E29-4: The physical rituals in the Torah point to the spiritual reality fulfilled in the NT

“Take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic, the robe for the ritual vest, the vest itself, and the breastplate. Fasten the vest on him with its belt.  Put the turban on his head and attach the holy ornament to the turban. Then take the anointing oil, and anoint him by pouring it on his head. Bring his sons; put tunics on them; wrap sashes around them, Aharon and his sons; and put the headgear on their heads.”-Exodus 29:5-9

So we’re continuing on with the instructions concerning the consecration of Aaron and his sons in preparation for the priesthood.

The first part of the instructions was that Moses had to wash Aaron and his sons.

This ritual washing symbolized REGENERATION.

This is the foundational principle that we must be cleansed of our sins and made anew before God.

Throughout the centuries, the Hebrews had to do this ritual washing countless times because the effect of each washing was only temporary in nature.

Later on in the Torah, we will encounter a huge list of reasons why the ritual washing had to take place.

Now notice that per God’s command, Aaron and his sons had to put on special priestly garments.

Again, this symbolized the doing away of the old man and the ringing in of a new “born again” man.

Their old clothing represented who they used to be.

The new clothing represents who they are now, before the Lord.

Let’s talk a little about the “OIL OF ANOINTING”.

In Hebrew, this is SHEMEN HA-MISHCHAH.

שמן המשחה

As we can see here, it formed an integral part of the ordination of not just the priesthood and the High Priest but as we’ll see in the next chapter, the consecration of the Tabernacle articles as well.

Later on, the use of this oil will be extended to include prophets and kings.

It was forbidden to be used on an outsider and the Israelites were forbidden to duplicate any like it for themselves.

Later on in Leviticus, we’ll find that there was a certain manner in which the anointing oil was to be applied.

The oil was poured over the head of the priest being anointed to the extent that it ran down his face, dripped off of his beard and flowed all the way down to the hem of his garments.

What’s also interesting is that the oil was poured first from right to left, and then back to front (kind of like the shape of a cross if you will).

In terms of a spiritual takeaway, I sense that this anointing of holy oil pointed to Pentecost.

That time when God’s Holy Spirit would anoint man, a reality made possible via Yeshua’s sacrifice on the cross.

As we move forward, one important point I want you to understand is that the physical rituals we encounter in the Torah point to much of what will be fulfilled when we come to the New Testament.

These rituals were teachings and demonstrations that pointed to what the future spiritual reality would be.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

 “But you have received the Messiah’s anointing 
from HaKadosh, and you know all this”
-1 John 2:20

“Moreover, it is God who sets both us
and you in firm union
with the Messiah;
he has anointed us,
put his seal on us, 
and given us his Spirit 
in our hearts as a guarantee for the future.”
-2 Corinthians 1:21-22