"SHOULD WE WEAR COLLARS"
TEXT: LEVITICUS CHAPTER 8
INTRODUCTION
By now many of you are over half way through your reading in the book of Leviticus. How are you doing? Do you feel a little weary and worn from struggling through all those passages? Are you having a hard time seeing the relevance of this book? Hang in there, because your effort will be well worth it. Ask someone who was at our wednesday study and they will tell you that Leviticus is full of neat stuff.
As we read Leviticus and much of the O.T. for that matter, we need to understand that God was dealing with a very spiritually immature people. The Israelites were not ready for, or able to understand deep spiritual truths, they had just not developed far enough yet.
Therefore, God dealt with and taught them, on a level that they could understand. We do that with our children don’t we. Anyone trained in childhood development or just about any parent can tell you, that there are things and concepts that a 15 year old can understand that a 3 year old would have no idea what you were really talking about.
"A nurse, preparing 6 year old Bobby for heart surgery said `The doctor is going to fix your heart, so you will feel better’ Immediately Bobby became very upset, crying and screaming, Don’t let him fix me’ Bobby’s anxiety and fear was increased because his father frequently tried to fix his toys, but usually Bobby had to throw them away because his dad couldn’t fix them. Bobby feared the doctor would be unable to fix him and he too would be thrown away. A better way to explain this to a child like Bobby would be to explain it on his level. Something like "Bobby the doctor is going to help you so you can run and play with your friends and not get as tired as you do now."
In a similar manner God knew that the Israelites were not ready to have the Gospel of Jesus preached to them. They were not ready to hear of the virgin birth, they were not ready to hear of God taking on Human flesh and they certainly were not ready to understand Calvary and the cross. They were too immature, they had much more growing to do, and what we have in the O.T. is a history of God preparing His people, a history of God patiently waiting for His people to be ready for the coming of Christ.
Listen to what the writer of the book of Hebrews says:
"the law is only a SHADOW of the good things that are coming-not the realities themselves"(10:1)
And in the 9th chapter, the Hebrew writer talks about the worship that took place at the tabernacle, and He writes in verses 9 and 10, "This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshipper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings-- EXTERNAL regulations APPLYING UNTIL THE TIME OF THE NEW ORDER."
If we are going to understand the book of Leviticus we need to understand that the sacrifices, the priesthood, the feasts, the laws and the atonement are only shadows, shadows pointing to there ultimate fulfillment in Christ and His Church.
ARE YOU WITH ME
In the book of Leviticus there are many types. If were are going to glean from leviticus God’s treasure, if we are going to come away with what God wants us to take with us, we need to understand this awesome concept of types.
A type is an object (like the tabernacle), an action (like offering sacrifices), an occasion (like the passover) or a person (like Aaron the High Priest) in the O.T. that is, a picture lesson presented by God Himself, painted on the isle of God’s Word, pointing to some aspect of Christ, the Church or the new Creation, which is called the antitype.
The antitype or the N.T. object, person or occasion is always greater than the O.T. type. The O.T. type was just a shadow, a prototype of the glory and splendor of the N.T. reality.
Today as we examine the 8th chapter of Leviticus we will discover four similarities that teach us that the Priesthood of the Old Testament is like the Royal Priesthood of the New Testament in certain respects.
The similarities that we will be discussing today are not an accident or a coincidence, They were designed and planned, by God Almighty, to teach us. And they are just one of many examples, that underscore the unity, the power, the truth and the inspiration of the word of God.
I. CHRISTIANS LIKE THE O.T. PRIESTS ARE CHOSEN DIVINELY
A. It had been three months since God delivered them out of Egypt and now God calls Moses to Mt Sinai. The mountain of the Lord was covered by a thick cloud and the glory of the Lord settled on the mountain. For 6 days the cloud covered the mountain and on the 7th day the glory of the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. To the Israelites down below in the desert sand of Sinai, the glory of the Lord on the mountain, looked like a consuming fire. And after being called by the Lord, Moses in humble obedience, walked into the middle of the cloud. And Moses stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
While there God gave Moses instructions as to how the people of Israel were to worship Him, and how the tabernacle was to be constructed.
