The Instructions of the Holy Priests

INTRO

God gave Moses instructions for building and equipping the tabernacle. He commanded Moses to set aside Aaron and his sons as priests and to make the priestly garments they were to wear as they served at the tabernacle. Now God explained how to consecrate the priests to serve Him.

TEACHING

Exodus 29:1–4: Before Aaron and his sons could serve as priests before God, they had to be consecrated. To be consecrated means to be set apart, to be made sacred for the specific purpose of serving God. First, Moses had to gather a young bull, two unblemished rams, unleavened bread, cakes, and wafers made from fine wheat flour. He then brought Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting where they were washed with water. Nelson’s commentary pointed out that bathing the priests “symbolized the necessity of cleanness before the Lord. Bathing was a rare luxury in the desert of Sinai.”¹

Sin was represented in the Bible in many ways. Isaiah 1:4–6 said disease and sickness represented sin. In the New Testament, darkness and death represented sin. Isaiah 1:16 equated dirt with sin and urged people to wash and cleanse themselves from their evil deeds. In future lessons, the laver will be revealed as a basin where the priests washed their hands and feet before ministering to God. Much later, Jesus said that those who had once bathed completely would then need to clean just certain parts (John 13:10).

Exodus 29:5–7: The priests were washed and clothed. Baptism symbolizes being washed and then putting on the robe of righteousness. When our sins are forgiven, we put on new clothes! Jesus is the One who delivers us from our sin so we can come before the Lord. Next the priests were anointed by pouring anointing oil over their heads (Psalm 133:2–3). In the Old Testament, the anointing came to the priests, the prophets, and the kings. The anointing was “a symbol that God granted them the Holy Spirit for power and service.”²

In Luke 4:17–18, Jesus quoted prophecy from Isaiah to reveal that He was anointed as the high priest to serve and do God’s work. You don’t have to be a priest from the Old Testament to be anointed! You have already been anointed! We are the holy priesthood today! Scripture says when you believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the oil has been poured out on your head. In 1 John 2:20, 27, believers are told they have been anointed by the Holy One. The anointing doesn’t leave us and can be trusted to teach us all truth.

This priesthood pointed to the Messiah as the High Priest and also to us as the new holy priesthood. The oil was a symbol of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would come and go. Numbers 11:29 revealed the people in the Old Testament longed for the Holy Spirit. But the Spirit only comes to people through the Messiah and allows them to walk in the empowerment of the priesthood.

Exodus 29:8–9: After anointing Aaron, Moses clothed Aaron and his sons with the tunics, sashes, and headbands. They were then permanently appointed to the priesthood. The word “ordain” meant “to fill one’s hands, to empower.” Nelson’s commentary pointed out that kings were empowered when they filled his hands with the rod “as the symbol of his political power.”³

Exodus 29:10–12: After the priests were washed, clothed, and anointed, they were forgiven.⁴Aaron and his sons made a sin offering by laying their hands on the head of the bull, which was then slaughtered at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Moses applied some of the bull’s blood to the horns of the altar and poured out the remaining blood at the base of the altar. Nelson’s commentary emphasized that Moses wasn’t just throwing out the extra blood—everything Moses did was intentional and important.⁵

Exodus 29:13–14: The fat portions and the kidneys of the bull were burned on the altar, but its flesh, hide, and dung were burned outside the camp. As you read about the burning of these things, keep in mind that Jesus became our sin offering, our sacrifice. In Isaiah 53, a chapter many Jews won’t even read, we learn that Jesus bore our sickness (v. 4) and was pierced for our transgressions (v. 5). Jesus was punished because of our sin (v. 6–7); He was our sin offering. When we turn to Him, we are healed by His wounds (v. 5).

In Matthew 26:28, Jesus said, “This is my blood that . . . is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” His life was the portrayal of the sin offering the priests had to offer every day. God “made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21a). This sin offering the priests offered every single day pointed to Jesus, who is our sin offering once and for all (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus Christ set us free from our sins by His blood (Revelation 1:5–6).

Exodus 29:15–18: Next Aaron and his sons made a fire offering to the Lord. They laid their hands on the first ram, slaughtered it, sprinkled its blood on all sides of the altar, and then cut the ram into pieces, washed them, and burned the whole ram on the altar, which produced a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Wiersbe said the priests had been washed, clothed, anointed, forgiven, and now they were being dedicated.⁶

Exodus 29:19–21: After Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the second ram, it was slaughtered, and its blood was placed on their right earlobes, right thumbs, and right big toes. Wiersbe said now the priests were marked with blood⁷Nelson’s commentary offered this insight: Anointing of the ear represented hearing of the Word of God; anointing the thumb represented doing the work of God; and anointing the feet represented walking out the will of God.⁸The remaining blood was sprinkled on the altar. Some of that blood was mixed with oil and then sprinkled on Aaron and his sons’ bodies and garments to make them holy (v. 21).

Jesus was marked by the blood. And when we embrace Him, then we too are marked by the blood. We are allowed to enter His presence because we are marked by His blood. Romans 12:1 tells us to present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, as our spiritual act of worship.

Exodus 29:22–25: Wiersbe said the priests were then fed. Aaron and his sons held portions of the ram along with one loaf of bread, one cake of bread, and one wafer of unleavened bread, and waved them as a presentation offering for the Lord, which signified, “God is My provider!” In John 4:34, Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me”. As priests today, we must never stop feeding from the Lord, tasting, and seeing that He is good!

Exodus 29:26-46: To complete their consecration, every day for seven days, the priests sacrificed a bull as a sin offering to atone for their sins and to purify the altar (vv. 35–37). Then as priests, they offered a lamb every morning and at twilight (vv. 39-41). Each day they ministered before God by beginning and ending the day with sacrifice.

CLOSING

Wouldn’t that be cool if we focused on the sacrifice Christ made for us in the morning when we woke up and at night when we went to sleep? Thank You, Jesus, for delivering me. Then we might realize that as the holy priesthood, we’ve been washed, clothed, anointed, forgiven, dedicated, marked by the blood, and fed.