The Installation of the Priesthood — Leviticus 8–10

Jim Butler · 2023-06-04 · Leviticus 8–10 · 10,763 words · 62 min

Summary

Expository

The installation of Israel's priesthood in Leviticus 8–10 reveals that sinful man approaches a holy God only through divinely prescribed blood atonement, a system that finds its antitypical fulfillment in the high priestly office and atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Leviticus 8–10 records the ordination, ministry, and judgment of Israel's priesthood, tracing the way sinful man may approach a thrice-holy God through divinely prescribed sacrifice. The death of Nadab and Abihu for offering that which the Lord had not commanded warns that worship is regulated by God alone, not by the worshiper's innovation. Christ fulfills every type embedded in this system — as the holy, harmless, and undefiled High Priest who satisfies divine justice once for all. The sermon calls new-covenant worshipers to approach the Lord's Supper with the same reverence and eager joy that the priestly fire of Leviticus 9 ought to have kindled.

Key quotes

If sinners are going to approach a holy God, it comes as a result of the activity of the holy God. It comes as a result of divine initiative and not man's desire.

When you obey God, according to chapter 9, and you offer up the sacrifices through a properly functioning priesthood, God sends fire down and consumes the sacrifices. But if you alter the rules, if you mess with the commands, if you depart from what the Lord has stipulated, that fire becomes lethal.

Leviticus is about Jesus. Leviticus points us to Jesus. Leviticus is typical of Jesus. Leviticus is prefiguring Jesus. Leviticus is all about blood atonement through the Savior King who left heaven above.

Applications

Come to corporate worship with reverence and holy fear, recognizing that you are entering the presence of a consuming fire, not merely gathering with friends.
Cultivate the eagerness and anticipation for Lord's Day worship that the psalmist displays in Psalm 84 — new-covenant access to God through Christ is more, not less, reason for such longing.
Do not presume that New Covenant worship is a free-for-all; God commands the manner of approach, and innovation in worship is not a believer's right.
If you have no saving interest in Christ, look to him alone — not to any priestly system, whether Roman, Mormon, or otherwise — as the one High Priest who satisfied divine justice for all who trust in him.
Receive the Lord's Supper as a pointer to Christ's broken body and shed blood, pondering what it cost to open the way of access that Leviticus could only foreshadow.

Questions this sermon answers

Why did God kill Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10?

They offered fire before the Lord that he had not commanded — whether through intoxication, improper ritual, or unauthorized entry into the holy of holies — in direct violation of God's detailed and repeated prescriptions for worship, standing under warnings that disobedience meant death.

What does the Levitical sacrificial system have to do with Jesus Christ?

Every element of the Old Covenant sacrificial system — the bloody offerings, the anointed priesthood, the fire of divine acceptance — was a type and prefigurement of Christ, who as the holy and undefiled High Priest offered himself once for all to satisfy divine justice and bring sinners into the presence of God.

Does God still regulate how he is to be worshiped in the New Covenant?

Yes — the same God who prescribed exact obedience in the Levitical system has not changed; acceptable worship in the New Covenant is still defined by God, not by the believer's preference, because he remains a consuming fire.

What does it mean that sinners can approach God only through blood atonement?

Because God is holy and man is sinful, divine justice requires satisfaction; the way God provides access to himself is through the provision of a sacrifice — ultimately, his own Son — whose shed blood remits guilt and opens the way into God's presence.

What does Aaron's restoration teach us about the grace of God?

Despite Aaron's complicity in the golden calf rebellion, God restores him to priestly ministry, illustrating that God has provided a remedy for sin and that failure does not permanently disqualify those whom God chooses to restore by his grace.

Well, you can turn in your Bibles to the book of Leviticus, Leviticus chapter nine, for our meditation before we participate in the Lord's Supper, Leviticus chapter nine. I'll pick up reading in verse 22 and read to the end of chapter 10. Leviticus chapter 9, beginning in verse 22. Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, blessed them, and came down from offering the sin 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 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. Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them.

So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. And Moses said to Aaron, this is what the Lord spoke, saying, by those who come near me, I must be regarded as holy, and before all the people, I must be glorified. So Aaron held his peace. Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uziel, the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.

So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said. And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar, and to Ithamar, his sons, do not uncover your heads, nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled. You shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.

And they did according to the word of Moses. Then the Lord spoke to Aaron saying, do not drink wine or intoxicating drink you nor your sons with you when you go into the tabernacle of meeting lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations that you may distinguish between holy and unholy and between unclean and clean. And that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.

And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar, and to Thamar, his sons who were left. Take the grain offering that remains of the offerings made by fire to the Lord, and eat it without leaven beside the altar, for it is most holy. You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due, and your sons' due, of the sacrifices made by fire to the Lord. For so I have been commanded.

The breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you shall eat in a clean place, you, your sons and your daughters with you. For they are your due and your sons' due, which are given from the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. The thigh of the heave offering and the breast of the wave offering they shall bring with the offerings of fat made by fire to offer as a wave offering before the Lord. And it shall be yours and your sons with you by a statute forever as the Lord has commanded.

Then Moses made careful inquiry about the goat of the sin offering, and there it was burned up. And he was angry with Eleazar and Nithamar, the sons of Aaron, who were left, saying, Why have you not eaten the sin offering in a holy place, since it is most holy, and God has given it to you to bear the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? See, its blood was not brought inside the holy place. Indeed, you should have eaten it in a holy place, as I commanded.

And Aaron said to Moses, look, this day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have befallen me. If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? So when Moses heard that, he was content. Amen.

Closing Prayer

Well, let us pray.

Opening Prayer

Our Father in Heaven, we thank you again for the written Word of the living and true God. We know all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. As well, we see that connection between the Old and the New Covenants.

