God places Aaron and his sons in charge of the altar. They are the only ones that are to come up and do the Lord's work there. Anyone else who comes up will meet their demise at the hand of the Lord.
God does this because of the people's rebellion. God does not want to kill any more people. So he puts it all on Aaron. If there is a problem now, it is Aaron's fault... and he would get the axe.
God places and Aaron and his sons in charge not to lift them up, but so save the Israelites from God's wrath. (v. 5 in case your're reading along)
So what happens? Well, eventually the priests get carried away with themselves and place themselves above the people. They make the people buy their unblemished livestock for sacrifices at outrageous costs. They become the oppressors. (That's what they were doing when Jesus flipped their tables... has any human ever been given power and not oppressed?)
When Jesus dies the curtain in the temple is torn in two. The curtain is what separated the people from the priests. That is where they would go and do their work... and that is where God was. But not any more.
The corrupt priests were no longer the only way to God. God was everywhere now and everyone had access.
And we still do.
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