SEVEN VERY SIGNIFICANT DAYS
Have you ever noticed the use of sevens in the scriptures?
When you see a “seven” you can be sure it is something that either has to do with divinity or something that has been divinely inspired. Seven seems to be the number of divine consecration and sanctification, it implies divine completion.
Before you get all up in the air about me seeming to be a bit superstitious about numbers, just remember: I didn’t decide this; it was God’s decision to use the number “seven” in this way.
The use of “sevens” is a repeated pattern all through the Old and New Testament scriptures. Whenever I see that number I pay close attention; because I know a divine appointment is usually about to take place. It just so happens that I see it in today’s lesson from Leviticus.
A DIVINE APPOINTMENT
The wilderness tabernacle has now been cleaned, purified, consecrated and anointed.
The priest are also cleansed, consecrated, ordained and anointed.
They are sanctified and consecrated and have reached a state of transformation in the completion of the ordination for their heavenly responsibilities that will be performed on the earth.
Everything has been done exactly to God’s specific instructions. Now it was almost time for the priests to begin to serve God and minister to the chosen people of God inside the wilderness tabernacle.
SEVEN SET APART DAYS
First they have a set-apart time; a divine appointment, to be apart with God.
How could they show God to the people of Israel unless they first set aside time to spend with God themselves?
How can we today become witnesses to the world without first eating and drinking from the amazing fountain of God’s grace and love ourselves?
You cannot give what you have not received. The very first step in being a servant of God is to go to God and spend time with Him in prayer, song, celebration and study. You let Him fill you with His love and grace and righteousness; then you will be equipped to offer such a gift to others. The proof of this will be that God will reside in your spirit and others will see that He lives in you.
FEASTING ON THE RAM AND UNLEAVENED BREAD
So this time of the ordination into the priesthood was a set-apart, appointment with God for a period of seven days.
The time was to pass as the priests and the people enjoyed a seven-day feast before the LORD at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. They would eat the offerings that had been first waved before God. It was the meat of a ram and unleavened bread.
We can now look back and see the symbolism of these things.
The ram represented a shadow of Christ as our perfect, holy sacrifice. The bread also represented a type of Christ as The Bread From Heaven, and The Bread of Life. The seven-day feast was a type and shadow of God’s people feasting on the nourishment from The Body of Christ; taking the holiness of God into themselves and becoming completely sanctified because of the Holy Sacrifice of Our LORD.
None of the other things that were done would have helped them to be holy without this final completing act. It was this final act with all the implications of salvation and sanctification that completed their ordination into a holy priesthood. This continues to be the same for the believers and followers of Christ today; who will one day become priests and kings in God’s Kingdom and reign with Christ throughout eternity.
After this important step of the ordination; the continual, daily worship processes of the wilderness tabernacle could officially begin with all of God’s appointed priests officially ready and in place to begin their service within a completely prepared tabernacle.
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
When considering the past; could this have been the first observance of a convocation for The Seven Days of Unleavened Bread?
Then; when considering the present; could this be a picture of how we should be observing in our own lives each year during the annual observance of the Days of Unleavened Bread?
Considering the future; could this be the pattern for how God will set up his forever kingdom of priests; when Jesus Christ returns and reigns as King of Kings?
I wonder.
Many indications point to that time of the feast of The Seven Days of Unleavened Bread; especially that it was a seven-day time of consecration which would end in a holy convocation with the people.
It is very likely this MIGHT have been the first official Seven Days of Unleavened Bread, which would have taken place during the Passover season at the place of the constructing of the Wilderness Tabernacle. Though the people had always observed this time of bringing offerings to God; even since the beginning of time; perhaps this made it more official to them.
This harvest festival had already existed for years and years; but this time there was a designated place provided for the people to congregate together, and a designated priesthood provided to lead them,
Now it did seem that things were getting to be a lot more formal and official and God was reinstating patterns of worship that they might have forgotten from all the years in slavery.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to our every Thursday on-line bible study called COME AS A CHILD.
In this study we are slowly walking all the way through the bible, step by step, word by word, scripture by scripture. We are walking together using the eyes and perspective of a very young child who has no preconceived ideas or notions. This child is learning fresh and new facts about life simply by following their Father around while watching and listening to the things He does and observing what He has to show them.
Today we will finish the passages found in Leviticus Chapter 8.
If you missed last week’s lesson; you can review it here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/ritual-ordination/.
THE WAVE OFFERINGS
Moses took the meat sacrifice and the basket of bread made without yeast before the LORD.
He took one thick loaf and one thin loaf with olive oil mixed in, and another thin loaf and put them on the fat portions of the right thigh of the meat offering. Then he put these items into Aaron’s hands and his sons hands and they waved them before the LORD as a wave offering.
