The subject of Christ's priesthood is taken up by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, for he was writing to a people who were familiar with the religious system that God had given to His people Israel, in which there was a priesthood that had been divinely chosen and established for the service of God among His earthly people. In this Epistle we learn that the tabernacle system with its sacrifices was but a shadow of what God would bring into being in relation to Christ, the One of whom all the sacrifices spoke, and who would be God's great High Priest in connection with the heavenly and spiritual order to be introduced.
In Hebrews 1 the divine glory of the Son shines out from His place at the right hand of God; but in Hebrews 2, the Spirit of God dwells on the perfection and reality of His Manhood, quoting different Scriptures from the Old Testament to establish that the Son of God was a real Man, and had entered into all that was proper to man while in this world. It was necessary for Christ to become Man in order that He might die, but also that He might be fitted for the place He would occupy as God's High Priest.
Only One who knew the practical details of human conditions in this world could truly enter into all that men felt in passing through the trials of life, so we read, "Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God" (Heb. 2:17). He knew what it was to be wearied, to be hungry, to thirst, to groan in His Spirit, to weep, and to pass through the most bitter testings; and to feel all with a depth and intensity beyond all that any other man has ever felt or could feel, both because of the unsullied perfection and holiness of His nature, and because of His infinite capacity as a divine Person.
Knowing every step of our wilderness way, and all that is involved for us, His mercy comes to our aid in time of trouble. He is faithful also, and can be relied on at all times, having been fully tested in the same conditions that we pass through. And He was tested beyond anything that we shall ever be called upon to endure, for He endured the cross to make propitiation for our sins, and in this work He was alone, the only One who could be a sacrifice for sin; but in this He was proved to be faithful unto God, and indeed for us, so that we through His work might be blessed.
Of old, Israel's high priest had their names on the two onyx stones upon his shoulders; but now the names of the children of God are engraved on the shoulders of their Great High Priest, and the One who "Himself hath suffered being tempted" is able to succour them that are tempted. The Lord Jesus suffered in the many trials of a life wholly given up for the glory of God and the blessing of men; His life from beginning to end was one of suffering and sorrow, and He knows how to sustain His own in their times of testing.
A casual reading of Hebrews 1 will show something of the greatness of our High Priest. Aaron, on the day of atonement, passed through the court, and through the holy place, to enter into the holiest; but our great High Priest has passed through the heavens on His way to the right hand of the majesty on high. How very great then, in His Person, must be this High Priest of our confession. None of the principalities and powers of the heavenlies, who have sought to frustrate God's purposes, could challenge the Son of God on His way upward to the throne, for, through His death, He "made a show of them openly, triumphing over them" (Col. 2:15).
On high we have One who can enter into all our sorrows, being "touched with the feeling of our infirmities," having Himself been tried "in all points" like as we are. We might well have boldness in coming near for help to the One who is great in His person, perfect in His Manhood, and was tested to the utmost hi all points such as we are, and who has our names engraven on His heart of love.
God's throne, through man's sin, became for man a throne of judgment, but the blood of Jesus, sprinkled upon it, has made it a throne of grace. Entering God's presence, we find Jesus there, and from Him we obtain the mercy that will bring relief in the testings of the way, and the grace that will sustain until the trial is over.
Scripture is very careful to safeguard the spotless purity of the Son of God when speaking of His testings, for in all His trials He was "without sin." There was no sin in Him to answer to the testing; He could not be seduced by sin for there was nothing in Him to which sin could appeal. The Son of God chose to remain hungry, suffering in hunger, rather than give way to Satan's temptation. How much He must have suffered in realising the feelings of Martha and Mary, when He remained two days where He was, before going to their aid.
Aaron did not become priest of God by the will of man, nor by his own or by that of any other, but by the call of God. So also with the Lord Jesus, He is a Priest by the call of God, and this is plainly written in the Old Testament Scriptures, which were valued by every true Israelite. Psalm 2 had spoken of Messiah as Son of God, and Psalm 110 had said of Him, "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek."
