Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Leviticus 8:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, the anointing oil, a bull for the sin offering, two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread; (3) And gather all the congregation together at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."
In the last post, God had concluded His instructions to Moses about how to perform various offerings. He now turned to the subject of the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priest's office. Moses was to take Aaron and his sons, the garments for the priesthood that had formerly been ordered and made, the anointing oil that likewise had been ordered and now made, a bullock for the sin offering, two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread, exactly as had been ordered back in Exodus 29:1-3. He was to gather the whole body of people to the door of the tabernacle, which would have meant the whole courtyard of the tabernacle, as the number of people would have been so large. More than likely, just the heads of tribes and elders were gathered, representing all the people, for the number would have been too large to have all the people in the court of the tabernacle.
(4) And Moses did as the LORD commanded him; and the assembly was gathered together at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Moses did exactly as the Lord had instructed him. He gathered the people to the door of the tabernacle, as well as brought Aaron and his sons, the priestly garments, the anointing oil, bull, rams, and bread.
(5) And Moses said to the congregation, “This is what the LORD commanded to be done.”
Having convened them, Moses explained the reason for them being called together was not done of himself, but by divine direction of the Lord. This act of bringing them together and what was to follow with regard to the consecration of Aaron and his sons to be priests, was commanded by the Lord.
(6) And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water.
First Moses brought Aaron and his sons to the laver which was in the court of the tabernacle and washed them with water, making clean those who would bear the vessels of the Lord, but no doubt signifying only those with clean hands and clean hearts should minister in the priest's office in the house of God.
(7) And he put on him the coat, girded him with the belt, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and with it bound the ephod on him.
All these garments were described in Exodus 28 when God gave instructions on how to make them. The "him" referred to here would be Aaron, as high priest; his sons were described as being clothed in a later verse. Moses now put these garments on Aaron--the embroidered coat of fine linen; the needlework belt or sash; the blue robe; the ephod made of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, with shoulder pieces with onyx stones on which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes; and the interwoven sash of the ephod with which Moses bound the ephod on Aaron.
(8) And he put the breastplate on him; also he put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastplate.
Moses put on Aaron the breastplate of judgment with the twelve stones representing the twelve tribes, and in the breastplate he put the Urim and the Thummim, which were some sort of lots or
dice in which the Lord would make known His will through them.
(9) And he put the turban on his head; also on the turban, on its front, he put the golden plate, the holy crown, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
As the Lord had commanded Moses, he put the turban on Aaron's head, and placed on it the golden plate with the engraved words,
"HOLINESS TO THE LORD", referred to here as a holy crown.
(10) And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and sanctified them. (11) And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the laver and its base, to sanctify them.
Moses took the anointing oil that had been made by Bezaleel and ordered by God in verse 2 to be brought to the tabernacle, and he anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, thereby sanctifying it. He sprinkled the altar of burnt offering with the anointing oil seven times, and also anointed all its utensils and vessels, and also the wash basin and its base.
(12) And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to sanctify him.
Moses poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him with it, signifying that he was set apart and devoted to the sacred office of the priesthood. John Wesley, in his Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, wrote that this oil was probably poured plentifully on Aaron's head, whereas other persons and things were only sprinkled. He referred to Psalm 133:2: "It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down on the beard, Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments."
(13) And Moses brought Aaron's sons, and put coats on them, girded them with sashes, and put hats on them, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Moses then brought forth Aaron's sons and clothed them in the garments made for them--coats, sashes, and caps--just as the Lord had commanded he do.
(14) And he brought the bullock for the sin offering; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull for the sin offering.
Moses brought forth the bull for the sin offering. Exodus 29:35-36 told us that a bull was to be offered every day for seven days at this consecration, but only the first day is being described here. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull, acknowledging their guilt and transferring it to the bull, recognizing that they deserved to die as that bull would, which was the sacrifice for their sin and whose blood was used to purify and sanctify the altar, at which they, sinful men, were to serve.
(15) And he killed it; and Moses took the blood and put it upon the horns of the altar all around 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.
Moses killed the bull and dipped some of its blood with his finger and put it on the four horns on the four corners of the altar all around. With that, he ceremonially purified the altar. He poured the rest of the blood out at the base of the altar, sanctifying it, setting it apart for sacred use, that it might be fit to have sacrifices offered on it to make atonement and reconciliation for sins.
(16) And he took all the fat that was on the inwards, the caul above the liver, the two kidneys and their fat, and Moses burned it upon the altar.
Moses took the fat that had previously been prescribed and commanded by the Lord to be removed and burned on the altar (Exodus 29:13), and he did just as the Lord had commanded.
(17) But the bull, its hide, its flesh, and its dung, he burned with fire outside the camp, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
What remained of the bull, with its flesh, skin, and dung, Moses took outside the camp and burned, just as the Lord had commanded he do in Exodus 29:14.
(18) And he brought the ram for the burnt offering; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.
Next Moses brought the ram for the burnt offering, one of the two rams he was told by the Lord to bring with him in verse 2 above. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, making themselves one with the sacrifice, which was to be sent up as a burnt sacrifice for a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire pleasing and acceptable to the Lord.
(19) And he killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood all around on the altar. (20) And he cut the ram into pieces; and Moses burned the head, 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 aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Moses killed the ram and sprinkled its blood all around on the altar. He cut the ram in pieces, cutting off its head, and probably quartering it. He washed the inwards and the legs, and burned the whole ram--the head, the pieces, and the fat--on the altar. It was a burnt sacrifice, that sweet pleasing and acceptable offering to the Lord.
