Leviticus 8-9 - 2012 - 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 as we explore the Word of God in a way that is interactive enjoyable and congregational [Music] let's pray a father we thank you that you've given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us I know that those are Peters words they're not mine Peter said that in other words everything we need to grow up to mature for a godly life you have provided and Peter included in that the knowledge of the one who called us we know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God and as we are committed as believers to studying the principles of Scripture to going through the text consecutively chapter by chapter speak to us Lord even though we're dealing with a system that is antiquated that has no practical bearing it certainly has a bearing of the picture that it presents to us of Christ and of our approach to you so teach us we pray in Jesus name Amen we're looking at the first congregation the first church you might say that God called to himself the congregation of the children of Israel out in the desert as God was revealing to them how to have a relationship with him what made this congregation unique is they didn't have their own building like this to meet in that was permanently fixed they carried their building with them on their shoulders it was a tent and it was a tent that didn't hold the entire congregation of two and a half million people but just a few representatives of the sons of Aaron from the tribe of Levi who would represent the people of God before God himself through a series of sacrifices and as we look at the worship of God in the Old Testament we discovered a couple of things that worship certainly their worship involved sacrifices chapters 1 through 7 is all about the sacrificial system based upon five main offerings that were brought they would bring an animal or some grain before the Lord and there were five different prescribed offerings that we looked at in the last two weeks the idea is that if you want to approach God and you want a relationship with the Lord you have to be cleansed with the only god-given detergent and that was blood the blood of an innocent victim on your behalf all of it a perfect setup pointing toward the New Testament the New Covenant so though the practices of the Book of Leviticus have no bearing on us the principle or the picture of what it represents or looks forward to in Christ is very applicable to us so worship involves sacrifice now if one of the people of Israel said you know I don't feel like bringing a sacrifice to the Lord today and since I don't feel like bringing a sacrifice to the Lord I'd I'd better not do it because it really it really should be something I feel like I want to do it has to really be in my heart otherwise I'm just being a hypocrite God wouldn't accept that you had to respond to him in obedience part of worship and part of sacrifice includes the idea of obedience and so even today I believe that when we worship God there's an element of sacrifice the very last chapter of the book of Hebrews which is based off the Book of Leviticus says therefore let us continually by him that is by Christ offer up the sacrifice of praise that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks into his name you might feel like you're in a Down dour mood this week hasn't been a great week for you I don't feel like singing tonight I'm not the kind of person that really likes to engage in song in a public assembly I just like to sit there and look at the words with my mouth open that's sort of my style well then enter into a sacrifice of praise not because you feel like it because lord I don't feel like it I'm not really great at it or my voice may not be good but here it is it's my sacrifice of praise our approach to God via sacrifice or via worship must include sacrifice that's chapters 1 through 7 now chapters 8 9 and 10 it's about the priesthood and it shows us that worship must include service and the focus here isn't the sacrifices but rather the ones who offer the sacrifice and chapters 8 and 9 is about how they were ordained into the ministry call by God and ordained this is their ordination service a special group of men from a certain tribe and a certain family could participate as being mediators for the people before the Lord now I want to throw something out at you it's a possibility some believe that this was not God's original intention and there is a case to be made that the priesthood through Aaron of the tribe of Levi was not God's original idea or intention but rather that his ideal would have been that the entire nation of Israel had the same basis of approach as the tribe of Levi the family of Aaron that he wanted to make a priesthood out of all of them it's an interesting case and here is the text that has cited for that back in the book of Exodus I'll read it to you this is chapter 19 it says Moses went up to God and the Lord called to him from the mountain saying thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel you have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people for all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation these are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel so the thought is is that God's original intention was to make the entire nation a kingdom of priests all of the people but his ideal was cut short because of the people's idolatry as Moses was coming down from the mountain and they set up that golden calf the idolatry spun that plan out of control so rather than the entire nation one tribe was selected out of one tribe one family and that is Aaron and his sons as mediators for that nation now why is that