Consecration and Daily Offerings. (Exodus 29: 1-37)
Are you aware of the fact that God has something to say about your right earlobe, the thumb on your right hand, and the big toe on your right foot? There is a passage of Scripture in which God expresses an interest in your earlobe, thumb, and big toe. Now, I should tell you that this passage is written to a particular group of people, a special group, but it still has something to say to us today. So, the question is, why did God speak about the earlobe, thumb, and big toe, what did he mean by that? Let me tell you that this passage we are looking at today actually pertains to the ordination of the priests, and it’s a rather lengthy passage describing the ceremony in detail. In fact, there are even more details given in Leviticus chapter 8, but this the initial description of that event that’s first given in Exodus chapter 29.Someone has said that the fact that God specifies this ceremony in such detail, and Moses recorded it at such length, points to its importance for Israel and it must have some instructional value for us. So, apparently, the Lord thought this one was important.
Before we look at it, let me say that in the previous chapter, we described in detail the clothes of the high priest. Remember that we went through that in detail yesterday. And now here immediately, it talks about the ordination of priests. It’s almost as if to say, you can have the right clothes, but clothes are not enough. You've got to do prepare in another way, and that, I believe, is what this passage is about.
Now this is a long chapter, and I believe it divides into three parts.
The first part is the preparation for this ceremony, that’s verses one through nine.
Then, we are given the procedure of that ceremony, that’s verses 10 through 28.
And finally, there are some provisions for the priests in verses 29 through 37.
So, let’s begin by looking at the preparation, which begins in verse one.
“1 And this is what you shall do to them to hallow them for ministering to Me as priests: Take one young bull and two rams without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil (you shall make them of wheat flour). 3 You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams. 4 “And Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall wash them with water. 5 Then you shall take the garments, put the tunic on Aaron, and the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the intricately woven band of the ephod. 6 You shall put the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. 7 And you shall take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him. 8 Then you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. 9 And you shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the hats on them. The priesthood shall be theirs for a perpetual statute. So, you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.
(Exodus 29: 1-9)
The idea is we’re going to have this ceremony for ordaining, setting aside for this work, the priests. Hallowing them just means setting them aside for this type of service, and this is the ceremony God wants them to go through. They are to bring wafers made with flour and anointed with oil along with one young bull and two rams then Aaron and his sons are brought to the door of the Tabernacle and washed them with water." Now, some have called this step one in the ceremony. There are four steps. Step one is just bringing them to the door of the Tabernacle and washing them. Now, clearly in the Bible, washing is a symbolic gesture of cleansing. Many have pointed out, I think accurately, that you are clean when you trust Christ. You’re cleansed of all your sin. But as you walk, you get dirty feet. Particularly in those days, when they had sandals, and they walked on the dirt of the earth, not pavements.
The next couple of verses tell us that he’s going to clothe the high priest with the clothing that was mentioned in the previous chapter. So, they take the garments, put the tunic on Aaron, the robe and the ephod and the breastplate, and they put the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. So very simply, the second step in the ordination of a priest was the putting on of the garments, those garments described in the previous chapter.
That takes us to verse seven. The, the third step is the anointing of the high priest with oil.
Now, the fourth and final step in the preparation has to do with the priests themselves.
Now, Aaron here is the high priest, and his sons are the priests under him. So, in preparation for their ordination, they were bringing them all to the door of the Tabernacle. They are dressing the high priest, Aaron and pouring oil on his head to anoint him. And now, they were going to put tunics on the of the ordinary priests.
One more verse in preparation, was in the final verse we read, verse nine. " Aaron and his sons have hats out on them. Then it says the priesthood shall be theirs as a perpetual statute for Aaron and his sons."
Back in verse one, it says, "Hallow them for their ministry." And now verse nine says, "This is them consecrated. Which is to say that they have now been set apart for the ministry. Notice he says "perpetually." This is going to be a statute. God ordained Aaron and his sons as the first order of priests, but after that, the only way to become a priest was to be born into this priestly line. So, this means this family are going to be set aside as the family line, which will become a tribe of priests, and it all going to start with Aaron. Keep that in mind. I’m going to come back to it later.
And I mentioned that this chapter is divided into three parts. The first part is the preparation, that’s these first nine verses. The second part, I’m calling the procedure. It’s the ceremony itself, and that is from verse 10, all the way through verse 28.Now, this involves a series of offerings one after the other. He mentions a sin offering, a burnt offering, a ram offering, a wave offering, and a heave offering. There are five offerings in verses 10 through 28. This was the core of the ceremony. And so, we need to walk through these. This is rather lengthy, but there is a rather simple point that we need to grasp as we go through all these details.
