14 And he took the ox of the sin-offering: and Aaron and his sons put their hands on the head of the ox,
Then let the ox be taken in front of the Tent of meeting: and let Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. And you are to put the ox to death before the Lord at the door of the Tent of meeting. Then take some of the blood of the ox, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, draining out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. And take all the fat covering the inside of the ox, and the fat joining the liver and the two kidneys with the fat round them, and let them be burned on the altar; But the flesh of the ox and its skin and its waste parts are to be burned outside the circle of the tents, for it is a sin-offering.
If the chief priest by doing wrong becomes a cause of sin to the people, then let him give to the Lord for the sin which he has done, an ox, without any mark, for a sin-offering. And he is to take the ox to the door of the Tent of meeting before the Lord; and put his hand on its head and put it to death before the Lord. And the chief priest is to take some of its blood and take it to the Tent of meeting; And the priest is to put his finger in the blood, shaking drops of it before the Lord seven times, in front of the veil of the holy place. And the priest is to put some of the blood on the horns of the altar on which perfume is burned before the Lord in the Tent of meeting, draining out all the rest of the blood of the ox at the base of the altar of burned offering which is at the door of the Tent of meeting. And he is to take away all the fat of the ox of the sin-offering; the fat covering the inside parts and all the fat of the inside parts, And the two kidneys, with the fat on them, which is by the top part of the legs, and the fat joining the liver and the kidneys, he is to take away, As it is taken from the ox of the peace-offering; and it is to be burned by the priest on the altar of burned offerings. And the skin of the ox and all its flesh, with its head and its legs and its inside parts and its waste, All the ox, he is to take away outside the circle of the tents into a clean place where the burned waste is put, and there it is to be burned on wood with fire.
It was right for us to have such a high priest, one who is holy and without evil, doing no wrong, having no part with sinners, and made higher than the heavens: Who has no need to make offerings for sins every day, like those high priests, first for himself, and then for the people; because he did this once and for ever when he made an offering of himself. The law makes high priests of men who are feeble; but the word of the oath, which was made after the law, gives that position to a Son, in whom all good is for ever complete.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Leviticus 8
Commentary on Leviticus 8 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 8
This chapter gives us an account of the solemn consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priest's office.
Lev 8:1-13
God had given Moses orders to consecrate Aaron and his sons to the priests' office, when he was with him the first time upon mount Sinai, Ex. 28 and 29, where we have also the particular instructions he had how to do it. Now here we have,
Lev 8:14-30
The covenant of priesthood must be made by sacrifice, as well as other covenants, Ps. 50:5. And thus Christ was consecrated by the sacrifice of himself, once for all. Sacrifices of each kind must be offered for the priests, that they might with the more tenderness and concern offer the gifts and sacrifices of the people, with compassion on the ignorant, and on those that were out of the way, not insulting over those for whom sacrifices were offered, remembering that they themselves had had sacrifices offered for them, being compassed with infirmity.
Lev 8:31-36
Moses, having done his part of the ceremony, now leaves Aaron and his sons to do theirs.
Gospel ministers are compared to those who served at the altar, for they minister about holy things (1 Co. 9:13), they are God's mouth to the people and the people's to God, the pastors and teachers Christ has appointed to continue in the church to the end of the world: they seem to be meant in that promise which points at gospel times (Isa. 66:21), I will take of them for priests and for Levites. No man may take this honour to himself, but he who upon trial is found to be clothed and anointed by the Spirit of God with gifts and graces to qualify him for it, and who with purpose of heart devotes himself entirely to the service, and is then by the word and prayer (for so every thing is sanctified), and the imposition of the hands of those that give themselves to the word and prayer, set apart to the office, and recommended to Christ as a servant and to the church as a steward and guide. And those that are thus solemnly dedicated to God ought not to depart from his service, but faithfully to abide in it all their days; and those that do so, and continue labouring in the word and doctrine, are to be accounted worthy of double honour, double to that of the Old-Testament priests.