even important to bring up only because if that is the case and certainly there's a case to be made for it then that ideal that was broken in the Old Testament the Old Covenant has been restored in the New Covenant because the Bible talks about the priesthood of all believers Peter talks about that you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a peculiar people and some of us are more peculiar than others so that we all have approach to God we don't have to go through a priest we don't have to go through a clergy person we don't have to go through a sacrifice I was brought up in a system that taught me that I had to go through an earthly priest and go through a system in order to get to God that's all based on the old covenant the new covenant the great doctrine of the priesthood of all believers mark it well takes us back to that restoration of God's ideal so now chapter 8 and the Lord spoke to Moses saying take Aaron and his sons with him and the garments the anointing oil a bowl as the sin offering to rams and a basket of unleavened bread and gather all the congregation together at the door of the tabernacle of meeting that front portion facing the east of that outer white cloth fence that was the outer perimeter of the tabernacle court so Moses did as the LORD commanded him and the Assembly was gathered together at the door of the tabernacle of meeting and Moses said to the congregation this is what the LORD commanded to be done something I'd like you to know twice and what I just read in these verses is the word commanded commanded 20 some times in chapters 8 9 and 10 that word appears the LORD commanded as the LORD commanded in other words Moses didn't have to sit around and concoct an ordination service for Aaron and his kids the LORD commanded what needed to be done here's what you do here's how you do it do this this is what I command that's an important principle because so it is in the New Testament we don't have to guess what God's intention for the church was we have the entire New Testament where Jesus announced that he would build his church we see it unfolded in the pages of church history via the book of Acts we see Paul giving principle after principle in his epistles especially the pastoral epistles of how churches are to function with leadership and I wish that modern churches would go back to the New Testament ideal of what the LORD commanded there are many fads and when people go out to begin their ministries and start their churches they often try to follow the newest fad well what is this person doing and what is that group up to oh I see we have to get a flashy website that's how we start a church what we really need is more men who will spend time on the Mount and get the ideal of what the LORD commanded and step out in faith and do that this is what the LORD commanded and so Moses didn't say well well why in fact here's what's interesting about most of the Book of Leviticus God says do these sacrifices he doesn't say why here's the priesthood this is how you do it he never tells them why just just do that see there comes a point where we engage with God and have a relationship with him based upon faith I don't always know why I just know what he said to to and so I say okay good enough I'll take that by faith and I'll go with it and sometimes people will ask me well why do you do that well because the New Testament white why does it say that I don't know and I don't feel like I need to always explain why God chooses to do whatever he does so God gives them the what and the how and tells them to do it now you'll notice that the LORD commanded him to bring the assembly together at the door of the tabernacle would you agree that it would probably have been impossible to get two and a half million people at the door of that tent so probably the way it was done were all of the tribal heads and the heads of the clans the representative heads of all of the groups tribes and subgroups would gather together representing the nation because after all you would have moms and tents a mile away or a half mile out perhaps that our nursing children they're not going to be able to make that church service so you'd have representatives and and if you just look ahead I'll have you to skip ahead to chapter 9 verse 1 I think you see that it came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel these elders then represented the entire assembly and Moses said this is what the LORD commanded to be done verse 6 the Lord brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water without going back over it in depth do you remember that in the outer courtyard of that enclosure there was a brass altar of sacrifice and not far from it was a basin or a labor of water that was for the cleansing of the priests while they were doing animal sacrifices but probably that water was used on this first day this ordination ceremony as Moses would cleanse ceremonially the priests before the representatives of Israel and he put the tunic on him that is on the high priest Aaron girded him with the sash clothed him with the robe put the ephod on him and he girded him with the intricately woven band of the ephod and with with it tied the ephod on him we've already gone through the garments of the priesthood back in Exodus 20:8 in Exodus 39 it's all detailed for us but the ephod has mentioned and if you'll remember the ephod was that vest that outer garment that hung over the tunic over the long robe the ephod was two pieces front and back tied together with straps at the shoulders and upon the straps were two stones remember onyx stones one in each shoulder of the priest on one stone six names six of the tribes of Israel were engraved on the