Our Great High Priest

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 6.

Exodus 6 · chapter mention

For those of you who are visiting or new, my name is Sean.

I'm one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church.

It's my joy and privilege to preach God's Word to you this morning.

Happy Mother's Day to those mothers out there.

It's, I think, very appropriate that we are in a passage that is full of a genealogy,

which would not be possible without the sacrificial mothers who are raising their children.

And I also recognize that on days like this,

there are many women who have wanted to get married and have kids and have not been able to,

or maybe who are married and have tried to have kids but have been unable to.

There are many women in our church who have gone through similar experiences

but now have children that you can talk to as well.

And I wanted to encourage you with this from Genesis 30,

where Leah and Rachel, who are married to Jacob,

and Leah has child after child after child, and Rachel is barren.

And it says in Genesis 30, verse 22, that then God remembered Rachel,

Genesis 30:22

and God listened to her and opened her womb.

Just so if you're in that place, just know that God remembers you, God sees you.

And we would love to, as a church, to be able to pray for you as well.

And we believe that God's the one who gives life.

He's the one who opens wombs.

And we trust Him to do that again.

So if you'd like to do that, please talk to me or Matt.

We really would love to, as a church, pray for you,

put an oil on you, pray for you so that God would open your womb.

Please, in your Bibles, turn with me to Exodus chapter 6, verses 10 to 30.

Exodus 6:10–30

And let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Heavenly Father, we believe that your Word is truth.

And that your Word is breathed out by you.

And that it is able to make us wise for salvation in Jesus Christ.

And we believe that even passages like this that seem to be flawless at times,

or we wonder what its purpose is, Lord, we know that your Word is living and active,

and it speaks to us.

It points to Jesus.

We pray that you would do that now.

Address us in your Word.

Remind us of Christ, our great High Priest.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Exodus 6, verses 10 to 30.

Exodus 6:10–30

So the Lord said to Moses,

Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.

But Moses said to the Lord,

Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me.

How then shall Pharaoh listen to me?

For I am of uncircumcised lips.

But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel

and about Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

These are the heads of their father's houses.

The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel,

Hanak, Palu, Hizron, and Carmi.

These are the clans of Reuben.

The sons of Simeon, Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul.

The son of a Canaanite woman.

These are the clans of Simeon.

These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations.

Gershon, Kohath, and Morari.

The years of the life of Levi being 137 years.

The sons of Gershon, Libni, and Shimei by their clans.

The sons of Kohath, Emram, Izar, Hebron, and Uziel.

The years of the life of Kohath being 133 years.

The sons of Morari, Mali, and Mushi.

These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations.

Emram took as his wife Jochebed, his father's sister.

And she bore him Aaron and Moses.

The years of the life of Emram being 137 years.

The sons of Izar, Korah, Nepheg, and Zikri.

The sons of Uziel, Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

Aaron took as his wife Elishabah, the daughter of Aminadab, and the sister of Nashon.

And she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eliezer, and Ithamar.

The sons of Korah, Asir, Elkanah, and Abiaseth.

These are the clans of the Korahites.

Eliezer, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel.

And she bore him Phinehas.

These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites by their clans.

These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said,

Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.

It was they who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt,

about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt.

This Moses and this Aaron.

On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,

the Lord said to Moses,

I am the Lord.

Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I say to you.

But Moses said to the Lord,

Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips.

How will Pharaoh listen to me?

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

When Moses told Israel about God's promise to deliver them from their slavery in Egypt,

the people of Israel were so discouraged after Pharaoh's refusal and ongoing oppression

that they did not listen to him.

Remember what it said in Exodus 6 verse 9.

Exodus 6:9

They did not listen to Moses because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

They've been oppressed and disappointed for so long.

Their spirit was broken.

Their courage failed.

Their faith failed.

They were downtrodden.

And notice what God doesn't do here.

He does not turn around and rebuke the Israelites for their broken spirit.

He knows that their reason for not listening to Moses here is not because of their stiff-necked pride,

as it often is throughout their journey in the wilderness,

but because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

So God now turns his attention elsewhere.

He says in verse 10,

God's done addressing Israel now.

