|
Lessons from Leviticus 8
Consecrating the Priesthood Ye shall not go out of [from] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you.—Leviticus 8:33 David Stein It is an extraordinary blessing to be invited to follow the footsteps of Jesus as part of his priesthood. It requires extraordinary sacrifice to become part of this priesthood. Thus it is not without reason that this group is styled a “little flock” (Luke 12:32). They are provided everything they need to grow into the privilege they are called to. These called ones are invited into an elite, “predestined” group. They are not predestined individually, but collectively, as a group. However, all those faithful unto death will individually be ushered into this most wonderful role. The final result will be the formation, in glory beyond the veil, of the Melchizedek Priesthood, that will successfully bring the human race along the Highway of Holiness to human perfection and complete deliverance. The Lord has not left the little flock without the necessary instruction and preparation for their future role. Among the many helps provided is the most wonderful type of the consecration of the Levitical priesthood. Types are always deficient when compared to the reality. The antitype is so complex and glorious that any type can only partially show the reality. But let us not think that this is bad! A consideration of the type of the consecration of the priesthood reveals countless lessons and encouragements to the little flock. We find two accounts in the Pentateuch. Exodus 29 records God’s instructions to Moses about how to conduct the consecration ceremony. Leviticus 8 records the carrying out of those instructions. The accounts are parallel, but not identical, and comparing the differences between the two can clarify some of the events of that service. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread.”—Leviticus 8:1,2 We can enumerate the items in this recipe in two ways. The first way is to note that there are seven items:
Seven is a number symbolizing perfection and completeness. Having seven items here suggests perfection and completeness in the arrangement of Jehovah to appoint a priesthood that would be fully qualified and capable for the task of bringing mankind back to God. This is essentially the role of a priest—to reunite the worshiper with God. Several of the items listed are plural, like the two rams or four sons. What number is produced if we enumerated all of the plural items we could? It is something like this:
With this enumeration we have another significant number, fifteen, which represents Deliverance (see Deliverance in the November/ December 2004 Herald). Again, how apropos this is, as the priesthood will be singularly responsible for the deliverance of mankind from sin and death! Moses is told to take “Aaron and his sons.” Aaron is specifically named, but his sons are taken collectively. This reminds us that our Lord Jesus was specifically predestined and designated from before the foundation of the world to be the deliverer and great high priest of the antitypical priesthood: “Ye were … redeemed … with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Peter 1:18-20; see also Revelation 13:8). But the underpriests are not predestined individually as was our Lord. We are predestined as a class, a collective group, not as individuals: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Ephesians 1:3,4). Our predestination is to be conformed to the image of Jesus to qualify for membership in this priesthood: “Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). The practical reality of our being conformed to the image of Jesus is that we must be transformed in our minds, our intellect, our hearts, and our character. “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed{FOOTNOTE: The word “transformed” comes from the Greek metamorpheoo, or the more familiar metamorphosis, the process describing the change of a caterpillar into a butterfly. This is a beautiful illustration of the change from earthly conditions to heavenly that all of the antitypical priests must undergo. We put off mortality and human existence in order to put on spiritual and divine bodies (1 Corinthians 15:49,53).} by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). This transformation takes place as a consequence of our daily sacrificing for Christ (see Romans 12:1). The sacrificing of the original Levitical priesthood depicts all of this. “And gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Moses did as the LORD commanded him; and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the LORD commanded to be done.” —Leviticus 8:3-5 Since the host of Israel was over a million (Exodus 12:37), how could they all gather at the door of the Tabernacle? We suggest that representatives, perhaps tribal or family leaders, actually gathered at that door to bear witness to this installation process. The eyewitnesses reported what they saw to others. As we walk through this world, we also have witnesses of our priestly life and sacrifice. Everyone with whom we have to do is watching us. Most do not realize that they are seeing the priesthood in action. The reaction of the world to us runs from appreciation to hate. But all are witnesses of us and they will remember us! They will relate their eyewitness accounts in the Kingdom. We all leave behind a record of our performance as priests, that will be recalled by our friends and neighbors. Perhaps this is depicted by the invitation of Moses.