other the other six so that the priests on his shoulders bore the names of the children of Israel before the Lord as as priests he would represent the people before God that was the tunic then verse 8 and then he put the breastplate on him now do you remember what that breastplate was the breastplate was made out of cloth it wasn't like a hard plate or a metal breastplate it was a little square piece of cloth that hung around the neck of the high priest and there were 12 beautifully ornate stones four of them in three rows each representative of the tribes of Israel so on his shoulders and on his heart bearing the burden of the nation and carrying them on his heart before the Lord beautiful picturesque symbolism as the high priest bore the people represented the people before the Lord as their priest fast forward to the Testament Jesus Christ is our great high priest that's one of the remarkable things about the book of Hebrews using the Book of Leviticus it says that that priesthood the Levitical priesthood the sons of Aaron that's passed away that's Old Covenant that's done with we have a great High Priest Jesus Christ he ever lives the writer says to make intercession for us seeing then hebrews chapter 4 that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast to our confession for we do not have a high priest that is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but was in all points tempted like we are yet without sin so he's our great high priest back to Leviticus Leviticus 1 through 7 we need a sacrifice as sinners we need a sacrifice chapter 7 8 and 9 as God's people we need a priest so the priest points forward to Jesus Christ something else let's tie something else together these stones were multicolored precious stones variegated in color and you find them again in Revelation 21 do you remember where in the New Jerusalem as John describes the holy city the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven toward the new earth because God creates a new heaven and a new earth after the Millennial Kingdom this earth is destroyed new heaven new earth and a new capital city a satellite city literally because it hovers around the new earth and the New Jerusalem the foundation stones are the same stones as in the breastplate of the high priest so it ties the two together beautifully so he put the breastplate on him and he put notice the or rim and the Thummim in the breastplate have you been using your urnament thumb in lately of course not because they're not around anymore here's the deal we don't exactly know what they were we can only guess Aurum and Thummim literally means lights and perfections or it comes from the words the stem word which means lights and perfections the best guess is that the Orem and the Thummim were two stones that were used to determine the will of God in what would be considered otherwise an impossible situation you didn't have clear revelation concerning it and because you didn't have clear revelation when the leadership was stumped and had to know the direction or the will of God they would use the Orem and Thummim how again it's a guess some scholars believe that one stone was white one stone was black and that they would glow that when the Lord wanted to give you a yes one would glow and we wanted to give you a no the other the black one would glow it's just a guess sort of like sacred lots holy dice if you will okay you probably won't the other guess is that the words yes in hebrew ken yes was written on one side of the stones and the word no low in hebrew was written on the other side so if you were to ask the lord a question that the only way you would have an affirmative is if both stones came up yes which would be a one-in-four possibility that's the idea again this is all conjecture it's all the guests were not sure and we have a question so since we haven't had one in a long time this is from Jacob James on the Internet the question is why did God set up this system and then later say it's detestable well a couple of reasons Jacob one is that it was temporary it was never meant to be permanent it anticipated the ending of it even in the Old Testament Jeremiah 31 the Lord said the days are coming saith the Lord when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel my law will be written on your heart and it anticipated the coming of Messiah the sacrifice is being completed not having to be done day after day week after week year after year but they would be done once and for all the second reason God calls them detestable like in you're referring to probably Isaiah chapter 1 and a couple of the minor prophets is because people were bringing the sacrifices simply as a matter of ceremony without their hearts being engaged their will being engaged with it so they were just like go through the ceremony but live any way you want that's my idea they were living a duplicitous double lifestyle they would go to church they would sin all week long but they would keep the sacrifices so God says what meaning what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices said to me to me saith the Lord this is Isaiah chapter 1 when you offer your sacrifices on your new moons in your Sabbath my soul despises them and that is because they were neglecting the values of keeping the poor and regarding the fatherless and the homeless instead of regarding a love for their fellow man they were keeping the sacrifices but living any way they chose so for those two reasons the Lord set it up but he said it was detestable because of what they did to them so back to the Orem and the Thummim we don't know what they were but we knew they were used there's a couple of references in the Old Testament now I'll