The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Bring Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams and the basket containing bread made without yeast, 3 and gather the entire assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” 4 Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
In my brain I’m imagining this as some sort of time trial run. Moses probably had more time than I think to do this though.
5 Moses said to the assembly, “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.” 6 Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water.
Aaron and his sons get washed…by another guy…in front of other people…
People were a lot closer back then.
7 He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him.
He also fastened the ephod with a decorative waistband, which he tied around him. 8 He placed the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece. 9 Then he placed the turban on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the sacred emblem, on the front of it, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Aaron does not dress himself. Another reminder of that. With that many things to put on, It’s probably nice to have some help.
10 Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them. 11 He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them. 12 He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him. 13 Then he brought Aaron’s sons forward, put tunics on them, tied sashes around them and fastened caps on them, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Must have been interesting trying to use all the stuff when it would be all slippery.
14 He then presented the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. 15 Moses slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood, and with his finger he put it on all the horns of the altar to purify the altar.
Probably one of the only times where touching blood is alright.
He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. So he consecrated it to make atonement for it. 16 Moses also took all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and both kidneys and their fat, and burned it on the altar. 17 But the bull with its hide and its flesh and its intestines he burned up outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.
When you do the things God asks you to do, it goes better for you than if you didn’t listen.
18 He then presented the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. 19 Then Moses slaughtered the ram and splashed the blood against the sides of the altar.
Shedding of blood is how sins are forgiven.
20 He cut the ram into pieces and burned the head, the pieces and the fat. 21 He washed the internal organs and the legs with water and burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
We definitely talked about this already. Good to know that the things God wants done are getting done in the way He wants them done.
22 He then presented the other ram, the ram for the ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. 23 Moses slaughtered the ram and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 Moses also brought Aaron’s sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet.
The significance of the right side of the body is that for most people (not me) the right side is the strong, working side of the body. Here’s a long quote that explains it very well.
The right side of a person is considered their strong side. From the earliest days, left handed people were not thought of very highly and were even believed to be witches during the Medieval times. In the early Jewish and ANE (Ancient Near East) culture, as well as today in most Arab countries, the left hand is used for all dirty things, like wiping after visiting the bathroom, and the right hand is used for eating and greeting people. The left side of the street was considered dirty, as that was the sewer side. Jewish and Christian people living in dhimmitude were forced to cross on the left side of the street when passing Muslims.
According to Jewish tradition, the Jewish priests were consecrated by placing blood of the sacrifice on their right ear, right thumb and right toe (Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8). The right side was considered the strong and clean side in ANE (Ancient Near-East) culture. The thought process for the ear, thumb and toe in Judaism is taught as follows:
The right ear is because the ANE culture is a culture of hearers, not readers. It was required for the priests to hear the word of God and obey. The priests were to live differently because they were the hearers of the oracles of God. Therefore the blood of the sacrifice was placed on their right ear so that they would correctly hear God and obey, hear the people and help them as their office required (confessions, prayers and to rule correctly in disputes).
Next the blood was applied to their thumbs because the priests should work righteously and thumbs are needed to handle the things of God in the Temple. The priests needed their thumbs to cut and burn the sacrifice offerings of which there were many. Without the thumb it would be difficult to properly serve in the Temple.
The big toe was touched with the blood so that the priests would remember to walk righteously before the Lord. It is difficult to walk without the big toe, as balance can become an issue. So where the big toe of the priests were touched with the blood the priests would remember what was expected by them in their faith walk as they modeled walking humbly and circumspectly before the Lord.
Notice the three things that were consecrated to God. Always, the right side was the spiritual blessing. The right ear being consecrated to the LORD would mean that the priest being consecrated would listen to clean things. His hearing would be cleansed by the blood of the sacrifice. The thumb of his right hand being anointed with the blood would indicate that everything he put his hand to do for the Lord would be clean through the blood. The priests needed their thumbs for the Aaronic benediction to make the letter shin a symbol for Shaddai, Almighty God. This priest should not do anything except God’s work. With the anointing of the great toe of the right, the walk of the priest would be holy. This should be a good example for all those who are called to minister for God.
This concept of toes and thumbs is not unknown in the Scriptures. Read the story of Adoni-Bezek in Judges 1:6ff:
But Adoni-bezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes. And Adoni-bezek said, seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, have picked up scraps under my table: as I have done, so God paid me back. And they brought him to Jerusalem, and there he died.Adoni-Bezek was a king of Canaan who was defeated by the Israelites. After they caught him, they cut off his great toe and thumbs as a means of humiliating him, crippling him as a king. Without toes one cannot run into battle or flee and without thumbs one cannot wield a weapon. This was common treatment of prisoners among the nations in that day, and Adoni-Bezek accepted his punishment acknowledging that he had done the same to those he had conquered.
