068. Aaron--High Priest
Aaron--High Priest
Num 20:23-29. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazer his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazer his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. And Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into mount Hor, in the sight of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazer his son: and Aaron died there in the top of the mount. And Moses and Eleazer came down from the mount. And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
What subject so interesting to man as his intercourse with God, his Creator, Preserver, and Judge? And yet on no subject have men fallen into wilder and more dangerous mistakes. A mad and bold enthusiasm has at one time elevated rash and presumptuous spirits to the level of Deity; and the grossest terms of human familiarity have been employed, in addressing that infinitely holy and glorious Being, in whose presence angels veil their faces. A timid and groveling superstition, on the contrary, has barred to others all access to God; and an affected, over-refined devotion has subverted the interests of true piety. The love of this world has encroached upon, and extinguished the spirit of religion; and a misguided, ill-informed religion has. attempted to detach some teen from the duties and employments of life.
Men, ever in extremes, have either banished God entirely from their thoughts, or affected a higher degree of reverence for his service, by an avowed neglect of some of the more obvious and more important dictates of his will. Could they but be persuaded to take the holy Scriptures for the rule of their conduct in all things, many of these practical errors might be prevented. They would thence be instructed to draw nigh to a holy and righteous God with reverence and confidence, as children to a father; and to rejoice before a merciful and compassionate Savior with fear and trembling. While the eye of a guilty conscience beheld “cherubims and a flaming sword turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life,” the eye of faith would discern “a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.”[*]Heb 10:20 The whole of divine revelation, and indeed it is the chief end of revelation, represents the great Jehovah as accessible to the guilty and the miserable; but accessible only in a method, and by means of his own appointment. To the vilest, meanest, most wretched of mankind there is hope towards God, through Christ Jesus the Lord; but to the purest and most perfect of our fallen race, “there is not salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.”[*]Acts 4:12 All the stores of divine grace are laid open, all the energy of divine eloquence is employed, to assure and encourage the humble. “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression and sin,”[*]Exo 34:6-7 while one denunciation of justice serves to check and repel the impenitent and the proud, “but who will by no means clear the guilty.” The institution of the priesthood under the law, was an explicit and a standing declaration to the same purpose. It consisted of a succession of men, and of a service, ordained of God to be a perpetual memorial to mankind of their apostasy and guilt, and of the means of pardon and reconciliation: of their being by nature and wicked works afar off, but made nigh by the blood of atonement.
Aaron, the first who was called to execute this high office, had already attained his eighty-fourth year, and of course had become venerable in the eyes of men by reason of age. He possessed an insinuating and commanding address; he had acquired a high degree of estimation, from the honorable share that belonged to him, in effecting the deliverance from Egypt: and he was only brother to the illustrious and renowned legislator of Israel. But his noblest and most honorable distinction was his appointment and call from Heaven, to the discharge of the duties of this exalted station. The pen of inspiration, however, always faithful and true, represents him as a man liable to many infirmities. At the waters of Strife he was betrayed into anger, self-conceit, and presumption; in the matter of the golden calf, we find him chargeable with timidity and sinful compliance: he stands convicted of unkindness and ingratitude to the best and most affectionate of brothers; of the most daring irreverence and impiety towards God, and of dissimulation bordering on falsehood. And even after his consecration to the priesthood, with shame and sorrow we behold him wickedly giving in to the mean and contemptible passions of envy and jealousy; and, to heighten this base offence, the unoffending, unprovoking object of these passions, was his own nearest relation, and the man to whom he was indebted for all that eminence to which he was himself raised, and which he transmitted to his family. But with all these imperfections on his head, and many others, doubtless, of which it was not the business of this record to convey the memory to us, he was the man whom God was pleased to choose, to minister in the first rank at his altar, and to typify the High Priest who became us, “who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.” As in everything that related to the construction of the tabernacle and its sacred furniture, Moses was confined to a pattern shown, and to directions given him in the mount, so also in all things that related to the dress, the services, and the attendance of the high priest and his assistants. And you will please to observe that Moses himself, having been called and consecrated in an extraordinary manner, was constituted the temporary high priest, to officiate in the consecration of Aaron and his sons. They saw, therefore, the person of a mediator interposing between themselves and God. They saw an extraordinary priesthood, conjoined to legislative authority, residing in their brother, the man whom God chose, and from whom their honor immediately flowed; they saw an image of the station they were henceforth to occupy, and the purposes which they were to fulfill towards the whole nation. Moses was between God and them, they were to be between God and the people. He offered sacrifice to make atonement for them, they were to offer sacrifice to make reconciliation for the sins of all Israel. And in this we see a priesthood more ancient and more honorable than that of Aaron, from which it derives its existence, dignity, and use, and in which it is now absorbed. As nothing is unimportant on this subject, nothing but what has a significance, though that significance we are unable in every instance to discover, we find the sacred historian entering into a minute detail and description of the sacerdotal robes, in which, however, it is not our purpose to follow him, as we would rather suggest ideas than repeat words, aim at instruction rather than indulge in speculation, and without pretending to explain everything, would aim at the praise of inculcating useful truth. The vestments for the priests are distinguished by the term holy: “Thou shalt make the holy garments for Aaron.”