Exodus 29:1-46 – “Set Apart to Serve”
I.) Intro.
As most of you know, Tom was recently ordained as a Pastor here at Calvary Chapel. I imagine that as the Lord tarries, we will see more people go through the steps to become ordained. What we have before us this morning in the 29th chapter of Exodus is God’s instructions for the ordination of His servants at the tabernacle. Again, notice how exact God is in what He tells Moses to do in ordaining the priests. As we read this chapter, Moses becomes a type of Jesus as He, through the ordination ceremony, equips Aaron and his sons for service.
Now, my first reaction to this is to think of the awesome privilege it is to serve and what promises I would be making to the Lord as I was about to serve Him. In fact, if you have ever gone to a dedication service, then you know that those who come forward do so, promising to do better. But in this dedication service, though the priests come forward, it is God who does everything for the priests. This fact is clearly seen in this chapter by counting the 43 times the words “You shall do to” appear. These words speak of what God was having Moses do on behalf of Him to Aaron and his sons. You see, God is telling Moses that He has already done everything necessary for the priests to serve. Simply put, this ordination was to remind them that they stand before God and the people not based on what they have done or will ever do, but rather on what God has done. I pray none of us will ever forget this powerful truth.
II.) Vs. 1-3 What I’ve Done for Them
Vs. 1-3 The ceremony that was to be carried out was quite elaborate and took a week to complete. In Leviticus chapter eight, we see it mentioned again, but here we are told of the purpose, “to hallow them for ministering to Me as priests.” The ingredients that were to be provided for the service were one young bull, two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread and cakes.
Now, as I said last week, the priest’s primary responsibility was to serve the Lord and the way in which he did so was to recognize that his whole life was set apart for that purpose. What we fail to realize ourselves is that you and I are called to the same thing. Our calling is to serve the Lord; now the location of where you do that may be different. Some of you may do that at an office, others in your home, but the truth of the matter is that you are called to serve the Lord no matter where you are. We are far too much inclined to think of Pastors as the only ones who have a call on their lives, but we all have a call to serve the Lord.
Allow me to show you an overview of this ceremony:
- 28:1 Aaron and his sons were “taken” from among the nation.
- 29:4 They were “brought” to the door of the tabernacle.
- 29:4 They were “washed” there at the door.
- 29:5-9 They were “clothed” with the garments described in chapter 28.
- 29:7, 21 They were “anointed” with oil and blood.
- 29:10-14 They were “forgiven” by the sacrifice of the bull upon the altar.
- 29:15-22 They were “dedicated” by the sacrificing of the two rams.
- 29:23-28 Their hands were “filled” and they were “fed.”
The outcome of all of this was that in verse 44, God declares them as being set apart. But what is it that they did to deserve such a blessing? In all of the weeklong ceremony, they did absolutely nothing! Not once will you read in this passage of Aaron and his sons doing anything; rather, it is all being done to them. They were called to serve, but before they ever served, they were shown the basis of their service—what the Lord has done!
So what’s my point? Well, this flies in the face of all the normal thinking that Pastors or leaders have done something to get to where they are. The consecration of you and I has nothing to do with what we have done. No, it has everything to do with us appropriating what God has done. All that we do is rest upon the finished work of Christ. Titus 3:5-6 (N.L.T.) says, “He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did.”
Not once do we read that they promised anything; instead, they went through a ceremony that was designed to show them that they were to serve the Lord and the nation based on what God had done for them! Folks, whatever else you will discover about this ceremony, do not forget this point: we never come to God based on what we do, who we are, or what we promise in the future. No, we come to Him empty, just as we are, and allow Him to do everything. It is only in this that we are set apart for service!
III.) Vs. 4-9 Washed, Clothed & Anointed
Now, as I look at this, I see six distinct aspects of this ordination, and all of them point to what Christ has done for us, as well as remind us of how we should respond towards the Lord and others.
Vs. 4 Now you will remember that this was a public ceremony, and the location of this took place at the door of the tabernacle, so it took place before they entered on behalf of the people.
1.) Vs. 4 They were stripped down and washed!
When you take a bath or shower, you do so because you are dirty and the water takes away the dirt. In the Bible, sin is depicted as dirt or defilement. So what is it that Jesus has done for us? In 1 Corinthians 6:11 we read that “now our sins have been washed away, and you have been set apart for God. You have been made right with God because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you.”
So when Aaron and his sons were washed all over, it was symbolic of the complete cleansing of the Lord. It is interesting to note that this was only done once at the priest’s ordination; after this, they needed only to wash their hands and feet. Remember the words of Jesus to Peter at his reluctance at having Jesus wash his feet? Jesus said this: “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you are clean.” Once Jesus has cleansed us, all that we need to make sure of is that what we do (our hands) and where we go (our feet) are washed through the word of God.
Now, if my memory serves me right, we did not do this at Tom’s ordination, so perhaps we need to have him come forward now? Seriously, what response would you have to being stripped down and bathed by someone else in front of thousands of people? In a word, “humbling”! Now think about that for a moment and it makes sense. God wanted these priests to remember two things before they went in to serve in the tabernacle:
- They were washed from sin. Not by themselves, but rather by the work of another!
