Exodus 29
The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons
1 “Now this is what you are to do for them to consecrate them so that they may minister as my priests. Take a young bull and two rams without blemish;
Aaron and his sons were sinners. God will not use dirty vessels, especially in a priestly role. Therefore, before Aaron and his sons could serve as priests, they must be cleansed of their filth. Sin is so terrible in God’s eyes that He does not allow any sin into His heaven. If a person sins, then he must spend eternal life in the Lake of Fire. However, under the Mosaic Law, God would allow an animal sacrifice to be slaughtered in place of the sinner. Since Aaron and his sons were to be priests, and since they were sinners, then the only way that they could serve a Holy God was to symbolically transfer their sin to an innocent animal that was without physical defect. Then, the animal would be slaughtered and burnt in their place.
2 and bread made without yeast, and perforated cakes without yeast mixed with oil, and wafers without yeast spread with oil – you are to make them using fine wheat flour.
Leaven was a symbol of sin. Since the animal sacrifice pointed to Christ, there was to be no symbol of sin in the offering.
3 You are to put them in one basket and present them in the basket, along with the bull and the two rams.
The cleansing of the priests required the offering of unleavened bread, one bull, and two rams.
4 “You are to present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the tent of meeting. You are to wash them with water
Aaron and his sons were priests who were stinky sinners. They needed to be washed and cleansed before they could represent the nation of Israel before a Holy God who hates sin.
5 and take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastpiece; you are to fasten the ephod on him by using the skillfully woven waistband.
After they were cleansed with water, they were to wear the clothing of priests. Since the priests represented God, the clothes were to be very beautiful.
6 You are to put the turban on his head and put the holy diadem on the turban.
The priests were to wear their turbans during the ritual.
7 You are to take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.
The anointing oil was a symbol, meaning that the priests were set apart to perform a specific task for God.
8 You are to present his sons and clothe them with tunics
The priests wore their priestly clothes.
9 and wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and put headbands on them, and so the ministry of priesthood will belong to them by a perpetual ordinance. Thus you are to consecrate Aaron and his sons.
The sashes were colorful and beautiful belts that went around the waist. This ritual was to be a perpetual ordinance, meaning that it would continue until the Messiah arrived and ended the ritual.
10 “You are to present the bull at the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to put their hands on the head of the bull.
Aaron and the priests were to place their hands on the bull. The bulls were innocent and had committed no sin. Aaron and his sons were symbolically transferring their sins to the innocent bull.
11 You are to kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting
The bull was killed because of the sins of Aaron and his sons.
12 and take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; all the rest of the blood you are to pour out at the base of the altar.
Blood was to be placed on the horns of the altar. The remaining blood was to be poured upon the altar. This was a bloody, stinky, and disgusting mess. Many would vomit at the site of the blood and sacrifice. This disgusting spectacle revealed the mind of God. To God, sin is a very disgusting human habit that makes Him want to repel and vomit.
13 You are to take all the fat that covers the entrails, 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.
If Christ did not die for the sins of Aaron and his priestly sons, then they would all burn in the Lake of Fire forever. The bull was killed and burned instead.
14 But the meat of the bull, its skin, and its dung you are to burn up outside the camp. It is the purification offering.
God did not allow disgusting things in His camp. Neither does He allow disgusting sin in heaven. Sin is not following the perfect will of God. There are sins of commission, where the sinner breaks the law of God. There are sins of omission, where the sinner does not do the will of God.
15 “You are to take one ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head,
Aaron and his sons were symbolically transferring their sins to the innocent ram. This was a picture of Christ.
16 and you are to kill the ram and take its blood and splash it all around on the altar.
The ram was to be killed. The blood of the ram was splashed around the altar. This was a picture of Christ.
17 Then you are to cut the ram into pieces and wash the entrails and its legs and put them on its pieces and on its head
Animal sacrifice was disgusting work. Although man loves sin, it is disgusting in the eyes of God.
18 and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord, a soothing aroma; it is an offering made by fire to the Lord.
The burning ram smells good to God, because the sin was temporarily removed from Aaron and the priests.
19 “You are to take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head,
Aaron and his sons were to take a second ram and do the same thing.
20 and you are to kill the ram and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, 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 then splash the blood all around on the altar.
The blood was to be placed on the ear of the priests. This symbol meant that the priests were temporarily cleansed of sin and ready to perform the work of God.
21 You are to take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on his sons’ garments with him, so that he may be holy, he and his garments along with his sons and his sons’ garments.
Blood and oil were to be sprinkled on the garments of the priests. This would remind Israel that sin was a terrible, disgusting, and graphic ordeal to God.
22 “You are to take from the ram the fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and the right thigh – for it is the ram for consecration –
The ram was killed in place of the priests. The ram pointed to Christ.