tell you what they are not they are not mystical glasses given by the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith to read Egyptian hieroglyphics on golden tablets as the Mormon Church teaches they are not that they were used specifically under the Old Covenant and then they pass from history that is a myth that is a legend that is not biblical verse 9 and he put the turban on his head also on the turban on its front he put the gold and plate the holy crown as the Lord had commanded Moses now you'll recall without having to go back that it was a golden crown that had words written in Hebrew and in Hebrew there was Kadesh Leacock way holiness to the Lord this was the high priest the representative bringing holy sacrifices he himself and his family was wholly set apart and he wore on his head that the little crown that said holiness to the Lord as the LORD commanded then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it and sanctified them he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times I noted the altar and all of its utensils and the labor and its base to sanctify them and he poured some of the anointing oil and Aaron's head and anointed him to sanctify him and then Moses brought Aaron's sons and put tunics on them girded with sashes put hats on them as the Lord had commanded Moses and he brought the bull for the sin offering then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull for the sin offering and Moses killed it and he took the blood put some on the horns of the altar that's that brass altar in the courtyard the Porte Rouge ins of the four corners called the horns with his finger purified the altar and he poured the blood at the base of the altar and sanctified it to make atonement for it and he took all the fat that was on the entrails the fatty lobe attached to the liver the two kidneys with their fat and Moses burned them on the altar all together they're four steps in this ordination service step number one cleansing the priest himself had to be cleansed because the priest though a priest was still a a man a human and the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and you yourself must be cleansed before you are able to preach to anybody else about being cleansed it amazes me that there are men in pulpits who are unsaved I know this because one Sunday morning happened to be a Christmas morning that fell on a Sunday we had a church service and I gave an ultra call and I noticed a gentleman an older gentleman come forward at the end I asked him to tell me a story he said I've been an elder in a church for 30-some years and I have never had a relationship with Christ until this morning now it was a shock to me how are you able to be a leader an elder a representative a pastoral representative without knowing the Lord without being cleansed first so these priests before they could offer sacrifices brothers that was the first step they had to be cleansed cleansing the second step wasn't cleansing it was clothing they had special clothes that they had the war that were prescribed back in Exodus chapter 28 in Exodus chapter 39 now that was then and this is now and as you can see I'm not really like into clergy clothing in fact one of the greatest compliments a young couple once paid me goes you're a pastor you know look like a pastor I thought that was a compliment there are sects of Christianity that believed that clergy men should wear clergy clothes a robe yet when I read the New Testament I noticed that Jesus said of the scribes he said for the scribes walk around in their flowing robes and they loved the greetings in the marketplaces and he didn't place a priority on his representatives wearing a certain type of clothing in the New Covenant in the New Covenant if different than the Old Covenant it's fulfilled in Christ and if there's anything we're to put on its humility Peter said clothe yourself with humility Galatians says clothe yourself with Christ those are good garments to wear for any pastoral representative I would tell you a little story when I first moved to Albuquerque years and years ago a well-meaning clergyman saw how I dressed and was unimpressed and felt sorry for me he just thought the poor kid he probably can't afford a good robe so he called me up and he said I'd like to spring or you know I'll cough up the money for I like to spring buy you a robe I'll buy you a robe and you know here's a catalog you can select any one you want I said no it's okay thank you for the gesture it's a kind gesture but I won't be wearing a robe now could you see me in a robe so you're picturing that right now it's not a pretty picture step number one cleansing step number two clothing step number three consecration oil was sprinkled now again without going back to the recipe the recipe for this oil it's special oil is given in the book of Exodus they were to take liquid myrrh cinnamon Keysha sweet cane and mixed that in a batch of olive oil and that was a special consecration oil with which to ordain the priests and with that oil they were to sprinkle articles in the tabernacle as well as the priesthood who could be sprinkled anybody only Aaron and only Aaron's sons and Aaron's grandsons and great-grandsons so God was the one who chose the tribe and who would be his clergy people there's a very important principle there somebody couldn't from the tribe of Judah or it's a car say you know that's no fair I feel called to join the priesthood well I wouldn't suggest that man Avista car because if you step in that Tabernacle door with those clothes on you'll just keel over dead the Lord will kill you you can't intrude into that office you have to have a calling of God now today there's not one