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LEVITICUS
CHAPTER 8

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 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. 5 And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the LORD commanded to be done. 6 And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.

Everything is prepared. The tabernacle is set according to God's plan, and five
offerings have been prescribed.
But as yet, there is no priest to minister. Notice here, that it is Moses, commanded
of God, who institutes Aaron and his sons into the ministry. A minister should be
called of God, and recognized by the people as being called from God.
First they are wholly washed (verse 6). This was earlier described in Exodus 29:4-9.
This washing represents the special calling of God and the anointing of special gifts
for the ministry (see Titus 3:5).
God calls, gifts and sets apart by the "washing of regeneration," which, by the way,
comes to every Christians. Therefore, every Christian is a priest in
one sense - he/she has a ministry to perform.
The primary ministry of the New Testament priesthood is to tell others of Jesus.
(See Revelation 1:6)

7 And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith. 8 And he put the breastplate upon him: also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim. 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.

Now Moses (acting as the mediator for God) dresses Aaron for his specific duties.
We are washed in the blood, clothed by Jesus, Who sends God's Holy Spirit. And His Holy
Spirit enables us for the ministry (Acts 1:8).
Notice that Aaron wears seven specific articles for his ministry. Seven is the
number which represents completion. Whatever specific ministry God calls a Christian to do
He perfectly and completely suits the Christian to perform that ministry.
Have you considered what specific ministry (or ministries) God has called you for?
Remember, He perfectly outfits you for it.
Let me mention that the priest also had to wash his hands and feet before each offering.
(See Exodus 30:17-21) We should willingly come to God and request forgiveness each day.

In the remainder of this chapter, four major doctrines are shown.

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. 12 And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.

The first doctrine is that of ANOINTING which refelects being called by His Spirit.
(see John 6:44)
The special anointing oil (Exodus 30:32) was used once to sanctify all the parts of the
tabernacle; and then it was used upon Aaron to santify him as the High Priest. (See Psalm 133:2,
and Hebrews 1:9)
This special anointing was symbolic of Jesus' Holy anointing by God's Holy Spirit. Jesus is ourONLY High Priest.

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.

Aaron's sons were now dressed for their service according to Exodus 29:8-9. No one can serve God
in any capacity, unless he/she is properly outfitted by the Lord Himself.

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 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.

The second doctrine discussed here is that of RECONCILIATION by the blood of the sin offering.
(See Matthew 26:28 and 2Corinthians 5:17-19)
Notice that verse 14 refers to Moses. Again he is the mediator of this Old Testament covenant law.
Jesus is God's One and ONLY Mediator of mercy and grace. In Moses, God used a man; but in Jesus
God became a man.

((A man filled with God's Spirit, called an gifted can be used of God even thought the man is
sinful and imperfect. Moses is the foreshadowing of Christianity or Christians on earth. But for man
to totally complete the purpose God has for him, God must totally and completely take over. Jesus
foreshadows Christians in heaven! See Philippians 3:21. Jesus will one day fashion our body like
HIS BODY!))

It is fitting then that we see Jesus in these offerings. First, He is the ONLY acceptable sin
offering because He was perfect, without blemish before God Almighty. And He died outside the
"camp" (verse 17), thus dying for ALL mankind.

18 And he brought the ram for the burnt offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. 19 And he killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about. 20 And he cut the ram into pieces; and Moses burnt the head, and the pieces, and the fat. 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.

Jesus is the ONLY acceptable burnt offering. He vicariously took upon His body the fiery punishment
of God for our sins. In that sense, He was "TOTALLY BURNED" for us (See Colossians 1:20-22, Hebrews 10:10).

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. 23 And 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. 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:

The third doctrine discussed here is that of CONSECRATION. Jesus is the "ram of consecration."
It is by HIS blood, and His alone, that we are washed clean and consecrated to God. Notice verse 23.
The blood was on the ear so that the servant would hear and obey the Word of God.
The blood on the thumbs consecrates what otherwise would be unworthy service.
The blood on the toe consecrates us for walking in the statutes of God and allows us to be blameless
in the work we do for Him. Thus the blood covers the WHOLE person!

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.

The meal offering was given with the meat offering. We should realize that ALL we have is of God.
That which comes from domesticated animals and that which comes from the ground, and the toil of our hands....ALL, ALL is given by God, and not earned by man!

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. 32 And that which remaineth of the flesh and of the bread shall ye burn with fire. 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. 34 As he hath done this day, so the LORD hath commanded to do, to make an atonement for you. 35 Therefore 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. 36 So Aaron and his sons did all things which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.

The fourth doctrine discussed here is that of SANCTIFICATION. This is the call to remain
in God's service (1Thessalonians 4:3-7, Leviticus 20:7, 1Peter 1:2).
The priests were sprinkled with the blood of cleansing and the oil fo God's Holy Spirit. Then they were
required to STAY at the door of the tabernacle for seven days and nights.
This should be a lesson to us. When we come to the Lord, we should separate ourselves from worldly things,
and learn self-consecration and endurance for His work.
Notice in vers 36 that Aaron and his sons obeyed God. We too should obey God. (See 2timonthy 2:3-4)

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