The Priestly Ministry Begins

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions, where every day you and I, we get together, we have a little bit of coffee, we get into God's Word, we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2023, Lord willing, we'll make it from Genesis through Leviticus. I'm so glad to be with you today. I'll have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into the first sacrifices of Aaron and his sons.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word. We thank you for the ways in which you are working in our lives. And we pray for your spirit this morning, that you might impress the words of this onto our hearts, that we would know what it means and how it applies to us today. In Jesus's name. Amen. Well, I just misspoke. It's not actually Aaron and his sons. This is just Aaron, right? We're going to find his sons tomorrow.
But today we're at Leviticus chapter nine, Leviticus chapter nine. Remember yesterday in chapter eight, there was a whole consecration ceremony where Aaron and his sons were ordained. And then there is a seven day ordination process. And then they're to stay in the tabernacle. And the very first thing that happens, sacrifice. Let's go ahead and read. It came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel and said to Aaron, take for yourself a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering without blemish and offer them before the Lord. That's interesting, isn't it?
Aaron and his sons have been away from people for seven days and the first thing they gotta do is make a sin offering. You can go into a monastery and be alone all you want or be in a little closer with your own little group, but guess what? You're still going to sin. The problem is you bring yourself with you, which means you bring your own sins. And the irony of this has not been lost on Jewish rabbis, but we'll point out time and again.
What's the first thing after Aaron is consecrated? Go get a perfect bull. Remember the incident with the golden calves? Go get a perfect calf. Now we're going to make a sacrifice. And the children of Israel you shall speak, saying, Take a kid of the goats as a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year without blemish, as a burnt offering. Also a bull and a ram as peace offerings to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with oil. For today the Lord will appear to you. Moses had to do these sacrifices before to consecrate, to ordain Aaron and his sons.
How do they know that this is actually what God wants? Well, Moses said, this is what God commanded me, but did God actually do it? How do they know? Moses says, God's going to appear. He's going to show up today. You just wait, Aaron. So they brought what Moses commanded before the tabernacle of meeting, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. Then Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commanded you to do, and the glory of the Lord will appear to you. And Moses said to Aaron, Go to the altar, offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people. offer the offering of the people and make atonement for them as the Lord commanded. So this is Moses saying, all right, hey brother, it's your turn now. Go do your duty. Go make atonement. Go do the sacrifices. You saw how I did it. You've heard how God commanded me. Now it's your turn. Now you go do it.
Aaron therefore went to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. Then the sons of Aaron brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar, and poured the blood at the base of the altar.
But the kidneys, the fat, and the fatty lobe from the liver of the sin offering he burned on the altar as the Lord had commanded. The flesh in the hide he burned with fire outside of the camp. Then he killed the burnt offering, and Aaron's sons presented to him the blood which he sprinkled all around the altar.
Then they presented the burnt offering to him with its pieces and head, and he burned them on the altar, and he washed the entrails and the legs and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar. Then he brought the people's offering and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and killed it and offered it for sin like the first one. And he brought the burnt offering and offered it according to the prescribed manner. Then he brought the grain offering, took a handful of it and burned it on the altar beside the burnt sacrifice of the morning.
He also killed the bull and the ram as sacrifices of peace offerings, which were for the people. And Aaron's sons presented to him the blood, which he sprinkled all around the altar, all around on the altar, and the fat from the bull and the ram, the fatty tail, what covers the entrails and the kidneys and the fatty lobe attached to the liver. And they put the fat on the breasts. Then he burned the fat on the altar.
But the breasts and the right thigh, Aaron waved as a wave offering before the Lord as Moses had commanded. Remember those different sacrifices that we read in chapter 1 through 7? Aaron's going through and doing those different sacrifices. We've had a grain offering, we've had a peace offering, we've had a burnt offering, we've had a sin offering. He's going through and doing these different sacrifices as God had commanded Moses. He's doing it. And it's beautiful and it's marvelous. But the fire is still Moses's. Is God really with him? Verse 22.
Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, blessed them and came down from offering the burnt offering and peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the Lord Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar.
When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. God showed up. This was not just a made-up fable by Moses. This was not just the dreams of a crazy man, but God showed up. Fire came down from heaven, consumed the sacrifice. This was pleasing in His sight. He did exactly what Moses commanded, and He made Himself known.
And the people fall on their faces. They see God's holiness. They understand the gravity of His person. They perceive His glory. They fall on their faces in fear because they know that their Redeemer, the God of heaven and earth, has truly instituted this. That glory of God isn't gone. Jesus is the exact representation of his glory. He is the glory of God. And God's glory showed up at his birth. The glory of God showed up at his transfiguration. The glory of God was manifested in his miracles and the glory of God will be revealed in his coming again.
And when the saints at Pentecost in chapter two, when the Holy Spirit fell upon them as tongues of fire, they fell on their faces as well. Time and time again, we find the apostles falling on their face and worshiping Jesus. In Revelation, we find the people bowing before the Lamb who was slain because He's worthy. Do you bow before Him?
Do you know the glory of Jesus Christ? It's far more beautiful and better than the fire that came down from heaven to give this signal and sign of the truth of Aaron's priesthood. God himself spoke from heaven, not just with fire, but with audible words and said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. Do you listen to Jesus? Do you bow to Jesus? Do you worship Jesus? Do you love Jesus?
He is our High Priest, our Sacrifice, our Anointed One, our King, and our Glorious One, who we fall before. He is majestic and glorious. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for giving us your Word today. for giving us your son, Lord, we long for that beatific vision when we will see Jesus Christ as he truly is. I pray that even in this life, we might have a glimpse. Of your glory. In Jesus's name, amen. Well, may you. Marvel. that God's glory has been revealed to you in Jesus Christ and may you walk in His ways. I'll see you next time. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.