Obedience Before Understanding: Faith in Leviticus 8

GOD spoke to Moses, saying: Take Aaron along with his sons, and the vestments, the anointing oil, the bull of purgation offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread; and assemble the whole community at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Moses did as GOD commanded him. And when the community was assembled at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, Moses said to the community, “This is what GOD has commanded to be done.” Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. He put the tunic on him, girded him with the sash, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him, girding him with the decorated band with which he tied it to him. He put the breastpiece on him, and put into the breastpiece the Urim and Thummim. And he set the headdress on his head; and on the headdress, in front, he put the gold frontlet, the holy diadem—as GOD had commanded Moses. Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the Tabernacle and all that was in it, thus consecrating them. He sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, anointing the altar, all its utensils, and the laver with its stand, to consecrate them. He poured some of the anointing oil upon Aaron’s head and anointed him, to consecrate him. Moses then brought Aaron’s sons forward, clothed them in tunics, girded them with sashes, and wound turbans upon them, as GOD had commanded Moses. He led forward the bull of purgation offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bull of purgation offering, and it was slaughtered. Moses took the blood and with his finger put some on each of the horns of the altar, cleansing the altar; then he poured out the blood at the base of the altar. Thus he consecrated it in order to make expiation upon it. Moses then took all the fat that was about the entrails, and the protuberance of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and turned them into smoke on the altar. The rest of the bull, its hide, its flesh, and its dung, he put to the fire outside the camp—as GOD had commanded Moses. Then he brought forward the ram of burnt offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the ram’s head, and it was slaughtered. Moses dashed the blood against all sides of the altar. The ram was cut up into sections and Moses turned the head, the sections, and the suet into smoke on the altar; Moses washed the entrails and the legs with water and turned all of the ram into smoke. That was a burnt offering for a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to GOD—as GOD had commanded Moses. He brought forward the second ram, the ram of ordination. Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the ram’s head, and it was slaughtered. Moses took some of its blood and put it on the ridge of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. Moses then brought forward the sons of Aaron, and put some of the blood on the ridges of their right ears, and on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet; and the rest of the blood Moses dashed against every side of the altar. He took the fat—the broad tail, all the fat about the entrails, the protuberance of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat—and the right thigh. From the basket of unleavened bread that was before GOD, he took one cake of unleavened bread, one cake of oil bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat parts and on the right thigh. He placed all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and elevated them as an elevation offering before GOD. Then Moses took them from their hands and turned them into smoke on the altar with the burnt offering. This was an ordination offering for a pleasing odor; it was an offering by fire to GOD. Moses took the breast and elevated it as an elevation offering before GOD; it was Moses’ portion of the ram of ordination—as GOD had commanded Moses. And Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it upon Aaron and upon his vestments, and also upon his sons and upon their vestments. Thus he consecrated Aaron and his vestments, and also his sons and their vestments. Moses said to Aaron and his sons: Boil the flesh at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket of ordination—as I commanded:, “I have been commanded”; cf. below, v. 35 and 10.13. Aaron and his sons shall eat it; and what is left over of the flesh and the bread you shall consume in fire. You shall not go outside the entrance of the Tent of Meeting for seven days, until the day that your period of ordination is completed. For your ordination will require seven days. Everything done today, GOD has commanded to be done [seven days], to make expiation for you. You shall remain at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting day and night for seven days, keeping GOD’s charge—that you may not die—for so I have been commanded. And Aaron and his sons did all the things that GOD had c

Leviticus 8:1-20 records the public ordination of Aaron and his sons. The repeated refrain 'as the LORD had commanded Moses' frames the entire passage as an object lesson in covenantal trust: the people must act in faith before the theology of priesthood is fully explained.