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open with prayer and we'll begin our class father we do thank you for your grace and your mercy toward us and all of your many blessings we pray that we would have a spirit of thankfulness that that we would not be as as our
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forefathers that we refuse to give thanks though we know you are God and you have certainly revealed yourself both in creation and in your son Jesus Christ we thank you for your word we
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pray that we would be in awe of it as we approach it but that we would also approach it with
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intimacy knowing that we are your children and that you have given us your spirit who unfolds your word and leads us into all truth pray that you would
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guide our thoughts this evening as we consider Leviticus chapter 8 and the consecration of Aaron and what all of that means both in its context and in
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ours guide us we Pray For Your Glory and for our good we ask in Jesus name
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amen so it looks like there's uh two or three weeks left in this session uh definitely two more weeks in Leviticus and then probably a third week um which
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would I think be May 23rd um as we revisit Hebrews and the concept of Leviticus as Parable so more of a summary set session but tonight we're in
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Leviticus 8 and we are going to take the chapters pretty much whole because that's how they're presented to us what we're dealing with in Leviticus 8 is the
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actual consecration of the of Aaron the high priest uh it is it is the point at which he is clothed with the garments that
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were prepared for him that we read about back in Exodus 28 and 29 this is the actual time that this this um this man becomes the high priest
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and what is also interesting about this passage is that it is a a major
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transition um and I guess we could put it put it this way as we look at it this chapter is as much about Moses as it is about
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Aaron um but what it says about Moses is is um an indirect um illusion to what we'll read
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later in Deuteronomy 18 and then even later in Hebrews chapter 3 and it goes under kind of this
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there there's only one Moses there's not going to be another yet okay that that's really what the scriptures are teaching Us in Leviticus
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8 especially Moses's role in this chapter is very unique um and it's not to be repeated in fact what he's
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doing guarantees that his role will not be repeated until a prophet is raised up like unto him Deuteronomy
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18 so there is only one Moses for now okay Moses is often referred to by
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theologians especially in the reformed tradition as Prophet priest and King and in that respect he is shown to
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be a type of Jesus Christ what we have seen so far in Moses
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we have seen him as prophet and there are actually especially toward the end of Deuteronomy there are what we would call prophecies that Moses gives concerning the future of Israel but he fulfills the more
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important and the more common role of the prophet and that is he is the Oracle of God he is the thus saith Yahweh okay thus saeth the Lord so um he is the
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and Yahweh speaks to him face to face numbers uh chapter 6
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so and in that that's a very very uh unique role that is not going to be repeated again until Jesus Christ that the prophets are are not going to be you know you have the incidences of course
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where prophets hear from the Lord Elijah for example in in the cave but that's not the same relationship as with Moses Moses would go in uh to the tent of
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meeting and he would talk with God uh actually I you know I I this may be an exaggeration but it proves a point by exaggeration Moses had a relationship that would be akin to Adam's before the
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fall that his relationship with God God himself says in number six is more intimate he says if there are prophets I will speak to them in dreams and Visions
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but not so Moses with whom I speak face to face and again that that is a metaphor uh no man sees God's face not
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even Moses he saw the form of God passing by but that was still more more than anyone else is going to be granted um so Moses is the Oracle of Yahweh he
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is and and I think this is where the the the reformed formulation of prophet priest and King that rolls off the tongue better but it's not historically
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in that order okay he is King in that he is the lawgiver and
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lawgiver and judge of judge of Israel there seems to be no there should really be no argument that he is the leader of the nation um and but it's
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interesting that this monarchy is not established as established as hereditary in fact after the incident in Midian we don't really hear of Moses's
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uh Sons again nor his wife we really don't know what happened to them correct me if there's some Passage I'm missing but um is there something said
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one made Jud made Jud okay oh okay oh great well you know what that ties right into Ecclesiastes but it is significant
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however that it is not a hereditary um office there's no indication in any of
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the pentet that Moses's Authority is going to be passed on to his blood uh relative his Heir in fact it's going to be passed on to Joshua but there we have
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priest because it is Moses who consecrates and anoints Aaron and the Tabernacle so he's the one that kicks it all off not Aaron in fact Aaron doesn't even go
