6 - STUDIES IN THE HIGH PRIEST

6 - STUDIES IN THE HIGH PRIEST

March 7, 1965

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Exodus 29: 7 - 9 Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him. And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them. And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them: and the priest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons.

This is the place of Aaron’s consecration.

Notice in the 7th verse, he is robed, all his garments are upon him, and he is ready to be consecrated. Now notice the end of the 9th verse and there you have the word, consecrate. Consecrate Aaron and his sons.

1/  In the 7th verse, Thou shalt take the anointing out and pour it upon his head and anoint him.

He is to be anointed with oil, and the oil is to be put upon his head, and of course, oil is the type of the Holy Spirit. There was a time when the Lord Jesus Christ presented Himself to God an He was anointed with the Spirit.

Matthew 3: 13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

Jesus said, I must be baptized to fulfill all that is written of Me. This is the place where He received the Holy Spirit. Where the Spirit was poured upon Him, and He said, First, I must be baptized. This answers to the bathing of Aaron in Verse 4  And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water. 

The word is not wash, it is bathe—and I am sure this speaks of baptism. There were many baptisms in the Old Testament. 

Hebrews 6: 1, 2 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

Here they are to leave the doctrine of baptism, and it is plural—there were baptisms in the Old Testament—this was one of them.

2/  So Aaron was first bathed in water, and then the garments were put upon him. So Christ, first of all, was baptized.

Exodus 29: 7 Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.

He was anointed with o8l, the oil to be put upon His head, and the oil is the type of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

The Holy Spirit came upon the Lord Jesus Christ, as Moses poured the oil on the head of Aaron after he was bathed. This is a wonderful fulfillment of this Old Testament type. 

Now turn to Psalm 133: 1 - 2 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 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;

Here is a Psalm entirely given to the consecration of Aaron. Notice the ointment upon the head that ran down to the very limits of his garment. When Aaron was consecrated, Moses poured so much that it ran down his face, over his beard, over his garments to the very skirts of his garments.

3/  Then notice, Exodus 29: 10  And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock.

Here we begin to read about the blood, and some people want to know why the blood follows the Spirit. It did in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ received the Holy Spirit long before He shed His blood, so Aaron gets the oil before the blood. 

Then notice Verse 12  And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.

Here they bring a bullock and two lambs. You will notice the word, pour, in this Scripture. The same as the word is used in Verse 7. The Spirit is poured and the blood is poured. There is enough blood, it is poured without measure so that all could be saved. The blood is sufficient for all of humanity from Adam on down.

4/  Then notice, Verse 20 Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.

First it was the blood of the bullock, then it was the blood of the ram, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons. Then sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. That is consecration—hallowed by blood. Many like to take this to be the believer. No, this is Jesus Christ. I suppose you can make it an application the believer, but this is Christ with His ear, His hand and His foot, speaking of His whole life consecrated for us and for His Father. He hel nothing back, He listened to nothing but what was pleasing to the Father. He did nothing but what was pleasing to the Father. This speaks of Jesus Christ coming to do the will of the Father.

5/  Isaiah 63: 1 - 2 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?

Here we have a very remarkable statement, and I think the Lord will make it special to us. This is about the Lord Jesus Christ. You will recognize that right away. Who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah (BAAZ - rah). This that is glorious in His apparel. This is the only place I know of where the Lord Jesus Christ is said to be glorious in what He wears. Glorious in His apparel.

Notice Verse 2 I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?

Therefore, Thou are red in Thine apparel. His apparel is stained with blood, and hen it says, and Thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat, and then it says, on blogs - atonement and peace—lambs for Ezekiel 39: 29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.

Joel 2: 28  And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

Some think that this is the time when He will tread down His enemies, but it is not, because of the next sentence. I have trodden the wine-press alone. When He destroys His enemies, and the blood of His enemies is sprinkled upon His garments, He will have all the armies of Heaven, the angelic armies with Him. But this is the blood that was shed when He was alone. No one helped Him on the cross. God sent an angel when He was tempted and strengthened Him, and God sent an angel in the Garden of Gethsemane when He was in prayer and agony, but no angel came to the cross, and God, of course, had to turn His face away. He was alone. Alone in the universe. Remember, His disciples had forsaken Hi. The world didn’t want Him. No one wanted Him. He was made a curse for you and for me. Even the Heavens became black so man could not look upon Him. That is when His garments were red with blood. But His garments are glorious.