God has not forgotten what Christ has suffered in this world, the Holy Spirit calling attention to the severity in the words, "Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared" (Heb. 5:7). Only God could know the depths of the sufferings of Christ which found expression in the strong crying and tears.
In His place in the Godhead, the Son had ever commanded, but He had voluntarily come as Man into the place of obedience, a place He had not known till coming into the world. We have to learn obedience because it is in our sinful nature to disobey; but it was altogether different with Christ, His only desire was to obey, and He was perfect in His obedience, but His obedience caused Him to suffer, and in His suffering He learned experimentally what obedience was.
Perfect in His Manhood, in His obedience, and in all things at all times, the Son was made perfect in His experience of suffering, and in His obedience even unto death, through which "He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him." How great was Christ's work, and how wonderful the results for us: eternal salvation, a salvation from all our sins, from all our foes, and that will take us into the eternal blessings that God has prepared for those who trust Him. All this has been secured for us by our Great High Priest, who has been called of God.
One blessed result of Christ's work and entry into heaven is that He has gone in as "the forerunner" for us. As surely as He has entered God's presence within the veil of heaven, we too shall follow Him. Within the veil, Christ is "an High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec" (Heb. 6:19-20). In Hebrews 7, the Spirit of God teaches us about this new order of priesthood of which Jehovah had spoken in Psalm 110 in relation to His Son, David's Lord.
In Melchisedec we see some of the features belonging to God's High Priest. He was not only a priest, but also a king, and "by interpretation, King of righteousness, and … King of peace." When Jesus comes out of heaven to take His kingdom, He will be manifested in this double character, even as is written in Zechariah 6:13, "He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both."
Melchisedec had neither antecedent nor descendant as a priest, there being nothing in the divine record of his lineage. In this respect, he is "made like unto the Son of God": for He "abideth a priest continually." In person, Melchisedec was greater than Abraham, for Abraham was blessed by him; in priesthood Melchisedec was greater than Aaron, for Aaron paid tithes to Melchisedec through his father Abraham. The fact that another priesthood was spoken of in Psalm 110 is evidence that the Levitical priesthood was imperfect and required a change of law, for the law of Moses made no provision for anyone entering the priesthood from the tribe of Judah, from which our Lord came, after the flesh (Heb. 7:1-14).
God's promise to Christ in Psalm 110 was in the days of David, so that even then there was the divine indication that the law of Moses was being set aside in favour of the introduction of a new system, with a new Priest. There was no divine oath when Aaron was consecrated, which left room for its being set aside; but the new system cannot be set aside, for God made David's Lord "a priest for ever," with an oath. When God swears, that which He speaks can never be set aside. With the new priesthood there is a new covenant, a better one, of which Jesus is the Surety, the guarantee, His precious blood being its seal.
Aaron was stripped of his priestly vestments, and they were put upon his son, Eleazar, on mount Hor, for Aaron had to die; and death removed high priest after high priest of the Levitical order; but Christ's priesthood is intransmissible, and "He is able also to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:24-25). The Lord Jesus will bring God's people safely through the wilderness to the rest and glory of God, caring for them in every way, and interceding for them on high.
The blessed character of our great High priest is found in these precious words, "For such an High Priest became us, who is holy. harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." God has taken care that the spotless purity of His dear Son should be left on record for us. He was infinitely holy, and never once do we find Him on earth using His divine power to harm anyone; only a fig tree was cursed by Him, to foreshadow God's judgment on a nation that bore Him no fruit in spite of all the care He had lavished on it. He drew sinners to Him, because of His grace, but He was separate from them in the holiness of His nature and in His life of perfection before God.
Israel's priests needed to offer sacrifices for their own sins as well as for the sins of the people; but the holy, the harmless, the undefiled offered Himself as a sacrifice for sins, ONE SACRIFICE, that needs no repetition, for the sins of His people. There was no infirmity about Jesus; perfect in His holiness, and altogether pure, He is not only Man, but the Son, and God's oath has made Him and consecrated Him a priest for evermore.