His business is now with Pharaoh,

the man who is responsible for his people's crushed spirit,

the man who is responsible for their harsh slavery,

the man who is responsible for crushing the spirit of Israel.

And the Lord now turns his face in judgment against Pharaoh.

But it says in verse 12,

Moses said to the Lord,

Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me.

How then shall Pharaoh listen to me?

For I am of uncircumcised lips.

But the Lord's resolve.

We see that in verse 13,

he is resolute.

But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron

and gave them a charge about the people of Israel

and about Pharaoh, king of Egypt,

to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

God just politely ignores Moses' objection

and says, charge forward, press forward,

because my business is now with Pharaoh.

No one will deter the Lord

from his resolve to bring out Israel from their slavery.

As it says in Numbers 23, 19,

God is not man that he should lie

or a son of man that he should change his mind.

Has he said and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken and will he not fulfill it?

Now the Lord will act

and now the Lord will bring the ten plagues upon Egypt.

Now the prelude is over

and the main event is about to begin.

And it's precisely at this moment of great anticipation

and climactic confrontation

that Moses inserts a genealogy.

The narrative resumes in verse 26,

but verses 14 to 25 is all a genealogy.

And at first glance,

the timing and the placement of this genealogy

seems a bit odd.

What is going on here?

You could have told us about Moses and Aaron,

their genealogy at the beginning of the book,

like some of the other books do.

Why here?

The purpose of including the genealogy here

isn't just to keep a detailed record

of Israel's family tree

for all the tribes of Israel.

We can tell for several reasons.

It only covers the first three tribes of Israel,

if you notice,

Reuben, Simeon, and Levi.

It's the intention of this genealogy

is not to keep a comprehensive record.

And it seems to cover Reuben and Simeon

only to get to the third tribe, Levi,

which is where the rest of the genealogy is camped.

It's focused on the tribe of Levi.

Two, we know that it doesn't mention,

it's an incomplete genealogy

because there are many details

that are omitted in this genealogy.

For example,

it doesn't mention any of the sons of Moses.

And it doesn't mention Moses and Aaron's sister Miriam,

even though she has a prominent role to play

in the rest of the book.

So that shows us that this genealogy is telescoped.

It's compressed.

Because according to Numbers 339 as well,

soon after the Exodus,

it said all the males from a month old and upward

within the tribe of Levi numbered 22,000.

This is shortly after the Exodus.

There's far fewer than 22,000 people

named here in this genealogy.

It's not intended to be exhaustive.

So all these things show us

that the goal of this genealogy

is not to be comprehensive,

but to aid understanding,

to convey a theological point.

What point is Moses trying to drive home?

To figure that out,

we need to look at this passage much more closely.

First, look at both verse 16 and verse 19.

They both contain the phrase,

according to their generations.

If you're with us for our sermon series

in the book of Genesis,

you know that that echoes of a recurring phrase,

the organizing phrase in the book of Genesis,

which says,

these are the generations of Adam,

these are the generations of Noah,

these are the generations of Shem,

Terah, Ishmael, Isaac, Esau,

Jacob, and so on.

So for readers who are familiar

with the first five books of the Bible

written by Moses,

that's a key word, generations.

And immediately then,

this genealogy connects this history

of the Exodus and Moses and Aaron

to what God had promised to his people,

his chosen patriarchs years ago,

hundreds of years ago.

So it's showing us that God's covenant promises

that he made first to Abraham

and then to Jacob,

to Isaac and Jacob,

it's all coming true.

And there are a couple other notable features

in this genealogy.

There are only three people in this genealogy

whose lifespans are noted.

So look at verse 16.

It says,

Levi lived till 137.

Verse 18 says,

Kohath lived until 133.

Verse 20 says,

Amram lived till 137.

There are also only three people in this genealogy

whose wives are specifically named,

mentioned.

And they are Amram who married Jochebed,

Aaron who married Elisheba,

and Elisir who married one of the daughters of Putiel

who bore him Phinehas.

So by providing these additional details,

Moses is highlighting those specific individuals for us

in this genealogy.

He's highlighting their genealogical line.