tribe there's there's not one sort of like nepotistic line however a person should be called to the pastoral ministry how do you know if a person's called to the pastoral ministry they've got evidence the gifts that go along with it the Bible says a pastor has to be apt to teach along with certain other characteristics in his life in his character as well as in his gift mix one of my favorite books for preachers is a book called um lectures to my students by Charles Haddon Spurgeon I copied a paragraph no man may intrude into the sheepfold as an under shepherd he must have an eye to the chief shepherd and wait for his beck and command before a man ever stands forth as God's ambassador he must wait for the call from above and if he does not but rushes into the sacred office the Lord will say of him and others like him I sent them not neither did I command them therefore they shall not profit this people at all saith the Lord that's Jeremiah 23 that hundreds have missed their way and stumbled against a pulpit is sorrowfully evident from the fruitful fruitless ministries and decaying churches which surround us it is a fearful calamity for a man to miss his calling and to the church upon who he imposes himself his mistake involves an affliction of the most grievous kind it would be a curious and painful subject for reflection the frequency with which men in the possession of Reason mistake the end of their existence and aim at objects which they never intended to pursue or were intended to pursue in other words make sure that God has called you not just yeah I really think I want to do that you'll understand why as we progress so for steps there was cleansing clothing there was consecrating and the fourth one there was contribution that his sacrifice special sacrifices were made on this day of ordination animals were killed and as we said last time and I won't belabor it when you give something to God you make a sacrifice and for those in the priesthood if they enter the priesthood they're making a sacrifice 1st Timothy chapter 3 says this if any man desires the office of a bishop and overseer in the church a pastor he desires a good work what Paul doesn't say there but does in other places it's a good work but it's a dangerous work you know why I say that because here's the stats every month 1,600 Ministers quit the ministry it's an alarming statistic every month 1,600 ministers quit the ministry why variety of reasons burnout staff issues board issues splits in the church moral failure of those pastors who quit when they were surveyed 70 percent of those in ministry 70 percent said they had a strong felt a strong calling by God to be in the ministry before they entered the ministry three years later just three years into it only fifty percent were sure this was a call of God in their lives eighty percent of the wives married to pastors wish their husband would have chosen a different occupation and many of them will divorce their husbands because that involves sacrifice what do you sacrifice well you sacrifice first of all your time most people get weekends off a pastors never get weekends off my staff gets one day a week off my pastoral staff at least you have to be willing to sacrifice your time you pour your whole life into ministry number two you sacrifice your privacy years ago my mother-in-law was visiting Alba turkey for I don't know maybe your second or third time and wherever we go in the city people would say hi skip hi skip hi skip my mother-in-law who was not a believer said man you couldn't get away with anything in this town I said you're right and that's how I like it that's accountability you sacrifice your privacy so the sacrifice was made in the priesthood they made a contribution some time ago a violinist along with the chamber orchestra was playing at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York City this violinist was superb and she was asked afterward how she got to be so good here was her answer planned neglect they said explain that she goes I have planned to neglect everything in my life that doesn't draw me closer to my goal as being the best violinist in the world when God calls you into ministry whether it's priesthood or pastor you have to live a life a plan neglect where you hone and you focus on that calling well as we go on through the chapter sacrifices are made on this day of ordination three of them to be exact beginning in verse 14 and then again in verse 18 the RAM of the burnt offering Aaron and his sons laid hands on them so they bring a sin offering a burnt offering and a special consecration offering for that day I want to show that to you in verse 22 and he brought the second ram the ram of consecration then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the RAM and Moses killed it and he took some of its blood and put it on the tip notice this of Aaron's right ear the right side was considered the site of dominance or the best of a person put it on his tip of his right ear the thumb of his right hand and the big toe of his right foot get the symbolism this represents my life of consecration that I might hear God's word that I might do God's work that I might walk in God's ways I'm consecrating my hearing of him my doing work for him and my walking in his ways and he brought Aaron's sons and Moses put some of the blood on the tips of their right ears the thumbs of their right hands on the big toes of their right feet and Moses sprinkled the blood all around the altar now do you know what the equivalent of this is in the New Testament think of a verse and if you know it shout it out a verse of consecration of dedication in sacrifice you hear me quoted a lot Romans 12 verse 1 