We see the preparation involved in the old, the typology in the old, the foreshadowing, the prefigurement, pointing forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. As we consider this priestly ministry, as we see the sacrifices offered, as we see a holy God entreated, may we think in terms of the blessedness that is ours with reference to our great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do forgive us now for all sin and unrighteousness, and again, guide us by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Introduction

Well, we're actually looking at a big chunk of scripture today, actually Leviticus 8 to 10. I know that's a lot. I'm going to try to summarize much of it, but try to glean some things that are helpful and instructive in terms of our coming to the supper tonight. Before we look at Leviticus chapter 8, turn back to the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 40.

Exodus chapter 40. We need to understand that Israel is at Sinai for about 11 months and of that 11 months they are gaining or rather learning much in terms of God's law. They get the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20. They get the judicial laws of God through Moses in Exodus 21 to 23.

They ratify the Old Covenant in Exodus chapter 24. and then Exodus 25 to 40 takes up the tabernacle and the priesthood, detailed legislation on how Israel is to come into the presence of God Almighty. So after having received that legislation and then taking the hammer to nail and actually building the tabernacle, we see the end result here in Exodus. So look at Exodus 40 at verse 34. The tabernacle is now completed.

It has been fulfilled. It has been realized. They have been obedient. It says, then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting because the cloud rested above it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. So we see here that God's dwelling place has been realized. God dwells now amongst the children of Israel. But you'll notice the problem, that Moses himself, the godliest man in Israel, was not able to go into that place.

So the book ends on tension. The book ends with a bit of a problem. We now have this tabernacle. We now see the Shekinah glory of God dwelling in the tabernacle, but none of us are fit to go in and commune with this God.

So that's where the book of Leviticus comes in. It's a book of resolution. The book of Leviticus prescribes how sinful man is to access the presence of a thrice holy God. And the way that sinful man accesses the presence of a thrice holy God is through priesthood.

It is through sacrifice. It is through blood atonement. And so that's what they are being taught in the book of Leviticus. So basically, in chapters 1 to 7, you have the laws concerning sacrifice.

You have instruction for the worshiper, and then instruction specifically for the priest. And in terms of the sacrifice, you have the burnt offering in chapter 1. You have the grain offering in chapter 2, the peace offering in chapter 3, the sin offering in chapter 4, and then the guilt offering in chapters 5 and 6. So God intends that the way that Israel accesses his presence, to use the language of Michael Morales, is through a bloody knife and a smoking altar.

In other words, how do we breach the chasm that exists between a holy God and sinful man? Now, if you're thinking in a new covenant manner, which you should, you ought to be appreciative of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfills all that was purposed here. Jesus is the one anticipated in this sacrificial system in priesthood, and Jesus comes as the high priest of a better covenant to bring us into that access with God most high.

Overview of Leviticus 8–10

So that's the backdrop. So then in chapters 1 to 7, as I said, the sacrifices are given, the stipulations are made. Well, in chapters 8 to 10, we see the formal institution of the priesthood in Israel. So in chapter 8, the ordination of the priesthood, we'll look at a few things there in just a moment.

And then in chapter 9, the ministry of the priesthood in the entirety of that chapter. And then in chapter 10, you see there the judgment on the priesthood, at least a partial reading on the first part. So we've got the ordination, the ministry, and the judgment.

Ordination of the Priesthood (Ch. 8)

So if you look back for just a moment at chapter 8, I'll just give you the summary statement concerning what's happening here. First, you have the command of God. And it's very important that you understand that. If you notice specifically in verses 4 and 5, so Moses did as the Lord commanded him.

And then at the end of verse 5, this is what the Lord commanded to be done. This is repeated in verses 9, 13, 17, 21, 29, 34, and 36. So in sum, we see that it's not man's innovation that gets him from point A to point B. It is rather divine institution.

It is prescribed by God. How does a sinner enter into the presence of God? He comes in the manner fixed by God. And that does underscore, again, the necessity of our Lord Jesus Christ in our new covenant setting.

In John 14, 6, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Not all religions lead to God. Not all religions bring access to God.

It is only the religion of our blessed Savior, the redemptive religion we call Christianity. The fact that Christ lived, Christ died, Christ raised again on the third day for us men and for our salvation. So if sinners are going to approach a holy God, it comes as a result of the activity of the holy God. It comes as a result of divine initiative and not man's desire.

Grace of God: Aaron Restored

A second thing to observe here is the grace of God, just in this first section here in chapter 8, specifically at verse 2. Notice it says, take Aaron and his sons with him. This isn't the first time Aaron has been mentioned in the book of Leviticus, but it is significant that Aaron is mentioned here in the book of Leviticus. Prior to this, in terms of the details given, in terms of the laws of sacrifice, it's Aaron and his sons.

Why? Because they were the priests. They were the ones who functioned in that capacity to offer sacrifice and bring the sinners into the presence of God. But remember Aaron.

Aaron himself specifically fell at the time of Exodus chapter 32. He did not initiate that departure from Yahweh in terms of the golden calf, but he certainly facilitated it. Aaron was complicit in the rebellion of Israel in dancing around the golden calf. Remember he says, they handed me this gold, I threw it into the forge and sort of out popped this calf.

I didn't know what was happening. Well, you don't throw gold into a forge and out pops a calf. Aaron, as I said, was complicit in this. So the fact that Aaron is now restored and brought to the place of priestly ministry underscores the grace of God.

There's a New Testament counterpart. I don't think it's a strict type and anti-type and that sort of thing, but certainly an analogy, certainly a parallel in the apostle Peter. Remember, Peter denies Jesus Christ three times to a servant girl, not before the emperor, not before the governor, but before a servant girl. Peter denies vehemently with oaths and curses that he does not know the Lord Jesus Christ on three separate occasions there in that interaction.

So what do we find on the day of Pentecost? It's Peter who stands up on that day to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. What's the point? There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.

