Exodus 28-29 - 2011 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] welcome to expound our weekly worship and verse by verse study of the Bible our goal is to expand your knowledge of the truth of God by explaining the Word of God in a way that is interactive enjoyable and congregational we call this a textual community let's rejoice and learn God's Word in an interactive and enjoyable new way but we're celebrating freedom and that's always been a pulsating theme in the hearts of human beings we long for freedom we want to be free we celebrate what happened when we dislodged from England we said we don't want England to rule over us we declared our independence in 1776 and it's all about our freedom back in the 1930s and 40s the Jews stood strong and firm in Europe when the threat of Nazism and the Nazi heel was at their neck and they suffered but they wanted to be free so that deep-seated pulsating desire within the heart of every human being to be free we understand that nationally and personally we all know what it's like to be free from habits or practices that can ensnare us as the Bible says we're to lay aside everything that can ensnare us and run the race with diligence patience that is set before us so because of that we're not surprised when we pick up god's book and we find that one of the first books in the bible runs with that theme of freedom that's what the Exodus is all about freedom from slavery freedom from Egypt when you read Exodus it means a departure an exit and exiting redemption leaving Egypt and the bondage and being free to worship God and to be the people of God that's the book of Exodus and we've been studying it now throughout the Old Testament you discover that the the book of Exodus becomes this historical fulcrum whether you're reading the prophets or you're reading the Psalms or the Minor Prophets they tend to always want to look back to the Passover to God freeing the children of Israel out of the bond of Egypt it's a theme that recurs and still every year at Passover it is celebrated it is that one fulcrum point and it happens in the book of Exodus that the Old Testament looks back to as the capstone the zenith the quintessential example of God's power what they are saying is if God could do that God can do anything now in the New Testament when the New Testament writers want to give the example of God's power they look back to the resurrection yes the death the burial of Christ our atonement our exodus from sin more important the resurrection and we say if God can do that he can do anything so we've been studying a very fascinating interesting and intriguing book we have seen how God began with an unknown couple Amram and Jochebed I bet you a lot of you have already forgotten their names that's how forgetful they are an ordinary Hebrew couple and God used them to birth a son and when he was taken out of the water he was given the name taken out of the water Moses moyshe drawn out and he became the deliverer of the children of Israel and so we've studied that deliverance and we studied the intrigue of the plagues and coming up to the Red Sea when that thing opened up and God's people walked across on dry land not even soggy not wet not muddy dryland we've studied the intrigue of the cloud and the pillar of fire one that led them by day the other led them by night God's GPS system God's positioning system leading them through the wilderness and it's all been fascinating until now now we're going through the minutiae that details and a lot of us hate details were going through measurements and procedures and recipes and how to sew a a veil and how to make an ephod and and how to hang the breastplate on it all of the details all of the details of the tabernacle but once again we must remind ourselves that it must be very important to God because of all of the subjects covered in the Bible none is covered in more detail than the tabernacle I mean just compare creation which God devotes two chapters to and the tabernacle of which God devotes 50 chapters to why is it so important because that's where God dwells it's where God will meet with his people God wants to meet with his people and so a worshiping people must have a place to meet with God and that place was the tent of meeting we noted as the tabernacle but in some translations it is the tent of the meeting what's most important in the tent is that little intersection behind the veil that little spot atop of that golden mercy seat covered by those representations of angels the cherubim where God said there I will meet with you well up to this point a lot of the book is focused on Moses and the children of Israel but Moses has been in the high light but now the light is focused on Moses brother Aaron whom God will choose as the mediator of the Covenant the high priest and his family is the family of priests now technically Moses is the general mediator Aaron let's call him the ceremonial mediator or technically the Sasser doto mediator he's the one that's going to officiate and perform all of the rituals all of the regulations so that God's people can approach chapters 28 and 29 which we're going to look at skimming over I'm gonna sum up sections look at certain verses and we'll make it through easily talks about these workers the priests and the function they fulfilled in the tabernacle verse 1 of chapter 28 now take Aaron your brother and his sons with him from among the children of Israel that he may minister to me as priests the word priest is the Hebrew word Cohan whenever you meet a Jewish person with the last name Co hen you will know that that person has a lineage that can be traced back to the priestly sector of the people of Israel the Kohanim the priestly group the sons of Aaron Aaron and Aaron's sons and they're named neighed AB a