A wave offering was a portion of a sacrifice presented to God, then released by God for the use of those involved in the sacrifice. It was God’s provision for those who dedicated their lives to His service. This offering fed the priests and their families and whatever was left was given back to the person who brought the sacrifice.
If you stop to think about it; this was the very first form of communion.
It was a meal (including wafers) shared between God, His priest, and all of the people who chose to worship God and follow His ways.
These bread offerings were made from the finest flour and they contained no leaven.
Every year before they had gone into slavery in Egypt the Children of Israel had brought the very first sheaf of their grain at harvest time and offered it up to God. This ceremony at the beginning of worship in the Tabernacle was simply re-establishing this pattern of worship; yet the meaning and the significance was enhanced.
Why?
Because God had proclaimed it out loud in a conversation with Moses. God found this time to be important and necessary. What had previously only been an annual tradition carried on by generation after generation using word-of-mouth had now been spoken out by God Himself to witnesses and written down upon stones. The whole festival was made much more official. It was a vital part of the Law given by God to Moses.
FIRST GLIMPSES OF GOD’S PLANS FOR MANKIND
We will read more about this when we get to Leviticus Chapter 23; but this is just one tiny first glimpse of a very important part of being a child of God.
God loves His feasts and festivals!
Each one is very significant and full of meaning for each of us; no matter what part of history we are living through.
These feasts and festivals unravel and reveal God’s plan for mankind.
JESUS WAS THE FIRSTFRUIT
We have already studied the fact that the first sheaf of grain is called the early “firstfruits.” In 1 Corinthians 15:20 we find the same word describing Christ; the Messiah who would come to earth many years after this time of the wilderness tabernacle. He was called our “firstfruits.”
This early time in the wilderness was the setting of this pattern that God would always follow.
It was a mere shadow of what was to come.
The New Testament describes this firstfruit sheaf offering like this: “But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.“
We see all of this happened in early first fruits; at the end of the barley harvest which would have been the beginning of the time of Passover and The Seven Days of Unleavened Bread; which must have been the seven-day feast that these newly ordained priests were observing before beginning their ministry.
How significant that unleavened bread stands for purging out all sin and making things pure and clean.
We clean our homes and our hearts of leaven; just as these candidates for the priesthood had cleaned their hearts by bringing sacrifices and offerings to God. Moses had washed them and re-clothed them and purified them and consecrated them and anointed them. Just as we try to purge our own souls from sins against God during The Days of Unleavened Bread (and ALL other times too) the first house of God on this earth began with the same cleaning.
WAITING LIKE THOSE ANCIENT PRIEST TO SEE WHAT GOD WOULD DO NEXT
We have, during the present times, just passed through those feast days for this year. We, like they; have begun to count the fifty days after the giving of the early firstfruits offerings. Fifty days are the counting from the firstfruits time of the wave sheaf until the Day of Pentecost comes.
We are only a few days away from that 50th day of that count; even as I write these words in today’s post within our present age.
On Pentecost two loaves were offered from the firstfruits of the wheat harvest which generally happened seven weeks (49 + 1 day) after the barley harvest.
The word “Pentecost” means “50 days.”
ENTERING THE FEAST OF WEEKS
We sometimes call the festival of Pentecost the feast of weeks; because we have counted the seven weeks that lead up to the Day of Pentecost.
Getting back to the first priests being ordained in the wilderness tabernacle; Moses took those items from the newly ordained priests of the tabernacle and burned them on the altar on top of the burnt offering as an ordination offering. All of this made for a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the LORD.
Moses took the breast that was his share of the ordination ram and waved it before the LORD as a wave offering, as God had commanded him to do.
CONSECRATING THE PRIESTLY GARMENTS
After that Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. Now Aaron, his sons and their garments were completely consecrated as God had instructed.
Moses told them to cook the meat at the entrance to the tent of meeting and eat it there with the bread from the basket of ordination offerings as God had commanded. They were to burn up anything that was left over. They were not to leave the tent of meeting for seven days at which time their ordination would be completed.
I believe this time was during the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread.
Moses explained again that everything that had been done for the ordination and the consecration of the tabernacle had been done specifically by God’s command and instructions. It was all for making atonement for the priests. Now they were to stay at the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days and listen to the LORD and remember to always do what He required; otherwise they would die; for God had explained this to Moses and Moses passed these instructions on to Aaron and his sons.
So they did everything that God had commanded through Moses. They kept the Seven Days and they counted the 50 Days from the 2nd Day of Unleavened Bread (the third day after Passover) and they waited to see what God would do next.
Are you waiting too?
The Day of Pentecost is coming!