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in until Moses has gone in with the oil and has Anointed The Furnishings of the Tabernacle so his role as priest supersedes that of Aaron's because Aaron
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receives the priesthood from Moses and in fact in Leviticus 8 Yahweh tells Moses to command Aaron
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okay so it's it's it's he's doing what the Lord commands but he's the one commanding in terms of what the what Aaron and his sons are supposed to wear
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and what they're supposed to do but Moses is the one who washes them Moses is the one who clothes them and so Moses is the one who
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Tabernacle in a sense Leviticus 8 is the passing of one mantle because from this point on Aaron is going to be officiating now Moses will still be
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conversing with God face to face as he had always done but he will no longer be bringing the sacrifices this is now Aaron Aaron is established as the high priest his sons are established as his his
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assistants and assistants and heirs and they will be the ones who will who will perform the levitical service of the Tabernacle from this day on so
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Moses like in numbers 27 where the Lord tells Moses to to anoint Joshua that's the that's the Civil side
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this this right here if we look at what Moses does what the Lord tells him to do okay this role as priest will go to
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Aaron in Leviticus 8 okay this role as king will go to Joshua and I'm going to be looking at
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numbers 27 though there are other places okay this role right here is just
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simply promised the Lord will raise up a prophet like unto me which both indicates the ministry of the prophets and the
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prophet that the scribes and the and the Pharisees asked asked John the about are you the prophet okay uh the prophet that when they looked at Deuteronomy 1818 they were looking for capital P capital
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T the prophet uh but that did not preclude the office of prophet but but what's interesting about the prophet being the Oracle of
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God that role is not assigned to any tribe of tribe of Israel the prophets came from various tribes they were they were not limited
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to Judah or Levi or Ephraim they were whoever God chose a much more Mercurial office than these two and it's also
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interesting that these are the two that involve the anointing oil now the way I've written it up here it appears um well let me finish a thought about Moses
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um Moses um Moses interestingly is not going to be for Israel what he has been throughout the 40 Years of The Exodus through the
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Wilderness he's not even going to go into the land with them and his role is going to be divided up among three groups of people within the nation from that generation on one
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family will be the priests the family of Aaron eventually One Tribe and one family will be the Kings the tribe of
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Judah the family of David that's going to take a few centuries to to work that out and again as I said the prophets are going to come as the Lord calls so Moses
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is actually is actually all of that in one person so this is why um the writer of Hebrews says of
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Moses and and I think it's very important that when you read the book of Hebrews the letter or the sermon of Hebrews you you catch the
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fact that the writer refuses to disparage in any way anything that God has done in the past he does not disparage Aaron he does
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not disparage Moses he does not disparage the levitical lurgical system he says Jesus is better he doesn't have to lower anybody to exalt
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Jesus in fact by not lowering anybody he exalts Jesus even more so he says of Moses in chapter 3 um he says therefore holy Brethren partakers of a Heavenly
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calling consider Jesus the Apostle and high priest of our confession he was faithful to him who appointed him as Moses was also in all his house for he
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has been considered worthy of more Glory than Moses by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house for every house is built by someone but the Builder of all things is
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God now Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later but Christ was faithful as a son
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over his house whose house we are If We Hold Fast our confidence and the boast of Our Hope firm until the end so again he doesn't disparage Moses he says Moses
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was the really the most faithful in all God's house in all of God's work and the Jewish tradition maintained that even to
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this day Moses is still the highest personage uh he's the hero of the Jewish faith and has been throughout the generations uh probably more than than
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than he deserves as an individual man because he did have his faults uh but in terms of what God did in and through him there has been no parallel um throughout
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that history until the coming of Jesus Christ the lord was done with Moses because he realized that the next
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fighter generales may not have in that sense looking for I was thinking perhaps God like Joshua well Joshua uh did you
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know did God was definitely just about finished not yet because this is fairly early um in Leviticus 8 but you know with the 40 years in the wilderness God
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is is going to be finished with Moses um no reason is given um Moses did preside over the defeat of the amalekites um but that was really kind
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of miraculous so um Joshua what we do know about Joshua is what the Lord said of him and that is in whom the spirit dwells okay that that he that he was a a
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devote of Yahweh the god of Israel but it turns out he looked like he was a pretty good General too although he did screw up the Battle of AI you know and