In Hebrews 8, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews sums up what he has been writing on the priesthood of Christ in these words, "We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." On the throne of God, in the place of majesty and power, Jesus is sitting, the minister of a new, divine system of blessing for men, a system, not introduced by Moses as the mediator, but by God Himself.
Although Aaron was minister of the holy places, so far as we learn from Scripture he never entered the holiest in his garments of glory and beauty. The failure of his house prohibited his entry into the immediate presence of God, saving on the day of atonement in the holy linen garments. His appearance in the beautiful vestments of his consecration was only in the holy place to order the lamps, and to maintain the showbread upon the pure table. But Jesus has entered right into God's presence, and there appears in His garments of glory and beauty, for He is crowned with glory and honour, and He ministers continually before the face of God.
As Minister of the Holy Places, the Lord Jesus maintains the light of the lamps on the pure candlestick, during the night of His absence from this world, in watching over His saints, so that there might be brought out in them, for the pleasure of God, His own traits of moral beauty, as seen in the features of the candlestick. He also keeps the twelve loaves before the face of God, for His ancient people Israel are not forgotten before God; they will one day be brought into blessing on earth on the ground of the New Covenant.
The function of the altar of incense, which is carried on with the golden censer in the holiest (Heb. 9:4), is that the sweet odour of Christ might ever be before God. When the saints enter the holiest, in the company of the Great Priest (Heb. 10:21-22), it is not only to be occupied with the glory, the graces and offices of Christ, and all else that is seen there in the furniture, the veil, and the varied colours, but as thus engaged to worship God in the Spirit, and present Christ to Him, as known in the fragrance of the incense which was upon the golden censer.
Christ's official priesthood did not begin till He took His place on high, even as it is written, "For if He were on earth, He should not be a Priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law" (Heb. 8:4). But it is "of necessity that this Man have somewhat also to offer," and through the Eternal Spirit He "offered Himself without spot to God" (Heb. 8:3; Heb. 9:14). The work of the Lord in offering Himself on the cross was priestly work, for He was the Offerer, the Offering and the Offering Priest, but it was not in His official priesthood, for that belonged to heaven.
Aaron entered the holiest with the blood of bulls and goats, but Christ has entered into heaven, having become a High Priest by His own precious blood, and as called of God. All the efficacy of the work wrought for God's glory, and for our blessing, abides in Him in the presence of God, even as the Apostle John writes,
And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the whole world" (1 John 2:2). Christ has entered in with a work completed for the satisfaction and glory of God, an eternal redemption (Heb. 8:12), the results of which abide for ever, and shall be seen in the new heavens and the new earth; but He also entered in with His beautiful garments, "to appear in the presence of God for us" (Heb. 9:24). He represents us in the presence of God, for our place is there with Him.
Under the Aaronic priesthood the work was never done, for "Every priest standeth daily ministering and offering often times the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins" (Heb. 10:11): but in marked contrast, "This Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God." There is no need for Christ to rise up to do another sacrificial work, His one sacrifice avails for ever; and in virtue of this ONE SACRIFICE, He has for ever sat down where no other could sit, on God's right hand.
In Hebrews 1:3, the Son sits down "on the right hand of the majesty on high" in the greatness of His Person, having a personal title to sit there; in Hebrews 8:1, the Lord sits down "on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens" in the greatness of His priesthood; and in this chapter (Heb. 10:12) He "for ever sat down on the right hand of God" in the greatness of His finished work, His one sacrifice. In Hebrews 12:2 God sets Him down "at the right hand of the throne of God" as His answer to the cross.
The Consecration of the Priests
Leviticus 8.
There is much for us to learn from the types and shadows of the Old Testament, and the Book of Leviticus has many instructive lessons for us. It has been called The Priests Guide Book, and as all the believers of this dispensation are holy priests and royal priests, the instructions that God gave for Aaron and his sons are of deep meaning to us, both as indicating the privileges of Christians, and as bringing out the much nearer place to God that we enjoy today through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, and because we are associated with the Lord Jesus in the place where He lives in the presence of God.
