Notes on Exodus 29

Exo 29:1 And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest's office: Take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish,
Exo 29:2 And unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shalt thou make them.
Exo 29:3 And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams.
Exo 29:4 And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water.

We see here that ordinary people who do not come and become cleansed, dedicated and consecrated to the Lord's service cannot perform the duties of a priest. We see that Aaron and his sons had to be called of God, sanctified by God and cleansed by the Lord. A sacrifice of bullocks had to be made. They had to be cleansed from sin and made worthy to serve at the altar of the Lord.

This points us to the one to come who would be a perfect sacrifice and remove the sins not only of those that serve at the altar of the Lord but the sins of the ordinary, everyday person could be cleansed. This was accomplished in Jesus. Jesus fulfilled all the law in all points making Himself the perfect sacrifice for sins. Now the priesthood is no longer needed as all of us can come to God through Jesus Christ. The law was never meant to save but to show us how we have sinned and how much we need a savior from sin.

Here is the words of Finis Dake on the law:

"The law ends in Christ who fulfilled it by being the real sacrifice of which the law sacrifices were merely typical. (Eph 2:14-15; Col 2:14-17; Heb 8:5: 10:1). It cannot save, but condemns, making the sinner realize his need of salvation. Christ is the end of the law of sacrifices, types, rituals and outward religion which foreshadowed Him and the spiritual realities of the New Testament."

When we attempt to put back what Christ took away, we are making a big mistake and making the sacrifice of Jesus of no avail.

Exo 29:5 And thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod:
Exo 29:6 And thou shalt put the miter upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the miter.
Exo 29:7 Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.
Exo 29:8 And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them.
Exo 29:9 And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them: and the priest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons.
Exo 29:10 And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock.
Exo 29:11 And thou shalt kill the bullock before the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Exo 29:12 And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.
Exo 29:13 And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar.
Exo 29:14 But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.
Exo 29:15 Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.
Exo 29:16 And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar.
Exo 29:17 And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head.
Exo 29:18 And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Exo 29:19 And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.
Exo 29:20 Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.
Exo 29:21 And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him.

We now see the need at that time for blood to be shed. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. This typifies the time when Jesus shed His blood to save the sins of all mankind.

Exo 29:22 Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of consecration:
Exo 29:23 And one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the LORD:
Exo 29:24 And thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons; and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the LORD.
Exo 29:25 And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor before the LORD: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

All these things were necessary to show us how serious sin is and how much we need a cleansing from sin. If they had to go through all this even though they were chosen of God, now much more would we have to do to be saved from sin if it wasn't for the coming of Christ? There would have been no way to be saved from sin. People do not realize how serious sin is and how it has to be done away with before we can possibly enter heaven. Since there is no power over sin in the natural man, God had to bring forth one to live without sin and yet die for the penalty of sin. This was His Son, Jesus.

Until we realize that we have sinned and are under the judgment of sin, we can't really understand our need for Jesus Christ. We have to first see that we are sinners in need of a savior. If we neglect this savior from sin, there remains no other way to be saved. We will then die in our sins and be separated from God forever in a place called hell. No matter how we try to water that message down, it doesn't change the message. We are lost and on our way to hell without Jesus Christ.

Exo 29:26 And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD: and it shall be thy part.
Exo 29:27 And thou shalt sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons:
Exo 29:28 And it shall be Aaron's and his sons' by a statute forever from the children of Israel: for it is a heave offering: and it shall be a heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the LORD.
Exo 29:29 And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them.
Exo 29:30 And that son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place.
Exo 29:31 And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place.
Exo 29:32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Exo 29:33 And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.
Exo 29:34 And if aught of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
Exo 29:35 And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them.
Exo 29:36 And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it.
Exo 29:37 Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.
Exo 29:38 Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually.
Exo 29:39 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even:
Exo 29:40 And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering.
Exo 29:41 And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Exo 29:42 This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.
Exo 29:43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.

God could not come into their midst without them being spiritually prepared or the fire of God would consume them. They had to be set apart and make clean. Sanctification is the setting apart something or someone for God's service. It is also a cleansing because we are made clean through the word and faith in Christ. We too become sanctified or set apart for the service of God. This should all happen at conversion but sometimes we hold back something from the Lord and it takes some of us longer to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. We should be baptized when we first accept Jesus Christ and come to Him for cleansing and forgiveness of sin. It is us that holds back on God. Some of us take longer than others to really surrender ourselves to Jesus completely. Some of us unfortunately stop at water baptism and think that is salvation never going on to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Even then we should never stop seeking the face of God and the study of His word. It is not a one time thing. Just as the disciples were constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit and being revived, we too need to be full of the spirit daily.

Exo 29:44 And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest's office.
Exo 29:45 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.
Exo 29:46 And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the LORD their God.

Just as all these types were given to Israel so that God can dwell among them, this is done to all who would receive by faith in Jesus Christ. When we come to Christ, our sins are washed away by His blood. We are then able to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. God is literally dwelling within us when the Holy Spirit enters into us.

This is just part of our inheritance and just the beginning. At the second return of Jesus Christ, when all sin and rebellion will be done away with, God Himself will come to dwell with men. This was God's plan all the time. He wants to dwell with His creation. Sin separated us. The rebellion and sin of Israel separated them from God's indwelling in the wilderness. Sin separates us now but Jesus came to give us the only way back to God.