Leviticus 8, 9 & 10 Bible Study (Consecration of Aaron/Death of Nadab) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Last week, we discussed the remaining of the offerings from Leviticus chapter one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven. We're really focused on chapter two to chapter seven. These five fundamental offerings that the priests were to offer and the people were to participate in. And now we've come to the place in chapter eight to chapter 10 where the Lord now is, going to consecrate and ordain the priesthood. And so we discussed the offerings and what that means for us as worshipers in the new covenant, the principles from the different versions that are displayed here.

And now from eight to 10, Leviticus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wants to dedicate two chapters to the commissioning of the Aaronic priesthood. And from eight, nine, and 10, we see really a roller coaster experience with this group of ministers. And if you just scan through chapter eight just really quickly with your own eyes, if you just see the the structure of it, if you've read this chapter already, you might have gotten this idea. I remember reading this earlier this week and just said, you know, I'm just gonna read it over and over again and see what this has to do with anybody else in this day and age. And as I was reading it over and over again, I realized that chapter eight really is the ordination process for these priests.

That there was a protocol that they needed to meet, that there are certain things that first needed to take place before they could start out in the ministry, and then it just kinda clicked. There are principles here of those who feel led to the ministry and what would require of them concerning the Lord. Not word for word and the exact things. We're not in the old covenant. And so really in chapter eight, and we're gonna touch on chapter eight, nine, 10, but chapter eight, if you're gonna title this anything, it could simply be what God requires of me to be used by him.

Something along those lines. And I would lean it more towards those who feel, because we're all called to be priests, but those who feel led by the Lord or who have a desire to serve the Lord in full time vocation. That Acts six:four kind of life where you dedicate your entire existence to prayer and to the reading and proclamation of the Word of God. God has a principle. God has a standard, not just in the old covenant, but even in the new covenant.

And just think about the standard in the new covenant for overseer and elders. How many even in the old covenant would not be able to make it through that process? Husband of what? One wife? There goes David.

There goes Solomon. And so in these different covenants, we see the same principle that God has, that they would be above reproach, and this is true of the Aaronic priesthood. But it's not limited to that. If you have a desire in your heart to serve God at any capacity because not everybody is called into full time ministry, there's still something that you can take from here. So look at verse one.

Verse one down to verse four. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, the anointing oil, and the bowl of the sin offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread, and assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the congregation was assembled at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So the entire nation now is at this ordination service, and they're about to witness a holy thing. They're about to see a handful of men that are gonna be completely dedicated to full time service for God.

And as you read on, we see the right elements are there. We see the ingredients are there for God to use, but now it's about to get into the nitty gritty details of the process of how they were to be set apart unto him. And so if you've read Leviticus, hey, some things are popping up into your mind right now. There are some ideas that you see here, but let's just assume that nobody's read it, so we're gonna go through this together. Look at verse five.

And Moses said to the congregation, this is the thing that the Lord has commanded to be done. And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. And he put the coat on him and tied the sash around his waist being Aaron and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him and tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band. And he placed the breastpiece on him. And in the breastpiece, he put the Urim and the Thummim, and he set the turban on his head and on the turban in front and set the golden plate, the golden crown as the Lord commanded Moses.

Now this isn't really even the first step. This is like the second and third. The first understanding concerning a person that wants to live out in this call for full time ministry or service to the Lord, but mainly full time, is not found in these verses. It's actually found in verse one. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, take Aaron and his sons with him.

Number one, you need to be called. You need to be called by God, and this is especially true concerning full time ministry. I know some people might disagree with that, but I believe that God's ministry and to serve him at that capacity requires God's invitation, and that God is the one who hires. God is the one who chooses. God is the one who selects, who is to dedicate their entire existence for this type of service.

And it's more than just somebody desiring it. I believe it's more than somebody just wanting to pursue it. I am a firm believer according to the word of God, not my opinion, that somebody needs to have the confidence that God has called them into such a service. And in my humble opinion, I don't know why anybody would want to jump into such a thing for the rest of their life without that type of confidence from God. Why would you do that?

If you knew what was involved with it, it's way more than people saying, oh, isn't that person a great speaker? And that person oh. All the ministers in here know. All those even training for ministry can know. They can already feel the heat that's coming from the battlefield that's awaiting them as they go into the front lines.

It's not something that you should just jump into. God forbid. And we see this in acts twenty twenty eight. Look what Paul says to the elders of Ephesus. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.

The Holy Spirit has made you overseers. He's called you to this. He's commissioned you to this. He's placed that burden on your heart. He would not let you go.

Well, how do I know God called? He'll make sure that you know. The same way you knew that you got a phone call and you got hired for a job is the same way the Lord will make it abundantly clear if you need to be a part of this full time service. What did it say in Acts 13 concerning Barnabas and Saul? As they were fasting and worshiping the Lord, you want greater clarity in what you want what God wants you to do?

Worship him. Set yourself apart from the usual fast a little bit in your life. Seek him, love him. And in that place, the holy spirit said, set apart unto me, Barnabas and Saul for the service to which I have called them. So we see it all over the book of Acts.

Paul continually speaks with that kind of language. I'm trying to fulfill the ministry that I have received. I live for this ministry that I have received. It's not something that I went out and reached out for. No, no, no.

God had placed it in my heart. God had made it abundantly clear. God had called me into this service, and we need that for confidence. In moments of doubt and moments of warfare, You know that all hell could break loose around you, but you say, I know that God had called me. And it's it's the the job of those even like Moses, the elders of churches, of local churches, to be able to prayerfully identify and confirm that in people.

And so, you know, God has called you. I believe God has called you. I believe this is more than just you having an emotional arousing. Oh, yeah. I really wanna do this and then just romanticizing ministry.

No. I see something in you. Timothy was continually confirmed, and Paul continually reminded him of the confirmation of the elders who prayed over him and laid hands on him. This man is called. This man is called.

You need that. And I could tell you, I've heard so many people say, no. The desire is enough. I wish The desire is enough. No.