{FOOTNOTE: There is yet another picture of this witnessing in the traveling clothes of the Tabernacle described in Numbers 11. When the Tabernacle was being transported to a new site, each piece of its furniture, with the exception of the copper laver, was covered so that the beautiful work could not be seen. Most of these had an external covering of sealskin representing what the world sees of us—our flesh—as we travel through life. But the Ark of the Covenant had its sealskin covering overlaid by a covering of blue! When we remember that the ark represented the church in glory, the combination of symbols clears. When the church is gone into glory and their flesh can no longer be seen, the blue covering hiding the sealskin is appropriate. But the visible blue covering reflects the faith of the church during their earthly sojourn that will be reported and testified by the numerous individuals with whom we had interacted during our human lives. They were witnesses of the consecration of the priesthood!} “And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.”—Leviticus 8:6 This ceremonial washing symbolized the cleanness, purity, and acceptability of the priests. Jesus was sinless and needed no cleansing. But the man Aaron was not, so washing was required to meet the antitype. Aaron’s sons, the church in the antitype, do need cleansing and must be justified before the consecration process can begin. “And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith. And he put the breastplate upon him: also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim. And he put the mitre upon his head; also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the golden plate, the holy crown; as the LORD commanded Moses.”—Leviticus 8:7-9 Note that Aaron and his sons did not bring the garments to the consecration ritual. Moses brought them. This shows that Jehovah God brought to Jesus and to us everything necessary for our collective consecration. This idea continues in Aaron being dressed by Moses with the garments of glory and beauty. The garments of glory and beauty were normally the clothing the high priest puts on after completing the Atonement Day sacrifices (Leviticus 16:23, 24). It is curious that the high priest is clothed with the garments before he has sacrificed a single animal! Why is that? When Jesus made his personal consecration and was begotten of the holy spirit at Jordan, he had given to him the garments of glory and beauty. That is, he had by possession the office of high priest. It would become his by full ownership when he had completed his sacrificing at the end of the antitypical Day of Atonement. This is also true of us to a certain extent. When we make a personal consecration to do the will of God, we too are brought into God’s spiritual family by a begettal of the holy spirit. Paul said this is an “earnest” or token of our future hope to have by ownership what we now have by possession.{FOOTNOTE: Though there are many references to the gaining of our crown in the future, these refer to our gaining the reward by ownership. One text shows that possession aspect we now have on this side of the veil: “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Revelation 3:11). Note also that in Leviticus 8, neither Aaron nor his sons go into the Most Holy of the Tabernacle. This seems to be an additional confirmation that this is a picture of consecrating activities on this side of the veil.} “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13,14). “And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them. And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them. And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron’s head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.”—Leviticus 8:10-12 The anointing oil was perhaps the most holy substance in ancient Israel. It was concocted from beautifully fragrant materials and compounded with olive oil to be used only in the religious rituals of the Tabernacle. It was against the national law for anyone other than the priests to manufacture it, under penalty of death (Exodus 30:33)! The entire Tabernacle was already constructed and set up at the time the priesthood was being installed. This suggests that all of the prior arrangements preparatory to the arrival of Jesus at his first advent and his installation as high priest had been accomplished. All of history before Jesus was the time of preparation of the antitypical Tabernacle arrangement. He was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Thus all was in good order when it came time to anoint the high priest, and later the underpriests (Exodus 40:13-15, Numbers 3:3). So Moses anointed the Tabernacle and its furniture and then came to Aaron and literally poured out the oil on his head. There are actually two anointings described in this chapter. The first is here (Leviticus 8:10-12), and a second in verse 30 (in that case a sprinkling). The anointing oil represents God’s holy spirit, his divine power used to accomplish his will. In this picture Aaron represents the entire priesthood, Head and Body. Psalm 133 describes this process: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments” (Psalm 133:1,2). The Head is anointed and the oil runs down to the body. Moses, representing God, is doing the anointing and we are seeing it from his perspective. There is no mention of anointing the underpriests in this account. This seems to teach that the antitypical underpriests are not anointed individually! Thus we come under and into the anointing of the head only as we are accepted and come into Jesus. “And Moses brought Aaron’s sons, and put coats upon them, and girded them with girdles, and put bonnets upon them; as the LORD commanded Moses.”