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lost all of what 36 men um but he saw that as a judgment of God so yes I think definitely but I I think more than
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Joshua's ability because I think his ability was largely from God I don't know that he was naturally that way I think more than that was the lesson that
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I gave you Moses don't expect another not for a while okay that he was unique don't expect the next one to be Moses in
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fact um let's let's turn well I'm going to turn to numbers 27 um one one commentator Gordon winham writes of this once again the unusual
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feature in this passage is that it is Moses who performs the Priestly side of the ritual and the priests to be take the part of the ordinary worshipper so
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what's interesting about this chapter chapter 9's going to be different but in chapter 8 the priests are passive to a large extent they are receiving the
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Consecration and the anointing from Moses Moses is acting in the role of the priest in numbers 27 we see this other transfer so Moses
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transfers his priesthood to his brother Aaron and his sons Moses will transfer his civil Authority to Authority to Joshua though not Joshua's son a
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hereditary monarchy is not being established Moses is uh does not transfer his prophetic Ministry to anyone mainly because it wasn't his to
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give that that's not a a um uh an inheritable office the office of prophet So reading um starting in verse
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18 so the Lord said to Moses take Joshua the son of noon a man in whom is the spirit and lay your hand on him and have him stand before Eleazar the priest now Aaron is dead and Eleazar his son has
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succeeded him okay and before all the congregation and commission him in their sight now listen to this and you shall put some of your Authority
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on him in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel May obey him obey him some not all okay you will give him some
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of your Authority and the next passage that ties into Leviticus 8 very very closely is a an expansion and somewhat of an explanation of that word
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sum moreover he shall stand before Eleazar the priest who shall inquire for him by the Judgment of the Ure before
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the Lord at his command they shall go out and at his command they shall come in both he and the sons of Israel with him even all the congregation so in the normal course of
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human history the most powerful person in any nation was the king King but not so in Israel the king himself stood before the
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high priest so we have a situation pre Leviticus 8
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where Moses spoke to God face to face but now Moses is is not going to to do that as as we go along in time we
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have Aaron the priesthood of Aaron to be succeeded by his sons in succession and now the king and I'm going to put this in quotations because Joshua wasn't a
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king okay but he was definitely the leader of the people and that the nation was to obey him but he was Moses's civil
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Heir okay but he's not going to speak with God with God directly he must go through the priest but the priest isn't going to
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through the uim now in numbers 27 uh pretty much all Jewish and Christian Scholars agree that uim is a metonymy it's it's a one word
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for the whole and it stands for the uim and the thumim which we read about in Leviticus 8 okay what are the uim and
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through stay through stay tuned what they definitely are is a means by which God would communicate his will to the high priest who would then
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communicate that will to the king and it would be the King Saul David they will they will each call for the priest and they will call for the ephod and they
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will inquire of the Lord through the yure and the thumim okay so these are very significant whatevers that we read about in Leviticus 8
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um but what is really most significant is the change in Paradigm in terms of the communication between God's people and God himself when Moses leaves the
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scene that direct connection is now going through an operator board one ringy dingy you there you know it's it's now going to be would
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you connect me to the Ure okay would you connect me to God okay it's not going to be you know the the red phone from the white White House to the Kremlin anymore and that you know if the if they're
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listening to what Moses is saying they've got to recognize whoa things are changing here Joshua is not invited to speak in the
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tent of meeting he's not invited in the tent of meeting okay he's all that's off limits because he's not of the ironic family and even though he's the leader of all Israel is going to lead him out
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and lead him in where does he get his counsel where does he get you know which tribe should we send up first he asks the high priest who then asks the Lord through the Ure and the
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thumim and then the answer comes back or maybe not Saul didn't get an answer the first time he asked okay King Saul so maybe God will answer maybe God won't
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but there's really there's no mention from this point on of any of these men talking with God even the high priest we mentioned this before that entire
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Ministry was nonverbal there's nothing in the scriptures that I can find that tell us what the high priest for example on the day of atonement he shall enter the holy of holies and he shall
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say nope he just goes in sprinkles the blood hopes he survives and gets back out of there no words put in his mouth as far as scripture goes this is a non
