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The comprehensive and infectious consequences of sin have no limit. Why did Aaron and his family need to be consecrated? Because they needed to be ceremonially set apart in order to be a priest under God. Their responsibilities were vital; they would offer sacrifice after sacrifice so that God could cleanse the people of their sin.
The repetitive nature of paying for sin with animal sacrifices (with sinful men such as priests) is a theme heavily discussed in the book of Hebrews. Everything the old priests had attempted was accomplished fully in one act by Jesus Christ.
He is not like other high priests; he does not need to offer sacrifices every day for his own sins first and then for the sins of the people. He offered one sacrifice, once and for all, when he offered himself.
Hebrews 7:27 GNB
God established Jesus as an enduring and permenant High Priest. We know this because the promise was sealed with an oath which was not made with any priest prior to Christ.
In addition, there is also God’s vow. There was no such vow when the others were made priests. [21] But Jesus became a priest by means of a vow when God said to him, “The Lord has made a solemn promise and will not take it back: ‘You will be a priest forever.’ ” [22] This difference, then, also makes Jesus the guarantee of a better covenant.
Hebrews 7:20-22 GNB
Because the Aaronic priests were not appointed with an eternal vow, we can conclude that their role as priests was temporary. This is why their sacrificial system continued throughout the years. It was a band-aid fix to a sin problem that needed a permanent solution. Jesus became all that and more.
“…all believers are being shaped and polished by the Spirit into the likeness of Christ (2 Co 3:18). That perfect likeness is gradually growing within us, along with the daily manifestations of imperfection and evil which come from the “old man” still resident in our fleshly bodies. But at the resurrection all that old life ends forever and only the perfection of Christ remains, formed in us by the Spirit. We are saved completely by the work and prayers of Jesus.”
IVP New Testament Commentary
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