Exodus 29

[0:00] I offer my heart, oh God, completely to you. So throughout the history of the world, God has longed for a relationship with man.

[0:13] ! It was mankind which God created in his image.

[0:34] Why did God create man? To have a relationship with him. And the book of Genesis tells us that God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. What a beautiful thing. And Adam and Eve shared fellowship and they spent time with God.

[0:48] They were together. There were no hindrances to their relationship in the garden. Man had full access to God, unhindered. Scripture says it was good. But God's design didn't last because Adam and Eve, eating from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge and good and evil in the garden, by doing that, man forever marred the perfect relationship and fellowship that God established.

[1:18] That God desired was his plan. Sin entered the world and a holy and perfect God demands a holy and perfect people in order to be in relationship. So what did God do as a result of their sin?

[1:31] He banished them from the garden. For the first time ever, man was separated from God because of sin, something he never knew before. And his direct access to God had ceased.

[1:43] And today, as we continue through our Old Testament survey, we arrive at the subject of the priesthood. The main theme I want us to understand today is this.

[1:54] Write this down if you have a pen, a paper, a smartphone, a notepad, whatever. Christ, the high priest, has given sinful man access to a holy God.

[2:05] Christ, the high priest, has given sinful man access to a holy God. Before we go further, I want to pray for our time together.

[2:17] Lord, we come to you, God, acknowledging that you've done so much for us. God, and you are true to your character and your love and your forgiveness and your grace towards us and unholy people.

[2:36] God, I ask today that you take the words of your scripture, God, your words, your truth. God, and you allow me to communicate them, God, as you desire.

[2:47] I ask that all of us soften our hearts today, Lord, and even me, that you administer to me even as I speak, God, and for those here as your word is preached. God, we owe you all.

[2:59] In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen. So what is the priesthood of the Old Testament? This is our subject for today. Throughout history, God's related to his people through covenants or agreements similar to rules and regulations that governments have with their people.

[3:15] And the chief officers of these covenants or agreements that were responsible for making sure the laws were followed were the priests. Biblical times. Now, like any other society that existed, right, leaders and rule enforcers are needed if not chaos ensues.

[3:33] We know this. Every law that is broken brings with it a consequence. Well, if you get caught, right, a speeding ticket for fast drivers, fines for not paying your bills, or even jail time for being fraudulent on your tax return.

[3:52] But it's okay because TurboTax said my audit risk is low. I wasn't fraudulent though. It's consequences for breaking the laws.

[4:03] But God's people of the Old Testament, not following the rules and regulations set forth by God, didn't just lead to chaos, confusion, or jail time, right, but it carried with it a much, much higher cost.

[4:17] Read with me Exodus 19, 3-6. Turn there in your Bibles. You don't have a Bible. There's a stack on the back table. We'd be happy to have you keep that as your own or you can feel free to bark for today if you need one.

[4:31] Exodus 19, 3-6. And what's being said here takes place about three months after Israel left Egypt? And this conversation happened. Exodus 19, 3.

[4:46] While Moses went up to God, the Lord called to him out of the mountains, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the people of Israel, You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself.

[5:01] Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among the peoples. For all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

[5:16] These are the words you shall speak to the people of Israel. And so these are the stipulations of what's called the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant or agreement was a set of laws that God's people lived under during the time of the Exodus.

[5:30] And the covenant was an agreement between two parties, God and man. There was a much higher cost for not keeping God's covenant because of what we see here in verse 5 and 6.

[5:44] God longed for his people to be his treasured possession, but a holy God cannot be in relationship with an unholy people. We saw this in the Garden of Eden.

[5:56] Once man sinned, God could not cohabitate with him like he once did. Man was banished from the Garden. So man obeying God's voice and keeping his covenant was the deal, the conditional agreement that man needed to follow to begin to regain what was lost in the garden, being a treasured possession and holy before God.

[6:20] Now, even if you haven't been around for the last few weeks here at Shoreline, that's okay. You know as well as anyone else that man's tendency is to sin, to break rules, to break the laws.

[6:30] So this is my question. Was there really any hope for God's people? God says, you'll be my treasured possession. All you have to do is keep my commandments. That's it. But everyone knows that man doesn't keep God's commandments.

[6:45] So what God did was he created the priesthood. The priest, as I mentioned earlier, the chief officers in carrying out God's rules and regulations for his people were the priests.

[6:55] And since God related to his people through their being holy and obedient to his commandments, in essence, the priests were man's only outlet to God.