There needs to be a call. These men had a call. And then we come to what we just read in verse six. And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. Who washed them?

Moses. So what do you get out of that verse? Now this is not necessarily step for step, but there are wonderful principles here. Here are the handful of priests coming, and they needed to first be washed with water. Cleansed of any filth, infirmity, iniquity, anything that symbolized death, anything that symbolized sin, all those physical pictures that all needed to be drained out.

And if anybody, not just full time, if anybody wants to be used by the Lord, they need to they need to allow God to wash them. This is a humbling process. They didn't wash themselves. They didn't say, you know, I think I'm just gonna wash this part and leave this part. No.

No. No. No. They came into the presence of Moses who represented God. Wash whatever you need to wash off me.

If you want to be used by God, you need to be able to say that confidently. You need to be able to say that with desperation. You need to be able to say that without reservation. Lord, I come. This is your word.

This is your standard of holiness. I'm not gonna present you what I believe I need to live like and what I believe that I can keep in my life and what I believe that I no. No. No. Whatever you need to wash off of me, I give you permission to wash.

Cleanse me thoroughly in places that I don't even know. And I don't care. Just do whatever you need to do for me to be able to make it acceptable. And Jesus said this to his own disciples in John 13. Did he not?

He says, unless I wash you, I wash you. Notice that they didn't wash themselves. Moses washed them. Unless you humbly come into the presence of God, not just once, but daily, and say, Lord, whatever you need to do to cleanse me so that can be a vessel of honorable use, I'm willing. I'm willing.

Do it. I'm not gonna hold on to anything. I'm not gonna make excuses for anything. I'm not gonna justify anything. Take your word.

Allow the Holy Spirit to come and just remove it all. Remove it all. And you know what? Can I be quite honest? The reason why so many people are not being used by God is they can't even get over that step.

They can't. They're not willing to come humbly before God, strip themselves bare, and saying, Lord, I don't care if it hurts. You tell me to remove it, I'll remove it. You tell me to set it apart, I'll set it apart. You tell me to get rid of it, I'll get rid of it.

So many people, they can't even move that point. And so many people can't move forward in what God has called them to even if they were really called because they like to hold on to the filthy things in life. So they were called. Sure. They they had that the commissioning by God, and then all of a sudden they just see the price of it and they say, no.

It's not worth it. What happens here in verse seven? And he put the coat on him and tied the sash around his waist and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him into okay. So we read this already. He's clothing them now.

He is properly equipping them and dressing them for the work to which they were to partake of. They were to put on the right garments and these garments would set them apart from all the other Israelites. They would be distinct. There would be something about them that would be noticeable from afar. And the New Testament is not so concerned of whether you wear a tie or not.

The New Testament is concerned about a different putting on and a different putting off. Ephesians uses that language over and over. Put off the old man. Put on the new man. Put on, as we're learning this Sunday, put on the whole armor of God.

And it's it's more it's more of a concern of internal realities than external adornment. And so this garment and these different pieces are deeply symbolic though. The principle is there that we are to put on certain characteristics. We are to remove other attitudes. But even within the garments of the high priest, there are such wonderful symbolic truths concerning the minister.

We have to go back to Exodus 28 to learn it though. And this is where these books connect. So we went through the priestly garments, did we not, in Exodus? Let's look at two of them in Exodus 28. Exodus 28 beginning in verse nine.

This is concerning the high priest. These are the different elements that were prepared, and now they are being placed upon the high priest. And this is one of them. You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in order of their birth. As a jeweler engraved signets, so you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel.

And where were they supposed to be placed? Verse 12. You shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod. So here here's one of the things, that they were to take these two onyx stones, six names of the tribes on one, six names of the tribes on the other, and they were to place them on the shoulders of the high priest. Some symbolizing what?

What does that symbolize, the shoulders? Strength. Yes. But what does it say of the high priest? To carry the names of the tribes, to carry really their burden, to carry them, and to to be in that place of lifting them and supporting them.

That was the job of the high priest, and he would be continually reminded of that as these stones were on their shoulder. You know what tells me about ministry? That if you wanna enter to the service of the Lord, you better know that you're gonna be carrying people's burdens. You better know. As Paul said, Paul was not just an apostle.

Paul was not just a teacher. He was not just a church plan. You know what Paul says? I'm a father. You have many teachers but very few fathers.

I'm a father to you. He called Timothy his spiritual son. How many kids, how many spiritual kids do you think the Apostle Paul had? Any overseer, any person that wants to pursue full time ministry, especially in the pastorate, needs to understand that they are going to carry people's problems in their lives, that they are going to sacrifice their time, that they are going to include them and labor for them in the place of intercession, That they are gonna get phone calls in the middle of the night. That they are going to it's not even about their immediate family though that is the most important.

They have all these other problems. They have all these other things that they have to nurture and take care of. That's their call. If you're not willing to do that, if you have romanticized this idea of ministry where people will love me, and give me stuff, and take care of me, and talk about me, you got it all wrong. Go be a businessman.

Go be an actor. You gotta realize that God is calling you to carry people, to lift them up. One sheep goes astray, you gotta go. You gotta find them. You gotta call them.

You gotta text them. They ignore you. You gotta keep calling. You gotta keep praying for them. It's not easy stuff.

You gotta deal with people's problems. You know, sheep of all things, running away, stumbling, turning over. You gotta shear them. You gotta lift them back up. You gotta chase this one.

You gotta clean up their dung. And all we see is this part. We go, oh, I wanna be a minister. Oh, you have no idea. Not only that, look at this other piece here.

Verse 28 of Exodus 28. And they shall bind the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod. So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart. So now he has these 12 separate stones that are gonna be on the breastpiece. It's gonna be tied tightly on his chest, and this is obviously a picture of the high priest who carries our names on his heart.

But even for those who want to serve as a representative of this high priest, you better have a love for people. Love for each individual. No favoritism. No. A love for all people.

