LEVITICUS
Lesson 11 - Chapter 8
Just as chapters 6 and 7 were a unit, so is Leviticus chapters 8, 9, and 10. These 3 chapters
will present us with the ordination of the first priesthood of Israel. To be clear, all the previous
chapters of Leviticus, including the last several of Exodus, lay out many rules and regulations
for both the common folk AND the priests. But……these have not yet been carried out. So as of
the beginning of Leviticus Chapter 8, no priesthood yet exists, only the instruction about how it
should operate once it is established.
We have seen, beginning in Exodus 20 and continuing through Leviticus 7, an intricate and
PRECISE societal structure created; a structure ordained by Yehoveh, for the purpose of
making Israel a holy nation set apart for Himself. The deal was this: adhere to the structure,
obey the commands and regulations, and Israel would receive God’s blessing. Disobey, rebel,
or simply become lax in the observance of God’s instructions, and blessing will be removed.
Lack of blessing generally means removal from the Promised Land or death.
An exact carrying out of God’s system of worship, atonement, and general society was
required……it could not be sloppy, intermittent, nor haphazard. Scrupulous attention to detail
was commanded by Yehoveh…….so much so, that as it says in Leviticus 7:18, “….the man who
offered it (a sacrifice) will not be accepted”…..if all is not done to a TEE.
I’m sure that every teacher of the OT must have been asked dozens of time WHY all this
seemingly inordinate attention to detail? The answer is really quite straightforward: it’s
because God’s ways are NOT man’s ways. Corrupt mankind had no idea on his own of just
HOW Yehoveh wanted to be worshipped. Look at the variation from religion to religion around
the world as it is today, when it comes to the procedures and conventions used to worship
God. That is because these religions and rituals are, for the most part, manmade…..they are the
result of man’s misguided attempt to conceive in our own minds just how Yehoveh OUGHT to
be worshipped. And, I’ll tell you, that even within the so-called Christian Church, most worship
is manmade…..it happens the way that WE prefer…. Not the way we see God ordain it in the
Bible.
Calvin, a great student of the Hebrew Scriptures, had a most profound answer to the common
query of just WHY God was so detail oriented in these ritual and behavioral instructions to the
Israelites. He says, “ Since God prefers obedience to all sacrifices, he was unwilling that
anything should remain doubtful as to the external rights, which were not otherwise of
great importance; that they (the Israelites) might learn to observe precisely, and with
most exact care, whatever the Law commanded, and that they should not obtrude
anything of themselves.”
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The old English way of speaking may have blurred this for some of you, so in a nutshell, Calvin
says that obedience is the key to our relationship with God. And, that since man (especially so
far removed from our ideal state) cannot of himself just somehow mystically KNOW how to
conduct life and worship, then God must show him. And, that is so man at least has an
opportunity to do it right and not offend our Creator. And, these detailed instructions are there
so as to eliminate any excuse from men such as that they had no choice but to make it up from
their own thoughts, being ignorant of what God actually expected.
For some reason, the Church as we now know it……the church that (admit it or not) is really the
Roman version of what began as a sect of Messianic Judaism………. Has come to the conclusion
that details of worship, personal conduct, God’s do’s and don’ts and such do NOT
matter…..that it’s all entirely up to the individual worshipper to decide for him or herself since
the advent of Jesus Christ. As long as we’re sincere in our efforts, that’s good enough. Yet,
there is most certainly nothing in either the OT or NT that indicates that HOW we worship
Yehoveh and how we conduct our lives has suddenly become of no consequence because
Messiah has come. Nor that “good enough” is good enough when it comes to obedience to
that which the Lord has commanded……. And He has NOT changed or rescinded that principle.
