Read Exodus 29
Consecration of the Priests
1 “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. 2 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. 3 Put them in a basket and present them along with the bull and the two rams. 4 Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water.5 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. 6 Put the turban on his head and attach the sacred emblem to the turban. 7 Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head. 8 Bring his sons and dress them in tunics 9 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
- What were your feelings while reading this chapter?
- How do you think this process changed the way the priests saw God/themselves?
- What keeps you from approaching God with the honor, reverence, and sincerity that He deserves?
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.
6 thoughts on “Exodus 29”
After reading all the details on how the priests are supposed to go through atonement, verse 46 stood out to me- And they shall know that I am the LORD their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.
God wanted His people clean so He could dwell with them.
The communion from yesterday has taken on a new meaning.
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.“
Lots of odd rituals being prescribed in this chapter. The Israelites were likely perplexed. But when you have God dwelling among you, you do what He says and don’t ask questions!
Back to details
God details the consecration process with a seriousness because He wants to have the covenant relationship with us. This is a reminder of the costliness of sin, the necessity of atonement and how beautiful God’s redemptive plan is for us. God layed it all out to the utmost detail so the evil one could not come and say but You forgot “blank”. God wants us more than we can know. Holiness, sacrfice, and Jesus as our mediator. He fulfilled them all. Now it is our turn to endeavor to strive to also be holy, we have to sacrifice (food, wants, unforgivness, comforts, money, unrealistic expectations, ect) and turn our eyes toward Jesus.
God thank You for today, these minutes of this day. Thank You for me being filled the the knowledge fo Your will in all spiritual wisdom so that I can walk worthy with You, God. Thank You for helping me bear much fruit in every good work, so that I am increasing in the knowledge of Your glorious might with patience and enduranace with joy. Thank You for delivering me from darkness and transferring me to the kingdom of Your beloved Son so that I can have the redemption and forgiveness of sin. God thank You as I perserver when under attacks that I can stand the test of my faith which lets me count that as all joy. God continue to show me Your presences in all the minutes of this day, help me to glorify You. God thank for Your peace, love, joy covering my eyes to see others this way in this day and in these minutes in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow! To be honest reading this chapter brought sensory overload. Seeing animals slaughtered, hearing them bleating awaiting death, smelling fresh blood—all such a gory experience. However, I’m reminded of how heinous sin is to our holy God. It’s not something we casually explain away but is actually an affront to Him. I picture the cross Christ innocently suffered on to pay for our sins. That’s how deep the Father’s love is for us. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.
I read this chapter in awe of the details described for consecration of priests. The need for purity, sacrifice, and a complete commitment to God’s service when approaching His presence. I pray that my faith, reverence and sincerity be as honorable to my God.
What were your feelings while reading this chapter?
It was painful. lol god plz help me like reading this part of the bible better.
How do you think this process changed the way the priests saw God/themselves?
a lot. they respected god a lot and took a lot of pride in honoring god in this manner because its alot of work!
What keeps you from approaching God with the honor, reverence, and sincerity that He deserves?
maybe because jesus gave us so much and I am so blessed. I get lazy and sometimes dont fully comprehend the situation at hand. may god continue to change my heart in this.
This statement below hit me so deep. I struggle with reverence sometimes. what helps is zooming out to see how much god has done and impacted my world.
If we are prone to make a mistake, it’s to approach God with a lack of reverence and sincerity.