Pray the word with David Platt is a resource from radical.net.

Numbers chapter 3 verses 2 through 4

these are the names of the sons of Aaron

nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eliezar, and Ithamar.

These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests.

But Nadab and Abhu died before the Lord, when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord in the wilderness of

Sinai and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the

lifetime of Aaron their father. This chapter in the Book of Numbers gives us a picture of the

priests and the duties of the Levites and how they would minister to serve in the tent of meeting and at the tabernacle the

place where the glory of God and the presence of God dwelled among his people.

Theirs was a uniquely significant role as they represented

sinners before holy God and represented the holiness of God before sinners.

The priests were the go-betweens, so to speak,

the intercessors who stood in the gap between God's holiness

and man's sinfulness in the picture of God's people throughout their history.

That's what a priest was set up to do, which is why when Naidab and Abihu did not honor God's holiness with their service, they were immediately

struck down dead.

Because God does not take lightly this priestly duty of representing His holiness to His people and the responsibility to represent sinners before a holy God.

All of this in the Old Testament points to our need for a greater priest than any of these priests could ever be.

We need a perfect priest who perfectly displays the holiness of God to us and who is Father. Jesus indeed is the perfectly one.

Jesus indeed is the perfect High Priest. He is the only one who is perfectly able to represent God's holiness to us.

And he is the only one who is perfectly able to represent us before God the Father and all of his holiness.

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