At the completion of the tabernacle, God gave them the regulations of the sacrificial offerings, In order to give offerings, there has to be a tabernacle and a priest. God has made us the royal priesthood in the New Testament. Through the ordination and inauguration of the priests which foreshadow the work of Jesus Christ, we must also learn how to become royal priests.

1. Ordination of priests

This ceremony to establish Aaron and his sons as priests is also similar to the ordination of pastors. This ceremony lasted 7 days. After the 7th day, on the 8th day, there is the inauguration ceremony where the priests give sacrifices. In the installation ceremony of pastors, the ordination and inauguration ceremony are conducted together.

We need to remember that this is commanded by God and we have to do it according to his command. It is not something that you can do because you want to do it and it is not something that you do not do because you do not want it. It is carried out in front of the congregation, and it lasted for 7 days. No one can leave the tabernacle during the ceremony. If you leave, you will die. If you don’t obey God’s Word, you will die. The purpose of the ceremony is to make the priests holy.

2. Inauguration of the priests

For the High Priest, they have to give the sin and the burnt offering. This is because Aaron is also a sinner and he has to give the sin offering for himself. What is interesting is that the order of giving the offerings for the priests is the same as for the congregation. They have to give daily burnt offering for the people. The peace offering they have to give is a bull and a ram. The sin offering means that there is a need for the atonement of sin and then they have to give a burnt offering. Finally a peace offering was offered for the congregation. It is the same order for us when we do the work of God today. First, we need to receive the atonement of sin symbolized by baptism. In order to do the work of God you must be baptised first. Second, you need to give a burnt offering which means you have to give everything of yourself. When you come to serve God in the church, you give your all, your talent, your time to God. When you work and you come to volunteer in the church, it is not like you are working for those 6 days and then you come to church but you are working for those 6 days just to come to church.

Now Aaron is able to enter the tabernacle as the High Priest. The tabernacle is black and shady on the outside but shiny on the inside. When you go inside, it is like a mirror. Aaron enters the Holy of Holies and this signifies him going before God as the High Priest. He comes out of the tabernacle, blesses the people and the fire of the Lord came down and consumed the offering. The fact that the fire of the Lord consumed the offering shows that the Lord has accepted it. When you look at Leviticus 9:24, they shouted not out of fear but out of joy in seeing God’s glory. This amazing day is also the day that the sons of Aaron die. This day of great feast turned into a funeral.

The sins of Nadab and Abihu

It was recorded that each of them brought their censer. A censer is made of gold and it is used to hold the fire to light the lampstand and the incense. The problem was it is the High Priest Aaron’s job to hold the censer and light the lampstand and incense. They are only supposed to prepare the censer and not to light the lampstand and incense. This strange fire is an irrelevant fire that Jehovah did not command. You have to use the fire of the Lord to burn the incense but they used a different fire. This means that they did not obey the law and regulations that God gave them. Even though they were inaugurated, Nadab and Abihu were not holy before God. Their death is an event that revealed God’s holiness. Aaron is the one who need to give the fire and God burned those who did not follow His rule.

3. Ordination and inauguration of Jesus Christ

The High Priest in the Old Testament is an imperfect human being who did not have the power to remove sins. He had to repeat the procedure of atonement every year. When the High Priest dies, the next High Priest has to be ordained, but Jesus Christ is our High Priest who remains High Priest forever. Jesus Christ cried with tears and carried all the sins of mankind on him. In Mark 14:36, he made the determination to give up his own will and live the will of the Father and this was the moment that he was ordained as the High Priest. On the Cross, Jesus Christ shed blood but he has already prayed until his sweat became blood in the Garden of Gethsemane and he was heard because of his piety. Although he was a son, he learnt obedience by suffering.

The first day after the Sabbath is the feast of the first fruit. The ordination of the priest ended on the first day of the feast of the first fruit. Jesus Christ became the first fruit of resurrection on the first day of the feast. Even the dates were fulfilled on the Cross and Jesus Christ is still fulfilling the duty of the High Priest to this day.

Redemptive historical lesson

We the ministers and saints are the priests of this gospel. According to Romans 15:16, the work of the priest of the gospel is for Gentiles to become the sacrifice. When you evangelize and bring them up to God, you are offering them as sacrifices. We have the duty to worship as spiritual and holy priests as written in 1 Peter 2:5. You coming to church is fulfilling this duty. You receive the forgiveness of your sins, you give worship to God and you are at peace with your neighbours and ultimately you have the duty to evangelise. The blood that was put on the ear of the priests signify that our ears must become ears that only listen to God’s Word. You listen to the things of the world and people gossiping. That is why you have 2 ears, you hear and it goes out. You use your hands to pray, not to hit. You must have feet that walk the way of the gospel, not sin.

We know that Nadab and Abihu died because they offered up strange fire. Apostle Paul was concerned that there are people who are received a different spirit and gospel. Just like fire is different, there are people who proclaim another Jesus Christ. Not all gospels are the same, only the 66 books are the Bible and Apostle Paul warns them because something like this also happened in the early church. May our lives bear fruits like the priests who are inaugurated and ordained. The fire was given in 1445 BC and it did not go out until 586BC at the destruction of Jerusalem. The fire will go out but you will see the fire returning.

AMEN.