Leviticus 8:14 ¶ 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.
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. 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: 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.
How anyone cannot see the importance of these animals as types of
Christ and their absolute value to God is beyond me. Sin is ritually
transferred, ceremonially transferred, to these sacrificial animals by the
priest. When the blood of the ram is placed on the priests it is their sin for
which this animal died. As Christ died for our sin and was mercilessly slain so
is this innocent animal, incapable of sin against God, but bearing their sins
in its death.
The rituals that God put into place for the Hebrews, like
everything else He gave them, should be placed in contrast to the heathen world
around them. The focus on sin against the one true God and reconciliation was
unique to the Hebrews as prescribed by God. As the Bible is mainly the
revelation to us of God’s ministry of reconciling fallen man to Himself the
rituals He imposed reveal to us that the heathen world had wandered far from
His intention for worship.
References
to pagan sacrificial practices regarding animals include these in Isaiah;
Isaiah 65:3 A people that
provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and
burneth incense upon altars of brick; 4
Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat
swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things
is in their vessels;
Isaiah 66:3 He that killeth
an ox is as if he slew a man;
he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if
he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they
have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their
abominations…17 They that sanctify
themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s
flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse,
shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
Leviticus 8:31 ¶ 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.
We
learn from Paul writing to the Hebrews.
Hebrews 10:1 ¶ For the law
having a shadow of good things to come, and
not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they
offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be
offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more
conscience of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance
again made of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should
take away sins. 5 Wherefore when he
cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but
a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt
offerings and sacrifices for
sin thou hast had no pleasure.
7 ¶ Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the
book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering
and burnt offerings and offering
for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O
God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every
priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins: 12 But
this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the
right hand of God; 13 From henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified. 15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a
witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16 This is
the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I
will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more. 18 Now where remission
of these is, there is no more
offering for sin.
While we are not justified by the Law given to Moses or by these
ceremonial observances we can be consecrated every day to our priesthood in
type. Remember what Peter wrote.
1Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew
forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvellous light:
As a priest of God in type you recall to mind your position in
Christ each day when you pray, read your Bible, and choose to behave in a way
that is glorifying to God. I like to think of the garments the priests wore as
being types of Christ’s righteousness which we wear. I like to think of the
sacrifices the people and the priests offered up as types of our prayers, hearing
God through His words, and living a life separated at least spiritually or
mentally from adopting the world’s standards and, above all, following Christ.
We are consecrated, set apart for God’s service, sanctified (see Exodus 28:41)
with evidence of the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit in our possession of the
fruits of the Spirit laid out for us in Galatians 5:22, 23.
Aaron and his sons’ consecration lasts seven days. Seven is a
significant number, a number representing completion and perfection in the
Bible. From the seven days of creation to the
seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues in Revelation
21.
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