Sermon # 401 Leviticus Sermons
Title: God’s Priests and God’s PRIEST
Text: Leviticus
21:1-24
Subject: Honoring
God and Serving Him as Priests
Date: Sunday
Morning & Evening—July 28, 2002
Tape # X-14a and
b
Reading: Psalm
118:1-29
Introduction:
Our text will be Leviticus
21. This chapter deals with and gives specific instructions to the priests of
Israel, the sons of Aaron.
·
In
verses 1-6 the priests were forbidden to mourn the dead as other people do.
·
In
verses 7 and 8, the Lord tells them that even in the selection of their wives,
God’s honor was to be paramount.
·
In
verse 9, God required that any priest’s daughter who profaned her father by
playing the harlot was to be put to death.
·
Verses
10-15 give specific instructions to the high priests throughout their
generations. The high priests was not to mourn as others might, even for his
own parents (vv. 10-11). He who served as God’s high priest was to live always
in the service of God’s sanctuary (V. 12). His wife was to be neither a widow,
nor a divorced woman, but only a virgin of the daughters of Israel (vv. 13-14).
In a word, he was to so order his life and household that God was honored in it
(v. 15).
·
Verses
16-24 are addressed specifically to Moses, the lawgiver, and required that none
of the priests (none of the males in Aaron’s family) who had a blemish of any
kind be allowed to serve as God’s priests.
As I read this chapter, my first thoughts were—“What
does this have to do with any of us? There are no Aaronic or Levitical priests
today. We have no material altar or rituals of sacrifice today. Such things are
forbidden of our God in this gospel age. So how do these things apply to you
and me?”
We must conclude one of two things: (1) Either this
portion of God’s Word has nothing to do with us and is to be ignored by us, or
(2) the instructions here given have a far wider, spiritual, gospel application
than most imagine.
This I know.—Leviticus 21 was written by divine
Inspiration for our instruction, learning, edification and consolation (Rom.
15:4). These instructions concerning God’s priests were written “that we
through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
The fact is, there are priests today who
minister in the sanctuary of our God, who serve in the tabernacle, and offer
sacrifices at God’s altar.
Yet, if we would come to God and have our sins
forgiven, be accepted of him, if we would be saved, we must have an altar, a
sacrifice, and a priest.
·
An
Altar Appointed By God
·
A
Sacrifice Accepted By God
·
A
Priest Anointed By God
1.
The
Lord Jesus Christ is our great High Priest.—Christ is our Melchizedek, our ever
living High Priest touched with the feeling of our infirmities, “who also
maketh intercession for us” and is able to save to the uttermost all who
come to God by him.
2.
Every
believer is a priest unto God, one who does business in the holy place,
offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ (1 Pet.
2:5-9).—Prayer and Praise—Gifts and Offerings—A Cup of Cold Water—Works of Love
and Faith.
3.
And
God’s servants, those men who preach the gospel of Christ, though we have no
mediating priestly function, and are in no sense priests between God and men,
are also represented by Aaron and his sons, and by the Levitical priesthood of
the Old Testament.
Let me be crystal clear. Gospel preachers, pastors,
are not priests. The only mediator between God and men is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Yet, in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit uses the laws given in the
Old Testament to illustrate the work of the gospel ministry and to enforce the
pastor’s required of separating himself unto the gospel exclusively, and well
as the local churches maintenance of pastors and missionaries in the work of
the gospel.
As you know, when the land of Canaan was divided by
Joshua, he gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi, the priestly tribe. This
was done by divine command, because those who served in the house of God, those
who ministered for the souls of men in holy things, for the glory of God, were
to be maintained in their livelihoods by the gifts and sacrifices of God’s
people (Num. 18:20, 23-24; Deut. 10:9; 18:1-2; Jos. 13:14, 33; 18:7; 1 Cor.
9:13-14; 1 Tim. 5:17-18).
(1
Corinthians 9:13-14) "Do ye not
know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the
temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? (14) Even
so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the
gospel."
(1
Timothy 5:17-18) "Let the elders
that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour
in the word and doctrine. (18) For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not
muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of
his reward."
With those things in mind, let’s look at Leviticus
21 and see what the Lord teaches us in this chapter about our great Savior and
about ourselves.
“And”
Leviticus 21 begins with the word “And.”
The instructions of this chapter are directly connected with the last verse of
chapter 20.
(Leviticus
20:27) "A man also or woman that
hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they
shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them."
In chapters 19 and 20, the Lord frequently and
specifically warns us never to consult with wizards, witches, and the like,
never to seek counsel at the hands of palm readers, soothsayers, astrological
interpreters, (psychologists, psychiatrists, or psychics), or at the altar of
any idol.