by who Eleazar and Ithamar now let me give you five noticeable things about these priests that you're going to discover as we study tonight number one the priests were appointed by God God names them God summons them and God ordains them now understand that nobody could just volunteer for this you couldn't come up and say you know I really feel led to be in the ministry as a priest tough if you're not related to Aaron you cannot serve sort of like the ancient kingdoms where there was a dynastic succession from other to Sun so it was with the priesthood there weren't volunteers there had to be a calling and this is a divine calling upon the family a second thing that you will notice is they had they had to wear special clothes priestly garments and this would set them apart from doing any other activity these were garments that one would wear only in the duties of the priesthood you wouldn't wear them to play frisbee in or soccer in or eat lunch have a falafel for dinner these were very special clothes number three the priests will serve as representatives and who will they represent they will represent the people of Israel they're gonna represent man before God later on another office in Israel will be inaugurated that's the office of the Prophet and the Prophet will also represent but whom will he represent who represent God to the people the priest represents the people before God the Prophet will represent God before the people say thus says the Lord and give messages from God to the people but the priests will act as a representative going before the Lord representing the people of Israel therefore on his shoulders will be two stones over his heart will be twelve stones and inscribed on those stones will be the tribal names of the people of Israel as he will bear them before the Lord in the tent of the meeting that you will see as well the fourth thing to notice about the priesthood is the priests had to take his calling very very seriously you couldn't just go running into the presence of God unprepared and if you were to abuse the calling of priests it would mean death to the priests it was a great calling it was a great ministry but you dare not go in God's presence lightly the priest wouldn't be allowed to text her get on Facebook no he had to take it very seriously I'm ministering to the Lord and before the Lord on behalf of the people now you'll notice that in verse 1 a two of the men that are mentioned nade a band a by who it's very important that you remember them because when we get to the Book of Leviticus they die they enter in and offer what's called profane fire before the Lord some self-imposed style of worship they probably thought well you know I sort of think that God should be approached this way and I think we had to do something a little bit different and mix it up until God will say alright BAM and they will die offering profane fire before the Lord this is the reason by the way when Isaiah the prophet gets a vision of God the first thing he says is woe is me I am undone for I have seen the Lord he saw the Lord in the vision so he expects to die because he's not a priest he's a prophet there to be taken very seriously fifth and finally the priesthood was one of the ways the people of Israel could discover the will of God they have a couple of implements a couple of stones one is called the Orem the other is called the Thummim Orem and Thummim say that fast ten times were in Thummim weren't thought might be tough to do and we'll read about that they were for discerning or judging what the will of God would be verse 2 and you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother for glory and for beauty you might translate that for splendor and for distinction just to set them apart from everybody else the priests wore holy clothes I don't believe that there are holy garments as such today though some people and I'm not going to write a hobby horse or those who want to wear a robes or collars or or habits I don't need another habit so I don't believe that there should be any special brand of clothing that marks the minister from the people and that is because the Old Testament priests yeah I understand that God established that the New Testament is different there is no priesthood there is no priest except one there's one God said Paul and one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus we are clothed in his righteousness and the Bible says we are all priests were a kingdom of priests were a nation of priests meaning you don't need a special individual to represent you before God like they did in the Old Covenant you can go before God yourself based upon the high priesthood of Jesus and you yourself can approach like a priest come boldly before God's throne I grew up in a Roman Catholic family I was the last of four boys my parents prayed that one of their sons would be a priest the first to Jim and Rick went to seminary they came so close to being ordained one wanted to get married so he did the other just dropped out grew his hair long rode a motorcycle so he didn't become a priest neither did my older brother middle brother they thought was a lost cause so I was their last hope they just thought oh it would just bless our hearts if you skip would become a priest imagine the shock after I read the New Testament and I announced to my mom mom guess what I am a priest and I showed her the scripture were a kingdom of priests a nation of priests speaking of that we have a message a text that has been written in it says skip are you a pastor or a priest what is the difference well I'm a pastor and a priest you are a doctor a lawyer clerical worker a firefighter a police officer and a priest all of us all of us have the authority to go into God's presence as a nation of priests now I'm a pastor and that