The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons (Preparing to Meet God)

Greeting

Good morning, Thank you for the opportunity to preach, Thankful for the Word.

I’ve titled this message “Preparing to meet God.” We will talk about Aaron and his son’s preparation to serve God in a special way. This will compare to how we can meet God and be prepared for his service.

Pray: that the Word gets out through preaching today, that preaching is truth, Afganastan, Covid, the state of this world. Pray for Victory in Jesus, that the gospel will be spread

Background information

The text we will be reading today comes from the Book of Leviticus, chapter 8. This chapter comes at the start of a section concerning the installation of the priesthood. The previous 7 chapters are concerning the system of offerings for the nation of Israel. The instalation of the priesthood is vital to the function of the sacrifical system, thus, they go hand in hand. This system is what God ordained at that time as a way to speak to the children of Israel, drawing them near to him and teaching them what He expects of them.

The text

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments and the anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread. 3 And assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” 4 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the congregation was assembled at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

It is important to see that this is a directive from God. Moses was to lead the people in installing the priesthood. All of Israel was gathered in this very public meeting. This process has already been laid out in Exodus 28 and 29. If you’re looking for more information on this, you can look to these chapters to see details about priestly clothing and the consecration.

5 And Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded to be done.” 6 And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water.

So the first thing that needed done was to have a public washing in front of the whole nation. Could you imagine that?! As strange as this may seem, we have to remember throughout this whole ordination service that God was placing unholy people in the position to be His holy representatives. Of course cleansing must take place for the high priest to service the nation.

7 And he put the coat on him and tied the sash around his waist and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him and tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band. 8 And he placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. 9 And he set the turban on his head, and on the turban, in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown, as the Lord commanded Moses.

The clothing worn by the high priest is exclusive to him. The special clothing that was worn was meant to elevate the High Priest and give them dignity and honor in the nation of Israel. Priests were able to wear some of these garments to identify themselves with the priesthood, but only the High Priest could wear the ephod, breastplate, turban with the crown, and the urim and thummim. Each of these had a high level of meaning with them and are worth the time to study. Again I’ll point you to Exodus 28 for that.

10 Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. 11 And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its utensils and the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. 12 And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him. 13 And Moses brought Aaron’s sons and clothed them with coats and tied sashes around their waists and bound caps on them, as the Lord commanded Moses.

A few things are in these verses that I want you to notice. The first is that this was an anointing of the whole tabernacle. Everthing was anointed with oil, most likely a sprinkling of the tabernacle with careful attention to the alter, utensils, basin and its stand. These were items directly tied to the worship of God in the tabernacle. It is interesting to me that Aaron is anointed with oil along with the items in the tabernacle. Aaron is being dedicated to use within the tabernacle in the same manner as these tools within it.

Aaron’s anointing gives us the picture of an endowment of God’s spirit upon him. The blessings of God were poured out upon Aaron as the oil ran through his hair and beard. Notice also that Aaron’s sons were not anointed with oil. We can see a matter of spiritual headship as Aaron is receiving the spirit and blessing of God through the anointing, he is the conduit to his family for said spirit and blessing. He and his sons are meant to take this and be a blessing to the nation of Israel through there service to yahweh.

So far, the High Priest has been cleansed in ritual bathing, clothed in priestly attire, and anointed with the spirit and blessing of God. All of these are in preparation for service in the tabernacle but why is it so important to do all of this for Aaron. I’ve illuded to it some but the job of the high priest is unlike any other’s job. He is to meet with God. Aaron was tasked with being cleansed in order to meet God on the day of atonement. Only the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies on that day and make sacrifices for the atonment. If you want more information on the day of atonement, look at Leviticus 16

I want us to reflect on the holiness of God and the high standard that he has for humanity. Without God’s mercy, sinners cannot enter into his presence. The weight of God’s holiness is antithetical to the sinfulness of humanity. What a terror it must be to enter into his presence with sin’s guilt and stain. It was vital to be pure before the Lord to make atonement for the people. There is a legend, and it is just that. That the High Priest would have a rope tied around his waist or foot so that if he had not been properly purified from his sins and died in the presence of God, his body could be removed from the Holy of Holies. Since no one can enter into it, the body could not be removed apart from the aid of a rope. Now there is not proof for this and I don’t want to peddle this as truth, but it does illuminate the seriousness of entering into the presence of God as a sinner.

We will have to come back to this but I want to move on to the rest of the chapter. I’ll summarize it for you. There are three sacrifices made for Aaron and his sons. The bull mentioned in verse 2 is killed for a sin offering. The sin is passed on and destroyed with the bull. A burnt offering is the second sacrifice made. The first ram is killed this time. The burnt offering is a pleasing aroma as worship to God. The last sacrifice is the ram of ordination. This is not a common sacrifice for the people of Israel, it is just for ordination. The ram is killed and blood is put on the right ear lobe, thumb of the right hand and the big toe of the right foot. This is a dedication of Aaron and his sons to temple service. Aaron and his son’s garments are consecrated and then they have a meal of the ram of ordination. They have to stay in the tent of meeting for seven days until their ordination is complete.

Application

Why do we care about the ordination of Aaron and his sons? It is important because it highlights what Jesus has done!

Aaron was being prepared for meeting with God on behalf of the poeple. We have a High Priest in Jesus, an advocate with the Father. We cannot be prepared to meet God apart from Jesus. God’s holiness does not permit sin and his requirement of perfect existence has not been met. We should fear the day our sins are revealed apart from the blood of Jesus.

Notice the order here that Aaron went through to be prepared for his role as High Priest. He was cleansed. His cleansing was a ritual bathing in front of the congregation. He was clothed. He put on the clothing of the High Priest. This was to bring dignity and to elevate him for service. He was anointed. The spirit of God and God’s blessing was poured out upon him. He was meant to pass this on to his sons and in turn his family was to be a blessing to the nation and the nation was to bless the world. After the cleansing, the clothing and the anointing, the sacrifice was made for sin.

These themes all sound familiar to us, but the order is backwards. Yes, we cannot meet God on our own terms. Yes we are sinners and have no standing before God. Yes, we still are not able to be in the presense of God with sin in our lives. This has not changed, but the order and method of atonement has changed. The sacrifice came last, it was something that Aaron had to become prepared for. But the sacrifice of today has already come. The sin offering is here. Jesus has overcome the blood of bulls and rams.

Jesus is the one that cleanses. (Baptism is a picture of that). You can be washed in the blood of Jesus because his sacrifice is here right now! Jesus is the one that clothes. Aaron was clothed in dignity and elevated for service. Jesus is here to clothe you in humility for service and the sake of His gospel. Jesus is the one that anoints. He sends the Holy Spirit as an anointing upon the one submitted to him. His blessing is poured out upon families to be a blessing to the world. Just as Aaron’s anointing was meant for the sake of the nation, God has designed families to serve him in his redemptive plan for the world.

If you haven’t experienced Jesus’ redemption in your life, i implore you to meet him today. Find someone who can help you to know Jesus. If you’ve met Jesus and have experienced his sacrifice, cleansing, clothing and anointing it’s your responsibility to lead the way for others. The blessings of God are to be used for this purpose. We are to be conduits for his peace in this sinful world.

Let’s pray

Thankful for the word, Thankful for Jesus sacrifice, for cleansing, clothing anointing. Help in finding ways to be a blessing. Pray for people to prepare to meet God.