Leviticus 8 - Ordination of the Priests and Your Priestly Garments

Podcast Transcript (Auto-Transcribed by Apple Podcasts)

Welcome to Tabernacle Talk, a Bible Study Podcast hosted by Bryon Self, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church. We hope this time in God's Word will be an encouragement to you. Let's dive right in.

Welcome back to another week of Tabernacle Talk. We are resuming our study in the Book of Leviticus.

And we went through in the first seven chapters of Leviticus and we saw the different offerings that God laid out for the children of Israel, things that they were supposed to do when they had gratitude to God and were thankful to Him and wanted to

offer a sacrifice or to bring a grain offering, which would be mixed with frankincense and olive oil and could be baked in a pan, could be a number of different things. And we saw what people were supposed to do when they had sinned and when they

knew they had sinned before God and wanting to be right with Him. We saw what happened when people had done something that God had said they weren't supposed to do, but they didn't really realize that they had done something wrong.

But then once they figured out their sin before God, what they were supposed to do, some of the details that were mentioned for that and all of that.

So that's in the first seven chapters is kind of a, hey, what's the, if you will, kind of day-to-day operations for sacrifices for the children of Israel?

1:23

Preparing for Consecration

Now, in beginning in chapter eight, we're gonna see how this whole thing started off. So before this point, you've seen a lot of, hey, this is supposed to go to the priest. This portion of it is supposed to go to the priest.

This portion does not go to the priest, is strictly for God. And they've been walking through all of that. The question would be asked, okay, well, where did these priests come from?

Where did they start off? And that's what we're gonna look at today starting in Leviticus eight and verse number one.

He always spoke to Moses, take Aaron, which would be Moses' older brother, his sons with him, the garments, the anointing oil, the bowl of the sin offering, the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread and assemble the whole community at the

entrance to the tent of meeting, the tabernacle. So he says, bring everything.

So all of these garments that would be special, priestly clothing, and it would not only as we see God in Genesis 3 line out there for Adam and Eve that he clothed them with clothing that would cover their nakedness here.

Now he's doing that for the priest, but he's doing it with a unique, with a holy garment that is specifically designed for those that would be in God's presence, like a unique sign that says, hey, this is what this person has on.

And it's clear that this is one of my priests.

In kind of comparison with that, I think of Colossians 3, where the Apostle Paul tells the believers there in Colossae, to put on, therefore, as the elect, the beloved of God, those chosen by him, and he tells them to put on a number of things,

including love and forgiveness, forbearance, and a number of other items that I wouldn't list today, but it's that same thought of, you have some new priestly garments, and those garments are not physical clothes that you put on. It's not the, you

know, maybe holy undergarments that are popular in one particular religion in our world today, but these are characteristics that you take on in your life that mirror the characteristics of your God. This is the clothing that you wear is looking like

Jesus. So he says, assemble everything together, bring some things for offerings, bring together all of the people, bring them all to the entrance of the Tabernacle that Moses prior to this point, he couldn't go in and that all of these sacrifices

and offerings had been mentioned. Hey, here's how an unholy people lives in the presence of a holy God. Verse number four, so Moses did as Yahweh commanded him and the community assembled at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

Moses said to them, this is what Yahweh has commanded to be done. Then Moses presented Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. He put the tunic on Aaron, wrapped the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him.

He put the woven band of the ephod around him and fastened it to him. Then he put the breast piece on him and placed the Urim and Thumim into the breast piece.

He also put the turban on his head and placed the gold medallion, the holy diadem on the front of the turban as Yahweh had commanded Moses. So he's completely decked out, kind of head to toe with these garments of the Lord.

And I can think even as he mentions many of these things that he starts off being washed with water and many people have drawn some parallels between Jesus before he began doing some of his priestly work in forgiving sins and making a sacrifice for

sin that he was washed with water in the waters of the Jordan by John the Baptizer. And I think that's a cool parallel that that too is how all of us enter into this Christian community through baptism that then we are joined to a body of believers

that as we follow Christ in baptism, if you will, we take on that priestly responsibility, that priesthood of all believers, those responsibilities that we carry for one another. Also, as he mentions through here, the things that he puts on as like a

belt, the clothing him with a robe, the things that he places on his head. I think Paul might be thinking of some of these things as well as he lists out the armor of God, that we have the helmet of salvation, we've got the breast piece, the

breastplate of righteousness, we've got the belt of truth, we've got our shoes with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace, many of those things. It kind of calls to mind, even as we know that Paul and all of the New Testament writers, they're

thinking about the Old Testament when they're thinking about the ways in which they describe our new life in Christ. And I'd remind you today, you don't have a turban, you don't have a diadem, you don't have a breast piece, you don't have a linen

ephod, but you do have the Holy Spirit and you've got everything that God has given you in that armor of God that I'd encourage you today. Put all of those armor pieces on. Don't go into your priestly service without those clothing items.