I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable service have you ever thought of the potential of a single human body dedicated to the purpose and glory of God I've told you before about the young man who heard a preacher say at a church service the world has yet to see what God can do through one person wholly dedicated to him and that young kid said by God's grace I will be that man he grew up to be Dwight Lyman Moody great evangelist of Chicago of yesteryear a human body the faculties of a human being surrender to God scripture is filled with examples of the Lord using the different members of people's body Moses mouth remember Moses said my mouth is my least attractive asset I stutter God said I'll use it I'll empower you I'll empower you to speak words before Pharaoh the big kahuna in Egypt I'll empower you to speak forth my law from Mount Sinai to the children of Israel Moses mouth by itself was not impressive but that mouth dedicated and surrendered to God was impressive what about David's hands put a sling in that kids hands and he's a dead-on marksman for goliaths forehead took five smooth stones only needed one some people say what do you do with the other four keep reading the scripture Goliath had four brothers Paul's feet Isaiah says how blessed are the feet of those who preach the gospel and bring good news Paul with his feet brought from Jerusalem to Rome via three missionary journeys the gospel around the world now think of your life being the base of operations for God the Bible says you're the temple of the Holy Spirit what God could do through you if you were to wake up tomorrow and say here's my mouth here's my feet here's my hand go for it I want to see you use them Lord so Aaron and his sons were anointed in this way I just want to stress this God wants to use us he wants to use you he doesn't just use preachers or people he calls into official ministry you are all in the priesthood this is a priesthood of believers you are all in the ministry find out what yours is use your body for his glory you got to understand what a privilege this is he doesn't have to use us in fact he would be better off if he didn't use us truly if God wanted to get the job done he would use angels they're much better at it I I submit to you that you go home and read through the book of Revelation when one angel through heaven and preaches the everlasting gospel to every tribe every tongue every person on the earth in the tribulation period you think well what why doesn't God do that now that's a good question I believe in the principle that God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise God likes to prove how wonderful how powerful he is by using the weakest instrument I work with the group of doctors that work with Samaritan's Purse that wonderful organization that Franklin Graham heads out these are a group of doctors who go around the world and they go to Mission hospitals and they perform operations some of them are confined to the most primitive tools and the most primitive operating Suites and they're able to do in those countries in operation that they're used to doing in the United States with the best anesthesia and as the geologists and tools but for a doctor to go to a country like that with primitive tools and do the same operation shows the skill of the physician that's a good doctor that's a mighty God if in the mean time before he uses that angel in the tribulation he uses us God saying I'm confining myself to the kind of tools that I will use so that when people see my work and they see the instrument that I chose to do my work they will go what a good God we serve because that guy isn't like an idiot god be praised speaking of myself after the sacrifices were given the oil is sprinkled verse 30 Moses took some of the anointing oil some of the blood which was on the altar sprinkled it on Aaron his garments his son's garments of his sons with him he sanctified Aaron his garments his sons and the garments of his sons with him then they work to take the meat of the sacrifice boil it in a pot at the door of the tabernacle stay there and eat it now I take you down to verse 33 and you Aaron you shall not go outside the door of the tabernacle of meeting for seven days until the days of your consecration are ended for seven days he shall consecrate you as he has done this day so the LORD commanded to do to make atonement for you therefore you shall abide at the door of the tabernacle of meeting day and night for seven days and keep the charge of the Lord that you may not die so don't step out of that door or that'll be your last breath for so I have been commanded this is Moses giving the instructions from the Lord to Aaron so Aaron and his sons did all the things that the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses they had to stay in the court the outer courtyard for seven days after seven days they were ready chapter nine they begin their ministry chapter eight is the basis of their ministry chapter nine is the beginning of their ministry chapter ten will be the breakdown of their ministry as two of the sons don't do it right and God strikes them dead so they begin in chapter nine by offering sacrifices burn offering sent offering first for themselves and then for the people again all of this demonstrates something it illustrates a principle it demonstrates that the only approach to God is through sacrifice it's on the basis of blood and a mediator blood and a mediator sacrifices and a priest sacrifices chapters one through seven a priest chapters 8 9 and 10 you want to approach God you need two things blood and a mediator all of it points to Christ it's a demonstration educators would call this a pedagogical