“Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them.” Leviticus 8:10
In chapter 8 of today’s Word of the Day we read about the consecration of Aaron and his sons. The ritual used to initiate them into the priesthood so that they could offer up sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. In verses 10, 11 & 12 we find the words “consecrated them”. And I found it curious that it was ALWAYS connected with oil. Why?
The ceremony that we read about today was their initiation into a position of great honor. These men were the ones accepting the people’s gifts on God’s behalf. They were the ones who got to go into the Holy of Holies and tend to the sacred things that no one else ever got to even see, let alone touch. To be a priest of the LORD was a very big deal. And it all started with a little bit of oil.
The oil is what sealed the deal for them. It wasn’t the special clothes they got to wear that set them apart from the crowd, the ceremonial bath didn’t consecrate them either, it was the oil.
Throughout the Bible oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and His anointing, healing, and empowering ability covering an individual in order to help them achieve whatever task the LORD had given that individual to accomplish. This story is no different. God had ordained these men to be His ministers, His chosen representatives here on earth.
In Hebrew the word “consecrate” used in this passage finds it’s roots in the Hebrew word “kodesh” which mean holy, set apart, sacred. This very same word is in the name of the Holy Spirit, “Ruach Ha Kodesh”. And in English the word consecrate is used of the Eucharist in changing the wine into Jesus’ blood and the bread into His body. This word fascinates me in it’s depth of meaning. That while it means, in both Hebrew and English, that the object or person that is consecrated has been set apart, there is also a connotation of that object, once being set apart, becoming different from the way it began. Not necessarily in outward appearance as much as in an inward way that is understood but not seen.
Once consecrated, it becomes special.
In John’s gospel, chapter seventeen verses twelve through nineteen we hear Jesus praying:
“While I was with them (the Disciples), I kept them in Your name, which You have given Me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word,”
My precious ones, that’s you!
While Jesus was with the Disciples, He guarded them from the Enemy and “not one of them was lost”. It is written that “no one will snatch [you] out of [Jesus’] hand. [The] Father, who has given [you to Jesus], is greater than all and no one is able to snatch [you] out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:28-29)
The words that Jesus spoke, those words of love and complete forgiveness of sins, His words are meant to bring you peace and to fulfill your joy.
And then Jesus says something amazing. “I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.” We are in the world because the world needs us. However, while in the world we ARE under the protection of our Father who is in Heaven, whose name is hallowed. That very same name we are given through Christ. The name that calls us Children of God, adopted as sons and daughters through His blood on the cross. Jesus consecrated Himself so that we too may be consecrated as well. And what is it that consecrates us? The TRUTH.
The truth is that we are the Beloved Children of God. Jesus paid the price to adopt each and every one of us as His very own brother or sister and all we need do is accept that gift. It’s ours to have and to hold from this day forward and even after death we shall not part.
Jesus loves you my friend. More than you could ever know. And THAT is the God’s honest Truth. It’s a Truth that keeps you safe from Evil and away from the harms of the world. It’s a Truth that heals and helps and fills us with tremendous joy because it is GREAT NEWS!
1 John 3:1 “See what kind of love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of god; and so we are.”
Isaiah 43:1 (HCSB) “Now this is what the LORD says – the One who created you, Jacob, and the One who formed you, Israel – ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.'”
John 12:15 (HCSB) “Fear no more, Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming.”
Proverbs 29:25 (HCSB) “The fear of man is a snare, but the one who trusts in the LORD is protected.”
Tamar Knochel 