[7:06] The ambassadors, if you will. The mediators between an unholy man and a holy God. Yet even the priests themselves had limited access. Here are a few things to know about the Levitical priests.

[7:18] The priests were a select few people, only from the tribe of Levi. And even then, they had to be also descendants of Aaron. Numbers 3 says, And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood.

[7:33] But if any insider comes near, he shall be put to death. Only the Levites and only the descendants of Aaron specifically were the priests. I think it's cool to realize that of the approximately 600,000-ish Israelites that encamped outside when they left Egypt and were together, only the Levites would serve in relation to the religious duties.

[7:57] Of those 600,000, only the Levites and only theirs from Aaron's lineage. So this is a really small group of people, right? Not many people at all. In terms of 600,000, it's a handful, right?

[8:10] So we're talking a very small amount of people who have actual interaction with God. These are the ones that God selected to interact with him, right? So the average man or woman, you and I, right, out of all the people in this room, maybe a couple people would have been selected.

[8:23] So the average person had no direct connection with God. The priests were consecrated. So there were a select few priests and then the priests were consecrated. Literally, that means set apart, made holy for their work to the Lord.

[8:38] Turn to Exodus 29, 10 chapters to the right in your Bibles from Exodus 19. Exodus 29, verse 35.

[8:49] We're going to start reading. Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons according to all that I have commanded you.

[9:02] Through seven days shall you ordain them. Verse 36, And every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. And then jump down real quick to verse 44. Verse 44.

[9:14] Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. And so there were only a few priests and those few priests underwent a seven day process of a very specific particular consecration or service of setting them apart in which they gained the ability only through that did they gain the ability to serve the Lord as a spiritual leader of the people.

[9:41] And so God is holy and like we said he demands that those who serve him and have relationship with him are holy also and the priests were made holy to serve God.

[9:53] Let's continue on in chapter 29 with verse 38. This will be a main chunk of our scripture today. Verse 38 Exodus 29.

[10:04] Now this is what you shall offer on the altar. Right? So this next one is the priest offered sacrifices. That was their third third main key factor of these priests. Now this is what you shall offer on the altar.

[10:17] Verse 38. Two lambs a year old by day regularly. One lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. And with the first lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hen of beaten oil and a fourth of a hen of wine for a drink offering.

[10:33] The other lamb you shall offer at twilight and shall offer it with its grain offering and its drink offering as in the morning for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. A food offering for the Lord.

[10:44] Verse 42. It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord where I will meet with you to speak to you there.

[10:56] There I will meet with you with the peoples of Israel and it shall be sanctified by my glory. I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests.

[11:08] I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God and they shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them from the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

[11:20] So we see from these verses that the priest's main job was to be a mediator between God and man and it was to keep man in a right standing before the Lord.

[11:31] This was done through sacrifices. You may have heard this this morning. A holy God can only be pleased by holy people which God had through his consecrated priests.

[11:43] In order to cover Israel's sins a priest would kill an animal as the guilty party laid its hands on the creature symbolizing the penalty for the person's sins being paid for from them through the death of the animal and not the death of the human.

[11:59] The priest would catch the blood from the animal underneath the altar and sprinkle it upon the altar in the tent thus temporarily covering or atoning for the penalty of sin.

[12:12] But why blood? Why sacrifice? Couldn't there have been money to pay or some kind of other alms to give to please the Lord? No. Because there's a penalty to pay for sin.

[12:23] There's a consequence. Just like there's a penalty to be paid for breaking the law. And the Bible says that the penalty is death. And so the choice blood so the blood of a choice animal was shed so that man could maintain his life and the right standing before God.

[12:42] As the animal took the sin of the man taking his place and temporarily paying the penalty for his sin. And the sacrifice would become holy as the blood touched the altar in the dwelling area the area of God.

[12:58] It would be a pleasing aroma to him as we see there in verse 21 verse 41 sorry. These burnt offering sacrifices as they're called occurred twice daily as commanded by God for the priest to do.

[13:11] And as we see in verses 42 and 43 in order to meet with God these sacrifices had to be submitted at the entrance of the tent where God dwelt or the tabernacle in order for the priest to even enter the tent and meet with God as the verse says to be spoken to by him.

[13:30] And then in terms of sacrifices once a year on the day of atonement the high priest would enter the most holy place of the tabernacle the small square room of which he was the only one allowed only the high priest and this was the actual presence of God.