Don't go into a Sunday. Don't go into interactions with other people without having your priestly garments on, those characteristics of God himself that he has now given you through the Holy Spirit to have and to live with.

6:57

Anointing the Priests

Verse number 10. Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it to consecrate them.

He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar with all its utensils and the basin with its stand to consecrate them. So it's basically the word anointed is somewhere around the word Mashiach.

The anointed one, the Messiah, is the Mashiach. And so here he is anointing all of these things, saying this is what God has chosen for this purpose. He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed and consecrated him.

So just as holy as God viewed all of these things that were to be used in worship, he says Aaron is just as set apart for God. Many of us love and respect the Bible as we should.

Many of us respect a church sanctuary or church building and we would find anyone defiling those things as being particularly wicked in a way, uniquely disrespectful.

But I want you to know that you are just as important to God as a church sanctuary building. You are just as important to God as perhaps maybe the physical pages or the binding of a Bible. He views you as no less of a possession of His.

And just as Aaron was just as holy, just as anointed as the altar before the Lord, so you are holy.

And that is why we are called to be righteous, to follow God, that we wouldn't relegate our spirituality to Sundays or to Wednesdays or to whenever we're at church, we are called to always be holy and be set apart for the Lord.

8:47

Sin Offering and Moses

Verse number 13, Then Moses presented Aaron's sons, clothed them with tunics, wrapped sashes around them and fastened headbands on them, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

Then he brought the bull near for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull for the sin offering. So they said, hey, we were with this bull, and he will bear all of our sins.

Then Moses slaughtered it, took the blood, and applied it with his finger to the horns of the altar on all sides, purifying the altar. He poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it so that atonement can be made on it.

Moses took all the fat that was on the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and he burned them on the altar. He burned the bull with its hide, flesh, and waste outside the camp as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

What I find really interesting here, so it's Aaron and his sons, all of his descendants, that are going to be the priests, the Levites. Moses here, he has a very unique relationship that here he is acting as a priest, though he's not a priest.

He's been this mediator between God and the children of Israel that God says, all right, tell them this. And Moses goes, all right.

Or when God wants to destroy Israel, Moses speaks on behalf of the children of Israel and goes, no, no, no, what about your promises? What about your reputation?

And so Moses here is really showing us a great picture of Jesus, that one that though not from the line of Aaron is a priest, much like we would read about Melchizedek in Hebrews, I believe, six through eight.

Time would absolutely fail to go into the talk of Melchizedek right now. But Moses is doing all of these things, and he's basically consecrating Aaron and his sons to take Moses' place as mediator between God and Israel.

10:40

Burnt and Ordination Offerings

Now down in verse number 18. So he's done the sin offering, and now he's doing the burnt offering. So now this is like total consecration of the Lord.

This isn't they've sinned, here's atonement for sin. He's already done that with the sin offering. Now he's doing the burnt offering of total dedication to the Lord.

He presented the ram for the burnt offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. Moses slaughtered it, splattered the blood on all sides of the altar that God's life is now in all of these places where there was death.

Moses cut the ram into pieces and burned the head, the pieces, and the fat, but he washed the entrails and legs with water. He then burned the entire ram on the altar.

It was a burnt offering for a pleasing aroma, a fire offering to Yahweh as he had commanded Moses. Next, he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination. Here, ordination is setting someone apart for a purpose.

It's not really the same word as we see often in the New Testament with like laying on of hands of commissioning perhaps a pastor or a missionary or a deacon to their actions, but it's that same word ordination isn't necessarily used in the New

Testament for this thing, but there are a lot of carried over ideas. It says, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.

Moses slaughtered it, took some of its blood, put it on Aaron's right earlobe, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

So there from head to toe, he has been identified as being set apart for God much as this sacrifice was.

Moses also presented Aaron's sons and put some of the blood on their right earlobes, thumbs of the right hands, and on the big toes of the right feet.

So all of them, the best of them, their right side, the side that they would use for, you know, cutting food or engaging in battle or whatever. Your right side is your good side for most people.

And so he's saying from head to toe on their best side, these people are gods. Then Moses splattered the blood on all sides of the altar.

He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat that was on the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, as well as the right thigh.

From the basket of unleavened bread that was before Yahweh, he took one cake of unleavened bread, one cake of bread made with oil and one wafer, and placed them on the fat portions and the right thigh.

He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and presented them before Yahweh as a presentation offering. Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar with the burnt offering.

This was an ordination offering for a pleasing aroma, a fire offering to Yahweh. He also took the breast and presented it before Yahweh as a presentation offering. It was Moses' portion of the ordination ram as Yahweh had commanded him.

13:23

Sprinkling and New Priesthood

Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments as well as on his sons and their garments.

