Bird's-eye view
We come here to the culmination of the priestly ordination. For seven days, Aaron and his sons have been in a state of intense consecration, a sort of spiritual marination. This passage lays out the final instructions for this period. It is a time of feasting, waiting, and solemn responsibility. They are being set apart from the people in order to serve the people before God. This separation is marked by strict boundaries, both in terms of space (the doorway of the tent) and time (seven days). The entire process is grounded in the atonement God has commanded, and it is punctuated with the gravest of warnings. What God institutes, He institutes with authority. This is a picture of how all true ministry begins: with blood, with a fellowship meal, with a period of being set apart, and with a sober understanding of the weight of the call.
The central theme is consecration. This is not a vague spiritual feeling; it is a tangible, demanding, and perilous reality. They are to eat holy food in a holy place. They are to remain in that holy place for a prescribed time. They are to do all this because Yahweh has commanded it, and the alternative is death. This is the boot camp for the priesthood, and the final exam is simple obedience. Their successful completion of this week of ordination is the foundation for the entire sacrificial system that is to follow. Without a consecrated priesthood, there can be no licit worship. And as we shall see, this entire affair points us forward to the perfect High Priest, who consecrated Himself for us.
Outline
- 1. The Ordination Culminates (Lev 8:31-36)
- a. The Consecration Meal (v. 31)
- b. The Sanctity of the Elements (v. 32)
- c. The Seven Day Confinement (v. 33)
- d. The Atoning Foundation (v. 34)
- e. The Solemn Charge (v. 35)
- f. The Obedient Response (v. 36)
Context In Leviticus
Leviticus 8 details the ordination of Aaron and his sons, fulfilling the commands given in Exodus 29. This is a pivotal moment. Up to this point, Moses has acted as the sole mediator, performing priestly duties. Now, that authority is being formally transferred to the Aaronic line. This chapter is all action: washing, clothing, anointing, and sacrificing. The passage before us (vv. 31-36) is the concluding set of instructions for the seven day ordination period. It follows the application of the blood of the ram of ordination to Aaron and his sons. Having been atoned for and consecrated by blood, they are now commanded to enter into a period of communion and waiting at the threshold of God's dwelling place. This sets the stage for chapter 9, where Aaron will begin his official ministry, and tragically, for chapter 10, where his sons Nadab and Abihu will demonstrate the lethal consequences of forgetting the lessons of this solemn week.
Key Issues
- The Priestly Fellowship Meal
- The Principle of Sacred Leftovers
- The Symbolism of Seven Days
- The Gravity of the Divine Charge
- Obedience as the Foundation of Ministry
The Consecration Meal
v. 31 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “Boil the flesh at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and eat it there together with the bread which is in the basket of the ordination offering, just as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’
The first order of business after the blood is a meal. This is always the biblical pattern: atonement, then communion. Reconciliation, then fellowship. You cannot have a meal with God while you are still at odds with Him. The blood of the ram has just been applied, consecrating them, and now they are invited to eat in God's presence, at the doorway of His house. This is a covenant meal. They are eating the very sacrifice that was offered for their ordination. This is a profound picture of the Lord's Supper. We feast on the Christ who was broken for us. We have fellowship with the Father because of the Son's sacrifice. Notice also the location: "at the doorway." They are on the threshold, mediating between the holy place and the camp. That is the priest's station. The meal solidifies their identity and function. It is not just nourishment; it is a liturgical act that defines who they are.
Sanctifying the Remainder
v. 32 And the remainder of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn in the fire.
Holiness has boundaries. The food for this meal was set apart for a holy purpose, and it cannot be allowed to revert to common use. It cannot be taken home for sandwiches the next day. What is consecrated to God must be consumed in the manner He prescribes or disposed of in the manner He prescribes. Burning it with fire removes it from the realm of the common and returns it to God. This teaches us a crucial lesson about the sacred and the profane. We live in an age that wants to blur all such distinctions, to make everything common. But God insists on the distinction. Holy things must be treated as holy. This is not arbitrary ritualism; it is a fundamental principle of reality. Failure to recognize this distinction is what got Nadab and Abihu into so much trouble just two chapters later.
A Week of Separation
v. 33 And you shall not go outside the doorway of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day that the period of your ordination is fulfilled; for he will ordain you through seven days.
Here is the command for a complete and total separation. For seven days, the doorway to the tabernacle is their entire world. They cannot go back to their tents, their families, their old routines. They are in a transitional state, a cocoon of consecration. The number seven in Scripture signifies completion and perfection. A full week. God created the world in seven days. Their old world is ending, and their new world as priests is being established. This is a kind of death and resurrection. They die to their old life as common Israelites and are raised to a new life as priests of God. Ministry requires this kind of radical setting apart. You cannot serve God effectively with one foot in the sanctuary and the other foot still firmly planted in the world's way of doing things. Consecration requires focused, undistracted devotion.
The Divine Mandate
v. 34 Yahweh has commanded to do as has been done this day, to make atonement on your behalf.
Moses reminds them of the ultimate source of these instructions. This is not a man-made ceremony. This is not something Moses cooked up to add a little pomp and circumstance. Yahweh has commanded it. And what is the purpose? "To make atonement on your behalf." Every ritual, every garment, every action is grounded in the need for atonement. The priests themselves, before they can make atonement for others, must have atonement made for them. They are not qualified by their own righteousness. They are qualified because God has provided a way to cover their sin and set them apart. This is the gospel logic that undergirds all true worship. Everything we do is a response to the atonement God has accomplished for us in Christ. We do not act in order to be accepted; we act because we have been accepted.
The Charge of Yahweh
v. 35 At the doorway of the tent of meeting, moreover, you shall remain day and night for seven days and keep the charge of Yahweh, so that you will not die, for so I have been commanded.”
The instruction is repeated with a grave intensification. They are to remain, day and night, and "keep the charge of Yahweh." This is guard duty. They are guarding the holiness of God's house. And the stakes could not be higher: "so that you will not die." This is not hyperbole. God is a consuming fire, and approaching Him on any terms other than His own is lethal. Modern sensibilities recoil at this, but the Bible is unflinching. The holiness of God is a glorious and dangerous reality. The priests are being taught this lesson in the most visceral way possible. Their lives depend on their obedience. This charge, this responsibility, is the essence of their calling. And it is a foreshadowing of the charge our great High Priest kept perfectly. He guarded the holiness of God, obeyed perfectly even unto death, so that we, who deserved to die for our irreverence, might live.
Total Obedience
v. 36 Thus Aaron and his sons did all the things which Yahweh had commanded through Moses.
The section concludes with this simple, profound statement. They did it all. They didn't edit the instructions. They didn't form a committee to see if they could streamline the process. They didn't complain about the inconvenience of being stuck at a doorway for a week. They simply obeyed. This is the proper response to the clear command of God. This obedience is the capstone of their ordination. It demonstrates that they have understood the gravity of the situation. This act of perfect obedience in the Old Covenant is a beautiful, if temporary, picture. It points us to the only One who ever did "all the things" Yahweh commanded, perfectly and without fail: the Lord Jesus Christ. His perfect obedience is the foundation upon which our standing before God rests. Because He was faithful, we who are in Him are counted as faithful. And by His Spirit, we are then empowered to walk in our own measure of this same kind of glad, thorough obedience.