There is restoration. One of the things that I think is difficult to watch in terms of our society is what people have called cancel culture. There's no forgiveness. There's no redemption.

There's no remission. If you fail, you're out. You're done. It's over.

Well, God's not like that. God knows us better than we know ourselves, and God has put in place a remedy for the sin problem. In other words, there is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. So the fact that Aaron is restored and the fact that Aaron is going to minister before Yahweh on behalf of the people is a wonderful description, or illustration rather, of the grace of God.

So under verses 1 to 5, we have the command of God.

Obedience of Moses and the Sacrifices

Secondly, you see the obedience of Moses in verses 6 to 30. We've got the garments described that the priests are going to wear. Again, this is not the first time you see this in the book of Exodus. You see the anointing conducted in verses 10 to 13, moving those priests from the normal status of ordinary citizen within Israel and to that place of consecrated anointed with oil, where they must now serve for a period of seven days.

And then the sacrifices are offered. You've got the sin offering, the burnt offering, and then notice specifically in verse 21 of chapter 8 the approval of God with this ministry. It was a burnt sacrifice, the latter part of verse 21, for a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord as the Lord had commanded Moses. God is pleased with the sacrifice.

God shows His approval of the sacrifice. God does this to show His people that He is entreated, that He is accessible, that He has provided a way and a remedy. Now, that brings us to the end of chapter 8, where there's a summary statement. You'll notice the portion for the priests in verses 31 to 32.

In fact, the law of sacrifices helps us understand what's going on in Leviticus chapter 10. After God kills Nadab and Abihu, it's not okay to just go home. I mean, if, as I said on Wednesday night, a lightning bolt came through the ceiling right now and took out, I don't want to look anywhere, took out a few of the people in the congregation, I suspect we'd conclude our service. Well, I'm not suspecting.

I know we would conclude our service. I wouldn't keep preaching. Just, you know, get their bodies out, take them over to the side of the parking lot so that we can continue the sermon. But that's exactly what happens after the death of Nadab and Abihu.

Why is that? Because the worship of God Most High trumps even the death of Nadab and Abihu. And so chapter eight, verses 31 to 32, gives us the rationale for that, along with the sacrifices spoken to in chapters one to seven. The priests were to participate in eating of the sacrifices.

The only one that was off limits to them was the burnt offering. All the other ones, the priest had a right and title to. And in fact, that was their obligation to participate as God had commanded. So that's what's being dealt with there in chapter 8, verses 31 and 32.

Then notice as well the transition for the priests in verse 33. It says, And you shall not go outside the door of the tabernacle of meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration are ended. For seven days he shall consecrate you. Again, that's going to come up in chapter 10.

Why aren't they allowed to conclude this worship service? Nadab and Abihu just died. Nadab and Abihu were just dragged out by their tunics outside the camp because God is to be worshipped. This priesthood was set apart or consecrated.

They were anointed for that specific purpose and they need to carry it out. Obedience to God trumps again the deaths of Nadab and Abihu. And then notice the purpose of the priests in verse 34. This has been specified as well along the way in the laws concerning sacrifice.

Notice in verse 34, "...as He has done this day, so the Lord has commanded to do, to make atonement for you." If you are new to our church, you'll probably not know that we say atonement a lot, because we know that atonement is absolutely crucial. Typically, when we refer to atonement, we mean the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was an atoning sacrifice. The older authors emphasized satisfaction.

The idea being is that God is holy. His law has been broken. Divine justice needs to be satisfied, and the means by which God does that is the provision of the Son of His love, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He doesn't go to that cross simply as an example.

He doesn't go to that cross just to communicate to us the depths of our love for one another. He goes to the cross to bear the wrath and fury of God. He goes to the cross to satisfy divine justice. He goes to the cross to bring about atonement, substitutionary atonement.

Christ stood in the place of guilty sinners to take the punishment that we deserve so that we may indeed be forgiven and enter into heaven because of the righteousness that is imputed to us. So this purpose stands behind or lay behind the very function of the priesthood, to make atonement. And then notice that chapter 8, the ordination of the priesthood, ends with a warning in verses 35 and 36. Therefore, you shall stay at the door of the tabernacle of meeting day and night for seven days, and keep the charge of the Lord so that you may not die.

For so I have been commanded. So Aaron and his sons did all the things that the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses. See, it's specified you're supposed to obey. It's specified that you don't have the right to renege.

It's specified that it's not up to you whether or not you think you're gonna continue on in your priestly function. No, there's a warning that is very severe. Notice again, so that you may not die. One commentator by the name of Gordon Wenham says, a warning is given about the necessity of exact obedience to divine prescriptions for worship.

As I've said in many times in our Wednesday night study, the brethren that go there, this ensures review for them, and they're saying, yep, I've heard it many, many times. Well, you're going to probably hear it many, many more times until such time as I'm translated like Nadab and Abihu and carried out from the camp in a tunic. But the bottom line is, is that when it comes to worship, God commands, not man. Man doesn't have the right, the privilege, in the old covenant to say, well, you know what?

I don't really like this emphasis on sacrifice. Can't we just have sort of an encounter group? Can't we just share our feelings? Can't we just sort of connect and communicate and have coffee and buns and talk about how good Yahweh is?

No. If you don't come through a bloody knife and a smoking altar, you're not coming at all. Now, lo and behold, we get to the new covenant, and we think that's all done. We can do whatever we want in church today.

We can do whatever it is that we desire in the context of worship today. I don't know where we got that thought. I don't know where we originated that idea. I don't know who invented that mindset that New Covenant worship is a free-for-all.

I mean, if you want the pastor to ride in on his Harley and tell stories, then have your pastor ride in on his Harley and tell stories. If you want your pastor to repel with his headset on and preach like a superhero, well, then you just do that. You're free to do whatever it is you want. No, it's intriguing.