That everything that you do, yes, is motivated to glorify God, but it is also motivated by a deep adoration, care, affection for those that God has entrusted you to. There is nothing more terrifying than a shepherd who does not have love for his sheep because even when a shepherd has to give the sharpest rebukes and the hardest messages, even his sheep should be able to say he's doing this in love. They should be able to say this person is doing it out of genuine care for my soul. So you can imagine as this high priest is being dressed, all this symbolism, all the pictures here, love. You know how Paul was possessed by a love for his people?

He describes all these things that he goes through, all the things that he he gives his resume, shipwrecked, all these different things, and he goes on top of all of that, stoned, whipped, you name it, chased, robbed, ambushed, I suffer daily for an anxiety with an anxiety for the churches. He goes, I travail. Like how he prayed for his people, I travail like one who is giving birth until Christ be formed in you. He was completely possessed by those who he saw come to Christ, not only come to Christ and leave him and say, oh, a little figure it out. Say, no.

I am possessed by love for you to be shaped, molded, and formed into Christ likeness, and I pray with such pain. What do you think it made Paul feel whenever he got letters and reports from these churches that this person's backsliding and this person's living in sexual sin? What do you think it did to his heart? He said, I write this with tears in some places. Like a mother love loves his children.

I love you. He speaks with that kind of language. You can't get that in a seminary, by the way. That is something that's given by God. That is something that comes with a close relationship with the high priest himself, you priest.

You realize that for you to do anything I don't care, and the Bible does not care how intellectual you are, doesn't care how skillful you are, doesn't care how famous you are, doesn't care how many Facebook followers you have, how many Twitter followers you have. Doesn't matter how you can preach a message. None of that matters because first Corinthians 13 says, if it's not in love, it's nothing. It's nothing. Gosh.

That's so convicting. That's so convicting. Not just because I myself in the ministry, just the idea itself of serving the Lord. I mean, if anybody were to see you serving the Lord at any capacity, whether it's behind the pulpit or you greeting people at the door, what would people say about the way you serve? Your dedication in the local church, whatever you do for Christ, would people be able to say this person really does it for love?

This person really loves me. This person really cares for me. Everything that they do is motivated for my well-being. What a terrible thing for people to say, Oh, that person is so intelligent. Oh, that person has so much but they're nasty.

They're really rude. And they really love the sound of their own voice and the people they're preaching to. You know what's one of the most sobering thoughts for any person that speaks behind the pulpit? That by the time you go from that chair to this pulpit, ask yourself this, do I really love the people that I'm about to preach to? Would I want them to love the way I've organized this sermon and love the way I brought up a point from a text?

Or do I really care that they get what they're about to hear and leave here loving Christ more than me? They were to be properly adorned and clothed. And then it goes on here. Skip down to verse 14, would you? Of Leviticus chapter eight.

Then he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering, and he killed it. And Moses took the blood with his finger, put on the horns of the altar around him, purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, and consecrated to make atonement for it. Now go to verse 18. Then he presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, and he killed it. And Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar.

He cut the ram into pieces, and Moses burned the head and the pieces and the fat. He washed the entrails and the legs with water, and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma of food offering for the Lord as the Lord commanded Moses. And just stop there. Here's the next principle concerning those who wanna serve the Lord, especially those in full time ministry.

What's going on here? What do you take out of that concerning a principle? Remember who's doing the sacrifices and who the who the sacrifices are for, and draw the principle from that truth. It's Aaron and the priest that are laying their hands on these offerings, the sin offering and the burnt offering. For what purpose?

What's we learn about the sin offering. What's the purpose of the sin offering? It's in the name really. It's not to atone for sin. The burnt offering is the same purpose.

And so what is that saying about these priests, and what should it say to the priests that are about to enter into the service for the Lord? This is what it's saying. You are in need just as much as the average Israelite for your sins to be atoned for, and you are just as much a sinner as they are. Oh, could you imagine? Look at me.

I mean, we have how many guys? We have Aaron and his four sons in the midst of millions called out. Everybody's watching them, and think about how humbling this is. Place your hands on the bull. Place your hands on the ram.

And everybody's watching. They're sinners just like me. They need Christ's forgiveness just like me, and they are acknowledging that in that as well, which tells you and me something about serving the Lord. You and I are no better than anybody else. You and I are just as much in need of the grace of God as the average person who never has an opportunity to share behind the pulpit, who never has the opportunity to be on Facebook live, or has his sermon on YouTube.

We are just as much in need. And whatever you do for the Lord, no matter how great it is, even if you stand before millions like these priests, you are there simply because of the grace of God. There is no boasting in this principle right here. There is no room for any person to say, I'm here because there's something special about me. No.

Not at all. And they would be reminded of that, and God's purpose in this is that it would produce such a deep humility, such a deep humility that every time they would have to do ritual cleansing with these other persons, whether it was a leper or anybody else, They would be reminded in that process I needed the same thing. And that's important for those who want to pursue holiness and spirituality, that there's a danger in that pursuit, like there's a danger in anything else, and that danger is self righteousness. And that we need to be careful and continually examining ourselves as Galatians six:one says, that if any one of your brothers falls for any transgression, let him who is spiritual restore him. That the spiritual person is marked by a spirit of restoration even amongst those who have fallen, and then that person must restore that other brother or sister with, yes, the understanding that he himself also is capable of falling.

That's why he says, lest you be tempted as well. Be careful lest you be tempted as well. That's the spiritual person. That's the person that has the power of the Holy Spirit on their life. That there's supposed to be this grace and this mercy that's supposed to be continually radiating from them, and this is what this would have done for Aaron and his boys.

So the principle here if you want to be used by God is that you need to continually walk with an awareness of your own sinfulness and your own ability if you give that flesh a chance to fall just like the average Israelite. Something else happens in verse 22. Then he presented the other ram. Remember, in verse one and two we talked about two different rams. One was done for the burnt offering, and this is a different ram for a different purpose.

Verse 22. Then he presented the other ram, the ram of ordination. And Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. Now what was the purpose of this? Well, we'll see right here.