[13:45] On that day the priest would offer a burnt offering sacrifice for his own sins and the sins of the people. The sacrifice was essential for God's people to remain in a right and acceptable standing before him.

[13:59] man keeping his terms of the Mosaic covenant being holy before a holy God. So here's what we've seen so far. God designed man for a relationship with him but man chose to sin and that severed the relationship with a holy God by man becoming unholy.

[14:16] God continued to long for his people but demanded that they obey his voice and follow his commands in order to be his treasured possession. So the Mosaic covenant was issued. Because man continually sins though God appointed priests who became worthy to approach God through their process of consecration to act as mediators between God and man keeping man in a right standing before God offering continual sacrifices to please God and keep his people holy through rituals at the tabernacle where God dwelt.

[14:48] And the priests were the only ones who had this interaction with God and specifically the high priest was the single person who was able to experience the presence of God once a year.

[15:04] Perhaps you realize the problem. The problem at hand is that God created man for relationship but so far all we've got is a handful of people with limited access to God and very specific conditions in which they can approach him.

[15:22] Most can't approach him day by day week by week year by year spotless animals were killed their blood sprinkled on the altar in order to keep man's access to God and right standing before him.

[15:35] This is a problem. Is this really what God wanted? No and we're going to see that God did something about that. Christ is the greater high priest.

[15:50] We see God knew there was a problem right? He understood the old system the old testament of relating to man would someday be done away with. So God sent his son Jesus to be the high priest to be the mediator between him and man an absolute game changer right?

[16:08] This is huge. Christ came and blew up the whole system in three major ways right? And Christ came and he eliminated the need for the old covenant and the old system of the priesthood.

[16:21] Let's read Hebrews 7. Turn with me to Hebrews 7 all the way in the New Testament. Big jump. Hebrews 7 22. Big jump for me.

[16:40] I'm going to read Hebrews 7 22-27 and find out these ways and what Christ did. 7 22. The author of Hebrews is in the middle of a multi-chapter discussion about Christ being a greater high priest than those before him.

[16:57] 22. This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number because they were prevented from death from continuing office.

[17:08] But he, Christ, holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. Consequently, he's able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him.

[17:19] Since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens.

[17:31] He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

[17:43] So Christ is the greater high priest and he made the old system know and he fulfilled it. So in three ways. The first is through covenant. Christ is the greater high priest who came with a permanent covenant.

[17:58] 722 in Hebrews, what does it say? This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. Okay, what does that mean? To help us understand this, flip a page or two to Hebrews 8.6.

[18:09] This gives us a little more detail on why the covenant that Christ brought was better. Hebrews 8.6 reads this way. Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better.

[18:23] Why? Since it is enacted on better promises. So the covenant that Christ brings assures greater promises. They are, as you could read in verses 8 through 12 of Hebrews 8.

[18:37] We won't go to those right now, but the most significant of these promises is found in verse 12 of Hebrews 8. It says this, For I will forgive their iniquities. I will remember their sins no more.

[18:50] Jesus Christ ushered in the covenant that for thousands of years the law pointed towards. The old covenant was all about priests and the people being reminded of their sin day after day and year after year as the burnt offering was placed on the altar in the presence of God in the most holy place sprinkled by blood inside the tabernacle.

[19:09] The law never gave a resolution to sin. It pointed out man's sin. It promised temporary atonement for sin until the next sacrifice.

[19:21] There was always a next sacrifice. The law was a reminder of how one could never fully adhere to God's law, to God's standards.

[19:33] But Christ, the greatest perfect high priest, because he brings with him a permanent covenant, man's sin, brings final resolution to man's problem of sin.

[19:47] He brings forgiveness for sin forever. Christ brought fulfillment to the Mosaic covenant because man's sinfulness is remembered no more, thus satisfying the law's requirement forever for man.

[20:04] God's sin. So he brings a permanent covenant. Christ is the greater high priest because he's a permanent priest. Hebrews 7, 23 to 25, let's read that again real quick.

[20:18] The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. That was 24.

[20:29] more. And so Christ is the greater high priest because he's eternal. Whereas the Old Testament priest from the time of Mosaic covenant until the time of Christ would come and go due to old age, Christ lives forever.

[20:46] And he holds his priesthood permanently. But the key is this. If Christ came with a new covenant but only lasted temporarily due to death from old age as the high priests, his covenant and his priesthood would have expired when he expired.

