What Are You Wearing Today?

Today’s passage is Leviticus 8:1-17. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.  Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?  After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 8:1-9 (NIV)
¹  The LORD said to Moses,
²  “Bring Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams and the basket containing bread made without yeast,
³  and gather the entire assembly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.”
⁴  Moses did as the LORD commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
⁵  Moses said to the assembly, “This is what the LORD has commanded to be done.”
⁶  Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water.
⁷  He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him. He also tied the ephod to him by its skillfully woven waistband; so it was fastened on him.
⁸  He placed the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece.
⁹  Then he placed the turban on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the sacred diadem, on the front of it, as the LORD commanded Moses.

On verses 1-9:  Here we read of how Moses washed and clothed Aaron and his sons to make them ready to serve as priests.  Likewise through Jesus Christ God has washed us and clothed us so that we would be ready to serve as His priests.

That’s why Isaiah would say: ^“I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10)

How unique and useful are the clothes God has given us.  They’re the most practical clothes because we can wear them every day.  They’re the longest lasting clothes because they never wear out and we will wear them into eternity.  They’re the most expensive clothes because they were paid for with Christ’s blood.  They’re your best clothes because you always look good in them!

Leviticus 8:10-13 (NIV)
¹⁰  Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them.
¹¹  He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them.
¹²  He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him.
¹³  Then he brought Aaron’s sons forward, put tunics on them, tied sashes around them and put headbands on them, as the LORD commanded Moses.

On verses 10-13:  Here Moses anoints Aaron’s head with oil, signifying that the Holy Spirit has chosen him and commissioned him for this special role as the high priest of the nation (see also Isaiah 61:1).  Similarly and amazingly, through Jesus Christ God has not only saved us and called us His children, but He has also anointed us with His Holy Spirit, setting us apart to serve Him.  As 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 says, “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

Praise God.  Through Jesus Christ you have been anointed, chosen and commissioned by God to be His representative.

Leviticus 8:14-17 (NIV)
¹⁴  He then presented the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head.
¹⁵  Moses slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood, and with his finger he put it on all the horns of the altar to purify the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. So he consecrated it to make atonement for it.
¹⁶  Moses also took all the fat around the inner parts, the covering of the liver, and both kidneys and their fat, and burned it on the altar.
¹⁷  But the bull with its hide and its flesh and its offal he burned up outside the camp, as the LORD commanded Moses.

On verses 14-17: By laying their hands on the head of the bull, Aaron and his sons were symbolically transferring their sins to the bull.  The bull would then be sacrificed for their sins.  Similarly, Jesus Christ was that bull to whom God transferred all our sins and who died in our place.  Just as the bull’s body was burned outside the camp, Jesus’ body was wrapped and buried outside the city gates of Jerusalem.  Hebrews 13:11-12 makes this comparison when it says, “ The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.”

Father, thank You that through Jesus Christ I am washed, clothed in righteousness, forgiven, anointed, chosen and commissioned by You.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!