Christ says in Matthew 5:17, “ Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the
prophets; I have come not to destroy but to fulfill.” That is, Yeshua did not come to
EXCHANGE the LAW for GRACE. Often that word “fulfill” is taken to mean that something
has been brought to an end….that the task is finished…in this case referring to the Law. In other
words, usually the Church takes the sentence to mean, “I didn’t come to destroy the Law, but
to end it.” (which really is an oxymoron). The Greek word for end, or to finish or complete
something, is “telos”. But…..that’s NOT the word used here. The word used in Matthew 5:17
for fulfill is “pleroo”. And, pleroo means to fill-up with meaning, to make something abundant,
to bring something to the state of its fullest intent…..nearly the opposite of telos. Yeshua was
going to take the laws and commands of the Father, which were full of shadows and types, and
bring them to the fullest intent and purpose they had always pointed to. And Jesus goes on to
say in the next couple of verses that anyone who teaches that even one iota of the Torah is
now somehow abolished as a result of His coming, will be considered the least in the Kingdom
of Heaven.
So, Yeshua clearly states that a) we need to bury this heretic idea once and for all that the
Torah is now somehow obsolete, and b) we need to recognize that we have an obligation to be
concerned, and to be careful in our worship and in our lives, that we follow God’s ordained
principles.
We can only know what those principles are by looking to the Torah. The NT is far more about
Jesus’ life, and how He fulfilled the OT prophecies in order to prove to everyone that He
indeed IS the Messiah, than it is about laying down new laws and principles. Why? Because it
would have been redundant…..those immutable principles of God had ALREADY been laid
down…..in the Torah. Why would Yeshua simply repeat them? I’ve heard some say, “Well, if
Jesus didn’t say it, then we don’t have to do it”. Nice try. The problem is as the Apostle John
says, Jesus is the Word…..ALL the word, and he was in existence before the world began. And,
what is the Word? In one form it is The Bible….ALL the Bible. Remember; when John makes it
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clear that Jesus is the Word, and that He is God and was with God before the world existed,
the written Word that John was referring to was the Torah….or better what we today call the Old
Testament. There was NO New Testament in existence when John (or any other writer)
penned his epistles.
Now, one other matter that I feel the need to address at this point. We have spent the last
several months looking at what is commonly called The Law…… a term I dislike because it is a
very sloppy and imprecise term, and it gives a decidedly wrong impression. I prefer we use the
word TORAH because until the Greek language became all the rage the word used WAS
Torah. Sometimes when studying anything carefully we can get lost in a swamp of details, and
lose sight of the overall picture. And we have been swimming in a swamp of details for a while
now in Torah Class, especially as concerns Leviticus.
So let’s stop and take stock of where we are; it’s time we ask ourselves an important
question: why do we gentile or Jewish Believers need to bother to study the Torah and the
Hebrew Scriptures……the OT….at all? Further, are we to follow the laws and commands of the
Torah; and if so, which ones…….or is it all of them? Or….is all of this just a historical exercise,
only for the fun of learning? If we conclude that we ARE to obey all, or appropriate parts, of the
regulations of the Law, then exactly how do we do that…..as people living in the 21st century
and so far removed from a culture that resembles what we read in the Bible? Put another way,
in modern times, what does it mean for a disciple of Christ….particularly a gentile disciple of
Christ…..to be Torah observant, IF that’s what we’re to be?
Let me go where angels fear to tread for just a few minutes and see if I can help some of you
with at least a portion of these challenging and important questions.
To begin with, more than half of the 613 commands and regulations of the Law concern ritual
sacrifice and proceedings of Temple activities. Since there IS no Temple anymore, and hasn’t
been since 70 A.D., NO ONE can follow these ritual rules fully even if they wanted to. And, by
the way, as much as Christians are perfectly glad to not have to deal with these Temple rules,
much of the religious Jewish population can hardly wait until the Temple is rebuilt so they CAN.
