02.29. CONSECRATION OF THE PRIESTS
CONSECRATION OF THE PRIESTS (Leviticus 8:1-36) IN Leviticus 8:1-36, Aaron and his sons are publicly set apart and inducted into the office of the priesthood.
Aaron and his sons are first washed together.
Aaron and his sons are a figure of Christ and His Church.
Moses applies the water, it is he who washes them.
Water is a symbol of the Word.
Washing is applying the Word, applying the Truth.
Applying the truth and setting apart for a particular service is sanctification. The washing together of Aaron and his sons sets forth unity in the sanctification.
Christ and the Church are a unit in sanctification before God; as it is written:
“For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” (Hebrews 2:11.)
Since our Lord Jesus Christ was essentially and eternally clean, sanctification in this relation has a deeper sense than cleansing, it signifies to set apart, to consecrate. From all eternity Christ and His Church have been looked at as One, and have been set apart, consecrated and devoted to God and His service. For the sake of the Church our Lord Jesus Christ sanctified Himself, set Himself apart, devoted Himself to God the Father and sanctified the Church before Him, setting them apart unto Him in Himself; as it is written:
“And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they might also be sanctified through the truth.” (John 17:19.) Aaron was first consecrated.
Moses took the garments of glory and beauty and put them upon him piece by piece, so that they might be seen in all the details of skilled workmanship and surpassing beauty.
He put on him the embroidered linen coat with the linen breeches and girdled him with the girdle, binding him in with its fineness of texture and perfectness of color.
He put upon him the blue robe with its ringing, golden bells and pomegranates in their trinity of color. Then he clothed him with the ephod, buttoned it on the shoulders with the two onyx buttons, set the breastplate in place, put the Urim and Thummim within, bound it to the shoulders with the wreathen chains and underneath the Ephod at the waist with the curious girdle or belt.
Last of all he took the snowy, white linen, the costly byssus, wound it fold on fold around his head, making a turban of it, laid a blue lace on the forefront of it, and on that fastened the golden plate with the graven words upon it—Holiness Unto the Lord. In this manner of investiture the people saw the intrinsic worth of these garments of glory and beauty, beheld Aaron exalted and set apart from all others; exalted above the people and yet—for the people. For two thousand years the aloneness of Christ has been forced upon the consciousness of the world. The more He is studied, analyzed, the more His character is taken apart, each element of it, like the separate pieces in the garments of glory and beauty, the more it will reveal Him to be the perfect, the glorious, the beautiful, the wonder of all wonders, perfect man and very God.
Aaron and his sons were sanctified together by the blood of sacrifice and the pouring of oil upon them. The blood was the blood of the ceremonial redemption, the oil the seal of that redemption and anointing for service. When our Lord died upon the cross He was not alone. In the mind and purpose of God the Church, each regenerated member of it, was there and crucified with Him. The Apostle was speaking, not for himself alone, but for all Christians, for all believers when he wrote:
“I was crucified with Christ.”
Literally, I was co-crucified—crucified together—with Christ. The word “together” the accent of purpose and the revelation of grace.
We were crucified—together We were made alive—together.
We were raised up—together.
We have ascended to Heaven—together.
We have been made to sit in Heavenly places—together. And in the ages to come we are to be the recipients of the riches of the glory and kindness of God in Christ—He and We—together.
“Hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through (and therefore together with) Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:5-8.) The blood of the sacrifice was applied to Aaron and his sons. The blood was put upon the tip of the right ear, upon the thumb of the right hand and the toe of the right foot. The meaning of all this is simple enough.
It means the hearing, the service and the walk of the priests had been ceremonially purchased by the blood and were now solemnly and individually consecrated to God. Nor is there any uncertainty as to meaning for those of us who believe—our hearing, service and walk belong unto the God who has purchased us with the blood of His own Son.
Because of the blood upon our ear we are to recognize our hearing does not belong to ourselves.
We have no right to listen as it may please us.
There are things which if we permit them to enter the ear, will pass into the mind, poison it, and paralyze all activities for Christ.
There is even more peril in listening than in looking and seeing.
We are therefore called upon to be careful not only as to how we hear but as to what we hear.
“And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear.” (Mark 4:24.) “Take heed therefore how ye hear.” (Luke 8:18.) The blood upon the ear tells us He claims our ears that they may hear Him speak, listen to His words, give attention to His message.
Wherefore it is written:
“Who hath ears to hear let him hear.” (Matthew 13:9.) Such was the admonition of the Lord when He walked the earth; such is His exhortation now by and through the Spirit.
