Our High Priest
Leviticus 10:1-7, 16-20
If you are keeping up with your daily Bible reading, you probably read this a few days ago.
At the very beginning of the ministry of the Jewish priesthood, the priests failed.
We saw the Tabernacle constructed in the last chapter of Exodus, giving the priests a place to serve.
We saw the instructions for various sacrifices in the first seven chapters of Leviticus, which the priests would perform in the Tabernacle.
In chapter 8 we have the consecration of the priesthood.
It is a week-long series of sacrifices that set them apart for their holy work.
In chapter 9 we see God’s acceptance of Aaron as high priest and the Levites as the tribe of priests.
We read there:
Lev 9:23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people.
Lev 9:24 And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.
Then comes chapter 10.
I do not recall any sort of time marker in the account, but the old rabbis said these events occurred on the very same day as chapter 9.
What happened in our text?
The priesthood failed in their duties.
Now, let me go back and set some background for you.
First, what is a priest?
A priest is someone who acts as an intermediary or intercessor between God and man.
They teach the proper ways to worship and sacrifice.
They perform many of the rites themselves so that they are done properly.
That is the role of the priest in the Old Testament world.
Second, remember that from the very beginning mankind falls short of the glory of God.
Even in the perfection of the Eden, Adam and Eve fell in sin.
That sin had to be dealt with.
So God acted directly with Adam and Eve.
Here is what He did to cover their shame.
Gen 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Those coats of skin required the death and shed blood of animals.
I believe this is the first sacrifice in the Bible.
I believe it acted as an atonement – a covering for sin.
There were no priests that I can find in the world before the Flood.
We know that they offered sacrifices themselves – that is what Cain and Abel did.
We know that there were regulations on what and how to offer them, see the story of Cain and Abel.
I think the family heads, the patriarchs, acted as a priestly leader for their families.
That carries on after the Flood.
Noah, Abraham, and even Job act in this manner – as spiritual leaders in their families.
It is not until the time of Abraham and after that we read of priests.
The first priests of the true God we see are not Jews.
I find that fascinating.
There were still people among the nations that retained true knowledge of God.
The first we see is Melchizedek in Genesis 14.
He is the king of Salem and “the priest of the most high God”.
The second we see is Moses’s father-in-law, who is called both Reuel and Jethro.
He is called “the priest of Midian”.
The Midianites were descendants of Abraham through his last wife Keturah.
They had retained a true form of religion serving the true God.
It is also worth noting that in this same time period we see false priests appear, worshippers of demons and idols.
Joseph encountered them in Egypt and so did Moses.
Satan will always produce a counterfeit to what is good and holy.
Third, I want us to see the establishment of the Jewish priesthood.
It begins with a covenant promise made by God at Sinai in Exodus 19.
Exo 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. ….
God chose one tribe, the tribe of Levi, to be set aside for the priesthood.
I think this is in part due to their faithfulness in the incident with the Golden Calf, though Aaron and his family seemed marked before then.
We read then of the Law of Moses that was given to Israel.
It told them how to live and worship.
It told them how to properly come before God and offer acceptable sacrifices.
It told them exactly what to build in the Tabernacle.
It told them exactly what to do in it.
It told them how the priests and the High Priests would dress and act.
It told them how to consecrate these men to their service.
You read the directions in Exodus 29 and the event in Leviticus 8.
That gets us caught up with our text.
Again, if the rabbis are to be believe – you can flip a coin on that – this is the very day that the priests began their service in the Tabernacle.
Immediately there are two failures.
The first is by Nadab and Abihu.
They went in to the Tabernacle to offer incense on the Golden altar before the vail behind which sat the Ark of the Covenant and the presence of God.
They did not obey the direction of the Lord
In particular, the did not use the proper coals and fire.
It was supposed to come from the Brazen Altar where the sacrifices were burned.
They instead used a, shall we say, “common fire”.
I think it is willful disobedience, innovating worship where it was not permitted by God.
For their trespass, the two sons of Aaron are killed.
This is what you may call a sin of commission – willingly breaking God’s Law.
The second failure is a sin of omission – willingly or unwillingly not following God’s Law.
You will read in the early chapters of Leviticus that portions of many of the offerings were given to the priests to eat.
In this case, part of a goat was supposed to have been given to the priests and eaten.
It had not happened.
The entire animal had been burned.
Aaron intercedes for his remaining sons, basically saying that the weight of responsibility had caused them to lose appetite, their hearts not being right to consume the meat so they felt the better thing to do was to fully burn it.
This is not that far off, because they were supposed to burn the leftover meat that was not consumed.
Two failures on the very first day!
Not just anyone, but the family of the high priest!
Now, I am not here to cast stones at them.
They did exactly what we do – we fail!
I think this is important.
The hope of the people was not in the priests.
It was in the Lord.
Go read about the sacrifices that were made, like on the Day of Atonement.
You know what the first sacrifice is for?
The sin of the priest.
His failures must be atoned for before he can minister on behalf of others.
Humans fail.
I will fail you and you will fail me.
We all will fail God.
Is there any hope then for someone to stand before God on our behalf???
I am glad to say that there is!
The Book of Hebrews proves that we have a true high priest acting on our behalf.
Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Christ is our High Priest.
The Jewish priesthood is but a shadow of the role He plays for our salvation and our sanctification.
Our high priest will never fail in His duty.
He will never fail to please God.
He will never fail to act on our behalf.
The Old Testament priesthood was based on DNA – the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron.
Christ is a priest like Melchizedek – not based on DNA, but God’s anointing.
Our High Priest is not uncaring.
He knows us.
He lived among us.
Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
Heb 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
Not only is He the Great High Priest – He is the sacrifice.
It is a paradox if you think about it – Christ offered Himself, both priest and sacrifice.
Heb 9:11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Heb 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Heb 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Here is my point today.
You read the Old Testament, especially Exodus, Leviticus, and the Law, you can get bogged down in the details.
Behind those details is a shadow.
That shadow is something greater, a greater lesson for us to learn.
The Tabernacle and the Priesthood?
They all point to Christ!
As glorious as the Tabernacle and Temple were, they were but pale imitations of the glorious things Christ has done for us!
CONCLUSION
- Never fail to lose sight of the Greatness of Christ!
- Come with boldness to Christ.
- Adam and Eve hid.
- We need not fear our Savior.
- Come to Him for salvation.