And he killed it, and Moses took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. And he did the same with Aaron's sons. Now you hear that. I'm sure so much is crashing through your mind, so I wanna give an opportunity for you to answer. What is going on here?

The ram of ordination. What a title. And the blood had a specific purpose, and which shows us right here. What do you get from that? Here's Moses taking that blood, putting a little bit on the lobe, the right thumb, and on the big toe.

He's consecrating every part of this. Yes. Yes. Yes. From head to toe, consecrated.

Consecrated by the blood. Set apart by the blood. And each component though speaks volumes of how that priest ought to live in service to the Lord, that his ears are dedicated unto the Lord. His ears are dedicated unto the Lord, that he will dedicate his life to be in tune to the word of God, that he will not allow anything else to come into his mind that would defile his effectiveness as a priest because we're gonna find out that he's called to teach. And so he has dedicated his ears.

Lord, I want these ears to be ultra sensitive to your word. I will not give it to any other defilement. I will not give my ears to vain conversation. I will not give my ears to what other people give their ears to know. What these things are unto you, and here's my hand, Lord.

All my energy and all my effort will be dedicated to serving you. All my strength, all my skill is unto you, my God. I will not do with my hands what I wish, but they are unto you alone. And so may I labor with these hands. And may I be continually reminded that when my hands are tempted to do something else other than serve you and glorify you, honor you, that they have been dedicated by your blood.

Oh, not just his hands, but the feet. Oh, Lord, as your servant, I will not go where I wish. I will not go where I want to go. I will not go where it seems comfortable. I will not go where the crowd goes.

I will not go where people think that I should go. I will go where you want me to go. You tell me to stay, and I'll stay. I will not allow my feet to wander to unholy places. No.

I will remain where you want me to remain wherever I go anywhere. Lord, I will ask you, do you wanna come with me? Lord, is this somewhere that you're comfortable? I will walk in your ways for the rest of my life. This is what's happening with this ram of ordination.

Can you say that about your life? Can you, in your seat right now, say that with your mind, your hands, and your feet? If not, God won't be able to use you. I don't care who you are. I don't care who you are.

I don't care how many degrees you have. I don't care how smooth your tongue is. I don't care how you can string phrases together. I don't care how well you can play on that tune. God ain't with you.

If you can't consecrate every part, you can't move on into the ministry. They haven't even ministered yet. That's in chapter nine. They're still preparing themselves. God is still calling the standard.

So up to this point, if you can check yes, yes, yes, you're in good hands. But like I said, many people cannot do this. Oh, they can dedicate their hands and their feet, but not their ears. They can dedicate their ears and their hands, but not their feet. It's head to toe brothers and sisters.

God has not changed. God has not changed. We're in a new covenant. Living sacrifice. Don't forget it.

Romans 12. Living sacrifice. Every part of you consecrated unto God. And something else happens here, which is very beautiful. We see here in verse 30, then Moses took some of the anointing oil and the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments and also on his sons and his sons' garments.

So he consecrated Aaron and his garments and his sons and his sons garments with him. It's a beautiful picture of consecration again, but in a very specific way. When we see this idea of anointing oil in the New Testament, the Old Testament more than the New Testament, he's in there in the New Testament as well. What's anointing oil representative? The Holy Spirit.

Yes. And there's a statement being made by when something or someone was anointed with oil. What was that statement? Early on in verse 10, it talks about how Aaron, the head, the high priest, was consecrated with that oil. And so it was poured out on Aaron the high priest.

It was sprinkled on Aaron again and his sons mingled with the blood. Right? There's a there's a statement there. We'll get to it. And so they would take this oil and sprinkle, and they sprinkle parts of the tabernacle as well to say what?

This is the picture. You see it in first Samuel ten one. We see it in Isaiah 61. What does Isaiah 61 say? That the spirit of the Lord is upon me, and he has anointed me to do what?

To preach and all these different things. So the idea there is that the anointing oil is a physical representation, a statement that this person or this thing is set apart unto God for godly service. That this thing or this person that has been anointed with oil is called by God for a specific assignment. But it's more than that. This language of anointing goes deeper than that because it's not just a statement of consecration that you are set apart to be a king, you are set apart to be a prophet, you are set apart to be priest.

We even see it in the New Testament to some degree that this language of anointing speaks of also not just the statement of consecration, but a statement of enablement for the service. So here's a verse in Acts ten thirty eight. Acts ten thirty eight. This is when Peter's preaching to Cornelius and the crowd, and he says as he's speaking about Jesus, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. So there's that language of anointing again.

Anoint simply means to smear. And so what Peter is saying is he's using that Old Testament language in a New Testament context that Jesus Christ in the flesh was anointed by the Holy Spirit and with power. So not just this just statement that he's the anointed one. He's the chosen one. No.

But But there was an enablement because when you see the rest of the verse, it says anointed the Holy Spirit with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him. So not just of consecration, but of enablement. And people are afraid of that language, and I can see why because it's kind of loosely used now for different random things. I get it.

Use a different word if it makes you feel comfortable. Endued with power. Clothed with power. But here, the Bible is not afraid of the word. It says anointed.

Anointed. And And people argue, when was Jesus anointed with the Holy Spirit? Surely he had the fullness of the Holy Spirit when he was born, when he came into the world. Sure. I agree.

But there is something that we see in his baptism. In Luke three twenty one, the only account of Jesus' baptism where it says he was there and he was praying. It says as he was praying that the Holy Spirit came like a dove. Go to Luke three. Look what happens.

And I believe this is where Peter is pointing to his statement that he was anointed with the Holy Spirit. It says there in Luke three twenty one that, now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven. You are my beloved son. With you, I'm well pleased.

And what do we see? Look at now. It goes through the genealogy, then it goes to chapter four and Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. And then look at verse 14 when he overcame the temptation of Satan and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. So Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit before his public ministry.