In Deuteronomy 4, verse 24, there is this statement underlying the severity of God relative to corporate worship. And it says, for our God is a consuming fire. Intriguingly, that's repeated in the book of Hebrews. Huh, Hebrews chapter 12 talks about acceptable worship.

Well, what's acceptable worship? It's not up to the sinner, it's not up to the believer, it's not up to the person in the pew, but acceptable worship is defined by God. And that is underscored again with this reference to our God is a consuming fire. So back to Wenham, a warning is given about the necessity of exact obedience to divine prescription for worship.

Keep the Lord's watch so that you do not die. It was not the first time such a warning had been given, Exodus 19, 21. Children of Israel were told, don't come near the mountain or you will die. He goes on to say, that warning is repeated here.

It anticipates and explains the disaster that overtook Nadab and Abihu, who presumed to offer fire, which he had not commanded. So when you come to Leviticus 10, and you see that God kills Nadab and Abihu, hold your tongue before you say, well, that's severe. That seems out of line. That seems untoward.

That seems unnecessarily harsh. Why? They'd been warned, they had been told, they had been given detailed legislation concerning the sacrificial system. Rather than us saying, well, that doesn't seem right, we ought to all stand in fear before the Lord God Most High.

Ministry of the Priesthood (Ch. 9)

Now notice secondly in chapter nine, the ministry of the priesthood. Again, it begins with command. Moses commands in verses one to seven, but notice specifically in 4B, the promise of God's appearance. Notice in 4, verse four in chapter nine, 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.

Now, as we kind of considered on Wednesday night, the anticipation has been growing. Going back to Exodus chapter 25, it's hard to piece together the specifics in terms of how many months, but there were a few months involved between God's demand that they build a tabernacle to God's filling that tabernacle with His glory. So Exodus ends, and then about eight days later, they engage in this priestly ministry. So the anticipation is building.

Moses tells them, the Lord is going to appear today. This is what it's all for. This is what it's all about. This is what we're doing.

This is the high point. This is why God brought you out of that bondage in Egypt. Why? It was to worship him.

It was to be present with him. It was to know his nearness as your good. And so the anticipation is building with the people of God. So we have the ministry of the priesthood here.

Notice that the priests comply according to verses 8 to 21. They offer the sin offering in 811, and then the other offerings, the burnt offering 12 to 14, the sin offering verses 15 to 17, and then the peace offerings in verses 18 to 21. So all the preparation. All of the obedience has now come to pass, and we see God's appearance, God's blessing, God's nearness now in verses 22 to 24.

We're going to slow down in terms of exposition and look at this a bit more carefully, and then the events listed in chapter 10.

God's Appearance and the Priestly Blessing

So notice, in terms of the fulfillment by God, it begins with this priestly blessing in verse 22. Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings. This is no doubt what we see in the book of Numbers, chapter six, the way many churches end with the benediction. The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Psalm 67, we sang that during worship. It begins with that benediction.

God be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us. See Yahweh is not just this God of vindictive justice. He's not just this God of terrible wrath. He's not just this God who kills Nadabs and Abihu's.

He is the God who blesses. He is the God who causes his face to shine. He is the God who keeps us. He is the God who is our portion.

He is the God who is our chief delight. Brethren, Psalm 84 is written in an Old Covenant context, the Psalm that we read at the beginning of worship. The anticipation, the eagerness, and the joy with which the psalmist had in going to Old Covenant worship. It does shadow, it does show, it does show how wanting we are in the new covenant.

Do we have that same desire? The Psalm 84, I don't wanna beat anybody up, I'm just offering this up in terms of some examination. If what we have in the new covenant is free access to the Father through the mediation of the Son by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, which we do, Ephesians 2.18 and Ephesians 2.22, Why aren't we the more eager to come to church? Why aren't we more like David in Psalm 122?

I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord. There's an eagerness and an anticipation in meeting with the living and true God. David has it in Psalm 84. David has it when he understands the blessedness of old covenant worship.

We as new covenant worshipers ought to have something of that anticipation and eagerness as well. So then notice, we've got verse 23, the resolution of the problem that we saw in Exodus 40. The Shekinah glory comes down, fills the tabernacle. We've got the dwelling place.

Well, now Leviticus advances that theme dwelling place to meeting place. And that's precisely what you see now in verse 23. Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting. Moses and Aaron, forbidden earlier, now have been brought nigh through this sacrificial blood.

Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. And that's precisely what they had learned. This is precisely what they had felt or understood. So Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting and came out and blessed the people.

And then notice the divine blessing. Well, verse 23, then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, and then we see this fulfillment by God. Fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. This is approval.

This is acceptance. This is God saying to them, you've done it properly, you've obeyed, you've complied, you've built the tabernacle properly, you've engaged in the sacrifices effectively, so now God sends down this fire to consume those offerings. Now that fire is lethal if it isn't combined, or if the sacrifice isn't combined with obedience. We'll see that in just a moment when we get to the case of Nadab and Abihu.

But this is the fulfillment of the promise of God. Turn back to Exodus chapter 25. Exodus chapter 25, where the instruction begins concerning the tabernacle. You see at least three places where God announces the reason for the tabernacle here in Exodus 25 to 40.

So Exodus 25.8, notice, let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. That's where Exodus is going. They're delivered from bondage. They're told what to do in terms of law, but dwelling is the theme at the end of the book.

As Dale Ralph Davis points out, the God of the bush, Exodus 3, the God of the mountain, Exodus 19, is the God of the tent, Exodus chapter 25. So the God who delivers, the God who demands, is the God who dwells with his needy people. And that's the announcement here in 25.8. Turn over to chapter 29, a similar statement in verses 45 and 46.

This is in the context of the priests. Notice in chapter 29, verse 45, I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord, their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord, their God.

Now, I don't know that we ever really reflect on just how glorious that is and how gracious that is. We just assume that God should dwell with us. But why? We're sinners.

