The Dream Team

Imagine the Master Carpenter’s tools holding a conference: Brother Hammer presides, but several suggest he leave the meeting because he is too noisy. Brother Hammer replies, “If I must leave this shop, Brother Screw must go also. You have to turn him around again and again to get him to accomplish anything.” Brother Screw then speaks up: “If you wish, I’ll leave. But Brother Plane must leave as well. All his work is on the surface. His efforts have no depth.” To this, Brother Plane responds, “Brother Rule will also have to withdraw, for he is usually measuring folks as if he were the only one who is right.” Brother Rule then complains about Brother Sandpaper: “He ought to leave too, because he’s so rough and always rubbing people the wrong way.” And so goes the discord. Amid all this discussion, in walks the Carpenter of Nazareth. Putting on his apron, he goes to the bench to make a pulpit from which to proclaim the gospel. He uses Hammer, Screw, Plane, Rule, Sandpaper, and all the other tools. After the day’s work, when the pulpit is finished, Brother Saw arises and remarks, “Brethren, I observe that all of us are workers together for the Lord.”

You have probably heard that there is no “I” in team. When each person on a team tries to do everything themselves, it never works out well as we saw with the Master Carpenter’s tools. But when they worked together under the master’s hand, they became a dream team; the pulpit was completed in a day and the tools realized that they were all workers for the Lord. In Israel the Lord chose a family, the Levites, to become His dream team. They would be His star players who would work together as God’s priests in the tabernacle to do what was arguably the most important work in the nation of Israel. In chapter 8 it is now showtime for Levites. This morning, we will see that they will be washed, clothed and anointed. But they were also to be examples to the rest of the Israelites about how to serve God and others, because God wanted the entire nation to become a kingdom of priests to usher His kingdom in on the earth.

As Christians we have a long list of titles: Child of God, salt of the earth, light of the world, brothers and sisters, sheep, saints, soldiers, witnesses, fellow citizens, ambassadors, servants, disciples, overcomers, victors, and stewards. One title we often neglect is priest. The Bible says that every Christ-follower is a part of God’s chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and His special possession. We who belong to the family of God are now His Dream Team. But each of us as priest of the Highest God must do our part in serving the King and others. We have also been washed, clothed and anointed. This morning, we will learn from the Levites’ example some of what it means to belong to a royal priesthood and have all the rights and privileges of this title. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires His people to be washed, clothed and anointed for His effective service.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we come before You with grateful hearts, thankful for the gift of this new day and the opportunity to gather in Your presence. We ask for Your Spirit to open our minds and soften our hearts as we receive Your Word. Guide us to listen with understanding, to learn with humility, and to act with love. May Your truth transform us and Your grace empower us to be the light in this world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point, Calling and Cleansing, is found in Leviticus 8:1-6. Follow along as I read those words. This is what God’s Word says, “The Lord said to Moses, “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, and gather the entire assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Moses said to the assembly, “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.” Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water.”

In Leviticus 1-7, God gave the priests and the Israelites a “Worship Manual or Worship Playbook” which dealt with how and why to bring and make sacrifices so they could enjoy God’s presence and live a life of holiness in worship of the Lord. In Leviticus 8-10, God will give the priests a second “Worship Manual or Playbook” which will show how the priests were to serve in relation to the sacrifices. In Exodus 28, God told Moses that Aaron, his brother, and Aaron’s sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar would serve the Lord as priests. Now it was time for God to transform these ordinary men into His Dream Team and that transformation came through the service of their ordination. As we study chapters 8-10, we will see that the ordination process and the priests are looking forward to Jesus Christ. The first thing we see is the calling of the priests and the preparations made for the ordination service. As we studied last week, the phrase “And the Lord said to Moses” introduces a new set of instructions to the priests and the people of Israel and it reiterates Moses’ role as the covenant mediator. God had already given Moses the instructions for this service in Exodus 29 and this chapter is the actual fulfillment of those instructions. We see a precise and logical order in everything God does. Before the priests could be ordained for their role in the tabernacle, they needed to know what the job description would be. That is what God was doing in chapters 1-7.

