Aaron the High Priest
Exodus, Leviticus, & Numbers
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Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon RP Church in Southeast Iowa. We want to thank you for listening today and we pray that you’ll be blessed by both hearing God's Word as well as having it applied to your life and your heart.
Well, as we begin our series through the biographical series from the summer, we're going to start with Aaron the High Priest. And we'll be spending most of our time in the Book of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. So the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th books of the Bible. This morning we start off with a question for you: What do you do with your guilt? What do you do? What do you do with your conscience? What do you do after you've gotten angry with your spouse again? What do you do when you've been covetous again? What do you do when you've looked at pornography again? What do you do when you've lost it again? What do you do when you been filled with anger again? What do you do when you've lied again? What do you do with your guilt? What do you do with your conscience? How do you cleanse yourself? Well as we look through the life of Aaron, the answer to that becomes clear. We do not cleanse ourselves, but we rely on a perfect cleansing.
And so as we look through the life of Aaron in a fast manner today, we begin to see what his life was about and what it teaches us about God's plan for our lives. So let's look first at Exodus Chapter six. Exodus 6:28-7:7. You can find that on page 55 of your Pew Bibles. Exodus chapter six, beginning at verse 28, “And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, that the Lord spoke to Moses saying, “I am the Lord. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?” So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” Then Moses and Aaron did so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did. And Moses was 80 years old and Aaron 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.”
This is in the context, this comes right off the heels, of Moses and the burning bush. God has appeared to Moses in that all-powerful fire, but not consuming, bush, where He told Moses to take off his sandal for the ground which he was standing on was holy ground. And He tells Moses, “You're going to go to Pharaoh and you're going to tell the people to get out.” And Moses says, “How are they going to know which God sent me?” And God reveals His covenant name to Moses. He says, “I am who I am sent you.” And God reveals His covenant name to Moses and He tells him that He's going to give him three different signs so that when Pharaoh wonders if he's really supposed to let the people go that yes, God has actually said this.
The first is his rod, do you remember? He's supposed to have his staff, and as he throws it to the ground, it's going to turn into a snake. And then, if that's not enough, he's able to put his hand within his cloak, and when he pulls his hand out, it will become white and leprous. And Moses shrieks in horror at this and put his hand back in, and it becomes well again. The last is that he's going to turn the water into blood. And God gives him all these signs. But Moses finds himself still afraid, and he says, “Whoa, I have unflattering lips. I can't, I can't speak well, boss. This isn't gonna work.”
And the Lord's upset with Moses at this, but He says, “Look, look, your brother Aaron's coming. He's gonna be the one who will be your prophet. He’ll be the one who's your mouthpiece. He'll be the one who does these signs and wonders. And indeed, if we looked down at chapter seven verses eight through thirteen, it's Aaron who throws down his rod and it becomes a snake and swallows up Pharaoh's snakes. It is Aaron who goes down with Moses to the Nile, and he's the one who touches the Nile and it turns into blood. It's Aaron who becomes the spokesperson for God. It is Aaron who's going to be the mediator between God and man. And this is the beginning of Aaron's commission to be part of the work that God is going to do in redeeming the people.
And then we find out that when Aaron is with Moses, they go through the 10 plagues, they go through the Passover, they’re at the Red Sea, he's with Moses, they cross over the Red Sea, and Aaron is there at Mount Sinai in Exodus chapter 11. He's there when God comes with thunder and with lightning and speaks the 10 Commandments to the people of God. Aaron hears God's voice with his own ears. He hears the words of the covenant. And all the people say to Moses, “Don't let God speak to us anymore or we'll die.” Aaron is there. He hears all of this. He hears the words of the covenant. When God wants to ratify the covenant, when the King of the Universe decides to invite Moses and a certain number of people up, he does it with Aaron there.
Exodus chapter 24, please look there with me. Exodus 24:4-11. Exodus chapter 24 verse four, “And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar in front of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in the basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.” Then Moses went up, with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu,” those are his two sons, two of his sons, “and 70 of the elders of Israel,” and don't miss this verse. Verse 10, “And they saw God and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and they drank.”
Moses takes up Aaron with his two oldest sons, Nadab and Abihu, and they see God. They see the figure of the Lord with words that fail. They can't describe the glory that they see, but all it is, is they just describe His feet. They can't even say who it is that they’ve seen, they just know that they have seen the glory of God, not all of it, but they've seen just describing where He's standing is beyond comprehension. Just the where feet of the Lord stands, is like clear blue sapphire, bluer than the blue of the sky and clearer than the brightest of days. The Lord stands there, and they get a glimpse of God in His beauty.