Further, as you have likely been taught in whatever church or synagogue you were brought up
in, and as I have taught here, perhaps the PRIMARY role of the Torah is to teach us what sin
is, why atonement is important, and how complex and serious a matter it is. Sin is a negative,
right? So, to look at it in the positive, the Torah is, therefore, also to teach us what
righteousness and holiness is; for the OPPOSITE of sin is righteousness. Unfortunately, in our
day this is where the train starts to fall off the track. The Western (Roman) Church says that
since the Torah’s purpose is simply to show us what sin is, that since the advent of Jesus who
has saved us from those sins, we have no further need of knowing about sin so, the Torah,
and the OT, has been rejected as irrelevant. The problem is this: since it’s the Torah that tells
us what sin actually is, then it is also the vehicle God has used to tell us HIS definition of sin
and righteousness. A good analogy would be that once we learn to speak English, does that
mean we have no further need for a dictionary: a book which defines the meaning of words?
The same thing applies with the Torah. Since it is the ONE AND ONLY DOCUMENT that
DEFINES sin and its consequences AND its remedies then we need to know exactly what it
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says….because OUR human definition of sin only rarely matches up with Yehoveh’s definition
of sin.
So, it is from the Torah that we get God’s definition of sin and righteousness……a handy item,
don’t you think?
What we must keep in mind is that while the sacrificial rituals of Torah could provide
forgiveness for breaking the laws of the Torah, there was NOTHING magical or supernatural
about those rituals or procedures in and of themselves. For instance, the blood of an animal
didn’t somehow become “supernaturally powered blood” when that animal was slaughtered
and it’s blood spilled to atone for sin. The fat and entrails burned up on the Brazen Altar didn’t
transform into some magical smoke. The issue was obedience to God; the Creator and Lord of
the ritual The rituals we have been, and will continue, studying themselves possessed no
inherent power, nor did the golden or silver instruments and vessels used in these rituals, nor
did what the priests wore, nor did the sacrificial animal, nor the Tabernacle tent, etc. This is
why God says he prefers our obedience rather than the sacrifice. In other words, He’s not
saying that we have a choice of obedience OR a sacrifice……he’s saying that our obedience is
more important than the sacrifice. In fact it’s our obedience that is the point of it all……not the
sacrificial animals and some barley or wheat dough. Really the Lord could have chosen
anything as the sacrifice, and He could have chosen any procedure. But, choose He did and
our duty is but to obey.
It’s also important to understand the PURPOSE of the sacrifice; it gave us a means of
atonement. Atonement is only necessary because man is inherently sinful, and therefore man
commits trespasses against God (the church term being sins). God would rather have our
obedience than the RESULTING NEED for a sacrifice DUE to our disobedience. By His giving
to us a precise list of what is right and wrong, we can choose obedience or disobedience. By
giving us a precise sacrificial ritual, the Israelites could choose to be obedient to it and obtain
atonement, or not. Obedience to WHATEVER it is that God ordains is the issue. But…..we have
not been given license, because Messiah Yeshua came, to now decide for ourselves what is
right and wrong. Nor to redefine what sin and righteousness is, or to say it’s different for
different people. The Torah was, and remains, the defining document of right and wrong, sin
and righteousness.
That said the Torah was NEVER a vehicle designed to save mankind. St. Paul clearly stated
that fact, and said that ONLY Yeshua HaMashiach was designed to save us. That being
obedient to the Torah did NOT save us. So, does that mean that obedience to the Torah
should be dropped because it doesn’t save us?
Look, going to work each day and earning a living doesn’t save us from getting tooth decay,
does it? Brushing our teeth and good oral hygiene, however, does. So does that mean that if
we don’t want cavities that we brush our teeth……but we STOP going to work because it has
nothing to do with preventing cavities? Of course not. They are separate issues.
Obedience to God’s Torah commands is a separate issue from being saved by trust in Jesus
Christ. But……and here’s the kicker…….obedience to God’s commands doesn’t supernaturally
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save us, anymore than trusting in Jesus supernaturally gives us knowledge of what God views
as sin, and what He views as righteousness. Trusting Jesus atones for our sins. Learning
God’s commands and principles in the Torah enables us to be obedient, because it’s the
Torah that DEFINES obedience and sin. God wants Salvation for us an obedience from
us…..not one or the other.