And I think the reason why he doesn't give the lifespans

of the latter three characters

is because they're still alive

at the time of writing.

And so if you trace the line

from the people that are highlighted,

from Levi to people that have their ages,

their lifespans listed,

to people who have their wives mentioned,

this line goes through six men.

It's the only one that's traced down that far.

It goes from Levi to Phinehas.

So that's the focal point of this genealogy.

And smack dab in the middle of that genealogy is Aaron.

It's bringing our attention to Aaron.

Once we notice that Aaron is being highlighted,

okay, that's great.

Now you guys can see that.

Once we recognize that Aaron is being highlighted here,

we notice another interesting detail.

Even though Moses is the central character

in the Exodus narrative,

here the focus is more on Aaron than Moses.

Moses' line is not traced all the way down.

In fact, his sons are not even mentioned.

But Aaron's line is traced down.

And verse 20 says that Amram took as his wife,

Jochebed, his father's sister,

and he bore him Aaron and Moses.

It mentions Aaron first, then Moses.

Same thing in verse 26.

It says,

These are the Aaron and Moses,

to whom the Lord said,

Bring the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.

We can explain the first instance

by saying that Aaron is only mentioned first

because he was born first in its genealogy.

But verse 26 is not part of the genealogy,

yet Aaron's name is still mentioned before Moses.

There's an intentional emphasis here on Aaron.

And that stands out all the more

because in the rest of Exodus,

whenever the pair is mentioned together,

Moses and Aaron,

Moses is always mentioned first,

29 times total.

Only in this passage is Aaron mentioned first.

So the focus on Aaron is confirmed

further by the way the genealogy is framed.

I know this is getting a little detailed,

but it's the only way we can understand this passage

and learn from it.

So thank you for being patient

and being attentive through it.

Look at verses 10 to 13

and verses 26 to 29.

Verses 26 to 29 essentially repeat verses 10 to 13.

In fact, if you pay close attention,

you can actually see that the entire passage

has this framing structure

with the content of the first half

being mirrored in the content of the second half.

This literary structure is called a chiasm.

And it has the effect of honing in

on what's in the middle of the matching elements.

And here, that center of the chiasm

is the birth of Aaron and Moses

with emphasis on Aaron in particular.

So I have a...

Can you guys...

I probably can't read that

because it's too fine.

But basically,

there are matching elements in the chiasm.

In the beginning,

it says,

The Lord commands Moses to tell Pharaoh

to let Israel go.

And Moses gives the excuse

that he has uncircumcised lips

in verses 10 to 12.

The exact same thing happens

in verses 28 to 30.

And then the Lord commands Moses and Aaron

to bring Israel out of Egypt in verse 13.

And the exact same thing happens

in verse 26 to 27.

And then it says,

in the first half of genealogy,

it says,

These are the heads of the fathers' houses.

And the same formula is referred to in 20 to 25.

These are the heads of the fathers' houses.

And Levi has a 137-year lifespan.

Amram has a 137-year lifespan.

Both of their two brothers are mentioned

and their divisions...

So the Levitical tribe,

what's highlighted is the three divisions

of the Levitical tribe.

And when it comes to the line of Aaron,

it's the three sons of the high priests

that are highlighted.

And then that leaves the lone element

that stands alone in verse 20,

birth of Aaron and Moses.

So everything is being honed into that.

And this framing structure

is the key to unlocking the passage's meaning.

I told you that they both speak of the fact

that Moses objects to God's plan,

saying,

I have uncircumcised lips.

I can't speak to Pharaoh.

And that's similar.

It's more graphic

because obviously you don't circumcise your mouth.

But he's saying basically he feels unfit.

He feels excluded.

He feels like that's not his place.

He doesn't quite belong there.

He can't address Pharaoh.

For the same reason he gave in chapter 4, verse 10,

Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent.

I am slow of speech and of tongue.

That's basically what Moses is saying.

I have uncircumcised lips.

And from a human standpoint,

it's something...

We could be sympathetic to Moses.

We can understand his objection

because the people of Israel didn't listen to him

because of their broken spirit.

Then why should Pharaoh,

one of the most powerful men in the ancient world,

listen to him?