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 2:7.) The blood upon the thumb bids us to use our hands in His service.
It means to give ourselves to Him for His service; hand ourselves over to Him completely for His use of us. It means we must never come before Him with an empty hand; always and under all circumstances we must come with something in our hand for Him, some service accomplished and handed to Him or some gift presented to Him.
Hear what Scripture says:
“For Moses said, consecrate yourselves today to the Lord.” (Exodus 32:29.) Literally rendered, he said:
“Fill your hands this day to the Lord.” That is the actual meaning of the word used in these instances—it means, “to fill the hand.” That is God’s concept of consecration, coming into His presence with something in your hands.
David says:
“Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?” (1 Chronicles 29:5.) “Who then is willing to fill his hand with service this day unto the Lord?”
If we would really consecrate ourselves to the Lord we must fill our hands; we must never come before Him empty-handed.
“And none shall appear before me—empty.” (Exodus 23:15. Exodus 34:20.)
“Three times a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God . . . and they shall not appear before the LORD empty” (empty handed). (Deuteronomy 16:16.) The blood upon the toe meant the consecration of the walk before God.
Such is to be our walk as those who profess the name of the Lord and own His blood as having all purchasing rights upon us. Live and serve as those who have no initial claims upon themselves and whose walk and conversation shall glorify Him who has all purchase and invested rights in us; so that we shall say what His outpoured blood for us requires we shall say—that we are not our own; as it is written:
“Ye are not your own, For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20.)
After their consecration Aaron and his sons went into the Tabernacle, into the Holy Place, shut themselves in from the people for seven days and during that time feasted on the sacrifice.
“And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, Boil the flesh at the door (the flesh of the sacrifice) 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 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.” (Leviticus 8:31-36.) In this you have an illustration of the moral, spiritual and essential separation of the Church, both corporately and individually, from the world, considered as a system, and their separation unto the Lord.
We are a separated people.
We have been separated by sovereign and elective grace which saw us and chose us before the foundation of the world.
We have been separated by the eternal purpose and covenant counsel which knew us, named us and predestinated us unto assured salvation.
We have been separated by the cross which rolls its crimson tide between us and the world of natural men, even as the Red Sea rolled its flood between the children of Israel and the land of Egypt. The cross has brought about a double separation by reason of a double crucifixion; as it is written:
“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” (Galatians 6:14.) We are separated by the Gospel and the call of the Spirit. By this instrument and agent we have been called out, sealed and separated from men of the world and their ways, to faith, to trust and confidence in a Lord and Master disowned and rejected by the world.
We are separated by the supreme creative act of God when He communicated to us the life and nature of His Son; and when it was said of us for the first time, “Christ in you the hope of glory;” for, it is an astounding fact that we as believers are the result of an act of God, a creative act, greater than when He created the universe; that, had to do with material things, this, with the soul, with spirit and personality; wherefore it is written:
“We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:10) “If any man be in Christ he is a new creature (a new creation).” (2 Corinthians 5:17.) We are separated by our union with the Lord, the essential oneness of His spirit and ours; as it is written:
“He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” (1 Corinthians 6:17.) There are two great statements in that.
We are joined to the Lord. This is true of the believer because he has been made a partaker of the very life and nature of the risen Son of God. By this union the believer is as far separated from the natural man who is not joined to the Lord as the east is from the west, as the living man is from the dead.
Here is the other great thing:
We are one spirit with the Lord. The distinctive essence of being which makes Him to be the Son of God is in us; so that He is in us and we are in Him.
There is no possible point of incision between us and the risen, glorified Lord Himself. As separate and distinct then as the Lord is in essence from the natural man; so that He could say to such, “I am from above, ye are from below,” we as believers are as distinct and separate.
We are separated by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Such a thing as the Holy Spirit taking up His abode and dwelling in a human being never took place in the history of mankind till our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead. The Holy Spirit had entered into men, took hold of them, came upon them, moved them and greatly used them, but He never made the body His permanent dwelling place. But He does this great thing today.
Today He enters the body of the believer, owning it as a blood bought body, and makes it His temple, the most wonderful, the most sacred, temple on earth, the most sacred thing this side of Heaven.
It is this indwelling of the Holy Spirit that rails us off as believers from the world, from all material beings, from angels and spirits, from all other creatures in the universe of God.