(22) And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.
Moses brought forth the second ram, the ram of consecration. The original word for "consecration" was "millu", meaning "a fulfilling"; this offering was “the sacrifice of completion or fulfilling”. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.
(23) And Moses killed it, and he took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. (24) And he brought Aaron's sons, and Moses put some of the blood on the tips of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet; and Moses sprinkled the blood all around on the altar.
Moses killed the second ram. He took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, on his right thumb, and on his right big toe. He then brought forth Aaron's sons and put some of the blood on the tips of their right ears, their right thumbs, and their right big toes. This was done exactly as commanded by God in Exodus 29. Putting the blood on these particular prescribed places was symbolic of the priests' readiness to hear and obey the word of God, to perform with their hands the specific duties of the priest's office, and to walk with their feet in the way of holiness. Moses then sprinkled the blood all around on the altar.
(25) And he took the fat and the fat tail, all the fat that was on the inwards, the caul above the liver, 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, a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and put them on the fat and on the right shoulder; (27) And he put them all in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and waved them for a wave offering before the LORD.
Moses took the fat of the ram of consecration and its right shoulder, and from the basket of unleavened bread he had brought with them in verses 2-4 above, he took one unleavened cake, a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and put them on the fat and on the right shoulder. He then put all these things into Aaron's and his sons' hands, and waved them for a wave offering before the Lord. Note that scripture didn't change pronouns to indicate that after Moses put these things into Aaron's and his sons' hands, that they waved them, as suggested by some newer Bible translations, such as NIV. Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, wrote that Moses "put the whole first upon the hands of Aaron and in succession upon the hands of his sons: in each case, according to Jewish tradition, he put his own hands under the hands of the priest, moving them backwards and forwards, so as to wave the mass to and fro." Mr. Barnes went on to reflect: "In this remarkable ceremony the gifts of the people appear to have been made over to the priests, as if in trust, for the service of the altar. The articles were presented to Yahweh and solemnly waved in the hands of the priests, but not by their own act and deed. The mediator of the Law, who was expressly commissioned on this occasion, was the agent in the process."
(28) And Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar on the burnt offering; they were consecrations for a sweet aroma; it is an offering made by fire to the LORD.
Moses then took the items from the hands of Aaron and his sons and burned them on the burnt offering of the other ram. They were consecrations, a "fulfilling", acceptable and pleasing to the Lord.
(29) And Moses took the breast and waved it for a wave offering before the LORD; it was Moses’ part of the ram of consecration, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
In Exodus 29:26 God had told Moses to take "the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecration and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD; and it shall be your
part." Moses did as the Lord had commanded and waved the breast for a wave offering before the Lord. This breast was waved with Moses's own hands as it was to be his.
(30) And Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he sanctified Aaron, his garments, his sons, and the garments of his sons with him.
It appears that the oil and the blood were mixed and then sprinkled on Aaron and his sons and on their garments, and thus, they and their garments were sanctified.
(31) And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the flesh at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket of consecration offerings, as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’"
Moses then told Aaron and his sons to take the remaining flesh of the ram of consecration, which was all but the fat, the shoulder, and the breast, and boil it at the door of the tabernacle. They were then to eat it with the bread in the basket of consecration offerings (less the bread from verse 26 that had been waved and burned). This was just as the Lord had commanded Moses in Exodus 29:32: "And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of
the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation."
(32) "And that which remains of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn with fire."
That which remained until the next morning of the flesh and the bread could not be eaten by Aaron and his sons, but must be burned with fire so that it would not be corrupted or used for common or superstitious purposes.
(33) “And you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation for seven days, until the days of your consecration are ended; for seven days he shall consecrate you."
The commentaries I have read are pretty much in agreement that this probably meant they were not to go away from the door of the tabernacle, or out of the court of the tabernacle of the congregation for seven days, until the time of their consecration was fulfilled. "For seven days he shall consecrate you"--Moses speaks of himself in the third person from the words used by the Lord in Exodus 29:35: "And thus you shall do to Aaron and his sons, according to all that
I have commanded you; seven days you shall consecrate them."
(34) “As he has done this day, so the LORD has commanded to do, to make an atonement for you. (35) Therefore you shall abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, so that you not die; for so I am commanded.”
As was done that first day, the Lord had commanded they repeat every day until the seven days were ended, to make atonement for Aaron and his sons. They were to abide within the door or court of the tabernacle day and night for seven days, and keep the charge of the Lord, that is, what was charged upon them to attend to during the seven days of their consecration. This they were to do so that they would not die, as to neglect their charge would be to betray the trust of the Lord and would be considered a direct insult to Him.
(36) So Aaron and his sons did all the things that the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses.
Aaron and his sons did all the things that the Lord had commanded to Moses in chapter 29 of Exodus. This chapter showed the exact fulfillment of the commands delivered to Moses, completely preparing Aaron and his sons to fill the important office of the priests. Commentators have pointed out that this was one of the few historical portions of the Book of Leviticus. Most of the Levitical Book dealt with the laws and ordinances of the Levitical priesthood, as it was called in Hebrews 7:11. The Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge put it this way: "The institution of the high priesthood typified Jesus, the Great High Priest, called and prepared of God, who hath an unchangeable priesthood, and is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him."
