Exodus 29:15-28 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Exodus 29:15-28. Let’s go!
Exodus 29:15-21 (NIV)
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 sprinkle it against the altar on all sides.
17 Cut the ram into pieces and wash the inner parts 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, an offering made to the LORD by fire.
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 sprinkle blood against the altar on all sides.
21 And take some of the blood on 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.
On verses 15-21: Exodus 29:10-21 talk about three sacrifices that God tells Moses to make on behalf of Aaron, his sons and the altar they’ll be serving at. Let’s look at these 3 sacrifices now.
The first sacrifice is a sin offering (v10-14) where Moses slaughters a bull (v11), puts the blood of the bull on the horns (the tops) of the altar and pours out the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar (v12). He then burns the fat around the bull’s inner parts on the altar (v13) and takes the rest and burns it outside the camp (v14). The purpose of this first sacrifice was to pay for the sins of Aaron and his sons. Thus it was called a “sin offering”.
The second sacrifice is a burnt offering (v15-18) where Moses slaughters a ram, then sprinkles its blood on all sides of the altar (v16), cuts the ram into pieces, washes the inner parts and legs (v17) and then burns the entire ram on the altar (v18). The purpose of this burnt offering was to symbolize the giving of total worship and full devotion to God. Thus all of the ram was burned on the altar with nothing left behind.
The third sacrifice is an ordination offering (v19-21) where Moses slaughters a second ram called the “ordination ram”, puts some of its blood on the right ear, right hand and right big toe of Aaron and his sons (v20), then sprinkles all sides of the altar with the blood of that ordination ram (v20). Moses then takes some of the blood and mixes it with oil and sprinkles it on Aaron and his sons (v21). The purpose of this ordination offering was to set apart (“consecrate”) Aaron and his sons as priests to serve God (v21).
What can we learn from this?
1. Notice that all 3 sacrifices begin the same way: with Aaron and his sons placing their hands on the head of the animal being slaughtered. This would symbolize that their sins were being transferred to the animal being slaughtered and that the animal was dying in their place. The fact that this was the first step for all 3 sacrifices teaches us an important lesson: whether we want to be forgiven of our sins (the sin offering), or we want to give God total and pure worship (the burnt offering), or we want to be set apart to serve God (the ordination offering), it all begins with recognizing that someone had to die to pay for our sins.
2. Notice that the 3 different sacrifices served 3 different purposes: the first was a sin offering to atone for the sins of Aaron and his sons, the second was a burnt offering to give God total worship, and the third was an ordination offering to set apart Aaron and his sons as priests to serve God. When Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross for us, Jesus took on the role of all 3 sacrifices. First, Jesus is our sin offering. When our sins separated us from God, Jesus sacrificed Himself to pay for our sins. Also, Jesus is our burnt offering. When we had failed to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, Jesus offered His entire body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God on our behalf, giving God the total worship that we failed to give. Finally, Jesus is our ordination ram. By sacrificing Himself, Jesus made it possible for us to be set apart as priests to serve God. Jesus is our all in one, all sufficient sacrifice.
3. Notice that with these three sacrifices, the priest and the altar are each being increasingly covered in the blood of the sacrificed animals. Notice the progression:
· When the bull is sacrificed, its blood goes on the horns of the altar (the top of the altar) and is poured out at the base (the bottom of the altar)
· When the 1st ram is sacrificed, its blood is splashed on all sides of the altar (the middle of the altar)
· When the 2nd ram is sacrificed, its blood is first put on the right ear, right hand and right big toe of the priest (to signify that from head to toe the priest is being dedicated to God). Then some of its blood is also splashed against the sides of the altar. Then blood from the altar is mixed with oil and sprinkled onto the priests.
By the end of these 3 sacrifices, the priests and the altar are increasingly being covered by and united in the same blood. First, it’s the altar that is covered in blood from head to toe (from its horns to its base). Then the priests are touched with blood from head to toe. Then finally blood from the altar (together with anointing oil) is sprinkled on the priests, such that the blood that what was on the altar is now on the priest too. It’s almost as if the priest is not just witnessing the sacrifice, but in a way the priest IS the sacrifice. It’s not just that the priest uses the altar, but in a way because they’re united by the same blood, it’s as if the priest is also acting as a kind of altar himself. What can we learn from this? For me it’s a reminder that as priests we do not just offer sacrifices to God, but in many ways we are the sacrifice. Perhaps that’s why Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Exodus 29:22-28 (NIV)
22 “Take from this ram the fat, the fat tail, the fat around the inner parts, the covering 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 a loaf, and a cake made with oil, and a wafer.
24 Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and 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, an offering made to the LORD by fire.
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 regular 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.
On verses 22-28: The LORD tells Moses to take the fat of the second ram as well as the bread from the basket and put them in the hands of Aaron and his sons (v22-23) and have them wave them before the Lord as a wave offering (v24). Then Moses is to take all that fat and bread from them and burn them on the altar (v25). Notice here that God fills the hands of Aaron and his sons with things to offer Him. And then Aaron and his sons don’t even offer those things themselves; rather, Moses takes them from their hands and offers them to God on their behalf!
Likewise, since through Jesus Christ you are a priest in God’s kingdom (1 Peter 2:9-10), know that God has filled your hands with good things to offer Him. They are called your spiritual gifts. These gifts didn’t come from you. They came from God. God fills your hands with these good gifts so that you can use them to give Him glory.
And just as Moses took those good things from Aaron’s hands and offered them to God on Aaron’s behalf, so it’s not about us, in our own strength, offering what we have to God, but it’s about giving what we have in our hands to Jesus and letting Jesus do the work of offering. It’s similar to when the disciples in Matthew 14 took the little bit of bread and fish they had and gave it to Jesus, and Jesus used it to feed more people than the disciples could themselves. Similarly, our offering to God is from Jesus and through Jesus! That is why Hebrews 13:15 says “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise”.
Lord Jesus, thank You for being my all-in-one sacrifice, how You are my sin offering to atone for my sins, my burnt offering through whom I can give total worship to the Father, and my ordination offering who qualifies me to serve God. Thank You for filling my hands with good gifts that I can use to offer You worship and to expand Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