So like most behaviors, there is a good and bad application. These symbolic locations of the body were good in the consecration of the priests and bad in the humiliation of one’s defeated enemies.
The rabbis also teach that Aaron was consecrated in this manner because of his participation in the golden calf incident. This is an ordination ceremony, with the blood sprinkled on these particular parts of Aaron’s body, in a way becomes an atonement for Aaron’s involvement with the golden calf.
Here’s where I got the quote. There’s more information there too.
Then he splashed blood against the sides of the altar. 25 After that, he took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, both kidneys and their fat and the right thigh. 26 And from the basket of bread made without yeast, which was before the Lord, he took one thick loaf, one thick loaf with olive oil mixed in, and one thin loaf, and he put these on the fat portions and on the right thigh. 27 He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and they waved them before the Lord as a wave offering.
This wave offering thing will never get old for me. I can’t believe this is the first time I ever really noticed it.
28 Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar on top of the burnt offering as an ordination offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord. 29 Moses also took the breast, which was his share of the ordination ram, and waved it before the Lord as a wave offering, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Interesting to notice that Moses was a white meat guy. I like dark meat better, but with enough gravy, any of it is edible. I digress.
30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments.
Olive oil would smell just fine.
31 Moses then said to Aaron and his sons, “Cook the meat at the entrance to the tent of meeting and eat it there with the bread from the basket of ordination offerings, as I was commanded: ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it.
God likes food a lot.
’ 32 Then burn up the rest of the meat and the bread. 33 Do not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for your ordination will last seven days.
So they just stand there? ….they just stand THEEEEEEERRRRRRRREEEEE!
34 What has been done today was commanded by the Lord to make atonement for you. 35 You must stay at the entrance to the tent of meeting day and night for seven days and do what the Lord requires, so you will not die; for that is what I have been commanded.”
36 So Aaron and his sons did everything the Lord commanded through Moses.
Never mind. They had lots of stuff to do.
On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. 2 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. 3 Then say to the Israelites: ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb—both a year old and without defect—for a burnt offering, 4 and an ox and a ram for a fellowship offering to sacrifice before the Lord, together with a grain offering mixed with olive oil. For today the Lord will appear to you.’”
That’s exciting! Usually, Moses was the only one who got to hang out directly with the Lord.
5 They took the things Moses commanded to the front of the tent of meeting, and the entire assembly came near and stood before the Lord. 6 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”
Really exciting stuff.
7 Moses said to Aaron, “Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and the people; sacrifice the offering that is for the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded.”
8 So Aaron came to the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself. 9 His sons brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger into the blood and put it on the horns of the altar; the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar. 10 On the altar he burned the fat, the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering, as the Lord commanded Moses; 11 the flesh and the hide he burned up outside the camp.
12 Then he slaughtered the burnt offering. His sons handed him the blood, and he splashed it against the sides of the altar. 13 They handed him the burnt offering piece by piece, including the head, and he burned them on the altar. 14 He washed the internal organs and the legs and burned them on top of the burnt offering on the altar.
15 Aaron then brought the offering that was for the people. He took the goat for the people’s sin offering and slaughtered it and offered it for a sin offering as he did with the first one.
16 He brought the burnt offering and offered it in the prescribed way. 17 He also brought the grain offering, took a handful of it and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning’s burnt offering.
18 He slaughtered the ox and the ram as the fellowship offering for the people. His sons handed him the blood, and he splashed it against the sides of the altar. 19 But the fat portions of the ox and the ram—the fat tail, the layer of fat, the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver— 20 these they laid on the breasts, and then Aaron burned the fat on the altar. 21 Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh before the Lord as a wave offering, as Moses commanded.
That’s a tremendous amount of animal blood that had to be spilled for all of the sins of the priests and people alike.
22 Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down.
Seems like that would have been a long days work.
23 Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 24 Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.
That would have been incredible to see. Falling face down was the default position for worshiping the Lord in those days. You can worship God in any position, but face down is an obvious visual symbol of submitting your life and everything to the Lord.
Scripture Discussed: Leviticus 8 through Leviticus 9
IIWAC: Priests You Will Be
In my brain I’m imagining this as some sort of time trial run. Moses probably had more time than I think to do this though.
5 Moses said to the assembly, “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.” 6 Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water.
Aaron and his sons get washed…by another guy…in front of other people…
People were a lot closer back then.
7 He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him.
He also fastened the ephod with a decorative waistband, which he tied around him. 8 He placed the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece. 9 Then he placed the turban on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the sacred emblem, on the front of it, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Aaron does not dress himself. Another reminder of that. With that many things to put on, It’s probably nice to have some help.
10 Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them. 11 He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them. 12 He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him. 13 Then he brought Aaron’s sons forward, put tunics on them, tied sashes around them and fastened caps on them, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Must have been interesting trying to use all the stuff when it would be all slippery.