Aaron Attired
All the congregation of Israel was assembled at the door of the tabernacle to witness the consecration of the priests, for God would have all His people understand the importance of the place of privilege given to the priests, and all that was necessary for entering upon their holy office. Aaron and his sons had not chosen the priesthood, God had called them to it, and Moses “said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the Lord commanded to be done.” The last verse of this chapter reads, “So Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.” The cause of all failure, whether in Israel or in the church, is by simply departing from what the Lord has commanded.
Aaron and his sons were first washed with water, surely to teach all who watched that day, and ourselves in this day, that only those who are clean can minister before the Lord. In Hebrews 10, our privilege of entering the holiest, the immediate presence of God, is taught; and there we are exhorted, “Let us draw near,” but one of the necessary qualifications for entering that holy place is having “our bodies washed with pure water” (verse 22). Only those who have been “washed” (John 13:10), are fit for the presence of God. There must be moral cleansing from all that was ours as derived from Adam, before we can touch the holy things of God; but this washing is the portion of every true believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the application of the word of God to the soul by the Holy Spirit that gives us the moral fitness for God’s presence.
After the washing, Aaron is attired with the priestly vestments, and stands before us as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, our great High Priest. There was no need for the Lord Jesus to be cleansed, for He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Heb. 7:26), but Aaron was shown by cleansing to be in type what the Son of God was intrinsically, holy and pure.
The coat and the girdle were of linen, and it was with this coat that he carried out his priestly work on the day of atonement. At the cross, the Lord Jesus had not yet entered upon His priestly office, which belonged to His place in heaven, but His work on the cross was priestly in character, when He offered Himself without spot to God. And just before going to the cross, the Lord Jesus laid aside His garments, and girded Himself with a linen towel, and washed both at the cross, and as washing the feet of His own, we see the Lord as “Jesus Christ the Righteous.”
Christ’s heavenly Manhood is seen in the robe of blue, which had bells and pomegranates at the foot; the bells bringing to us the message of grace from the presence of God through the ascended Christ, and the pomegranates telling of the fruit there is for God in Him who has entered into His presence. The ephod, made of gold and various colours which bring out the divine glory and the official and moral glories of Jesus, is the insignia of High priestly office, which none could wear but the one who was called of God. The curious girdle tells us of the service that belongs to our Great High Priest, for the Lord has a present ministry of service for God and for His people where He is now.
On the breastplate were engraved the names of the children of Israel, which surely makes known the place that every child of God has on the heart of Christ. The Urim and Thummim that were put in the breastplate, are interpreted as “Lights and perfections;” and were evidently the means of understanding the mind of God on any given occasion. God’s mind for us is clearly to be learned from Jesus, the Son of God. Down here He made God known and manifested the Father’s Name; and all God’s will is set forth in Him, and He has given to us in the Scriptures God’s mind for us.
The mitre symbolized the dignity of Aaron’s priesthood, and “the golden plate, the holy crown,” evinced the glory of his office. When our High Priest entered heaven, He was “crowned with glory and honour,” and it is in this way that “we see Jesus.” All these vestments bring Christ before us, both Personally, and also in relation to His present place of ministry as “Minister of the sanctuary” (Heb. 8:2).
Aaron’s Anointing
Before the holy anointing oil was poured upon Aaron’s head, it was first put upon the tabernacle, and all therein to sanctify them. The tabernacle was God’s dwelling place, and represented the whole universe, which will come under the fragrance of the Spirit of Christ, which this holy ointment signifies. This is what God had in mind, in His counsels of love, to have a whole universe filled with the sweet odour of what Christ is to Him. The altar of burnt offering where the sacrifices were offered to God, and the laver and its foot, where the priests washed their hands and feet before entering the tabernacle to serve the Lord, were also anointed, for everything relating to the service of God in His universe must be fragrant with the sweet odour of Christ to God.