Don't you dare, boys. You've seen a lot. You've cast out devils. You've done all these wonderful things. Don't you dare take a step out of Jerusalem without receiving the power of the Holy Spirit.

Know what Jesus said? And here are the priests before their ministry begins. Here's some anointing oil. A person that wants to be effectively used by the Lord needs to realize that they need the power of God on their lives, that they need the divine assistance of the Holy Spirit, whether full time or not, to be able to give them a grace and an ease to do what God had called them to do. And so you have you ever driven a car without power steering?

Ever? I've once I think. It was the most terrible experience of driving I've ever had. But when you get that power steering, oh, you can move with your pinky. There's a grace and an ease and assistance that comes with the Holy Spirit, but you and I first have to realize our need of it.

Lord, I need you. I need you. I desperately need you. And this is the beautiful thing about this anointing oil or this receiving of power from God, that when you go back to Exodus, it gives the ingredients for it. It gives the ingredients of this specific anointing oil that was to be poured upon the priest.

But there's a warning in Exodus thirty thirty one, and you shall say to the people of Israel, this shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it, whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people. You can't make anything like it, nor can you pour it on on any ordinary person.

What a statement being made there by the Lord. And if anybody does, they're cut off from the people. It's just oil, but there's a statement there. That if you desire this, and this is a powerful question that you and I have to ask ourselves, because many of us in here are aware that we need the power of God. Lest this service be boring and dead and lifeless, we need the power of God.

Lest your ministry is all just flesh and no grace and no fragrance on it, you need the power of God. But this is what he says. You cannot use this oil for just any other purpose. You can't just make this oil and pour it out for just whatever you want. No.

Because the moment you do that, it's not gonna work. You're gonna be cut off. In other words, the anointing oil has a purpose. The anointing oil has a purpose, and the purpose is that you may serve the Lord with greater effectiveness. That it would be a mark that you are dedicated unto God.

There was a fragrance of this. If you read the ingredients, there would actually be a perfume of this physical oil. And what the Lord is saying is that oil, that scent, that fragrance is only possible for those whom I've called to serve me at a certain capacity and to represent me to the people. So let me ask a sobering question. For some of you that want to be used by God, that is an amazing thing.

We should if you're not if you're not asking God for that, I don't know why you're living, to be quite honest. Yes, to know the Lord, but also while you have breath and energy to do something for him while you're on the earth. If you're not asking that, we got to go back to step zero. But if you've reached this step and you say, I have asked God to wash me of everything. I love God.

I love his people. I I want to do whatever it takes. Whatever the price is, I'm willing to pay it. I realize my own sinfulness, but I need God's power on my life. Why are you asking for more of the Holy Spirit?

That's a really sobering question, isn't it? We pray it all the time. We we say it all the time, but what is the motive behind it when you're asking God for greater measures of his power on your life? Is it so I can draw people to God? Is it so that people can see Christ in me?

Or is it is it for people to to see that I am a man of God? Is it for people to praise me and maybe they'll write about me one day? Because I can't pour that oil on you for any ordinary reason. No, no. If you want this oil, it has to be for service.

If you want this oil, it's so that you can represent me to the people. If you want my spirit on your life like Jesus that you may go about doing good. Many people are pursuing the person and the power of the Holy Spirit just so they can be recognized and known for such. And the Holy Spirit says, I'm not a commodity, and I'm not here to I'm not sent by God to glorify you. I've been sent to glorify Christ.

And if you wanna be a vessel for that, I'm willing to anoint you. But if you wanna display your gifts and if you want people to praise you, you can't have this oil. Sobering question. But if you come to the place where you say, Lord, I want people to I wanna disappear as much as I can. I want so much of your Holy Spirit that people can't even be able to see me, that they would see Christ in me.

Holy Spirit goes, that's a candidate for my fragrance. Here we see lastly in Exodus eight excuse me, Leviticus eight and verse 34. What we read from verse 31, and Moses said to Aaron and his sons, boil the flesh at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and there eat it. And the bread that is in the basket of ordination offerings, as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his son shall eat it, and what remains of the flesh and the bread, you shall burn it up with fire. Okay.

So they're gonna eat some stuff. Verse 33. And you shall not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days until the days of your ordination are completed, for it will take seven days to ordain you. As has been done today, the Lord has commanded to be done to make atonement for you. So it would take seven days, and it's believed that throughout those seven days, there would be sacrifices made.

And this is the length of time that needed was needed for them to be completely atoned for before they would step into the ministry. So you know what I take out of this one? I I was reading. I was like, what? Seven days, seven days, new covenant.

What does that mean? Seven days. We hang around somewhere for seven days. Lord, what do we and this is what I got out of it because of verse 34. That it would take seven days for them to receive full atonement to go on.

So you know what it is? You know what the final principle really is to be used by God? What I see here is just an extra dosage of humility. It's gonna take seven days for you to be clean to come and serve me. And the people would see this because they would be in the court, and they're waiting there, and they're doing sacrifices.

Just a statement, just a greater statement of your own sinfulness, your own wretchedness. You know what I get out of that? You and I can never have too much humility. That's what we can get out of that. So he did the whole thing with the sacrifice of the sin and the burnt offering.

He goes, let's just go another seven days. I wanna drown you in humility. Because the moment you start is the moment that all these things will come attacking you because there is a unique temptation and a unique attack that comes upon the person that is being used by God. And so let me just put an extra coat of humility on you, Aaron and priests, just to make sure that you know who you are before you serve me. Could you say yes to all those things confidently?

If so, I'm excited to see what God will do through your life. May not be full time ministry, but we're all called to be priests to some extent. We come to chapter nine. On the eighth day so here. So here we we are.

It's the first day after ordination. We've come to a place now where we're gonna see them actually perform their sacrifice, and we're not gonna read through all of this. We're gonna go through just chunks of it. What is the purpose of this? This is the purpose of it.

Verse four. So Aaron is about to perform the sacrifice. The priests are now going to do it. They've been waiting. They've been anticipating.