word means shepherd one who feeds one who feeds the flock was the idea a shepherd a pastor a feeder of God's sheep so what is the difference well it's a it's a sacramental difference it's a Sasser total that's the word I used a little bit of go let me explain what that is the idea for some is that you must have a system like the Old Testament to approach God so that you just can't run into God's president say hi God Here I am you have to go through a series of worthy people be it mary or saints or a priest you just can't yourself go before god well what that is is a system that harkens back to the Old Covenant not the New Covenant the New Covenant does away with a need to have a priesthood that's the whole point Jesus is the great high priest his blood offered once not multiple times once is enough so you and I can come boldly that's the difference verse 3 so you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans watch this gifted artisans whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him that he may minister to me as priests I want you to notice that God's calling on some people's lives was to be an artist their ministry was their art and I hope that encourages you who are artistic and are thinking gosh I really love to create I love to paint or sculpt or act you're thinking but but that's not spiritual well the legacy of the Christian Church is that it is spiritual in the early days you look at the Rena most of the great artworks were based upon biblical themes and within churches art was allowed to flourish and so I think it ought to flourish today it was a principle used in the Old Testament and these are the garments which they shall make you'll notice six articles of clothing a breastplate an ephod a robe skilfully woven tunic a turban and a sash so they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons that he may minister to me as priests now have you noticed that's the third time we read that phrase I just want you to just pause and swallow that phrase for a moment minister to me God as priest yes they are to represent the people before God yes they are to serve God's people but first and foremost they're to minister to God there to please and serve God this is a divine calling if a pastor if a servant of the Lord forgets that he is called by God and first and foremost he does it because he loves the Lord he will get burned out and he'll complain and there's so much to do and people won't leave me alone and I've got to go to the hospital and visit and pray oh man it's time for you to get out move over let somebody else fill that gap and be called minister to me is priest it's the Lord's calling it's the Lord's ministry and they will take the gold blue purple and scarlet thread and fine linen that ring a bell those are the same materials that were used in the veil that separated the holy place in the Holy of Holies the same materials used in the curtain whereby the priests would enter the holy place so the clothing of the priests and the materials in the tabernacle were the same showing the connection between these articles of holy clothing and the tabernacle that they were to serve in now the ephah that is mentioned the ephod is sort of like a holy vest sleeveless two parts a front and a back connected at the shoulder by a shoulder strap a top would set two stones notice again the colors blue perhaps speaking of heaven speaking of the origin of his worship system the next color purple probably referring to royalty like a royal robe of the king speaking of the authority that comes from God the next scarlet that's red speaking of Redemption so that this whole worship system even in its color outlay was that god from heaven based on his authority was letting people approach him only by the sacrifice or the spilling of blood it's even woven into the fabric of the priests now the designs are given and how to weave them go down to verse 9 you shall take two Onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel six of their names on one stone six names on another stone in order of their birth with the work of an engraver in stone like the engravings of a signet like on a ring you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel you shall set them in settings of gold and you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel and so Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders as a memorial you shall make also settings of gold you shall make two chains of pure gold like braided cords and fastened the braided chains to the settings two stones six names written in each stone on the shoulders and then also you'll see a breastplate as I mentioned twelve stones so the priest would represent the tribal names thus the entire company of God's people in the tabernacle before the Lord here the names are born on the shoulders now the soldier is the place of strength I learned that sort of the hard way I I grew up did a little bit of manual labour growing up but when I moved to Israel and worked on a kibbutz and they said your job is to transport bananas I go great where's the truck they said oh no by hand I said well great how much can a bunch of bananas way well they weigh about a hundred hundred and ten pounds the entire stock of bananas when it's grown on a plant and so they told me how to do it they say you walk up to it and you hug it you know have you hugged your bananas today so I'd hug it real tight and then I'd walk forward a little bit until the huge bunch hundred pound Bunch was balanced on one shoulder my right shoulder then my supervisor this short stout Israeli took his machete and chopped off the stock of bananas and it would land squarely on my shoulders and that was the place of strength I balanced it just right take it over to the truck dump it in the truck go back do it again go