Exodus 29:29-46 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage, Exodus 29:29-46, is filled with good lessons for us. Let’s go!
Exodus 29:29-30 (NIV)
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.
On verses 29-30: I learn two lessons from these verses. First, notice that when God was commissioning Aaron as high priest, He already had Aaron’s successor in mind. God plans for the long-term. His focus is not only on what is happening now in this generation, but the generations after that. We would be wise to plan the way God plans: don’t think only about what is urgent and immediate, but also think long-term and about the next generation when planning for the future.
Second, Aaron’s successor was supposed to wear Aaron’s clothes for 7 days straight. This was so that Aaron’s successor could get used to his new role as high priest, and also the people could get used to seeing Aaron’s successor in this new role. What’s the lesson? People need time to adjust to change, so be patient with others and patient with yourself when you’re facing new circumstances.
Exodus 29:31-35 (NIV)
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.
On verses 31-35: The same ram that was offered for Aaron’s ordination would need to be eaten by Aaron was well (v32-33). I believe there’s a lesson here: Remember that Jesus is our ordination ram who was sacrificed so that we could be priests who serve God. Not only do we need Jesus’ blood to cover us, but we also need Jesus in us. With verses 32-33 in mind, we can better appreciate Jesus’ words when he (shockingly) tells us to eat his flesh in John 6:53-56:
53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. “
To eat Jesus’ flesh means to believe in Him, to trust in His sacrifice for our forgiveness and salvation. When we are covered by the blood of our ordination ram called Jesus and “eat His flesh” (i.e. believe in Jesus as Saviour), we take that first step into our calling as priests in God’s kingdom.
Exodus 29:36-37 (NIV)
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.
On verses 36-37: In verse 36 Moses is told to make atonement for the priests by sacrificing a bull each day to atone for their sins (v36a) and then to purify the altar by “making atonement for” the altar where the priests will be serving. Why make atonement for the altar when the altar didn’t sin? It’s worth nothing that the Hebrew word for making “atonement” (kapar) for the altar is different from the Hebrew word for making “atonement” (kippur’) for the priests. Even so, God wanted the altar to somehow be purified.
What can we learn from this? Perhaps a lesson here is that God doesn’t only want His priests like you and me to be holy and blameless, but He wants the process that priests use, the way we offer sacrifices to God, to be holy and blameless too. God cares not just about what we do but how we do it.
Exodus 29:38-43 (NIV)
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 fine 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, an offering made to the LORD by fire.
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.
On verses 38-43: The LORD tells Moses and the Israelites to offer a morning sacrifice and an evening sacrifice every day. That sacrifice was to be a burnt offering (v42), that is, an offering simply for the purpose of giving worship and praise to God. The LORD promises that there at the Tent of Meeting, as daily and evening sacrifices were being made, He would meet Moses and the Israelites and speak to Moses.
What can we learn from this?
1. God made us to have a daily relationship with Him where we give Him our worship and praise, where we meet with Him and hear Him speak to us. Like the evening and morning sacrifices, I encourage you to begin and end each day by looking to God and giving Him thanks and worship. When you wake up in the morning, say, “Good morning, Father. Thank You for today. I commit myself to You.” Before you go to sleep, thank God for the good things you got to experience that day. It’s about training yourself to – even for a moment – begin and end each day with Jesus.
2. God likes it two-way. When we are offering regular sacrifices to God, it is there that God loves to speak to us. It’s a two way relationship. If all we do is go to church to spectate, to consume but not to give or sacrifice, we won’t experience much of God.
Exodus 29:44-46 (NIV)
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.
On verses 44-46: Notice the sequence: when sacrifices are made for the consecration (setting apart of) the Tent of Meeting, the altar and Aaron and his sons, then God dwells among the Israelites. What can we learn from this? First consecration, then occupation. Before our holy God will occupy any place, including any heart, that place needs to be consecrated and purified. Praise God! When our sins separated us from God, Jesus came and died on the cross to atone for our sins. By placing our trust not in what we do but in what Jesus did on the cross for us, we are covered in the blood of Jesus, our hearts are consecrated and purified, and God comes by His Holy Spirit to dwell in us.
Heavenly Father, thank You how You had both our eternity as well as our every day in mind when You planned for Your Son Jesus to die on the cross for us. Thank You that through His blood we have access to Your presence every day and for eternity. Thank You Jesus for being our ordination ram, whose blood covers us and whose flesh we can “eat”, so that we can be set apart as priests to serve You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