6/  Verse 24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

In Verses 22, 23 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

They are told to kill a ram which is brought for a sacrifice, and to cut it up into parts, and take certain parts, and they were told to bring a basket filled with certain things. In the 23rd verse they were told to take a loaf of bread—thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron and his sons. They were told to bring a basket of those things, and bring two rams and a bullock and kill them. They took this ram and cut it up into pieces, and Aaron stood there with his hands extended, and they filled his hands, and they filled the hands of his sons. They stood there for consecration, with their hands fulled, and actually, that is the meaning of the word, consecration. For consecration in the Old Testament comes from a word that means to fill the hands. And when your hand is filled with what God gives you to do, you just can’t do anything else—that is exactly what happened to the Lord Jesus Christ. His hands were filled with doing God’s work—He didn’t have hands to do anything else.

7/ II Samual 23: 10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the Lord wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.

This is an account of one of David’s mighty men. David is giving an account of these mighty men, and the tings they did, and I just want to look at one of them.

Verse 9 And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away:

And after him was Elieazar, the son of Dodo, and this man and his sword became one. The sword is the Word of God, but this man wielded the sword for God until at last he couldn’t separate the sword from his hand—it was fixed. He couldn’t open His hand to do anything else.  What is the meaning? That is consecration. He smote the Philistines and they fall before him until the day was finished. That is the Word of God that we can’t open our hands to do anything else. And that is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did. He was consecrated for us. He couldn’t do anything but the will of God the Father.

8/  First of all, the Lord Jesus Christ was baptized as Aaron was baptized. It was the baptism of repentance.

Luke 3: 3 Sinners came to John and were baptized of him in Jordon, confessing their sins.

Matthew 3: 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

9/  But why should Jesus Christ be baptized? 

Matthew 3: 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

But notice the answer that the Lord Jesus Christ gave him.

Matthew 3: 15  And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

This does not mean, of course, that His baptism was alone would fulfill all righteousness. But simply that this was one of the things necessary to the fulfilling of all righteousness. Since our Lord has no sins to confess, there could be only be one reason why He submitted to the baptism of repentance—He was taking the place of others to fulfill all righteousness. To settle the account between God and man, He must be numbered with the transgressors, and bear the blame and disgrace for their sins.

10/ Our Lord’s water baptism was only a shadow of the real thing, after this was over He said, 

Luke 12: 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

And, of course, He spoke of His baptism on the cross of Calvary.

11/  But now notice Him as He stands before Pilate.

Matthew 27: 12 - 14 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.

Why did He not answer? He was not guilty of all those crimes—He could have given a thousand answers and exposed the secret sins of those who accused Him, but He was willing to bear the shame for their sins, for Yours and for mine. Standing there speechless and condemned in our stead, He carried His purpose through. He had thus identified Himself with man to save him. He was numbered with the transgressors, when He was baptized he put Himself with the sinful world, and now th payment of the penalty, He did not answer a word.

Isaiah 53: 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

12/  So starting with His baptism, He was numbered with the transgressors. In His baptism, he had confessed that He was willing to take man’s sin. It was a baptism of repentance, He took the blame for others, and finally went to the cross of Calvary to die for our sins.

13/  Remember, why was Christ baptized?

Matthew 3: 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

To fulfill all righteousness. Did He fulfill all righteousness? Indeed he did.

I Corinthians 1: 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

He was made righteousness unto us. But you will notice the order of the High Priest Who is a picture of Jesus Christ—first, aligned with sinful men by baptism, then anointed with oil, filled with the Holy Spirit, and finally, He had the blood, because He shed His blood.

AMEN

3/7/1965 / 6 - STUDIES IN THE HIGH PRIEST / 8/20/2025

7 - STUDIES IN THE HIGH PRIEST

7 - STUDIES IN THE HIGH PRIEST

MARCH 31 1965

HENRY F. KULP

Exodus 39: 33 - 40 And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and his sockets, And the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers' skins, and the vail of the covering, The ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat, the table, and all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread, The pure candlestick, with the lamps thereof even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for light, And the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle door, The brazen altar, and his grate of brass, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot, The hangings of the court, his pillars, and his sockets, and the hanging for the court gate, his cords, and his pins, and all the vessels of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of the congregation, 

Here in the last two chapters of Exodus, we have the consummation of all that’s been in the book, and these last two chapters are truly beautiful. Did you ever notice how the book of Genesis closes? The last phrase of the book of Genesis is, Genesis 50: 26 a coffin in Egypt. That is a strange way to end a book—a coffin in Egypt, but Genesis is a book that gives us the entrance of sin, and the entrance of death into the world, and it does not give us the Redeemer. The book of Genesis tells us how sin comes in, and why men die, but it does not give any hope of deliverance. So the last phrase of Genesis is, a coffin in Egypt. I don’t know whether you remember the last word of the Old Testament or not.

