It is very enlightening to see in Lev. 8 the details of the consecration for the priesthood for Aaron and his sons, and to realise that these details are actually a type of what happens with us as we consecrate to the Lord to be priests.
We are a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people acquired for a possession, so that we may tell out the virtues of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. All believers in Christ are priests to God, and every regenerated person should function as a priest before God in the church.
Day by day God is working Himself into us so that in His life we may be transformed in His image and exercise His authority, and the result is that we become a royal priesthood. The New Testament priesthood is universal, including all believers in time and space.
The Old Testament priesthood was very particular, including only certain people who were born in a certain tribe and who fulfilled certain requirements. In our case today, as believers in Christ, we all are priests, born of God to serve God as priests, and together we are a holy priesthood and a royal priesthood.
However, for us to realise what we are and to enter into the real significance and practice of being a priest, we need to consecrate to the Lord to be priests and He ordains us to be priests. Being a priest and serving as a priest is not a light matter.
Being a priest to God and serving as a priest to God is a matter filled with solemnity and dedication.
Our consecration for the priesthood is not once for all, even though there has to be a moment that begins this consecration, but it is a continual matter.
We need to enter into the experiences typified in Lev. 8 to be true priests, consecrated priests to God, those who are separated without and filled with God within for God’s special purpose, for His use.
To consecrate is to fill the hands, that is, for us to consecrate ourselves to the Lord means that we need to have our hands filled with Christ. We need to enjoy and experience Christ as the reality of all the offerings, experiencing Him day by day in all the wonderful aspects of the offerings.
Our consecration for the priesthood must be with the all-inclusive Christ as the offerings, filling our hands by enjoying Him and experiencing Him as such a One. Whatever Christ is to us and whatever He does for us, as typified by the offerings, is to constitute us as priests.
As we are constituted with Christ through our enjoyment and experience of Him as all the offerings, we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, and He ordains us to be His priests.
Our Consecration for the Priesthood is in the Church and for the Church
The consecration of Aaron and his sons was at the tent of meeting, which signifies the fact that our consecration for the priesthood is not only before God but also for the church and in the church (see Lev. 8:1-3).
The priests were not consecrated to God at the leisure of their own home or in their back garden, but in a particular place, the place where God’s people gather together to contact Him, at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
This means that the place of our consecration for the priesthood is not where we want it to be but in the church and for the church. Our consecration is not just before God but also before the church and for the church.
Where do God’s people gather together to enjoy Him and contact Him? It is in the church life. Today our consecration for the priesthood is not just before God and for God, but also before the church, in the church, and for the church.
It is good to even tell the Lord and testify before the saints, Lord, I consecrate myself to You and to the church. I consecrate myself for Christ and the church!
This means that our serving the Lord and worshipping Him as priests is not just for us to enjoy Christ and minister Him, but also to build up the church, the priesthood.
It is not wrong for us to declare our consecration to Christ and the church, realising that as priests we serve God in the church. We are here for Christ and also for the church of God.
We are here as priests and also as part of the priesthood for God.
Lord Jesus, we consecrate ourselves to Christ and the church. We want to have our hands filled with Christ and with the church. Lord, we are here for You and for the church. We are here for Your purpose to build up the church as the Body of Christ, Your habitation, Your royal priesthood. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves to You and to the church for our consecration for the priesthood!
For our Consecration for the Priesthood we need to be Washed by the Spirit Daily
Moses’ washing of Aaron and his sons with water signifies that, for our consecration for the priesthood, we need to be washed by the Spirit (Lev. 8:6; 1 Cor. 6:11).
The first thing we need to do is be washed by the Spirit, which takes place in the word of God – the washing of the water in the Word.
We were once in evil things, immoral things, and bad things, but we were washed by the Spirit!
On one hand we were washed by the blood of Jesus Christ from all our sins, trespasses, and shortcomings, and on the other hand, we were washed by the fresh water of the Holy Spirit.
It is the Spirit’s work to wash us and cleanse us from all the defilement of sin and of the earth, for us to be clean and serve the Lord. No unclean person can come near Jehovah, much less to serve Him.
We need to be washed daily, all the time, by the Lord’s blood and by the living water of the Spirit.