When Moses' own people would not listen to him,

why would a foreign king

who has no kinship or loyalty

or any kind of obligation whatsoever to Moses

listen to him?

When the slaves of Egypt would not listen to him,

why would the king of Egypt listen to Moses?

Moses is no eloquent orator

who can command the attention of his audience.

He is slow of speech and of tongue.

He has uncircumcised lips.

I think we all know,

we've all been in a situation,

and we know how much it tests our patience

to listen to a bad public speaker.

Imagine a lecturer or a professor

who just drones on and on in monotone voice,

who loses his place in his speech

and pauses for a really long time,

awkward spots,

and constantly stopping and starting again.

No matter how brilliant that professor is

and no matter how important he or she might be,

that he could be a Nobel laureate for all we care,

it takes an incredible amount of patience

to listen to someone like that.

But Pharaoh has no reason

to show that kind of patience to Moses.

So Moses knows this,

knows this,

and so he wants out.

This is his letter of resignation.

God, I quit.

I don't want anything to do

with having to talk to Pharaoh.

But Moses' objection, as we know,

is only sensible from a human standpoint.

It makes no sense from a divine standpoint.

Remember what God said to Moses in chapter 4,

who has made man's mouth?

Who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind?

Is it not I, the Lord?

Now therefore go,

and I will be with your mouth

and teach you what you shall speak.

In Numbers 22,

God makes Balaam's donkey speak.

Can he not then help Moses to speak?

Of course.

But Moses' faith in God

isn't strong at this point.

And God,

even though he was rightly angry at Moses

for thinking so little of him,

he is nonetheless so gracious to Moses

to provide Aaron.

This is how God responded to Moses

in chapter 4, verses 14 to 16.

Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite?

I know that he can speak well.

Behold, he is coming out to meet you,

and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

You shall speak to him

and put the words in his mouth,

and I will be with your mouth

and with his mouth

and will teach you both what to do.

He shall speak for you to the people,

and he shall be your mouth,

and you shall be as God to him.

It's that promise

that's now being fulfilled in this passage.

God has graciously accommodated Moses

by providing Aaron to be his spokesperson,

to be a priest and a prophet for him,

to intercede on his behalf before Pharaoh,

to speak to Pharaoh in his stead.

God chose Aaron specifically for this role,

and that's why Aaron is the focal point

of this passage.

And this selection of Aaron also explains

why later on in the first five books of the Bible,

it's Aaron and his sons

that are chosen for the priesthood.

And that's why it's also the tribe of Levi

that is chosen to assist the priest

with work in and around the tabernacle

and later in the temple.

Aaron's genealogy is a preview,

and it provides the rationale

for the Aaronic Levitical priesthood.

So the first half of the genealogy

in verses 14 to 19,

it begins with the clause,

these are the heads of the father's houses,

and it gives the name of Levi's three sons,

Gershon, Kohath, and Mirari.

So these three are the heads of the divisions

within the tribe of Levi

that will lead God's people

and will take care of the tabernacle,

the tent of God.

So they will be called Gershonites,

Kohathites, and Mirarites

in Numbers 3 to 4.

And this is probably why,

also when Aaron was first introduced to us

in chapter 4,

he is specifically called a Levite.

According to Exodus 32,

when the Israelites made a golden calf

and worshipped the idol as God

during Moses' long absence,

the Levites remained loyal to Yahweh.

They chose the Lord over their fellow Israelites,

and they purged Israel of the idolaters.

And for that reason,

Moses said to the Levites in Exodus 32, 29,

today you have been ordained

for the service of the Lord,

each one at the cost of his son

and of his brother,

so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.

So the Levites from that point on

were consecrated for service to the Lord

in and around the temple,

assisting Aaron and his sons,

the high priests.

And so by emphasizing

the Levitical heritage of Aaron here,

Moses is bolstering the credibility

of the Levites in their priestly role.

Here's why I've set the Levites apart.

Aaron, Moses come from the tribe of Levi.

And it's this Aaron and this Moses

that God chose to use

to deliver Israel from Egypt,

to speak to Pharaoh.

Similarly, the second half of the genealogy,

verses 20 to 25,

tells us about Amram.

