Message 28
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Scripture Reading: Lev. 8:1-21
In this message we will begin to consider the consecration of Aaron and his sons.
In Hebrew, the word consecrate (Exo. 28:41; 29:9, 33, 35) means “to fill the hands.” Through Aaron’s consecration to receive the holy position of high priest, his empty hands were filled (Lev. 8:25-28).
The word consecration is sometimes translated “ordination.” Consecration is on our side; we consecrate ourselves to God. Ordination is on God’s side; He ordains us.
As a result of my study of Exodus and Leviticus, I am convinced that for Aaron and his sons to be consecrated to serve as priests meant that their empty hands were filled. Aaron and his sons appeared empty-handed before Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting. But when they were consecrated, their empty hands were filled with the type of Christ in different aspects.
The first seven chapters of Leviticus describe five categories of offerings: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. Then five kinds of laws are given concerning the application of the five kinds of offerings. The result of the application of these offerings is peace. Peace is the totality of what Christ is to us with God. Under Christ’s redemption, we are enjoying Christ as a totality, and this totality is peace, which implies rest, enjoyment, and satisfaction.
After the record of the offerings, Leviticus describes the consecration of the priesthood. This indicates that the offerings in chapters one through seven are for the consecration, or ordination, of the priests.
According to the spiritual significance of this book, we all are priests. We have been reborn, regenerated, to be priests (Rev. 1:6; 5:10). As long as we have been regenerated, we are the real priests. However, we need a day of consecration on which we give ourselves to God and say, “Lord, I am Yours because You bought me. You redeemed me with Your blood, and You have regenerated me. Now that I have Your life and the enjoyment of Your redemption, I would like to offer myself to You. I give myself to You to serve You as Your servant, even as Your slave.” God will immediately accept our offer and ordain us to be His serving ones, His priests. Thus, consecration is on our side, and ordination is on God’s side.
Leviticus is not a book for ordinary people; it is a book for priests. Since we have been sanctified and separated from ordinary people, we are no longer common. We are a particular people — we are priests. All the offerings refer to Christ, and whatever Christ is to us and does for us is to constitute us priests. This constitution is the divine ordination.
God constitutes us to be something different from what we are by our natural birth. In our first birth, our original birth, we were constituted sinners (Rom. 5:19). Regardless of their class or social status, all human beings have been constituted sinners. All are sinners by birth. But through our second birth, we who believe in Christ have been constituted priests. Now we need our consecration and God’s ordination to make our priesthood official.
Let us now consider the details concerning the consecration of Aaron and his sons.
The consecration of Aaron and his sons took place at the entrance of the tent of meeting (Lev. 8:3-4). This signifies that our consecration for the priesthood is not only before God but also for the church life.
I like the expression “at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” In Leviticus 8 the tent of meeting signifies the church life. We are God’s priests in the church and for the church.
“Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons near and washed them with water” (v. 6). This signifies that for our consecration for the priesthood we need to be washed by the Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11).
Here Moses somewhat signifies Christ, and the water typifies the Holy Spirit. Christ washes us with the Holy Spirit. For the priesthood, which refers both to the priestly service and to a body of persons who are priests, we need to be washed by the Spirit. Therefore, 1 Corinthians 6:11 tells us that we have been washed, cleansed, by the Spirit.
In Leviticus 8:7-9 Moses clothed Aaron with the high priest’s garments. “He put the tunic on him, girded him with the sash, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him; and he girded him with the band of the ephod, and with it he bound it to him. And he put the breastplate on him, and in the breastplate he put the Urim and the Thummim. And he placed the turban upon his head, and on the turban, at its front, he placed the golden plate, the holy crown.” This signifies that Christ as our High Priest is adorned with all the excellencies of His divine and human attributes and virtues. These attributes and virtues are Christ’s garment. (See Life-study Messages on Exodus 28.)
“Then Moses brought Aaron’s sons near and clothed them with tunics, girded them with sashes, and bound caps on them, as Jehovah had commanded Moses” (v. 13). Moses’ clothing the sons of Aaron with priestly garments signifies that the New Testament priests are adorned with all the attributes and virtues of Christ.
The New Testament uses clothing to refer to our outward expression (Matt. 21:7; John 13:4). Our outward expression should be the expression of Christ’s divine attributes. These attributes include the divine love, kindness, and holiness. Christ’s divine attributes are expressed in human life as virtues. This means that the divine attributes become human virtues, and the human virtues are the expression of the divine attributes. The divine attributes and human virtues are not merely combined and united but mingled. For example, as a man Christ had human love, but this human love was mingled with the divine love. What God is (oil) was mingled with what Christ is (fine flour) in His humanity. In this way, God’s nature was included in the expression of Christ’s humanity. Because in Christ the divine attributes were mingled with the human virtues, His love, kindness, and mercy are extraordinary. In Him, the divine love, kindness, and mercy were mingled with the human love, kindness, and mercy.