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it's the only nonverbal priesthood in human history and yet there is a mechanism by which God will communicate and he will
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answer questions but that mechanism is really baffling in fact honestly um no one really knows what the uim and the thumim were not at least not that I can tell
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most Scholars again both Jewish and Christian um either allegorize it and we'll talk about that some this evening or they just simply admit we don't know what they were but we will talk about
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them because their significance is in the fact that they now constitute what Moses once did face to face and and it can make us a little bit nervous when we think about it because
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it seems a bit magical that something's going on here that is not defined for us in the scripture and this is how God was
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communicating and and we have the narrative history of this happening several times in Israel's history where God say Judah will go up first okay or
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no you shall not go up you shall go around okay okay so you know God is the he's the the um uh he's the general he's the one who's saying this is this lion
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weight and Ambush the citizens of AI when they come out thinking that you're retreating again it's it's God who's directing the troops even more than Joshua and this is how he's doing it I
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don't know if this is connected in any way but do you know the history of how the Jewish got developed because it's very intricate what they do for the high Hol no I don't and and um I would
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venture to say just the little I do know about the Jewish Traditions is they rank up with the Catholic Traditions as um devoutly to be ignored I I think that
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the the Jews have um I borrowed that from Dickens by the way um uh Christmas the Jews have embellished their religion
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so thickly that it does not represent or even reflect scripture so I know I don't know the details but um I think what we're dealing with here is you know
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because in the Jewish tradition there is still a lot of verbalization a lot of benedictions a lot of prayers and uh it can be also very beautiful if you've ever listened to or just read through
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for example even the Seder the the the benedictions and the prayers but this is nonverbal this completely non-verbal it has no parallel in the ancient world or
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really anything since it would be almost like um you know the pastor getting up in the pulpit and then just standing there Quakers well Quakers still had
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something to say it was whoever was the spirit in the ad you know they they still had they still spoke um whatever the Spirit Led them to speak and and I'm not disparaging the
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speaking because we're going to see I think that that whole Paradigm has changed in Jesus Christ okay that it's
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it's not the same anymore now um it it what the point then is that the Lord is making it clear to the people of
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Israel that things are going to change that the Paradigm of communication and of leadership is going no longer to be vested in one man you do not look to
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Joshua to bring your matters and your sin before Yahweh he's not doing that and even Joshua don't look to your own
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intelligence your skill or even your counselors to discern the will of God you must look to the high priest and then to the high priest don't think
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you've got this figured out you must look to the Ure and the thumim because that is how God is now going to communicate okay so we see in Moses's
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life that Moses stood in the gap between Yahweh and a stiff neck and rebellious people we see it um you know uh
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graphically When God Says stand aside I'm going to kill them and make a nation out of you and Moses stands in the Gap and says no you can't do that think of what all the nations will say okay so he
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he also had that very unique role and then when he's removed there is really no there is no s single person until the Fulfillment of
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Deuteronomy 18:18 who will stand in the gap between Yahweh and his people there's no one like Moses until Jesus how God speak with the prophets in dreams and Visions
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yeah well you know we have The Narrative of Elijah in the cave and he spoke to him out of the out of the wind and I'm not denying that they heard God's voice
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voice but they didn't speak to him face to face and you get the impression in number six that Moses could go to God at any time as Jesus did okay the prophets
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couldn't do that they had to call upon the name of the Lord like like Elijah did at the with the uh against the priests of Bales at Carmel um he he
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called upon the name of the Lord uh they still had to beseech the Lord to speak with them but but he said himself if I have a prophet I will speak to him in
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dreams and Visions he makes the distinction between face Toof face with Moses and a different way the writer of Hebrews starts out by saying in Past Times God spoke in many parts and many
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portions through the prophets none of them had the big picture and none of them had the intimacy with Yahweh that Moses did okay so no Moses was not the
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son of God God Moses did not have Jesus is that much higher than Moses because Jesus was speaking to his father okay my father your father he was the one that
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made the pronoun distinction he said my father not our he said when you pray you pray our father but when he prayed he prayed my father so that relationship is
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you know he is the only begotten beloved Son but his position is or moses' position is a analogous to Jesus's of all Israel there were none
