The Priestly Garment/Part One

This is a three part series that I posted before. I needed to hear it again and thought it might bless you as well. I will be posting the next two parts in a few days.  You might want to reference the chapters in Exodus 24-29. If you follow through to part three I believe you will be blessed. Oh, for the love of His great mercy! How great is our God! Blessings, Cheri


Talking with Aaron:

I can hardly believe it, Aaron! God is so merciful, I wouldn't have chosen you to be priest. Oh, perhaps in the beginning but you blew it! You really did! You destroyed my trust when you got impatient waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain! The people  that were in your  charge were impatient and you fell into the trap of trying to please them. It can be difficult to stand alone when there is a multitude persuading you, can't it? I can hear you saying:

"I know, I have an idea! A revelation! Let's make something!" 

Soon you had gathered gold objects in every form, placed them over a heated fire, and crafted a cow..........to worship. 

Aaron, what were you thinking? Did you not see God in Exodus 24:9-18? Do you not recall the moment of parting? Even before that wasn't there something special to recall?

"Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity."

Aaron, YOU SAW GOD! The real God. The LIVING GOD! How could you blow it so bad just forty days later? How could you forget the wondrous experience of seeing God?  

Verse 11: "But on the noble of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank." 

Okay, Aaron, the Lord not only let you see Him but He also fed you in His presence!!! He let you eat and drink from His table? Oh, will you please tell me what He served? I imagine it to be unforgettable! Heavenly! Beyond any picture I have seen in the best of cookbooks! Beyond the taste of the best of foods available to man! You ate from heaven's  table..........WITH THE LIVING GOD!

Is it because the Lord did not choose you to come into His presence? You were not invited into the glory cloud with the Lord like Moses was, tell me, did that bother you?

Verse 12: "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.' "

I am thinking it might have been different if you had been called into that presence for forty days and nights, Aaron. I don't think Moses would have blown it. Not that he never blew it, but he knew his God and he was faithful to Him. Surely, he would not have formed a calf for the purpose of worship.

Perhaps you all thought Moses was gone forever, taken into heaven, like Enoch. Where did he go? The Word says that your thoughts were that your leader had gone on. Who knew where! And he might never come back. Time for a new leader.

Okay, I get that part! BUT time for a new God? When you just ate with Him at His table! And it wasn't potluck! He provided everything you ate and drank! And it must have been very nourishing because Moses did not eat again for forty days and nights! 

The people were restless, weren't they? You needed a solution, didn't you? Think of something fast! "Well, God took our leader, so I will be the leader! Take off your gold and I will make you a new god." 

Whoa! And they didn't argue with you! And after you molded and fashioned that calf, they worshiped it, with singing and dancing. Where were the seventy who shared that meal with you? Did even one of them try to persuade you to stop? Think about it? Be patient? Challenge you to consider what you are doing?

Oh, I hope if I had been there I would have. I hope so! But I don't know! I really don't! I don't do well in the wilderness! It challenges me and I sometimes succumb to weakness and temptations that are not normally a problem for me. Perhaps, if I had been you, I would have been persuaded! Oh, but I know the rest of the story and I sure hope not!

I wonder if I would have tossed you my gold and begged you for a god, willingly handing over my earthly treasure entrusting you with it. 

The thought rattles me. My flesh can be so weak! That is the scary part. It can forget the wonder of eating at the table of God so quickly! All too soon I can find myself at the feast of my enemy, a god who poses as real! How can I loose sight of truth so quickly? 

Aaron, there is hope for you! Moses will intercede for you! Plead your case! Beg for mercy! Many will pay the consequences, but you will live! And the Lord will bless! 

You will die in the wilderness, eventually, but not before God trains you and raises you up as an example and calls you to pass on the priesthood. 

Tomorrow, I will expose the wonder of your God, Aaron. I am in awe of Him, for many reasons, and I marvel at His way with you.  

You fouled up so much and yet He used you! He did not thrust you aside and banish the idea of you being His chosen leader! I would have. I am sorry! I would have trouble trusting you with my people. I would find someone else.

But I am thankful that the Lord worked His way with you and not mine because that means there is hope for me. When I fail Him He is willing to forgive me. He listens to my intercessor, who is His Son, my advocate, who pleads my case and He chooses to trust me again. Praise the Lord! He lets me work for Him though He knows I am human frailty and I can mess up. I can form a false god with my words or opinions and cause the Lord's children to stumble. And yet, He knows that my mistakes can draw me closer to Him. It makes me realize my incredible need for Him. My mistakes make me grateful for my intercessor, Jesus! Grateful for the Holy Spirit! And so, so grateful for my Father God who loves the voice of my advocate! Praise Him!