Malachi 4: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the

heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

The word is curse—lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Again, that is a

strange way to end the Old Testament, but the Old Testament is the same as the

book of Genesis. It gives us the entrance of sin, it gives us the record of sin, but

no Redeemer.

1/ Exodus 39: 33 And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and his sockets,

We read, and they brought the Tabernacle unto Moses.

They had finished making it. They had finished everything—it was all done—the

ark is made, the tables are made, the veil is made, the golden candlestick is

made, and so they brought it in separate pieces.

2/ Exodus 40: 1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

The Lord spake unto Moses saying, On the first day of the first month shalt thou

set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.

God is telling Moses to set it up—the people have already made it—they have

given it to Moses, and now God says, set it up. You will notice in the 40th

chapter that the Lord goes over the whole thing again—the tents, the coverings,

the ark, the table, down through the 15th verse and really this is the fourth time

God has given it to Moses. The Lord could have said to Moses—you’ve got the

tabernacle, set it up. But the Lord didn’t do that, the Lord told him how to set it

up. If you are going to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, you have to listen to the Lord.

The Lord doesn’t let folks serve Him anyway they want.

3/ Now let us go back to Exodus 37: 1 And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim

wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the

breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it:

Bezaleal—Bee ZAHL ee el. This man made the ark of shittim wood. Two cubits

and a half was the length of it. Then you go down to the 4th verse, he made the

staves and the 5th verse he put in the staves, in the 7th verse he made the two

cherubims, and then you go through all that chapter down to the 23rd verse, he

made the seven lamps. The 26th verse, he overlaid it with gold—the 27th verse,

He made the rings of gold. 

Notice, all this work is described as the work of this one man. But we are told in other places how all the people helped, how God gave to certain men and certain women, wonderful gifts of needlework and handiwork, but it is all ascribed to one man. I think the teaching is this—however great, however wonderful a Christian worker is, no matter how brilliant they may be, they are only helpers—the great Worker is the Holy Spirit. This man was responsible for the whole tabernacle—God gave him wisdom and he was to teach others. So we understand the only way we’ll ever really know Jesus Christ is through the Holy Spirit.

4/ Exodus 40: 2 On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.

Notice, on the first day of the first month. They had left Egypt in the first month. God said to them, this shall be the beginning of months to you. It was the beginning of the year, and that was the beginning of the Israelitish history. They had no history up to that time. All they had had was a knowledge of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses. They had no National history. They were just a family. It was 400 years since Abraham, and they weren’t even a nation. They had no history, and when God told them to offer the lamb, He instituted thePassover. God said, this shall be the beginning of months, and that was the beginning their history.

Exodus 12: 1 - 2 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt

saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first

month of the year to you.

5/ Now notice, Exodus 40: 17 And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.

So, you see, they had been on the march for a year—just exactly one year. They had crossed the Red Sea, they had seen the manna come down from Heaven, and they were still eating it—they had seen water from the rock, they had seen Moses go up into the mountain to talk with God to get the law, they had seen the one who was to be the high priest, Aaron, made a golden calf, they had seen Moses the second time into the mount to get the law, put it in the ark, and all of that took just twelve months the first year out of Egypt.

6/ Exodus 40: 33 And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.

So Moses did exactly as the Lord said. He set up the tabernacle and he finished the work. There you have the finished work—just what the Lord wanted. Moses did just exactly as God told him to do, and there is always a result when you obey God.

7/ I can see, I believe, in my mind’s eye, exactly what happened after the tabernacle was all finished. I can see the people standing around, thousands of them—as a matter of fact, three million of them all were together there in the wilderness. See them standing around in great expectation—they didn’t really understand what was going to happen next. Remember, the tabernacle was set up for a very definite reason.

Exodus 25: 21, 22 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

God was to come down into that Tabernacle and dwell among His people, but the

people did not really understand that. You remember they had a cloud from the

time of the Passover when they left Egypt. God put that cloud over them—a cloud by day and fire by night, and we are told that it never left them. They hadthat much but they had no Shakinah glory, and I don’t think any of them could imagine what the Lord was going to do, or how He was coming down.