God’s people are to seek direction at God’s
hand, by the mouth of his servants, in his house. Therefore, in chapter 21
he tells us what kind of men his servants must be. Leviticus 21, is in many
ways, the Old Testament equivalent of Titus 1:6-9, where the Holy Spirit tells
us what a pastor must be.
Not Counselors – Preachers
(Titus
1:6-9) "If any be blameless, the
husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
(7) For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled,
not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
(8) But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy,
temperate; (9) Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught,
that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the
gainsayers."
I. Here is the first thing I want us to see and learn in this
chapter.—We must never forget that
we belong to GOd (vv. 1-9).
We who are saved by God’s amazing, free grace in Christ are the
sons and daughters of God. Let us never forget who we are and whose we are. My
brethren, we who are God’s servants, ministers about the holy things, preachers
of the gospel, let us never forget that this treasure trusted to our hands is
and must be first and foremost in our lives. Let us ever live as men separated
unto the gospel, devoted to the glory of God.
(Leviticus 21:1-4) "And the
LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto
them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people: (2) But
for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his
father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother, (3) And
for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for
her may he be defiled. (4) But he shall not defile himself, being a
chief man among his people, to profane himself."
In verse 4 God tells the priest why he must not behave as other
men, even when someone he loves dearly has died. He must not defile himself, he
must not mourn as those who have no hope, because he was "a chief man among
his people'—a guardian of the people. All eyes were upon him.
So it is with you and me. Both you who are my fellow laborers in
the gospel and you who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are guardians
of God’s people. That makes us public people. The eyes of God’s people are upon
us, looking to us for direction. And we are responsible to care for one
another.
Now, watch this.—Aarons sons were not permitted to defile
themselves, that is to mourn as those who do not believe God; but they
were permitted to mourn. If one of Aaron’s sons lost one of his family,
he was not expected to act like a calf had died out in the pasture! God’s
people are still people. God’s servants are still men. That which causes others
sorrow causes us sorrow, too. But we “sorrow not as others who have no hope.”
Our Lord wept at Lazarus’ tomb, wept because Mary and Martha wept.
He who was the perfect man entered into their sorrow. So may we.—Grace does not
make people hard. It makes them tender.
Notice this, too.—The Lord made particular allowance for
expressions of tenderness, care, and love of the priest for his own family.
We often feel guilty and beat ourselves because we do not love and pray for
others like we do for our own. No doubt, this is an evil of our nature. Yet, it
is an evil attributed to the weakness of our nature. And our God here
specifically allows it! God’s family is our first concern. Yet, concern for
God’s family does not make men and women indifferent toward their own. Grace
makes us more diligent in all the tender relations and responsibilities
connected with our families. Grace does not weaken natural affection. It
increases it.
There is something else here.—The priest was not permitted to
mourn for any but his own, immediate family, to teach us that we ought
not display greater regard and tenderness for some of God’s people than we do
for others. Our hearts are to be devoted to the whole family of God,
concerned for the welfare of each brother and each sister in the household of
God.
·
Let there be
no cliques in God’s house.
·
The pastor
must be pastor to all.—The Weak and the Strong—The Most Devoted and the Most
Wavering—The Most Pleasing and The Most Displeasing!
“Lord, keep us from selfish joys. Teach us to live for others and
for you!” –Andrew Bonar
(Leviticus 21:5-6) "They
shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the
corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. (6) They
shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the
offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do
offer: therefore they shall be holy."
“They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of
their God!”—God requires that you and I walk before him as a holy people,
that is as a people separated, distinct and distinguished from all other
people, as his own, peculiar people.
Even when we do mourn the loss of a loved one, or experience any of those things in
this sin cursed world that cause us grief and pain, we are not to be like the
heathen, we are not display uncontrollable anguish and grief. In all things, my
brethren, let us bow to the will and wisdom and goodness of our God; and let us
see to it that all around us know that we do, not by our speech, but by our
demeanor.
Gospel preachers, pastors, elders, and teachers, those who are employed in the
service of Christ publicly are doubly bound to abstain from all appearance of
evil in these matters. We are the King’s attendants in his palace, cupbearers
at his table, representatives of our God to his people. Let us take care that
we do not profane his name by behaving as those who worship other gods. If we,
by our behavior in times of heavy trial, leave upon those around us the
impression that our God is not doing us good, that he is not in control of our
affairs, that he has abandoned us, we profane his name before them.
