As part of the ceremony of the ordination of Aaron and
his sons as priests in Leviticus
8, Moses takes some of the blood
of the ram of ordination and
puts it on the right ear
lobe, right thumb and right big toe, first of Aaron and then of his sons (Lev. 8:22-24).
Later, after the ordination offering has been made, Moses then takes
some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar (presumably
some of the blood of the bull of the sin offering which has made atonement and
which was placed on the horns of the altar and poured out at its base as well
as some of the blood of the ram of the burnt offering which was thrown against
the sides of the altar and also of the ram of ordination whose blood was also
thrown against the sides of the altar) and he sprinkles them both on Aaron and
his sons, who are being ordained as priests in Israel (8:30).
This ordination of
Israel’s priests is a picture and a type of the ordination of believers, who are a royal priesthood in
Christ (1 Pet. 2:5, 9). First, the blood
of Christ is
applied to believers, and as
the blood was placed on the right ear lobe, thumb and big toe of Aaron and his
sons, so it is that Christ’s blood is applied to all of us in all we do. Like Aaron and his sons, we are to dedicate
our lives and all we do to the sacred service of God. We are to hear the Word of God so that we can
proclaim it. We are to serve God in
all we put our hand to. And we are to
walk in the ways of God. Aaron and his
sons, as priests, were not to put their hands to manual labour as the other
Israelites would do. They were to reserve
their service for the sacred things of worship and ministry in the tabernacle
before the LORD and on behalf of the
people. Christians are to understand all
the labour we do, manual or otherwise, as sacred to the Lord. All we do is service offered to God for his
glory and in the service of others out of love.
As Aaron and his sons were sprinkled with the blood
and the anointing oil, so too Christians have been sprinkled with the blood of
Christ and the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us to anoint and equip us for
ministry. Both of these sprinklings, the
blood of Christ and the out-pouring of the Spirit, are pictured in baptism. Like Aaron and his sons, we are consecrated
by atoning blood that has been shed on our behalf and in our place, and we are filled up by God for ministry (the Hebrew root word for
ordination means ‘to fill up’). We do
not serve in the tabernacle or temple.
We are the temple. We are priests. All we do is to be service to God and on
behalf of others.
The process of
the ordination of Aaron and his sons took seven days (Lev. 8:33, 35). It is interesting that it is the eighth day
upon which Aaron and his sons begin their ministry on behalf of the people. It is upon the eighth day, which is to say,
the first day of the week, for the seventh day was the Sabbath, that Jesus rose
from the dead, and it is upon the eighth day that the Holy Spirit is poured out
upon the church (it was on the day of Pentecost, which is fifty days, seven
sevens plus one, after Passover). It was
on the eighth day that the LORD revealed his glory to the people of Israel at
the tabernacle, after Aaron and his sons made all the required sacrifices on behalf
of the people who were all gathered together and after Aaron and Moses went
into the tent of meeting and came out and blessed the people. The glory of the LORD appeared to the people
and fire came out from the LORD to consume all the offerings. At Pentecost, when both Father and Son send
the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7) upon the church, all the disciples
are gathered together and fire comes out from the Lord and rests upon each one
of them, consuming them for service. When the glory of the LORD
appeared to all Israel at the tabernacle and fire came out from the LORD, the
people all shouted and fell on their faces.
When the fire came out from the Lord at Pentecost and fell upon all the church
gathered together, they spoke. It must
have been loud, for they were together in a house, and devout men from all over
the world were gathered in Jerusalem and they heard the disciples. The Holy Spirit ordained the disciples, who became apostles, and who, along with all the church, began that very day to serve the ministry and mission of God.
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