The whole chapter of Leviticus 8 deals
with the ordination ceremony and consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests
to serve in the Tabernacle. God, as we have said, is a holy God, and everything and
everyone that would be part of the worship had to be cleansed, purified and sanctified.
The priests were washed, cleansed and anointed with oil. The furnishing in the
Tabernacle was also anointed and set apart. Everyone and everything was
ratified by the blood of the animals that were sacrificed.
In these last seven verses of chapter 8,
we come to the meal that was to be taken by the priests. They were commanded to
boil the flesh at the doorway of the tent of meeting and then to eat them
together with the bread from the basket of the ordination offering. Whatever
they did not finish were to be burnt in the fire for they were considered holy. To
prevent them from being defiled there was one other thing those priests had to
do. They had to stay in the tent of meeting for seven days and seven nights. All these they did as the Lord had commanded
through Moses.
Notice that the phrase, they did as the
Lord had commanded, recurred so often. This tells us that our God is looking
for obedience. If there is any response that will commend us to God, it must be
our obedience. First Samuel 15:22 is a good verse to remember. Samuel said, “Has the Lord as
much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of
the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the
fat of rams.” There is no denying that God would
rather we obey Him than to offer meaningless services and sacrifices devoid of
obedience. Despite the elaborate
description of the ordination, God was truly interested in one thing: obedience.
We must be obedient people as we journey with God. What is your obedience
quotient? Make sure it is there so that we can delight the Lord.
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