—Leviticus 8:13 Here again God provides for the priesthood what is necessary for them to carry out their duties. “And he brought the bullock for the sin offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin offering” (Leviticus 8:14). It is unusual to find in the types of the Law the bullock representing something other than Jesus, but it happens in this picture: Aaron and his sons place their hands upon the animal. Thus the church is included in the representation of the bullock. This is curious, since a bullock represents perfect humanity; clearly the sons of Aaron, representing the church in the flesh, are far, far from perfection. In fact in Leviticus 16 there are two sacrifices, the bullock and the goat, to typify and make plain the difference between the perfection of Jesus and the imperfection of the church. How can the church be shown in the bullock here? One basic principle in the types and shadows involving the church is that our acceptability as a sacrifice on this side of the veil depends completely upon Jesus (Ephesians 1:6). All the merit lies with him. We have the privilege of being counted in with him, but the merit is Jesus’ and his alone. We add absolutely nothing to it. Thus we are a grace class—it is undeserved. This picture teaches that though we underpriests have the invitation and privilege of sacrificing with Jesus, being co-laborers with him, being part of one sin-offering sacrifice—head and body—all of the legal merit before God is his. One more note regarding this verse: Where did the bullock come from? Did Aaron bring it? No. Did the people of Israel supply it? No. Moses supplied it. This shows that God has supplied the sacrifices necessary: “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me” (Hebrews 10:5). “And he slew it; and Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it.”—Leviticus 8:15 Who killed Jesus? We might say it was the Romans who crucified him, or the Jews who delivered him to the Romans. Or we might say it was Jesus himself who submitted to the circumstances of his death and permitted it by choice. These answers are all true, but we must add one more: God offered up Jesus. This is indicated from this type: Moses killed the bullock while Aaron and his sons submissively watched. This should not surprise us, because God is the author of salvation and Jesus was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Who slew him back then? It was God who foresaw the needs of a sinful race for a perfect human sacrifice and ordained that Jesus would die as that sacrifice. That is why Jehovah is called “our Savior.” “We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe” (1 Timothy 4:10; see also Jude 25, Titus 3:4, Titus 2:10, Luke 1:47, 1 Timothy 2:3). Moses took the blood and put some of it on the four horns of the altar. Horns are a picture of power. An animal with large horns is a powerful beast. Many ancient armies placed horns on the helmets of their warriors to emphasize their power and intimidate their adversaries. So the horns of the altar represent the power of the altar. But the altar has to be empowered! Anyone can build an altar, but that does not mean God accepts sacrifices offered on it. It is the blood of the bullock that empowers the altar and authorizes its use to receive further acceptable sacrifices. It is the blood of the perfect man Jesus that opens the altar for acceptable sacrifices to God. The remaining blood of the bullock was poured out on the earth at the base of the altar. The blood of Jesus will repurchase the earth from the curse brought upon it by the sin of man (Genesis 3:17, 5:29). Both the people and the earth are redeemed by his blood. “And he took all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and Moses burned it upon the altar. But the bullock, and his hide, his flesh, and his dung, he burnt with fire without the camp; as the LORD commanded Moses.”—Leviticus 8:16,17 After the altar was authorized, this is the first offering burned upon it: the fat (zeal) and life sustaining organs (best abilities) of the bullock. Everything placed upon this Altar of Burnt Offering ascended to God, shown by the ascending smoke.{FOOTNOTE: One editor notes that in Leviticus 8:16, “burned” is rendered “made a perfume.”} So burnt offerings in general show how God accepts the sacrifice, namely in its entirety, since it all ascends to him. It is what is meant by the phrase “whole burnt offering” (Psalm 51:19). It is wholly consumed.{FOOTNOTE: In the Greek, the single word for the phrase whole burnt offering is olokautomata, from which we get the English word holocaust (see Hebrews 10:6, 8).