So, let’s look at verse 10.
“You shall also have the bull brought before the tabernacle of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the bull.”
(Exodus 29:10)
The act of laying on of hands is an act of identification. Laying your hands on the bull identifies you with the bull. The bull is going to die in your place.
11 Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord, by the door of the tabernacle 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 pour all the blood beside the base of the altar.
(Exodus 29: 11-12)
Now, if you can remember back when we looked at the Tabernacle, I talked about the alter and pointed out that there were horns on all four corners. Well, in this case, he’s saying you’re going to sacrifice the bull. You’re going to take the blood and put some of the blood on the horns of the altar, and the rest you pour at the base of the altar. So, this is a blood sacrifice. Next.
13 And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and burn them on the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bull, with its skin and its offal, you shall burn with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.
(Exodus 29: 13-14)
So, like I said, this is now the sin offering. So, this bull sacrifice was a sin offering for Aaron and his sons. In this way, the priests acknowledged their own sinfulness and their need for blood cleansing. So, this sacrifice is for them. This is a sin sacrifice. Now, remember the New Testament says we too are cleansed of our sin by a blood sacrifice, the sacrifice of Christ. "As a matter of fact, First John 1:7 says, 'The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin.'
So, this is a sin offering, a blood sacrifice. They are identifying with the animal, meaning they are placing their sin on the animal, and the animal dies as their substitute. The first thing they have to do in this ceremony is make a sacrifice for sin.
The next offering begins in verse 15, and it is the burnt offering.
15 “You shall also take one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram; 16 and you shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood and sprinkle it all around on the altar. 17 Then you shall cut the ram in pieces, wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and with its head. 18 And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.
(Exodus 29: 15-18)
Now, this is the second offering, the burnt offering. They were to take one of two rams and have Aaron and his sons place their hands on its head, which again is symbolic of identification. In verse 14, the first offering is described as a sin offering. And now, in verse 15-18, we're told it is a burnt offering. So, these are two different offerings. In this case, the ram was to be wholly burned in token of the priest's dedication of himself to the Lord and His service. So, the first offering, the sin offering, was to be presented, and then now a burnt offering. Only now is the guilt is removed, no acceptable priestly service could be performed before this was done. So, what's going on here is that the first offering is for sin, and then the second offering is for their dedication to the service of the Lord and to the service of the priesthood.
The third offering is called a ram offering in verse 19.
19 “You shall also take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands on the head of the ram. 20 Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar.
(Exodus 29: 19-20)
Now, this is the second ram and I promised you an earlobe, a thumb, and a big toe, and here it is in verse 20. So, what in the world is going on? The blood on the tips of the right ear and the right earlobe of Aaron and his sons, and the thumb of the right hand and the big toe were all to be done symbolically. And the rest of the blood was sprinkled around the altar. So, the question is, what does this symbolize?
Anytime you come upon a situation like that, and you start reading what Bible teachers and commentaries have said, if you read two commentaries, you're going to get three opinions. So, let me tell you what the opinions are. Some want to argue that this is cleansing, and they say that's the point of the blood, that it's for cleansing.
One said, and I quote,
'This signifies the need for cleansing from sin in every area of human life, the ear for obedience to God's word, the hands for action or service, and the feet for walk or deportment.'
So, that author says it's cleansing.
A second view is that it's for consecration. This view says that it's for consecration, complete concentration, pardon the pun, from head to toe. Or maybe I should say, from earlobe to big toe. One author says,
'Putting the blood of the sacrifice on the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot was doubtless intended to signify that they should dedicate all their faculties and powers to the service of God: their ear to the hearing and studying of His law, their hands to diligent sacred ministry and to all acts of obedient medians, and their foot to walk in the way of God's precepts.'
So, that author says, it's complete consecration.
The third view, you'll never guess, and it’s my view, both are true. The blood signifies that they were cleansed and dedicated to God. And again, the various body parts indicate things like the hearing of God's word, the hands doing God's work, and the feet walking in God's service.' I would also say that this is applied in the New Testament, number Romans 6, 'Present your whole bodies, the members of your body as instruments of righteousness.' It doesn't spell out the earlobe, thumb, and big toe, but that's the idea, I believe, represented symbolically here. Or, in Paul's words in Romans 6:12-13, 'Use your ear to hear what God has to say. Use your hands to do His work.' And then, giving your feet to be obedient to do what He says. (My paraphrase), which would apply to your everyday lifestyle.
That brings us to verse 21.
21 And 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, on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him; and he and his garments shall be hallowed, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
(Exodus 29: 21)
Again, the point is, they should be hallowed , complete consecration.
