Exodus 29:1-4

BAPTISM

"And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest's office: take one bullock and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened mingled with oil.' of fine wheaten flour shalt thou make them. And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tent of meeting, and shalt wash them with water."

"And this is the thing that thou shalt do ..." God is addressing Moses in this command, for Moses himself will act as High Priest in the consecration of the Jewish priesthood, despite the fact that Moses was never to hold that office. Moses was indeed a priest after the manner of all priests during the Patriarchal Dispensation of God's grace. Significantly, on the mountain of transfiguration, it was not Aaron who appeared with Elijah and Christ, but Moses.

"That they may minister to me in the priest's office ..." The priority of service to God appears in this. We remember that the first commandment is toward God, and not toward men. The manward commandment is secondary. Again from Esses: "The people are always out there to be ministered unto, but unless we minister unto God first, we are powerless to do anything for the people."[5]

The candidate was not to appear before God for the purpose of being consecrated without appropriate offerings. These were one bullock, two rams, and three kinds of unleavened bread: bread, cakes, and wafers, all unleavened and all made with the finest wheat flour.

The first step in the consecration was the baptism of the priest.

Now they are to be baptized. The baptisms were performed in the court of the tabernacle, and the priest's entire body had to be immersed in water. As Christians we will not have the power to overcome unless we have gone to death with Christ in the waters of baptism.[6]

One should consult the first seven chapters of Leviticus for a description of exactly how all of these heavenly instructions were carried out. The great lesson that stands out here is that before any man could be a priest unto God, he had to be immersed (baptized) in water. Is it any less true today? And the answer is NO! No one is a Christian until he is baptized.

After the baptismal service, came the investiture.