Daily Devotion | Leviticus 8 | 2026 January 28

Title: Daily Devotion

Scripture: Leviticus 8

Date: 2026 January 28

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

Dear brothers and sisters, peace to you. We thank God for His grace that He brings us into a new day to study our daily devotion. Today our passage is Leviticus chapter 8. Let us pray. Lord, we thank You. We thank You that You are willing to show us such favor and mercy, allowing us to enter more deeply into Your presence. O God, place these sacrifices before our eyes, so that we may know how holy You are, and also know how we ought to follow You. Lord, please be with us, guide us, awaken our ears this morning so that we may follow You. We pray in the name of Christ. Amen.

Now let us look at chapter 8. Chapter 8 speaks about the details of how the priests themselves are ordained to the priesthood. At the beginning of chapter 8, Moses speaks according to what the LORD instructed. The LORD spoke to Moses and said that he should bring Aaron and his sons, along with the holy garments, the anointing oil, the bull of the sin offering, two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread. He was also to assemble the whole congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Here, what we see is God’s mercy.

This same content is recorded earlier in Exodus chapter 29. If your Bible has cross-references, you will see that Exodus 29 contains this record. But you remember that in Exodus chapter 32, Aaron did not fulfill his responsibility as a priest. On the contrary, he led the Israelites into idolatry. As a priest, he should have led God’s people to fear the LORD rightly, but he failed to do so.

In fact, Aaron was the chief culprit; he was the source of this sin. Of course, others urged him on, but even so, as the high priest, he did not fulfill his role. Therefore, he should have been removed. Yet in Leviticus chapter 8, we see that God seems to blot out Aaron’s sin and transgression, as if He does not hold this matter against him. The incident of chapter 32 seems to disappear. This shows God’s mercy. Of course, it is not that the sin truly disappeared, but that a sin offering had to be made. In Jesus Christ, God forgave Aaron, because the sin offerings he offered, all these sacrifices, pointed to the true One—our Lord Jesus Christ—who would be crucified on the cross for Aaron. Therefore, Aaron was able to be ordained to the priesthood.

This is the first point we make: God’s mercy toward Aaron and his household. Exodus chapter 29 describes the process—what God commanded Moses to do. Leviticus chapter 8 records that this is exactly what was actually done. The content is the same. In Exodus 29, the LORD commands Moses what to do. In Leviticus 8, Moses then does exactly as the LORD commanded, and Aaron and his sons do accordingly.

So the Pentateuch is actually one book. Brothers and sisters, I understand how you may feel when reading this. When you reach Leviticus, you may feel confused. Especially after Exodus chapter 24, when you get to chapter 25, you may feel completely lost and have no idea what is being discussed, because these things are indeed very distant from us in time. But thanks be to the Lord, as we have been walking through this together, I believe you now have some understanding of the Pentateuch and know what it is talking about.

The Pentateuch is one continuous book. Here, Leviticus continues the content of Exodus, explaining how priests are to be ordained and how they are to be consecrated. At the end of Exodus chapter 40, the tabernacle is erected and the glory of the LORD fills it. Now the narrative slows down to explain in detail how the priests are consecrated. The purpose is to tell us how God’s holy dwelling is to be served. How are the priests to serve? This is the focus of this chapter.

The Pentateuch was written by Moses, basically in chronological order, to tell the Israelites how they ought to live. So let us return to the text itself. Moses says, “This is the thing that the LORD has commanded to be done.” Then he brings Aaron and his sons.

The first step is that he washes them with water. This is a rite of cleansing. He clothes Aaron with the tunic, the sash, the robe, the ephod, and the breastpiece, and he sets the Urim and the Thummim, and places the turban on his head. We have already explained the meaning of each of these items before, so we will not repeat them here.

Next, Moses takes the anointing oil and anoints the tabernacle and everything in it, consecrating them. We have also explained before why the anointing oil comes first. It symbolizes that the work of the Holy Spirit comes first. The Holy Spirit goes before us, leads before us. He sprinkles some of the oil on the altar seven times, anoints the altar and all its utensils, the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. Then he pours the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anoints him to consecrate him.

From verses 10 to 13, we see that the anointing comes first upon the tabernacle, all its furnishings, and also upon Aaron himself. This clearly tells us that it is the work of the Holy Spirit that comes first, not our own effort. It is the Spirit of God who first moves us, first guides us, first fills us, causes us to be born again, and only then do we have the strength to serve God.

Next comes the offering of sacrifices. First, the sin offering is offered. Aaron and his sons lay their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering, and the bull is slaughtered. When we explained the sin offering earlier, we emphasized that this offering is for Aaron and his sons themselves. Chapter 8 is about Aaron’s household making atonement for themselves first.

Human priests who serve at God’s altar must be consecrated. But how can they be consecrated? They can only be consecrated through sacrifice. An unclean person cannot serve; mere cleansing is not enough. He must be made holy.

The method of the sin offering has already been explained before. Here, Moses performs these actions on behalf of Aaron and his sons. Moses slaughters the bull. At this moment, Moses represents the role of a priest, while Aaron represents the role of the offerer. You must remember this distinction. At this point, Moses seems to function as a mediator between God and Aaron.

