Exodus 29.10-21-The Fourth, Fifth And Sixth Steps Connected To The Consecration Of The Priests
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday June 3, 2012
Journey Through The Bible Series: Exodus 29:10-21-The Fourth, Fifth And Sixth Steps Connected To The Consecration Of The Priests
Lesson # 38
Please turn in your Bibles to Exodus 29:1.
The ordinationconsecration ceremony which is described in verses 1-37 contains eight steps: (1) Washing Aaron and his sons (verse 4) (2) Clothing Aaron and his sons (verses 5-6, 8-9) (3) Anointing Aaron and his sons (verse 7). (4) The use of the bull as a sin offering (verses 10-14). (5) The first ram as a whole burnt offering (verses 15-18). (6) The use of the blood of the second consecrationordination ram (verses 19-21). (7) Offering the rest of the second consecrationordination ram (verses 22-26). (8) Cooking and eating consecrationordination ram (verses 31-34).
Last Sunday we noted the first three steps in the ordination/consecration ceremony of the priests in Israel.
This morning we will continue with our study of Exodus chapter 29 by noting the fourth, fifth and sixth steps connected to this ceremony which appear in verses 10-21.
Exodus 29:1 “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them to minister as priests to Me: take one young bull and two rams without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3 You shall put them in one basket, and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams. 4 Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 5 You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod; 6 and you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. 7 Then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8 You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. 9 You shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them, and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute. So you shall ordain Aaron and his sons. 10 Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 You shall slaughter the bull before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 12 You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. 13 You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.” (NASB95)
The sacrifice of the bull in these verses was a sin offering related to any sin the priests might have been committed and was either not confessed or was committed in ignorance.
This offering was not only preparing them to serve the Lord and the Israelites but also teaching them that their service was based upon the sacrificial animal, which served them by dying as a substitute for their sins.
This teaches us in the church age that we are able to serve the Father based upon the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross.
This sacrifice would make secure the fact that the priest would not be offending the holiness of God at the ordination ceremony.
Remember, Aaron and his sons were believers as well as the rest of the Exodus congregation according to 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 and so this sin offering was to restore them to fellowship if they were out of fellowship.
This recalls 1 John 1:9, which says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
This verse teaches that if the believer confesses any known sin to the Father, He is faithful and righteous to forgive that sin as well as purify them from all unrighteousness meaning even the sins committed in ignorance due to ignorance of the Word of God in a particular area.
The instruction that Aaron and his sons were to lay their hands on the bull which was to be sacrificed on their behalf was a symbolic means of transferring their guilt to the body of the animal, which was innocent.
This foreshadowed Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, which is the basis for the restoration of the believer to fellowship with God when the believer confesses his sin to the Father.
The laying of their hands on the animals was for identification meaning that Aaron and his sons were identified with the animal which would die in their place.
Exodus 29:11 teaches us the location in which this animal was to be sacrificed for Aaron and his sons, namely in the presence of the Lord before the front curtain of the tabernacle, which would thus be at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
In Exodus 29:12, the Lord tells Moses that he was to take some of the blood of the sacrificed bull and put it on the horns of the altar with his finger and pour out all the blood at the base of the altar.
The horns spoke of God’s power and the altar of burnt offering portrayed or foreshadowed the cross.
Thus together, they speak of the power of the spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ on the cross to forgive sins and restore the believer to fellowship and to save the unregenerate from sin and Satan and eternal condemnation.
The Lord instructs Moses in verse 13 that he is to take all the fat that covers the entrails of the animal and the lobe that is above the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and burn them on the altar.
These were offered symbolically to the Lord as His portion and speak of the doctrine of propitiation which refers to the fact that Jesus Christ’s spiritual and physical deaths on the cross satisfied the demands of God’s holiness which requires that sin and sinners be judged.
Verse 14 teaches that the useless parts of the animal for this ceremony were burned outside the camp.
Exodus 29:15 “You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; 16 and you shall slaughter the ram and shall take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar. 17 Then you shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head. 18 You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the Lord: it is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.” (NASB95)
In Exodus 29:15, we read the Lord once again instructing Moses to have Aaron and his sons laying their hands upon the animal as was the case with the bull.