Like those priests of old, we stand before God’s people as men
sent of God to point them to Christ all-sufficient, effectual sacrifice,
declaring that since Christ has redeemed us, put away our sins, and reconciled
us to God, God is for us, his blessing is upon us, and his love for us is
unceasing. But that which we teach and preach with our lips will fall on deaf
ears if it is not demonstrated by our calm acquiescence before him when he
sends us through deep waters and fiery trials.
(Leviticus 21:7-8) "They
shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they
take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.
(8) Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy
God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy."
The priests of Israel were not allowed to marry any woman who was
unchaste or divorced. Clearly, this is not a law to be literally enforced upon
men today, any more than sabbath keeping and laws regarding animal sacrifices
are to be. This applies neither to believers in general nor to those who serve
as Gospel preachers in a literal way. The letter of the law points to and teaches
something far higher.
Typical of Christ
The priest was typical our Lord Jesus Christ in all his public
acts. He points us to our great High Priest. Even in his choice of a bride, the
Lord God took care that the priest set forth another Priest.
Our Savor's bride is "without spot or wrinkle," “undefiled,"
"the choice one of her that bare her; the daughters saw her and blessed
her" (Song 6:9). That is not what we are by nature; but that is what
Christ makes us! Because he "hateth putting away” (Mal. 2:16), the
priest must not marry a divorced woman. The Savior chose us for eternity.—There
must be nothing even to hint to his bride that she may again be separated from
him.
The Gospel Preacher
Certainly, there is an application to the gospel preacher, to tthat
man who stands before God’s people to lead them in the knowledge and worship of
God. We are God’s servants. For his name’s sake, for the honor of the gospel,
our whole lives are to be devoted to our God and Savior. The same is true of
all believers, yes. But in as much as our God has put us in trust with the
gospel, since he has given us this great work to do, we are all the more
responsible. To whom much is given much is required. Let us honor our God.
(1
Timothy 4:12-16) "Let no man
despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in
conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (13) Till I
come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. (14) Neglect
not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying
on of the hands of the presbytery. (15) Meditate upon these things; give
thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. (16) Take
heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this
thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee."
(Leviticus 21:9) "And the daughter of any priest, if she
profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be
burnt with fire."
·
No demand is
too great.
·
No sacrifice
is too costly.
·
No work is
too difficult.
As in the case of New Testament pastors it is written, "having
faithful children, that are·not accused of riot, nor unruly'' (Tit. 1:6) so
it was with the priest's family. The conduct of the family reflects upon the
father. But I don’t much believe God would have you and I burn our daughters at
the stake for such behavior. Rather, he teaches us to forgive and help. But I
am dead sure of this.—If any of you who now wear the name of Christ, if any of
you who profess faith in the Son of God go awhoring after other gods, you shall
be burned forever with the fire of God’s wrath in hell!
We are to sanctify ourselves unto our God. We are to seek his
honor in all things, devoting everything, our entire lives to his glory. What a
reasonable thing it is that we should do so (1 Cor. 6:9-11, 19-20; Rom.
12:1-2). It is most reasonable, if you consider this…
II. The Lord Jesus
Christ, as our great High Priest, sanctified himself, consecrated himself
entirely to the will and glory of God for the saving of our souls
(John 17:17-19).
We see this in verses 10-15.
(Leviticus 21:10-12) "And he that is the high priest
among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is
consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his
clothes; (11) Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile
himself for his father, or for his mother; (12) Neither shall he go out
of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the
anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD."
The first time the words “high priest” are used in the
Bible is right
here in Leviticus 21:10. Actually, a better translation would be “great
priest,” or “great high priest.” Our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is the one of whom the passage speaks. In all things, he is our example. Even
in the typology of this chapter, it is the High Priest, the Lord Jesus, who is
the eminent example of devotion to God.
·
The holy
anointing oil is upon him!
·
The words “anointing
oil” might be translated, as some suggest, “the crown of the anointing
oil”. You see, our Great High Priest is the King, the King of
Glory, a Priest upon His Throne. He is called the Great High Priest because he
is infinitely better than all others, because there was never a priest like
him.
(Exodus
29:6) "And thou shalt put the
mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre."
(Exodus
28:36) "And thou shalt make a
plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a
signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD."
(Exodus
39:30) "And they made the plate of
the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the
engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD."
·
Our
all-glorious Christ was consecrated to put on the garments, the garments of
salvation. – He made them.—He wore them.—He puts them on us!
·
Our great
Savior, Jehovah’s Righteous Servant, never rent his clothes or uncovered his
head as one in mourning.