Moses was to make the necessary preparations for the service itself. The first thing he did was take Aaron and his sons with him to the door of the tent for the meeting. He also took their garments that the skilled workers had made back in Exodus 28, the anointing oil made as instructed in Exodus 30 and one bull, two rams and the basket of unleavened bread as instructed in Exodus 29. The wording used here indicates that these items were the fulfillment of God’s previous commands. Everything was minutely and precisely explained because it all foreshadowed Jesus and so had to be done exactly as the Lord commanded. The last preparation Moses was to make was to gather the Israelite congregation at the door to the tent of meeting. This was probably not the close to two million people in the congregation but the elders of Israel who represented the people and were to be witnesses to this momentous event. This is inferred in chapter nine verse one. Probably as many Israelites as possible crowded into the tabernacle courtyard or possibly on any hillsides surrounding the courtyard to watch the proceedings. The entrance or the door to the meeting was where the burnt altar and the bronze laver were. By using the word for “door” God is foreshadowing His son who as John 10:9 says, “is the door; if anyone enters through Him, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, without believing in Him for salvation we can’t come before God in peace and fellowship.

Again, we see Moses doing as the Lord commanded. It is recorded that Moses did as the Lord commanded around thirty times in the books of Exodus and Leviticus. We should all strive to live and serve before the Lord as Moses did. The fact that the elders and as many others who could witness these events were called to come to the door of the tent of meeting proved that the choosing of God’s Dream Team wasn’t done in secret and was also done according to the authority of their Covenant King not Moses himself. This process was public for a couple of reasons. One, Aaron wasn’t chosen because he was Moses’ brother. There was no favoritism or nepotism going on here. The Lord had selected Aaron and His sons to be their High Priest and assistant priests. Second, because it was a public event, by witnessing it, the people were agreeing to God’s selection of Aaron and his sons as their priests. As we will learn later the ordination service was to take seven days and so that would give a lot of the Israelite people the opportunity to come and go witnessing what God was doing.

Once the calling of Aaron and His sons and all the preparations were complete, Moses brought them forward and washed them with water in front of the congregation. The word for “brought” is the same word for bringing an animal sacrifice to the altar. Tidball writes, “Here Aaron and his sons are ‘presented’ to the Lord, just like a sacrifice, so that they may offer their lives on the altar and be set apart exclusively to serve God.” This washing would have been a complete washing of their bodies which was to prepare them to be acceptable to come into the Holy Place. Because it was done in full view of the people it would have made them very aware of the fact that they were different from the priests. Whereas the priests were set apart to enter God’s presence, the people were still unclean and unacceptable to do so. God is teaching them about His holiness and that they must be pure and undefiled to come into His presence. For Aaron, the high priest, washing symbolized Christ’s perfect purity as our High Priest and His baptism at the beginning of His ministry. For his sons it symbolizes all Christ followers being sanctified and set apart by the Word of God and the work Jesus came to do. If we believe in Jesus’ work on the cross our entire body is washed, and we stand justified and without guilt. Then as we follow Christ, we need to be sanctified and made pure by the confession and repentance of our daily sins. This is symbolized by the priests now only needing to wash their hands and feet at the bronze laver before attending to the altar or in the Holy Place. The washing shows us how sinful we are and the need for spiritual cleansing is symbolized by the water. (Big Idea)

Now that all the preparations had been made and Aaron and His sons were washed from head to toe, they could now be dressed and consecrated for their service to the Lord. That brings us to our second point, Clothing and Consecration, found in Leviticus 8:7-13, This is what God’s Word says, “He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him. He also fastened the ephod with a decorative waistband, which he tied around him. He placed the breast piece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breast piece. Then he placed the turban on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the sacred emblem, on the front of it, as the Lord commanded Moses. Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it and so consecrated them. 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. He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him. Then he brought Aaron’s sons forward, put tunics on them, tied sashes around them and fastened caps on them, as the Lord commanded Moses.”

The next element of the ordination service for Aaron was being clothed by Moses. The clothing would serve as a reminder of whom he represented and served. The first article of clothing was the “tunic.” The Hebrew word means “something set or fixed.” It was the piece of clothing that was the closest to Aaron’s body and it pictured Christ’s righteousness that was a set and unchanging part of His nature. The second article of clothing was the sash that Moses tied around Aaron’s waist. It was woven with blue, purple and scarlet thread. Interestingly, it would not have been visible yet would have been beautiful to behold. This symbolized Christ’s divine majesty which is seen in Psalms 93:1, “The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength; indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.” The third article of clothing was a robe. It was woven out of blue cloth and probably reached from Aaron’s neck to his knees or maybe even his feet. It may also have been woven out of one seamless piece of cloth reminding us that at Jesus’ crucifixion, his robe was also woven from one piece of cloth. The color signified adherence of the law symbolizing that Jesus fulfilled the law when He came to the earth. The fourth article of clothing was the ephod with the decorative waistband. It was like a sleeveless waistcoat and made of the same colors and materials, blue, purple and scarlet yarn, as the first tent covering and the veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The only difference was that it had gold thread woven into it.

