Leviticus - The Lost Book

Dressing the Part or the Heart

The priests had a specific way they had to dress to be in the presence of God in the Tabernacle. How should dress the part to be in the presence of God? It is all about the dwelling place of God - our heart condition.

The Book of Leviticus begins with the description of all of the different kinds of offerings to be made -

Burnt offerings

Grain offerings

Fellowship Offerings

The Sin offerings

The Guilt offerings

The end of chapter seven explains the amount of the offerings and the parts of the offerings that actually went to the priests to keep for themselves.

Then Chapter 8 begins and we see that there were some very specific steps God asked them to take to be consecrated.

Consecrated...

Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament) 7727 קָדַשׁ

be sacred, consecrated, i.e., dedicate to service and loyalty to God, and so involving proper conduct (as prescribed) of any person or object so dedicated

Here in reference to the priests - but in various other places in the OT - God speaks of his people as a whole being sanctified - set apart for service to Himself.

The consecration of the priests

Gather the supplies and the people (vs 1-4)

Wash (vs 6)

Get ready - proper attire - very specific (vs 7-9)

Anointing (with oil) (vs 12)

Sprinkled with blood (vs 30)

The results of doing things God’s way -

Leviticus 9:23–24 ESV

23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 24 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

The consecration of the believer

There is a public aspect to it. (Romans 10:9)

Cleansing of our hearts (1 John 1:9)

A mental attire to apply (Psalm 19:14 ; Philippians 4:8)

The Anointing of the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:20, 27 )

We are washed with the blood of the sacrifice of Jesus (Eph. 2:13; Hebrews 9)

The result of doing things God’s way

1 Thessalonians 5:19–24 ESV

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Hebrews 10:19–25 ESV

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.