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Context No. 2180 of 4322 · Leviticus

Context · Reflection

Leviticus 8:14-29: in context

14He brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15He killed it; and Moses took the blood, and put it around on the horns of the altar with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, and sanctified it, to make atonement for it. 16He took all the fat that was on the innards, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat; and Moses burned it on the altar. 17But the bull, and its skin, and its meat, and its dung, he burned with fire outside the camp, as the LORD commanded Moses. 18He presented the ram of the burnt offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19He killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 20He cut the ram into its pieces; and Moses burned the head, and the pieces, and the fat. 21He washed the innards and the legs with water; and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma. It was an offering made by fire to the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses. 22He presented the other ram, the ram of consecration. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 23He killed it; and Moses took some of its blood, and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot. 24He brought Aaron’s sons; and Moses put some of the blood on the tip of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot; and Moses sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 25He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat that was on the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh; 26and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD, he took one unleavened cake, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat and on the right thigh. 27He put all these in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and waved them for a wave offering before the LORD. 28Moses took them from their hands, and burned them on the altar on the burnt offering. They were a consecration offering for a pleasant aroma. It was an offering made by fire to the LORD. 29Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave offering before the LORD. It was Moses’ portion of the ram of consecration, as the LORD commanded Moses.

In the ceremony consecrating Aaron and his sons as priests, Moses does something striking with the blood of the ram of consecration. He puts some of it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot, and then does the same for Aaron's sons. The blood is applied to ear, hand, and foot, setting apart these three parts of the body, the organs of hearing, of doing, and of walking, for the service of God. The whole person was being consecrated.

The choice of ear, hand, and foot is not random; it represents the consecration of the whole person to God. The ear stands for hearing: the priest's hearing was set apart to listen to God, attentive to his word. The hand stands for doing: the priest's actions, his work and service, were set apart for God. The foot stands for walking: the priest's whole way of life, the path he walked, was set apart to go in God's ways. Ear, hand, and foot together represent the whole life, hearing, doing, and walking, all consecrated to God. Not a part, but the whole person, was set apart for his service. This holds a picture of what it means to be consecrated to God. To belong to God is not to give him a part of ourselves while keeping the rest, but to have the whole of our lives set apart for him: our hearing, that we listen to him; our doing, that our actions serve him; our walking, that our whole way of life goes in his ways. Present yourselves to God, Paul says, and your members as instruments of righteousness. The consecration of the priest, ear and hand and foot, pictures the offering of the whole person, every part of life, to God. This searches whether our consecration to God is whole or partial. Do we set apart our hearing for God, attentive to his word, or fill our ears with everything but him? Do we set apart our doing for God, our actions serving him, or keep our deeds for ourselves? Do we set apart our walking for God, our whole way of life going in his ways, or walk our own paths? The blood on ear, hand, and foot marks the whole person as God's; and to belong to him is to have the whole of our lives consecrated, not a part reserved while the rest is kept back. As for me and my house, Joshua said, we will serve the LORD; and the service of God is the service of the whole person, hearing, doing, and walking, all set apart for him. This calls us to a whole-life consecration. The priest was set apart in ear, hand, and foot, his whole person marked for God's service; and we too are called to consecrate the whole of our lives to God, our hearing attentive to him, our doing serving him, our walking going in his ways, giving him not a part but the whole, every part of our lives set apart for the God to whom we belong.

Is my consecration to God whole or partial, and can the blood placed on the priest's ear, hand, and foot, setting apart his hearing, his doing, and his walking, move me to give God not a part of myself while keeping the rest, but the whole of my life, my hearing attentive to his word, my actions serving him, my whole way of life going in his ways, every part of me consecrated to the God to whom I belong?

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