The colors symbolize divinity, royalty, the law, blood and judgment. The woven linen symbolized righteousness. The waistband was girded or tied around Aaron. The word girded paints a picture of being “ready for service” such as when Jesus girded himself with a towel and washed the disciple’s feet in the Upper Room. We see this John 13:5. Exodus tells us that there were to be two onyx stones, one on each shoulder, with the names of the sons of Israel engraved on them. This signified that Aaron, the High Priest’s, role was to shoulder the burdens and labors of His people. The next article of clothing was the breast piece. The breast piece was to be placed over the ephod just as the Mercy Seat was placed over the Ark of the Covenant. There were also to be twelve precious and semi-precious stones attached to the breast piece each one engraved with a name of a son of Israel on it. This signified that Aaron took the people into the Holy Place with him and interceded for them before the Lord. These stones foreshadowed two things. One, Jesus Christ’s divine intervention for His people. Revelation 1:13 says, “And among the lampstands was someone like a son of man dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.” Two, Christ’s intercession for His people. Again, Aaron was a type of Christ and Hebrews tells us that Jesus is in the presence of God bearing our burdens and making intercession for us even today.

Next, Moses placed the breast piece on Aaron and put the Urim and Thummim inside its pouch. We do not have enough information about these items, but the best guess is that they were two stones used like lots to inquire of God about major decisions for the nation. For this reason, the breast piece is also called the Breastplate of Judgment. There is also a correlation between Moses placing the two tablets of the Ten Commandments in the Ark and Moses placing these two items in the breast piece. Interestingly, both the stone tablets and the Urim and Thummin symbolized the word of the Lord given to His people. And both the Ark and the Breastplate were containers for that word. Also, Moses was the one who placed the stones tablets in the Ark and the stones of judgment in the breast piece. If you remember, the Ark symbolized God’s law, and the Mercy Seat symbolized the blood that covered the people’s sin. Of course, Jesus signified the law, and His blood eradicated the sins of His people. The Urim and the Thummim symbolizes our faith in Jesus’ finished work on the cross and that we have access to the Father through the Holy Spirit. There is so much minute details in these articles of clothing describing what Jesus Christ have done for and continues to do for us. Garret says, “In Christ, we are safe, we are secure, and we are so forever.”

Next, Moses placed the last article on clothing on Aaron’s head which was the turban with the pure gold plate, the sacred emblem, on the front of it. The gold plate is also called the “Holy Crown” and was engraved with the words, “Holy to the Lord.” The Hebrew word used to describe the gold plate signifies “something set apart.” The imputed or transferred righteousness and holiness of God given to Aaron set Him apart from all others. Jesus was set apart by God to do His work of salvation and His humanity and divinity is seen here. The engraving “Holiness to the Lord” symbolizes Jesus’ perfection as our true mediator who makes our sacrifices acceptable to God and completely restores us with our Lord and Savior. The fact that Aaron had been washed and clothed by Moses properly and obediently is seen in the phrase “as the Lord commanded Moses.” This phrase underscores Moses’ complete obedience. Now that Aaron had been washed and clothed, Moses took the special anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it. Oil in the Bible signifies the presence of the Spirit of God and this anointing consecrated the tabernacle and everything in it setting it apart as holy for its service to the Lord. Moses then sprinkled some of the oil seven times on the bronze altar and the basin or bronze laver in the courtyard. Seven is the number of completeness and so Moses completely anointed and consecrated the altar and all of its utensils and the basin with its stand to the work and service of the Lord.

