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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. Well, let us pray. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Amen.