--“Thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office.”[*]Exo 40:13 Now this epithet must undoubtedly refer to the nature of that pure and perfect Being in whose worship they were employed; to the sacredness of the character which was invested with them; and to the spotless purity of Him, whose person was hereby prefigured, and whose sanctity, independent of garments of such a texture and quality, consisted in a total freedom from moral pollution, “who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” The vestments of the Israelitish high priest, however splendid, could not but cover much weakness and imperfection. Like the dispensation which enjoined them, they had only “a shadow of good things to come, and could never make the comers thereunto perfect.” But even in a moral and religious view, surely they were not without their use. They were a constant and affectionate admonition from God to the persons who wore them; saying, “Be ye holy for I am holy.” They were a constant and pathetic admonition to the people; saying, “I will be sanctified in all them that draw nigh unto me.” They are an everlasting admonition to the Christian world, who are all kings and priests unto God, that they are called and engaged “to holiness in all manner of conversation.” If times, and places, and dress, serve as guards to virtue, if they preserve decency, and prevent vice, do they not answer a valuable and important purpose to mankind? In perfect conformity to this idea, the loftiest and most conspicuous article of the high priest’s dress, was a plate of pure gold, affixed with a blue lace to the forefront of the mitre, having engraved upon it this remarkable inscription, in order to be seen and read of all men: “Holiness to the Lord.” Thereby the wearer became “as a city that is set on a hill, which cannot be hid:”[*]Mat 5:14 and this bright memorial incessantly, though silently, proclaimed to the eye, to the heart, to the conscience, “a holy God, a holy service, a holy minister, a holy people, a holy covenant.”
We accordingly observe the strictest attention to external decorum run through the whole of this divine institution. The eye being one of the great avenues to the soul, guilt being the parent of shame, and the dispensations of the divine wisdom and mercy being adapted to the condition and character of men, as they are, depraved and degraded by sin, not as man was, pure and perfect from the hand of his Creator, the heart and conscience must be addressed through the senses. The next most observable and significant part of Aaron’s dress, was the splendid breastplate, consisting of twelve several precious stones set in gold, inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes in their order: placed externally upon the seat of the heart, to keep for ever alive, a tender concern about the whole Israel of God, to remind Aaron and his sons for ever, that they were elevated to this high station, not for their own sakes merely, but to be a public benefit. It aimed at producing a most important effect on three different sorts of persons, and was well calculated for this purpose. It presented unto God, according to his own ordinance, a memorial of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their seed after them. It taught the high priest to consider the case of the people as his own, to regard them with impartial, undivided affection, to be watchfully attentive to their temporal, but especially to their spiritual concerns, to wrestle and make supplication in their behalf. It inspired the people with affection and gratitude to the man, whose whole life and labors were devoted to their service, who watched for their souls, who had renounced an earthly portion among his brethren, and all the gainful walks of life, to be subservient to their best interests. It formed a most endearing bond of union between them who were administered unto, and them who ministered. It formed a most endearing bond of union among the tribes themselves. Twelve gems of various complexions, set in two different frames, composed nevertheless but one breastplate; so twelve tribes constituted but one congregation, one church, one Israel. The loss of any one mast have marred and destroyed the whole; tended to diminish its luster, to impair its strength. It taught them to love as brethren the children of one father, the worshippers of one God. It inspired confidence in the care and protection of that God. They saw their representative bearing upon his heart, into the holy place, their names and their condition. They had the consolation of reflecting that their memorial would ascend to heaven, with the sweet perfume of that incense which he daily burned upon the golden altar. And the whole looked forward to the day, to the office, to the person, to the work of Him, of whom, and of whose body, the church, Isaiah thus speaks in prophetic vision: “But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me:”[*]Isa 49:14-16 and who thus speaks of himself, “Those that thou gavest me I have kept. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those Whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world;”[*]John 17:11-12;John 17:21-24 and of whole the apostle thus speaks, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is Cod that justifieth: who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.”[*]Rom 8:33-34 Hence Christians are united in still dearer bonds, animated with superior confidence, secured by a firmer and more durable covenant. Hence Christian ministers are encouraged with greater boldness, with more ardent importunity, with more assured hope of success, to draw nigh to the throne of grace, as for themselves, so for sinful and wretched creatures of every description.