Amram and how he had three generations of sons

after him, Aaron, Eliezer, and Phinehas.

And they all serve as high priests

of the Lord for Israel.

So this section provides a preview of that as well

and a justification for Aaron's descendants

serving as priests.

It's because God chose Aaron alongside Moses

to serve the priestly function

of representing God's people to God,

as well as the prophetic function

of speaking for God to God's people.

And that's why it's fitting for Aaron's descendants

to follow that tradition

to serve as priests of the nation of Israel.

The genealogy concludes with Phinehas,

which is also significant.

In Numbers 25,

where the Israelites,

it says,

whore after Moabite woman,

and they begin to worship their idols,

their false gods.

And when a plague breaks out as a result of that,

it's Phinehas who stays God's judgment

by making atonement for the people of Israel.

And after that incident,

God says concerning Phinehas in Numbers 25, 11 to 13,

Phinehas,

the son of Eliezer,

the son of Aaron the priest,

has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel,

in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them,

so that I did not consume the people of Israel

in my jealousy.

Therefore say,

behold,

I give to him my covenant of peace,

and it shall be to him

and to his descendants after him

the covenant of a perpetual priesthood,

because he was jealous for his God

and made atonement for the people of Israel.

So by noting three generations

of the Aaronic high priests here,

Moses is also bolstering their credibility

that they are indeed the descendants of this Aaron,

the very Aaron who confronted Pharaoh

on behalf of the Israelites and delivered them.

They are the ones whom God chose

to serve as priests for Israel.

And why is it so important to note

and to support,

add this kind of additional support

for Moses and Aaron,

and Aaron in particular?

It's necessary because Israelites,

as we'll find out,

are prone to grumble against God

and prone to rebel against their leaders.

If you look at verse 21,

it names Korah,

one of Esar's sons.

So Korah is Aaron's cousin.

If you're familiar with the Bible,

you'll recognize the name Korah

from number 16.

Korah is the man who gathers 250 chiefs

of the congregation,

well-known men,

and then rebels against Moses

and against Aaron,

saying to them,

you have gone too far,

for all in the congregation are holy.

All, everyone is holy.

And the Lord is among them.

Why then do you exalt yourselves

above the assembly of the Lord?

Korah is not wrong

in what he is saying.

The Lord is among

the entire congregation of Israel.

And he did promise them

in Exodus 19, 6,

you shall be to me

a kingdom of priests

and a holy nation.

So all Israel is holy.

And in a sense,

there is a priesthood of all believers.

Everyone is,

in some sense,

part of the kingdom of priests.

However,

that does not mean

that there are no

divinely sanctioned,

duly appointed leaders

in the nation of Israel.

So Moses responds to them,

hear now,

you sons of Levi,

is it too small

a thing for you

that the God of Israel

has separated you

from the congregation of Israel

to bring you near to himself

to do service

in the tabernacle of the Lord

and to stand before

the congregation

to minister to them

and that he has brought you

near him

and all your brothers,

the sons of Levi,

with you?

And would you seek

the priesthood also?

Therefore,

it is against the Lord

that you and all your company

have gathered together.

What is Aaron?

That you grumble against him.

So from Moses' response,

we can infer that

Korah and his prominent men

were grumbling against Aaron

in particular.

And they were leveraging

their special status

as Levites,

as assistants

in and around the tabernacle

to make their case.

Why do you, Aaron,

get to serve as high priest?

Why do your sons

get that privilege after you?

I am a Levite also.

My father is your father's brother.

What makes you so special?

But God responds

by reaffirming Aaron's role

as high priest

and consuming Korah

and his companions.

This genealogy makes

that clear distinction.

Yes, Korah was a Levite

and there are many other Levites,

but it was Aaron

and his line

that God chose

to minister as priests.

The people whom God chose

as leaders over Israel

were not perfect

by any means.

Aaron himself

was not without

his sins and faults.

He abets Israel

in their idolatry

and helps them

craft a golden calf

in Numbers 12.

Aaron himself grumbles

and slanders Moses

on account of his

non-Jewish Cushite wife.

Aaron was not perfect

by any means,

but he was nonetheless

a high priest

appointed by the Lord God.

