To understand what Jesus did, and continues to do for us you need to read this passage.
Doesn’t it seem odd that we would have to refer to the Old Testament in order to understand the New? But that’s exactly the way that God intended it. We see in this passage the priests being carefully prepared for their tasks. Their primary task is to offer sacrifices to the Lord continually to atone for the sins of the people. Of course, before they can do that good work, their own sins must be atoned for, and that is what Chapter 8 is talking about. Moses (who is representing God, or is God’s representative) goes through the whole process with Aaron and his sons and purifies them. They in turn are now purified and able to intercede for the whole community. To witness to this fact, they are wearing a large golden badge that says “Holy To The Lord”.
Jesus is our great High Priest, the one who carries our sins before the Father and intercedes for us. He offers the sacrifice on our behalf. That sacrifice is His own body, especially prepared and offered for this exact purpose. That all of this would happen in the future was obvious to God, since there is no “future” to be found in Him. All time is present with God, He is present in our past and future…and He is present beyond the limits of time as well. So when you see the nameplate “Holy to the Lord” it was simply a construct to help people like you and I understand that only a “holy” person could offer the sacrifice. The detailed regulations and requirements, along with all the other laws that were given were simply a way to prove to us that we are not “holy” in our pre-redeemed state. We cannot be obedient to what God requires, even though we want to…unless we receive help from the very one we wish to grow closer to.
Proof of this fact is seen in Aaron’s two sons who offer the wrong type of incense, or offer it at the wrong time. We have to assume that they were intentional in their disobedience, since there are provisions for forgiveness without death for those times when we are unintentionally disobedient. However, this does not have to be the case, as God is justified in extinguishing them for failure to comply with His exact commands, since that was the agreement. Failure to obey will result in death.
I am fairly certain that the next two sons to don the garb were less giddy, and felt the weight of the office and the task more fully.
All of us who minister and teach should take a lesson here. We are not priests in the Old Testament sense, but we are representatives working on God’s behalf. Failure to point His people to Him, or to behave in a way unbecoming to the office and position to which we were called could incite God’s wrath. At the very least it could limit blessing…or provoke a punishment.
In Chapter 10:3 the Lord says “I will display my holiness…” He has just slain the two disobedient children. But it isn’t execution that demonstrates God’s holiness, it’s the idea that nothing but perfection is worthy to be in His presence. Disobedience is not perfect, so it had to be dealt with. For us, to be holy is to be obedient. Sure, there is a holiness that God imputes upon us, that is signified by the badge worn on the priest. Then there is the carefully following of every command that God give…that’s the imparted holiness, the way in which you and I participate in the process of becoming holy. It cannot be altered by our whims, as we see here. You can’t just decide to do whatever you want to do and decide that is going to be “holiness” for you. This is of God from start to finish.
A short time later, Aaron himself disobeys, by not eating the sin offering in the sacred place. Yet this time, instead of God slaying Aaron he relents, even though Aaron was disobedient. Why? Perhaps to demonstrate that God is not only holy and just, but also compassionate, empathetic and forgiving. God must have seen Aaron’s grieving heart and knew that Aaron wasn’t disobeying to be rebellious. This is encouraging to me because it tells me that God is more interested in the attitude of my heart than He is in the flawless execution of the task at hand. God first wants me to be sincere, and then to add to that; give my best effort.
Faithfully,
PR