We're vile. We're lawbreakers. We take the Ten Commandments, and we trash them. We disregard them.

We do what God tells us not to do, and then we lack conformity to those things that He tells us what to do. We sin by way of omission and commission. The only thing we legitimately deserve is God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come. What happens to Nadab and Abihu really should happen to each and every one of us.

God should send fire down and consume us. But that's not what we find. We see in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sin, it's God who comes to that. As I mentioned this morning, after the tragedy at Babel, God comes to Abram in Genesis chapter 12 to initiate or rather announce the plan and purpose that in Abraham, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.

It's the seed of Abraham, Galatians 3.16, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then you see the Psalms and the prophets all celebrate this reality that God is going to be accessible by needy sinners. The fact that God dwells with sinners is an amazing reality. It is, in fact, amazing grace.

And then again, drop down to chapter 30 and verse 6. And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you. So you see that realization or fulfillment here at the end of chapter 9. So the ministry has been installed, the ministry is now functioning, and God shows his approval to this priestly ministry.

And then notice the response of the people. So the fire comes out from the presence of the Lord. We see that means the acceptance of the sacrifices. And then we see the shout from the people.

Verse 24, the very end. Notice, when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. So all the anticipation, all the legislation, all the details, all of the preparations, all of the building, all of the priestly ministry, all of the sacrifice, and now it's come to pass. Now it's come to fruition.

And what's the response of the worshiping people? They shout. It's a shout for joy. They fall down before the presence of God Most High in worship and in praise and in adoration.

This is what it looks like when the people of God meet with the God of the people. They're happy. They're joyful. There's gratitude in their hearts.

Again, listen to Gordon Wenham. On three other occasions, God showed his approval of a burnt offering by sending heavenly fire to burn it up. When the birth of Samson was announced to Manoah and his wife, Judges 13, when Solomon dedicated the temple, 2 Chronicles 7, and when Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, 1 Kings 18. He says, each time confronted by the awe-inspiring reality of God, the worshipers fell to the ground and praised God.

See, brethren, this idea of conduct in the presence of God that is just filled with familiarity. I mean, on the one hand, there is a familiarity. God is our God and we are His people. But it shouldn't be a familiarity like we have with one another.

God is a consuming fire. God is most high. God is creator. God is infinite.

God is spirit. God is pure act. God is glorious. And in the presence of God, to fall on one's face is absolutely positively appropriate and fitting because he is who he is and we are who we are.

He goes on to say Leviticus 9.24 says they shouted. The word translated shout means a loud cry, usually one of joy. It is often coupled with other words expressing praise and joy at God's ways and works. These episodes show that the worship of God involves a total response of man to God.

The presence of God was greeted with a shout, not silence. More than that, they fell on their faces. God's greatness and holiness cannot be ignored. He must be acknowledged by our whole being.

Nothing less is adequate. I think that's good commentary. I think that's appropriate. And I think, again, we in the New Covenant get a little bit comfortable from time to time.

We get a little bit relaxed in the presence of the High and Holy One. Remember, this is the God, the God that we worship, is the God who came to Isaiah the prophet. And when God manifests himself to Isaiah the prophet in his call to the prophetic ministry, what does Isaiah say when he saw the Lord of hosts high and exalted in the train of his robe filling the temple? Does he say, boy, it's just great to be here with you, buddy.

It's nice to be here with you, pal. It's good to be here with you, friend. He says, woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell amongst a people of unclean lips.

Why? Mine eyes have seen the glory of the Lord. When the prophet Ezekiel gets a glimpse of a vision of God most high, what does he do? He'd say, well, that's great, I can keep shaving now.

There's a pastor famous in California for that very thing. He would say that he would shave his face and Jesus would come to talk to him while he was shaving his face. And John MacArthur says, well, what happens when that happens? Well, I just keep shaving my face.

MacArthur says, you mean you don't fall down as a dead man? Because that's what everybody else does when they're confronted with the glory of God Most High in Scripture. Consider John on the island of Patmos, who's exiled there for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. When he sees Jesus, what happens?

Hey, buddy. Hey, friend. Hey, pal. How's it going today?

I fell at his feet as a dead man. Of course, Christ lays his hand on his shoulder and says, do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am the one who has the keys to Hades.

I am the one who has the power over life and death. The idea of being, brethren, is that when we come into the presence of God, joy, gratitude, happiness, thankfulness are all consistent with the worshiping heart. but reverence and fear and an understanding that we've come into the presence of the High and Holy One. I think that Leviticus helps us to appreciate that. I think especially the case of Nadab and Abihu underscores that for us.

Judgment on the Priesthood (Ch. 10)

To which we turn now, notice the judgment on the priesthood in chapter 10, verses 1 to 20. Now, look at verse 1 in chapter 10. Then, not five days later, 8 days later, 10 months later, 2 years later. Now, what's the last act?

What's the last scene in chapter 9? They offer up the sacrifice, fire from Yahweh comes down, it consumes the sacrifice, the people shout and they fall down. Then, There's not a breach, there's not a time, there's not a space of a period. We've got the ministry of the priests.

We've got them functioning in their capacity, consecrated, anointed with holy oil, set apart for this task for seven days. Most likely they worked in shifts. Well, here specifically come Nadab and Abihu. And before we look at what Nadab and Abihu do, we ought not to neglect what chapters one to nine say.

There were detailed explanations on how to sacrifice, very jot and tittle-ish, not left up to the imagination of the worshiper. There was the burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the guilt or trespass offering. You're to do these in a very specific way. You can't eat from the burnt offering, though the priests get the skin of the burnt offering.

The grain offering, that's how the priests lived. Remember, they didn't get tribal allotments in terms of land. They didn't have agriculture as their forte. They had priestly service.