} The type teaches what level of consecration is acceptable to God. If we are wholly consumed by our worship of God and our daily sacrificing to him, we fit the picture of this offering. If we are zealous in laying our talents down, the fat of our zeal will burn brightly. If our time, our wealth, our energy, our intelligence, are all marshaled in the daily laying down of our life for him, we become a whole burnt offering. All of the consecrated do well to ask themselves: “Is my all on the altar?” God will not accept anything less than our all. The hide, flesh and dung of the bullock were burned “without” or outside the camp. If you ever smelled burnt hair or flesh, you will remember the stench it produces. The burning outside the camp represents how the same holy and acceptable sacrifice is viewed by the world. They find it revolting, much like burning hair. They cannot understand how intelligent people would sacrifice their lives for a religious ideal. It seems a sad waste of time and talent to them. “And he brought the ram for the burnt offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. And he killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about. And he cut the ram into pieces; and Moses burnt the head, and the pieces, and the fat. And he washed the inwards and the legs in water; and Moses burnt the whole ram upon the altar: it was a burnt sacrifice for a sweet savour, and an offering made by fire unto the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.”—Leviticus 8:18-21 Since this ram is a burnt offering, it includes the idea of full acceptance by God. Again, Aaron and his sons lay their hands upon it, showing that this is another picture of their sacrifice, but this time from the standpoint of God accepting it in its entirety. The ram was divided and Moses washed the inwards and legs, but did not wash the head. Here we have a picture that takes note of the natural imperfection of the church in contrast to the natural perfection of Jesus. Jesus, pictured by the head of the ram, needs no cleansing. He was a perfect man without the slightest blemish (1 Peter 1:19). But the church, pictured by the body of the ram, requires washing to be accepted. “And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. And he brought Aaron’s sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet: and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.”—Leviticus 8:22-24 This second ram is designated the ram of consecration. This sacrifice showed the effect of all these sacrifices upon Christ and the church. As we appreciate more and more what Jesus sacrificed for us, we are moved to do three things, suggested by where the blood of the ram of consecration was placed. For both Aaron and his sons, the blood was put on the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot. Symbolically we may associate these places as follows: Right Ear: A consecrated hearing of God and the truth. God speaks to us through his word, through the brethren, through experience, and through channels we might not expect. We must have a hearing ear to detect the voice of God from wherever it may emanate. Thumb of the Right Hand: A consecrated doing of the work of the Lord. Not all that we do in our daily life is the Lord’s work, though we should do all for the glory of God. But when we finish the secular duties of life, what is left ought to be the work of the Lord. We should be always on alert to see what more we can do for him. Work done for the Lord’s people is accounted as work done to him. Thus we should all the more be motivated to seek greater opportunities for consecrated service. Great Toe of the Right Foot: A consecrated walk in the Lord and in the truth. Our consecrated walk is a walk of faith. The vision of the kingdom and a daily review of God’s promises are part of our walk. Our fellowship with other brethren who are likewise walking is an encouragement to both. Our walk of faith will bring us great privileges of worship. As we walk the narrow way, we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and follow him. Such spiritual travel will provide a richly blessed consecrated life. Thus we see that the ram of consecration provides a most beautiful, practical lesson on what a consecrated life consists of and what the effect of consecration on our daily behavior should be. In all areas of our consecrated life there must be the deepest appreciation of the blood of Jesus in the spirit of holiness. Moses sprinkled some of the blood of the ram of consecration on the altar round about. The consecrated activity of the church not only sanctifies them, but also has a sanctifying influence on all things around them. When we are serving the Lord, we cannot help but be a positive influence in the earth. (Compare Matthew 5:13-16.) “And he took the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that was upon the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right shoulder: And out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before the LORD, he took one unleavened cake, and a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and put them on the fat, and upon the right shoulder: And he put all upon Aaron’s hands, and upon his sons’ hands, and waved them for a wave offering before the LORD.”—Leviticus 8:25-27 Moses took all of these items and placed them, probably upon a platter of some sort, and put the platter upon the hands of Aaron and his sons to wave them. This wave offering is a curious type of offering, a waving motion of all that was in their hands. How long did they wave it? The Scriptures do not say. We may surmise it was long enough to cause fatigue. It is Moses who determined how long and it is he who took the wave offering off of the hands of the priests. The wave offering represents the continuing and dynamic actions in our consecrated lives for as long as we are able. The items of the wave offering show elements of our sacrifice. The various pieces of the ram of consecration show we are laying our lives down in daily sacrifice. The three different types of bread depict another lesson. The parallel text in Exodus 29:2 gives additional details: “Unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shalt thou make them.” First there is the unleavened cake or bread. Leaven