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like Moses okay none of the succeeding Generations will have anyone that approaches the authority and the intimacy of Moses the intimacy with God
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that Moses had this is going away starting in Leviticus 8 this is going away now um Leviticus 8 is is uh
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repetitious in a summary form and many commentators have wondered why it's there and perhaps you've wondered it while you're reading it you know why am I reading this this is basically a reiteration of Exodus 28
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where we have a detailed um description of the material and the preparation of the garments we don't have that here we simply have
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Moses clothing Aaron and his sons and those those components of his vestments that we read about in detail in Exodus 28 and 29 are here simply there they've
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been made now they're put on Aaron and uh even even John Calvin calls the chapter tedious and I I think that there's
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there's a tendency to uh to skim through things that are repetitive that we've already we already read especially if you're reading through through the penet took you've already read this fact
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starting in Exodus 28 all the way through Exodus 40 it's pretty much the clothing of the priests and the furniture of the Tabernacle the reason I think that this is here and I I do derive this primarily
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from Ephraim Radner and his commentary but I also think that it fits with what we've been saying all along is that Leviticus is uniquely placed in history
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and we're reminded so if we if we ask why Leviticus 8 and9 and eight and nine are are a
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are a couplet um but but they are also they also kind of Stand Alone um eight is the consecration of the priesthood and of the Tabernacle nine is the beginning of
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the Priestly the Priestly offerings so these two are very important chapters in terms of history and we're and we're reminded by this and this is this is radner's take on it is that this is
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concept this is history okay Leviticus 8 is where it actually happens so what we read about in Exodus is the is the design it's the blueprint but here in Leviticus we're
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reading it actually happening the consecration of the priest
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UMD far cross oh it's quite a way the this I think this is probably within two years of them I mean the Tabernacle went with them throughout the Wilderness so this is I don't know exactly I I'd have
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to do the the calendar work but it's going to be on the on the early side of the 38 years um I think it's not going to be near the time because they're
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going to it's like it's like the early second early second year okay so it's it's fairly early on in the whole thing they have the law and then they build the Tabernacle and then they erect the
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Tabernacle and the glory of the Lord comes and so that's uh and the chronology is kind of hard because the historians in the in the Old Testament and in the ancient world were not linear
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uh chronologist like we are you know they're they're not interested in things being in exact Chron chronological order they're more interested in uh thematic logic and this is what we're talking
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about right now because for example he's already given us in the first seven chapters all of the Torah of the offerings but they haven't started yet
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and that's that's kind of a pattern is that you get all of the um you'll get all of the instructions of how to build the Tabernacle and how to dress the priests
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and what to do with the sacrifices long before they at least before they actually start this is where they actually start in Leviticus 8 and9 now
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does it correspond to parts of exodus yes it does and that's where some have felt that it's tedious to repeat it but I think what's important here is that we
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remember that remember that Leviticus is one month
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uh it's it's just one month in the history of God's dwelling with his people Israel from
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Exodus 40 verse1 17 to numbers 1 verse one is one month okay the first day of the first month of the you're right yeah it says it why am I why am I trying to figure out when it just says it okay in
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Exodus 40 vers 17 it's the first day of the first month of the second year in numbers one it's the first day of the second month of the second year one
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month now that those brackets are incredibly important to our understanding of Leviticus that everything that's happening here happened in 13-day Period and it's
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almost like bracketing it that way focuses our attention on the fact that this was a specific month in the midst of these 40 years
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especially when it's kind of hard to figure out where they were throughout the rest of those 40 years okay Scholars disagree in trying to put together the map of where they went and and I don't
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think you really can but you can at least put this month right there uh and all that happens in terms of the building of the Tabernacle and the
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consecration of the priesthood and the beginning of the sacrificial liturgy is in this month so this this is the
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historical perspective um which is powerfully under attack and has been for the last 150 years but um you know there's a there's
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this one of these little um inan things on the internet where you know they have um 15 historical people that never existed okay and you know it's the
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people like um Sun and um uh confucious and Homer and and also Moses David and Jesus okay this is
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kind of the conventional wisdom of of 21st century Western Civilization is that all of this is just myth Solomon didn't exist Moses didn't exist Jesus
