[Leviticus 8] Cleansed, Anointed, and Consecrated. In this chapter, God brings Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tabernacle for consecration and anointing (for a second time). We see that they are washed, then anointed, then consecrated by the sprinkling of blood. God wants us to submit to the washing of the word, which comes BEFORE anointing or consecration. The word of God is not a strong priority in Christian culture today. We talk ABOUT the word but seldom give ourselves over to the raw study of the word. As we study the word, we are empowered, anointed, and consecrated to experience all that the word promises in our lives.
[Lev 8:1-36 KJV] 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 chapter begins (v. 1) with God speaking to Moses. The Hebrew word for speak here is “dabar,” which is sometimes expressed as “the divine word”. In the Septuagint (an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament), the Hebrew word dabar is translated interchangeably as either “Logos” or “Rhema.” The Logos is understood to be the scriptures. The Rhema is the prophetic word or utterance by a prophet or someone speaking under the unction of the Holy Ghost. For Moses, this was a face to face experience:
[Exo 33:11 KJV] 11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.
[Deu 34:10 KJV] 10 And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face;
By face to face, we understand that to mean “Spirit to spirit.” In the scriptures, the face is a euphemism for the spirit (either God’s Spirit or a human spirit). Moses described it this way:
[Deu 32:2 KJV] 2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
We understand by this that God’s voice in Moses came as a distillation of information from within his inner man that coalesced into cognitive information that Moses could identify as not originating in his mind or imagination.
God commanded Moses to take Aaron and his sons and bring them to the door of the Tabernacle in sight of all the people and to consecrate them through ritual sacrifice. Aaron’s name means light-bringer. He is a type of Jesus who is the daystar arising in our hearts (see 2 Peter 1:19). When we see Aaron’s sons included as well as Aaron, it speaks to us of Jesus, the Elder brother, and those of us who are grafted into the kingdom by His sacrificial death and receiving Him as Savior.
[Rom 8:29 KJV] 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
The consecration of Aaron and his sons was to take place at the door of the Tabernacle (v. 3). The door of the congregation was where God talked to Moses. This was where His face shined with the glory of God. This was where Moses was instructed to bring Aaron and his sons and where every leader at that time was consecrated. It was also where an Israelite would return with His offering – the place where God spoke. God is always desirous to bring us toward His voice – toward a face to face encounter with Him.
The first thing Moses did was wash Aaron and his sons with water (v. 6). The washing of water speaks of the washing of the word of God (Eph. 5:26). Is this the Logos or the Rhema? It is the Rhema, signifying the purifying effect of the subjective prophetic word. Tradition would say only the scriptures wash us, but that is not what the original language reveals. The washing, spoken of in Eph. 5, is the work of the prophetic word, the Rhema, over our lives. Jesus also spoke of the washing of the Logos in the gospel of John:
[Jhn 15:3 KJV] 3 Now ye are clean through the word (Logos) which I have spoken unto you.
Thus we see that we need both the Rhema of the prophetic and the Logos of the infallible scripture to prepare us for service before God.
After washing them, Moses clothed them with the sacramental garments of their priesthood. Thus we see there is a purpose for the washing – to dedicate for service. The washing was preparation for taking their place in the purposes of God. Every believer has a place of ministry portion where God wants you to position yourself for service.
After washing and clothing them, then Moses anointed them. Everyone wants the anointing, but are you washed? Are you clothed upon with Christ? After the washing came the anointing. Jesus was called the “anointed one” in the scriptures. There is God in us by the indwelling Spirit, and there is God “on us” in the anointing. God is in us, but the power of God on us does not happen until a washing takes place. First, the word then the power. God does not honor man, but He does honor His word:
[Mat 16:20 KJV] 20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
We often ask where the signs, miracles, and wonders are. Remember, they always attend the preaching, teaching, and internalizing of the word of God. The word of God in you, on you and around you, is the landing zone that miracles vector in on in your life. Give yourself to the word. Study the word and read the word. Speak the word and share the word. Become a people of the word, and you will become a people of power and might and miracles in the earth.
When Moses collected the blood of the sacrifice, he proceeded to put the blood of the sacrifice on the ear, the thumbs, and the big toes of Aaron and his sons. We hear with our ears, we grasp with our thumbs, and we walk with balance by the function of our big toes. In sprinkling the blood, it is a picture of being in Christ and following the leadership and guidance of God in all our works.
In John 5:19, Jesus said He only did what He saw the Father do. We can confess that we can do many things we don’t see the Father do, but our calling is to have our ears dipped in the blood of Christ living out our lives by redemptive guidance of the Holy Spirit. What is your calling? What does God want you to do? He wants you to do what you see the Father do and make your decisions as you hear Him speak on a moment by moment basis.
After these preparations, Aaron and his sons were required not to leave the Tabernacle for seven days. Can you imagine going to church and being told you can’t leave for an entire week? Seven is a number of completion. The door speaks to us of Jesus Himself. They were not to leave the door. Jesus is the door; don’t leave the door. The language couldn’t be more understandable as Jesus testifies in John 10:9:
[Jhn 10:9 KJV] 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
To abide at the door of the tabernacle is to be complete in Christ.
[Col 2:10 KJV] 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.
God in you and God on you is your qualification for service. You don’t need anyone’s permission or credibility to serve, but you need to station yourself at the DOOR, who is Christ, and receive the application of the blood of Christ, which consecrates you for service. You don’t need a notch on your gun handle, or some fantastic testimony or funny story. You need the sanctifying blood, the fullness of the word, and a hearing ear to the continual speaking of the voice of God, which qualifies you, directs you, and empowers you to be Jesus in the earth.
