Leviticus - Part 2: The Priesthood
Leviticus 8
Pastor Scott Skones
Sunday, January 19, 2025
We are continuing today in our sermon series in Leviticus. Someone mentioned to me last week that this is probably not a sermon series that will draw in animal rights activists or those who are squeamish when it comes to descriptions of blood. These first chapters in Leviticus contain detailed descriptions of animal sacrifice. And you see just how detailed God’s commands are.
If you missed last week’s introduction to Leviticus, I’d encourage you to go back and watch it on YouTube or you have the option to watch or listen in the church center mobile app. The first part of the sermon made an argument or a defense for why we are spending 10 weeks in Leviticus. And then the second part of the sermon was focused on the first of the offerings that we see as the book begins.
I mentioned that the first major portion of Leviticus introduces us to these five types of offerings:
Burnt offering
Grain offering
Peace offering
Sin offering
Reparation offering
I want to talk just briefly this morning as we begin about those five offerings. Now, to be fair, it’s a bit more complicated than that, because, as we saw last week, each of them could be subdivided. But I think these 5 categories give us a pretty good understanding of this system of Worship that God put in place for his people.
Remember, one of the prevailing questions that Leviticus deals with is “How do sinners live in relationship with a Holy God?”
And so let’s look briefly at each of these 5 offerings:
Burnt Offering - A voluntary offering of cattle, sheep, goats, or birds that covered the sins of the people as they sought to worship the Lord. The entire offering was burned on the altar.
Grain Offering - An offering of flour or bread through which the people offered to the Lord the first and best of their harvest. This was also the means through which God provided food for the priests. The people would bring regular grain offerings to ensure that the priests were provided for.
Peace Offering - Sometimes called a fellowship offering. This offering was similar to the Burnt Offering, with the exception that most of the meat would be shared between the family that brought the offering, their invited guests, and the priests. This was an offering of celebration for holy days and special occasions. God details the parts that are to be burned on the altar in worship, the parts that are to be consumed by the family and guests, and the parts that are reserved for the priests. Any excess had to be burned. God didn’t allow leftovers.
Sin Offering - This is a category of offerings focused on unintentional sins. The instructions are different depending on who sinned.
Reparation Offering - Sometimes called a guilt offering. This offering covered a wide variety of sins, which might best be divided into two categories: 1) sinning against or defiling God’s holy rituals and regulations, and 2) sinning against one’s neighbor. This offering consists not only of an offering to the Lord but also often an act of restitution – to make things right.
The details of these 5 types of offerings take up chapters 1-7 of the book of Leviticus.
Today, we are moving forward into the next major theme that we see in Leviticus, and that’s details regarding the priesthood. We find the details of the priesthood in Leviticus chapter 8.
If you’re familiar with Israel’s history – there are three major offices that were responsible for both spiritual and civic life. Three offices played a key role in both Israel’s strength, and, at times, its failures. Those offices are that of prophet, priest, and king.
If you took up my invitation to read through Leviticus, you might have arrived at chapter 8 and thought there wasn’t much to it. But the events of this chapter make up a very significant day in the Old Testament – the ordination of the first priests of Israel.
I invite you to stand as you’re comfortable as I read Leviticus chapter 8.
Leviticus 8
The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Bring Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams and the basket containing bread made without yeast, 3 and gather the entire assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” 4 Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
5 Moses said to the assembly, “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.” 6 Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. 7 He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him. He also fastened the ephod with a decorative waistband, which he tied around him. 8 He placed the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece. 9 Then he placed the turban on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the sacred emblem, on the front of it, as the Lord commanded Moses.
10 Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them. 11 He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them. 12 He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him. 13 Then he brought Aaron’s sons forward, put tunics on them, tied sashes around them and fastened caps on them, as the Lord commanded Moses.
14 He then presented the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. 15 Moses slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood, and with his finger he put it on all the horns of the altar to purify the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. So he consecrated it to make atonement for it. 16 Moses also took all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and both kidneys and their fat, and burned it on the altar. 17 But the bull with its hide and its flesh and its intestines he burned up outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.
18 He then presented the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. 19 Then Moses slaughtered the ram and splashed the blood against the sides of the altar. 20 He cut the ram into pieces and burned the head, the pieces and the fat. 21 He washed the internal organs and the legs with water and burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.
22 He then presented the other ram, the ram for the ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. 23 Moses slaughtered the ram and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 Moses also brought Aaron’s sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. Then he splashed blood against the sides of the altar. 25 After that, he took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, both kidneys and their fat and the right thigh. 26 And from the basket of bread made without yeast, which was before the Lord, he took one thick loaf, one thick loaf with olive oil mixed in, and one thin loaf, and he put these on the fat portions and on the right thigh. 27 He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and they waved them before the Lord as a wave offering. 28 Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar on top of the burnt offering as an ordination offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord. 29 Moses also took the breast, which was his share of the ordination ram, and waved it before the Lord as a wave offering, as the Lord commanded Moses.
30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments.
