are worn together. ] and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith.
9 And he put the mitre upon his head; also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the golden plate, the holy crown; as the LORD commanded Moses.
10 And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them.
11 And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them.
13 And Moses brought Aaron’s sons, and put coats upon them, and girded them with girdles, and put bonnets upon them; as the LORD commanded Moses.
14 And he brought the bullock for the sin offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin offering.
15 And he slew it; and Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make reconciliation [ Reconciliation comes from Latin roots re, meaning “again”; con, meaning “with”; and sella, meaning “seat.” Reconciliation, therefore, literally means “to sit again with.”] upon it.
16 And he took all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and Moses burned it upon the altar.
17 But the bullock, and his hide, his flesh, and his dung, he burnt with fire without the camp; as the LORD commanded Moses.
18 ¶ And he brought the ram for the burnt offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram.
21 And he washed the inwards and the legs in water; and Moses burnt the whole ram upon the altar: it was a burnt sacrifice for a sweet savour, and an offering made by fire unto the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.
22 ¶ And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram.
[ The rams whos blood was going to be applied to them as a symbol of atonement for them. ]
23 And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, [ This sacrificial lamb. ] and put it upon the tip of Aaron’s right ear, [ The ears are for hearing. The idea is to remember to hear the Lord at all times. The blood or the atonement hear on the ear is there to cover the times when we do not listen to the Lord, when we do not follow as he would have us do, when we listen to the wrong things. That we will be covered or have those listening sin forgiven. ] and upon the thumb of his right hand, [ The hand that we make our covenants with. Symbolic of the actions that we are taking in our life. The blood again is to represent that the atonement will cover our bad actions if we will repent. ] and upon the great toe of his right foot.
[ The right foot or the foot that is supposed to most follow god. The feet give the the direction that we are headed. The blood on the foot is symbolic of the times when we do not walk in the path or venture from the covenant path that the blood of the atonement will cover our misadventure. ]
24 And he brought Aaron’s sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet: and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.
25 And he took the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right shoulder:
26 And out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before the LORD, he took one unleavened cake, and a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and put them on the fat, and upon the right shoulder:
27 And he put all upon Aaron’s hands, and upon his sons’ hands, and waved them for a wave offering before the LORD.
28 And Moses took them from off their hands, and burnt them on the altar upon the burnt offering: they were consecrations for a sweet savour: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
29 And Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave offering before the LORD: for of the ram of consecration it was Moses’ part; as the LORD commanded Moses.
30 And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon his sons’ garments with him; and sanctified Aaron, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him.
31 ¶ And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, Boil the flesh at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and there eat it with the bread that is in the basket of consecrations, as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it.
33 And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you.