[21:04] But that's not the case. Christ's high priesthood and the covenant that Christ brought live on forever because though Christ died he was raised and Christ lives forever in heaven at the right hand of the Father.

[21:19] And so because Christ is an eternal high priest, his ministry, his priesthood is forever. So that's verse 24. Verse 25 says, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

[21:33] His ministry never ceases. As a permanent priest Christ continually makes intercession. Not once a year in the day of atonement, not every day burning incense and making other sacrifices to the Lord, taking breaks in between like the Old Testament priest did.

[21:51] But Christ continually intercedes. He never stops. He's the perfect, permanent high priest, the intercessor between man and God, which keeps man in a forever state of acceptance before God.

[22:07] Covenant, priest, and now sacrifice. Christ is the high priest. Christ is the greater high priest offers up a permanent sacrifice.

[22:18] verse 26 of Hebrews 7. Look back there again. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

[22:36] Verse 27. He has no need like the high priests of old to offer sacrifices daily. First, for his own sins, and then for those of the people.

[22:47] since he did this once and for all, when he offered up himself. And so these animals that the high priests would offer, these perfect lambs, once a year, they were spotless.

[23:02] They were brilliant, and they were of incredible worth. These spotless lambs took the sin of man. But Christ, the great high priest, the spotless, perfect lamb of God, brought his own blood to the altar to be sprinkled upon it through his death on the cross.

[23:27] His life was given as a sacrifice. His life was given as a sacrifice for God's people, and it was so perfect, and it was so good, that it pleased the Lord in a way that no other sacrifice could, or would, again.

[23:48] He didn't have to offer up blood for his own sins like the other priests, because he was sinless, and he gave his fully perfect blood, thus creating a permanent sacrifice for God's people that would be holy enough and forever enduring, so that no longer did even one more sacrifice have to be made.

[24:18] Christ's covenant is the new covenant of his blood, which was given on behalf of you and I, by the perfect high priest, a perfect sacrifice, for all time, forever satisfying God the Father, making his people forever holy, and enabling God to forgive sin once and for all.

[24:47] God sacrificed the fellowship of his son, Jesus, in heaven, who then came to earth and sacrificed his life for you, so that God could once again have relationship with man.

[25:07] God was the only way to reestablish that relationship. When one trusts in Christ, the perfect mediator, the perfect high priest, no longer through compliance to the law, but through faith alone, in Christ alone, that his sacrifice brings you and me, an unholy sinner, into a permanent state of holiness, consecrated as God's adopted son or daughter, you become a holy priest before God.

[25:51] You're part of God's priesthood now, those who have access to him, based off of the covenantal, priestly, and sacrificial changes that Christ brings as the perfect high priest, you and I, this is it, once again, have access to God.

[26:12] The way God designed it to be. Only through Christ. And how can we know this for certain?

[26:25] For certain. the temple in Jerusalem, there stood 60 feet high by 30 feet wide by 4 inches thick.

[26:51] A veil separating the holy place of the tabernacle from the most holy place. Give me a second.

[27:09] When Christ died on the cross, the veil is torn.

[27:20] the veil is torn. Thank you, Lord.

[27:44] Exposing the presence of Almighty God. For all of mankind to have access forever.

[28:02] Eliminating the barrier between God and man. So what are we to do with this truth, Shoreline? The truth that you and I have unhindered access to God once again?

[28:23] I want us to turn back to Exodus 29. Looking at verses 42 to 46. Before I read that, I want to say this.

[28:49] The Lord has done so much in order to love us so well. To care for us. To foster relationship with us. But I fear that we, and myself included on this, we really fail and fall short to participate in that relationship.

[29:09] And this has been just a massive, a giant life lesson for me the last four or five months of my life.

[29:23] And God said to me, My son, don't you see how deeply I desire relationship with you? He longs for and wants me the desire to the same thing.

[29:35] I'm not talking about salvation. I'm not talking about accepting Christ as your Savior and standing before God as His son or daughter.

[29:49] I'm not talking about that part of the relationship. Salvation is the beginning of God's design for relationship. It's just the beginning. Salvation gives me access to God on a whole new level.

[30:07] But do I use that access? What do I do with that? He's given me access into His presence. To know Him.

[30:18] To encounter Him in His glory. Let's reread Exodus 29, 42 through 46. It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord.

[30:36] For I'll meet with you. Speak to you there. There I'll meet with the people of Israel and it shall be sanctified by my glory. I'll consecrate the tent of meeting in the altar.