Exodus 40: 34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

That is the answer—the glory of the Lord. When everything was done—the work was finished, the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. That was what they had been waiting for. Maybe they didn’t understand it, but that was what they were waiting for. That’s why they built the Tabernacle. God came down, and from that time on they had the presence of the Lord. God had said, I’m coming down, be careful how you do things. There must not be a single thing out of place.

8/ I’d like you to notice when the work was finished the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. What does this have to do with Jesus Christ?

John 7: 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

The Lord Jesus Christ finished His work, His work was done, and sin was put away and all HIs sufferings were finished. Then God took Him out of the grave, took Him back to glory, and when Jesus Christ reached the throne, the Holy Spirit came, and at that moment, Jesus Christ was glorified. The Holy Spirit couldn’t come until Jesus had finished His work, went back to Heaven and was glorified.

9/ Of course, all of this speaks of Jesus Christ and His finished work. The words, the finished work of Jesus Christ, are not in the Bible, but He did cry on the cross of Calvary—It is finished, and of course, this Tabernacle speaks of Jesus Christ and his finished work for sin.

10/ II Chronicles 5: 1 Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.

Here you have the building of Solomon’s Temple—Solomon built the temple on a large scale—instead of one laver, he built twelve, instead of building an altar the size that God gave to Moses, he built an altar about 10 times as big. Everything was on a large scale, but there was one thing that he did according to God’s specifications to Moses, and that was the matter of the ark. This was 500 years later, but the ark was still in existence. The time came, when Solomon, having built the temple, and made it so large and so big, made up his mind that theywould have the ark in the place to have the blessing of the Lord. The ark is mentioned, ten times in this chapter.

Notice, verse 6, they assembled unto him before the ark—verse 7 brought in the ark.

Now because Solomon put the ark in the place behind the veil, the ark with its cherubims where God’s presence was, God blessed him—now look at the end of the chapter, Verse 13 - 14 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.

It meant that God was there and where God was, the glory of God dwelt.

11/ But let us notice this day and age Ephesians 3: 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

And here is Paul’s prayer for this age of grace. That he would grant you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. 

There is Christ, dwelling in your heart as God dwelled in the tabernacle. You see, it is Christ, dwelling in the believer. In the Old Testament, it is God dwelling in the Tabernacle, now Christ dwells in your heart. The word, dwell, means to come in and feel at home.

12/ Remember, the Lord Jesus Christ is called the Mercy Seat in the new Testament.

Romans 3: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

13/ I have been wondering about the Israelites and this ark, this Mercy Seat, whether they knew very much about it. As you know, the High Priest only went in behind the veil once a year, and that with blood. But they never saw it—only the High Priest saw the ark. It was probably made in secret, and the veil was hung before it—the ark. I haven’t any doubt that they often went to the High Priest andasked him what the ark was like and what the Mercy Seat was like, and what the Holy Place was like, and he had to describe ti to them, for they never saw it.

Numbers 4: 5 And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it:

Notice this Scripture—when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the cover vail and cover the ark of the testimony with it:

And Aaron and his sons came and took down the vail, and they threw it over the ark to be sure that they didn’t see the ark. God permitted no man to look upon it.

14/ Verse 6 And shall put thereon the covering of badgers' skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.

Over the veil they put a covering of badger skins, for they were going to carry it through the desert, and then it says, and shall spread over it a clothe wholly of blue. Blue is the heavenly color.

15/ Now notice the 15th verse And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

Here no one was to touch anything except the priests and the High Priest, and they were told to do as God told them. So they would go to Aaron and he would tell them about the area and the Mercy Seat, just as the Holy Spirit comes to tell you about Jesus Christ, for Christ is the Mercy Seat, and the Holy Spirit tells you about His ministry.

I Peter 1: 8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

We haven’t seen the face of Jesus Christ, but there is no face in the universe, so precious to you as the face of Jesus Christ. I certainly hope that you do not think that the face of Jesus Christ is anything like the pictures have portrayed Him. That is not my Christ. The face of Jesus Christ is more brilliant than a million suns. When John saw Jesus Christ in the first chapter of Revelation, he fell at His feet as though he were dead.

Revelation 1: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

II Corinthians 4: 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

And here the glory of God is in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are going to see Him someday face to face.

AMEN

3/31/1965 / #7 - STUDIES IN THE HIGH PRIEST / 10/31/2025