23 and one round flat cake of bread, one perforated cake of oiled bread, and one wafer from the basket of bread made without yeast that is before the Lord.
Leaven was a symbol of evil. It was not allowed in the sacrifice.
24 You are to put all these in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and you are to wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.
Aaron and his sons would wave these offerings before the altar of God. The purpose of the wave offering was to cleanse the priests so that they could represent God before the people of Israel.
25 Then you are to take them from their hands and burn them on the altar for a burnt offering, for a soothing aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.
Instead of Aaron and his sons burring in the Lake of Fire for their sin, the ram offering would be burned in their place.
26 You are to take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration; you are to wave it as a wave offering before the Lord, and it is to be your share.
The breast of the ram was to be waved by the priests. Then, the priests were to eat the breast. The priests were supported materially by the sacrifices.
27 You are to sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution, which were waved and lifted up as a contribution from the ram of consecration, from what belongs to Aaron and to his sons.
The bread without leaven was to be waved before the altar. The thigh was to be waved as well.
28 It is to belong to Aaron and to his sons from the Israelites, by a perpetual ordinance, for it is a contribution. It is to be a contribution from the Israelites from their peace offerings, their contribution to the Lord.
The unleavened bread and thigh were to be the payment to the priests. They had a tough and bloody job which must be performed daily.
29 “The holy garments that belong to Aaron are to belong to his sons after him, so that they may be anointed in them and consecrated in them.
The High Priest garment was to be passed down to the next generation.
30 The priest who succeeds him from his sons, when he first comes to the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, is to wear them for seven days.
After Aaron dies, the son who succeeds him will wear the High Priest garment for seven days.
31 “You are to take the ram of the consecration and cook its meat in a holy place.
An extra ram will be sacrificed for the new High Priest.
32 Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that was in the basket at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Aaron and his sons were allowed to eat part of the sacrifice as their daily substance.
33 They are to eat those things by which atonement was made to consecrate and to set them apart, but no one else may eat them, for they are holy.
Only the priests may eat from this designated portion of the sacrifice.
34 If any of the meat from the consecration offerings or any of the bread is left over until morning, then you are to burn up what is left over. It must not be eaten, because it is holy.
There were to be no leftovers. All of the priestly portion must either be eaten or burned up. The reason is that it is holy, or set apart for God’s service. The priestly portion gave the priests the energy to do their work.
35 “Thus you are to do for Aaron and for his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; you are to consecrate them for seven days.
Aaron and his sons were to be consecrated for seven consecutive days before the official sacrifices were to begin. God did not allow any dirty priests to represent Him before the people.
36 Every day you are to prepare a bull for a purification offering for atonement. You are to purge the altar by making atonement for it, and you are to anoint it to set it apart as holy.
A bull was to be sacrificed every day for seven days. The purpose of this sacrifice was for spiritual purification of the priests.
37 For seven days you are to make atonement for the altar and set it apart as holy. Then the altar will be most holy. Anything that touches the altar will be holy.
The priests were polluted by their sin nature. Therefore, it took seven days of offering seven bulls in order to cleanse them for service.
38 “Now this is what you are to prepare on the altar every day continually: two lambs a year old.
Two yearling lambs were to be prepared everyday for sacrifice.
39 The first lamb you are to prepare in the morning, and the second lamb you are to prepare around sundown.
One lamb was to be prepared in the morning. The other was to be prepared at sundown.
40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering.
The first lamb was to be offered in the morning, along with fine flour, olive oil, and wine.
41 The second lamb you are to offer around sundown; you are to prepare for it the same meal offering as for the morning and the same drink offering, for a soothing aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.
The second lamb was to be offered at sundown with the same ingredients.
42 “This will 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.
These two offerings will be offered every day of the year at morning and night. God must keep Israel prosperous for Israel to make all of these numerous offerings.
43 There I will meet with the Israelites, and it will be set apart as holy by my glory.
Jehovah will meet the Israelites every morning and every evening at the altar by the blood of the lamb.
44 “So I will set apart as holy the tent of meeting and the altar, and I will set apart as holy Aaron and his sons, that they may minister as priests to me.
The tabernacle was to become a holy, set apart place. Aaron and his sons were also to be set apart as holy priests.
45 I will reside among the Israelites, and I will be their God,
God will live in the tabernacle tent with the Israelites. He will be their God.
46 and they will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out from the land of Egypt, so that I may reside among them. I am the Lord their God.
Since Jehovah will be living in the tabernacle and leading Israel through the wilderness, then Israel will know the name and character of the one true God.
Israel had no excuse. God was living inside the Tabernacle. God led them through the wilderness as a Shekinah Glory cloud during the day and the Shekinah Glory light during the night. If Israel ever had a question, then they could ask God for the answer through the umin and thumin.