So when Korah rebelled

against Aaron,

Moses told Korah,

it's against the Lord

that you and all your company

have gathered together

because the Lord

appointed him.

God takes the leaders

that he appoints

seriously.

And this is applicable

in our context as well.

In 2 Timothy 2,

14 to 19,

Paul mentions

Hymenaeus and Philetus

who were false teachers

who were sowing discord

and undermining

the ministry of Timothy

in Ephesus.

And Paul comforts Timothy

by alluding

to this very instance

of Korah

and his rebellion

against Aaron.

And this is how

he reassures him.

The Lord knows

those who are his.

Let everyone

who names the name

of the Lord

depart from iniquity.

The Lord cares

that his servants

are esteemed

and listened to

because they represent him.

I thought it was

very appropriate

that this came up today

because we had

the joy of ordaining Matt

into pastoral ministry

this past week.

And he will be filling in

for me in a lot of capacities

as I'm gone on vacation

over the next few weeks.

And I want to ask

all of you

in the same way

that Paul asked

the Thessalonian church

in 1 Thessalonians 1, 12

to respect those

who labor among you

and are over you

in the Lord

and admonish you

and to esteem them

very highly in love

because of their work.

Not because

the elders are perfect

but because

the Lord appointed them.

According to him,

according to Matt,

the same respect

and esteem and love

that you've shown

to me

and you poured out

to me.

Moses was fearful

about addressing Pharaoh

so God graciously appointed Aaron

to be his spokesperson.

Aaron interceded

on behalf of Moses.

He spoke for Moses

to make up for Moses'

weakness in speaking.

And when you lack

the qualifications

to approach

and address

a powerful ruler,

we also need

an advocate,

an intercessor,

a mediator,

a priest.

If Moses needed Aaron

when speaking to Pharaoh,

a mere mortal,

how much more

do we need

an intercessor

when speaking

with Almighty God,

the King of Kings,

the Lord of Lords?

This is the most important

role that Aaron had

as high priest of Israel.

Priests in those days

were fully devoted to God

so they were not given

a piece of the promised land

like the rest

of the tribes of Israel.

The rest of the tribes

of Israel worked the land,

farmed the land,

to get provisions for them,

but instead,

Levi and the priests

were to be fully devoted

to the service of God

in the tabernacle.

So they were charged

with enforcing

the worship of God

and with making sacrifices

to atone

for the sins

of God's people.

They were the priests

that interceded

before God

on behalf

of God's people

and it was only

because of them

that God's people

could approach

God in worship.

only because of them

that their sins

could be atoned for.

But despite this

all-important work,

the priests of Israel

left much to be desired.

As Hebrews 7,

23 to 28 point out,

God appointed men

in their weakness

as high priests.

They were many in number

because they were prevented

by death

from continuing in office.

These high priests

were mortal.

So they could not

provide permanent,

unbroken intercession

on behalf of God's people.

Moreover,

they were still sinful.

So it says in Hebrews again

that they were required

to offer sacrifices daily

first for their own sins

and then for the sins

of those people.

Look at the genealogy again.

Look at verse 23.

It names Aaron's sons,

Nadab and Abihu.

Their names

are a stark reminder

of the occupational hazards

of priesthood

because in Leviticus 10,

1 to 2,

it says,

Now Nadab and Abihu,

the sons of Aaron,

each took his censer

and put fire in it

and laid incense on it

and offered unauthorized fire

before the Lord,

which he had not commanded them.

And fire came out

from before the Lord

and consumed them,

and they died before the Lord.

Ministering before a holy God

comes with occupational hazards

because God cannot be trifled with,

his commands cannot be taken lightly,

and he must be honored as holy.

So these priests

were themselves subject

to the frailties

and sinfulness of man.

They had to approach God

in the temple

with fear and trembling.

In fact,

in Hebrews 10,

1 to 3,

it points out

that the sacrifices

that the high priest

offered every year

on the Day of Atonement

served as a reminder for sin,

reminder of sins

every year

for it is impossible

for the blood of bulls

and ghosts to take away sins.

