Tag: Exodus

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 29:22-28

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“Take the fat from the ram, the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat on them, and the right thigh (since this is a ram for ordination); take one loaf of bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord; and put all of them in the hands of Aaron and his sons and present them as a presentation offering before the Lord. Take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offerings; as a pleasing aroma before the Lord; it is a food offering to the Lord. Take the breast from the ram of Aaron’s ordination and present it as a presentation offering before the Lord; it is to be your portion. Consecrate for Aaron and his sons the breast of the presentation offering that is presented and the thigh of the contribution that is lifted up from the ram of ordination. This will belong to Aaron and his sons as a regular portion from the Israelites, for it is a contribution. It will be the Israelites contribution from their fellowship sacrifices, their contribution to the Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things that is so vital to understand about the Old Testament is that all of it points to Jesus. That’s its real value. That’s its real purpose. It doesn’t tell us how to live our lives. It doesn’t tell us what we should or shouldn’t be doing. It helps us see and understand the way God worked through history in order to bring about the means of our salvation in Christ. If we understand it through any other lens, it’s not going to make the kind of sense it should. WIth this lens in mind, let’s take a look at the next part of the priestly ordination ceremony, and talk about the kind of commitment God wants us to make with Him as well as what He offers us when we do.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 29:15-21

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“Take one ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head. You are to slaughter the ram, take its blood, and splatter it on all sides of the altar. Cut the ram into pieces. Wash its entrails and legs, and place them with its head and its pieces on the altar. Then burn the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. You are to take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on the ram’s head. Slaughter the ram, take some of its blood, and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, on his sons’ right earlobes, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Splatter the remaining blood on all sides of the altar. Take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle them on Aaron and his garments, as well as on his sons and their garments. So he and his garments will be holy, as well as his sons and their garments.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Not many people experience the kind of dedication to something that allows for incredible things to happen. It takes a lot to reach that point. Whenever someone does reach this point, the results are pretty consistently extraordinary. How do you reach such a place of total dedication? It starts with a decision. At that point, there’s usually a ceremony of some sort. It could be formal. It could be very informal. But from there, the rest is just follow through. This next set of sacrifices we see are all about dedication. Let’s explore what’s happening here.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 29:10-14

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“You are to bring the bull to the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons must lay their hands on the bull’s head. Slaughter the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Take some of the bull’s blood and apply it to the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. Take all the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar. But burn the bull’s flesh, its hide, and its waste outside the camp; it is a sin offering.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When someone does something wrong, a debt is incurred. The very idea that there can be things that are wrong to do means that by doing them we owe another person or perhaps a group of people a debt of some kind. It may be a small debt resulting from a small offense, or it may be a large debt resulting from a large offense. But there is some party who was not only chiefly offended by our actions, but to whom we are sufficiently accountable that there is some measure by which they can either force us to pay the debt or can otherwise punish us until we do. This idea lies at the heart of the purification rituals God prescribes in the next several verses. Let’s explore this all in more detail here and over the next few posts.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 29:1-9

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“This is what you are to do for them to consecrate them to serve me as priests. Take a young bull and two unblemished rams, with unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers coated with oil. Make them out of fine wheat flour, put them in a basket, and bring them in the basket, along with the bull and two rams. Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water. THen take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, the robe for the ephod, the ephod itself, and the breastpiece; fasten the ephod on him with its woven waistband. Put the turban on his head and place the holy diadem on the turban. Take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him. You must also bring his sons and cloth them with tunics. Tie the sashes on Aaron and his sons and fasten headbands on them. The priesthood is to be theirs by a permanent statute. This is the way you will ordain Aaron and his sons.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I remember attending my uncle’s graduation from med school when I was growing up. It was actually a pretty cool deal. The speaker was a guy who had climbed Mount Everest and barely survived about whose experience they later made a movie. What really stood out to me, though, was that toward the end of the affair, they had all the graduates say the Hippocratic Oath together. Then, whoever was leading the ceremony pronounced them all doctors. Their schooling was absolutely necessary, of course, but the ceremony was the key to their being officially considered doctors. We have always made things official with ceremonies. The next part of the tabernacle cycle in our Exodus journey describes the ceremony by which Aaron and his sons would officially be made the priests of Israel. There is once again a lot of detail here, so let’s take it a bit at a time and see what kind of positive sense we can make out of it.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 28:39-43

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“You are to weave the tunic from fine linen, make a turban of fine linen, and make an embroidered sash. Make tunics, sashes, and headbands for Aaron’s sons to give them glory and beauty. Put these on your brother Aaron and his sons; then anoint, ordain, and consecrate them, so that they may serve me as priests. Make them linen undergarments to cover their naked bodies; they must extend from the waist to the thighs. These must be worn by Aaron and his sons whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary area, so that they do not incur guilt and die. This is to be a permanent statute for Aaron and his future descendants.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

My church hired a new youth minister when I was in 7th grade. His name was Tim, and he had an enormous impact on my faith growth and development. As part of his interview process (although, I think it was more of a formality for the sake of us kids), they let the whole youth group do a question and answer session with him. I don’t remember any of the questions save one. One girl raised her hand, and when given the floor, asked, “Boxers or briefs?” The room erupted in laughter, and everybody learned just how much fun the next couple of years were going to be. One last part of the priestly garment description here. Let’s wrap up this chapter by talking about some holy underwear.

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