7-28-27 Royal Priesthood - Holy of Holies
This is actually being published on Sunday, the 28th of July. Events set me a day behind and Father said to wait until the 28th to release it. “7” is ‘resurrection’ or Spiritual’ completeness and ‘28’ is ‘eternal life’. (got the mental juices flowing yet?)
Peter reminds us that we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. Okay, so what does all this have to do with the Holy of Holies? Read on!
1 Peter 2:9-12 KJV
9 But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should
shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light;
(we are a unique people
for the Lord for He has chosen us to be His banner carrier for salvation.)
10 Which in time past were
not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but
now have obtained mercy.
(though we are in the
world, by God’s grace, we are no longer of the world {John 17:15})
11 Dearly beloved, I beseech
you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against
the soul;
(we don’t fight against
flesh and blood but against the powers of evil {Eph. 6:11-12})
12 Having your conversation
honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers,
they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of
visitation.
(we don’t do and say
things to please man but to please God and the world doesn’t understand it)
Exod. 28:1-43 (not going into depth here but
summarizing these passages so you might get a reasonable understanding of the
sanctification of the priesthood)
This passage
talks about the clothes which Aaron (the high priest) and his sons would wear
in serving God.
Aaron and
his sons were appointed to the priesthood by God to serve Him and be the
go-between between our Lord and man.
Father prescribed clothes that they should wear and procedures they must
follow when they approach God in the Holy of Holies. Let’s get an understanding:
Chapter 28
God appoints
Aaron and his sons to the priesthood and sets forth the clothing they should
wear serving in the priest’s office. God
has given certain of the Israelites the ability to make a breastplate, an
ephod, a robe, a coat which is weaved into squares, a mitre (hat) and a
girdle. These garments should be made
with colors of gold, blue, purple and scarlet and made of fine linen and be
expertly crafted.
The ephod
was to be carefully woven of gold, blue, purple and scarlet. It shall have two shoulder pieces (onyx
stones) one each for the right and left shoulders. Each stone shall have six names the tribes of
Israel, artfully etched into them in order of their birth. Each name shall be set in a setting made of
gold so that Aaron should, as a memorial, always bear the names of the children
of Israel before the Lord as he serves in the priest’s office.
The ‘curious’
girdle shall also be made of gold, blue, purple and scarlet and be attached to
the ephod.
Golden
chains shall connect the ephod with the breastplate of judgement and the
breastplate shall be made a perfect square and shall have twelve stones mounted
in settings upon it. The stones are sardius,
topaz, carbuncle in the 1st row, an emerald, sapphire and diamond
are in the 2nd row, ligure agate and amethyst in the 3rd
row and beryl onyx and jasper in the 4thSo Aaron carries the burden
of the people upon his shoulders and close to his heart.
The Urim
(bring light) and the Thummim (emblem of complete truth) are also placed on the
breastplate (so he priest might judge the people rightly).
Are we
getting the picture here? The burden of
Israel on his shoulders and close to his heart!
So we see
that the curious girdle, the ephod and the breastplate are all connected.
The robe
shall be expertly woven of blue material with a hole in the center (up and down
side to side) and stitched so the garment does not tear. The bottom of the garment shall have golden
bells alternating between woven pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet thus
Aaron would beard entering and leaving the Holy of Holies and not die.
The mitre
(or hat), again embroidered of fine linen and attached to its forehead shall be
a plate of gold with ‘Holiness to the Lord’ etched into it. This is so that all things offered by Aaron
unto the Lord would be accepted by the Lord.
And beneath
all this Aaron shall wear breeches (shorts) underneath from his waist to the
thighs, to cover his nakedness. Aaron’s
sons also shall wear the robe and breaches so that none die. And for Israel this is a continuing statute.
(they do it forever)
Now remember
that the Egyptians gave the Israelites gold, silver, gems and clothing, etc. (Exod. 12:35-36).
Exod. 29:1-46
Again,
here I paraphrase how the priesthood how must be sanctified to serve before the
Lord.
They
should take a young bull and two rams (without blemish), and out of wheat flour
make unleavened bread cakes and cakes tempered with oil and wafers anointed
with oil. These shall be brought to the
door of the tabernacle in a basket.
Aaron
and his sons will come before the door of the tabernacle and wash with water. Then they will take the clothing which was
made for them – the coat, the ephod, the curious girdle of the ephod and the
holy miter. The anointing oil shall be
poured over Aaron’s head. Then Aaron’s
will be brought forth and put on his garments.
This is something Aaron and his sons will do to sanctify themselves
before the Lord.
Sacrifices were
also in order for preparation. Aaron and
his sons would lay hands on bullock then slay it at the door of the tabernacle. They would put the blood of the bullock on
the four horns of the altar with their finger then pour the rest beside the
bottom of the altar. Most of the inward
parts would be burnt upon the altar but its flesh, skin and dung shall be
burned outside the camp as a sin offering.
Aaron and his
sons should lay their hands on the head of one of the rams and slay it and
sprinkle the blood around the altar.
They should cut the ram into pieces. They shall wash the inner parts of
the ram, cut it into pieces then put the whole ram on the altar and burn it
with fire. It is a sweet smelling
savor made by fire unto the Lord.
(our sacrifices are sweet smelling to the Lord – even though we are not
physically slain and burnt on the altar)
They shall lay
their hands upon the second ram and kill it.