So, God wants us to be obedient, which is the purpose of Torah; and God wants us to be
saved, which is the purpose of Christ. But, neither is the purpose of Torah to be an instrument
of judgment and condemnation among Believers. Some of us may wear Tzitzit…..others may
not. Some may eat Kosher……others may not. Some may wear prayer shawls……others may not.
Some may observe the Biblical Feasts, others may not. Whether we do or do NOT do any of
things does NOT change our status as being saved. However…….now that we are saved, don’t
we have even MORE reason to be obedient to the One who saved us, than when we were
lost? Paul says it in another way; “should we sin more just so we can obtain more grace?!
Heaven forbid!” Folks, the lack of obedience IS sin!
We know from many passages in the Bible that the earliest Believers strove to obey the Torah.
They saw nothing that made trust in Yeshua and obedience to the Torah as mutually exclusive.
James the Just says to Paul in Acts 21 “you see brother how many thousands of Jews there
are which believe (in Messiah Yeshua), and ALL are zealous of Torah!?”
Paul says in NAS Acts 24:14 "But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call
a sect I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the
Law, and that is written in the Prophets.”
He also says in NAS Acts 25:8 "I have committed no offense either against the Law of the
Jews or against the temple or against Caesar."
I could go on and on with similar statements by Paul and others. They saw Torah observance
as a natural result of trust in Jesus…..and trust in Jesus as a natural result of understanding the
purpose and meaning of Torah. Torah and Jesus interlock and are complementary and
inseparable.
So why do we study the Torah? Because Torah gives us God’s definition of sin and
righteousness. Without it, we have NO idea of what obedience consists of. Should we obey
the teachings of Torah? Yes, because obedience is what God seeks from us above all else.
HOW do we obey Torah? That’s where the real struggle is, but it’s also much of what Torah
Class is about…..to UNDERSTAND Torah, such that we might discover what it is that Yehoveh
ideally expects from us…..each of us.
So, let’s move on, and resume our study of Leviticus.
READ LEVITICUS CHAPTER 8 all
Much of this is familiar territory to us because what is happening here is that much of what was
instructed to be done, as early as Exodus chapter 29, is now finally BEING done. Therefore
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I’m not going to go into much detail about the protocol of the ceremonies and rituals of
consecrating the priesthood into existence, which is what chapters Leviticus 8, 9 and 10 are
about.
At the core of God’s plan for saving mankind from it’s predicament of inherent sinfulness, and
therefore mankind’s separation from God, is holiness. Yehoveh has been instructing Israel on
what holiness is, what holiness DOES, and what holiness LOOKS LIKE. Along with this is the
need for God to communicate to mankind what PURE worship consists of, and just how
mankind can show our gratitude to Him by means of obedience to everything He has ordained.
The Israelite priesthood was the keeper, the guard, and the authority of the Word of God……the
Torah. It was their duty to instruct the people in holiness and to keep a watchful eye upon the
people that they might not go astray. To make sure nothing unclean or common came into
contact with that which was holy. Performing the many rituals called out in the Torah was but a
part of their duties as Yehoveh’s servants. You see, God was setting up a dynamic that was in
total contrast to the false religions of the world; in God’s pure system, priests were servants,
not lords. They served both God and the people. They served the people by officiating the
sacrificial rites that the people were instructed, by Yehoveh, to perform in order to maintain a
good relationship with Him. They also performed rituals that were on behalf, and for the benefit
of, the nation of Israel as a whole. The Priests made sure that the people did what they were
supposed to do so as not to offend God; but the priests were not to enrich themselves. The
Priests of false religions were generally among the wealthiest, most powerful and
privileged…..not so for the Israelite priests.
Now it helps to visualize that there is a passing of time between the end of Leviticus chapter 7,
and the beginning of Leviticus chapter 8. And though you wouldn’t know by a superficial
reading, during that time the Golden Calf incident occurred and the Wilderness Tabernacle
was constructed, so a lot happened between the close of chapter 7 and beginning of chapter 8.
