“The Consecration of Israel’s Priests” (Exodus 29:1–46)

“The Consecration of Israel’s Priests” (Exodus 29:1–46)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, January 13, 2019

1. There must be a select group of people set apart as sacred from the rest of God’s people to serve as their mediator-priests (1a).

¹“This is what you are to do to consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests:

2. These mediator-priests must be sanctified (set apart as sacred) by means of a solemn ordination ceremony (1b–41).

a. Animals for offerings must be selected and prepared (1b–3).

Take a young bull and two rams without defect. ²And 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. ³Put them in a basket and present them along with the bull and the two rams.

b. The mediator-priests must be ceremonially cleansed (4).

⁴Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water.

c. The mediator-priests must wear sacred garments (5–6).

⁵Take 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. ⁶Put the turban on his head and attach the sacred emblem to the turban.

d. The mediator-priests must be anointed with oil (7).

⁷Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head.

e. The mediator-priests of Israel will come from one and only one family: Aaron’s family line from among the Levites (8–9).

⁸Bring his sons and dress them in tunics ⁹and 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.

f. A series of offerings is required to atone for the sin of the mediator-priests and consecrate them for service. (10–25).

i. A sin offering is required (10–14).

¹⁰“Bring the bull to the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. ¹¹Slaughter it in the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹²Take 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. ¹³Then 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. ¹⁴But burn the bull’s flesh and its hide and its intestines outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

ii. A whole burnt offering is required (15–18).

¹⁵“Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. ¹⁶Slaughter it and take the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar. ¹⁷Cut the ram into pieces and wash the internal organs and the legs, putting them with the head and the other pieces. ¹⁸Then 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.

iii. An ordination offering is required (19–22).

¹⁹“Take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. ²⁰Slaughter 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. ²¹And 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.)

iv. A wave offering is required (23–25).

²³From 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. ²⁴Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and have them wave them before the Lord as a wave offering. ²⁵Then 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.

g. A portion of the food offering shall be consecrated and dedicated to the mediator-priests for their provision alone (26–34).

²⁶After 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. ²⁸This 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. ³⁰The 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. ³²At 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. ³³They 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. ³⁴And 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.

h. This first solemn ordination ceremony must last seven days, with sacrifices offered on each of the seven days, so that the mediator-priests, their sacred garments, and the altar may be sanctified for use before the Lord (35–37).

³⁵“Do for Aaron and his sons everything I have commanded you, taking seven days to ordain them. ³⁶Sacrifice 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. ³⁷For seven days make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy.

i. Offerings must be offered to the Lord every day to maintain the covenant and the peoples’ relationship with the LORD (38–41).

³⁸“This is what you are to offer on the altar regularly each day: two lambs a year old. ³⁹Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight. ⁴⁰With 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. ⁴¹Sacrifice 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.

3. These sacred mediator-priests and the atoning sacrifices are required so that God and his glory may dwell among his chosen and redeemed people (42–46).

a. So that God would meet with his people and speak with them (42–44).

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; ⁴³there 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.

b. So that the LORD would dwell among his people and be their God (45).

⁴⁵Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.

c. So that the LORD would be remembered and glorified among his people as their redeemer (46).

⁴⁶They 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.

Main Idea: Our God is Holy, and our sin is infinitely offensive. As sinners, we need a mediator-priest to represent us before God, and we need sacrificial atonement so that the Lord may be our God and we may be his people.