Obedient Follow-through
As
I read through Leviticus 8 I felt as though I had read this before. Admittedly, much of Leviticus reads that way,
but this was different. With a little
research I discovered that Leviticus 8 is essentially the same as Exodus 29,
although there is one small difference.
Exodus 29 is God telling Moses how to ordain and consecrate Aaron and
his sons. Leviticus 8 is the application
of those directions.
I
think it is good for us to see this is action.
God commanded, and Moses did fulfill the command. In a sense, this is tying up one of the major
loose ends left over from Exodus. We
heard God give all kinds of instructions in the second half of Exodus, and most
of them we saw become fulfilled as the book of Exodus ended. The people donated goods, the tabernacle was
built, and God’s commands were completed – for the most part. This act of consecration is one of the
biggest loose ends that needed to be taken care of. God commands, Moses follows. That is the pattern of godly living.
Ears, Thumbs, and Toes
Here’s
another neat thought about this consecration service that I was able to dig up. And no, I can’t take credit for this
one. This thought comes from the Bible Reader’s Companion from Lawrence
O. Richards. In that book he suggests
that it is possible that the touching of the ear, thumb, and big toe (Leviticus
8:22-23) is a symbolic gesture. The
touching of the ear means that the priest should always be ready to hear God’s
Word. The touching of the thumb means
that the priest should always be ready to serve according to God’s will. The touching of the toe means that we should
always be ready to follow God and God’s ways.
Whether
that is truly the intent or just modern Western thought, I like that. I think it should be used in more ordination
services for Christian pastors, actually.
In fact, I think since Christians believe in the priesthood of all
believers that it could actually be used when receiving a member (or disciple)
into the true community of God.
Seven
One
final thought for today. Aaron and his
sons are told that they must serve for seven days in order for the ordination
and consecration to become complete.
Seven days, of course, is one full week.
It is highly symbolic of the full time that God took to create the world
(6 days or the work of creation plus 1 day working “rest”). 7 is often thought of as a number symbolic of
completeness. So what is the message here? Only when Aaron and his sons are completely
immersed in the presence of God can they serve Him.
Now
there’s a thought to end a blog on! If
it is true for the priests of God, then it is true for us today, too. Only when we are completely immersed in the
presence of God can we actually expect to be used by Him in His service.
Amen.
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