Leviticus 6:19-23
I often say there are some words, phrases and biblical concepts that have been abused by the charismatic and Pentecostal world therefore we in the Reformed world tend to shy away from the use of those words, phrases and concepts. One example of such words is in the text we read: “anointed” (v.20). If I tell you I am anointed to be your Pastor, I am anointed to lead this church, perhaps eyebrows may raise. You may be asking, what has Pastor Enoch been reading or what association has he been keeping. This morning, the word anointed will shape and influence the title for this morning. What does it mean to be anointed? What is expected of one who is anointed. And what lessons will we learn from the text? I will attempt to answer these questions under the title Consecrated To God.
As we go through this together, I pray that the Lord will revive our hearts and our devotion to him
Set Apart For Service
The word anointed in the text means to rob with oil. But more than rubbing with oil, it is a religious rite which sets people aside for service. The word therefore also means consecrate: to be ordanained or set apart for holy service. You will observe that it is Aaron, Moses brother and his sons who are to anointed as priest.
Now when the text speaks of Aaron and his sons, it is speaking of a lineage of priesthood. In the religious life of the Israel, God established a priesthood by setting aside the tribe of Levi as Priests. So from this tribe, will come the priests who will serve in the service of God and the temple. The Priesthood was established in Exodus 28
Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. 4 These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests (Exodus 28:1-4)
Do you see the emphasis on what they were to be doing? Serve as Priests. God Set Apart the Levites; Aaron and his sons for himself as Priests. To be Consecrated then is to be chosen for a holy task. To be consecrated is to be anointed. Now this language of set apart also finds expression in a number of places in the New Testament. In Romans 1:1 the apostle Paul speaks of himself as having been set apart for the gospel of God. He tells us the same thing in Galatians 1:15. He said he was set apart before he was born to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.
Dear friends, this language of setting apart, is not true of only the Priests in the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament. It is true of every believer. Everyone who has come to faith in Christ has been set apart from the world to God. The apostle Peter gives us a sense of this in 1Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Separated From Sin
One of the striking things in this text is that the anointed Priest is to offer sacrifices. See, right from Chapter 1, all we have been seeing is the people bringing their sacrifices for the Priest to sacrifice on their behalf. So the Priest is set apart to (I) Receieve The People’s Sacrifice (ii) Bring It To The Lord on their behalf (iii) Served as intermediary or mediator. But in this text, we see the anointed Priests also offering sacrifices. This tells us one thing: the Priests are also sinners who need pardon of their sins. It is not only the people who need sacrifices. The priests also need sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin. The Hebrew writer strongly tells us this:
For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. 3 Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people (Hebrews 5:1-3)
The priest himself who offers the sacrifices of the people to God himself is a sinner. This is a universal truism. Not to be debated. Everyone is a sinner. In the camp of Israel, from the least of them to the high Priest they were all sinners who need cleasing for their sins.
The message of Leviticus is clear. God is a holy God and to relate with him God’s people must be holy and separated from any sin and defilement. That was the purpose of all the sacrifices given. To make a holy people to God.
Dear friends, just like the Israelites in the wilderness, including their priests, all of us are sinners who need pardon for our sins. Now unlike the high Priest of Israel who are sinful men, there is a high Priest who is not sinful. He is a perfect high priest who offered a once and for all sacrifice for the sins of his people. We brought nothing to him to offer on our behalf, but he offered himself as a sacrifice to save sinners. Before the Hebrew writer will speak of the sins of the high Priest of Israel, he has spoken about the sinlessness of this other high Priest who is Jesus Christ. Listen to this
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 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 (Hebrews 4:14-16)
A superior high priest has taken care of the sins of his people. We will have to put our faith and trust in Jesus for the pardon of our sins. And the punishment for the guilt thereof. In Jesus, God has separated a people for himself and sanctifying them to himself: Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17)
Whole-Hearted Devotion
To be consecrated is to be set up for a whole-hearted devotion. Firstly, note that the sacrifice is to be brought morning and evening. This is a picture of whole-hearted devotion. The sacrifices of the Israelites were done morning and evening. Their day is totally surrounded to God. They were totally dependent on God so that they approach him daily: morning and evening. The way you relate with God; in prayer, in the study of Scripture, in fellowship with other believers, does your life show a pattern of one who is whole-heartedly devoted to God?
There is a little phrase in the text I want us to pay attention to. You shall bring it well mixed (v.21). That phrase strikes reverence, care and attention. It is a picture of thoroughness. It is being detailed with the preparation of the sacrifice. Dear friends, this is whole-hearted devotion. They are not half-hearted in their worship of God. There is thoughtfulness, intentionality, care and dedication. The sacrifice must be well mixed. It is like seasoning meat. Allow the seasoning to permeate the meat.
In the case before us, it is flour. And the requirement is to ensure it is well mixed. The priest give their best time and attention to the sacrifice. They do not treat the sacrifice anyhow. They don’t just sprinkle oil on the flour mix it anyhow and present it to God. It is a service offered to God wholeheartedly. Infact as you read on, we encounter Nadab and Abihu who offered sacrifice that the Lord has not commanded. They were presumptuous. They were thoughtless and reckless. They were indifferent to the command of God
Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord (Leviticus 10:1-2)
Dear friends, our life and worship of God must be whole-hearted. Our life, like the offering the priest brought is a sacrifice to God and we must be whole-heartedly devoted to God. We are not to be thoughtless, careless and indifferent about our walk with God. There must be purposeful dedication and devotion. By now this phrase must be common to us: “a pleasing aroma” The well-mixed grain offering must be offered as a pleasing aroma (v.21).
Now look at the verse 21 and 22. There is another phrase in there that points us to a whole-hearted devotion: “The whole of it shall be burned”, “wholly burned”. Friends, they give everything, holding nothing back. This must be us. Our lives on the altar of living sacrifice must be wholly given to God:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
All we have said cannot be done in our own strength and power: we need to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit. The sacrifice was to be mixed with oil. It is important. Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Therefore for us to be wholly consecrated to God must be done in the strength of the Holy Spirit. Anointed also carries that understanding. Is there any area of your life not surrendered to God. Submit to the Holy Spirit for strength. Amen
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