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didn't exist these are all Fabrications of later mythology now that's pervasive Within professing Christianity that is
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that is pervasive and I think rner is correct to to draw our attention back to the fact that no this is historical and that the historicity of
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the religion of Judaism and then Christianity is um is essential to the religion itself if these are not
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historical then they're not true they present themselves to be based on actual events in which god intervened with the human race choosing
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for himself a people placing one man over that people all of that is historical so I think Ephraim rner is correct he writes in a sense these two
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chapters 8 and nine provide an account of a palpable fulfillment of the previous instruction and constructions instructions and construction
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of Exodus as well as the initiation in practice of the sacrificial outline given in the opening chapters of the book to that degree they stand as an
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impression in history of the commands of God to Israel that which God has spoken has taken place the consecration of the
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priesthood and their first sacrifices within the erected Tabernacle is now a fact of time and this more than Exodus or numbers
39:31
where these sacrifices are described this little section here in Leviticus is the one that that takes the timeline or the event and pins it to the actual
39:43
historical timeline of human history Again by saying it's in this one month period okay that's not just arbitrary background context that's not
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usually given that kind of information so Leviticus is actual history um rner makes one other comment and I think is is worth
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quickly well this goes back to the previous discussion of Moses the uniqueness of this moment is marked by the certain divergences from the General in instructions for example seral and wave offerings in Leviticus 7 this
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strange transition from Moses as provisional priest to Aaron and as his sons as Perpetual priests so again that just summarizes what we're reading here
40:42
in Leviticus SE or eight and nine is that transition of the Priestly Ministry of Moses to Aaron and his sons but it's given to us as
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historically accomplished now in chapter n we have the significant event of the fire of Yahweh coming out and devouring the offering on the
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altar in chapter 10 we have the significant event of the fire of ywe doing the same thing to naab and abue Aaron's sons so the the the dynamic
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historical events here are showing us the us the culmination of a holy God dwelling with
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an Unholy people that he has chosen that's the dynamic going on here Leviticus 8 and9 present us with God's
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approbation his favor toward his people Leviticus 10 reminds us that he's not a tame lion that dwelling in the presence of a
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holy God is a very dangerous position that Israel was in a very blessed but dangerous spot on earth okay so these
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are these lessons don't change and and that's why one of the reasons I want to go back to Hebrews because Hebrews is so rooted in Leviticus and yet so uh
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expository of Leviticus that I think it' be a good place to end this session in a few weeks so we move on then to the
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Priestly and we're again told very briefly in
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8 where Moses is to wash the garments and whatnot and uh wash them with water verse six and then put the tunic on him and girded him with the sash clothed him with the robe and
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put the ephod on him and he girded him with the artistic band of the epod which he tied to him then he played placed the breastplate on him and in the breastplate he put the Ure and thumim he
43:04
also placed the turban on his head and on the turban at its front he placed the golden plate the holy crown just as God the Lord had commanded Moses that phrase
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the Lord had commanded Moses is is like eight or nine times in this chapter so in a short chapter we hear quite frequently that Moses is doing
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what the Lord commanded now where he commanded of course was back in Exodus 28 29 and on with the Tabernacle through uh chapter 40 through the end of the
43:36
book so Moses clothes Aaron what is the significance of the garments well the garments as we've talked about before garments Priestly
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to be a symbol of a special Authority given by God over his
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people which is why I oppose garments within Christianity because I do not believe that and I think we're going to see that that position has been fully finally
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fulfilled Ines Jesus Christ the only garments we wear are the robes washed in his blood we have no distinctive garments as Believers and I think those
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who defend garments use human logic and reason that the people need that symbol of authority that's bunk if that's what
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they need then they don't have the Holy Spirit they need it because maybe they're not even regenerate okay it could be that they're just ignorant and all you're doing is confirming them in
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their ignorance but this idea it's no different to say for example that I wear this robe so that the people understand that I stand in the position of the Oracle of God that's really no different
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than the stained glass images in a Roman Catholic Cathedral being the Bible for the illiterate okay what what do you do when you have an illiterate congregation you
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teach them to read what do you do if you have people who don't recognize the ministry of the word through the Elder as authoritative you teach them from the
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word that it is so you don't wear a special costume okay because that's just confirming them in their superstitious ignorance and it's not a good