So, that's the ram offering. The next is the wave offering.
22 “Also you shall take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, the two kidneys and the fat on them, the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), 23 one loaf of bread, one cake made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord; 24 and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and you shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.
(Exodus 29: 22-24)
Another ram, and this time it's named as the ram of consecration. This one's a little mysterious. As a matter of fact, one commentator says, and I quote, 'One of the most obscure rites in the book of Exodus is the use of the ram of consecration, and the wave offering.' Much of this passage remains mysterious to us , and I don’t want to go down the route of spiritualising it without a New Testament precedent to do so. But we do sense the priests carefully preparing for the worship of the holy God with this sacrifice. The whole point of this passage is that we're ordaining the priests. We are installing these men into the priesthood. The other offerings talked about forgiveness, cleansing, dedication to service, complete consecration of themselves. Then maybe this is an offering by which we begin/install the priesthood, in other words the ordination of the Priesthood. At any rate, the breast of the animal was waved or moved back and forth toward and away from the altar as a symbol of presenting the offering to the Lord. That's the wave offering.
25 You shall receive them back from their hands and burn them on the altar as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.26 “Then you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. 27 And from the ram of the consecration you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering, which is waved, and the thigh of the heave offering which is raised, of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons. 28 It shall be from the children of Israel for Aaron and his sons by a statute forever. For it is a heave offering; it shall be a heave offering from the children of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, that is, their heave offering to the Lord.
(Exodus 29: 25-28)
So, at this point, Moses has officiating as priest, a mediator between man and God. But this function will now belong to the priest and not to Moses. So, you have the sin offering, the burnt offering, the ram offering, and the wave offering.Then finally.
29 “And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed in them and to be consecrated in them. 30 That son who becomes priest in his place shall put them on for seven days, when he enters the tabernacle of meeting to minister in the holy place.
31 “And you shall take the ram of the consecration and boil its flesh in the holy place. 32 Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; but an outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy. 34 And if any of the flesh of the consecration offerings, or of the bread, remains until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
(Exodus 29: 29-34)
So, that's how they were installed into the priesthood and their sons will be consecrated and anointed after them. But remember this whole system ends at the cross. And we'll talk about that later. The conclusion of all these instructions is given in verses 35 to 37.
35 “Thus you shall do to Aaron and his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Seven days you shall consecrate them. 36 And you shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it. And the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar must be holy.
(Exodus 29: 35-37)
The priests, Aaron, and his sons, were to be consecrated for seven days. A bull was to be offered daily as a sin offering to cleanse the altar and anoint it for sanctification. The altar was to be regarded as most holy, and anything that touched it had to be considered holy as well.
To summarize, the ordination ceremony of the priests involved sacrifices, offerings, and a sacred meal. They were prepared by wearing the proper garments, followed by the presentation of five offerings. Finally, they participated in consuming part of the sacrifice offered. Comparing this ancient ordination to the ordination of pastors and ministers today, it is evident that the processes are vastly different. The laying on of hands is one common aspect, as it symbolizes identification and impartation, both in the Old Testament ordination and modern practices.
Now, let's make an important point. God ordained Aaron and his sons as the first priests, and thereafter, priesthood could only be inherited through lineage. However, the Old Testament priesthood no longer exists today. Nevertheless, there is a priesthood in the present day, and every Christian believer forms part of it. As 1 Peter 2:9 states, believers are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and God's own special people. This means that when you are born again, you become a priest of God.
Let me share a few additional observations. As a priest, you should use your redeemed ears to listen to the Lord's voice through His Word.
Secondly, use your redeemed hand to serve and worship the Lord, and finally you should walk by the Holy Spirit and let Him guide your redeemed feet. Ears, Thumbs, and toes. So, believers are called to hear the Word of God, walk in truth by relying on the Holy Spirit, and serve the Lord through love by serving others. Our service however is not done as an attempt to cleanse us from sin, but rather, as an expression of gratitude for being cleansed by the blood of Christ. The passage begins with the burnt offering and progresses to the consecration of the ear, thumb, and toe.
In the New Testament, all of this ritual can be summarised and acted out in a very straightforward way. In response to God's grace, believers should present their bodies, ears, thumbs, and toes, and all as living sacrifices.
As Romans 12:1 stats.
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice."
God has shown us great mercy, and as a result, we should offer, indeed sacrifice ourselves in return, set apart ourselves to Him, including our ears, thumbs, and tongues, and everything else , by the way, in service of him. So that his name may be hallowed, his kingdom might come, His will be done and that we might see His, and His glory on earth as it is in heaven…. Amen