Tag: consecration

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Let’s eat

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Sweetyoga Justine on Unsplash

“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” (Exodus 29:2-3).

This is an excerpt from the instructions for ordaining Aaron and his sons as priests. Along with a sacrificed bull and rams, the ceremony required a few loaves of bread. Sometimes I glide over these details, but this time I realized that this is about a special meal with God. It’s a fellowship meal, just like one we would have for an ordination or installation of a pastor. A lot of negotiations, workshops, conventions, training sessions, anniversaries, and celebrations all include sitting down to eat. This is just like sitting down to eat with the Lord.

As I thought more about it, I realized that the bible begins and ends with food.

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden” (Genesis 2:16).

“Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:9)

There are so many significant meals in the bible.

  • Abram hosts the Lord and two angels in Genesis 18.
  • Joseph ate a meal with his brothers once they were reunited in Egypt.
  • The Lord fed his people with manna and quail in the wilderness.
  • Jesus fed the 5,000 after his teaching, hosted the Passover meal, ate with two disciples on the road to Emmaus and grilled fish on the beach with the disciples after his resurrection.
  • The father hosted a lavish banquet when his prodigal son returned home.

I can’t prove it, but I’ll bet whenever something significant happens in the bible, there’s food involved in some way.

Now that’s good news. I like to cook, bake, and eat. I guess I’m just a kingdom kind of guy!

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

What a mess

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Image by starline on Freepik

A “through the bible” devotion from Leviticus 8.

Shortly after beginning my first job after college, I found a church that was very welcoming and encouraging. It wasn’t long before someone asked this twenty-something if I’d be interested in teaching the high school Sunday School class. I had no experience. But I was closer to their age, so they figured I could relate to to the teenagers. I I asked, “When would I start?”

“This Sunday.”

I had no experience, training, or curriculum. But now I had my first church ministry experience. It’s not the best way to fill a teaching slot. But how many church volunteer positions have been filled by someone who said, “If no one else will do it, I will”?

My prayer was simple. “God, don’t let me mess this up.”

The consecration or ordination of Aaron and his sons to be priests is complicated. It involves specially crafted clothing, ritual washings, and animals for slaughter. It’s messy. By the time it’s over, everything is covered in oil and blood. It takes a long time. The whole ceremony was done in public and lasted seven days.

By the time it was over, Jesus was covered in blood, too. The bloody sweat of his prayers stains the ground in Gethsemane. Streaks of red drip down his face a crown of thorn. Blood spattered everywhere as he is beaten and then nailed to a cross. Blood and water spurt from his chest as a spear pierces his heart. It’s messy, as it should be, for he is a priest, too.

Want to see people get upset? Just make a mess at church. Well-meaning members go ballistic when there are crumbs in a pew, a coffee stain on the floor, fingerprints on a window, and unflushed toilets. Just imagine if Aaron or Jesus showed up!