ESTABLISHING THE CHURCH
Leviticus 8:1-13
V:1. The
Lord said to Moses, 2 "Bring Aaron and his sons, their garments, the
anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams and the basket
containing bread made without yeast, 3 and gather the entire assembly at the
entrance to the Tent of Meeting." 4 Moses did as the Lord commanded him,
and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
A. The work
of the ministry is never done.
1. God has more for us to do.
2. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt into the desert, to begin their journey to the
promised land.
3. Moses recorded the Book of the law on mount
Sanai and read it to the Israelites
4. He followed the instructions of the Lord
in constructing the Tabernacle.
B. His new assignment was the anointing of Aaron as high priest and his sons as priests.
1. A tabernacle without a priest is like a
candle without a light.
2. God has a divine order in what He does
things.
3. First God gave his people the civil
government
a. Second, He gave His people rules to
live by.
a. Third, He built a place of worship.
b. Forth, He ordained a High priest of
worship.
4. The order of our development is similar.
a. We were born in sin under civil
government
b. In the world we have rules to live
by.
c. In the course of our development we
were introduced to Christ in a place
of worship.
d. Jesus has become our High priest
e. We have been made priests of our
homes through faith in the Word.
C. The
washing of Aaron is symbolic of our regeneration.
1. We are made clean by faith in the Word
of God.
2. The anointing was the setting apart of Aaron and his son from the congregation for
God’s use.
a. Aaron became a priest of the living
God and the High Priest of Israel.
b. The anointing oil represents the power
of the Holy Spirit to intercede for our sins
c. As members of the body of Christ we
all have been set aside to glorify God.
D. The sacrifice of the bull was symbolic of
the transfer of Aaron's sin to the bull.
1, Jesus who knew no sin became the
sacrifice for our sin.
2. The bread and the broiled meat
became a fellowship meal with the Lord.
3. Our fellowship with Jesus is our
obedience to God’s commands
E. The anointing of the High priest was a public ceremony before all the elders of I
Israel.
1. Moses was not the architect of the
Priesthood.
2. Since Aaron and his sons were relatives of Moses, to prevent resentment, the
ceremony Was Made public according to the commands of the Father.
PURIFICATION
AND ORDINATION OF THE PRIESTHOOD
V:5 Moses
said to the assembly, "This is what the Lord has commanded to be
done." 6 Then Moses. brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them
with water. 7 He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him
with the robe and put the ephod on him. He also tied the ephod to him by its
skillfully woven waistband; so it was fastened on him. 8 He placed the
breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece. 9 Then he
placed the turban on Aaron's head and set the gold plate, the sacred diadem, on
the front of it, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Whatever we
do for the Lord must be done according to His commands.
1. We cannot fulfill the will of the
Father without being obedient.
2. Moses followed God’s commands in
anointing the tabernacle and the priest.
The washing of Aaron and his sons with water represented the purification of
them for service.
3. Jesus's death on the cross opened the
door to our purification.
4. Our baptism represents purification before the
Father.
The Pulpit
Commentary gives us a good explanation of the High Priest Robe
Between the priesthood of Aaron and that of the Lord Jesus Christ, there are points of
resemblance.
I.
The clothing represents the PERSONAL HOLINESS of the priest.
The dressing of the High
Priest designed by the Lord was more elaborate than any of the pagan kings of
surrounding Nations.
1. The robe was linen, and... must be
understood to have been white." This was associated with the idea of
bodily cleanness, and hence with the righteousness of soul (see Revelation
19:8). The High Priest of our profession was he "that loved
righteousness".
Jesus is the true
"scepter of righteousness and the scepter of his kingdom" (Hebrews
1:8,9).
2. Aaron fitted new clothing that represented
the righteousness of Christ.
We are
clothed by Christ at no cost to us. It is His grace
A Child of God puts on the garments of God.
II. HIS ALL-SUFFICIENT STRENGTH.
The girdle with which Aaron was girded (verse 7) was suggestive of
strength, activity and, readiness for the appointed work. To "gird up the
loins" was to be prepared for immediate and effective action. Christ always stands ready and mighty to save;
prepared at the moment of our readiness to put forth his arm of power, and to
redeem us with the "saving strength of his right hand."