back do it again go back do it again three hours of that take a break have a little bit of lunch go back at it that was my job it's the place of strength he'll bear them on his shoulders my mind when I read this went to Luke chapter of 15 don't turn there it's the parable of the lost sheep one hundred sheep a man has one gets lost he goes out to find the one leaving the ninety-nine and he bears the Sheep on what his shoulders that's a picture of the care of God taking us and putting us on his shoulder bearing us carrying us on his strength my problem is and I bet your problem is you often want to squirm off of his shoulders okay good enough I can make it on my own now don't need your help it's always tragic great place of rest let him carry you the strength and the care of God beginning in verse 15 we have the breastplate the most elaborate and costly of the garments we have a question that I want to bring up on the screen it's a great question it's a well thought out question did the priests clothe themselves like common people when they appeared off duty in public yes they did these were garments that were reading about that were only to be used while on duty in the tabernacle performing the Ministry of the priests otherwise they dress down like the common people and you'll read that they lived in villages they were allowed to farm but they lived off of the animals and the produce that was brought by the people of Israel the tribes and they would then work in the tabernacle in courses or in turn groups would have a two-week turn in the tabernacle and the temple and then another group and then another group and another group that is when the priests got to be very numerous and the rest of the time they lived like everybody else they were spiritual advisors in the town scattered throughout Israel but you couldn't tell a priest apart from another person at a distance because they wore the commoners clothes verse 15 you shall make the breastplate of judgment now why is it called the breastplate of judgment you say wait a minute skip we're supposed to ask the questions not you well I like to ask the question to prod your thinking a little bit it's called the breastplate of judgment because beside twelve stones on the front there will be two special stones placed inside the pouch that are used to discover the judgment or the decision of God and difficult matters they're called the Oram and Thummim those were the stones of judgment so it's referred to here as the breastplate of judgment artistically woven according to the workmanship of the ephod you shall make it of gold blue purple scarlet red fine woven linen you shall make it it shall be doubled into a square a span shall be its length and a span shall be its width a span is typically from the thumb to the little finger so the Hawaiians were well-represented back in the old testament time by the span if you've been to Hawaii you know that's there hang loose sign that's a span when you double a span roughly you have a cubit so the breastplate was really a cubit in length but then folded in half to make a pouch so that it was a span by a span do you understand and then the stones were placed in the fold sorry about the poetry it was unintentional you shall put settings of stone in it for rows of stone the first row shall be a sardius that's a red stone a topaz yellow green and emerald of course that's green this shall be the first row the second row shall be a turquoise we know what that is around here a sapphire that's a blue stone and a diamond you know what that is the third row adjacent that is a blue some say slightly yellow stone and agate which is a brightly variable color stone an amethyst which is purple in hue and the fourth row a barrel which is see green and onyx now another term for onyx is banded chalcedony and it can come in any variety of colors from brilliant white to almost any color in the spectrum so it's hard to know exactly what color this was and a Jasper which is clear like crystal and they shall be set in gold settings and the stones shall have the names of the sons of Israel 12 according to their names like the engravings of a signet each one with its own name they shall be according to the twelve tribes one thing you discover very quickly living on earth is that our God is a God of great beauty in the stones that he has placed on the earth just natural stones they're not apparent you have to dig them out sort of like truths in the Bible you dig deep and you find them but they would dig deep and they would place these stones onto the breastplate let me throw something out at you I can't prove this it's a thought I've had for a while it could be that Peter the Apostle had in his mind visually the breastplate when he wrote his book first Peter twice in that book he uses a word in English it's translated manifold manifold in Chapter one a first Peter he says that you shouldn't think it weird if you go through manifold trials they happen to everybody he says they come in different sizes and shapes their manifold trials you turn over a few chapters around chapter four I'm guessing he speaks about the manifold grace of God that God has given to each one of us a gift and we should engage in the body of Christ the use of that gift to reveal the manifold grace of God the word manifold literally means many colored or variegated many colored and I can just picture Peter writing that and perhaps as a Jew who is familiar with Temple worship he would have thought of the the manifold the many colored stones on the breastplate there's a principle there manifold many colors of trials manifold grace many colors of God's grace God in His grace has a matching color for every color of trial you have oh my trials green God has a green grace to match it that will be ministered by God's