represents sin. Unleavened bread represents something without sin. So this unleavened bread represents justification, innate in Jesus, but God’s gift to us by virtue of the blood of Jesus. Second was a cake of oiled bread or unleavened bread tempered or smeared with oil. This bread depicts quite beautifully our sanctification which begins with the begettal of the holy spirit, pictured by the oil. The last type of bread is described as an oily wafer. It is unleavened bread also, as all of the bread in the basket was, but evidently this is a thin piece of bread. With the oil in and on this wafer it was probably translucent. One could see light through it but not with any distinctiveness. These qualities suggest this bread symbolizes our hope of glorification. It cannot represent full glorification since the priesthood is still in the flesh. But we do have the hope of glorification as part of the precious promises that give us strength every day. The light of these promises gives us abundant hope, although the specifics and clarity are yet future. “And Moses took them from off their hands, and burnt them on the altar upon the burnt offering: they were consecrations for a sweet savour: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.”—Leviticus 8:28 Moses removed the wave offering from the hands of the priests. So God takes our offering and sacrifice when it pleases him. Our consecrated lives must continue in the sacrificial work until God says it is enough. We are neither competent nor authorized to cease our efforts so long as we draw breath. The challenges and difficulties of the way must not be allowed to discourage us to drop the offering. God knows the burdens he permits us to bear to make us stronger. No matter what the circumstances, we must endure and persist in doing what we can do. God only expects what we can do, never what we cannot do. When the time comes, God will take our offering as a sweet savor and say “come up higher.” Only then can we fully enter into his rest. “And Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave offering before the LORD: for of the ram of consecration it was Moses’ part; as the LORD commanded Moses. And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon his sons’ garments with him; and sanctified Aaron, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him” (Leviticus 8:29, 30). What remained of the blood of the ram of consecration was now mixed with the anointing oil and sprinkled upon Aaron and his sons and their garments to sanctify them. In the washing of the priests earlier in this ritual, there was no blood—it seems preliminary. Here we have full and thorough sanctification, including the foundation blood of Christ and the holy spirit of God. Coming after Moses took the wave offering, it shows the final perfecting of the saints on this side of the veil. “And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, Boil the flesh at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and there eat it with the bread that is in the basket of consecrations, as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it. And that which remaineth of the flesh and of the bread shall ye burn with fire.”—Leviticus 8:31,32 This eating of the flesh of the ram of consecration and the bread of consecration shows the personal appropriation of these elements of truth. When we eat something, we internalize it and make it part of ourselves. This must be done with the truth. We must learn to see ourselves in these pictures, carrying out the will of God in respect to our consecration. “And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you. As he hath done this day, so the LORD hath commanded to do, to make an atonement for you. Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not: for so I am commanded. So Aaron and his sons did all things which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses” (Leviticus 8:33-36). Aaron and his sons are told to stay at the holy of the Tabernacle for seven days.{FOOTNOTE: Leviticus 8:33 in Rotherham says “And from the entrance of the tent of meeting shall ye not go forth, for seven days.” This stipulation does not require the priests to inhabit the holy itself for seven days, which in a literal sense would involve various things too holy for that compartment. The picture nevertheless maintains that the priests were associated with the Tabernacle for this period, representing how the saints are associated with the Tabernacle during the seven “days” or church periods of their consecration (editor).} This shows that the sacrificing of Christ and the church will require the full length of the Gospel age to complete. The account in Exodus 29 gives us an additional meaning regarding this period: “And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them. And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it. Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy” (Exodus 29:35-37). This could mean the entire process was repeated for each of the seven days—a sevenfold repetition of the consecration ritual. If so, it reinforces the lesson of the important and continual work of the Gospel age in consecrating or setting aside the church for their future work. Their development, strengthening, and sanctification is the paramount work of this age. When it is finally completed, then will begin the next stage of redemption, the recovery of mankind from sin and death at the hands of Jesus and his church. They will be priests fully qualified and trained to accomplish it successfully to God’s glory. |