[30:49] Aaron also and his sons I'll consecrate to serve me as priests. I will dwell among the people of Israel and be their God. And they shall know that I'm the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them.

[31:06] I am the Lord their God. What do we do about our access to God?

[31:18] About our relationship to Him? There's four things from these verses. Verse 42.

[31:30] I will meet with you. God wants to meet with you. Every day. The perfect lamb has been slain so that we can meet with God.

[31:47] The sacrifice has been given so that we can meet with God. Set time apart to meet the Lord, friends. Put away the distractions, the things that vouch for your attention and take priority in your life.

[32:08] I speak the same truth to myself, just to say that. God Himself gave up His Son to die so that we could enter into His presence and meet with Him.

[32:19] He wants to be in relationship with you. Oh, the sweet love of the Father, longing to meet with His children. Psalm 84 says, better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere.

[32:45] A thousand elsewhere. One day in the courts, the presence of the Lord. As Dave's going to talk about next week, the dwelling place of God, the tent of meeting, it's inside of us now.

[33:04] We don't have to travel to meet God. You can do it where you are. God wants to meet with you. Maybe you're here today and you need to meet God for the first time.

[33:29] Know this, friend. Your sin has made you unholy before a holy God who sent Jesus to reconcile that relationship designed for you to have with Him.

[33:42] Will you trust in faith that Christ's blood sacrifice is sufficient to bring you to right staying with God and not by obtaining the law? To allow you to be saved from the just penalty of death that you deserve and gain access into relationship with Him.

[34:01] Will you make that choice today? Talk to me.

[34:12] Talk to someone you know who knows the Lord personally. You can make that choice right where you're sitting. Let the Lord know you want Him to dwell in you.

[34:28] Trusting in faith, Christ's sacrifice. So God wants to meet with us each day. Verse 42 also says where I will speak to you.

[34:43] God wants to speak to us. So listen to Him. Listen.

[34:54] Listen. Listen. Listen. As a dear brother reminded me this week, turn your gaze to the Lord.

[35:10] Turn your ear to the Lord. Stop talking.

[35:23] And listen to the voice of God. The voice of your Heavenly Father. He wants to speak to us and He wants us to read and cherish the words found in the Bible. They give life and joy and peace.

[35:36] Psalmist in Psalm 119 says, hide God's word in your heart. Hide it. Let it penetrate your soul.

[35:49] Are God's words your heart's delight? Find joy and life in the words of your Savior and King Jesus.

[36:06] So God wants to meet with us. God wants to speak to us. God wants to dwell with us.

[36:20] All the time. All day. Every day. Not just when our Bibles open in the morning or at night or during lunch.

[36:32] All day. God wants to dwell with me. The veil's been torn in two, right? There is no closure. There is no stores closed sign in the Holy of Holies.

[36:44] It's always open. We can always dwell with God. We do this by communing with God. Pray with Him.

[36:57] Meditate on Him. Rely on Him. Psalm 34 says, taste and see the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him.

[37:12] When we taste the goodness of the Lord, we'll never want to go back to any other pleasure. And our chief pleasure will be to dwell with God.

[37:25] God wants to dwell with us constantly. And the last thing, that was verse 45. The last thing, verse 46. Verse 46. It says, they shall know that I am the Lord, their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt.

[37:49] God wants to be your God. And that may sound funny, but hear me out. What else do you worship? What other things take your mental, physical energy, your thoughts, your love, your yearnings, your desires?

[38:09] What do you obsess over and work so hard to make perfect? Who do you seek to please? Those are your idols. Those are your gods.

[38:20] Those are your gods. Those are your gods. Those are your gods. The Lord doesn't leave us in a state of despair. 1 John 1.9 says, if you confess your sins, he's faithful and just.

[38:36] Forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So confess your sins. Turn from them. And watch the renewal process.

[38:47] Watch God break you from your idols. Break you from your other gods to serve him. Friends, approach the tent, the holy of holies, boldly.

[39:00] Approach it boldly because Christ, our mediator, right now, right now, he's seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

[39:13] working for our good because of his blood. Close with this verse.

[39:28] Hebrews 4, 14 through 16. Since we then have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

[39:46] We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with us, with our weaknesses, but one who, in every respect, has been tempted as we are, without sin.

[39:57] this is it right here, folks. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

[40:11] when you're in Christ's family, when you're in God's family, you're met with grace and mercy.

[40:29] So meet with God. Let God speak to you. Let God dwell with you. and let God be your God.

[40:44] Pray with me.