I can just imagine what was going on through their minds in those seven days. They were probably humbled. They were probably excited. It was probably a mixture of emotions, and here comes the first day of ministry. And it says here in verse four that the reason for all of this, to do these sacrifices, is the end of verse four.

For today the Lord will appear to you. For today the Lord will appear to you. And we see in verse six, and Moses said, this is the thing that the Lord commanded you to do, that the glory of the Lord may appear to you. Remember, whenever you read texts like this, especially in the Old Testament, would you ask this question, God, what is your heart behind this? What can I know, Lord?

Instead of me getting mixed up in all these different details, Lord, just let me see your heart. What's your heart? Here's God's heart. What we've been talking about all along, that He's been anticipating this moment so that He can reveal His glory to His people. That he could appear and manifest his goodness towards them.

And all the pieces have been set. Everything is now all ready, and he's saying, I want to do this. And it's, it's as though he's repeating it because it's, it's just showing his desire, his anticipation. Do you believe that God wants to do that in our day? I believe that's God's heart.

Some of us think that we're asking for more of God, and we're asking for God to come in and move and convict and bring a move of his spirit. And we're think this is how we think God is like, just convince me a little bit more. You're not praying hard enough. I'll I'll be I'll be looking over here on the other side of the world, and if you're loud enough, I'll come back and look at you. You know what?

God's heart is here. Come on. Let's get this sacrifice. Let's get this sacrifice going. You're you're all ready.

The atonement is made for. Let's do this sacrifice. I am eager to manifest myself to you. If we believe that that's how God wanted to do it even today, we would pray differently. It wouldn't be just as much of it wouldn't be as a burden as we think it is.

Now, yes, his timing is obviously different, and yes, he knows when to do it. And maybe one part of the equation is the problem is with us. That's probably part of it. What happens? You read this chapter, you realize that Aaron Aaron and Moses as he's listening to Moses is doing everything according to what he has been told, and then you come to verse 24.

Look at verse 24. Let's go to 23. And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of the meeting, and when they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. This was contingent upon the priests' obedience. This was dependent upon the priests and their consecration and their obedience to what God had commanded.

And guess who benefited from it? All people. All people. And the fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

We need another one of those, by the way. We need another one of those. Maybe not in manifest fire and burnt offering, but a conviction to come and sweep in again. Conviction has become a rarity in our meetings today. I believe that with all my heart.

Conviction has been replaced with laughter, and James says, turn your laughter into mourning. God is not against laughter, but I don't know what this has become. We're just being tickled and entertained, and we just all leave with just a little bit of more stirring for not even for God, just we feel better about ourselves. I'm not against that. I'm not against encouragement.

We need it. Our hands need to be strengthened, but what we need more than anything is something that will bring people to their faces. And the platform that brought about this manifest presence, the platform was not necessarily all these different gadgets. No. It was the obedience of the priests.

I know this is not a leadership meeting or anything, but if it was I would say, listen, don't wait on the people, you get it together. The leaders, like in Haggai, Zerubbabel and his buddy were first stirred before the people were stirred. That's what it says in the end of Haggai one. The people of God are stirred when the people who are leading them are stirred. And there's a this is God.

God shows up. It's powerful. It's amazing. I mean this is the first day, and they're seeing all of this. Oh, how quickly things turn though.

How quickly things turn. Then we come to Leviticus chapter 10, and we'd read the infamous scene that we are all familiar about. Some would say that it's happening at the same time. That as this is happening, Nadab and Abihu are about to go in now and forfeit it. This is unbelievable.

And so we come and we read in chapter 10 verse one. Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. So that fire that consumed the burnt offering in Leviticus nine now consumes the priests. So quickly.

And I believe that just speaks about our nature really. It really speaks about our nature, that it doesn't take much even a physical manifestation of the glory of God that would bring you to your face in a few moments. Our flesh is so strong we can forfeit that. You say, I don't know about that. Just go to the average conference in America.

Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censure and put fire in it and laid incest on it. What's this idea of unauthorized fire? Some different translations say profane, strange fire. What do they do here? What's the idea behind this?

Yeah. So some would believe that the reason why this fire was unauthorized was because they took another source of fire other than from the the altar of burnt offering. And so the brazen altar, they were supposed to take that kind that coal from that fire and bring it in for the altar of incense. And some would believe that they went to a different source of fire, which would speak of if the brazen altar in the beginning of the entrance speaks of the sacrifice of Christ, that they went to a different source to try to approach God, spiritually speaking. That's one idea.

Whatever the reason is, because we really don't know why it's unauthorized. All we know is that they did not do it according to God's way. They stepped out of bounds on how to approach God in worship, and that was enough for God to intervene. And something that was so glorious quickly became so devastating because of the lack of obedience on the priest's part. And here's my question to all of us tonight.

What brought these men to this point so quickly? I mean, we don't know the time frame, but what brought them to this place to just come and do such a thing? Does anybody have an idea? Maybe Okay. So they had their own way of approaching God, and they thought maybe they had this self confidence that they can just do whatever and be flipping before the Lord.

That's quite possible, and I'm sure that was part of it. Kind of related to that lack of reverence, you know. Like, there's not enough reverence in order to respect the actual process that God set for them instead of maybe things their own way. Yeah. So there is a lack of reverence.

But can I remind you who Nadab and Abihu are? Go back to Exodus 24 just to give you a greater understanding of of the profile of these guys. Exodus 24 verse nine. This is when Moses was to go up and meet with God, but he didn't go alone at one point. Then Moses and Aram Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel went up and they saw the God of Israel.

They saw God and fellowshipped with Him. What else do you need to see to bring you to a place of reverence and holy fear and awe when you come to worship Him? What else does God need to do? Perhaps there's a verse in chapter 10 that would give us an insight to why they have come to this place even so quickly. Look at verse eight.

Now don't read too far. And the Lord spoke to Aaron. That's significant because usually he speaks to Moses and Moses speaks to Aaron. But so serious is this instruction that he speaks it directly to Aaron. The Lord spoke to Aaron saying, drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you when you go into the tent of meeting lest you die.

