A Royal Priesthood

Intro

We spent the last month learning how to build the Tabernacle and how to make the Priestly Garments. We now come to the consecration of the priests, who will perform all of the duties of the Tabernacle. Remember, this whole section of the book of Exodus that started in Ch. 25 is God’s instruction to His people who chose to enter into a Covenant agreement with Him. God’s redemptive plan that He prefaced in Genesis 3 was established initially with Abraham, to whom God promised to bless his children, bless the nations, and from his seed, the snake crusher would come. Covenants with Abraham to be their God, and for them to be His people. God maintains that same promise to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, who later becomes Israel, until that same promise is now made to the people of Israel. I will be your God, and you will be my people. There are aspects of this Mosaic covenant that are new, but the underlying principal of God’s gracious work redeem His chosen people is unchanged. God makes this agreement with Moses, and with the people of Israel. He had already delivered them from Egypt, and He promised to bless them, and to be their God, if they promise to keep His Commandments. We already know that Israel fails to keep up their end over and over again, but God’s plan will not fail. We know from our own personal experience that God works through broken people just to make sure there is no mistaking this it is God alone who establishes and maintains His covenant.

Exodus 29

This chapter is about the things Aaron, the first High Priest of the Tabernacle, and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, the first Priests, must do to be made clean and set apart for the Priestly duties.

The first 9 verses are about the washing, clothing, and anointing of the priests, the rest of the chapter is about the sacrifices that will be made for the consecration of the priests and the Tabernacle. These particular sacrifices have a ton of gory details in them, and to us, will sound pretty repulsive. Remember, these sacrifices are an image of way God views sin. It is repulsive to Him. God loves the sinner, but He hates sin. This is what is required for these select few to do God’s work. God is explaining to His people, this is what it looks like for Him to come and dwell among His people.

v.1-9 Washed, clothed, anointed

v.10-18 The laying of hands and the sprinkling of blood

v.19-21 Cleansed by the blood from head to toe

v.22-25 A wave offering is waved from side to side, all around the priest in every direction, representing all of the land

v.26-30 The breast and right thigh is choice meat and God’s provision to those doing the priestly work.

v.31-37 Seven days of sacrificing two bulls a day representing complete or perfect atonement, yet more sacrifices had to be made.

v.38-40 Never ending sacrifice that never achieves complete atonement

v.41-46 There is nothing holy about the Tabernacle, or the Priests, or the sacrifices to consecrate them. It is God alone that makes them Holy. These are unclean people and unclean things that God has made clean. God is taking things that have been disordered by sin and bringing order.

This chapter ends with that same Covenant promise. I will be your God, and you will be my people. That’s the purpose of the Tabernacle and the furniture and the Priestly garments, and the consecration of the Priests. God wants to dwell with His people. Now it’s important to remember that this specific promise, I will be their God and they will be My people, is that scarlet thread that ties all of scripture together. This is the promise made in Genesis, then over and over again, all the way to Revelation. This is our promise. And when we read 1 Peter 2, we’re told that this is also our priesthood.

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

We actually went through the same consecration process that Aaron and his sons did.

Exodus 29:4 “You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.”

Washed by the waters of baptism

Exodus 29:5 “Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod.”

Clothed in righteousness

Exodus 29:7 “You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.”

Anointed by the Spirit

All because of Christ

Because of Jesus, we are given the Honor of being a royal priesthood with Jesus as our great High Priest. Aaron and all of the High priests after him could enter the Holy Place, that first room of the Tabernacle, but for the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat were, they could only pass through the veil one time a year on the day of atonement to offer a sacrifice for the people of Israel. Jesus tore that veil with his death and we read in Hebrews 4 that we are welcomed to walk boldly into the throne room of God, clothed in His righteousness.

Hebrews 9:11–14 “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

Hebrews 4:14–16 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

NKJV says 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace

Priest of the Tabernacle was an honorable role, but not one that everyone was jealous of. The work of the ministry was hard. The work of the ministry today is hard. We hold an honorable position as priests of God Almighty, but we hold a position that requires more of you than to just be here, in this room on a Sunday morning. Don’t get me wrong, this is exactly where you need to be right now, but there is much work to be done. We need to be transformed by His word, that looks like reading scripture. We need to be transformed by His Spirit, that looks like prayer. We need to obey His commands, that looks like love God and love others. We need to live a life transformed by the Gospel, that we might be able to go out and follow the Great Commission. Carry the Gospel message into our homes, into our work place, into our community, and make disciples.

And all of that might sound overwhelming. That might sound like its too hard or it’s a lot of work. I challenge you to tell me how else we’re supposed to respond. When Aaron and his sons lay their hands on the head of that bull and that ram before they are slain for sins it did not commit, that’s an image of something much greater. That’s an image of me placing my hand on the forehead of Jesus, and Him willingly taking on all my sin, and taking my place on that cross. That is how much Jesus loves you, that He takes on your sin, and takes on your punishment, so that your Heavenly Father can come to dwell in your heart. When you have a God that loves you like that, there is no other way to respond than a life devoted to Him.

God wants more than Sunday mornings

Imagine laying your hands on Jesus’ head before He is hung on the cross