31 Moses then said to Aaron and his sons, “Cook the meat at the entrance to the tent of meeting and eat it there with the bread from the basket of ordination offerings, as I was commanded: ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it.’ 32 Then burn up the rest of the meat and the bread. 33 Do not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for your ordination will last seven days. 34 What has been done today was commanded by the Lord to make atonement for you. 35 You must stay at the entrance to the tent of meeting day and night for seven days and do what the Lord requires, so you will not die; for that is what I have been commanded.”
36 So Aaron and his sons did everything the Lord commanded through Moses.
God, may you accomplish in us all that you desire as we reflect on your Holy Word. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The emphasis of Leviticus changes when we get to chapter 8. The details and regulations for sacrifices are in place, and now the focus is on the Priesthood.
There’s a lot of evidence that early on – in Genesis and Exodus – that the father of the family served as a type of priest – acting in faith on behalf of his family, offering sacrifices to cover the sins of his family.
And then we get to the end of Exodus, and something interesting happens. In Exodus 40:34, we read: “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”
So now, the one who had acted as the mediator between God and mankind previously – the one who went up the mountain and heard from the Lord, is unable to enter the tent of meeting.
And God is up to something – the very next chapter in Scripture introduces offerings and sacrifices which begin to set the stage for sinners entering the presence of God.
Now, none of these rituals themselves are new. We saw sacrifice taking place as far back as the garden when God took the skins of animals and used them to cover up the shame of our first parents. And of course, the issue that divided Cain and Abel was all about offerings brought to the Lord. So none of these individual elements are new. What’s new in Leviticus is bringing it all together into a formal, divine service, commanded by the Lord.
Just like he does today, each Lord’s day, God was inviting his people to come and worship him, and putting all of the details into place for that to happen.
But offerings and sacrifices made it necessary that there would be priests to carry out the work on behalf of the people.
And that brings us to what is sort of the one main theme of chapter 8: God instructs Moses to ordain Aaron and his sons to be mediators between God and his people.
God is setting apart and authorizing a group of people to serve as mediators between him and his people. And our text today covers all of the details of the ordination of those servants.
The word ordination that shows up in our text for today is a word that means “to fill the hands.” In the sense in which it’s used here, it means entrusted with responsibility. Authorized into an office and entrusted with the responsibilities of that office.
And the office of which we are speaking, of course, is the office of Priest.
And so today as we reflect on this account from Leviticus 8, I want to highlight several details of this ordination ceremony and process that are helpful for us, and, ultimately, point us to Jesus.
The Calling of the Priests
V. 1 - The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Bring Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams and the basket containing bread made without yeast, 3 and gather the entire assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting.”
God is the one who initiates this calling and ordination of the priests who serve.
This was true of God calling Abraham to follow him, calling Moses to lead his people out of Egypt – and, later, it would be true of God calling David – and ultimately the disciples and apostles of the New Testament.
And this remains true today. I serve on the Theological Council of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren – and we are tasked with screening and recommending candidates for ordination. And a considerable part of our work is not only examining competency but also call.
When you needed a pastor – you didn’t HIRE me, you voted to issue me a letter of CALL. And ultimately God is the one who does the calling. Our job is to prayerfully seek God’s guidance regarding that call.
One doesn’t call themself. You are called by God. In our case, pastors are called by God through the church. There are no independent pastors. You become a pastor by virtue of a call, and you remain a pastor by virtue of a call. If you as a congregation were to decide to end my service here at Living Word and I didn’t then go on to receive and accept another call, I would no longer be a pastor. Why? Because a pastor isn’t a pastor because he feels like a pastor. A pastor is a pastor because God has called him through the local church.
And this is true of Aaron and these priests. God CALLED them. They are serving in this office because God called them to it.
The next point that I want to highlight is:
The Clothing of the Priests
We will be looking here at verses 6-9 primarily, as God, in great detail, tells the people what the priest must wear.
As our culture has decreased in formality, it has become less and less common to see uniforms or traditional garments worn in ANY profession, and that includes clergy.
I think it’s important to note WHY uniforms were common in many professions and careers. The uniform is intended to signify and indicate the OFFICE that the person holds. It draws attention to the office of the person, as opposed to the person themselves.
When a police officer or soldier puts on a uniform, it represents something bigger than themselves. It means that they are acting in their official capacity. In the capacity of the OFFICE to which they have been authorized. The individual takes a back seat to the office.
And so it’s quite likely that’s one reason that God commanded such an ornate uniform for the priests. But, there’s more to it as well.
We get some of the information on the garments here in Leviticus 8, but more information is found earlier as well in Exodus 28 and Exodus 39, as well as some other passages.
I have a picture of what this looked like.
The Priest’s Garments
The first part of the priestly uniform was a white tunic. There was an embroidered sash and a turban. The high priest would also wear a blue robe, a breastpiece containing some stones, and a gold plate, often called a diadem, attached to the turban.
And on that diadem, worn on the head, were the words “Yahweh’s Holiness.”
On the breast piece, there were 12 stones representing all of the tribes of Israel.
And so this uniform ensured that as the High Priest went about his work, the work of offering sacrifices for sin – he bore the Holiness of God on his head and the people of God on his heart.
I want you to remember that we’ve titled this series, The Gospel According to Leviticus. Here’s one of the hundreds of Gospel gems in the book.
