Bloody Ears, Toes, Thumbs
Exodus ends with the tabernacle being completed and the presence of the Lord filling it, but Moses is unable to enter.
Leviticus is about what it will take for sinful humanity to draw near to God’s life.
So, after discussions of the type of sacrifices needed, Leviticus turns in chapters 7-8 to the topic of the preparation of a priesthood for Israel, so there will be people who can administer the entire sacrificial system.
For these men to be fit for duty, they need to be spiritually cleansed and prepared.
Part of the ordination ceremony involves the sacrifice of a ram. Aaron (Moses’s brother and the first high priest of Israel) and his sons put their hands on the head of the animal, which is then slaughtered. Its blood is sprinkled on their garments and applied to their right earlobes, their right thumbs, and the big toes of their right feet. The whole ceremony is meant to take seven days!
Can you imagine how solemn it must have been for Aaron and his sons to put their hands on the sacrificial animals before they were killed and then to have the blood of the sacrifice placed on their earlobes and their thumbs and their toes?
The message is clear: they are being ordained into a role that carries a heavy responsibility, one with life and death consequences. The solemnity and weight of the ceremony must have been awe-inspiring.
Tomorrow in our readings, the first sacrifice will finally take place!
And then disaster will strike….
Keep on going, dear reader.
Today’s Old Testament reading from the One Year Bible: Leviticus 7:28-9:6.
