The Priests Are Ordained
Open Your Bible
Leviticus 8:1-36, Leviticus 9:1-24, Hebrews 4:15-16, Revelation 5:9-10
BY Oghosa Iyamu
“Be my guest.”
A simple invitation extended to good friends and new acquaintances, nearby neighbors and visitors from far away. Over the years, I’ve hosted countless guests. I watched as they sat at my large, rustic wooden table and gazed admiringly at the sparkling white dishware etched with intricate marble designs, complemented by the coated matte-black silverware.
“How do you keep it looking so pristine and beautiful?” guests often wonder. And my method is pretty simple: I set these particular dishes apart. They are given special cleansing and care to remain distinguished for their intended purpose of hosting guests.
In today’s reading, we encounter a different but rather unique kind of “set apartness” that distinguishes holy from ordinary––consecration unto God’s holy purpose.
Did you notice in Leviticus 8:10–12 how consecration—the setting apart—came before the offering in verse 14? Moses and Aaron were familiar with the laws and sacrifices required up to this point; however, consecration was still necessary for the priests’ ordination. Without being set apart, the priests would not be fit to carry out the holy assignment God had given them. It wasn’t their work that made them Levites and priests; it was God. Their responsibility and duty flowed not from their ability but their identity as those set apart unto God for His holy purposes.
As I curiously meditate on these verses today, I can’t help but wonder how easy it would have been in a culture of rhythms and requirements for these priests to merely offer ritual sacrifices to God without first allowing their lives to be consecrated. How easy it would have been to focus on calling before communion, to esteem responsibility over identity.
Dear sisters, let us not miss this practical truth: consecration must always precede duty (Leviticus 8:12). What you can do for God is secondary to who you are in God. Everything you do—any works of your hands—are an outflow of that unwavering identity. Have you found yourself chasing a calling before communion? Are you finding more worth in your responsibility rather than your identity?
If the answer is yes, let us remember the encouragement from Revelation 5:9–10, that God alone, and the shed blood of Jesus Christ, has made us worthy to be a kingdom of royal priests. Only when we remember this truth and serve out of that identity will we be the kind of vessels able to carry out our intended purpose.
44 thoughts on "The Priests Are Ordained"
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Adding: also I love the reminder that I cannot do my job if I am not first being who I was called to be
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Adding:
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WOW. Love! I think it would have been so hard to only go to God through another flawed human— who may not even understand my struggles. I love that Jesus is perfect and has seen it all, and I can instead go to him.
Also love the reminder that I cannot do my job if I am not first being who I was called to be❤️ -
WOW. Love! I think it would have been so hard to only go to God through another flawed human— who may not even understand my struggles. I love that Jesus is perfect and has seen it all, and I can instead go to him.
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I pray that I would be confident in my identity in Christ, so that I would be able to do the works he has for me.
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It was interesting as I read through the scriptures, and the fine print study note of my bible, I highlighted this part from my book: “God was to consecrate them for seven days in which they were not to go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. It probably indicated not only the importance of ceremonies, but that the very essence of consecration consists in separation, Aaron and his sons were thus confined, lest they be rendered ceremonially unclean by contact with the unclean, and become unfit for the service”. So I highlighted this “Consecration by separation” in bold only to see our devotional mentioning the exact same thing! Praise the Lord for this beautiful message. He is so good. Consecration is a lonely process, being set apart, being confined! But this is necessary and beneficial for us, especially when we no longer can mix with the crowd we used to hang out, we no longer can laugh at the vile jokes, or nod along when gossip is spread concerning someone else’s personal history, when the witness within us starts to yearn to another direction. Being drawn away feels nice. Consecration is excusing ourselves to be removed just so we are not unclean by coming into contact (by hearing) with the unclean words, unclean way of living that is not glorifying God. And mind us, these contamination could be right in our families, or in-law families, and the needed separation from them could be hard, we could be judged and despised wrongly. But God, to the household of faith, this is not a strange thing, God called Abraham to leave his family for the same reason- being set apart to be God’s nation. There is a cost for consecration isn’t it? Consecration could be lonely, but is it truly lonely? Feelings deceive, but truth does not. God walks with us, doesn’t He? He commits Himself to walk with us constantly, how amazing is He, that even when our families can forsake us/or threaten to forsake us, God will take us up, so our identify is no longer in our family/our clan/our upbringing or the family norms, but in God and through God alone. Esteem not responsibilities over identity (amen Oghosa)! Build our identity first before bearing responsibilities, by God and through God. Our identity is the chosen consecrated priesthood unto the Lord (But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people- 1 Peter 2:9). Peculiar means strange/odd/unusual, I used to chuckle at this as to why God uses this term to describe His people, but now I get it, truly as outsiders look on us and probably think us strange (my dad calls me strange because of my faith). It no longer makes sense to them. But to us, who the Lord has chosen to reveal things to, we understand and things make sense. Praise the Lord for His goodness and unfathomable grace and mercy on us, for choosing us who are just clay vessels to bear Him -the greatest treasure ever found. Glory, honor, praise be to His Holy Name. Be blessed dear sisters.
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I don’t agree. Peace like a river happens. Maybe it’s not our idea if peace.
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Beautiful and true reading, thank you for the encouragement
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