people when they engage their gifts in the body God will match the trial you have with His grace by us that's Peters principle if you link chapter 1 in chapter 4 there's just a thought I just thought I'd throw that out the idea is many colored like the stones in the breastplate something else I want to tie in because I like to do this the stones that are in the breastplate you read again in Revelation 21 forming the foundation of the New Jerusalem the city that you will live in one day the literal city that will come out of heaven toward the earth you will walk upon the foundations of the Covenant that God made and kept with his people and was faithful with his people that's the idea God is faithful and were walking on the stones that bear witness to God keeping his people now the next several verses talk about attaching the breastplate to the ephod with rings and braided chains verse 28 they shall bind the breastplate by means of its rings to the ring of the ephod using a blue cord so that it is above the intricately woven band of the ephod so that the breastplate does not come loose from the Evod so Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart when he goes into the holy place as a memorial before the Lord continually and and you shall put in the breastplate remember its cloth it's a cubit long it's folded in two so it forms a pouch in that fold of the pouch that's in the breastplate of judgment the orem and the Thummim and they shall be over Aaron's heart when he goes in before the Lord so Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually unfortunately of all of the activities and all of the descriptions of the clothing and activities of the priests we know less about the ornament Thummim than anything else the words mean literally lights and perfection lights and perfection the idea perhaps is that they form the perfect light that is the perfect way to discern or judge God's will in very difficult situations hard to know how they worked all of the reading that I have done ancient Jewish sources modern sources online etc some believe that there was a black stone and a white stone or a man Thummim one black one white black man disapproved white mint approved now if that's the case then that helps us when we read revelation 2 and Jesus writes to the church at Pergamos and says to him who overcomes I will give of the hidden manna and I will give to him a white stone in other words I approve of you you are accepted you have overcome others believe this is just in the literature and the writing that the stones glowed like little lights lights and perfections that miraculously they glowed again there's nothing really known about these things other than these guesses others believe that they had on each side inscribed on both stones you had a yes on one side and no on the other and then the stone the other one yes and no so that if the answer from the Lord was to be a yes you had a a one-in-four possibility of getting it right the odds were sort of stacked against you we don't really know how they worked but we do know that they were used joshua uses them we're going to read later on that God says to Moses Moses Joshua is going to take over your ministry and you're gonna have the priest meet with Joshua and Joshua will discern whether he's to go to war or not by the Oram and the Thummim again however that worked I don't know that's how it was used we also know later on the first king of Israel named Saul fell from a walk with God a close walk with God and he desperately wanted to hear the Lord God wasn't speaking with him the Bible says God did not talk to him either by orem or by prophets God didn't give him a green light a white stone yes answer it didn't work when he tried to inquire of the Lord that way and the prophets had nothing to say for him God closed off communication completely as the idea these are a means of communication if you have a Mormon background you know that the ornament Thummim at least Joseph Smith said were the mystical glasses that when he put on he could read the hieroglyphics that were given to him and the angel Moroni I gave him the hieroglyphic tablets and he put on the mystical glasses the Oram and Thummim I most certainly know that's not it I'm really glad we don't know what they are the reason I'm glad is because some kook would say I found them or I've replicated them and have or try to have a corner on knowing God's perfect will for your life in every situation I'm glad that we now have the New Covenant where we can come boldly and rely upon the Holy Spirit living within us better than any Orem or Thummim the Holy Spirit would you rather have guidance or the guide would you rather have a map of where to go or would you have the mapmaker say I'll take you there myself if I was navigating New York City I'd rather have a GPS over a map better yet I'd love to have a local say don't worry about it just get in my car I'll take you there we have the resident Holy Spirit living in us under the New Covenant verse 31 you shall make the robe it's the long white robe of the ephod all of blue the ephod was to be blue the robe was underneath the ephod the basic garment the ephod was over it there shall be an opening for his head in the middle of it it shall have a woven binding all around its opening like the opening of a coat of mail so that it does not tear and upon its hem you saw make pomegranates of blue purple scarlet all around it's him and bells of gold between them all around a golden bell and a pomegranate a golden bell and a pomegranate so they would get the idea of how to do it repeats himself upon the hem of the robe all around the Golden Bell perhaps perhaps a guess speaking of joy the pomegranate speaking of perhaps fruitfulness joy and fruitfulness may you have joy and may you be