Aaron is then anointed, set apart for his ministry by having the holy oil poured upon his head. Although the Lord Jesus did not actually enter upon His proper priestly work until He rose from the dead and entered heaven, He was anointed whenever He emerged on the scene for His public ministry, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, coming and resting upon Him. He was God’s anointed Prophet, Priest and King, though His priestly office waited His ascension, and His kingdom His coming again out of heaven. He is not only anointed in relation to things on earth, but also to things in heaven; and in the coming day He will take up the whole universe which will have everywhere the sweet savour of His Person.
The Sin Offering
The sons of Aaron were clothed in their priestly vests, were given the girdles of service, and the bonnets that gave them special dignity; but immediately thereafter Moses brings the bullock of the sin offering, for only through the death of Christ for our sins could we be associated in the service of God with our great High Priest. Linen vests tells us that as God’s priests we are to be marked by personal and practical righteousness, and the girdle of the same indicates that we are to serve in the same character. The bonnets were also for “glory and beauty,” as having a place of favour with God.
Although there was no sacrifice for Aaron himself as representing Christ when with his sons, he also lays his hands on the head of the offering, to be accepted in the efficacy of its atoning work. The power of atonement is seen in the blood on the horns of the altar; and the foundation of atonement in the blood at the bottom of the altar. The basis of the whole system of approach to God is found in the blood of Jesus, the blood on which the altar of burnt offering rests. The bullock was burnt outside the camp, for Christ endured the consuming judgment of God because of our sins; but all the fat of the inwards, all the inward energy and excellency of the victim, was burnt as a sweet odour to God.
The Burnt Offering
Priests must be accepted in all the rich fragrance to God of the sacrifice of Christ as seen in the burnt offering, for Christ not only died for our sins, but to secure all God’s will, and in this He gave infinite pleasure to His God and Father. All the inwards and the legs washed with water speak eloquently of the purity of all Christ’s thoughts, desires, motives, and movements here below, and as submitting in willing obedience to all that the cross meant for Him that God might be glorified.
The Ram of Consecration
By laying their hands on the head of the ram of consecration, Aaron and his sons signified that they were brought into this place of priestly service on the ground of death. The blood was then put upon their right ears, right thumbs and right great toes, claiming them in all that they were, were God’s service. It was not the blood of a trespass offering redeeming guilty sinners, as in the case of the leper, but the blood of a communion offering, purchasing for God a company to serve Him. In all their thoughts, their actions and their walk, the priests were claimed for God by precious blood.
The practical import of this should be plain for us all. God has redeemed us to Himself, that we might be here only for Him. Our priesthood is not only connected with approach to God, though this is perhaps its highest service; but as a royal priesthood we are to show forth the praises of Him who has called us into His marvellous light. According to the foreknowledge of God the Father we have been chosen by Him, and we have been sanctified by the Spirit, “unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:2); though this anticipates what is brought out in verse 30 of our chapter.
Jehovah’s portion was brought by Moses from the hands of priests and burnt upon the altar of burnt offering. God has filled our hearts and hands with Christ to bring to Him, and this is one of the chief functions of our priesthood. The basket of unleavened bread, with its varied parts of the meat offering, bring the Manhood of Christ before us, the One conceived by the Holy Spirit, and anointed by the Spirit, who gave such unbroken pleasure to God in His life in this world. there was too the right shoulder and the fat; the outward and inward strength and perfection of Christ, all waved before God, then offered to Him on the altar. What a blessed privilege is ours to present Christ to God in all the varied features, as knowing how pleasurable they are to Him.
Moses had the breast as his portion, which he waves before the Lord. It was with pleasure that the Son could say to His disciples, “But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do” (John 14:31). His love to the Father, and His love to the disciples, is surely seen in the breast which Moses waved and had for His portion. And if the Son took pleasure in speaking to His own of His love for them, and of His love for the Father; do we not see in this the delight that Christ has in having His own whom He loves, and in telling the Father of it.
The Oil and the Blood Sprinkled
The priests were sprinkled with oil and with blood; both upon their persons and upon their garments. Personally, they were to be characterized by the fragrance of Christ’s Spirit, even as they were ever to remember that they had been secured by His blood. Their habits too, as priests of God, were to emit the fragrance of Christ; and the blood that was upon them and their garments was taken from the altar, thus connecting them and their service with the altar on which the fragrant sacrifices were offered to God.