So how did they live? They lived based on the goodness of God in terms of his provision through his people. So the priest would get a portion of grain. The priest would get portions of meat. from the peace offering, from the sin offering, and from the guilt offering.

After that, which was given to Yahweh, was burned, after the offal was put away, the parts, the innards, and all that sort of thing, then the priests were entitled to eat. So they had these detailed explanations. And then we have this illustration of God's acceptance at the end of chapter 9, at verse 24. And then, of course, always in every crowd, you've got a Nadab and a Bihu.

Well, I think we're going to try it another way. I think we're going to do it this way. I think we're going to do it in a way that pleases us. So let's look specifically at what they do.

Notice the problem. Verse 1. Then Nadab and a Bihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord.

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu

Now, commentators are divided in terms of what they did wrong. A lot of them think it was because they were drunk. Look at chapter 10 at verse 8. Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting.

It wasn't a prohibition for all time. It was a prohibition when they engaged in ministry in terms of the tabernacle. So some with good warrant see that their crime and sin or problem in chapter 10 verse one was probably they were drunk. But others suggest, no, it was the mingling of the incense and the way they went about it.

There were strict rules concerning that according to Leviticus chapter 16 and verse 12. Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine and bring it inside the veil. So some suggest that it was that process, the means by which they did this, that was problematic. I take the position of chapter 16, verses 1 and 2.

Chapter 16, verses 1 and 2. Now, the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron. There's a lot that comes between chapters 10 and 16. It's the laws of cleanliness, and uncleanness, and the animals that you could eat, the animals you couldn't eat, and the scabs that you had to go see the priest over, and the various sores that affected one, and different things concerning emissions, and cleanliness, and all that sort of thing.

But it's intriguing that on the Day of Atonement, what the backdrop is is God's wrath upon Nadab and Abihu when they offered up strange fire. And then if you go on, notice what it says. It says, now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they offered profane fire before the Lord and died. And the Lord said to Moses, tell Aaron, your brother, not to come at just any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy seat, which is on the ark, lest he die.

For I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. Some suggest, and this is the position I would default toward, is that Nadab and Abihu tried to go into the holy of holies. That was a no-no. You are not supposed to do that.

One day out of the year, and that's the high priest. He takes off all of his glorious robes, and he wears linen alone. He probably goes in about three or four times to bring blood, pour it on the mercy seat, and then he comes out, they take a goat, they confess, or he confesses the sins of Israel, and then he drives that goat out into the wilderness. So perhaps that's the issue that affected Nadab and Abihu.

They went into that holy of holies. But whether it's the intoxication, whether it's the way they presented it, the last part of verse 1 tells us the problem. It says, "...which He had not commanded them." "...which He had not commanded them." Stands in sharp contrast to the many emphases on that which the Lord had commanded them throughout the context and the book. They disobeyed.

So when you obey God, according to chapter 9, and you offer up the sacrifices through a properly functioning priesthood, God sends fire down and consumes the sacrifices. You see it, you shout, you fall on your face, and you are in the presence of God Most High. But if you alter the rules, if you mess with the commands, if you depart from what the Lord has stipulated, that fire becomes lethal. Now notice, fire comes down at the end of chapter 9 to consume the sacrifice.

Fire comes down again at the beginning of chapter 10, but to consume the sacrificers. Why? Because they disobeyed God. They disobeyed the Lord.

The determining factor is obedience or disobedience to the Lord Most High. So notice in verse 2, so fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Again, brethren, if we saw that in a worship service, it might rise up in us to say, well, that doesn't seem right. I mean, why don't you send a lightning bolt or a jet onto some group of perverted persons somewhere?

Why would you take out a church? It might be in us to rise up in our hearts with some sort of a bit of a complaint. But notice that Moses is quick with the theology. Moses is quick with the lesson.

Moses is quick with the mandate given to the priests.

God Must Be Regarded as Holy

Notice in verse 3, Moses said to Aaron, this is what the Lord spoke, saying, by those who come near me. Now notice the next bit, I must be regarded as holy. So I was saying earlier, we don't come into the presence of God as if he's a fellow. We don't come into the presence of God as if he's a creature.

We don't come into the presence of God as if he's one of us. He's not one of us, brethren. The sooner we get that in our thick skulls, the better off we're gonna be. There is a great chasm that exists between the creator and the creature.

We are not creator and he is not creature. So there is this chasm. And the way that we approach is to understand that He is, in fact, holy. By those who come near me, I must be regarded as holy.

Subsequent history of Israel reveals that. What happens to the men of Beth Shemesh when they think they're going to open up the Ark of the Covenant and just see what's inside there? Does God say, oh, good on you. That's a fine task.

That's a good thing. He wipes them out, brethren. Again, the prophet Isaiah, woe is me, for I am undone. You know that in the prophet Isaiah, one of the favorite titles for Yahweh that Isaiah uses more so, way, way, proportionally more so than every other prophet, even combined, I think, is the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah understood something about God's holiness. Isaiah understood that God is other. God is not like us. God is different.

God is in a different category or a different chain of being. So by those who come near me, I must be regarded as holy. And then notice, and before all the people, I must be glorified. In other words, the priest, functioning in his proper manner, brings glory to God.

Not innovation to the worship of God, not comfort to himself, not benefit or prestige for himself. That's the task of a functioning priesthood. And before all the people, I must be glorified. Well, notice what happens there.

Aaron held his peace. What's he going to say? Well, no, I don't think that's right. Well, no, I don't think that's fair.

Again, God has commanded what is right. God has commanded what the children of Israel are supposed to do. And God is to be regarded in the way that Moses reminds them. And then notice the command of the priests on the heels of this in verses 4 to 7.

It's not conclude the worship service, dismiss everybody, give them the benediction and send them home, turn them to number 6, turn them to 2 Corinthians 13, 14. Read that benediction and tell everybody to go home and we'll see you next week. That's not what happens. The worship continues.

