Set apart for a second chance

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 
“Take Aaron and his sons with him,
and the garments, the anointing oil,
a bull as the sin offering, two rams,
and a basket of unleavened bread;
and gather all the congregation together
at the door of the tabernacle of meeting...
...and he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head
and anointed him, to consecrate him.
Leviticus 8:1-3, 12 (NKJV)

Remember back in Exodus 32...
when Moses was up on Mount Sinai
and the cloud of God hovered for 40 days?
​The children of Israel got pretty antsy and said to Aaron...
“Come, make us gods that shall go before us;
for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
we do not know what has become of him.”

And we realized then...
that Aaron was supposed to have stayed on the mountain
waiting for Moses to come down.
But instead, he was at the bottom with the people
making an idol.

Is this the same Aaron being anointed for service in the tabernacle...
the same Aaron who melted down the people's jewelry
and carved a golden calf?

Because, to be honest,
I was pretty disappointed in him...
as a leader back then.

But here he is becoming the first High Priest
to all of Israel... serving in the first tabernacle of the Jews.
That is an amazing honor, when you think of it.

And nowhere do we see Moses pulling him aside,
giving him a lecture, like...
OK, now Aaron,
remember last time with the whole golden calf thing...
this time you've gotta get this right!

No. We see Moses following God's command to anoint him.
Because we serve a God of second chances.
And God decided that the Levites...
or all the descendants of Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob,
would become those set apart to serve Him in the tabernacle.

And Moses and Aaron are in that lineage of Levi.
(see Exodus 2:1-2 and Exodus 4:14)

Which is why Moses has an all access pass to the tabernacle
and the Most Holy place...
and now Aaron is given the honor of being first High Priest.
And Aaron's sons will follow him...
and their sons, and their sons.

But I must say, that I do believe
that Aaron must have come to a place of repentance.
Even though we do not see his prayers acted out in detail
and written in the Bible...
To be given this amazing high honor,
he must have humbled himself before God.

And in seeing this... oh, what hope there is for me...
for all of us.
Because none of us are excluded from low points like this.
Those days we wish we could simply undo.
Those chapters of our life we are embarrassed to admit...
our idol worshipping, calf building, all about me days.

But thankfully we have a God who forgives...
even the worst of our behavior and prideful attitudes.
And we have a God who gives us a second...
and third, and fourth chance, when we need it.

And He will let us serve and honor Him
when we give Him a place in our heart to do so...
which is what I believe Aaron must have done.

Word of God... train me, today...
to have a humble heart of confession,
to be ever thankful for Your mercy, and the grace of a second chance.

Lord, thank You for forgiving me always...
even in my tomorrow.
And for having a plan to allow me to serve You
in a new chapter of my life.

For I will ever and always be grateful
that You gave me another chance.

​Help me to stay faithful to the end.