Especially as we realise that we are priests to God, for our consecration for the priesthood, we need to be washed by the Spirit again and again by coming to the Lord in His word and praying over His word.
It is good to tell the Lord,
Lord Jesus, wash us and make us clean with Your precious blood. Cleanse us, Lord, with Your blood, and fill us with Your spirit. May the washing of the water in the word remove anything of oldness, of the earth, and of the world in our being. May we come to be washed by the living water of the Spirit day by day. Cleanse our vessel, Lord, and make us suitable for Your service as priests.
Being Anointed with the Spirit for our Consecration for the Priesthood
In Lev. 8:10-11 we see that Moses anointed the tabernacle, the altar, and the laver with all their utensils to sanctify them; this signifies that Christ and the church (the tabernacle), the cross (the altar), and the washing of the Spirit (the laver) are related to the New Testament priesthood for the priests’ sanctification.
The tabernacle typifies Christ as an individual (see John 1:14) and it also typifies the church as the dwelling place of God; here in Lev. 8 it denotes more the church than Christ Himself.
God’s ordaining us to be priests is a matter of sanctification, a matter of being holy; this means that we are separated unto God and saturated with Him, the Holy One.
The anointing of the tabernacle signifies that, on one hand, Christ was anointed, and on the other, we as the church are anointed to be the New Testament priests and serve God.
What is this anointing? The anointing is with a compound ointment, which typifies the all-inclusive compound Spirit including Christ’s humanity, His human living, His death on the cross, and His resurrection, with their effectiveness.
The anointing oil was compounded with four spices, signifying humanity (typified by the number four), human living, the death of the cross, and resurrection. When we are anointed as priests and as the church, we are anointed with the Triune God compounded with Christ’s humanity, human living, death, and resurrection (see 1 John 2:20, 27; Exo. 30:22-26).
Christ the Head has been anointed, and we share in His anointing as His members. And this anointing is not once for all but it is continual, going on all the time.
All the items that Christ has accomplished and obtained, all that He has gone through, are compounded in the processed, compounded, life-giving Spirit. This oil, this anointing, should be added to us in a painting way – it should be painted on us all the time.
This painting is to anoint all that God is and what He is doing into us, to make us one with Him and Him one with us. This is what our consecration for the priesthood does to us: it adds God into us and causes the Spirit to fill us and saturate us continually. Hallelujah!
Whatever God is, whatever He does, and whatever He will do is ours by His applying Himself to our being.
We can enjoy and experience in our daily living as priests what Christ has done, what He is doing, and what He will do; His incarnation, His human living, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and His coming back are all ours by faith, for they have been anointed upon us, that is, made one with us.
This is how we are made real priests – not by what we are through our natural birth but by the Triune God compounded with Christ’s humanity, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension, being applied to our being! Amen!
Immediately following the anointing there are the burnt offering and the sin offering (see Lev. 8:14-21), which remind us of who we are and what we are, and of what we should be yet we are not.
We need these offerings to remind us so that we apply Christ as their reality to our being.
Thank You Lord for anointing us with the compound life-giving Spirit for our consecration for the priesthood. Amen, Lord, keep us under Your anointing, Your painting of all that You are and have accomplished, all the days of our life! Sanctify us, Lord, by separating us unto Yourself and by saturating us with Yourself, the Holy One. Mingle Yourself with us and add Yourself to us more and more every day, making all Your elements become our intrinsic constitution for our serving as priests. Amen, Lord, continually anoint us and make us one with You for our consecration for the priesthood!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 29 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Leviticus (2), week 1, The Consecration of the Priests.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Burden us with Thy great plan, Lord; / Consecrated we would be. / To fulfill Thy holy purpose / Saturate us thoroughly. (Hymns #1267)
# The water in the word, the water in the word, / Washing by the water, the water in the word, / That He might sanctify her, cleansing her, / Cleansing by the washing of the water in the word. (Scripture song)
# Divine anointing in me dwelleth, / And it teaches me all things; / It ever leads me in the Lord to live / And to me His presence brings. / With God’s own essence it anoints me, / God to know subjectively, / That I may have His very element / Fully saturating me. (Hymns #266)
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