And, as will be addressed almost immediately in chapter 8, we find that Aaron and his sons,
the first High priest and common priests of Israel, had to be purified in order to assume their
positions. Why? Because they were sinful and therefore impure. These same men who were
now about to become God’s personal servants and keepers of the Truth, had only months
earlier fully and willingly participated in the abomination of building an idol: the Golden Calf.
What great hope this should be for us! If Yehoveh will accept such sinful men as His own
priests, and welcome them into His own Holy dwelling place……even after doing such terrible
things…..how much more will He accept us who have placed our trust in His Son. As much as it
in some ways pains me to say it, even that monster Yassar Arafat, the father of modern day
terrorism, if he had only moments before his heart stopped given over his life to Yeshua, he
would now be fully forgiven, and standing in Yehoveh’s holy presence.
Chapter 8 begins with Moses being named the officiator of what was to follow: Moses was
going to be the priest-maker. Moses was going to conduct the ceremony of ordination. And,
Moses was instructed, in vs. 3 to “assemble all the congregation at the door of the tent”. Two
things to know: 1st, “all the congregation” is NOT literal. It was referring to the elders or some
type of governing assembly…..those who represented all Israel, and it won’t be the last time we
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see this. 2nd is the term “at the door of the tent”. It also is not literal; rather it is referring to
congregating to the east of the entry into the Tabernacle Courtyard.
Verse 5 simply verifies what I had told you about how all the instructions we have read in
earlier chapters were done at an earlier date…..but it is also verified that the Israelite people
were aware of those instructions and what was to happen; because Moses says, “this is the
thing you had been told would happen, and here it is.”
Moses washes Aaron and his sons with water to purify them. This purification washing was not
about dirt and grime….although being physically hygienic was a small part of the ritual. Rather,
it had a similar symbolism to being baptized. The washing was an outward expression of a
spiritual principle: one had to be “pure”, to be “cleansed” of their defilement, in order to come
before the God of the Universe.
After Aaron had been washed, Moses dressed Aaron in the unique uniform of the High Priest.
There were 8 pieces in all that made of Aaron’s outfit, 4 of which were common to all Priests.
We looked at these piece by piece in Exodus 28, and then again in Exodus 39, so we’ll not do
it again, here.
After washing, then dressing Aaron in his High Priestly garments, Moses then took the
specially concocted anointing oil…..fine olive oil mixed with a certain proportion of spices (the
recipe being called out in Exodus 30)………and anointed the Tabernacle and all the special
furniture that was in it: the Menorah, the Incense Altar, the Table of Shewbread, and
presumably the Ark of the Covenant; then, the Brazen Altar and the Laver of water, and finally,
Aaron himself.
After the Tabernacle and its furnishings, and Aaron were anointed, Aaron’s sons, the common
priests, were also anointed with the oil.
Now it was time for some of the all-important sacrificial rituals. First, the Hatta’at…..the
purification offering (don’t get excited if your Bible says, in vs. 14, “sin offering”….that is the
common rendering of Hatta’at, but we’re going to use the term Purification Offering instead
and this couldn’t be a better example of why). And, of course, it’s a bull that is used, the most
expensive and highest of all the possible animal offerings. And, the usual ritual is performed:
Aaron and his sons perform semichah, they lay hands on the head of the Bull (which is still
alive at this point) then it is slaughtered. Since the consecration ceremony is not yet
completed, however, Aaron is not yet authorized to perform the duties of the High Priest, nor
are his sons the duties of common priests, so it is Moses the Mediator who dabs the blood
from the sacrificial bull onto the “horns” of the Brazen Altar. Then Moses pours out the
remainder of the Bull’s blood onto the base of Brazen Altar. Why put oil and then blood onto
the Altar and other items in the Tabernacle? Because until they are cleansed and purified they
are unfit for service to God. They were made of common materials, and manufactured by
human hands; so they were unclean. Remember our God-principle: uncleanness is
CONTAGIOUS. Whatever touches uncleanness itself becomes unclean. The Brazen Altar and
all the other Tabernacle vessels, tools, and ritual devices had become infected with
uncleanness because they had been touched by human hands…..hands which were inherently
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impure, unclean, sinful.