The sacrifice

that the priest

worked hard to offer

ultimately

did not cleanse

God's people

of their sins.

People remained conscious

of their sins.

They still could not enter

the most holy place of God,

the dwelling place of God

because of their impurities.

So then the sacrifices

served as a kind of exercise

that prefigured

the ultimate atonement

for sin

that Jesus would make.

Hebrews 7, 22

says that Jesus

is the guarantor

of a better covenant

because he,

unlike Aaron

and his sons,

is without sin

and because he,

as the resurrected Lord,

lives forever.

And even Levi,

he writes,

the author of Hebrews writes,

within the loins of Abraham

paid homage

to priest king Melchizedek

in Genesis 14.

And it says there

that Jesus,

in Hebrews 7,

that Jesus is appointed

high priest

after the order

of Melchizedek

rather than

the order of Aaron.

So Jesus had

a better,

eternal priesthood.

Jesus does not need

to make sacrifice

over and over again.

this is why

when we come

to the Lord's

table

for communion,

for the Lord's supper,

we do not think of it

or talk of it

as a sacrifice.

There's some

denominations that do,

but it's not

a sacrifice.

It's the Lord's table.

It's not

an altar

where we offer up

the Lord

in sacrifice again

because Jesus

doesn't need

to be sacrificed again.

It says in Hebrews 7, 27,

Jesus did this once

for all

when he offered up himself.

Hebrews 9, 12,

Jesus entered

once for all

into the holy places,

not by means

of the blood

of goats and calves,

but by means

of his own blood,

thereby securing

an eternal redemption.

Hebrews 10, 10,

it says we have

been sanctified

through the offering

of the body

of Jesus Christ

once for all.

It is finished.

So we come

to the Lord's supper

to celebrate

what Jesus has

already accomplished

so that we can

remember it,

memorialize it,

and so that the benefits

of what he has

already accomplished

can be applied

to us spiritually.

As we read

in the call to worship

and in the assurance

of pardon,

we have a great

high priest

who has passed

through the heavens

who is not unable

to sympathize

with our weaknesses

and he assures us

that we will,

when we approach God,

receive mercy

and find grace.

Hebrews 7, 25 says

Jesus is always

making intercession

for us.

It's in the present tense.

God is presently

and eternally

making intercession

for us.

yes,

you are right.

We are sinners

through and through.

Yes,

you are right

that we do not deserve

to approach God's throne

lest we be consumed

by his holiness.

Yes,

you are right

that we should never hope

that the Lord

would listen to us.

But the good news

is that Jesus

is our great

high priest.

Jesus is,

right now,

making intercession

for us

to his heavenly father

so that we can

approach God

and so that

we can have confidence

to speak to God.

First John 2, 1 says,

if anyone sins,

we have an advocate.

Jesus is our advocate.

Do you know

that each time you sin,

every little sin

that you commit,

every great sin

you commit,

our great high priest

is advocating for you

at the right hand

of the father.

Father,

I died for her sin.

I died for her sin.

Father,

I paid for that sin.

My righteousness

is on him.

I don't know

if some of you

are like me,

but I have a

deeply sinful

and prideful

self-centered tendency

to minimize my own sins

and make excuses

for myself

because I can't

bear the thought

that I have to

deal with that,

that that's my problem

to be dealt with.

But we don't have to do that,

brothers and sisters.

We don't have to

minimize our sins.

We don't have to make

excuses for ourselves

because we don't

speak for ourselves.

Jesus speaks for us.

He intercedes for us.

He is our forgiveness.

He is our redemption.

He is our salvation.

So let's not live

like a people

who don't have a priest.

Let's not shrink

in fear and shame

like we don't have

an advocate.

We have a great

high priest in Jesus

who is now interceding

for us

in the heavenly places.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Father,

what freedom

we have in Christ.

What assurance,

what strong assurance

we have in Christ.

We are not our own

but belong to you.

We do not speak

for ourselves.

Christ speaks for us.

We thank you for that.

And help us now

to live in light

of that truth.

Help us to boldly

approach your throne

of grace.

Help us to cry out

to you day and night

knowing that we have

a hearing

from our loving Father.

we worship you.

We love you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.