Only One Way

Series on Exodus

VIII. The Covering of God’s People

C. Pattern for the Tabernacle

8. The Priest, Text: 28, 29, 39:1-31

Title: Only One Way

Introduction

There is more information about this aspect of the tabernacle service than any other. A whole series of studies could be done on the priesthood. I humbly attempt to convey the most important truths to you in this study. Did you know that there were priests before the institution of the Levitical and Aaronic priesthood in the tabernacle? Strangely we see Abraham paying tithes to Melchizedek, a true priest of the most high God, and in scriptural terms a Gentile in Genesis 14. Others are mentioned without comment on their legitimacy. Pharaoh gave Joseph the daughter of Potiphera an Egyptian priest of on for a wife. Moses’ father in law, Jethro. is described as priest of Midian. But the people of God initially had no priesthood. Each head of a family or clan such as Abraham and Job acted as the priest. Why did God introduce a priesthood? After all we are now a kingdom of priests. In some ways the patriarchal way was closer to us, being purer and simpler. God created the priesthood in the tabernacle service first of all to demonstrate his holiness. The people needed to see that they were separated from God by their sin and they needed mediators. The people needed to see in the priesthood their holy representatives before God and for their collective responsibility for sin. Even so, as we have previously stated, pious Israelites could see through this to their own need to be close to God as the priests were. David writes in Psalm 5:7, But I by your great mercy will come into your house. or in Psalm 27:4 One thing I ask of the Lord …that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. We shall look here at the character of the priesthood under four headings: the selection, the sanctification, the standing, and the service.

I The Selection

The priests were called of God. Designated by His sovereign right. He took the tribe of Levi in place of the firstborn of each family who belonged to him by virtue of the passover. This forcefully reminds us that only those can serve who are chosen. Hebrews 5:4, No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God just as Aaron was.” Numbers 16:3-5 is instructive. This is the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram and led by these three, others rebelled, They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD’S assembly?” When Moses heard this, he fell face down. Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the LORD will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him.” Moses’ answer here was confirmed as the descendants of Aaron alone were chosen for the priesthood. This reminds us that our Savior was called by His Father to his task of being our great high priest and each one of us must be called as his servants. We cannot make ourselves Christians or make ourselves part of the royal priesthood. It is the grace of God.

II The Sanctification

The priests were also to be holy. Of course everyone of them was a sinner like us as is exemplified in the course of Bible history with Aaron and the golden calf, and Eli and his rebellious sons. But holiness was outwardly demonstrated in three ways. First their freedom from defects. Levites began serving at 25, priests at 30, but they had to be free of all bodily imperfections, not that these inherently displeased God, but they were evidence of his curse upon sinful man in general. A list is found in Leviticus 21:18-21, No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; no man with a crippled foot or hand, or who is hunchbacked or dwarfed, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the offerings made to the LORD by fire. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. Secondly, they must be free from ceremonial defilement. The priest must not be defiled by the dead unless close relatives and then must be cleansed. He must not shave his head or trim his beard, or disfigure himself. He must marry only a virgin, and in grief he may not muss his hair or tear his clothes as was the custom. Thirdly, this was demonstrated in their clothing. The white linen with which they were dressed in their basic uniform represented purity. They are clothed in garments of holiness, or sacred garments, Leviticus 16:4, He is to put on the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments; so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. In Revelation 19:8 we read of the bride of the lamb, Fine linen, bright and clean was given to her to wear, fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints. Also, the elders around the throne of God are dressed in white. The priests in the Old Testament wore a girdle gathering in their garments to prevent soiling while serving and a fringe on their robes which warned of their approach and a gold plate on the miter or turban which said “Holiness to the Lord.” All of this reminds us that our true high priest, Christ, was perfectly holy not only in outward aspects but in his heart, and we should be the same.

III The Standing

The standing of the priests was in the presence of God on behalf of the people. Exodus 19:22, Even the priests who draw near to God must consecrate themselves or the Lord will break out against them. This standing was illustrated in two ways. First in their clothing which not only indicated purity, as we have observed, but also their representative character. They wore epaulets on their shoulders with stones inscribed with the names of the 12 tribes. The high priest also wore a blue ephod and a breastplate with 12 stones representing the 12 tribes. Regular priests wore only the white ephod. The rites of consecration are the second thing illustrating this representative standing before God. These are described in Chapter 29. First, they had to offer a bullock for a sin offering, of which only a little fat was burned on the altar, and the rest was burned outside the camp. The reason for this is that they were not yet worthy to offer sacrifice until they had been cleansed of their sin. Then they offered a burnt offering which was all consumed upon the altar. Then a peace or wave offering which demonstrated that they were accepted by the Lord because they partook of this offering, but even in that, they must be sprinkled with blood before they could wave the offering before the Lord. This reminds us that our great high priest who is our representative has brought us into the holiest place by his own blood which is a sufficient sacrifice. He carries us in not symbolically but actually.