Do we pass through this world as those who have been sprinkled with the oil and the blood? Have we ever the sense that we have been set apart for God at infinite cost to Him, that we might be here in the character of Christ, walking in the path of obedience to God’s will in which Christ walked perfectly as Man in this world? If there are the many privileges of priesthood, there are also the responsibilities, but even these are privileges when we realise that “His commandments are not grievous.”
The Food of the Priests
When Israel kept the passover, they ate the flesh of the lamb roast with fire, for they are made to realise that their redemption was at the cost of death and judgment. Here, the flesh is boiled. It is, as it were, prepared for our eating in the water of the word. We feed upon Christ’s death through the word of God; for, as we feed upon the word that brings His death before us, we feed upon Him in all the varied features that wondrous death brings before us: His love, His obedience, His sufferings, His faithfulness, and all the many deep, deep perfections revealed on the cross.
There was also the bread from the basket of consecration. God has given us the True Bread to feed upon, the Living Bread, the Bread of life; Christ in Manhood, the delight of His own heart. But the bread could not be eaten apart from the flesh. Are we not reminded by this of what the Lord says in John 6:51, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
The Door of the Tabernacle
It was at the door of the tabernacle that the priests had to eat this priestly food, that is the place where God meets His people. It was there too that the priests were to remain during the seven days of their consecration. The seven days here, as elsewhere, represents the whole period of our life on earth. There is never a moment during our lifetime as Christians that we are set free from the service of God to please ourselves or any other in this world. God’s meeting place with His own today is in the assembly, for it there specially that we exercise our holy priesthood, and serve Him in worship and praise.
During our wilderness service as priests, God will maintain us with food convenient; but what He gives as priestly food must be eaten. We are to feed upon Christ; the soul is to be engaged with everything concerning Him; the heart and conscience in exercise at all times.
R. 11.12.64
Priesthood: The Eighth Day
Leviticus 9.
For seven days, the priests had remained within the tabernacle, according to the commandment of God through Moses, “Ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you” (Lev. 8:33). These seven days represent the whole period of the church’s consecration to God on earth, a period that shall end with the coming of the Lord to take His people to be for ever with Himself in heaven. The eighth day is a new beginning of God’s ways with His people Israel. Since the death of Christ at the hands of His earthly people, God has set Israel aside as a nation, and has had for Himself on earth the church, a heavenly people, represented by the priests, but very soon God will take up Israel again on the ground of the New Covenant.
Two Companies Called
Moses, God’s representative, called Aaron and his sons, who typify the church, but also the elders of Israel who represented the people. This is what will mark the eighth day, the millennial day, the blessing of those who are called to heavenly blessing with Christ, a heavenly company of priests, which may include the Old Testament saints as well as the church (for the redeemed in heaven as seen in the twenty four elders of Revelation iv and v, are a priestly company, having harps and vials full of odours), and an earthly people who are called to earthly blessing.
The Offerings
It is to be noted that there are no offerings for the sons of Aaron on the eighth day, for their offerings had been offered on the day of their consecration. There were offerings for Aaron, but the principal offerings were for the people, for it is Israel’s place that is specially before the Spirit of God in this portion. For Aaron, there were but two offerings, “a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish” (verse 2). Aaron as the represented of Christ Israel’s High Priest in the coming day, enters upon His priesthood for His earthly people on the ground of His work on the cross. They are blessed on the same foundation as are the heavenly people, and by the Lord when He is manifested as their High Priest.
For the people, there were a number of offerings, “a kid of the goats for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering; also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord; and a meat offering mingled with oil: for today the Lord will appear unto you” (verses 3, 4). All these offerings are in view of the Lord’s appearing to His people. The saints of the present time are brought into blessing during the time of the Lord’s absence from this world, but His earthly people Israel wait for their blessing at the appearing of the Lord.