This mingling of the divine attributes and the human virtues has become our clothing, because we who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). To put on Christ is to be clothed with Christ. The very Christ with whom we are clothed is our priestly garment. Now whether we are a husband or a wife, a parent or a child, a teacher or a student, we should wear our priestly garment — a garment that is the expression of Christ’s divine attributes mingled with His human virtues. Especially when we are going out to preach the gospel to sinners, we need to wear this garment. The expression of Christ should be our uniform. As we contact others, we need to impress them with the expression of Christ, that is, with the Christ with whom we are clothed. If we do this, we will have power and authority in our gospel preaching.
When we are ordained by God to serve Him as priests, He clothes us with Christ. One day you may consecrate yourself to the Lord to be a priest. Immediately, God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit will adorn you. Sometimes the Lord’s servants will work with the Triune God to adorn the saints with Christ. I am a little servant of God co-working with Him to adorn you with Christ, to help you to change your uniform from the uniform of your natural human life, culture, and nationality to the uniform of Christ. The different cultural uniforms divide, but the unique uniform of Christ makes us one.
“Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and sanctified them. And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the laver and its base, to sanctify them” (Lev. 8:10-11). This signifies that Christ and the church, then the cross and the washing of the Spirit, are related to the New Testament priesthood for the priests’ sanctification.
In the Bible, the tabernacle typifies Christ as an individual (John 1:14), and it also typifies the church as the dwelling place of God. In Leviticus 8 the tabernacle denotes the church much more than it denotes Christ. Moses anointed the priests, and he also anointed the tabernacle. The anointing of the tabernacle signifies the anointing of the church, in which we, the New Testament priests, serve God.
In ancient times, the priests and the tabernacle were two separate entities. Today the priests and the church are one and inseparable. We, the priests, are the church, and the church is we. Hence, for us today, the priests and the church are not two separate entities but one entity. Since we and the church are one, if we are anointed, the church also is anointed. Likewise, if the church is anointed, we also are anointed.
The altar in verse 11 refers to the burnt offering altar in the outer court. All the offerings were offered on this altar. The laver was a basin where the priests washed their hands and feet. The altar signifies the cross, and the laver signifies the Holy Spirit as the washing Spirit. In the washing Spirit is the washing water of life. The church, the cross, and the washing of the Spirit are all provisions for our practical consecration to be the priests today.
The church, the cross, and the washing Spirit are related to sanctification. Formerly, we were common; that is, we were not different from our relatives, neighbors, classmates, and colleagues. But now, having been consecrated and ordained to be God’s priests, we are a sanctified people. To sanctify is to separate, to make particular, to make holy. We must be a group of people who are not only clean and pure but also separated, particular, and holy. We should be very different from the common people. This does not mean, however, that we need to wear peculiar clothing to show that we are sanctified. We should wear ordinary clothing, yet in this ordinary clothing there should be a consecration.
Regardless of our background, we all need to be sanctified, for we have consecrated ourselves to God, and He has ordained us. Do you not have the sense deep within that you have been ordained? One day, perhaps recently, you prayed, “Lord, I give myself to You absolutely.” As long as you have prayed such a prayer, you have consecrated yourself to the Lord. God has accepted your consecration and has ordained you, filling your empty hands with Christ. God’s ordination is signified by the word sanctify.
God’s ordination is a matter of sanctification. Since God has sanctified us, we are no longer common.
The anointing brings the Triune God mingled with humanity to the priests and to the church life. This anointing includes Christ’s human living, His death on the cross, and His resurrection. According to Exodus 30, the anointing oil is an ointment composed of oil, typifying the Spirit, compounded with four spices, signifying humanity (typified by the number four), human living, the death of the cross, and resurrection. When we are anointed as priests and as the church, we are anointed with the Triune God compounded with Christ’s humanity, human living, death, and resurrection. This anointing of the priests and the tabernacle also involves the sin offering (Lev. 8:14-17) and the burnt offering (vv. 18-21). All the elements of the anointing oil, the compound Spirit, with the sin offering and the burnt offering must be constituted into our being. Then we will be real priests to God, not by what we are through our natural birth but by the Triune God compounded with Christ’s humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension.
Leviticus 8:12 tells us that Moses “poured some of the anointing oil upon Aaron’s head, and anointed him to sanctify him.” This signifies that Christ as our High Priest was anointed by God for His sanctification.
Verses 14 through 17 speak of the bull of the sin offering for the consecration of the priesthood. This offering signifies the stronger and richer Christ as our sin offering for the assuming of our New Testament priesthood. (For details, see Life-study Messages on Exodus 29.)
The sin offering deals with our natural man, our flesh, the personified sin that dwells in us, Satan, the world hanging on Satan, and the power struggle. If we would be New Testament priests, all these things must be dealt with by Christ as the sin offering. When Christ was crucified as our sin offering, He dealt with the natural man, the flesh, the indwelling sin, Satan, the world, and the power struggle. In the divine ordination, such a sin offering is applied to us that we may be prevailing priests serving God.
Verses 18 through 21 speak of the ram of the burnt offering for the consecration of the priesthood. This burnt offering, which is also included in God’s ordination of the priests, signifies the strong Christ as our burnt offering for the assuming of our New Testament priesthood. The burnt offering reminds us that as serving ones we must be absolute for God. Because we are not absolute for God, we need to take Christ as our burnt offering.