God has empowered us to do the work promoting the Gospel
We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
III. HIS
REPRESENTATIVE CHARACTER.
On the
breastplate of the ephod (verse 8) were the names of the twelve tribes of
Israel. With these on his person, he appeared before God in the holy place; representing
them and appearing on their behalf. Our Divine Redeemer, assuming our human
nature, suffered and died in our stead, and now "appears in the presence
of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24).
The names of
all believers are written in the book of life.
Jesus is
constantly making intercessions for us, seated at the right hand of the Father.
IV. HIS
SPIRITUAL FITNESS FOR HIS GREAT WORK.
The
"Urim and Thummim" (verse 8) signified "lights" and
"perfections;" they were how Aaron received inspiration from Jehovah.
Our Lord was one "in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"
(Colossians 1:9), particularly (see context) Divine wisdom. He is - "the
truth" (John 14:6), and He is "the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians
1:24,30; Colossians 2:8). He has absolute wisdom, knows the mind of the Father,
and "knows what is in man" also, is that omniscient One who is
perfectly equipped for all our problems which he has undertaken to work out.
V. THE
FINAL TRIUMPH OF HIS CAUSE. "
He put the
miter upon his head" (verse 9). The high priest of Israel had a touch of
royalty - he wore a crown upon his head. The High Priest of man is royal also.
"Upon his head are many crowns." He is "exalted to be a
prince" as well as a Saviour. And he is "able even to subdue all
things unto himself" (Philippians 3:21; see Philippians 2:9,10).
Our savior is the king of kings who has all
power and has overcome the world.
VI. HIS
ULTIMATE DESIGN.
"Upon
the mitre, even upon his forefront, he put the golden plate" (verse 9),
and on this golden diadem were inscribed the sacred, significant words, "Holiness to the Lord" (Exodus 28:36), this sentence was placed in the forefront of
the high priest's mitre, signify that the great end of his ministrations and
the establishment among all the tribes of Israel of" Holiness to the
Lord". The purpose for which he was
appointed would not be attained until that great and noble aim was reached. For
that he lived and wrought. That, too, is the end of the Divine priesthood.
Christ came to "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews
9:26), to establish on the earth that kingdom of God which is
"righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."
(from The
Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006,
2010 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
THE
ANOINTING OF THE CHURCH
V:10 Then
Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it,
and so consecrated them. 11 He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven
times, anointing the altar and all its utensils and the basin with its stand,
to consecrate them.
A. Everything inside the tabernacle was
anointed and set aside for God’s use.
1. Everything in the 4 walls of the
Church is set aside for God’s use.
2. The Choir is anointed to sing God’s
praises
3. The Pulpit is anointed to proclaim
the Gospel of Jesus Christ
4. The pews are anointed with God’s
workers to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth
B. The ceremony of consecration lasted
seven days.
a. Seven is the number of completion.
b. God is satisfied with His work.
c. The question is, are we satisfied
with our work for the Lord?
d. On the seventh day of creation, God
rested.
He proclaimed His work to be very good.
C. The authority of concentration is
given by God to His ministers
THE
ANOINTING OF THE PRIESTHOOD
V:12 He
poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate
him. 13 Then he brought Aaron's sons forward, put
tunics on them tied sashes around them
and put headbands on them, as the Lord commanded Moses.
A. The Pastors of the churches have been
ordained and anointed to teach and lead God’s people into His righteousness
1. He has the anointing of the Holy
Spirit to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ
2. He is spiritually clothed in the
righteousness of Jesus.
B. The pastor has been crowned with
wisdom to claim victory in the life of each through Jesus Christ
1. The Pastors clothed in God’s
righteousness lead us in righteousness.
2. The sash tied around the priest represents
the strengthening of God.
3. We are weak but He is strong
4. The headband represents the victory
and royalty of Jesus
5. Our victory has already been won.
Jesus is our
High Priest. We are priests serving Jesus.
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