Although it is not stated very explicitly here, later passages make this clearer. Moses becomes a mediator. Moses himself is not the high priest, yet he performs actions related to the ordination of the high priest. This clearly points beyond Moses. Moses prefigures a mediator and high priest greater than Aaron, according to the order of Melchizedek. The book of Hebrews explains this clearly. It refers to Jesus Christ.

Thus, Moses prefigures a priest greater than Aaron. Aaron and his sons slaughter the bull, and Moses applies the blood to the altar, consecrating it. He takes the fat, and the bull—its flesh, skin, and dung—is burned outside the camp. We explained this earlier when discussing the offerings, so we will not repeat it here.

Then the burnt offering is presented. Hands are laid on its head, the blood is thrown against the sides of the altar, the ram is cut into pieces, and it is burned on the altar as a food offering.

Brothers and sisters, notice this carefully. Before Aaron is ordained to the priesthood, he must offer two offerings: a sin offering and a burnt offering. The meaning is very clear. First, he must make atonement for his own sin, because he is a sinner and cannot serve God without atonement. Second, the burnt offering shows that Aaron is willing to offer himself completely to God.

The first offering shows God’s forgiveness. The second shows Aaron’s household offering themselves in response. God forgives, and Aaron responds by offering himself.

Then comes the second ram, the ram of ordination. The way this offering is handled looks somewhat like a peace offering. It involves a wave offering. Although the text does not explicitly call it a peace offering, I think it is reasonable to understand it this way, because the peace offering represents peace and reconciliation. As Aaron is ordained, he must first have peace with God.

However, Scripture does not call it a peace offering, but specifically the ram of ordination. Its procedure is unique. After the ram is slaughtered, Moses puts blood on the right earlobe of Aaron, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. The same is done for his sons. The blood is then thrown against the sides of the altar.

The meaning is very clear. After being ordained, Aaron is to listen to God’s word, do God’s work, and walk in God’s ways. That is why the blood is placed on the ear, the hand, and the foot.

The entire sacrificial ritual shows us that after God forgives His people’s sins, the high priest must offer himself completely. His whole life is to follow God’s law, to do what God commands, and to walk where God leads.

Brothers and sisters, although we are not high priests, we have now received a priestly calling. After we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we cannot claim to have a life that belongs only to ourselves. Once we are set apart for God, there is no room for a self-designed life of villas by the sea or luxurious dreams. If you truly believe in Jesus, there is only one thing: to listen to God’s word, do God’s work, and walk in God’s ways.

Some people say this sounds frightening, as if there is no happiness left. But that is a misunderstanding. God is giving you true happiness. What we once thought was happiness was false happiness. God now gives true and beautiful life.

Next, certain portions of the offering are burned—the fat, the kidneys, and what is specified. The unleavened bread is placed on the right thigh, and these are waved before the LORD. Moses then takes them and burns some on the altar. This includes the grain offering, which is burned, as well as the fat.

One thing to remember is that the wave offering is not burned. Moses takes the breast of the ram and waves it before the LORD. This portion becomes Moses’ share, according to what the LORD commanded.

In the five offerings, normally only priests may eat the breast portion. Here, Moses eats it, showing that Moses stands in a higher priestly role than Aaron at this moment. Although Moses is not formally a priest, he acts as a mediator. This again points to a priest greater than Aaron, prefiguring Jesus Christ.

Normally, the right thigh of the peace offering is given to the priest, but here it is burned. This shows that the ram of ordination is a unique sacrifice, different from all the others.

Then, in verse 30, Moses takes the anointing oil and the blood from the altar and sprinkles them on Aaron and his garments. This clearly shows that Aaron’s household needs both the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the blood of Jesus Christ. This reflects the work of the Holy Spirit and the Son within the Trinity. The same is true for us. We need the Spirit’s guidance and Christ’s blood. Without both, we cannot truly know God.

These Old Testament external rituals are internalized in the New Testament. This does not mean behavior is unnecessary, but that the symbols now find their fulfillment in Christ.

The priests then eat the meat, and whatever remains is burned with fire. For seven days, they are not to leave the entrance of the tent of meeting. For seven days they remain there to complete their ordination. This is a unique moment, the ordination of the high priest, which happens only once.

During these seven days, they remain in the sanctuary, eating the meat of the ram of ordination and the unleavened bread they brought. This period is for their cleansing and preparation for future service.

First, in chapter 8, the priests themselves are cleansed. Moses cleanses the priests. Then, in chapter 9, sacrifices are offered for the people. The order is extremely precise and complex. Not a single step can be skipped.

This teaches us two things. First, because of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice as the great high priest, we no longer need to perform these rituals. Second, the meaning behind every ritual remains essential. Every detail in Leviticus is related to our lives.

Finally, these complex rituals remind us of the heavy price Jesus Christ paid. His sacrifice was not simple. When we read these Old Testament passages carefully, we realize how great the cost was for our salvation. Jesus Christ, though sinless, became the true sin offering.

The animals suffered innocently, bearing Aaron’s sin. Jesus Christ, though completely sinless, bore our sins and was nailed to the cross. These passages remind us of Christ’s work and deepen our gratitude and love for Him, so that we may follow Him more faithfully.

This concludes today’s sharing. Thank you, everyone.