Right before Aaron and his sons were dressed in these garments, verse 6 says that Moses washed them with water. And then he clothes them in these divine garments crowned by the holiness of God.
And then look forward in the story – through the Cross – to Galatians 3:27. The Apostle Paul declares “all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”
Do you see the same exact thing happening? Washing in holy baptism, and being clothed in the Holiness and Righteousness of Jesus.
Leviticus 8 PREFIGURES in the priests that which would come to all believers because of Jesus’ perfect life and death in our place.
In baptism, Paul says, we are washed and clothed in the holiness of God.
The third detail that we will look at in this ordination ritual is:
The Anointing of the Priests
V. 12 - “He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him.”
Back in Exodus chapter 30, instructions were given for the oil that would be used to anoint things and people as being set apart for the Lord. The oil was sort of a physical symbol of the Holy Spirit and of God’s presence. Whatever the oil touched was consecrated, or set apart, for the Lord.
Oil was applied to the tent of meeting, to the objects used for worship – setting them apart, making them ready for use in this new formal system of worship that God was implementing.
But, again, we find beautiful Gospel hope buried in this text. Because this anointing of Aaron with oil isn’t just a random historical detail – it’s an arrow. Pointing us forward. Forward to a person. Think, for a moment, about the title of our Savior. Scripture refers to him as Christ. What does Christ mean? Christ means “anointed one.” This anointing of Aaron is pointing forward to a true and better Aaron – a true and better anointed priest. More on that in a minute.
The next detail from this ordination service for us to consider is:
The Blood Applied to the Priests
V. 23 - “Moses slaughtered the ram and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot.”
The priest and the work that he is called to carry out are united through the blood of the sacrifice. The blood on the ear lobe, the thumb, and the big toe are obviously symbolic.
In one sense they represent the whole person – head, hands, feet. But in a deeper sense, they are a confession that EVERYTHING that the priest does is done through the sacrifice, the death, the shed blood of a substitute.
When the priest hears from the Lord, it’s through the blood of the sacrifice. When the priest offers up offerings on behalf of the people, it’s through the blood of the sacrifice. Wherever the priest goes, he goes through the blood of the sacrifice.
The priest was the one who was able to declare the forgiveness of sins over the people of Israel who brought their offerings by faith – that proclamation was through the blood of the sacrifice. Every aspect of the priest’s work was dependent upon that sacrifice, slain in the place of the sinner. And, yet again, we see Jesus. Plain as day. The lamb of God, slain for the sin of the world. The true and better sacrifice.
Well there’s one final detail of this ordination service that I want to make note of today, and that’s:
The 7-Day Purification of the Priests
V. 33 - Do not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for your ordination will last seven days.
When we read this alongside Exodus, we realize that there would be a full 7 days' worth of sacrifices offered on behalf of these priests – a full 7 days' worth of reminders that they were not qualified in and of themselves. That they weren’t holy in and of themselves. That they were sinners in need of forgiveness.
They had a daily need for the forgiveness of sins. And the imagery here is beautiful. The expectation was that they would live their lives in daily contrition and sorrow over their sin, trusting in the mercy of God to them because of the sacrifice offered in their place.
In other words, God builds into this ordination service of the priests of Israel, the model of Daily Repentance and Faith. 7 days of recognizing their sin, and trusting in the sacrifice who was offered up for their sin. And so, we too, live in daily repentance and faith. Daily awareness of our sin. Of who we are apart from God’s intervention in our lives. And daily trusting and believing that Jesus came for sinners like you and me.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 says - “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people.”
When Jesus was on the cross, Mark records for us that when Jesus breathed his last, The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
That great barrier between God and man was destroyed. Hebrews goes into greater detail here.
Hebrews 10:19-22 - Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Here’s what this means: Because of the cross, we no longer need a priest to offer sacrifices for us over and over again. We have one great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, who did that once and for all.
And instead, God has given us pastors and Elders to teach and correct and shepherd and care and oversee.
Think of it this way: You don’t need me in order to have your sins forgiven. You don’t need a pastor to access the forgiveness of sins – that is by faith alone. But God has given pastors and elders as a gift of his grace to point you to the true high priest, over and over. God has given you the gift of pastors and elders to remind you of the substitute who died so that you might live. To proclaim over you the forgiveness of sins for all who believe. To declare to you each Sunday that Jesus died for you.
Revelation 1:5-6 - To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever!
Did you hear that? Jesus made us priests to serve God. In your baptism, you were washed clean, forgiven, anointed with the Holy Spirit, and clothed in the righteousness of Christ. And scripture says that, in a sense, we are all priests. We are all entrusted with the responsibility of pointing others to the true once-for-all sacrifice for sin.
I don’t know how you have it with the Lord today. If you want to talk more about your relationship with the great high priest, the one who offered himself in your place, reach out this week. I’d love to talk more.
And if you are trusting in Jesus – rest today in confidence, knowing that Jesus has done it all. And ask him what it looks like for you to be part of this kingdom of priests, pointing others to forgiveness and life in Jesus. Jesus is the true and better sacrifice and the true and better high priest.