fruitful and it so come upon Aaron when he ministers and it's sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out that he may not die according to the Talmud there were 72 ornaments all around the hem of the priest the bells would indicate he's gone in past the veil he has the blood he's sprinkling the blood on the mercy seat and they would hear it the priests in the outer court because it was just cloth material they could hear the bells as they would dance around on the hem of the garment the people of Israel would know the priest is offering for them that atoning sacrifice now according to Jewish tradition was one of the questions we asked it's not in the scripture it's only Jewish tradition that says a rope was affixed to the ankle of the high priest and that was in case the Bell stopped if the Bell stopped it meant he probably didn't go in with the right heart with the right preparation he offered profane fire or whatever he didn't do it right he's dead you got to pull him out they'd happen to by who were two of such verse 36 he shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it the engraving of a signet holiness to the Lord that was the sign upon the forehead you shall put it on a blue cord that it may be on the turban it shall be in the front of the turban so it shall be on Aaron's forehead that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts shall always be on his forehead that they may be accepted before the Lord that's a difficult verse to unravel I had trouble with this one I looked it up in a lot of sources the best commentators seem to agree that this is a statement basically saying the buck stops with a high priest if he or his buddy priests haven't done something right if they haven't followed the instructions if they have an approach God with the right sacrifice if they don't have the right heart the blame falls upon the high priest he bears the name dedicated kadosh holy to the Lord so as he's bearing that if everything hasn't been done according to the Lord he'll take the blame for it that's the idea so once again you know people weren't standing in line saying I want to be a priest that's unlike a cool job not really it was given to the family they were chosen by God it wasn't done by volunteer now I believed in ministry today though somebody will say I feel called and I feel led to be involved in ministry it must be based upon a clear and holy calling of God in evidential calling of God if some of you are entering in the ministry or starting in the ministry or wanting to get into the ministry I want to read to you a little paragraph written by Charles Haddon Spurgeon and I quote no man may intrude into the sheepfold as an under shepherd he must have an eye to the chief shepherd and wait his Beck and command before ever a man stands forth as God's ambassador he must wait for the call from above if he does not so but rushes into the sacred office the Lord will say of him and others like him quoting from Jeremiah 32 or 23 I sent them not neither commanded them therefore they shall not profit this people at all says the Lord when you see a person who says he or she is called to ministry and there's no evidence of the fruit in that person's life it could mean God saying I didn't call you you intruded into that if that's the case then it has to be kept up and kept afloat by man's ingenuity rather than God's anointing that's not ever a good sign verse 42 and 43 or summary statements tunics ashes hats linen trousers are given in verses 39 down look at verse 42 you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness these are like undergarments they so reach from waist to fie there shall be an errand and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place that they do not incur iniquity and die it shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him I love the fact that these garments were specifically to be made of linen not of wool wool was in the tabernacle not on the priests and for a very good reason wool would make you sweat linen would keep you from sweating it was light material I know lots of God servants that do a lot of sweating they sweat and they've wrapped and they strategize and they just a lot of flesh can go into ministry a lot of sweating I know preachers who sweat when they preach not down per se on that I just think God's more interested in inspiration than he is in perspiration nothing wrong with good hard labor and the word and work but just make sure that you're inspired by God inspiration not perspiration chapter 29 we have a few minutes at least to get through part of it and who knows if we skim we might get through all of it we have an ordination ceremony and because Leviticus 8 will say that they actually did he's telling them here to do will save a lot of our comments for that here's what you'll notice the priests had to do four things to get ordained and and one of them was not go to seminary back then number one they had to wash themselves totally total immersion like a baptism they'd to be anointed by oil and olive oil smeared upon them were poured upon them sacrifices of animals were given seven days of it and then they were anointed or sprinkled with blood upon their garments we're gonna have some of the sacrifices for the priests mentioned here again I'm gonna skim over but let me just tell you something because we read it and we don't really appreciate it there is nothing beautiful in these animals being sacrificed if we were to demonstrate like we bring out the tabernacle and the little implements of the menorah if we were to bring out and say let me show you what a worship service was like in the Old Testament bring a knife and slit the throat of an animal let it bleed all over the state you'd be repulsed there's nothing beautiful in the Old Testament