Exodus 29

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Exodus 29:1-9, “This is what you are to do to consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without defect.  And from the finest wheat flour make round loaves without yeast, thick loaves without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves without yeast and brushed with olive oil. Put them in a basket and present them along with the bull and the two rams. Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water. Take the garments and dress Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself and the breastpiece. Fasten the ephod on him by its skillfully woven waistband. Put the turban on his head and attach the sacred emblem to the turban. Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head. Bring his sons and dress them in tunics and fasten caps on them. Then tie sashes on Aaron and his sons. The priesthood is theirs by a lasting ordinance.  Then you shall ordain Aaron and his sons..."

This chapter discusses exactly how the ordination ceremony for the priests should happen.  The priests at the time were Aaron (Moses' brother) and his sons, but would eventually include their sons and their sons and their sons.  You get the idea. The ceremony is very specific and detailed. There were essentially six steps in the ceremony: washing, clothing, and anointing the priests and the other three steps involved preparing and carrying out the sacrifices.  There is order and precision in every single step in the process.  Nothing is taken lightly, every element of the ceremony has meaning and significance.  The whole process took a week.

As I read this, I can't help thinking about how we serve a God of order.  Just as the building of the tabernacle was highly ordered, so are the priestly garments and the process for ordination.  There is nothing left for happenstance; everything has a place and a purpose.  While things in this world may sometimes seem random and chaotic, the reality is that most of our world is highly ordered.  God created it that way. 

Furthermore, our lives are not random exercises in confusion and haphazardness.  God knew us before we were born; God knew us as we were being knitted together in our mother's womb.  The human body is precise and complicated, designed to work in very specific, very ordered ways.  From the earth's tides to the systems of the human body to the specific guidelines for how the Israelites were to ordain their priests, our God is a God of order. 

Let's pray...Almighty God, thank you for the way you order our bodies, our earth, and the world.  At times, it seems like the chaos is overwhelming but we know that chaos is not from you.  Help us see the beauty and order of how you operate.  We are grateful, holy God, for how you pull all things together to work for your orderly purposes.  In your name, Amen.