HOME - Rhema Gospel Church - Houston, Texas.

Exo 28:41 And thou shalt put them upon Aaron 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.

Who and what is the Anointing? To Annoint is to rub on. In scriptural terms, it indicates rubing with olive oil. It serves to Consecrate, Sanctify and place one on or in a position to minister to the Lord in the Priests Office. It is also meant to effect cleansing, and positions the anointed to be a deliverer - 1 Sam 9:16

Who gets anointed - The Priest, The Prophet and the King. The Priest and the Prophet serves effectively to anoint and provide visionary administrative direction to the King - 1 Kings 1:34. The Kings need the Prophetic and Priestly release and benevolence to effectively rule a specific geographical domain.

The anointed man therefore is placed in every sphere of influence as a King-maker and a Deliverer to the people in the name of the Lord. How well do you understand the mandate God has given to you?

THE ANOINTING AND THE MANDATE

There is an overbearing purpose behind the Priests' office. It is Service. The Priest is meant to perform service to the people and ultimately to God. He is the meeting point of divinity and humanity. The Priest is a full representative of God in the Flesh.
Functionally, the priest and his office is situated in the presence of the Lord. He is officially designated to serve God's purpose and reflect his message and passion. The priest is also expected to be the one showing the people how to worship God

The Priests' place is in the Temple, in the very presence of the Lord. The priests is expected to appear before the Lord without the spot or blemish of his sin. Before the Priest can stand and minister / serve in the presence of the Lord however, the Priest has to be Clothed, Anointed, Consecrated and Sanctified in other to fulfill the mandate of Ministering in the Priest's office.

MANDATED TO MINISTER

The reason or purpose for the Clothing, Anointing, Consecration and the Sanctification is to enable Aaron stand to minister in God's presence. Aaron was being processed to be able to minister to God as a vessel totally possessed by God.. a vessel totally reconfigured or reprogrammed to serve God's purpose; and then to minister to the people as one who has tasted the presence of the Lord and not just one who is a reservoir of knowledge about God. Everyone who desires to minister to God must pick his passion concerning his creation. Everyone who must minister in God's name to the people must minister out of an overflow of spiritual deposits in human earthen vessels and not head knowledge. To minister is to serve. To wait on... to minister is to serve Him and serve others in manner that is wholesomely pleasing to Him alone.

CLOTHED
Dressed for the job?, maybe. No. definitely no. God gave specific instructions for the attire of the Priest. Simply put, it was designed in and from Heaven, putting it together became a national assignment that required special impartation of skill and wisdom to make.

Ever noticed that the Priests attire was the only attire in the national life of Israel that was designed by God himself? It is very important - how God wants us to appear before him...the Priesthood and His presence go together... just as Jesus is in His presence perpetually as our great high priest, the Priest is expected to remain in God's presence continually too. Truly, a pattern of things above was being specified for the earth... so that effectively, He; in whom all things consist might fill all things that consist in Him... that He be Lord of all.

As important as the King was, God gave no specification(s) about his attire. What then do we make of this... if in addition to this fact, the scripture says: - Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. The truth here is very apparent - How you appear before God is more important than how you appear before the people.

ANOINTED
To anoint is to rub. It is to rub with a substance as in religious rites and ordination.
It is important to note here that the Lord asked that Aaron be clothed before he should be Anointed.

The first priest known to Israel was anointed with his garments on. This is so important because God has designed the priesthood to reflect Jesus Christ - our great High Priest and not Aaron.

Psa 133:2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

CONSECRATED
To consecrate is to make or declare sacred and Holy. It is reserve with the pride of superior ownership, to fill and confirm or furnish with spiritual endowments for service. usually this rite is administered chiefly through laying on of hands in prayer in other to empower and endow with functional means to walk in a new direction.

To consecrate is to draw or pull with strength, by implication, it is to take into custody, to change. This is what was ordered for Aaron. He was to be consecrated with the priestly robe on.
The consecrated man is the man who has yielded to the masters will to be taken into custody. This implies allowing the master to place restrictions on every area of his life.. including those areas where he has demonstrated mastery in the past.

Pro 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

SANCTIFIED
Hallow... to separate and pronounce as clean. Isa 52:11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.

In these ceremonies and rites, God required that Aaron would meet the basic requirement for service. The final declaration of being clean is required of all who would come near the vessels of the Lord. For too long we have been approaching service to God on the basis of God just looking for whosoever is available... but God has long gone beyond that to deal only with those who are consecrated and sanctified to bear or touch His vessels.