Baptism and Priestly Consecration
Leviticus 8:1-5
Introduction.
After the sacrifices are explained, someone has to carry them out.
Lev. 8 tells us of the consecration of the Aaronic priesthood.
Aaron and his four sons went through this ritual to prepare them for their priestly duties.
As Christians, we are all a royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9).
As a result, all of these things in Lev. 8 apply to us.
They are all accomplished at baptism because of Christ’s sacrifice for us.
Well, all except for one thing which we will discuss.
This chapter is broken down:
Preparation (8:1-5).
Washing (8:6).
Clothing (8:7-9).
Anointing (8:10-13).
Purification (8:14-17) & Atonement (8:18-21).
Sanctification (8:22-30).
Perfection (8:31-36).
Body.
Preparation (8:1-5).
The Lord speaks to Moses and commands Him to do this thing.
He provides a list of things that are necessary.
He also wants all the people to witness this.
God wanted the people to know that Aaron and his sons were to be the priests for them.
They would go to God on their behalf, and the ritual would legitimize their role.
All that was done was according to God’s command.
For us, the preparation for baptism is not an exact correlation, but we do have to prepare.
One of the things that is distinctive among the Lord’s church is we are typically prepared to baptize someone at any time.
Our baptistries are always full of water because we recognize the importance of the act.
We always have garments and towels ready as well.
We just have to make sure the individual is prepared for baptism.
He needs to know what baptism is for and why he needs it.
We don’t always have a big audience, as in the whole congregation, but there are those present to witness it.
Many people were there on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, but only Paul and Silas were there for the Philippian jailer’s baptism, with his family.
All that we do is according to the commands of our Lord.
Washing (8:6).
It is amazing to see the role water plays throughout Scripture.
I don’t know what form this washing took, but Moses performed it.
In many of the rituals that cleansed one from uncleanness, bathing in water is required (15:11)
This was part of the ritual to rid them of the less severe uncleannesses.
They had to be clean in order to continue in the rest of the consecration.
Any dirt or other perceived uncleanness was washed away.
Water plays a similar role for us.
There is no power in the water of itself.
Peter says that it was not merely the removal of the filth of the flesh (1 Pet. 3:21).
Instead it is an answer of a good conscience toward God through Christ’s resurrection.
But in the water, as an act of humble obedience to His commands, we are blessed in that very act to enjoy what follows.
Clothing (8:7-9).
Clothing was a big deal for the priests.
We see a hint of what they were to wear here.
The Lord goes into more detail a little earlier in Exodus 28 and 39.
What all these things symbolize is unclear, but they are holy garments.
After they wash they are to put on these clothes for service to God for the people.
Also earlier, we see that for the burnt offering, when they go to dump the ashes outside the camp, they have to wear other clothes so as not to soil their priestly garments ritually or literally (6:10-11).
They were to be kept clean.
It is in baptism that we are clothed with Christ.
Paul states that when we are baptized we have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27).
To put on Christ is as one would put on a cloak or a robe.
He is our priestly garment before God.
Filthy garments represented sin and the high priest Joshua was wearing them. The Angel of the Lord (likely Jesus) gave Him clean clothes (Zech. 3:1-5).
When we are baptized, our spiritual robes have been made white in the blood of the Lamb, that is Christ (Rev. 7:14).
“These are the ones who … washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
While the clothing followed the washing for Aaron and his sons, they are simultaneous for us.
Anointing (8:10-13).
Oil was often used to indicate that one would serve in a particular way.
Kings and priests were anointed with oil before or at the beginning of their service.
Oil also was symbolic of joy and happiness, but also of the Holy Spirit’s work.
The oil was sprinkled on everything, including Aaron and all the articles used in worship.
This dedicated everything to be in service to God.
Jesus was called Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One.
He was certainly anointed and chosen for His role as our sacrifice and our high priest.
The Holy Spirit did come upon Jesus at His baptism in the form of a dove.
This was prophesied in Isaiah 61:1-3 & fulfilled as Jesus says in Luke 4:18-21.
The Spirit also came upon those of the first century, particularly the Apostles in Acts 2.
We are all chosen in Christ when we are baptized into Christ.
Purification & Anointing (8:14-21).
Recall the purposes of the sin offering and burnt offering.
These were done in this order because before we can be closer to God, we must be purified of our sins.
The sin offering was to cleanse unintentional sins, not done in brazen rebellion.
They had to be purified before they could be close to God in he burnt offering.
The burnt offering brought them atonement, closer to God.
Christ fulfills these kinds of sacrifices.
We have discussed these for some time now.
We often link purification and atonement because Christ took care of those things once and for all at the same time on the cross.
He was the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sins that we can now come to the Father through Him.
We can only access these blessings by being baptized into His death so that we can be raised to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-4).
Sanctification (8:22-30).
This was a special kind of sacrifice, a ram of ordination.
It was also discussed in Exodus 29:19ff.
Sanctification is the process by which one is made holy or set apart.
The blood of this sacrifice was placed on their ear, thumb, and toe.
This was to symbolize that what they heard, what they handled, and where they went was to be holy.
They were to guard these things so that their bodies were only used for righteous purposes.
The meat of this sacrifice was placed into the hands of the future priests to indicate that their hands would be full with the duties of this job.
A wave offering was given to dedicate them to this service.
Then Aaron and the priests were sprinkled with blood and oil.
They were to be dedicated to a holy lifestyle and never off duty.
We are to be holy at all times, too.
Should we guard what we hear, what we do, and where we go? Most certainly!
We, too, have been made holy by Christ’s sacrifice, set apart for His purposes.
Never should we find ourselves in a sinful place, doing sinful things, hearing sinful acts.
We are never off duty as Christians, for we should recognize man’s all (Eccl. 12:13).
Our hands are certainly full of living the Christian life—or they should be.
You never retire from being a Christian!
This sanctification begins at baptism.
You were washed, sanctified, justified (1 Cor. 6:11).
Perfection (8:31-36).
They were to eat of this sacrifice, and this be done for seven days.
Perfection is not a sinless perfection, but of completeness and maturity.
They were to eat of the sacrifices made, flesh and bread.
They were to wait in the tabernacle for a week to assure a complete process.
Seven was often representative of completeness and perfection.
They might die if they disobeyed and left early.
This is the one that does not quite represent baptism.
Our sins are cleansed at baptism, but it takes time for us to be perfected, to mature.
They ate of the sacrifices, and we are to eat of Christ’s flesh and drink of His blood (John 6:53-54).
This was not meant to be taken literally, but we do so when we observe the Lord’s Supper every week.
We are to be in the church (body of Christ) until we have overcome, until we have been truly perfected in death.
If we do not stay in the church, our spiritual lives are forfeit.
Christ Himself became perfected when He suffered and died on the cross for us (Heb. 5:8-9).
Conclusion.
When Jesus opened up the Scriptures to Cleopas and his friend on the road to Emmaus, I wonder if He said anything like this (Luke 24:27).
“And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”
He might have told them the significance of baptism and how we are washed, clothed, anointed, purified, atoned, sanctified, and perfected in Him.
I don’t know, but it is something to think about.
We are so blessed to see the gospel preached in this way, even in Leviticus.
Hebrews writer also hints at this in Heb. 10:22 where our hearts are sprinkled in His blood and our bodies are washed in water—baptism.
These things had to occur in a process, but in one act, we can do them all today.
If you are in need of obeying the gospel today, please don’t hesitate.
If you need to make things right with God, do so now!