Under the gospel dispensation, every hour is the hour of incense, every believer a minister of the sanctuary, every individual, a name engraven upon the heart of the great “Apostle and High Priest of our profession,” and recorded in “the Lamb’s book of life, among the living in Jerusalem.” The other particulars of Aaron’s official dress, we shall not now stop to commemorate; partly because we have not a distinct idea of them, and partly because, through such a thick cloud as time, change of manners, and the general disuse of the sacred language have interposed, it is difficult, if not impossible; to discover their meaning and import, with reference to the evangelical dispensation; in which great part of the beauty, excellency, and usefulness of the Mosaic economy consists. The ceremonies of Aaron’s inauguration, were in a high degree solemn and august. They were performed by Moses himself, in the most public manner. Aaron and his sons were conducted to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, in the presence of a public assembly called for the purpose; were stripped of their usual garments, and washed with water. He was then arrayed in the several parts of the sacerdotal habit, in their order. The holy vessels of the sanctuary, and all its sacred utensils, were then, one after another, anointed with the holy oil of consecration; and, last of all, Aaron himself, the living instrument of divine worship, was set apart to his momentous charge, by a copious sprinkling of the same sacred perfume. That the savor of this odorous compound must have been extremely grateful to the sense, is evident from the lofty terms in which David speaks of it, and the subject which he illustrates by it--“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.”[*]Psa 133:1-2 The sons were then invested with their proper habits, and a threefold sacrifice was performed: a bullock for a sin-offering; a ram for a burnt-offering; and a second, denominated the ram of consecration. Without going into a minute detail, or pretending to explain the specific difference, use, and end of each, we observe in general, that, by the ceremony of the imposition of Aaron’s hands and those of his sons upon the head of the victim, a solemn wish was expressed, that their guilt might be transferred and imputed to the victim, and its blood accepted as a ransom for their forfeited lives. Here, then, was the innocent suffering for the guilty; the substitute, not the criminal himself; bleeding and dying: so that the very form of their consecration taught the necessity of atonement, and pointed to Him whom “it pleased the Lord to bruise, and to put him to grief; and who was wounded for our transgressions, was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”[*]Isa 53:5
The, first of the three sacrifices, or the sin-offering, seems to have been intended as a public and explicit acknowledgment of guilt, and the expiation of it. The second, that is, the burnt-offering, was the token of the divine favor towards them, and of his gracious acceptance of their persons and services: and the third, the ram of consecration, part of which was eaten by the priests in the holy place was the ratification of God’s covenant of peace with them, and the emblem of perfect reconciliation and friendship; sitting at one common table being the most express declaration of union and good will among men. God was pleased to exhibit a most unequivocal proof of his being well pleased with the whole transaction; for when everything was arranged according to the form prescribed in the mount, fire from the Lord seized and consumed the burnt-offering on the altar. The sin-offering Moses burnt with material fire, without the camp: but the sacred flame from heaven laid hold of the sacrifice of pardon and acceptance. In vain do we look for the marks of grace and favor from above; insensible roust we be to the genial, penetrating flame of love, unless our repentings be kindled together. When we have been enabled to do our duty, then may we warrantably expect that God will appear for us.