It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. What a random command unless there's a connection. Why would he, out of all the things he could have said, tell Aaron, make sure you don't get drunk when you come into my house? Because I believe they were intoxicated. That they've come to a place who knows if there was festivities when this whole thing where the glory of God had come and they just had a little bit too much and they attempted to worship God, and they were influenced by another substance that made them come irreverentially before him.

And God says, Listen, be careful what you allow into your life that would blur your vision of my holiness. It's amazing how you can have such an amazing experience with God, but because you allow the wrong things into your life, you quickly forget who He is, what He's done, what He's shown you, how He's used you. And so it's not just restricted to alcohol brothers and sisters. Why don't we just ask ourselves this sobering question: Am I allowing anything in my life that would affect the way I worship God? Am I allowing anything?

Is there any intake? Is there any substance? Is there any attitude? Is there anything that I'm allowing in me that would affect the way I see him and seek him and worship him? They let their guard down.

And because they let their guard down, it affected the way they sought him. And look what the Lord says in verse two verse three. Then Moses said to Aaron, this is what the Lord has said. Among those who are near me, I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified. What is that statement?

What is he saying there? What they failed to do was approach God with the revelation and awareness of his transcendence and his majesty and his glory. And he says here, among those who are near me, I will be sanctified. I find that significant. He is so specific in his object and his audience.

He says, among those who are near me, I will be sanctified. In other words, those who are near to me in service need to be the most careful. Need to be the most careful. They were closest to him in proximity compared to the rest of the nation, and the warning goes to them. Why?

Oh, how we can become so familiar. How we can get so familiar with the things of God and allow that to affect the way we serve him and worship him and represent him to the world. The same thing happened to Uzzah. The same thing happened. He had the ark of God in his house, the house of Abinadab, for twenty years, and he became so familiarized with the presence of God that he, as one person said, I believe it was Jonathan Edwards, that when the ark was about to fall, he thought that his hand was cleaner than the dirt that it was gonna fall on and touched it.

He became so familiarized that he thought he can be so flippant and touchy, and the scriptures clearly say don't even touch any holy thing, and it cost him his life. It's the same principle. He says, listen, those who are most familiar. And so this stuff, it's the church people, guys. It's the church people.

It's those who are in ministry, who are organizing songs all the time, who are preparing bible study and messages, who do Sunday school. Those people need to take heed to this warning. The ones that are nearest to me need to be the most careful, lest you become so casual and comfortable where you forget how to tremble before me. And this is what he's saying here. Because when we fail to do that, it's in connection with the next part, and before all the people I will be glorified.

So there's a connection that if I am the one who draws near to God, who is near God, and I fail to recognize Him as holy, I, in that, rob Him of His glory. And all the people see that. Because listen, your attitude, worship leaders, any instrument you play, even if you do the announcements, anybody, your attitude towards God can either exalt Him or rob glory from him and rob other people from glorifying him as well. I honor those who are hesitant to go into any kind of ministry, Not overly introspective introspective. Oh, no.

No. No. I thought this wrong thought on my way here. Oh, relax. God is gracious.

I remember meeting with a youth leader once. We were talking about different things and he had brought up this incident. I'll never forget it. It's in my gut. And he had told me because he was a part of a ministry with very talented musicians, very talented musicians.

Young, high school, early college. And they as a group had went to a specific meeting where they had one of their favorite worship leaders and band doing their thing. And somehow, someway, because of that youth leader's connection, he was able to take his group of worship leaders and those guys and connect them with this well known worship group, and they were gonna go out afterwards. And you know what he told me? That when they were going out and eating, everybody was talking to different, you know, members talking to different parts of the members of the well known worship team.

And afterwards, he had these young high school college students, early college students come up to him and say, bro, we're confused. And he goes, why? He goes, we were talking to these guys and, I mean, they're they're traveling and everything, but they were telling us what they do in their free time. They go to clubs, they go to bars, they drink. And I'm just trying to, like I mean, can we do that?

Like, is that okay? And so here's this older group, well known, telling these people, yeah. This is what we do, man. This is how we hang out. I'm really restraining myself from sharing some other things.

I'm really restraining myself right now. But this is more common than you think, especially ones amongst worship folk. You rob God's glory with your flippant attitude and how you serve him, and you are at risk of tainting another generation. And so God swiftly comes with his judgment, and we see in verse 10 here, You are to distinguish between the holy and the common and between the unclean and the clean, and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses. Hey, priests.

You're to distinguish it. Don't confuse people by your lifestyle. Don't make people wonder where you're at with God if you're the one that's supposed to lead the example. People should look at your life and say, this person has distinguished themselves. This person is set apart.

I can see it. Don't confuse people. I see you up here and see you differently throughout the throughout the week from your Instagram and your Snapchat. Don't confuse people. Then I see you, but I saw you.

He goes, you're supposed to make a distinction. If not, make a choice. Make a choice. Don't confuse people. Confirm your calling an election.

Don't confuse. You know what? I think this is a good point to stress on. Don't you think? Let's go to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah chapter 23. This is mainly for leaders, but this is good for anybody that wants to serve the Lord. Jeremiah 23. I'm going through the book of Jeremiah. I'm almost done really just on my own.

I it's as though things were popping out, and I told myself I'm just gonna record and write down every verse that speaks against the the indictments against the leaders and those who have that role of making a distinguishable mark about what's holy and unholy. Look at verse 11 of Jeremiah 23. Both prophet and priest are ungodly. Even in my house I found their evil. Now look at verse 14.

But in the prophets of Jerusalem I've seen a horrible thing. They commit adultery and walk in lies. They walk in lies. They're living a lie. They walk in lies.

This is so convicting. They strengthen the hands of evildoers so that no one turns from his evil. So because that they had this exemplary platform and they failed to walk in it faithfully, instead of people being inspired to turn from their sin based on how they're living, they actually give them the right to keep living in their sin. You strengthen the hand of the sinner. You don't convict them by your life.

