The Priestly System

Studies in Leviticus
The Priestly System – The Mediators Between Man and God
Lev. 8 & 9

This morning we are in Lev. 8 and 9, and we are going to move into the next section of Leviticus, the directions concerning the priesthood. If you kept your outline of the book, we are still in the general section of “How to obtain fellowship with God,” but we are now going from “how to draw near to God” to “the mediators between God and man.” It was the sacrificial system that removed the barriers, or estrangement between a holy God and sinful people; but now the communication issue had to be dealt with. And it was the priesthood that established a medium of direct conversation between God and the nation of Israel.

These are two very important words I want us to think about for a moment, reconciliation and mediation. The focal point of reconciliation is estrangement, and the focal point of mediation is communication. Reconciliation involves an act that reduces tension, hostility, and animosity; mediation involves a person who bridges the communication barrier. And what we are seeing in the book of Leviticus in this first section is that between the sacrifices and the priesthood, both of these issues are addressed. The sacrificial system erased estrangement, and the priestly system established direct communication with God.

I want us to take a minute and try to appreciate the significance of this event. Up to this point in the history of man, if God wanted to communicate with mankind, He did it in four basic ways. First of all, there was personal visitation, as in the case of Adam and Eve in the garden, and Moses at Mt. Sinai. Secondly, there were angelic messengers, as in the case of Lot leaving Sodom or Abraham being told of the birth of Isaac. Third, there were supernatural phenomena,as in the burning bush incident with Moses in the desert, and finally, there was dreams, as in the case of Joseph when God told him he was going to rule over his brothers.

All of that is changing right now. God is broadening his “audience” as it were, and now He is going to communicate with an entire nation as opposed to individuals only. And the instrument He is going to use is the high priest and his helpers, the rest of the priesthood. Keep in mind though that God‟s audience is still relatively small – it is the nation of Israel only. That dimension doesn‟t change until the ministry of Jesus.

To really get an idea of the significance of the priesthood, I want us to go to chapter 2 of the book of Malachi. In the first nine verses, God is rebuking the existing priesthood for their dereliction of duty, but I want us to read this passage because it shows us what God had in mind when He established the priesthood. These verses contain the job description of Aaron and his sons.

"And now, this commandment is for you, O priests. 2 "If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name," says the LORD of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart [in other words, the priesthood of Malachi’s day was not living up to God’s expectations]. 3 "Behold, I am going to rebuke your offspring, and I will spread refuse on your faces, the refuse of your feasts [this is a reference to a public and vile humiliation – remember the specific instructions for how to deal with the intestines and the careful washings]; and you will be taken away with it [a reference to carrying the parts of the offering to a place outside the camp and burning them]. 4 "Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, that My covenant may continue with Levi [the tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe that Aaron came from]," says the LORD of hosts. 5 "My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of reverence; so he revered Me, and stood in awe of My name. [Starting in verse 6 we get to God’s intent for the events of Lev. 8 and 9] 6 "True instruction was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity. 7 "For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. [Do you see the concept of communication here? God is now communicating to mankind through an intermediary – the priests] 8 "But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi," says the LORD of hosts. 9 "So I also have made you despised and abased before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways, but are showing partiality in the instruction.

So understand that the priesthood was huge. For the first time in the history of humanity, there was not only regular communication between God and man (v. 7 – “he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts”), but also a mediator between God and man (v. 6 – “he walked with me in peace and uprightness”). I don‟t know if we can fully appreciate this because today, every follower of Christ is a “priest.” Collectively, we comprise “a royal priesthood” and “a holy nation” according to 1 Pt. 2:9. But what is commonplace and normal to us was highly significant 6,000 years ago, and chapters 8 and 9 of Leviticus record for us the ceremony where God officially inaugurates this new era of communication. It would be similar to the swearing in ceremony our nation has every four years in January after a new president has been elected.

The way I want to cover these two chapters is to go through them with a highlighter and just point out some specifics, and then we will close with three specific points of application that answer the question, “what does all this stuff mean for me today?” I want this to be more than a history lesson!

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Take Aaron [remember that Aaron is Moses’ brother] and his sons with him, and the garments and the anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread; 3 and assemble all the congregation at the doorway of the tent of meeting." 4 So Moses did just as the LORD commanded him.
Sin offering
Burnt offering
Peace offering
Everything being done in view of the entire nation

When the congregation was assembled at the doorway of the tent of meeting, 5 Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded to do.” 6 Then Moses had Aaron and his sons come near, and washed them with water. 7 And he put the tunic on him and girded him with the sash, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him; and he girded him with the artistic band of the ephod, with which he tied it to him. 8 He then placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. 9 He also placed the turban on his head, and on the turban, at its front, he placed the golden plate, the holy crown, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Aaron‟s clothing set him apart from the rest of the priesthood as the High Priest
Any good Bible dictionary will show you pictures of what he looked like
Note the reference to the Urim and Thummim in v. 8 – not sure what they were, but they must have been some small items that performed the function of “lots” or some way to discern God‟s will. We see it referred to in Ex. 28:29-30. "Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the LORD. Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the LORD. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD.”