chapter a pedagogy and biography a demonstration of the principle that you need a sacrifice and a priest blood and a priesthood I'm going slower than I anticipated it came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel now it's the eighth day there are seven days in a week this process is lasting eight days they had to stay in the tabernacle seven days on the eighth day which would be the first day that they had begun it's called the eighth day because you're starting that's your seven days in a week the next day is the first day of the next week or the eighth day so eight becomes in the scripture a number that signifies a new beginning that pattern of seven eight is a new beginning on the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel and said to Aaron take for yourself a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering without blemish and offer them before the Lord and to the children of Israel you shall speak saying take a kid of the goats as a sin offering and a calf and a lamb both of the first year without blemish as a burnt offering also a bull and a ram as a peace offering to sacrifice before the Lord and a grain offering mixed with oil for today the Lord will appear to you where that would be great news to anticipate let's get ready for this thing boys God is gonna show up at church today so they brought what Moses commanded before the tabernacle of meeting and all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord on the beginning day this day of their ministry they offer for sacrifices now pause for a moment remember how we've studied in the last two weeks that the worship of Israel centered around how many offerings 5:5 burnt offering grain offering peace offering sin offering trespass offering the first for take away the trespass offering the first for will be offered on the first day by the priest what is the function of the priest the function of the priest is he acts as a representative of whom not God the people he's representing the people before God he's bearing their names on his shoulders and on his breastplate his heart he's representing the people before God is offering a sacrifice on behalf of the people to God later on another office will appear in Israel it's the opposite function that is that of the prophet the prophet will represent God to the people now in antiquity go back to the times of the patriarchs Abraham Isaac Jacob in the patriarchal period the patriarch before this priesthood was established that we're reading about here the patriarchs the heads of the clans the dad's grandpa's would often act as a priest on behalf of their family that's why when we look at the book of Job chapter 1 which we have placed in the patriarchal period it says job offered animal sacrifices in the morning for his family for each family member an animal per family member then in antiquity sometimes kings of cities or kings of areas would also be a priest they would act as a king and a priest the most remarkable person is a guy you know called Melchizedek Melchizedek was the king of Salem ancient Jerusalem he was also the priest the Bible calls him the priest of the Most High God in fact Jesus is called a priest forever after the order of melchizedek in that ancient period of time the king also took on the role of the priests so the priesthood sort of morphed through time now God is revealing how its to be done with Aaron and his sons then Moses said verse eight this is the thing which the LORD commanded there's that word again you to do and the glory of the Lord will appear to you and Moses said to Aaron go to the altar offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people offer the offering of the people and make atonement for them as the LORD commanded Aaron therefore went to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering which was for himself scoot down because it just says how he prepared it which we've already discovered how to do that verse 12 and he killed the burnt offering and Aaron's sons presented to him the blood which he sprinkled around on the altar scoot down to verse 15 then he brought the people's offering and took the goat which was the sin offering for the people killed it offered it for sin like the first one go down to verse 22 an Aaron lifted his hand toward the people blessed them came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings we believe that the altar of sacrifice was raised on a platform just a little bit of Earth so that the offer would be able to look over the short wall about shorter than about seven feet that cloth wall around the tabernacle and be able to see the people so Aaron would go up offer the sacrifice he stretched out his hand and He blessed the people what did he say to them well it doesn't tell us here but it does tell us in numbers chapter 6 says and this is how Aaron and his son shall bless the people they will say to the people the Lord bless thee and keep thee the Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious to thee the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace so the sacrifices were made and that blessing of Aaron was extended to the people by the way just to note Jesus did the same thing as our great high priest he offered the sacrifice on Calvary he died he rose from the dead and after he rose from the dead he ascended up into heaven Luke chapter 24 tells us Jesus took his disciples atop the Mount of Olives as far as Bethany and as he was ascending up before he ascended up he put his hands out and He blessed them I love that thought what did Jesus say to them don't know but it could be very possibly that he gave the blessing of Aaron the high priest the Lord bless you the Lord keep you the Lord