Scripture: “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. Then you shall kill the bull before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar. And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
“Then you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, and you shall kill the ram and shall take its blood and throw it against the sides of the altar. Then you shall cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head, and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD. It is a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.
“You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar. Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
“You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), and one loaf of bread and one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD. You shall put all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offering, as a pleasing aroma before the LORD. It is a food offering to the LORD.
“You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD, and it shall be your portion. And you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the priests’ portion that is contributed from the ram of ordination, from what was Aaron’s and his sons’. It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual due from the people of Israel, for it is a contribution. It shall be a contribution from the people of Israel from their peace offerings, their contribution to the LORD.
“The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him; they shall be anointed in them and ordained in them. The son who succeeds him as priest, who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, shall wear them seven days.
“You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place. And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket in the entrance of the tent of meeting. They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but an outsider shall not eat of them, because they are holy. And if any of the flesh for the ordination or of the bread remain until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
“Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them, and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it. Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.
“Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly. One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. And with the first lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering. The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.”
Exodus 29:10-45 ESV [Click here to read the entire chapter.]
Observation: Recapping Yesterday’s Daily Focus, Yahweh commands Moses to consecrate Aaron and his sons with preliminary instructions:
- Prepare the sacred food (an unblemished bull and ram and a basket of unleavened bread and wafers) as an offering to the Lord, with a portion reserved for the priests’ holy consumption.
- Take Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tabernacle and ceremonially wash them with water.
- Dress Aaron in his sacred vestments and anoint his head with consecrated oil.
- Dress Aaron’s sons in their priestly garments and gird Aaron and his sons with sashes affixed with bind caps.
Lastly, Yahweh reminds Moses that all future generations of ordained priests must observe this ceremony.
Today’s reading continues the instructions regarding the animal sacrifices, vestments, ceremony’s duration, and ongoing observance—concluding with a purpose statement:
- Aaron and his sons lay hands on the bull’s head at the tabernacle. Moses slaughters the bull, sprinkles a portion of its blood on the altar’s horns, and pours the remainder on the altar’s base. Moses then burns the entrails, liver, kidneys, and fat on the altar while burning the rest of the inedible carcass outside the camp as a sin offering.
- They are to follow this protocol (as a means of atonement) for each of the seven days of the ordination ceremony to consecrate the altar as the most holy, and whoever touches it will become holy.
- Aaron and his sons lay hands on a ram’s head. Moses kills the ram and distributes its blood and body parts (as done with the bull) as a food offering (pleasing to the Lord).
- Following the same protocol for the second ram (a/k/a the “ram of ordination”), two distinctions pertain to blood distribution: Moses dabs a few drops on Aaron and his sons’ right earlobes and sprinkles a portion with oil on their vestments to make them holy. Additionally, Aaron shall pass on his sacred garments to the son who succeeds him (to wear while serving in the tent of meeting).
- Moses places the ram’s fat portions, right thigh, and one loaf and one cake on Aaron and his sons’ palms for a wave offering. Then Moses waves the ram’s breast and thigh before the Lord over the altar to consecrate them for consumption (the thigh for Aaron and his sons and the breast for Moses).
- Moses boils the flesh of the ram of ordination in the holy place and gives it and the remaining bread in the basket to Aaron and his sons to eat. Because this food is sacred, they must burn any leftovers remaining the following morning.
- As a “perpetual due,” Israel must keep supplying this ram of ordination as a contribution to the Lord to be consumed by Aaron and his sons each day of this and future ordination ceremonies.
- Daily offerings prepared at the tabernacle’s entrance include a morning and twilight sacrifice of a year-old lamb. Along with the lamb, the priest shall offer a loaf of bread (grain offering) and a quarter-hin (24 oz) of wine (drink offering) as a pleasing offering to the Lord.
As for the Lord’s part, he will consecrate the tent of meeting (i.e., the tabernacle), altar, and priests (to serve him), then dwell with the nation and be their God. Thus, when they observe the daily offering, the Lord will meet with the priests and the people, sanctify the gathering with his glory, and speak to them. Consequently, Israel will know Yahweh is their God who brought them out of Egypt to dwell with him.
Takeaway: As the text indicates, this elaborate and lengthy ceremony serves to inculcate into the minds and hearts of the nation that the primary purpose of the Exodus is not to free Israel from slavery but to free them for their God: to dwell with and worship him (v.46). This divine declaration is not a revision but a reminder of the original purpose God revealed to Moses at the burning bush. Yahweh intended Israel to serve him at Mount Sinai (3:12; 7:16; 8:1; 8:20; 9:1) and directed Moses to tell Pharaoh to let his people go sacrifice to the Lord in the wilderness (3:18; 8:8). Indeed, to serve and sacrifice to Yahweh is to dwell with and worship him.
Looking through the lens of the New Testament, Jesus’ mission echoed what God expected of Israel: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:44 ESV). Hence, where Israel repeatedly failed, Christ triumphantly succeeded. Indeed, as our Great High Priest, Jesus upheld the sanctity of the altar as its unblemished sacrifice, shedding his blood outside the camp as our sin offering (confer v.14 with Hebrews 13:10-13).
Our takeaway? It is easy to miss the point of our baptism. While Jesus’ substitutionary death atoned our sins, salvation is not fire insurance (being saved from hell). It is life insurance, being saved for the “abundant life” in Christ (John 10:10), where we serve and sacrifice. That said, the Father and Son care deeply about suffering spurred by the injustices of human slavery. Still, emancipation alone means little without freedom from sin’s yoke of slavery.
Our part? Like Israel, dwell with God and worship him. In other words, abide in Christ and offer him our praises and obedience because we can do nothing apart from him (John 15:4-6). When we do, his Helper will sanctify us so that we bear fruit (John 14:15-17), for the Holy Spirit will guide our thoughts and teach us how to serve and sacrifice like Christ. Consequently, if we persevere, the Holy Spirit will transform us into God’s slaves who bear the fruit that leads to sanctification and its end: a glorious eternal life with our loving Father and Brother (Romans 6:22).
Prayer: Father God, we thank you for your Son, who came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom so that we might find freedom from sin’s tyranny. And we thank you for the Holy Spirit, who guides us in all truth, leading us to a more profound understanding of what it means to abide in your Son and worship and obey him. Still, our flesh is weak. So please help us draw near your Son’s throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace (Hebrews 4:16) to carry on with the abundant life of serving and sacrificing that bears fruit and sanctification that leads to its end: eternal life with you. Amen.
Rev. Gordon Green, M.Div., M.A. Counseling
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