IV The Service.

A Prophetic
Of course the priests administered all the offerings in the holy place, the bread, the incense, the oil for light, but also all the sacrifices at the brazen altar. And we are taught in Numbers 3 that the Levites took care of all the logistics of the tabernacle., but it was also their job to teach. We are reminded of this in Leviticus 10:11 in the instructions to the priests, You must teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses and in Hosea 4:6, My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.” We need to see as well that the Levites were to be distributed throughout Israel, as recorded in Numbers 35, so it was impossible for all of the tribe of Levi to serve in the actual service of the tabernacle itself because they were so distributed. They then became teachers in all of Israel. This is amply illustrated in Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan. You will remember that there were two individuals who passed by without giving aid to the wounded traveler. The one was a priest and the other was a Levite. The parable clearly implies that it was just as much the responsibility of the Levite as it was the priest to minister. Thus by example as well as precept the Levites were to be the teachers of Israel. This may be seen as the prophetic function being combined with the priestly. The prophets were especially called to preach the messages from God, messages of blessing and judgment. The ordinary teaching which was also prophecy or declaring the Word of the Lord was in the hands of the priests and Levites. Jesus is the great high priest who came teaching. in Him the office of priest and prophet are combined. the same is true of those who follow Christ

B Priestly
The priestly activity is an offering sacrifice as mediator between God and man. They do not simply represent the people they also represent God. But these priests are distinguished from our great high priest Jesus Christ at least in three particulars. First of all their holiness is imputed which is to say that they are ceremonially holy but not actually so. Hebrews 7:26-28, Such a high priest meets our need-one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. Secondly they are temporary. As mediators they died and their work ceased and had to be undertaken by another, but Jesus is permanent. Hebrews 7:23-25, Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Thirdly, they are not able to offer a sufficient sacrifice. the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin, but concerning Christ the author of Hebrews says in 9:12-14, He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

C Kingly
The Levitical priesthood is notable for the absence of the ruling element. The author of Hebrews makes much of this in Chapter 7. The model for Jesus’ priesthood is Melchizedek, who is the king-priest of Salem. His name means king of righteousness. Melchizedek is a priest because of his relationship to God and not because of his lineage. Levitical priests were priests because of their genealogy. Jesus was a priest because of the power of his holy life and not because of descent for he was of the tribe of Judah. the royal tribe, the tribe of David. The Bible makes much of this king-priest combination. This is what is portrayed in one of the late prophets, Zechariah in 6:11-13, Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak. Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD. It is he who will build the temple of the LORD, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two. This is also the theme of Psalm 110 which is quoted in Hebrews 7:17. The idea presented here is that the one who is exalted to the right hand of power and whose scepter rules, is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. This means the prophecies concerning messiah were telling the people that the Christ was to conquer as a king, but he would do it as a priest. The Levitical priesthood did not have this task, the priesthood of Melchizedek does.

V Summary

What things then does the Levitical priesthood teach us about ourselves and our relationship to God? It teaches that there is only one way to God through a mediator and sacrifice. it teaches that God is Holy and could only be approached carefully in the prescribed manner. If God accepted their service, how much more the service of our great high priest who acts out of the power of a holy life and sacrificed His perfect human life for us? It teaches the representative character of the priesthood which is fulfilled in Christ in that He was identified with us in all respects excepting sin. The priest bore the names and stones of the 12 tribes. Christ bears his people. He knows his sheep. He pays for His own and He died for His own as Jesus intimates in John 17:6, I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. It also reminds us of Jesus’ insight into the mind and will of God. His clear revelation of the Father and his unerring judgments were prefigured in the urim and thummim of the high priest. Remember Jesus said, No man knows the father but the son and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him. The anointing flowing all over the Levitical priests reminds us of Jesus being filled with the Spirit without measure. He was conceived by the spirit, did His works by the spirit, offered Himself to God as a an atoning sacrifice by the Spirit, and was raised again by the Spirit of Holiness. It shows us that because Christ has come we have advanced in our understanding and experience so that we can be called a kingdom of priests. Since Jesus’ work fulfilled all that was typified in the Levitical priests and perfected it so that it never had to be done again, we now can enjoy all the full privileges of sons of God, as in Hebrews 13:11-16, The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.