Message 135
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Scripture Reading: Exo. 29:15-28; 40:14-15
I believe that the Lord wants to speak to us a very sweet word from chapter twenty-nine of Exodus. This portion of the Bible, however, is not easy to understand. As we read this chapter, we need the proper exercise of our mind. Otherwise, we may be led into the woods and not find the right direction. As we approach this chapter, we need to be calm and very sober.
More than fifty years ago, I was taught by certain Bible teachers that, according to the New Testament, all believers, whether old or young, whether experienced or beginners, are priests. I was glad to hear a word concerning this universal priesthood. Although I tried my best to practice the priesthood, I did not have the way to do it. When I was studying the Pentateuch with the saints in Taiwan in 1953, I began to see how we can serve God as priests.
It is possible to read through the New Testament dozens of times without finding the way to serve as a priest. But we can find the way by studying the types in the Old Testament. We should never disregard the value of the Old Testament types. Certain types are just as valuable as the plain words uttered in the New Testament.
First Peter 2:5 says that we are a holy priesthood offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. In verse 9 of that chapter we are described as a royal priesthood. Furthermore, Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 both say that we are priests. We are a royal priesthood and a holy priesthood. We are priests, and we can serve God as priests. Thus, we are neither the clergy nor the laity, but a priesthood.
The clergy-laity system has its source in the Devil; it certainly is not according to the Bible. The Bible reveals that all believers are priests. But the clergy-laity system kills and nullifies the priesthood. It is our birthright to be priests serving God. But the traditional system of clergy and laity has taken away our birthright. For this reason, I say strongly that this system has its source in the Devil, not in the Bible.
Although the New Testament tells us that we are priests, it does not tell us how to be priests. From the New Testament we learn that we have been saved, washed with the blood of Christ, regenerated by the Spirit, and endowed with certain gifts. Thus, we know that we are saved, washed, regenerated, and gifted. But we still need further help to know how to serve God as priests. It was when I studied Old Testament typology again with the saints in 1953 that the light came from Exodus 29 to reveal the way to serve as a priest.
Exodus 29 speaks of sanctifying Aaron and his sons to be priests. Hence, it does not speak of sanctifying sinners, unbelievers, or the unsaved. Verse 1 says, “And this is the thing which you shall do to them to sanctify them to serve as priests to Me.” Please notice that this verse does not speak of consecrating Aaron and his sons or of ordaining them. As far as this chapter is concerned, we need to avoid the use of the word consecration and instead speak of sanctification.
The word “consecrate” is somewhat traditional. Under the influence of this word, we may have a mistaken concept concerning the sanctification of God’s saved ones to be His priests. Therefore, I would emphasize the fact that here we have the charge not to consecrate Aaron and his sons, but to sanctify them. The proper word to use to describe what is recorded in this chapter is “sanctify.” Aaron and his sons were sanctified to be priests serving God.
There is a great difference between consecration and sanctification, and an even greater difference between sanctification and ordination. When a person is ordained, some of the clergy lay their hands upon him and pray for him. Consecration, according to common, ordinary usage, means the presenting of ourselves to God. But Exodus 29 describes neither ordination nor consecration; it is a record of sanctification.
Suppose instead of being sanctified according to what is described in chapter twenty-nine, Aaron were ordained in a traditional, religious way. In such a case, others would lay their hands on him and pray for him. Aaron, however, would still be empty-handed. Both before and after his ordination, he would be the same in that he would be empty-handed. In order for him to be God’s priest and to serve Him as a priest, he must have something with which to serve God.
Suppose instead of being ordained Aaron were merely consecrated to the Lord, offered to Him and presented to Him. But even after being consecrated in this way, Aaron would still be empty and have nothing with which to serve God. The sanctification of Aaron and his sons to serve as priests is very different from both ordination and consecration.
According to what is revealed in chapter twenty-nine of Exodus, the priests need to have their hands filled in order to serve God. Their hands should be filled with the fat of the ram of the peace offering, bread, cakes, and wafers. When a priest has his hands filled with the sweetness and riches of Christ, he is different from others. They are empty-handed, but he has his hands filled. As a result, he is sanctified, set apart, from the common people. Furthermore, he has the riches of Christ with which to serve God as a priest.
The way to sanctify a saint to serve as a priest is to fill his hands with the riches of Christ. Before a believer is sanctified in this way, he is already a saint. Consider the situation with Aaron. He had experienced the Passover, he had been saved from the judgment of God, and he had been delivered from Pharaoh’s tyranny and from the usurpation of the world. Furthermore, he had crossed the Red Sea, enjoyed the heavenly food and the living water and received a divine education at Mount Sinai. He had also experienced many things in the wilderness. Truly he was a saint, one who was saved and brought out of Egypt and one who had experienced the things of God in the wilderness. This was true, of course, not only of Aaron, but of all the children of Israel as well. They had been brought out of Egypt and had come to the mountain of God to be trained by Him. Then the Lord told Moses that certain of God’s people were to be sanctified to be priests. This indicates that it is not sufficient merely to be a saint. After becoming a saint, we need to be sanctified so that we may serve as a priest to God.
Being sanctified to serve as priests is different from enjoying Christ as the Passover or as the manna. Also it is not the same as enjoying the Spirit of Christ as the living water. This sanctification involves something in addition to all these precious experiences. This means that it is something in addition to the Passover, the manna, and the living water. As we have pointed out, it is not ordination or consecration, but the filling up of our hands with the riches of Christ. It is very important for us to see that in order to serve as priests, we need something in addition to the enjoyment of Christ as the Passover, the manna, and the living water. Oh, may we all see this!