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justification the weakness of the people is never a justification for weakness in the Pulpit so this you know when we look at this yes we are definitely looking at a
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Authority the high priest wore eight individual components To His Garment his sons wore sons wore four okay they shared four and then the high priest had four others for example
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I mean simple one the sons did not have a breastplate nor a turban nor a gold plate that said Holiness to the Lord okay the these were they did not have
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the Ure and the thumim so you know these were things that they did not have but underneath all of that they were dressed the same as their father was so there was a basic Garment of the priests that
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was not to be taken outside the temple pre or the Tabernacle precincts these were their work clothes but their work was to be Servants of
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Yahweh on behalf of the people of Yahweh so um you know the transfer of authority here we saw that in numbers
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27 um we've already talked about Joshua could not inquire but Eleazar could not communicate with Yahweh but through the uim and thumim now what is significant
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about the garments if you if you dig in to you know you read Leviticus where Moses is actually putting them on but then you go back back to Exodus where
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the garments are described and so are the Furnishings you find that the garments actually constituted part of the
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Furnishings of the Tabernacle they were made in a similar design and of the same material as the material in the
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Tabernacle and so the uh in this case the garments
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furniture they they were part of the Tabernacle which is why they weren't to leave the Tabernacle we saw that in the taking up and the taking out of the ashes that wearing the sacred garments to take up the ashes he had to change
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and put on basically his day clothes to take them out of the Tabernacle because he was not allowed to walk outside the Tabernacle entrance in His Garment in
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his vestments because they did not belong to belong to him they belonged to the Tabernacle we might say it this way when God looked at Aaron the brother
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of Moses he saw a fallen corrupt Israelite whom he had called to him by grace and in Aaron's case he would see
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um an especially um poignant weakness of the flesh when Aaron dawned these vestments God didn't see that man
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anymore he saw the high priest now I'm I'm speaking you know um in human terms because God knows the heart of all men and if the high priest were to sin God
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is not going to absolve him because he was wearing his vestments so it wasn't some type of of uh get out of jail free card for the high priest but nonetheless
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these garments represented they were they were glorious in appearance and because of that they were in that in that Garb he would be permitted to come into
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the presence of Yahweh and the whole holy of holy of holies he did not do so in his regular clothes nor did his sons ever enter
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beyond that Veil until one of them became the high priest and put on these garments the Garment the the we actually read about the plate that in wearing the
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plate on the termin that says Holiness to the Lord he would be bringing atonement for the people just by wearing that these are all he would carry the
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tribes of Israel engraved on the gemstones on his breastplate so everything he was he was in a sense a Living
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Sacrifice coming to Yahweh for the atonement of yahweh's people that's all in the garments keep in mind that Aaron
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was given no words to say so he didn't do anything he didn't say anything he didn't say oh Yahweh have mercy no that's that's David in the
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Psalms that's not the high priest so everything every form of communication now between the high priest and Yahweh
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is nonverbal and one of the loudest nonverbal Communications was this outfit that Aaron that Aaron wore they have any
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blessings well no we'll have a blessing here in chapter nine but in the actual garments you don't you touch him you get
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healed or something I mean I've read place's church this particular thing has aess um no one could touch the Garment
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and get healed because if they touched the Garment it meant they were where they shouldn't they shouldn't be right because the Garment didn't go out among the people it did not lead A
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procession of the of the uh elements of mass of the Eucharist through the streets of Jerusalem no it didn't leave the Tabernacle so it it was part of the Furnishings of the Tabernacle it had no
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magical powers like that you didn't send one of the gemstones off to a leper and he gets healed or you know send Aaron's handkerchief and send in $5 dollar with it and you know no there was none of
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that uh what is it called well he's a charlot and charlot Tre I guess I don't know uh it had no magical powers in that sense although we haven't talked about the Yuan through me yet but in terms of
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the of the um the Garment itself I it was just basically part of the Tabernacle Furniture which made the high priest
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himself part of the Tabernacle Furniture as well as his sons they were not so much um a ruling class as they were a
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servant class servant class and I think it's just I keep saying it but uh the fact that they had nothing to actually say or verbalize highlights their their part
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they're like okay here's the Tabernacle and it requires machinery for its operation does that make sense because animals will be sacrifice