You don't convict them by their cons your consecration. You confuse them and not just confuse them. You confirm why they can move forward because it seems like you're still in ministry, and God's not doing anything about it. So surely I can live how I want and God won't do anything about it. I believe the reason why God came with such swift judgment in Leviticus chapter 10 was because it was just the beginning.

It was the inauguration of this whole Levitical system and God had to make a statement right off the bat Just like the church in Acts chapter five, the church just started. We just came to the fifth chapter, and already people are lying about how much they give to God. It goes, we just started this thing. Ananias says, fire, you're done. And so we see that his acts of judgment are very precise and sharp and the initiation of a new thing, a new movement.

But here in Jeremiah's day, they were waltzing around doing whatever and God had not brought his judgment yet. Many, many prophets came. Many, many years came. And it it it convinced the people, oh, look. Prophet and priest doing however they want.

I can still stay in my wickedness. And what they should have done is verse 22. But if they had stood in my counsel, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people. See, because they don't spend time in the presence of God. If they would have stood in my counsel, they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds.

That's the role. Brothers, sisters, full time ministry or not, if you want to serve the Lord, let your life, not through legalism, not through preaching in an unwise manner, just through your life, let people be convicted of their lives. Let your life inspire others to give it all to Jesus, not not to feel comfortable in their compromising state. And we see here in verse 19 as we close in Leviticus chapter 10. Go to 16.

Now Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering. They were they were to offer their offerings through this. God did not even give them the time to mourn. He says, don't let your hair down. Don't tear your garments.

Don't do anything. Let people let people get a statement out of this. And he says, he inquired about the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up. And he was angry with Eliza and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron. You know what's so funny?

I wonder I wonder if Nadab and Abihu had this confidence. Like, think about it. There's only how many sons did Aaron have? Four. Right?

Four. So really they represented 50% of the priesthood. God won't do anything. He needs us. He needs us.

I mean who else is gonna I mean is he really gonna and God literally wiped out 50% of the priesthood because he doesn't need you or me. Verse 17, why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary since it is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation to make atonement for them before the Lord? So in other words, they were to give this sin offering, but but according to Leviticus six twenty six, they were to eat of it as well. They were to eat of it, and they didn't. They burned the whole thing.

And you know why Moses is freaking out? Because we already lost 50%. I don't wanna lose everybody. And so he comes and saying, what are you doing? What are you doing?

Did you just not see what happened? There's something so amazing about this scripture. It's so subtle, but it's so beautiful. Come down to verse 19 and see Aaron's response. And Aaron said to Moses, behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord.

My sons did it. They offered the offering. And yet such things as these have happened to me. If I'd eaten the sin offering today, would the Lord have approved? And when Moses heard that he approved.

What do you get from that verse? By law, they were to eat that sin offering. And what is Aaron saying in his response to Moses' rebuke? Do you guys catch what his answer was, the reason why he didn't? Essentially, what he's saying is, I can't stomach it.

I didn't even have time to mourn my children. Because even if somebody invokes the judgment of God upon them and their life is cut short because of the rebellion sinfulness, something still hurts when you see it happen. Whether it's friend, especially if it's your sons. And here's this man and he's saying to to Moses, I haven't had time to mourn. I can't eat.

I can't eat. I can't stomach it. We can't. And because the incident was so irregular and it was so out of the blue and it was something beyond the prescription, you see God's mercy. He says, okay.

I'll let you mourn. Not that he contradicts his law, not that he breaks his law, because of the the uniqueness of it, I believe. Because there are a lot of theories of why God didn't do something about it. I believe Aaron is showing something else as a contrast between Nadab and Abihu. Nadab and Abihu carelessly disobeyed God.

And what you see in Aaron and his sons is that they are actually doing it for God. They're saying how would this be approved before God because we are how can I enjoy this sin offering? How can I eat in his presence in light of what just happened and when my heart is so broken and weary? And God says, okay. And so you know what I see in Leviticus chapter 10 because we so we so focus on the first few verses and rightfully so, I see two things.

We see the swift judgment of God and the quick mercies of God in the very same chapter. We serve an awesome God and Aaron stands in contrast to his sons and his two other sons that are still alive stood in contrast. They did it all in light of their relationship with God. So this isn't like God's like winking at disobedience. No.

They were saying, we don't have a protocol for this, and we just wanna honor God by not eating. And it was approved, and they moved on. And I read that and I go, wow, Lord. In the same chapter, I can be so shocked by your holiness, but also melt in your mercy. He allows Aaron to mourn over his sons.

Be broken. It's okay. So much was said tonight. So much was said tonight. But I just want us in our own hearts, I'm not gonna repeat anything even.

You know what the Lord has spoken to you about through Leviticus eight, nine, and 10. We're gonna worship in song in a moment. But just in your own heart, just get before the Lord, would you? And just say, Lord, there is that one point that I need to I need to I need to maybe get right with or I wanna worship you in light of your mercy. And I will say this as you're seeking the Lord.

I will say this, chapter nine and chapter 10 are two different invitations. Chapter nine shows us what obedience brings, the glory of God. When Aaron walked in obedience, God's glory manifested. But you know what Nadab and Abihu show us? That they were willing to indulge the flesh and forfeit the glory of God?

And you and I have to make the same choice in our lives. Are we willing to do what the Lord commanded so that people can see God in our obedience to him, or are we so into our own pleasure and our temporary thrill that we're willing to forfeit that? The obedience brought God's glory and it came down on that altar and it caused people to fall on their knees. Nidaab and Ubayu said, you know, that's all good and cool and stuff, but I'd rather do this my way. And instead of seeing people consumed by praise and worship, they themselves are consumed by God's discipline.

And I look at Nadab and Abayu and I go, man, was it worth it? Was it worth it? Even if God doesn't do anything in this life, it won't be worth it. I don't wanna face the Lord like that. But, Lord, here's my life.

Here's my life.