Vayikra/Leviticus 6:9 "Command Aharon and his sons, saying, 'This is the Torah of the burnt offering: The burnt offering shall be on the hearth upon the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it.

• Dedication of the Tabernacle
• • Vayikra/Leviticus 9:23 And Moshe and Aharon went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of YHWH appeared to all the people, 24 and fire came out from before YHWH and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
• When King David begged Elohim for forgiveness at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, after sinning by counting the people
• • 1 Chronicles 21:16 Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of YHWH standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. 17 And David said to Elohim, "Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, O YHWH my Elohim, be against me and my father's house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued." 18 Therefore, the angel of YHWH commanded Gad to say to David that David should go and erect an altar to YHWH on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 19 So David went up at the word of Gad, which he had spoken in the name of YHWH ....Then David said to Ornan, "Grant me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar on it to YHWH. You shall grant it to me at the full price, that the plague may be withdrawn from the people."...25 So David gave Ornan six hundred shekels of gold by weight for the place. 26 And David built there an altar to YHWH, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on YHWH ; and He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering
• At Solomon's dedication of the Temple
• • 2 Chronicles 7:1 When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of YHWH filled the temple.
• When Elijah set forth the challenge to the priests of Ba'al at Mt. Carmel
• • 1 Kings 18:37 "Hear me, O YHWH, hear me, that this people may know that You are YHWH Elohim, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." 38 Then the fire of YHWH fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Adonai, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to Adonai, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of Adonai.

 

Adam is instructed not to eat from a certain tree. Avraham is commanded to sacrifice his only son. Moshe is told to take off his shoes. And the priests go through a series of events. These proceedings enable the Levites to minister to YHWH before the people in the correct manner.

What takes place in this Parasha is a prophecy made and a prophecy fulfilled. The prophecy fulfilled is that the actions you'll read about are a direct accomplishment of Shemot (Exodus) 28:41. It says, "And thou shalt put them upon Aharon thy brother and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office."

• Anointing
• Purification
• Sanctification

First, they were anointed. In Vayikra (Leviticus) 8:12 the kohanim were anointed with the sacred anointing oil - "And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aharon's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him." During Torah times a person was anointed when the Ruach (spirit) of YHWH would minister and move through them. Today it is no different. The anointing of the Ruach HaKodesh is YHWH's mighty presence that empowers the believer. But, don't mistake this as some "feeling" people experience. The anointing is not some cheap thrill of goose bumps but an endowment of the Living Elohim. Please don't dismiss and minimize the anointing as something a person "feels." The anointing is something a person is.

Believers are anointed with the Ruach HaKodesh. "Now he which established us with you in Messiah, and hath anointed us, is Elohim; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts," 2 Corinthians 1:21-22. The anointing is an endowment of Ruach power and you as a believer have been endowed.

Second, they were purified. In Vayikra / Leviticus 8:14 there is a sin offering of a bull made for the priests and the place of worship. Aharon and his sons laid their hands on the animal's head as a means of identifying with the transference of guilt. Sin requires death, so the bull takes the place of the kohanim as the chat'at or sin offering. This offering purifies the defilement of sin that has affected the mishkan. Chat'at offerings were given for sins that might have taken place by accident or without knowledge. This purification offering cleanses from unintentional sin.

Purification is a process in every believer's life. It is the development of removing whatever causes life to be impure.

Being pure for each moment in life leads to staying pure throughout life. Purity in the scriptures means to be "fair, bright; clear, unadulterated, levitically uncontaminated; morally innocent, clean, purged." First man is given or anointed with the Ruach HaKodesh, and then the Spirit begins to work its job. The job of the Ruach is to cleanse or purify the believer from the defilement of sin and worldly ways. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see Elohim," Matthew/Mattitiyahu 5:8. When a person is purified through YHWH then they are clear - their life is transparent and people see the Almighty in them. You can see straight through a purified believer and what you should see is YHWH Y'shua. Perhaps a different rendering of the Mattitiyahu verse could be, "Blessed are the pure in heart for YOU can see Elohim through them."

Third, they were sanctified. "Then Moshe took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the altar and sprinkled them on Aharon and his garments and on his sons and their garments. So he consecrated Aharon and his garments and his sons and their garments," Vayikra 8:30.

Before the sons of Aharon can minister in the mishkan they must be set apart through proper preparation. The ram offering and anointing oil acts as a type of ordination that takes a total of seven days. What lessons could be learned from the priests!