This again was a symbolic means of transferring their guilt to the body of the animal, which was innocent.
As was the case with eth bull, this foreshadowed Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, which is the basis for the restoration of the believer to fellowship with God when the believer confesses his sin to the Father.
The laying of their hands on the ram was for identification meaning that Aaron and his sons were identified with the animal which would die in their place and so this was teaching them that the basis for their restoration to fellowship with God through the confession of sin was a substitutionary sacrifice.
Unlike, the blood of the bull, the blood of this first goat was to be splashed all around the altar according to verse 16 whereas the blood of the bull was applied to the horns and base of the altar according to verse 12.
Now, here in verse 16, the blood of the first goat was to be sprinkled on all sides of the altar, which would make the altar ritually clean, which meant that one was qualified to worship the Lord while to be unclean implied the opposite.
Thus, the sprinkling of the blood of this first goat on all sides of the altar would thus make the altar ceremonially clean or in other words, it would enable the altar to be used to purify Aaron and his sons in a ritual or ceremonial sense so that they could enter the presence of God.
In Exodus 29:17-18, the Lord tells Moses that this first goat was to be cut up into pieces and then he was to wash the entrails and its legs and put them with its pieces and its head and burn the whole animal on the altar, which was symbolic food for Yahweh.
Usually, in most sacrifices parts of the animal were thrown away and parts were offered to Yahweh by burning the animal to ashes on the altar and the rest were cooked and eaten by the worshippers and priests who each got a share.
However, in this case with the first goat, the entire animal was to be offered to the Lord by being burnt to ashes and so all the parts of the animal were placed on the altar and nothing was thrown away or kept by the worshippers or priests.
This spoke of propitiation as well meaning that it portrayed the Father totally and completely accepting His Son Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as the basis for the restoration of the believer to fellowship once they confess their sins to the Father.
This is further indicated by the fact that this burnt offering of the first goat was a “soothing aroma” to the Lord portraying the Father as propitiated by His Son’s death.
The offering is said be made by fire and the fire foreshadowed or typified God’s judgment upon His Son at the cross.
Therefore, Aaron and his sons were taught by the sacrifice of this goat that they could only serve God on the basis of the sacrifice of the animal as their substitute.
Exodus 29:19 “Then you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20 You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar. 21 Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated, as well as his sons and his sons’ garments with him.” (NASB95)
In these verses, the Lord instructs Moses to employ a second goat and have Aaron and his sons once again place their hands on the animal so as to identify their known and unknown sins to the animal which would be sacrificed as a substitute.
As we read, the blood of the bull was sprinkled on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and at the base of the altar.
The blood of the first goat was sprinkled on all sides of the altar making the altar ceremonially clean and fit for use by the Lord in the ordination ceremony of Aaron and his sons.
The blood of the bull and the first goat cleansed or purified the altar and its surrounding ground and it was to purify the place and the process but not the persons.
However, the blood of this second goat was to be applied to the tip of the right ear of Aaron and the right ear of his sons and on the thumb of their right hands as well as on the big toe of their right foot.
Then, they were to splash the blood all around the altar.
Thus, the blood of this second goat purified Aaron and his sons and is the ordination ram as indicated by Exodus 29:22.
Therefore, Aaron and his sons placing their hands on this second ram taught them that this sacrificed ram as their substitute was the basis for their ordination.
The right ear, thumb and big toe were symbolical for the entire person.
The Lord was not going to cover them with blood but only apply the blood of the animal to these parts of the body, which were symbolic for the entire person.
In Exodus 29:21, the Lord instructs Moses to take some of the blood of this second goat that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron, his garments and on his sons in their garments.
The purpose of this was to make them holy or ceremonially clean and qualified to serve in the tabernacle.
That they would be holy meant that they were set apart to serve the Lord and the Israelites exclusively in the tabernacle.
The oil signified purity and cleanness but not forgiveness.
Only the blood signified forgiveness and thus, purity and forgiveness enabled the priests acceptable to God.