God also gave Moses instructions about the priesthood. God said to Moses in Exodus 28:1, "Have Aaron your brother, brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleasar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests".
Moses came down from the mountain, and the Israelites began to work on the things the Lord had commanded. And now 9 months latter the construction of the tabernacle is complete, and God calls to Moses from the tent of meeting. [Lev 8:1-4]
The sons of Aaron did not decide on their own that they were going to be priests. No, they were called by God, and told that they are going to serve God as Priests. When God calls you something that is what you are.
B. The concept of priest did not die in the O.T. God brought this concept to it’s fullness ,in the Church, in the New Testament.
In 1st Peter, Peter through the power of the Holy Spirit exhorts us to be Holy, to put aside the evil desires that we had before Christ saved us. He encourages us to grow and to mature.
and then He says in the 2nd chapter [2:4,5,9,10]
The decision of a christian to be part of the royal priesthood, is not an option. God Almighty has called to us from the cloud, from the tabernacle, form His Word, And has said to us, YOU ARE a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD.
When God calls us something that is what we are, We are Priests.
Christians like the O.T. priests are CHOSEN DIVINELY.
II. CHRISTIANS LIKE THE O.T. PRIESTS ARE ALSO CLEANSED SPIRITUALLY
A. After Moses brought Aaron and his sons to the Tabernacle and after he had gathered the entire assembly. Moses performed a spiritual cleansing service, to consecrate them, to set them apart according to what God had spoken to him on the Holy mountain.
There were essentially three elements to their cleansing:
1. In Leviticus 8:6 we read that they were washed with water.
This washing was a one time event in their life. Later we find them washing their hands and feet many times, but they were bathed completely only once, at the time of their entrance into the priesthood.
2. Sacrifice for sin also played a part in their cleansing as we read in verse 14ff that a bull was offered for their sin.
There were 2 other sacrifices made, a burnt offering of a ram symbolizing their commitment to God, and a second ram was offered for their ordination.
3. Third there was an application of blood, in their cleansing service. [8:24,30]
B. God’s Priests today ,Christians, have also been cleansed spiritually.
As with the O.T. Priests, there are essentially three elements to our spiritual cleansing.
1. Is there a sacrifice involved in our spiritual cleansing from sin? [Hebrews 7:27]
And we read in I John 2:2, that Christ is the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
2. Is there also a washing involved in our spiritual cleansing? Act 22:16 " and now what are you waiting for, get up be immersed and wash your sins away calling on his name".
Paul in the 6th chapter of his letter to the Christians in Corinth was talking about those who would not inherit the kingdom of heaven, and then he makes this statement in verse 11, "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God".
[Hebrews 10:19-22]
3. Not only, is there a washing and a sacrifice involved in our spiritual cleansing, BUT there is the application of blood as well. [Hebrews 9:11-15]
And in I Peter 1:19, Peter writes that we are saved by the precious blood of Christ, a lamb w/o blemish.
III. CHRISTIANS LIKE THE O.T. PRIESTS ARE TO BE CLOTHED PROPERLY
A. After Aaron’s sons had been washed, they waited while their father Aaron the High Priest was clothed and then as we read in verse thet too were clothed [13].
B. Christians, the New Testament’s Royal Priesthood are also to be clothed properly. And the clothing we are to wear brothers and sisters, is far greater than robes, headbands, tunics and sashes.
Paul tells us in Galatians 3:27 that when we are baptized, when we are immersed into the name of Jesus, that we put on Christ. We are to take off, our worldly clothes, that were sewn with threads stained by selfishness and sin. And we are to wrap around our lives Christ, we are to be covered with the very character of Jesus. And This Holy garment, that the Christian has covered his cold shivering body with, is made of precious material.