The service goes on. The people of God remain assembled. The priests are on duty. And so the instructions that follow, again, may seem to us a bit harsh.

It's because we don't reflect upon how holy God is. We don't reflect upon how sinful we are. We don't reflect upon the fact that he makes the way for access. And when we have that access, he doesn't suspend it in the execution of his judgment.

No, rather, that's part of his presence among his people, for good or ill. You get the blessing or you get the curses. And again, it's predicated on obedience or disobedience in terms of God's law. So notice in verses 4 to 5, the bodies were ordered to be removed.

The priests were prohibited from contact with dead bodies, according to Leviticus 21, unless they were close relatives. I think the high priest could never touch or contact a dead body. The not high priest, the other priest, could if they were close near relatives. So that's verses four and five.

Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, come here, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp. So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said. Probably laid them on the tunic, grabbed the tunic, and then dragged them outside the camp. That's what God commanded.

That's what God stipulated. Get the dead bodies out of here. We're still engaged in this meeting together. We are still engaged in this worship of God.

We're not going to suspend this because of Nadab and Abihu. And then notice, specifically in verse six, the priests are forbidden to mourn. Not because God is callous, or God is harsh, or God is vicious, or He lacks compassion, or kindness, or goodness. The priests are on duty.

The judgment of God is not to stop you from functioning according to your command. So that's verse six. Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar, and to Thamar, his sons, do not uncover your heads, nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled." It's okay for them to mourn, it's okay for them to weep, it's okay for them to carry on, but not the priests.

Robert Alter says, that is, you are not to perform any of the conventional gestures of mourning, for your sons have perished in violating the very trust of the sanctuary that has been given to you and your descendants. Instead, you may allow the people as a whole to take up the burden of mourning. So God is serious here with reference to worship. Just working through this.

Again, the reason why I'm preaching this again, it's in me. This Wednesday night Bible study, pondering these things and the implications for New Covenant worship. I mean, the appreciation for New Covenant worship. Isn't it wonderful?

That we don't have all these laws in terms of various sacrifices, and we bring that on Sunday, and we lay fire to it, and we hope that Yahweh approves, and if we get a little bit out of line, He strikes the pastor dead with fire? I mean, on the one hand, there ought to be great appreciation that we live in those days of the anti-typical reality that Christ fulfills all that was specified here. But if we go back in time and consider this old covenant setting, it should produce in our hearts a reverence for God. Again, the God of heaven and earth has not changed.

Positive law dictates in terms of covenant how we approach Him. It's not a different God, though. It's not a different requirement, though, in terms of worship. It's just a different prescribed system of worship, but the same God who is to be worshiped.

So notice in verse seven, they're reminded of what we saw at the end of the summary in chapter eight. You shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting lest you die. For the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you and they did according to the word of Moses. And then the chapter ends basically with instructions to the priests.

Make sure that these sorts of things don't happen in the future. It's good, isn't it? God's gracious. We've had a bit of a bump in the road there with Nadab and Abihu.

We had a little hitch there in terms of the corporate worship of the living and true God. So in order to avoid such things in the future, make sure the priests don't get hammered before they go into the tabernacle and engage in their priestly activities. That's the focus there in verses 8 to 10. And notice that Yahweh speaks now to Aaron.

It's always been to Moses, but now Aaron is the high priest. He is formally functioning in that capacity. So according to chapter 10, verse 8, God speaks to Aaron. And basically, God says to Aaron, get your priests in line.

Get these men in line. Do not allow them to cut corners. Do not allow them to shave off edges. Do not allow them to not obey God Most High.

So that's the nature of the instruction in verses specifically 8 to 11. Prohibition against intoxication, and then the reason for that, so that they might have the ability to distinguish between the holy and unholy, verse 10, and so that they might instruct children, verse 11. All of this was not done in a corner or hidden. It was for all the assembly.

Now, there were requirements and boundaries and stipulations in terms of how far the worshiper went with reference to the holy place and the holy of holies, but all Israel was there. They were gathered either outside or in the court of the tabernacle to witness the worship of God Almighty. And then notice the instruction to eat the priest's portion in verses 12 to 15. Again, I'm just gonna summarize here.

You know what Moses says to them? eat the grain and eat the meat. That probably wasn't intuitive on their part, if perhaps the stench of Nadab and Abihu's burnt bodies is still filling the air. You want us to eat? Yes, because that's stipulated in the sacrifice.

If you don't eat, it's not obeying. You need to eat the grain and you need to eat the meat that is set apart for the priest relative to this sacrificial system. And then the passage ends with Moses noticing that the sin offering was not eaten. The sin offering was burned.

That was a no-no. The priests were supposed to eat part of the sin offering. So that's kind of the tension here in verses 16 to 20. Look at what we find in verse 16.

Then Moses made careful inquiry about the goat of the sin offering, and there it was, burned up. And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, who were left, saying, Why have you not eaten the sin offering in a holy place, since it is most holy, and God has given it to you to bear? the guilt of the congregation to make atonement for them before the Lord. See, its blood was not brought inside the holy place. Indeed, you should have eaten it in a holy place as I commanded." See, as far as Moses is concerned, this is not good.

This ain't bueno. Brothers, you need to eat. Aaron, you need to get those priests eating. There is this sin offering that's been set apart.

God demands that you participate in it. What do you have to say for yourself? Now, notice in verses 19 to 20. But basically Aaron says, I didn't know if God would accept this.

Remember, and I didn't try to get too emotional on Wednesday night or too therapeutic or too familial, but these were his signs. He watched Nadab and Abihu grow up. He played ball with them. He took them to Little League.

He watched them swing the bat at the tee ball. I'm just putting it in the modern parlance. But he was their dad. And now they're gone.