And the amazing part is the Lord doesn't kill Aaron right then and there. The Lord reveals Himself to Aaron. He's coming to covenant with him. He's revealed Himself, He's invited him into a meal. He's really going to be His priest. And in the next several chapters 28 through 31, we get all the revelation of what all the artifacts in the Tabernacle are going to be. Moses goes up to the mountain and Aaron is down with the people. And as Moses is there, God tells Moses about all the beautiful things that are going to happen in the Tabernacle. Here's the Ark. The ark is to be made of acacia wood, and it's to have inlaid gold over it, and it's to have cherubim on top of it, whose wings are outstretched and up into the sky. And it's to have four gold hooks on the corners, four gold rings where the polls are going to be through, and even the polls are going to be over-laid with gold. And here's the altar, Moses, and the altar is going to have four horns on it, and it is going to be over laid with gold. And here's how the tapestry is going to go and it's going to have blues and it is going to have scarlets, and it's gonna have threads of gold going through it with cherubim in it. Moses, here is what Aaron's ephod is going to look like with its 12 stones and the words, “Holiness to the Lord,” inscribed on it. This is everything that Aaron is going to inherit as my high priest. This is what he is to do. This is what all the furnishings of the Tabernacle that are going to go to Aaron are.
And as God is revealing all this beauty, all this splendor, everything that the Palace of Versailles looks like, it just looks like a shanty compared to, what do we find Aaron doing with the people? We find Aaron as a fallen priest. We find Aaron giving in to peer pressure. We find Aaron distorting God's Commandments and His glory. Look with me at Exodus chapter 32. Exodus chapter 32, “Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain,” he'd only been there a few weeks. Only 40 days. “The people gathered together to Aaron, and they said to him, “Come make us gods that shall go before us; and as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him.” And Aaron said to them,” Aaron says this! “ “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”” So all the people obey him. “All the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and they brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand,” And don’t miss how the text slows down here. “And Aaron fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, Oh Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt.” So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.” Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”
“And the Lord said to Moses,” God is still there, remember, this is at the very foot of Mount Sinai, God's holiness and glory is still there in the clouds and in the lightning and in the thunder. “And the Lord said to Moses, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molded calf, and have worshipped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, Oh Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and that I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.””
God says, “I'm just gonna destroy them. Get away from me, Moses. I'm gonna pour out my wrath of my fire upon these idolaters. You haven't even been gone 40 days and they're already leaving me.” What does Moses do? Verse 11, “Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God and said, “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people, whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, “He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth”? Turn from Your fierce wrath and relent from this harm to Your people.”” And then he appeals, “God, the Egyptians are going to mock. The Egyptians are going to say that you just took them out to kill them.”
But then Moses knows the covenant God. And here, listen to this next appeal. Verse 13, “ “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven; and all the land that I have spoken of I will give your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.”
And then skip down with me. Moses comes down and he shatters those stones. And he confronts Aaron in Verse 21. “And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?” So Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of the my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.”” Wow, kind of sounds like Adam, doesn’t it? Nothing new under the sun here. “ “For they said to me, ‘Make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.””
Do you hear the ridiculousness of Aaron’s voice here? “Moses, Moses, you don't understand. They told me and I just collected the gold and I just threw it in the fire. And pop! out came this golden calf. Can you believe it?” You can imagine Moses, his younger brother, looking at him like, “what type of tall tale and fool are you? You know exactly what you've done, Aaron.” Aaron heard, remember, with his own ears, the Lord say in the second commandment, “You shall not make for yourself any graven image. Neither shall you bow down to it, nor worship it, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” Aaron knew, heard with God's own voice that He was jealous for His glory.
But here we find him a failure. A failure. But the Lord doesn't leave His people. Moses has interceded for them. Aaron's not kicked out of the priesthood for his sin. But indeed, we find Aaron anointed in Leviticus chapter eight, where Moses goes in and he makes sacrifices. In Leviticus chapter eight he kills animals and he takes a branch and he dips it in the blood of the animals and he sprinkles the people. And then he goes to Aaron, and he takes some blood and he puts it on his ear, he puts it on his finger and he puts it on his big toe. And he dawns the ephod. He puts on the turban. He wears the priestly garments. Even though he himself is clearly not holy, somehow he is meant to be a symbol that there can be reconciliation and atonement with God.
But his own sons, his own sons don't get the point. Leviticus chapter 10. Leviticus 10:1-3. His two oldest sons, his boys, “Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, and put incense in it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. The fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying, “By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.”” So Aaron held his peace.”
His very own breastplates said, “Holiness to the Lord.” His sons go as ministers, as priests to the Lord and they profane God's Holiness in bringing to Him, bringing to the Lord something which He’s never commanded. We're still left wondering, really? Really? Is this God's plan that we're gonna have foolish priests? That we're gonna have men, that are sinful, somehow representing us to God? How can we know this is really true? How can we know this atonement is really going to cover over our sins?
Well, then in Leviticus chapter 16, the Lord answers that question for us. Leviticus chapter 16, the Lord tells us of one great day each year, the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the day when God would have His priest go in front of Him. The priest has to realize that they're not intrinsically holy. Leviticus 16:3, “Thus shall Aaron come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. And he shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; and he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water, and put them on.”