Israel Brought Near
Historically, Israel were brought near to Jehovah at that time, and they “stood before the Lord,” and it was to behold the appearing of the glory of the Lord. Yet, it was only to the door of the tabernacle they could approach; there was not the nearness that saints enjoy today, as having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. It was nearness compared with the Gentiles who were far from Jehovah, without the knowledge possessed by a people brought into national relationship with Him. But this is but a foreshadowing of the near place that Israel will enjoy in the day to come, when all the nations are blessed, but Israel will be near, Jehovah’s dwelling being in their midst.
Aaron’s Offerings
Aaron’s sin offering was a calf, which was a large offering compared with the goat which was to be offered as a sin offering for the people. Does not this indicate that the sin offering that brought Christ into His priesthood for Israel involved much more than the blessing of Israel? Indeed, Christ’s priesthood, taken up on His entering heaven, after His death and resurrection, has to do with a heavenly people as well as with an earthly.
The sons of Aaron bring the blood to him, and he puts it, as was normal with a sin offering, on the horns of the altar, and pours it at the foot of the altar. There is an intelligence with the saints today in relation to God’s ways with His ancient people, and in nearness to Christ realise that His death, the shedding of His blood is the means of the blessing of Israel. The foundation of their approach to God is in redemption, as is also the power that brings them near. All the inward excellence of the victim goes up in a sweet savour to God, while the rest is consumed to ashes outside the camp. How wonderful is this great contrast; the deep pleasure of the Father in the perfections of the Son, as manifested in His death; and the Son enduring the consuming judgment of God upon the cross.
When the burnt offering was slain, Aaron’s sons present the blood to him. What a privilege for us to speak to Jesus of the preciousness of His blood, and to understand in some little way the great and varied results that flow from the work of redemption. They have also the privilege of presenting to the High Priest the burnt offering, “with the pieces thereof, and the head,” to burn upon the altar. And how great is our priestly privilege to reverently handle, as we contemplate the deep perfections of Jesus, each outstanding feature that came out in the death of the Son of God, and to speak of them to the Lord and to His God and Father. We think together of the divine strength that was all devoted to God’s will, the obedience, the faithfulness, the affection, the confidence in God, and the meek submission to all that the cross entailed for Him, and many more traits that gave infinite delight and satisfaction to God. The legs washed with water speak of a walk for God that was pure and for His praise; the inwards, the pure springs that energised every thought, desire, and inward and outward movement of His life, and in death.
The People’s Offering
As on the day of atonement, the people’s offering for sin, was a goat. It was not such a large offering as the bullock for Aaron and his sons, both on the day of their consecration, and on the day of atonement, for those brought into the nearest place with God and with Christ must needs have a greater appreciation of what that precious death means, both in relation to Him who gave Himself, and also as to the vast results for God and for men.
The burnt offering consisted of two animals, “a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish.” This being wholly for Jehovah, there is no question at this time of the apprehension of the people, but rather of the qualities depicted in the calf and the lamb. In both there is the freshness and tenderness denoted in the lamb. In both there is the freshness and tenderness denoted in the “first year,” but there is also the devotedness in service that marks the calf, and the unresisting and harmless features of the lamb. A lamb of the first year was also the sacrificial animal of the continual burnt offering, morning and evening, for Israel (Ex. 29:38–42).
It is noticeable that the “burnt sacrifice of the morning,” just referred to, is brought in with “the meat offering” (verse 17). Even on this wonderful eighth day, there is no setting aside of the “daily sacrifice;” but it is noticeable that it is the morning sacrifice that is referred to. In the millennium, prefigured by the eighth day, there will be no more an evening sacrifice, for the divine instruction is, “Thou shalt prepare daily a burnt offering unto the Lord of a lamb of the first year without blemish: thou shalt prepare it every morning” (Ezek. 46:13). The dawning of the new day for God’s people is kept before them; for them the Sun of Righteousness has arisen; they have been brought to the morning long looked for, and this is constantly celebrated in the morning lamb. But the holy life of the Lord Jesus in this world will never be forgotten before God, therefore the meat offering has its place with the morning sacrifice.