In this way, he consecrated Aaron and his garments as well as his sons and their garments. I want to mention one thing here very quickly from Hebrews chapter 10.

Because as we think about, okay, well, why in the world did they have to be sprinkled with blood? I don't understand. And the writer of Hebrews says this in verse number 19 through 22.

He says, Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus.

So he says, the priests could enter the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, they could enter into these places with the blood sprinkled from these sacrifices.

And he says, we can now enter into God's presence as holy priests through Jesus' blood, our perfect sacrifice. He has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain, that inner curtain, that is through his flesh.

And since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.

So there the writer of Hebrews says, hey, like all of these sacrifices, this was to show eventually what Jesus would do and how he would make his people priests to God, that we go into his presence.

We bring the sacrifice of our bodies, of kindness, of generosity, sacrifices of evangelism, sacrifices of prayer, that we bring all these things. That sprinkling says, hey, God's life is now not just in this place, it is on this person.

And God says, that's what I've done with you. Through Jesus' sacrifice, it's been sprinkled onto your account that the life of God is now on you and you have been given a new priestly purpose. Verse number 31 of Leviticus 8.

Moses said to Aaron and his sons, boil the meat at the entrance to the tent of meeting and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket for the ordination offering as I commanded. Aaron and his sons are to eat it.

Burn up what remains of the meat and bread. Do not go outside the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days. You have to stay in the tabernacle for seven days.

Or that tabernacle complex. There's all thrown a diagram, a link to a diagram in the show notes so you can see what all of this scenario look like with the tabernacle.

Until the time of your days of ordination are completed because it will take seven days to ordain you. Yahweh commanded what has been done today in order to make atonement for you, to make a covering for your sin.

You must remain at the entrance to the tent of meeting day and night for seven days and keep Yahweh's charge so that you will not die, for this is what I was commanded. So Aaron and his sons did everything Yahweh had commanded through Moses.

So just some really cool thoughts as here we see how God, even the people that were supposed to be mediating between God and Israel, these were still sinners in need of atonement.

And this is why then in the Book of Hebrews, the writer says that the priests, the offerings, they could never make final atonement for sin. They couldn't take care of the problem.

Like they could give a covering, they could temporarily do these things, but every single year the priests would need to offer a sacrifice first for themselves and then for the people.

We've already read through many of those types of offerings that would happen in the first seven chapters. And so the writer of Hebrews says we needed a permanent solution.

We needed a better change, a better offering for sin than these priests and these animals could offer us. And the writer says it was Jesus. Jesus is our perfect sacrifice.

He's the high priest that he offers the sacrifice, and he doesn't need any atonement, any covering made for him.

He's the one that was ordained perfectly without any sin, that he was washed in that water, and he was sprinkled with holy blood of a sacrifice, and he was the sacrifice, and he is God that receives the sacrifice. It's all Jesus.

Everything that we can look at in the Book of Leviticus points to a perfect priest, a perfect sacrifice, a perfect holy God who said, I'm going to set this up for you for a moment of time, but one day I'm going to fulfill all of it, and you will no

longer have to put in any of this effort and obedience and faith to me. You can simply trust in what I have done.

And it was trust that drove people to obey these commands, that they truly believed that God was who He said He was, and they followed the way that God said that they needed to follow.

But what a joy that we are able to enjoy this same relationship and even in a closer relationship, that we don't have to go to the Tabernacle. We don't have to go to the Tent of Meeting to find God's presence.

He lives within us in the person of the Holy Spirit. I want to remind us again of some things that I mentioned at the very beginning.

Just as God had special clothing for the High Priest and for all of the priests and Levites, God's got special clothing for you. And it's not something you can buy from Lifeway or christianbook.com. It is your character.

How you treat people, how you relate to God and how you relate to man. God wants you to put on that full armor of God. Put on that fruit of the Spirit today.

And that's what he wants from you. And then realize that just like these priests were washed in water and sprinkled with blood and dedicated to this purpose of the Lord, you have been sprinkled with the blood of Christ. You have been washed in water.

You have been baptized. If you've not been baptized, I'd encourage you. If you believe in Christ, do that.

Join in following what Jesus has for you. And then realize I'm all gods and I need to be all gods all the time. There's no time off from being a priest.

Hope that'd be an encouragement to you today. I know I was encouraged through this passage. And thinking of one of the amazing thing it is that Jesus loves me, that he has made a way for me, that he has been that sacrifice for my sin.

And I don't have to go to imperfect people in order to have restitution made with God. He is my substitute. And so grateful for that.

Tomorrow we'll see, depending on time, we'll see the ordination service continue. Some things for Aaron and his sons, and then when it goes wrong. And it starts off wrong right at the beginning.

So, look forward to seeing you then. Thank you.