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offerings must be burned okay the things must be cleaned blood must be sprinkled oil must be applied all these things it's like I'm not going to I don't want to diminish it by calling it a machine
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but it's not just a static tent it's a dynamic relationship between God and his people okay so if you visual if you visualize it as that machine that is
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processing the sins of Israel before a holy God and returning out of that the grace of God to continue to dwell in their midst these are the gears
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the priests are the mechanical parts of the Tabernacle they're really no more special than that but they're vital to the operation of the whole system and
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that lies behind Paul's admonition in Romans 12 when he says present yourselves as a Living Sacrifice which is your acceptable service the word is
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actually Loro from which we get liturgy but it is the the Greek word that speaks to what the priest did in the Tabernacle and in the temple so
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they were they were a sense non- entities in and of themselves they only became entities of any significance when they dawned the vestments it was almost an alter ego
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sort of thing that Aaron in his vestments was not Aaron in his street clothes okay and and so Aaron in his vestments was able to approach the
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presence of God whereas Aaron in his street clothes was not so um some some uh okay here's one quote from
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uh Jacob Milgram in putting on these clothes he took to himself all the honor and glory of the high priesthood his glorious clothing symbolized the
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significance of his office so the uniqueness of these Gardens is garments is emphasized by both the prohibition against wearing
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them outside the holy precincts and also the fact that quote the mixture of linen and wool was prohibited in non-sacred garments
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because it was considered holy so just like the incense the popar that was burned on the incense off you were not allowed to buy that blend at at Bath and Body Works okay you that was not that
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was it was an Abomination to the Lord and could get you cut off from the people if you had the the temple incense or the Tabernacle incense in in your
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home the things that we read in Exodus tie all of this together into that Sacred Space that was the tabernacle okay corresponding to that
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that we won't have time to discuss I don't think in this this certainly not in this session Sacred Space was the tabernacle sacred time was the Sabbath those two
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pillars held up the relationship between Yahweh and his people so Sacred Space and sacred time are what the people of God desire and what has been given to us in
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Jesus Christ okay but that Sacred Space is no longer a tent and that sacred time is no longer the seventh day of the week okay so if you if you see what what the
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Old Testament is setting up and then look to what Jesus is and has done then you realize that that this was always provisional again this is a good reason
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to go back to Hebrews because that's one of the points that he makes time and time again was that these priests were prevented by Death from continuing they had to offer up sacrifices for their own
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sin they were they suffered and they were weak just as the people for whom they were sacrificing this was provisional and yet it was eschatological okay that Moses says in
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Deuteronomy 18 there will be another Prophet okay and and that the Monarch would not be uh he would not lorded over you of course he would because he was
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going to be a fallen man but that was not the way it was supposed to be they were supposed to consult with God and receive their direction from
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him um an noted uh Hebrew scholar MIM Haron who um turns 100 this year it's quite quite
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amazing that's a feat but he did a tremendous amount of study um in the the temple and the Tabernacle that was kind of his life's work apparently he is
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still teaching U at Hebrew University in in Tel Aviv or something you know at 100 years of age he still listed as ameritus professor professor of of aerology and
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and Old Testament studies which well not Old Testament studies because they don't call it the Old Testament um but he did extensive studies of ancient temples and he makes this comment he said uh this is actually someone writing about his work
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in haran's work on the structure of the Tabernacle and Temple and the role of the cultic service within it he observes the manner in which the priests both through their vestments and through
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their ordination become in effect part of the Tabernacle structure themselves and and I think that's the right way to look at it that when we approach the
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opening of the tent of meaning with our Ram or our lamb or or our Turtle does or whatever we're we're turning it over to the priests but what we're really doing the
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priests are nothing more than as as I said the mechanism by which God's grace is brought out through the
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shedding of the blood and the offering of the sacrifice to bring peace between Yahweh and his people there they're not anything special in and of themselves I think
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that's the difference between the um the system of the Tabernacle and the perversion of it in the Roman Catholic priesthood you see the Roman Catholic priest is himself
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something he can say absolvo you are absolved I absolve you Aaron never said that Eleazar never said that okay they
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didn't have that role they didn't again they didn't have a verbal role because