sacrifice it was repulsive it was intended to be that way the point being is it's symbolic of the destructive nature of sin it's because sin has entered the world it must be atoned for only by blood either yours or a sacrificial animal that's the that's the intention was a repulsive act but the principle by the shedding without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin verse one this is what you will do to hallow them for ministering to me as priests take one young bull and two Rams without blemish so the animals were prepared then the priests were prepared look at verse four Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of meeting and you shall wash them with water and now the priests get dressed in the next few verses they go to the tabernacle and they offer sacrifices for themselves verse 10 you shall also have the bull brought before the tabernacle of meeting and Aaron and his sons shall put their hand on the head of the bull don't forget this little procedure they just didn't sacrifice they first put their hand on the animal's head that'll become standard practice right now these are sacrifices for the priests later on there will be sacrifices for the camp of Israel the people the hand the idea was transferring my guilt my sin onto this animal by the laying on of hands I'm transferring my sin unto this animal and this animal will die in my place verse 11 the sin offering is mentioned for the priests the shoe shall kill the bull before the Lord by the door of the tabernacle of meeting you shall take some of the blood of the bull put it on the horns of the altar those angular protrusions on the corners with your finger you will pour the blood beside the base of the altar verse 14 but the flesh of the bull with its skin and it's a foul the rest of its carcass you shall burn with fire outside the camp it is a sin offering the sin offering was to be totally consumed outside the camp the writer of Hebrews draws from this and speaks of Christ in Hebrews chapter 13 I'll read it to you under the system of Jewish laws the high priest brought the blood of animals into the holy place as a sacrifice for sin but the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp and so Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates that's where Golgotha Calvary was outside the city gates in order to make his people holy by shedding his own blood he's drawing a type and drawing a pointing pointing from one to another Old Covenant New Covenant verse 15 the burnt offering a ram to sacrifice in the burnt offering and then another to ordain look at verse 17 then you shall cut the RAM in pieces wash its entrails and its legs and put them with its pieces with its head see how gross this would be if we actually tried to show you this you shall burn the whole RAM on the all for it is a burnt offering to the Lord it is a sweet aroma an offering made by fire to the Lord you shall take the other Ram and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the RAM now I have a question that came up and I'm looking at four minutes left I'm gonna throw the question up you're gonna look at it I'm gonna try to answer it as we finish this chapter and as I close skip could you point out how Christ fulfilled the function of the Old Testament priesthood yes look at verse 20 then you shall kill the RAM and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron on the tip of the right ear of his sons on the thumb of their right hand on the big toe of the right foot and sprinkled the blood all around the altar this symbolizes a total consecration of one's life to God this is the Old Testament equivalent of Romans chapter 12 where it says I beseech you therefore by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable so right here right hand right thumb and right foot this man must hear the Word of God he must do the work of God and he must walk in the ways of God before God's people that's the idea of this consecration the following verses the blood is mixed with the oil sprinkled upon the garments the parts of the animal are cut in verse 26 you shall take the breast of the RAM of Aaron's consecration and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord probably like this vertically one portion I'm sorry horizontally vertically this way and it shall be your portion so he's you know he's gonna go like this wave it in in the directions horizontally and then take it home and eat it and from the RAM of the congregation you shall consecrate the breasts of the wave offering which is waived and the thigh of the he offering what is he bothering this is where you move it not horizontally but vertically like this up and down this is another portion that they'll heave up and down up and down then take that home and eat it too for Aaron and his sons it shall be from the children of Israel for Aaron and his sons by a statute forever for it is a offering it shall be a offering from the children of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings that is their heave offering to the Lord these are parts that go to the priests the waved breast of the animal I believe speaks of God's heart his love in caring for the priesthood and then the heaved shoulder again the shoulder is the place of strength God's strength will empower them for ministry so God's love God's affection in God's strength go down to verse 36 you will offer a bowl every day as a sin offering for atonement you shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it you shall atone it to sanctify it seven days you will make atonement for the altar and sanctify it and the altar shall be most holy whatever touches the altar must be holy here's the deal this ordination service for the priests was a seven-day affair of these sacrifices every day for seven days that's the point of it