14 He then presented the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. 15 Moses slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood, and with his finger he put it on all the horns of the altar to purify the altar.
Probably one of the only times where touching blood is alright.
He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. So he consecrated it to make atonement for it. 16 Moses also took all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and both kidneys and their fat, and burned it on the altar. 17 But the bull with its hide and its flesh and its intestines he burned up outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.
When you do the things God asks you to do, it goes better for you than if you didn’t listen.
18 He then presented the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. 19 Then Moses slaughtered the ram and splashed the blood against the sides of the altar.
Shedding of blood is how sins are forgiven.
20 He cut the ram into pieces and burned the head, the pieces and the fat. 21 He washed the internal organs and the legs with water and burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
We definitely talked about this already. Good to know that the things God wants done are getting done in the way He wants them done.
22 He then presented the other ram, the ram for the ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. 23 Moses slaughtered the ram and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 Moses also brought Aaron’s sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet.
The significance of the right side of the body is that for most people (not me) the right side is the strong, working side of the body. Here’s a long quote that explains it very well.
Here’s where I got the quote. There’s more information there too.
Then he splashed blood against the sides of the altar. 25 After that, he took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, both kidneys and their fat and the right thigh. 26 And from the basket of bread made without yeast, which was before the Lord, he took one thick loaf, one thick loaf with olive oil mixed in, and one thin loaf, and he put these on the fat portions and on the right thigh. 27 He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and they waved them before the Lord as a wave offering.
This wave offering thing will never get old for me. I can’t believe this is the first time I ever really noticed it.
28 Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar on top of the burnt offering as an ordination offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord. 29 Moses also took the breast, which was his share of the ordination ram, and waved it before the Lord as a wave offering, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Interesting to notice that Moses was a white meat guy. I like dark meat better, but with enough gravy, any of it is edible. I digress.
30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments.
Olive oil would smell just fine.
31 Moses then said to Aaron and his sons, “Cook the meat at the entrance to the tent of meeting and eat it there with the bread from the basket of ordination offerings, as I was commanded: ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it.
God likes food a lot.
’ 32 Then burn up the rest of the meat and the bread. 33 Do not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for your ordination will last seven days.
So they just stand there? ….they just stand THEEEEEEERRRRRRRREEEEE!
34 What has been done today was commanded by the Lord to make atonement for you. 35 You must stay at the entrance to the tent of meeting day and night for seven days and do what the Lord requires, so you will not die; for that is what I have been commanded.”
36 So Aaron and his sons did everything the Lord commanded through Moses.
Never mind. They had lots of stuff to do.
On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. 2 He said to Aaron, “Take a bull calf for your sin offering[a] and a ram for your burnt offering, both without defect, and present them before the Lord. 3 Then say to the Israelites: ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb—both a year old and without defect—for a burnt offering, 4 and an ox[b] and a ram for a fellowship offering to sacrifice before the Lord, together with a grain offering mixed with olive oil. For today the Lord will appear to you.’”
That’s exciting! Usually, Moses was the only one who got to hang out directly with the Lord.
5 They took the things Moses commanded to the front of the tent of meeting, and the entire assembly came near and stood before the Lord. 6 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”
Really exciting stuff.
7 Moses said to Aaron, “Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and the people; sacrifice the offering that is for the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded.”
8 So Aaron came to the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself. 9 His sons brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger into the blood and put it on the horns of the altar; the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar. 10 On the altar he burned the fat, the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering, as the Lord commanded Moses; 11 the flesh and the hide he burned up outside the camp.
12 Then he slaughtered the burnt offering. His sons handed him the blood, and he splashed it against the sides of the altar. 13 They handed him the burnt offering piece by piece, including the head, and he burned them on the altar. 14 He washed the internal organs and the legs and burned them on top of the burnt offering on the altar.
15 Aaron then brought the offering that was for the people. He took the goat for the people’s sin offering and slaughtered it and offered it for a sin offering as he did with the first one.
16 He brought the burnt offering and offered it in the prescribed way. 17 He also brought the grain offering, took a handful of it and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning’s burnt offering.
18 He slaughtered the ox and the ram as the fellowship offering for the people. His sons handed him the blood, and he splashed it against the sides of the altar. 19 But the fat portions of the ox and the ram—the fat tail, the layer of fat, the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver— 20 these they laid on the breasts, and then Aaron burned the fat on the altar. 21 Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh before the Lord as a wave offering, as Moses commanded.
That’s a tremendous amount of animal blood that had to be spilled for all of the sins of the priests and people alike.
22 Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down.
Seems like that would have been a long days work.
23 Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 24 Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.
That would have been incredible to see. Falling face down was the default position for worshiping the Lord in those days. You can worship God in any position, but face down is an obvious visual symbol of submitting your life and everything to the Lord.
Scripture Discussed: Leviticus 8 through Leviticus 9