“A Royal Priesthood, pt.2 (Exodus 28-29)" | 7/2/23

Exodus 28-29 | 7/2/23 | Will DuVal

Well, the political season is back in full swing again already… and I learned the other day that a group of baboons is called a “Congress”;  

I found it extremely insulting to the hard work and productivity of baboons. (https://upjoke.com/congress-jokes )

We get frustrated, don’t we, when our elected officials - those we have appointed as our REPRESENTATIVES - fail us.

It’s a big responsibility to REPRESENT the people. But as we saw last week in Exodus chs28 & 29, that was essentially the job description of the PRIESTS in ancient Israel: they represented the people before GOD. If a PROPHET, like MOSES, represented God to the people, then a priest, like Moses’ brother AARON, represented the people to God. But we also reminded ourselves that in a very real sense, that was the calling of the entire NATION of Israel - God had appointed them in ch19: “you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (v6). Moreover, we recognized that for all who belong to Jesus today, who’ve been saved by grace through faith in Him, we TOO have now become a “priesthood of all believers” unto the Lord; 1 Peter 2 declares: “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (v9)

So in giving us this job description - this 12 point checklist we find in Exodus 28 & 29, outlining the ROLE of the priests - God is giving us underlying PRINCIPLES that apply not ONLY to Aaron and his descendants 3,500 years ago, the Levitical priesthood, but to ALL of us who now belong to the priesthood of believers today. That’s why these chapters - describing the priest’s GARMENTS… their ordination ceremony… seemingly outdated, irrelevant details; perhaps not a sermon you’d imagine NEEDING to split into a 2-parter! - why they’re actually so important for us: because they show us how to serve GOD. THAT is the PRIMARY function, we saw last week, of priests; God said, you will “serve ME as priests” (28:1). So how does God desire to be served? What does He REQUIRE of His servants? 12 things. Let’s recap the first SIX we examined last Sunday: 

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“Cultivating the Relationship (Exodus 30-31)” | 7/9/23

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“A Royal Priesthood (Exodus 28-29)" | 6/25/23