(Isaiah
42:1-4) "Behold my servant, whom I
uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit
upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. (2) He shall
not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. (3) A
bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. (4) He shall not fail nor be
discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait
for his law.
Never Defiled Himself
He never touched the dead, except to give life. Even when His
mother was before him as a bereaved widow, as she beheld his anguish upon the
cursed tree, He was her High Priest and Mediator, and showed tenderness,
concern, and care, not for himself, but for her. In the midst of His woes as
the smitten Shepherd, He took time to recommend her to John, and then, so to
speak, resumed His -work of suffering. And what he did for her, he did
for all his chosen family.
(Psalms
69:4-9) "They that hate me without
a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being
mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I
took not away. (5) O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are
not hid from thee. (6) Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of
hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for
my sake, O God of Israel. (7) Because for thy sake I have borne
reproach; shame hath covered my face. (8) I am become a stranger unto my
brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. (9) For the zeal of
thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee
are fallen upon me."
Never Went Out
“Lo, I come to do Thy will, O my God!”
Our Great High Priest truly was the Priest who never went “out
of the sanctuary,” and who never “profaned it" by the
introduction of personal concerns. He ever felt the streams of the anointing
oil on His head. He "saved" not, but "hated and lost,"
His own life for us. He stood as entirely a Substitute and Surety. Oh, “thanks
be unto God” for such a GREAT HIGH PRIEST!
(Psalms
116:7) "Return unto thy rest, O my
soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee."
(Psalms
116:12-13) "What shall I render
unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? (13) I will take
the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD."
(Psalms
118:1-3) "O give thanks unto the
LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. (2)
Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. (3) Let
the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever."
The Bride Chosen
(Leviticus 21:13-15) "And he shall take a wife in her
virginity. (14) A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an
harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people
to wife. (15) Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I
the LORD do sanctify him."
Here he is again! God’s elect, the Church of Christ is espoused to him “as a chaste
virgin” (2 Cor. 11:2) and he calls her, “My undefiled” (Song
6:9). When we stand with him before the throne of God, he declares that we are
chaste, undefiled virgins!
(Revelation
14:1-5) "And I looked, and, lo, a
Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four
thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. (2) And I
heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a
great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
(3) And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the
four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and
forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. (4) These
are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are
they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from
among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. (5) And
in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne
of God."
As he calls us his undefiled, we look upon the Son of God and say,
Thou art “my first Husband” (Hos. 2:7). These things are not so by
nature, but (Blessed be God!) they are so!
Christ is married to His Church in perfect holiness. "She
cometh to the king in robes of needle-work"—all glorious. She was not
thus fair when He found her; but she is "all fair," "undefiled,"
"the choice one," when He marries her. The marriage of the
Lamb is on the day of His coming out of the·Holy Place to bless His redeemed.
We are his holy people in whom he rejoices, over whom he rejoices with singing!
No spot or wrinkle, no blemish or any such thing, appears on His redeemed when
He is their Bridegroom (Eph. 5:27).
The blood of our all-glorious Christ, our Great High Priest's
sacrifice and his righteousness demand and absolutely secure our everlasting
glory and perfection as his chosen bride!
“His Seed”
Before we move on, I must show you one more thing. It is written
of God’s High Priest, “Neither shall he profane his seed among the people”
(v. 15). Aaron was not to mix his seed with the wicked. Neither shall Christ!
He shall never profane one of his own, by charging them with sin as he shall
the damned forever!
(Romans
4:8) "Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin."
(Romans
8:33-34) "Who shall lay any thing
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. (34) Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that
is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us."
III. We know that all
the work of our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall effectually
secure this blessed end because our Priest exactly the Priest God required.
(Leviticus 21:16) "And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying,"
Don’t miss this—Here the Lord speak to Aaron personally, but to
Moses, the lawgiver, telling him the kind of man the high priest must be.
(Leviticus 21:17-21)
"Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in
their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer
the bread of his God. (18) For whatsoever man he be that hath a
blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat
nose, or any thing superfluous, (19) Or a man that is brokenfooted, or
brokenhanded, (20) Or crookbacked, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in
his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; (21) No
man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to
offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not
come nigh to offer the bread of his God."
(Hebrews
7:26-28) "For such an high priest
became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and
made higher than the heavens; (27) Who needeth not daily, as those high
priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the
people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. (28) For the
law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath,
which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for
evermore."
The Bread
The sacrifices are the "Bread of God," as in other
places. I know who that is. Don’t you? God our Father gave us Christ as our
Bread of Life. It is to this the Lord Jesus refers, when He says, "The
bread which I give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world."
(John 6:51). "The Bread of God is He that cometh down from heaven"
(ver. 33).