So now that the Brazen Altar has been consecrated and readied for it’s purpose, the very first
sacrifice is offered upon its fire grill: the fat and certain parts of the Bull’s entrails are laid by
MOSES, not by Aaron, on the Altar and turned into smoke. But, the remaining parts of the Bull,
the hide, all it’s flesh, everything else but certain entrails and the fat that surrounded them, is
taken elsewhere to be burned up. And, that place is one we have become familiar with; it’s
called OUTSIDE THE CAMP. And, there, on a common wood fire, beyond the Tabernacle, and
away from the area the Israelites were encamped, the Bull remains were burnt to ashes.
Actually, they were destroyed the way one would burn trash……for the ONLY part of the Bull for
this Hatta’at sacrifice that served any sacrificial purpose at all, was the entrails and the fat, the
Helev, that surrounded them.
Next, a Ram, a male sheep that is at least one year old, was brought forward. Aaron and his
sons laid their hands on the Ram, identifying THIS Ram as the one brought to God for the
Hatta’at AND to symbolize the transference of their guilt, their sin, onto this innocent
sheep….and it is slaughtered. The Rams blood is collected, splashed on all sides of the Brazen
Altar, and then (unlike the Bull), the Rams head, flesh, entrails, fat….pretty much the entire
Ram………was burned up. And we are reminded once again the purpose for the burning up…..to
create smoke. Torah means “instruction”. The most common method for instructing is
repetition, so it should not be surprising that since the Torah is a document meant to teach
Israel about holiness, sin, and atonement, that it is repeated time and time again, that the burnt
offering is for the purpose of creating smoke which is a pleasing fragrance to Yehoveh.
Immediately following the sacrifice of the Ram, a SECOND Ram is brought forward, and Aaron
and his sons perform semichah. But, now the ritual changes; Moses takes some of this Ram’s
blood and dabs it onto Aaron’s right ear, right thumb, and right big toe. What is the meaning of
this? Later in Leviticus (in chapter 14) we’ll get into the laws and rituals of Tzara’at…….that is,
rituals for dealing with skin diseases (too often all lumped together and mislabeled as Leprosy),
because these skin diseases were a VERY serious form of ritual uncleanness. And, this was
because skin diseases were greatly feared, and typically highly contagious. This is why
Israelites who contracted a skin disease were put outside the camp…..they were separated and
quarantined. A skin disease was perhaps THE most outwardly visible form of uncleanness a
person could have. Now, please take notice and see this important connection: I’ve
introduced you to the principle that uncleanness is CONTAGIOUS. Here in Leviticus 8:23, we
see that part of the procedure for purifying Aaron and his sons from their uncleanness, that
they might become priests for God, is the same as the procedure for purifying a person from
their unclean state due to their having contracted a highly contagious skin disease. See,
normally our impure state, our state of sin, is inward. It’s not externally visible to others. That
was Aaron and his son’s condition, which was the same as for all mankind. They were
unclean in their sins…..but outwardly, there was no sign of it. Yet, God sees it in Aaron, just as
he sees it in us, and in all mankind.
You and I cannot visibly see our own inherent sin or the inherent sin of others. The Word
cautions us that man looks at the external, yet Yehoveh looks at the internal. A skin disease is
something we CAN see, but we cannot know the condition of someone’s heart. And, just as a
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man can spot a skin disease a mile away, God can spot the sinful condition of our hearts.
Skin disease is symbolic of uncleanness. Remember how God had Moses put his hand inside
his cloak, and when it pulled it out, it was white with skin disease? Yehoveh demonstrated to
Moses, by means of giving him that temporary skin disease, what Moses’ true condition,
inwardly, was; in God’s eyes, Moses was unclean. Then, he had Moses put his hand back into
his cloak, and when he pulled it out again, it was clean. Among men, there is utterly no way to
transform that which is Unclean into something that is clean. Among men, uncleanness can
only beget more uncleanness. Only God can make what is unclean, clean.