In the peace offerings we have the great results for the people of the death of Christ, and the largest animal of the herd and the largest animal of the flock, a “bullock and a ram” are used to set this forth. Although the earthly blessing cannot be compared with the heavenly, the blessing of Israel on earth will be wonderful. After their long separation from God, having been dispersed among the nations because of their sins, they will be brought back to the land to enjoy the nearest place to God, a people blessed on the ground of the New Covenant in Christ’s blood, the centre of the renewed earth, and having communion with God as no other nation of the earth will ever have. Many Scriptures in the Old Testament foretell the blessedness of Israel’s portion, when “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:9).
Aaron’s sons again present the blood, as showing the interest of the saints of this day in Israel’s blessing, and an intelligent interest as they “put the fat upon the breasts.” Here, the inward energy and springs of Christ are connected with His affections for His people Israel, and this we should ever realise. Though so richly blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ, it is our priestly privilege to intelligently apprehend and value what Christ has done for Israel, shedding His blood to bring them into blessing; giving Himself, in all His deep love for them, that they might have the wonderful place that God has for them in His grace. The blood sprinkled round about on the altar tells Israel that they, with ourselves, owe every blessing to the blood of sprinkling.
The fat is taken from the breasts, and burnt upon the altar; another token of the exceeding preciousness of Christ to God in the giving of Himself in death for the glory of God. Christ’s affections, as seen in the breasts, and His strength as devoted to God’s will in death, seen in the right shoulder, are waved by Aaron before Jehovah; the Offering Priest bringing before Jehovah, His own great love and devotion to Him and to those who are blessed through Him.
The Blessing of the People
After the sacrificial work is over, the people are blessed; a blessing based on the work that has been accomplished. How eloquently this reminds us that Israel will not be blessed on the ground of law, but on account of Christ’s death. In Luke 24:50-51, we have the answer to verse 22, and of part of verse 23, of our chapter. Here, “Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation.” In Luke, “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.”
In Luke, a remnant of God’s people receive the blessing as the Lord, the True Aaron and Moses, enters into the heavenly tabernacle, having completed the great work on the cross whereby His people can be blessed. He has come down from doing this great work, and having finished it, He has gone into God’s presence, where He now sits on the right hand of the majesty on high. Moses was king in Jeshurun, and Aaron the high priest; and the Lord bears this double character. Indeed Moses was also God’s prophet, and the mediator, and he represented the Lord who is both Prophet and Mediator; indeed, was down here.
Soon, the True Moses and Aaron will come out again, as we read in verse 23, and when that glorious event takes place, when Christ come out from heaven, the True King and Priest, to sit as Priest upon His throne, the glory of the Lord will appear to all the people as it did on the eighth day so long ago. At that day, the glory will remain; it will not be a passing vista as in days gone by, but it will remain as long as Christ’s kingdom, a kingdom that will never be removed, and that will never pass away. Not only will Israel see the glory, but “Behold He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him” (Rev. 1:7). There will be judgment, but here, it is the blessing that is brought before us, the blessing that come after the judgment.
Christ bore the judgment for His own that they might not be judged; but the same sacrifice that took away the sins of His own brought infinite glory to God, and this is seen on the eighth day, when “There came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat” (verse 24). The people had been blessed when Moses and Aaron entered the presence of God, but there was no response; they were blessed again when Moses and Aaron came out, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. But their response is when they see the fire consume the victim and the fat. So will it be in the coming day. When God’s people realise that the One whom they refused is the One who gave Himself, not only for their blessing, but for God’s glory, there will be a response from them.
Israel’s response is to fall on their faces, after they shout for joy. Their is joy in the realisation of their acceptance with God through the work of the cross, and they fall on their faces in adoration and worship. While waiting for that blessed day, when God’s earthly people shall answer to all that God has done for them through the work of His Son, how great is our privilege of singing His praises, and worshipping Him, as He desires, in spirit and in truth.
R. 14.12.64