Cf. Prov. 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”
We see an example of this in action in 1 Sam. 14:40-42. So he said to all Israel, "Stand on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will stand on the other." The people responded, "Do what you think best." 41 And Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel: "Why did you not answer your servant this time? If the blame for this resides in me or my son Jonathan, LORD, God of Israel, respond with Urim; but if this guilt is in your people Israel, respond with Thummim." Jonathan and Saul were designated, and the people went free. 42 Saul then said, "Cast lots between me and my son Jonathan." And Jonathan was designated.

10 Moses then took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. 11 And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. 12 Then he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him, to consecrate him.

These were all symbolic acts designed to “consecrate” them, or “set them apart”
The root word is our word for “holy”

13 Next Moses had Aaron's sons come near and clothed them with tunics, and girded them with sashes, and bound caps on them, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Their outfits weren‟t as elaborate as Aaron‟s, but they were distinctive enough to visually mark them as priests

14 Then he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. 15 Next Moses slaughtered it and took the blood and with his finger put some of it around on the horns of the altar, and purified the altar. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it, to make atonement for it. 16 He also took all the fat that was on the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat; and Moses offered it up in smoke on the altar. 17 But the bull and its hide and its flesh and its refuse, he burned in the fire outside the camp, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

When they laid their hands on this bull, they were transferring their sinfulness to the bull, and then the bull was killed
The sin offering symbolized substitutionary atonement, accomplished forgiveness, part was burned outside the camp, and it covered sins where reparation was impossible

18 Then he presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19 And Moses slaughtered it and sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 20 When he had cut the ram into its pieces, Moses offered up the head and the pieces and the suet in smoke. 21 After he had washed the entrails and the legs with water, Moses offered up the whole ram in smoke on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 22 Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination; and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.

23 And Moses slaughtered it and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 He also had Aaron's sons come near; and Moses put some of the blood on the lobe of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot. Moses then sprinkled the rest of the blood around on the altar. 25 And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the entrails, and the lobe of the liver and the two kidneys and their fat and the right thigh. And from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD, he took one unleavened cake and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer, and placed them on the portions of fat and on the right thigh. 27 He then put all these on the hands of Aaron and on the hands of his sons, and presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. 28 Then Moses took them from their hands and offered them up in smoke on the altar with the burnt offering. They were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was an offering by fire to the LORD.

The first ram was a burnt offering – a voluntary offering symbolizing total consecration
The second ram is referred to as “the ram of ordination” or “installation.” According to v. 31, part of this ram was eaten, which means it would be a “peace offering.” Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, "Boil the flesh at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and eat it there together with the bread which is in the basket of the ordination offering, just as I commanded, saying, 'Aaron and his sons shall eat it.'

32 "And the remainder of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn in the fire. 33 "And you shall not go outside the doorway of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day that the period of your ordination is fulfilled; for he will ordain you through seven days. 34 "The LORD has commanded to do as has been done this day, to make atonement on your behalf. 35 "At the doorway of the tent of meeting, moreover, you shall remain day and night for seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that you may not die, for so I have been commanded." 36 Thus Aaron and his sons did all the things which the LORD had commanded through Moses.

So you can see this is quite an elaborate process Aaron and his sons went through, but the net effect of it all was that the entire nation saw God take this group of men and set them apart for a very special purpose

They were visually distinct (dress), spiritually distinct (seven days alone in the Tabernacle with God), and ceremonially distinct (anointed with blood and oil)
They were “go betweens” between God and Israel.

We aren‟t going to go through chapter nine this way because it is basically a repetition of chapter eight with two distinctions. First of all, the main actor in chapter 8 is Moses and he is doing all the ceremonial things to Aaron and his sons. In chapter 9, Aaron is the main character and he is doing all the ceremonial, priestly things for the very first time. The second main point of chapter 9 is seen in verses 22-24. “Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he stepped down after making the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 24 Then fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.”

This is God‟s stamp of approval on the events of the two chapters. Moses and Aaron had done everything God had asked of them, and now the priesthood was formally established. The nation of Israel had a mediator between them and God, and regular communication was now possible.

What does all this mean for us today? To answer this, I want us to turn to Heb. 5. We are going to read verses 1 through 9, and I want you to appreciate Jesus a little more.

For very high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; 2 he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; 3 and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. 4 And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, "Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee"; 6 just as He says also in another passage, "Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." 7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.

Our High Priest today is very unlike Aaron, and two ways come to mind. First of all, He didn‟t have to offer a sacrifice for His own sins before He could deal with us. And secondly, He was a combination priest and sacrifice, which brought an end to the entire system. When He was crucified, there was no longer a need for animal reconciliation and human mediation. Today, we “have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”