But, something else is also revealed in this consecration ritual: just as oil anoints both Aaron
and the Altar, so is blood applied to both Aaron and the Altar of sacrifice. An organic link,
inseparable, is made between the priesthood and sacrifice; by means of the blood from the
Altar, Aaron and his sons are ordained to offer sacrifice AT the Altar. In time, the blood of one
who will be called our “High Priest in Heaven”, will be used AS the sacrificial blood; the
shadow and type of the blood sacrifice and High Priest connection we see here in Leviticus, is
brought to its fullest intent when Jesus the Christ acts as our High Priest and His own blood
becomes the sacrificial blood……once and for all mankind who will trust Him.
As the ordination and consecration ritual continues in vs. 26, we see a procedure that should
ring a bell; we see a grain offering presented. And, this grain offering, Minchah, which is
normally presented at any given offering ceremony as ONE of several different, but
acceptable, methods of preparing the grain (unleavened, leavened, cooked on a griddle, baked
in an oven, made into a cake, etc.), is here offered in 3 ways: an unleavened cake which would
have been cooked on a griddle, and then a cake soaked with oil that would have been baked
in an oven, and finally a wafer. And, these are placed into Aaron and his sons’ hands, atop
some fat from the Ram, and they are presented to the Lord by means of procedure we just
learned about in the previous chapter: in Hebrew, it is Tenufah. We call it a Wave Offering.
That is, the sacrificial material is held up, above the shoulder, by the worshipper, and then
moved back and forth in a waving motion. After that, Moses takes the sacrifice out of the hands
of Aaron and his sons and places it on the Brazen Altar, and it is burned up and turned into a
pleasing odor.
Notice also that the breast of the Ram was offered in a Tenufah, a wave offering, by Moses,
and it was NOT burned up on the Altar; rather, Moses kept it as his portion to be eaten as food.
Now, as a finale to the consecration of Aaron and his sons, a mixture of the special holy
anointing oil and the sacrificial blood was sprinkled on them AND on their clothing. The
consecration was complete. However, it would NOT take effect until a period of time had
passed: 7 days.
We get another important principle here: uncleanness….defilement…..can happen in an instant
but becoming pure takes time. What is the precise significance of the 7-day period? It’s hard
to know. But, we do know that it is also the exact same period of time that a person who has
had a skin disease, but is now diagnosed as being clean….that is, healed….must still remain
apart from everyone else. Aaron and his sons were consecrated, but had to remain within the
Tabernacle compound for 7 more days before they could begin their service.
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Let’s not close out chapter 8 until we are clear about the principles established here that will
carry over to the remainder of the Bible; and the main principle is that sin is universal, and it
pollutes everything it touches…..it is CONTAGIOUS.
Sin’s roots go deeply into the world and into mankind. After the fall in the Garden of Eden,
mankind became incorrigible. Psalm 14:3 says NIV Psalm 14:3 “All have turned aside, they
have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
We, by now, should be recognizing that the Torah has no “once and for all” remedy for sin.
Oh, yes, there are sacrifices that allow individual sins to be forgiven. There are even sacrifices,
which for a time allow men’s sinful natures to be covered over so that approaching God is
possible. But even the High Priest was no different than any other man in regard to his sin
nature and in his propensity to commit sins.
Paul makes it clear in Hebrews (particularly chapters 5-10) that try as they might, the priests
could not remove the sin nature from men……because the Law, the Torah, was never designed
for that purpose. It was Christ alone whose atoning sacrifice removed the sinful nature of the
one who trusted in Him, at least in the eyes of God. And, when Paul says that Christ is better
than the Law, it was in this sense that he meant it…..that Christ could do what the Law couldn’t:
He could save. Yet that was not because the Law, the Torah, failed; it was because it was the
purpose of the Law to show man what sin and righteousness is, not to save man from his sins.
It was Christ’s job to do that.
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