Later when the blood is carried into the Holy Place or the Holy of Holies and sprinkled seven times, the altar first being anointed seven times signified full atonement and peace with God and providing access to the Spirit. The work of Jesus Christ, as the sacrifice for our sins, is seen in this picture of the seven-fold sprinkling. Finally, after the instruments of the priests’ ministry had been anointed and consecrated, Aaron was anointed and consecrated. He was anointed by Moses pouring some of the anointing oil on his head. This consecrated him and set him apart for God’s service. It also set Aaron apart from the other priests as it marked him as the High Priest. Aaron was the only one who was anointed in this specific way. Again, Aaron prefigures Christ the anointed One or the Messiah spoken of by Isaiah in Isaiah 61:1, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” (Big Idea)

And then after all that flurry of activity, Moses brought Aaron’s sons and dressed them with three articles of clothing. These were tunics, sashes tied around them and caps fastened on their heads. These clothes were to be simple, plain pristine white, setting them apart from the Israelite people but also setting them apart from the splendidness and magnificence of Aaron’s clothing. We are told in Exodus 28 that the caps were made for Aaron’s sons, for dignity and honor. White symbolizes righteousness and so “for dignity and honor” describes being clothed in the righteousness of God as they performed their duties before the Lord. We as Christ-followers are also clothed with the righteousness of God. Isaiah 61:10 says, “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 his righteousness.” Think about this because I believe this is important for us as we contemplate and embrace our role as God’s kingdom of priests. Both Aaron and his sons were clothed “for dignity and honor.” Aaron prefigured Christ and Aaron’s sons prefigured us, anyone and everyone who calls Jesus Lord and Savior. Are you in awe of what we have been granted as Christ-followers? Are you ready to embrace your God-given role as a priest in God’s kingdom on the earth? We will continue to flesh out what this means as we finish chapter 8 and move on to chapter nine and ten.

So, how can we apply these scriptures to our lives? What is one next step we can take this month from these verses? We must continually evaluate how we approach serving the Lord. Are we rushed, distracted or just going through the motions? We need to intentionally approach our calling as God’s priest, whether in church, work, or daily life with a heart of dedication and spiritual readiness. That brings us to our first next step which I will intentionally prepare myself spiritually and morally to serve the Lord.

I want to conclude with this illustration called The Fable of the Birds. The fable of the birds is a story directed back to the very beginning of creation. God had divided the light from the darkness and the land from the sea and had now created the animals. All of these creatures were wandering around seeking to understand what it meant to be alive. All except the birds! They were not happy and spent all their time complaining because God had given them a heavy burden that he had given no other animal: those awkward appendages on their shoulders. God must be punishing them for something, they thought. Why did they have to carry these things around, making it so tough to walk and enjoy life? “Why?” they asked. “Why us?” Finally, two or three of the more adventurous birds began to move their appendages. They soon began to flutter them, and it wasn’t long before they discovered that the things they had regarded as a burden actually made it possible for them to fly. And none of the other animals could fly like they could. The “heavy burden” turned out to be a beautiful gift.

Too many believers act like those silly birds. We sit back complaining about our lot in life and the heavy burden of God’s call on our lives. We see God’s hand as a massive appendage of expectations holding us down. And guess what? It will continue to be a heavy burden until we open our eyes and discover that God’s word and regulations are designed to be the wind of the Spirit to launch us to a new level of maturity in our walk with God. Aaron and his family were the beginning of a heritage of servants and priests, a group to which you and I belong to as Christ-followers. Is God’s calling on our lives as a kingdom of priests’ work? Yes! Yes, it is!!! Is it a burden? Yes, it will be a burden if we choose to see it as one. But what we see as a burden from God is probably the very gift He intends to use to lift us higher. As God’s royal priesthood, we must recognize that God’s expectations for our service to Him is not punishment but preparation. We must realize that our spiritual growth happens through obedience and practical application. We must realize that we are called into priestly service not as a burden but as a privilege. We must realize that God’s will for us leads to maturity, purpose, and joy when we fully embrace it. So, let’s take God’s call for us to be a kingdom of priests, seriously, and start obeying and start flapping! God has great things in store for those who are obedient to his call. That brings us to our last next step which is I will intentionally identify one area where I have viewed God’s expectations as a burden and reframe it as the very thing to help me “fly.”

As the Praise Team comes to lead us on a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for the privilege of being in your house and studying your Word. May we not take it for granted. We pray that your Holy Spirit will guide us as we intentionally prepare ourselves spiritually and morally to serve you rightly. Help us to intentionally identify areas where we have viewed your expectations as a burden and instead use that burden to help us “fly.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Opening: Glen S. Martin, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, ed. Max Anders, Holman Old Testament Commentary (B&H Publishing Group, 2002), 169–171

Closing: Glen S. Martin, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, ed. Max Anders, Holman Old Testament Commentary (B&H Publishing Group, 2002), 169–171

The Dream Team

God desires His people to be washed, clothed, and anointed for effective service.

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