Just as Aaron and his sons were separated from the camp and separated themselves from it, we are to own ourselves in this age as a separated people and shut ourselves up by faith with Christ in His Holy Place. The true Church, the living and spiritual Church, can find no place, no comfort, nor fellowship with a world system that repudiates her Lord; no matter what schemes of morals or righteousness the world may advertize, the Church call have no partnership therein; she is not called to cleanse Sodom, but to come out of it, not to empty old wells but to dig new ones, and under no circumstances to identify herself with reformation, but to demand regeneration.
Aaron and his sons were shut in the Holy Place for seven days. That shutting in of Aaron and his sons from the people was a definite and dramatic demonstration that they were a particularly chosen and separated family.
Overwhelmingly so is it an illustration of the fact that the Church is yet to be revealed and in a startling way as a body of persons entirely separated from the world. That particular separation fact will take place at the Coming of the Lord.
He is coming for the Church.
He is coming to take her into the Tabernacle on high.
He is coming to take her into the Most Holy Place, and into the Holy of Holies within the vail. When He went away He left the promise to His disciples that He was going into Heaven to prepare a dwelling place for them and that He would come again and receive them, the Church, to Himself and take them, take her, there. In his first epistle to the Thessalonians the apostle by a special revelation from the risen Lord tells us how this will be. The Lord will come down into the upper air.
He will come with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God.
He will raise from the dead all who have died in His name. •
He will change and transfigure the living who believe in Him.
He will gather them all up into the air to meet Him and then will take them into the place prepared, into the Tabernacle on high. This coming of the Lord is always imminent.
Between us and that moment there is not a predicted event. The shout, the archangel’s voice and the sound of the trump may be heard any moment by the redeemed of the Lord.
Any moment the Church may be caught up. This is not a matter of speculation and something that requires ocular evidence and multiplication of signs, it is an announced fact, announced specially by the risen Lord Himself and to be received by faith, with the eyes and even the ears shut, waiting till His voice shall open both ears and eyes. The Church will remain in that upper and holy place for at least seven years above the riot, the break down and anarchy now approaching the earth with hastening strides.
You have only to read the book of the Revelation from Revelation 6:1-17, Revelation 7:1-17, Revelation 8:1-13, Revelation 9:1-21, Revelation 10:1-11, Revelation 11:1-19, Revelation 12:1-17, Revelation 13:1-18, Revelation 14:1-20, Revelation 15:1-8, Revelation 16:1-21, Revelation 17:1-18, Revelation 18:1-24 inclusive to have a picture of the hour of desperate woe and tribulation coming on the earth. In Revelation 4:1-11 and Revelation 5:1-14 you see the Church after having been caught up, safely housed in the place prepared, feasting with the Lord.
What a proof this is that the Church is a body of separated people, separated unto the Lord, His, and for Him. The world below given up to all the iniquity, passion and shame of man and the finally impotent rage of the Devil. The Church above resting in peace, waiting for the hour of her manifested glory.
There was a climacteric moment to these seven days in which Aaron and his sons were shut up in the Tabernacle. On the eighth day Moses bade Aaron and his sons go forth from the Holy place, and offer sacrifice.
He said to them:
“Today the Lord will appear.” (Leviticus 9:1-4.)
After the sacrifice was offered Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle and then came out in their full kingly and priestly function, blessed the people and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them and to all the people; as it is written:
“And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people; and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people.” (Leviticus 9:23.) At the end of the seven years in which the Church is shut in with Christ in Heaven, when at last the iniquity of the earth is full, when Satan stakes his final great throw, when he seats himself in the person of his son in the rebuilt temple at Jerusalem, when this man proclaims himself the God of the whole world, then on the great prophetic eighth day, the Day of the Lord, the Lord Himself will fling back the Tabernacle door, Heaven will open, and with His triumphant Church as a body of kings and priests He will come forth to execute the judgment of His long slumbering wrath, roll back forever the tides of iniquity, set up His everlasting kingdom and make this sin stained, death smitten earth, the worth-while place for the worth-while life of the redeemed, the glorified and immortal sons of God.
Leviticus 8:1-36 and this particular priestly scene gives us the whole character of the age in which we now live. In Heaven we have a high priest who is there on our behalf, whoever liveth to make intercession for us. As spiritual priests it is our privilege to draw near in spirit and in truth to offer up the sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise.
It is our privilege by faith to enter within the vail and feed on the once crucified but now living and coming Christ, and then to walk with consecrated, blood bought and Spirit anointed lives before the world, waiting in undisturbed assurance that should the shout, the voice and the trump be heard, in the twinkling of an eye we should be with Him, and, at the last, come forth with Him, even, as it is written:
“When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”