It does not appear whether this striking interposition had been previously announced to the assembly, or whether it took them by surprise. In either case, it must have made a deep impression on the mind of every beholder. Were they taught to expect it? With what anxiety may we suppose every eye bent on the altar and the sacrifice, waiting the eventful moment which was to evince that God was among them of a truth; but in a way which should inspire reverence as well as joy. Did it overtake them unawares? What sudden consternation, what alarming apprehensions! The expression was perfectly natural in either case; “which, when all the people saw, they shouted and fell on their faces.”[*]Lev 9:24
Thus was the first high priest of the Hebrew nation inducted into his office. Thus explicitly were laid down the principles, form, design, and use of the most ancient, civil, and religious polity in the world. While the first beginnings of religion and government, in every other nation under heaven, he buried in darkness, confusion, and contradiction: aided by light from heaven we can trace up to its very source, the origin of a nation the most singular in the annals of mankind; raised out of an ancient pair, and “them as good as dead;” repeatedly threatened with utter extinction, during the first ages of their existence; but miraculously preserved in the very jaws of destruction: formed for conquest, eminence, and empire, in a desert; raised, after many struggles and revolutions, to a pitch of affluence and grandeur, unparalleled in history, and declining again as fast into contempt and obscurity: but, even in contempt and obscurity, supported, preserved, fenced on every side--In captivity, undissolved; in the wreck of empire maintained, upheld, rescued, restored! At length, we behold them involved in one mighty ruin, driven from their capital and their country: their temple, the great bond of union, razed from the foundation: and themselves henceforward scattered among the nations, during a period of near two thousand years. And yet, by a strange and unaccountable interference of Providence, though hated, despised, and persecuted of all men, and evidently under the displeasure of heaven, we behold them preserved from total annihilation and oblivion; kept distinct from all men; as much a separate people, as in the zenith of their glory, under the reign of David and Solomon; the subjects, perhaps, of a revolution greater and more important than any they have already undergone: reserved, it may be, to be the last grand trophy of the Redeemer’s triumph, the concluding evidence of the truth of Christianity, the final monument of the riches of free, sovereign grace! And need we ask, who conducted all these movements, whose pleasure was fulfilled by all these events, whose glory shines in all these successive changes, in all these opening prospects? A voice from heaven replies, “I the Lord, wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working; wise in heart, and mighty in strength. I see the end from the beginning: my counsel shall stand.” When this great mystery shall be finished, the mighty chain extended, the connection and dependence of link upon link discerned, hell shall be confounded, the inhabitants of the world astonished, angels rejoice, and the praise of God ascend from every tongue. The solemn service being over, we may suppose Aaron and his family retiring with the complacency of good minds, rejoicing in the honor put upon them, in the eyes of all Israel; in the prospect of a dignity higher than the pomp of kings, which was about to descend to their latest posterity: and, above all, in that open declaration of the divine approbation, the celestial fire that consumed the fat of their sacrifice. But, alas! what condition of humanity admits of certain, unmixed, or lasting felicity? That useful, necessary, awful element, which signally interposed to declare the choice of heaven, speedily interposes to punish and to afflict that chosen family, and to serve as a warning for ever, that “God will be sanctified in all them that draw nigh to him.” The remaining incidents of the high priest’s life, which we have on record, are but few in number, but they are instructive, and interesting, as we hope to make appear, if God shall be pleased to indulge us with another opportunity of this kind. In reviewing the subject, we observe what it is that constitutes the. perfect character of a priest of the most high God; Holiness to the Lord on the forehead; uppermost, overlooking all, directing all; and Israel resting upon the heart. The ministers of religion are, by their office and station, perpetually admonished to shun every appearance of what is mean, selfish, or ungenerous. They are appointed of God to aid, instruct, and comfort their fellow creatures; to promote their best interests; to cherish in them the best and noblest principles of their nature; and they are urged to perform this, by the highest considerations which the human mind can feel. Whatever be the dispensation, the spirit of the office and the nature of the service are the same. They stand as mediators between God and men. They bear on their hearts the names, the infirmities, the wants, the distresses, the sorrows, the joys of the people; and carry them with sympathy and affection to the throne of grace: and they return from thence bringing on their lips the “answer of peace.” They lose themselves in labors of love; they sink every unworthy aim, every low pursuit, in seeking the glory of God, and the prosperity of the Israel of God. The minister who understands, feels, and performs his duty is one of the most exalted of beings.
Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the service of God, and of the congregation, by the sprinkling of blood applied to the ear, the hand, the foot. Thus their whole faculties were claimed by their great Author, and were thus devoted to him: and the symbol of atonement became the seal of their dedication. And thus every Christian becomes a priest unto the most high God, redeemed by blood, set apart by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. “Wash me, Lord, and I shall be clean, sprinkle me, and I shall be whiter than snow:” “Not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.” “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”[*]Rev 1:5-6
“Every high priest taken from among men, is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity:”[*]Heb 5:1-2 but “if perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there, that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?”[*]Heb 7:11 “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for its. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”[*]Heb 9:11-14 The fire once kindled supernaturally by the celestial flame was to be kept alive by human care and attention. Miraculous interpositions of Providence are not to be expected, as an indulgence to carelessness and sloth. He only who diligently exercises the powers which God has given him, who employs the means which Providence has furnished, and which conscience approves, can with confidence look up to Heaven, and rejoice in hope of divine assistance. Would you that the sacred flame of devotion, of charity, should live in your heart, should glow upon your tongue, resort daily to the altar of God, and preserve its activity by “a live coal” from thence. Then your face shall shine, then your lips shall overflow with the law of kindness, then your hand shall open to the sons of want, then you shall “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”