An Obedient, Consecrated Life: Leviticus 8:18-9:22

From: Hands Full Of Christ: Bible Talks On Leviticus By: Gordon Henry Hayhoe

Leviticus 8:18‑9:22 • 4 min. read • grade level: 10

Leviticus 8:18-9:22¹⁸And he brought the ram for the burnt offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. ¹⁹And he killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about. ²⁰And he cut the ram into pieces; and Moses burnt the head, and the pieces, and the fat. ²¹And 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 savor, and an offering made by fire unto the Lord; as the Lord commanded Moses. ²²And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. ²³And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. ²⁴And 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. ²⁵And 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: ²⁶And 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: ²⁷And he put all upon Aaron's hands, and upon his sons' hands, and waved them for a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁸And Moses took them from off their hands, and burnt them on the altar upon the burnt offering: they were consecrations for a sweet savor: it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord. ²⁹And 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. ³⁰And 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. ³¹And 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. ³²And that which remaineth of the flesh and of the bread shall ye burn with fire. ³³And 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. ³⁴As he hath done this day, so the Lord hath commanded to do, to make an atonement for you. ³⁵Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the Lord, that ye die not: for so I am commanded. ³⁶So Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses. ¹And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; ²And he said unto Aaron, Take thee a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. ³And unto the children of Israel thou shalt speak, saying, Take ye a kid of the goats for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering; ⁴Also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord; and a meat offering mingled with oil: for to day the Lord will appear unto you. ⁵And they brought that which Moses commanded before the tabernacle of the congregation: and all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. ⁶And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commanded that ye should do: and the glory of the Lord shall appear unto you. ⁷And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering, and thy burnt offering, and make an atonement for thyself, and for the people: and offer the offering of the people, and make an atonement for them; as the Lord commanded. ⁸Aaron therefore went unto the altar, and slew the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. ⁹And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him: and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar: ¹⁰But the fat, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver of the sin offering, he burnt upon the altar; as the Lord commanded Moses. ¹¹And the flesh and the hide he burnt with fire without the camp. ¹²And he slew the burnt offering; and Aaron's sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled round about upon the altar. ¹³And they presented the burnt offering unto him, with the pieces thereof, and the head: and he burnt them upon the altar. ¹⁴And he did wash the inwards and the legs, and burnt them upon the burnt offering on the altar. ¹⁵And he brought the people's offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and slew it, and offered it for sin, as the first. ¹⁶And he brought the burnt offering, and offered it according to the manner. ¹⁷And he brought the meat offering, and took an handful thereof, and burnt it upon the altar, beside the burnt sacrifice of the morning. ¹⁸He slew also the bullock and the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people: and Aaron's sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled upon the altar round about, ¹⁹And the fat of the bullock and of the ram, the rump, and that which covereth the inwards, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver: ²⁰And they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burnt the fat upon the altar: ²¹And the breasts and the right shoulder Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord; as Moses commanded. ²²And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings. (Leviticus 8:18‑9:22)

Next there was the ram for a burnt offering which tells us of the sweet savor of Christ’s devoted obedience which we have already spoken of in our talk on Exodus 29. Then there was the second ram — the ram of consecration — the blood of which was sprinkled on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, on his right thumb, and on the great toe of his right foot. This was done to Aaron’s sons too. It speaks of Christ’s obedient, consecrated life even unto death and also of how the same devotedness should be the character of our lives. Of course Aaron himself had been anointed with oil (typical of the Holy Spirit), first before the blood was put on, for he typifies Christ. With us the blood must come first, for we must be cleansed from our sins before we can be indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God.

After the blood had been put upon them, Aaron and his sons were given the wave offering. So in worship how we delight to present Christ to God in all the excellence of His Person and work.

Spiritual Power and Priceless Blood

The anointing oil and the blood were to be sprinkled upon Aaron and his sons and upon their garments. Priestly service must be by the power of the Spirit, while never forgetting the cost of our redemption, even the precious blood of Christ. But how blessed to be identified with Christ as the One who has received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:33³³Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. (Acts 2:33)), after having accomplished that great redemptive work.

For seven days Aaron and his sons were to abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, feeding upon that which typified accomplished redemption, and the glory of the Lord did not appear to the people until the eighth day. Surely this is a beautiful picture of the church’s place now. While Israel has not seen the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ, we do, and we are in a place of nearness to Himself through sovereign grace on the ground of accomplished redemption. There we can feed upon the blessed fruits of what He has done in that hidden place of separation, like Aaron and his sons together at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. May our souls be stirred to enter into and enjoy these things in fuller measure, and may we count it a privilege to keep the charge of the Lord until He comes again — a moment which is very near at hand!

Wonder and Worship

On the eighth day Aaron brought a sin offering and a burnt offering, while the children of Israel brought a sin offering, a burnt offering, peace offerings, and a meat offering mingled with oil. Then “all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord” (Leviticus 9:5⁵And they brought that which Moses commanded before the tabernacle of the congregation: and all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. (Leviticus 9:5)). They were all present to see the wonderful things which were to take place that day, and if in any measure we are able to lay hold of the marvelous truths seen in type here, we will wonder and worship too!

Aaron, once again a type of Christ, took all the sacrifices and offered them before the people in God’s appointed way. The only part that Aaron’s sons had in all this was to bring the blood to Aaron, and since they typify the church, what a wonderful picture we see here of the time when the Lord Jesus comes in glory for the deliverance of Israel, for we will be with Him then — our robes washed in the blood of the Lamb. We will be, as it were, “bringing the blood” as the ground of our redemption — and of Israel’s too!

For Further Meditation

1. What did our redemption cost God?

2. The figure described here shows how Aaron and his sons delighted to present Christ to God. Practically speaking, what does it mean to “present Christ to God”? How can we do that each day of our lives?

3. A good and relatively simple source of instruction on consecration can be found in God’s Way of Peace — God’s way of Rest, Power and Consecration — God’s Way of Holiness by E. Dennett.

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