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Read Exodus 29

Consecration of the Priests

“This is what you are to do to consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without defect. And from the finest wheat flour make round loaves without yeast, thick loaves without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves without yeast and brushed with olive oil. Put them in a basket and present them along with the bull and the two rams. Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water.Take the garments and dress Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself and the breastpiece. Fasten the ephod on him by its skillfully woven waistband. Put the turban on his head and attach the sacred emblem to the turban. Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head. Bring his sons and dress them in tunics and fasten caps on them. Then tie sashes on Aaron and his sons. The priesthood is theirs by a lasting ordinance.

“Then you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

10 “Bring the bull to the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. 11 Slaughter it in the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting.12 Take some of the bull’s blood and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. 13 Then take all the fat on the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But burn the bull’s flesh and its hide and its intestines outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

15 “Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. 16 Slaughter it and take the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar. 17 Cut the ram into pieces and wash the internal organs and the legs, putting them with the head and the other pieces. 18 Then burn the entire ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord.

19 “Take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. 20 Slaughter it, take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Then splash blood against the sides of the altar.21 And take some blood from the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. Then he and his sons and their garments will be consecrated.

22 “Take from this ram the fat, the fat tail, the fat on the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, both kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh. (This is the ram for the ordination.) 23 From the basket of bread made without yeast, which is before the Lord, take one round loaf, one thick loaf with olive oil mixed in, and one thin loaf. 24 Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and have them wave them before the Lord as a wave offering. 25 Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar along with the burnt offering for a pleasing aroma to the Lord, a food offering presented to the Lord. 26 After you take the breast of the ram for Aaron’s ordination, wave it before the Lord as a wave offering, and it will be your share.

27 “Consecrate those parts of the ordination ram that belong to Aaron and his sons: the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. 28 This is always to be the perpetual share from the Israelites for Aaron and his sons. It is the contribution the Israelites are to make to the Lord from their fellowship offerings.

29 “Aaron’s sacred garments will belong to his descendants so that they can be anointed and ordained in them. 30 The son who succeeds him as priest and comes to the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place is to wear them seven days.

31 “Take the ram for the ordination and cook the meat in a sacred place. 32 At the entrance to the tent of meeting, Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket. 33 They are to eat these offerings by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. But no one else may eat them, because they are sacred.34 And if any of the meat of the ordination ram or any bread is left over till morning, burn it up. It must not be eaten, because it is sacred.

35 “Do for Aaron and his sons everything I have commanded you, taking seven days to ordain them. 36 Sacrifice a bull each day as a sin offering to make atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it. 37 For seven days make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy.

38 “This is what you are to offer on the altar regularly each day: two lambs a year old. 39 Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight. 40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering.  41 Sacrifice the other lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and its drink offering as in the morning—a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord.

42 “For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord. There I will meet you and speak to you; 43 there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.

44 “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests.45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.46 They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

Go Deeper

Why do you think God asks the priests to go to such lengths to consecrate themselves? There are a lot of instructions in this chapter that seem to go above and beyond what is needed. Can’t God just have them repeat a few lines like, “I promise to love God” and, “I promise to be a good priest”? Instead, He has them sacrifice animals and have them dab the blood on their ears and on their big toes. What’s the point? The point is that we never err on the side of taking God too seriously. If we are prone to make a mistake, it’s to approach God with a lack of reverence and sincerity. 

How do you think these priests approached God after going through all the steps required in Exodus 29? After all the death that they had to experience, surely they were just thankful to be alive in His presence! The priests likely had a better understanding of the importance and power of their God. He isn’t someone who is just there to serve their purposes. He’s a holy God who wants His children to live holy lives. How then should we approach God today? We, too, only get to approach the throne because we’ve been sprinkled with blood. Hebrews 10:19-23 says it best: “Brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Let’s take our God seriously today because He went so far as to die so that we could access Him.

Questions
  1. What were your feelings while reading this chapter
  2. How do you think this process changed the way the priests saw God/themselves?
  3. What keeps you from approaching God with the honor, reverence, and sincerity that He deserves?
  4.  
Did You Know?

According to historical and archaeological evidence, the leavening process was invented in Egypt. So, the eating of unleavened bread by the priests symbolized a rejection of Egypt and its values.

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4 thoughts on “Exodus 29”

  1. Reading this chapter can leave one overwhelmed! Consecrating Aaron and his sons to serve as priests before holy God was a tedious task. The carefully prepared garments would be placed on their shoulders to ordain them for sacred service. Can you imagine the heaviness/burden they must have felt knowing the huge responsibility of representing the people before God? Then the slaughter, blood & burning required for the sin offering to purify and atone for the sin of the people? Carrying out God’s instructions was not without reward as he declares he will meet with them and the place would be consecrated by his glory! God goes to great lengths to DWELL with them. He did the same for you and me when his beloved Son spilled his blood to cover our sins. My response to so great a love is to consecrate my life to serving and sharing and dwelling with him. It’s the greatest privilege of my life.

  2. I have a better understanding of what it means when we say ‘by the blood of Jesus’. Jesus’ blood sprinkled on us consecrates us – this informs us that we have worth and value in the kingdom of God, simply because he made us sacred and not by our own actions.

  3. “Note, that these garments were provided for them. They were at no expense in buying them, nor labor in weaving them, nor skill in making them; they had simply to put them on. And you, dear child of God, are to put on the garments which Jesus Christ has provided for you, at his own cost, and freely bestows upon you out of boundless love.” (Spurgeon)
    (I read it and could not help but share it😙)

  4. Verse 31 “Take the ram for the ordination and cook the meat in a sacred place.
    I am asking, “where is the sacred place for cooking the ram for ordination? is it different then the altar?”

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