Exodus: The Priest
The Great Role
With our final post on Exodus, we are going to look at the role and importance of the priests. This originally would have come before our Tabernacle post based on the order they are mentioned, but since the priest’s role essentially relies on the Tabernacle, we decided to save the priest for last. So why is this book concluded by describing the role of priests in the Tabernacle? Ligonier Ministries has a great answer to this question. They mention, “Under the old covenant, the people of God knew the identity of the Mediator only in types and shadows. The chief type or foreshadowing figure of the final mediator was the old covenant priest, particularly the high priest of Israel.” This foreshadowing of the priest was of course foreshadowing the coming of Christ and the reason to have a priest is to have someone who can intervene with God for you on your behalf. Now this role honestly sounds like what Moses was already doing, however, with the creation of the Tabernacle, we see that God has created a holy space that He may dwell in on earth as opposed to just speaking with Moses from heaven. So with this special dwelling place being very descriptive and holy, the only ones who could enter into this place had to be holy as well. With this in mind, let’s dive in.
The Holiness of God
To begin, we need to see just how holy a priest was called to be. All of chapter 39 in Exodus tells us in detail what the priest was to where and what they were to do if they ever wanted to enter into the holy place of the Tabernacle. This chapter is just over 40 verses long, and just about every verse is a new description of the priest’s garments. This job was also set aside for Aaron as we can see from the very beginning of the chapter. Exodus 39:1 tells us, “Now from the violet, purple, and scarlet material they made finely woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, as well as the holy garments which were for Aaron, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.” Each of these descriptive elements that the priest was to wear had its purpose in setting the priest apart from the rest of the people. From the fabrics that were used to the rituals that had to be practiced before even entering the Tabernacle, this was a very tedious process. But why so descriptive? What’s the worst that could happen to someone who walked into God’s presence without applying these practices? The answer: you’d die. Seems serious enough now doesn’t it? ‘But why?’ You might be asking. ‘Why would God kill someone who wanted to be in His presence?’ It’s not as much that God would kill you as it is that the holiness of God would be too much for you to handle. When perfection meets imperfection, one of two things can happen. Either the perfect is eliminated or the imperfect is eliminated. And God is not going to fall over dead becasue of a sinful man. This is why these practices were so important. These weren’t implemented just to make God feel good, but to protect His people from certain death and lead them in the way they should go. This is even why bells were put on the garments of the priest as he entered the Tabernacle. If those gathered outside of the Tabernacle heard the crashing of the bells all at once, one could assume it was because the priest fell over dead and knew it wasn’t safe to enter. Again, hopefully, we see why this practice was so important and not just a fancy way of doing dress up.
Foreshadowing Christ
But why else was the priestly role so important? What about this role foreshadowed Christ? This answer is actually found in multiple books outside of Exodus as well. Hebrews 4:15 has one of the best descriptions we can see about Christ as our Priest. It says, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin.” If a priest is one who intercedes to God for us on our behalf, then Christ is the most perfect priest of all. Rather than having sinful priests perform a ritual in order to temporarily atone for our sin, Jesus Himself is perfect and therefore needs no ritual to atone for our sin once and for all. This is what makes the portrayal of the Old Testament priest so beautiful. On one hand, we see just how much work had to go into atoning the sin of Israel for a short time, and on the other hand, we see just how badly we needed a savior like Jesus in our lives to deal with our sin once and for all. The Exodus of God’s people was indeed a journey that was full of sinful people trying to follow a holy God, and when we look at our lives today, the same can be said.
We are a sinful people attempting to follow our Lord and achieve salvation, but this can only be done through the sacrifice of Christ. How beautiful it is to see how even the second book in the Bible can point us to the hope that is found in the cross so many years later. What’s more, is that even though God is the one who made the way for our sin to be atoned for, He blesses us for being His children anyway, just as He did the Israelites at the end of chapter 39. Exodus 39:42-43 says, “So the sons of Israel did all the work according to everything that the LORD had commanded Moses. And Moses examined all the work, and behold, they had done it; just as the LORD had commanded, this they had done. So Moses blessed them.” Our Lord in all His goodness not only saves us from our sin but blesses us as His children even when we deserve none of it. The story of Exodus may seem harsh when we read it section by section, but when we put the whole story together, we see a beautiful picture of our merciful, holy God in action to save His people. I hope this is the picture you have seen as we have studied Exodus this month.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] The Old Covenant Priesthood | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org. (n.d.). Ligonier Ministries. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/old-covenant-priesthood
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