·
Christ is
the Bread God gave.
·
He is the
Bread God accepts.
·
He is the
Bread God gives.
·
He is the
Bread we must eat.
These precepts concerning the men who might be allowed to serve as
God’s High Priest were necessary because the high priest in Israel was a type
of Christ throughout the Old Testament. As such, he must always appear as one
who was altogether without blemish or fault.
The Song of Solomon gives us some light on this passage. In setting forth Christ’s purity,
beauty, and perfection in figurative terms, it uses almost all the references
to the body that are found here. Here the defects are spoken of, there the
excellences (Song 5).
·
If the
priest had been "blind,” the people would be led to misapprehend
the type. He could not represent Him whose "eyes are as a flame of fire."
·
If the
priest had been "lame," he could not represent him whose
"legs are as pillars of marble."
·
If the
priest had been "flat nosed,” he could not be the type of him whose
bride has this said of her, "Thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon."
·
If the
priest had been "superfluous in any limb"—or rather if one
limb was longer than another—he could not be a type of Him who "cometh
leaping on the mountains."
·
If the
priest had been "broken-footed," he could not have typified
him whose feet are "sockets of fine gold."
·
If the
priest had been “broken-handed,” he could not have typified our Lord,
whose hands, we are told, are "as gold rings, set with beryl."
·
Our
Redeemer, our Great High Priest, was to stretch out His whole body on the
cross. The nails were to pierce His hands and feet. Yet, not a bone of his body
would be broken. If the priest had been
"crook-backed," then he would have represented the High
Priest of the Church as inferior to the Church herself, "whose stature
is like the palm-tree."
·
If the
priest had been "a dwarf," he could not have reached up to the
altar's height. He could not have been a type of Him whose "countenance
is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars."
·
If the priest
had had "a blemish in his eye," he could never have typified
our Lord whose “eyes are as doves by rivers of waters, washed in milk, and
fitly set.”
·
If had been
diseased, having the "scurvy," or "scabbed," he
could not have typified him "who is all fair," who has "no
spot or wrinkle." If in the most secret, hidden spot of his frame, the
priest had had the slightest blemish or defect, he could not have been a type
of our great Savior who is “all glorious within."
Our Great High Priest is just such an High Priest as we need! All
perfect! Virtue flows out of him when he is but touched by a sinner’s a hand!
And this all-glorious Christ was the Sacrifice as well as the Priest. "He
offered up Himself" (Heb. 7:21).
(Leviticus 21:22-23) "He shall eat the bread of his God, both
of the most holy, and of the holy. (23) Only he shall not go in unto
the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he
profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them."
The common, deformed, defiled men among Aaron’s sons, were
provided for. They were allowed to feed upon the holy things. But only the
unblemished, faultless man could go into the holy place, only God’s appointed
High Priest could go into the holy of holies and make atonement for the people.
The priest had to be a man who had no fault or blemish, because he
typified that Man who is our Great High Priest of infinite worth, beauty and
glory, the God-man, who gives all his beauty to us, and yet retains it all in
himself! Oh, how fair he is! “Thou art all fair, my Beloved. Thou art all
fair!”
·
He who
offered the Bread of perfect righteousness in the holy place (the outer
sanctuary) must be himself perfect.
·
He who
offered the blood of complete satisfaction in the most holy place, behind the
veil, must himself be perfect.
(Leviticus 21:24) "And Moses told it unto Aaron,
and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel."
By these things all Israel knew what sort of priest to expect.
Their eyes were fixed on One who was to be "altogether lovely,"
by whose merit, virtue, and sacrifice God would accept his people, by whose
merit, virtue and sacrifice God could not but accept and bless his people.
Now, turn to Numbers 6. Let me show you how God gives his
blessings to us by our Aaron, our Great High Priest.
(Numbers
6:22-26) "And the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying, (23) Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this
wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, (24) The
LORD bless thee, and keep thee: (25) The LORD make his face shine upon
thee, and be gracious unto thee: (26) The LORD lift up his countenance
upon thee, and give thee peace."
Now,
hear what God says about his Son’s work.
(Numbers
6:27) "And they shall put my name
upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them."
Application: O, how can I persuade you to trust this great Priest! Spirit of God,
come, come and make him known in the hearts of needy sinners, for Christ’s
sake.
(Hebrews
10:9-14) "Then said he, Lo, I come
to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the
second. (10) By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (11) And every priest standeth
daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never
take away sins: (12) But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; (13) From
henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. (14) For by
one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."
(Isaiah
25:9) "And it shall be said in
that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save
us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and
rejoice in his salvation."