cause his face to shine upon you be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace I don't think he said peace out see you guys later I think it had more depth and significance than that and probably perhaps my belief it was the blessing of Aaron fulfilling that he was the great high priest and Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting came out and blessed the people then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people what is the glory of the Lord well it's some manifestation of God's splendor it could be what they call the Shekinah the Shekinah we would say in English you know we take Hebrew words and we sort of mispronounce them we anglicized them with Shekinah but the Hebrews would say the Shekinah it's the presence signified by that cloud that hovered over the tabernacle now that could be a reference to this but we know from the last chapter of the book of Exodus that's already there the Lord is abiding in that miraculous cloud by day and pillar of fire by night and when it moved they moved they packed up the tent put it on their shoulders of the priests and they went through the wilderness it could refer to that or it could simply be a reference to the next statement and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar when all the people saw it they shouted and they fell on their faces like wow they were just humbled by it now the fire coming out of heaven was symbolic it consumed the sacrifice it was symbolic that God was pleased God was receiving this act of worship and you would expect him to receive it because this is what he commanded him to do the worship that God accepts is the worship that God prescribes you can't just say well I picture God as such and such and this and that and I sort of feel in my heart but I want to worship Him like this you don't get that option he's God you're not he gets to tell you how you can talk to him and approach him and that's why he said here's my son this is the only means by which I will receive a person so here is the Old Testament model fire comes from heaven lights the fire on that outer court that outer altered the altar of sacrifice now they were told to keep the fire burning right perpetually this is that alter that to keep that fire burning day and night don't let it go out it's part of the job of the priesthood once it's lit you keep it going which means when they travel they would no doubt have to carry a live coal or of live coals and keep that going for the next stop and set it up again they couldn't let it go out because that's the fire that started the sacrificial system it came out of heaven God is saying this is the sacrifice this is the worship that I will receive the worship that I prescribed is the worship that I accept fast forward and we'll close with this on I promise cuz we're out of time in the New Testament Jesus spoke about the Holy Spirit and he said to his disciples you know boys I'm paraphrasing it's really good for you that I'm leaving because if I don't leave I can't send the Holy Spirit to you but if I leave I will send my spirit to you and when he has come he will convict the world of sin of righteousness and of judgment of sin because they believe not on me of righteousness because I go to my father and you see me no more of judgment because the prince of the ruler of this world is judged that second thought he's going to convict the world of righteousness when Jesus ascended into heaven to the right hand of the throne of God after sacrificing himself as the once-and-for-all Lamb of God God was saying by receiving his son back into heaven this is the sacrifice that I will accept this is the righteousness that I will accept a righteous life and a substitutionary death for the sins of all mankind whoever will receive Christ I will receive this righteousness his righteousness and that righteousness is then imputed to everyone who believes so just like God fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifice signifying God was pleased and would accept it Jesus ascending into heaven after making his own sacrifice God is saying of righteousness because I go to my father and you see me no more accepted by the father and that is what he accepts you want to get to heaven you come through his son you want to get to heaven you two need sacrifice and a priesthood and it happens to be the great high priest who sacrificed himself for the sins of the world father thank you for an opportunity to be in your word to see the symbols and the types in the Old Covenant that speak of the New Covenant they light the way they point the way they make us appreciate so much more that your plan was from the very beginning anticipating the once-and-for-all sacrifice of our great high priest who is now seated at the right hand your right hand and he ever lives to make intercession for us he knows what we go through he knows our experiences as human beings and he can relate to every one of them and so Lord we're told to come before your throne boldly and as priests in the new covenant joint heirs with Christ we can come boldly and I pray that we would finally father we consecrate ourselves to you we dedicate our lives our ourselves and our service to you we pray that you would use our bodies our mouths our hands our feet like you did those of Aaron and Moses and David and Paul thank you Lord that you are pleased to choose such weak instruments that your glory might be more renowned we love that thought in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 5,647

Rating: 4.6559138 out of 5

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

Id: h31WipL04r4

Length: 61min 29sec (3689 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 19 2018