Then the blood should be put on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and
his sons, the thumb of their right hands and the big toe on the right
foot. Then they should sprinkle the
blood on the altar and all around it. Then
the blood (which is upon the altar) with anointing oil shall be sprinkled upon
Aaron and his sons to hallow (purify) them.
The rump of the
ram along with the kidneys, the fat and the right shoulder as a consecration (dedication)
to the Lord. Then, a loaf of bread,
oiled cake and a wafer shall be given to Aaron and his sons as a wave offering (lifted
up and moved back and forth) before the Lord, they shall put it upon the altar
as a burnt offering, a sweet smelling savor before the Lord. An offering unto the Lord made by fire.
The breast and
shoulder of the ram are dedicated to Aaron and as a wave offering it shall be
sanctified unto the Lorda nd the shoulder is a heave offering (lifted up)
before the Lord and these shall be for Aaron and his son’s.
And this is the
consecration of the garments.
The priest shall
wear them for seven days when he comes into the tabernacle to minister in the Holy
Place. The ram of consecration shall be
for Aaron and his sons to eat and he bread in the basket. They shall eat the things used for atonement
to sanctify themselves. These are holy
and are for only Aaron and his sons. If
anything which they have remains in the morning, it shall be burned with fire. They shall do this each day of that
week. Whatever touches the altar shall
be holy.
I’m not citing
the quantities for the following passage (read the passage in the bible.
That week, a lamb
shall be offered, one in the morning and one in the evening. With one lamb have flour mingled with beaten
oil and wine (for a drink offering). Do
the same for the second lamb in the evening.
This is an offering with a sweet savor made with fire unto the
Lord. Israel is commanded to do these
things throughout their generations at the door of the tabernacle and so it
shall be sanctified by My glory (says the Lord).
Father lays out a
guideline implying the attitude with which we should approach Him as a royal
priesthood. We don’t have to go through
all the physical sacrifices of Israel, but these procedures were established to
purify the priests before they entered into the presence of the Lord.
Note that Father
makes things acceptable through fire.
John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize us with fire – to
burn off all the unwanted garbage in our lives (Matt. 3:11-12). Paul tells the Corinthians to lay our
foundation in Jesus and like the refining of gold (with fire), our bad works
will burn off but the vessel (us) will be refined. We are the temple of God and the Holy Ghost
lives within us (1 Corinth. 3:11-16)!
Matthew
27:45-54 KJV
45 Now from the sixth
hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth
hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? 47 Some of them that
stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias (Elijah). 48 And straightway one
of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a
reed, and gave him to drink. 49 The rest said, Let be,
let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
50 Jesus, when he had
cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the
veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the
earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were
opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the
graves after his (Jesus’) resurrection, and went into the holy city, and
appeared unto many. 54 Now when the
centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and
those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the
Son of God.
Heb. 9:16-28
16 For where a testament is,
there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
17 For a testament is of
force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the
testator lives.
18 Whereupon neither the
first testament was dedicated without blood.
19 For when Moses had spoken
every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of
calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled
both the book, and all the people,
20 Saying, This is the blood
of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
21 Moreover he sprinkled with
blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
22 And almost all things are ,by
the law, purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
23 It was therefore necessary
that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but
the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. (our heart)
24 For Christ is not entered
into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but
into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
25 Nor yet that he should
offer himself often, as the high priest entered into the holy place every year
with blood for others (lambs and bulls);
26 For then must he often
have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered
to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the
second time without sin unto salvation.
So, just what
does “being a royal priesthood mean to us?
Father desires us
to be cleansed so that we may be acceptable before Him. When Jesus died on the cross the veil in the
temple, the veil that separated the Holy of Holies, the veil that separated God
from Israel, was torn in two, thus giving us direct access to Father through
Jesus Christ, our Lord (Mark 15:34-38).
God knows our
heart (1 Sam. 16:7, Luke 16:15) so we don’t have to physically do all that
Israel did. Yet we do have to let God’s
love abide in our hearts. In so doing we
will find ourselves living in the purity and holiness God intends. Hopefully, this helps us to understand that
our heart must be cleansed before the Lord.
We don’ just talk the talk, but we walk the walk as we live in Father’s
love allowing the Holy Ghost full freedom to direct us in God’s will. Then, just as David, we confess our sins to
Father as soon as we realize what we’ve done (2 Sam. 12:1-24). AND we have the Holy Ghost to help us.
Once again,
Father desires us to come before Him with a clean heart, as we abide in His
love. If you love me, keep my
commandments (John 14:15). My
commandments are to love – God, then our fellow man (Mark 12:30-31). As we believe in Jesus, His love is in us and
we will be able to do the same works He has done – and greater (John 14:12)! We have the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:1-4). After all, Jesus commanded us to receive the
Holt Ghost (John 20:22, Acts 1:8) and that enables us to forgive those who have
come against us (Luke 17:3-4, Eph. 4:32).
Father loves us through Jesus. Shouldn’t
we show that love (which is in us) to those around us?
Father told
Israel to give everything willingly (Exod. 35:22 – voluntarily, spontaneous). Shouldn’t we do the same from our heart (2
Corinth. 9:7-8)?
Peter declared us
a royal priesthood, that is being able to access Father through Jesus because
of the torn veil. We are a royal
priesthood. Do we live like it?
Amen