God never intended life to be boring. He’s the God of familiar repetition and new beginnings.
Well, at last it was here, the climax of the consecration ceremony. “It came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel” (Lev 9:1). The number eight is significant in the Bible. When God made the world, He did it purposely in seven days. The seventh day was called sabbath, meaning “rest.” The eighth day would be a new beginning. This is the first time the “eighth day” is mentioned in the book of Leviticus, where it is linked to several special occasions. Here it is the new beginning of priestly ministry. In chapter 12, every male was instructed to be circumcised on the eighth day, a new beginning in identifying with the Lord (v 3). In chapter 14, it was a new beginning for a leprosy sufferer who that day received the news that he was now clean (v 23)! The eighth day was also the grand conclusion to the Feast of Tabernacles (23:36, 39), in fact, to all eight holy festivals, including the Sabbath. God’s pattern for life was much like the musical octave, where the eighth note is like the first, but at a higher level. This is how the Lord designed life to be: the regular enjoyment of the familiar, but ever increasing and improving, life “more abundantly” (Jn 10:10). You can find great blessing by tracing these new beginnings in the days of Solomon (1 Ki 8:66), Hezekiah (2 Chron 29:17), Nehemiah (8:18), and one still future, recorded by Ezekiel (43:27), when God says to restored Israel, “I will accept you.” Of course, Jesus Himself was circumcised the eighth day (Lk 2:21) and was also transfigured on the eighth day (Lk 9:28). But surely the eighth-day appearing of the resurrected Lord to all His disciples (Jn 20:26) celebrated the greatest new beginning of them all!