See, Aaron is not intrinsically holy. He has to wash himself before he's able to go into the Holy of Holies. Even when he goes into the Holy of Holies, he has to cover himself with holy clothing. And when he comes into the Holy of Holies, he can't do it without sacrifice. Everything about this screams that he is approaching a holy God and he himself is not holy.
And then the atonement happens. “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. And he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of Meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell and offer it as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.”
God takes these two goats, and Aaron, you’re to go before the Lord at the Tabernacle of the meeting and you’re to cast lots. And the lot that falls to the Lord, you’re to take that goat and you're to sacrifice it. This is not a beautiful thing. Sacrificing is cutting the carotid artery and letting the blood flow out. This is a disgusting display of what sin deserves. Take that goat and you're to sacrifice it to the Lord. And on the second goat, you’re to put your hand on it. And that represents the sins of God's people being transferred to that goat and that goat being led out into the wilderness, that goat is taking away the sins of the people. It's not just covering over the sins of the people, but it's also taking them away. It's a cleansing, and it's a taking away. It's a propitiation and an expiation. This Day of Atonement was meant to be a sign.
But Aaron dies. Aaron dies. You want an evidence that someone is not holy, that someone is still sinful? You only need one evidence. That's the result of the fall of man is still upon them. Aaron dies the Numbers chapter 20. He's not allowed to see the Promised Land. Number chapter 20, Aaron and Moses had gotten upset with the people when they cried out for water and God told them to speak to the rock at Meribah and water would flow out from it. And Moses and Aaron are set at the people and they strike that rock and they profaned God's holiness before the people, acting as if, somehow, they'll bring the water, when it's God who brings that water. The Lord says to Aaron, “You're not gonna enter into my rest. You're not gonna go into the promised land.” And Moses walks up that mountain with Aaron and he dies. We're left wondering. Is this really the best it gets? Is this really the end of the story? Is it really just year after year, another sacrifice, another sacrifice, another sacrifice, another sacrifice, another sacrifice, more blood, more blood, more blood, more blood. When will the blood stop? When will we finally have peace with God?
That's why we had to start this morning's worship with Hebrews chapter seven and into chapter eight. And I'd like for you to turn over in your Bibles now to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews, chapter 10, because the story is better than that. Hebrews chapter 10 is on page 1067 of your Pew Bibles, and in Hebrews chapter 10 we find a sacrifice that's pure, final, and good. “For the law,” Hebrews chapter 10, beginning at verse one, “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshippers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sin. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come- in the volume of the book it is written of Me- to do Your will, O God.’” Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that he may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
It is Jesus Christ. Aaron’s whole life, Aaron’s whole priesthood, everything Aaron inherited about the Tabernacle, the sacrifice, the Day of Atonement, none of it was meant to be in and of itself. It isn't the end. It is pointing to something greater. In the Old Covenant, it was pointing to a final sacrifice. It was pointing to the Lamb who had finally come, a spotless lamb, who would appear. One without spot, one without blemish. One who could truly take away your sin. It is Jesus Christ, who was the Lamb who was slain before the beginning of the world. It is Jesus Christ who is righteous. It is Jesus Christ who lays down his life for you who atones for your sins. The life of Aaron, the priesthood of Aaron, was meant to show you that you can have rest in Jesus Christ. It is in the blood of Jesus Christ that we are cleansed.
First John 1:8-10 is clear in this. He who says he is without sin is a liar. He deceives himself. But if we confess our sins, He, Jesus is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It is Jesus who cleanses your conscience. It is Jesus who takes away your guilt and covers your sin. It is Jesus who sits at the right hand of God Almighty, who is enthroned. This afternoon or this evening sometime I would encourage you to go read Revelation chapter five and six and just see the beauty of Jesus sitting on heaven, seated on His throne. And I want you to keep in mind what Aaron saw when he was on Mount Sinai. The throne of Christ is the throne we see in Exodus chapter 24. It is Jesus Christ who dwells in the Holy of Holies in Heaven and mediates between you and the Father. Are you clinging to Christ? Are you trusting in His atonement alone? Not your own holiness, not your own self-righteousness, but on Jesus? He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And nobody will get to the Father but through Him. Cling to Him.
Let's pray. “God, what grace you pour out upon us and what good news you share with us. Thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ. Father, we pray that you would indeed, by your Spirit, apply these things to our hearts that in the darkest of hours and the deepest of struggles with sin, we would confess them to You and know that we have a perfect sacrifice. Thank you for the finished work of your Son. In Jesus’s name, amen.”
Thank you for listening to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon RP church in Morning Sun, Iowa. We pray that you would be blessed as you grow in your love for God, your love for His Word, as well as your love for His people. Until next week, God bless you.