now now this is what you shall offer on the altar two lambs of the first year day-by-day continually this is different after the tabernacle is built now listen carefully how this is gonna work once all of this stuff is done they build the tabernacle they consecrate the priests then every single day throughout the history of the Jewish nation they are to do this to Lambs every single day day by day continually verse 39 one lamb you shall offer in the morning the other lamb you shall offer in evening or at twilight so two young lambs every day for a duration I love you God worship of God and for expiation to remove their sin so do you get the picture whether it's the tabernacle or later on the temple lamb in the morning lamb at night lamb in the morning a lamb at night the day opens with sacrifice the day closes with sacrifice it's all about God it's all about shedding blood it's all about keeping the doors open so that I can approach God day and night thank God for Christ these sacrifices are done the difference the question was asked could you show how Jesus fulfilled the priesthood actually it's a question we have dwelt upon the last several weeks and we have tried to answer in the weeks one of the ways is that Jesus is himself the priest and the sacrifice he's offering the sacrifice and he is the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world who takes away the sin of the world now I was taught growing up in my Roman Catholic upbringing that the mass had to be offered every single day of the week it's the doctrine known as the continual sacrifice of the mass like the Old Testament day and night somewhere around the world there has to be the offering of the blood offering of the sacrifice it's basic Catholic doctrine that flies directly in the face of new testament teaching it's a throwback to the Sasser total ceremonial Old Testament system of expiation by a priesthood it's not new testament listen to what the writer of hebrews chapter 9 verse 26 says once at the end of the ages he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself once for all times it's a finished work nothing can be added to it oh but what if I sin if first John chapter 1 if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness go directly verse 40 flower in the oil are offered with the lamb the perpetual offering verse 43 there I will meet with the children of Israel and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory I will consecrate the tabernacle of meeting in the altar I will consecrate both Aaron and his sons to minister to me as priests I will dwell among the children of Israel and be their God now this little summary statement or these summary statements are showing us that God is fulfilling the promise that he made before they left Egypt before they left Egypt God said I'm gonna deliver you you're gonna be a free people and when I deliver you I will dwell among you I will be your God you will be my people this statement goes all the way back to the promise that God made so now we have a people organized around God with a central place of worship based upon his word based upon his laws and I will dwell among the children of Israel and be their God and they will know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I may dwell among them I am the Lord their God two principals to go home with freedom is the result of a direct intervention of God freedom is the result of a direct intervention of God they wouldn't be free unless God intervened I wouldn't be free unless God intervened you wouldn't be free unless God intervened principle number two freedom in the Lord must be balanced by submission to the Lord God freed his people but revealed himself to his word and gave His laws freedom in the Lord must be balanced by submission to the Lord his principles see later on the children of Israel have these laws and still keep the sacrifices and still go through all of the motions but that's it it'll all be motion no emotion no emotion just motion and so God will say in Isaiah chapter 1 when they bring sacrifices to what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices says the Lord my soul hates your offerings we would say what do you mean you hate these offerings these were your idea to begin with because their heart wasn't in it just going through the motion if you ever find yourself going through the motion I hope you have a brother or sister who knows you that you're accountable to that can say brother sister you're just putting in your time and you're just going through the motions listen listen it's easy to do and I'm gonna say especially to you in the ministry and I'll speak directly to you on staff at this church you can go through the motions because you're around it all day long but do you still have the thirst and hunger to open up the Bible study at midweek Bible study and go through the word and apply it to yourself or I just might night to sit in and listen or do your hearts have to be in it when you approach God freedom in the Lord submission to the Lord but we minister to him to his people but to him it's a calling father in heaven we thank you for the work Jesus did on our behalf as our great high priest thank you for a hungry flock that loves to be fed through from the book of Exodus as you give freedom lord I pray that many more this week this weekend and Sunday night would come to faith in Christ be set free from the shackles of their past light the shackles of a sinful lifestyle and enjoy the liberation as a child a son or daughter of the Living God in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 5,181

Rating: 4.8461537 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Jesus, Exodus, Sermon

Id: tp6WHdvMqoM

Length: 60min 4sec (3604 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 19 2018