The Paul in his letter to the church in Colossae, describes for us, this material, [Col. 3:12-14]
1. Compassion; to actively care for others.
2. Kindness; to be decent, honest, upright
3. Humility ; unselfishness, UNPRIDE (perhaps the hardest part for some to put on).
4. Gentleness; strength under control (not a popular characteristic today).
5. Patience; quality of endurance not easily exasperated. (Putting up with others weaknesses; forgiving)
6. And the thread that holds this garment together is
AGAPE LOVE (Sacrificial).
Christians LIKE THE O.T.PRIESTS are CHOSEN DIVINELY
CLEANSED SPIRITUALLY
CLOTHED PROPERLY
IV. CHRISTIANS LIKE THE O.T. PRIESTS ARE TO BE COMMITTED FULLY
A. In chapter 8 of Leviticus there are 2 elements in the consecration service that illustrate for us the fact, that the priests were to be fully committed to the Lord.
[24]
This may seem a little odd to us, but this act of putting blood on the ear, thumb and toe, had a spiritual significance. This act symbolized the following:
Blood on the Ear; symbolized the commitment of their mind to the Lord. They were to think upon Holy things.
Blood on the Thumb; symbolized that they were committing what the work that they would do to the Lord. They were to fill their hands with Holy things.
Blood on the Toe; symbolized that they were committing themselves to walk in Holy Places.
they were to be God’s servants from head to toe.
In verse 31 we see the second illustration of their commitment in that they ate or partook of the sacrifice. Making the sacrifice literaly a part of there lives.
And verse 36 summarizes, and underscores, the commitment of Aaron and His sons to the Lord, "So Aaron and his sons did everything the Lord commanded through Moses".
B. Contrary to popular opinion and practice, this truth that God requires total and full commitment from His Priests is as real today as it was 3400 years ago, Perhaps more real.
1. Christians, The Royal Priests of the New Testament are also to be God’s servant from head to toe. We are, as Paul says in Romans 12:1, to give our very lives to God as a living sacrifice, "from head to toe".
Our ears have also been set apart, and we are to committ our minds to Christ, and we are to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ (II Corinth. 10:5).
Our feet and hands have also been set apart, and, whatever we do in word or deed, we are to do it all to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the father through Him. (Col. 3:17).
We are to be God’s servants from head to toe.
2. AND we are also to partake of our sacrifice, which is Christ the Lord.
In the 6th chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood we will not have eternal life.
Just as we must eat and digest physical food if we are going to have life, WE MUST ALSO EAT, DRINK AND DIGEST SPIRITUAL FOOD if we are going to have spritual life, if we are going to have eternal life. We must, We must, digest Jesus, We must take Jesus and His Word into our life, It must become a part of us if we are truly going to be a Christian, If we are truly going to be part of God’s Royal Priesthood.
We each need to ask ourselves "Am I eating Jesus, Am I taking His word into my life, Is Jesus a living reality in my life, Has Jesus made a difference in the way I talk, the way I think and the things I do. Am I eating Jesus, or am I Just starving myself to death, eternal death.
CHRISTIANS LIKE THE GOD’S PRIESTS OF THE OT ARE
CALLED DIVINELY
CLEANSED SPIRITUALLY
AND THEY ARE TO BE:
CLOTHED PROPERLY
COMMITTED FULLY
CONCLUSION
What God calls is what we are, We as Christians are Priests.
God, has called us Priests, and He expects us to act like Priests.
If God took the office of Priest seriously in the OT, If God consumed with fire Aarons 2 sons Nadab and Abihu, just days after their consecration, because they didn’t take their Priesthood seriously, and gave God what THEY felt like giving God.
What makes us think that God takes the NT Priesthood any less serious.
If you are here today and a Christian you are a Priest, God says so!
You are a Royal Priest. And if you are not, clothed properly and if you are not committed fully to your God and Savior.
STOP PLAYING GAMES WITH GOD AND GET BUSY FOR THE LORD!!!
And if you are here today and you are not a Christian God is calling you right now.
He is calling you right now to be a part of His Royal Priesthood.
He is calling you right Now, to believe in His name
to repent of your sin
to be washed in the waters of Christian baptism/immersion.
He is calling you right Now to be cleansed spiritually to have you sins washed away through the power of the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