When I saw this matter in Exodus 29 years ago, I was very happy. Truly it was a great light. I have no way to express how happy I was to see the way to serve God as a priest. During the first twenty-five years of my Christian experience, I knew that we believers were priests, but I did not know how to serve God as a priest in a practical way. But from studying this chapter under the Lord’s enlightenment, I began to see the way. How happy I was! How I rejoiced in the Lord’s mercy in showing us the way to serve as priests! The way is to have additional experiences of Christ, experiences in addition to the Passover, the daily manna, and the flowing of the living water.
When I was a young Christian, I heard that Christ is our Passover and our manna. I was taught that He is the rock that was smitten to flow the living water. But I was never told that, according to Exodus 29, we need additional experiences of Christ in order to serve as priests. This chapter reveals that we may experience Christ as the bull, as the rams, and as the cakes and wafers. In this chapter we see three different kinds of cakes. By experiencing Christ in the way presented in this chapter, we become the serving priests in a very practical way.
Actually, it is little wonder that among today’s millions of Christians very few actually serve Him as priests. In the past, how much have you served God as a priest? Before I received light through Exodus 29, I thought that I was serving as a priest when I visited a saint in his home, or when I helped to clean the meeting hall. Eventually, I came to see that such visitation and cleaning are a Levitical service, not a priestly service. Priestly service is a matter of offering Christ in a detailed way directly to God. The preciousness of chapter twenty-nine of Exodus consists in the fact that it reveals the way for us to be priests.
The first step in sanctifying Aaron and his sons to be priests was to wash them. Exodus 29:4 says, “And you shall bring Aaron and his sons near unto the door of the tent of meeting, and wash them with water.”
After Aaron and his sons were washed, they were clothed with the priestly garments. Concerning Aaron verses 5 and 6 say, “And you shall take the garments, and clothe Aaron with the tunic, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate; and you shall gird him with the band of the ephod. And you shall put the turban upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the turban.” Verses 8 and 9 also speak of clothing the priests: “And you shall bring his sons near, and clothe them with tunics. And you shall gird them with a girdle, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them.” These priestly garments were for the covering of their nakedness.
Nakedness signifies the appearance, the exposure, of our natural being. Do you know what spiritual nakedness is? Spiritual nakedness is the sinful and ugly appearance of our natural being. Although we may be very good according to our natural birth, because we are the descendants of Adam, in the sight of God the appearance of our natural being is nakedness. It is altogether uncomely and abominable to Him. After Adam and Eve became fallen, they realized they were naked and tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. They realized that their nakedness needed to be covered. The clothing of Aaron and his sons in Exodus 29 indicates the covering of the appearance of our natural being.
Verses 1 through 3 say, “Take one young bull and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, and unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil — of fine wheat flour you shall make them. And you shall put them in one basket, and bring them near in the basket, with the bull and the two rams.” Here we have three animals, a young bull and two perfect, flawless rams. We also have bread, cakes, and wafers. Although the bread may have been rather thick, the Hebrew language here indicates that the cakes were not only thin, but were also perforated and hence easy to eat. The wafers probably were not very thick.
The bread, the cakes, and the wafers, of course, were of the vegetable life, in contrast to the animal life represented by the bull and the rams. In typology animal life signifies redeeming life, a life that has blood to be shed for redemption. In typology vegetable life denotes a generating, producing life. The bread, the cakes, and the wafers all were made of wheat flour. According to John 12:24, a grain of wheat falls into the ground and produces many grains. This is the vegetable life as the generating life.
Christ has both the redeeming life and the generating, producing life. The Gospel of John reveals both aspects of the life of Christ. John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This is the animal life for redeeming. In John 12:24 the Lord Jesus says, referring to Himself, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” This is the vegetable life for generating, for producing. The sanctification of those who would serve God as priests involves both the animal life for redemption and the vegetable life for generation.
According to 29:10-14, the bull was a sin offering. The bull was brought near before the tent of meeting, Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bull, and then it was slaughtered before the Lord. Some of the blood was put on the horns of the altar, and the remainder was poured out at the base of the altar. The tender, sweet parts of the bull were burned on the altar, and the rest, the flesh, the skin, and the dung, was burned outside the camp. This is a picture of the sin offering.
This offering should remind us always of our sinful nature. Even though we may not commit sin, as long as we are descendants of Adam, we have a sinful nature. Not only is our nature sinful — it is sin itself. This means that in our flesh we are nothing but sin. Therefore, in order to serve as priests in a practical way, we must first experience Christ as our sin offering. Every day, early in the morning, we must offer Christ to God as the sin offering. Spontaneously this will remind us that we are sinners, even sin. Our nature is sinful, and we are a totality of sin.
Day by day we spend a certain amount of time thinking about ourselves. When we do so, we may not consider ourselves sinful. On the contrary much of the time we may think that we are rather good. However, thinking of ourselves in this way causes a problem related to the priesthood. How can we serve God as priests in a practical way while we continue to think we are so good? No wonder we have difficulty serving with others! We have problems with others in serving together mainly because we consider ourselves better than others. Therefore, we need to remember that we are sinful by nature and offer Christ to God as our sin offering.
If experiencing Christ as the sin offering reminds us of our sinful nature, how could we argue with others? Will a brother still fight with his wife? Certainly not. Should a brother continually realize that he has a sinful nature, he will be restricted from arguing with his wife.
It is very important for us to see that if we would be priests in a practical way, we must experience Christ as the sin offering. We who would be priests of God must be reminded constantly that in ourselves we are sin. If we have this understanding and realization, we shall not argue with others. Knowing that we have a sinful nature and offering Christ to God as our sin offering will protect us and preserve us so that we may serve God as His priests.