They offered strange fire before the Lord, that which Yahweh had not commanded. So God sends fire down, not to consume their sacrifice, but to consume them. Nadab and Abihu are gone. So perhaps we cut Aaron a little slack because Moses does.

Listen to Aaron's response according to verse 19. Aaron said to Moses, look, this day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord. See, when it came to these offerings, it wasn't just for the Israelite worshiper, it was for the priest as well. That's a significant contrast with the New Covenant.

The Lord Jesus, as High Priest, doesn't first offer up sacrifice for His sin. He's unique. He's holy, harmless, and undefiled. but these old covenant priests, they had to offer up sacrifice for their own sin. And so what Aaron says is they offered up this sacrifice for their sin to avert the wrath of God, to make atonement with the Lord, to satisfy divine justice, and yet the fire came down and consumed them.

So Aaron's basically saying, I wasn't sure if I should eat or not. I wasn't sure if I should participate. Look, this day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have befallen me. What?

The death of my two sons. Such things have befallen me. If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? Great question, great observation, great conduct in a particularly difficult setting.

It satisfies Moses, it should satisfy us. So when Moses heard that, he was content. So in conclusion, in terms of Leviticus chapter 8, you've got the installation or the ordination of the priesthood, the ministry of the priesthood, and then this judgment on the priesthood. And I think there's several lessons, we won't go too far or too deep, but the doctrine of man is everywhere assumed here, the sinfulness of man.

We are connected to Adam covenantally. We have a vile nature. We have a sin nature. We have original sin.

And it's from that vantage point that all our actual transgressions do proceed. The sin offering in this list of offerings deals with unintentional sins. Have you ever come to that realization in your Christian life, to the point where you think, you know, just about everything I think, say, do, and touch, I'm sinning? It's almost somewhat perplexing at times.

I mean, do we ever just love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? Do we ever just love our neighbor as ourself? Is that, you know, the symptomatic of our day in and day out? You know, the moment that we wake up, do we do what the supposedly righteous Jews did in the Old Covenant and rehearse the Shema?

You know here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Do we do that? Do we have that in us to worship God constantly, to love our fellow man constantly?

No, we don't. We're sinners. We're connected covenantally to Adam. In Adam, all die.

And we have that actual transgressions that proceed. The guilt offering was for those sins that we do, that we do intentionally. So within the sacrificial system, you had built in provision for the unintentional, provision for the intentional. Again, the grace of God meets man, depraved man, where he stands in need. the depravity of man as seen ultimately in the sacrificial system.

If man was not sinful, we would not need blood atonement. Secondly, we see the doctrine of theology proper, or who God is. He is holy. God is holy.

By those who come to me, I must be regarded as holy. That's not up for debate. That's not up for dispute. That's not up to Well, you know, we're gonna negotiate here.

We don't really want that concept of God's holiness in our church. We just like joy and peace and happiness. What's joy and peace and happiness not tempered by God's holiness? We need to be a holy people.

We need to recognize that we in fact serve a holy God. But in the midst of this, we see the graciousness of God. The very provision of the sacrificial system makes a way for sinners to meet with God and to maintain covenant status. And then the glory of God manifested in his presence among his people.

In Exodus 40, it's this cloud, Shekinah glory cloud that fills the tabernacle. Here we see this fire proceed from the presence of the Lord. At the end of chapter nine in verse 24, we see that God is in the midst of his people and his presence is in fact glorious. Thirdly, the typological significance.

When you read through the book of Leviticus, There are some sections, brethren, that are a bit challenging. 11 to 14 or 15, those are some, you know, tough chapters in terms of Wednesday night Bible study. We're not going to go jot and tittle through every hair and scab and every sore and every, you know, emission that comes out of a man or a woman and the laws of cleanness and uncleanness and all that sort of thing. When you read the book of Leviticus, think Jesus. Think Christ Most High.

Think about the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Think about John 1 29. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Leviticus is about Jesus.

Leviticus points us to Jesus. Leviticus is typical of Jesus. Leviticus is prefiguring Jesus. Leviticus is all about blood atonement through the Savior King who left heaven above, who for us men and for our salvation, took on our humanity to live, to die, and to rise again.

And then finally, the emphasis on worship. The emphasis on worship. Brethren, I think this is a place where the Christian church today, and I right there included, we need to ponder. God, we need to ponder what we're doing in terms of meeting together on Sunday.

Yes, it's beneficial to catch up with brethren. Yes, it's encouraging to see the people of God. Yes, it's encouraging to enjoy that horizontal element in terms of fellowship with the saints. But we're here to meet with God Almighty.

We're here to enter into the presence of the Most High. We're here to have truck with the living and the true God. And our God is, in fact, a consuming fire. And that ought to affect the way that we come.

It ought to affect the way that we approach. It ought to affect the way that we think about Christian worship in this new covenant setting. So all that to say it's good to be in the house of God on this Lord's Day and to participate in this bread and in this wine, these emblems or symbols that point us back to our blessed Savior. Leviticus points us to Him.

The elements point us back, at least in terms of history, to ponder his broken body on behalf of sinners and his shed blood. And if you don't have a saving interest in the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not sacrificial system through an ordained priesthood. It isn't Roman Catholicism and their priesthood. It isn't the Mormon priesthood.

It's the high priestly office of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is Him who gave Himself on behalf of sinners to satisfy divine justice so that all who look to Him in faith will have everlasting life. Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for the consistency between the covenants in terms of our holy and glorious and majestic God.

As well, we see the consistency between the covenants in terms of the way of approach through a bloody knife and a smoking altar. And we praise you that Christ has satisfied, Christ has accomplished, and Christ has brought nigh those redemptive benefits through His own life, death, and ministry. God, as we eat tonight, as we drink tonight, let us ponder these things, and may our hearts be drawn out in love and worship and adoration to our great High Priest. And we pray in Jesus' name.