- They were not cleansed from sin by their own goodness. No, they were laid naked before one who knows them completely, so they ought to always be humble as they go into the tabernacle.
Oh, may we never forget the truths of this in our lives! Folks, we are no better than anyone else; in fact, we know our own unworthiness better than anyone else, thus we ought to serve each other not through “selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” We stand before the Lord as cleansed sinners, so our attitude ought to always be one of humility!
2.) Vs. 5-6, 8-9 They were clothed
Now, notice two things here:
- They did not clothe themselves; they were instead clothed by Moses. We are told in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that God made Jesus “who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” You see, God has clothed us in Christ.
- The clothes they wore were not their own! They were the clothes designed by God. So, not only do we not dress ourselves, but we are also not dressed in our own clothes or righteousness. If we did, it would be filthy rags.
So, think of this for a moment. When you do some good work for the Lord, you can say, “I did not do this; God did, and furthermore, what was good was not mine but rather His!” Clothes speak of the character of the believer, and what is good about us has everything to do with what He has done. Paul admonishes the believers of this fact in Philippians 4:8 when he says, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
3.) Vs. 7, 21 They were anointed
Now, they were anointed with two things: the oil and the blood. Furthermore, they were anointed with the same two items that the tabernacle was anointed with. Thus, the servant was forever linked with the place of service.
- Vs. 7 The oil: In chapter 30:23-25, we are told of what the anointing oil was to be made out of: “myrrh, cinnamon, cane, cassia, and olive oil.” This would have been very fragrant oil. It was poured over the head so that it dripped off of the beard and onto the breastplate with the engraved stones of the tribes of the nation. So? Well, oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, and we read in 2 Corinthians 2:14 that “God always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” That through us is the work of the Holy Spirit in your life diffusing the knowledge of Jesus everywhere we go, specifically to those whom God has called us to serve.
- Vs. 21 The blood: What makes this interesting is where the blood was to be placed on the priests—on the right ear, the thumb of their right hand, and the big toe of their right foot. God was giving them three vivid pictures of what He was anointing through the blood of the innocent ram. He was setting apart “who they listen to, what they put their hands to work on, and where they were to walk.” Or, if you will, God wanted to remind them that they must always listen to His word, do His work, and walk in His way.
IV.) Vs. 10-21 Forgiven, Dedicated & Marked
4.) Vs. 10-14 They knew they were forgiven of the past, present, and future through the death of an innocent victim.
Here we are told of a bull being offered as a sin offering on their behalf. This is the first time we read of Aaron and his sons doing anything—they were to place their hands on the head of the bull, thus identifying themselves with the innocent victim. In fact, they would repeat this two more times with the rams. The animals had to be chosen from the best that they had to offer, and they had to be in the prime of their lives. They then symbolically transferred their sin to the bull. This would be repeated each day for a week (verse 36-37). It was like saying, “I have failed to give you my best, so this animal is dying for my failure.”
Folks, we too need to realize that we fail, and based upon His shed blood, we are forgiven. When they placed their hands on that bull confessing their sins, the bull was going to die because of their failure. Then they would see it butchered before their eyes, blood placed upon the altar. The flesh of the animal was taken outside the camp and burned. For the next seven days, the same thing would take place. I’m a failure, and my failure has cost the life of the only begotten Son—that’s the only basis of forgiveness today!
5.) Vs. 15-21 They were completely dedicated to the Lord through the death of another.
Here we see that the animal was completely offered to the Lord. This is a picture of total surrender, but again, it is of another’s surrender on our behalf. Again, our complete dedication to the Lord is because His Son has completely dedicated Himself to us! It is interesting that the burning of these animals was not seen as destruction, but rather a sweet aroma before the Lord.
V.) Vs. 22-37 A Life of Celebration
6.) Vs. 22-37 They were fed while they had empty hands.
Here is the last thing they had to do—they had to eat that which had given its life for their nourishment. Notice first that they came in with empty hands, that is to say that they had nothing to offer, and what they had to offer first came from the Lord. So, they would offer it back to the Lord in thanksgiving. Once it was waived before the Lord, the fat, two kidneys, and the right thigh were placed upon the altar and burnt while the priests sat down and ate the meal before the Lord. In a way, they were sharing a meal with the Lord, so fellowship was being provided by way of what another had given. Folks, you and I enjoy fellowship with God because of what His Son has sacrificed. For a week, all of this was repeated—the tabernacle became home for the priests as they ate with the Lord each day, and each day saw the animals sacrificed for their failure.
VI.) Vs. 38-46 A Life of Service
Vs. 38-43 During the weeklong ordination, the priests stayed in the tabernacle (Leviticus 9:33-36). When the week ended, they were put right into service. Their service was to offer two lambs a day—one in the morning and one in the evening. So, every day started and ended with the Lord, recognizing that it was because of the death of an innocent lamb that their sins were forgiven. In placing flour, oil, wine, and grain, they were recognizing that their sustenance came through the Lord’s provision and sacrifice. We too need to see that all of every day belongs to the Lord as He has provided all that we need to sustain our lives!
Vs. 44-46 God leaves no doubt as to His acceptance of their service as they applied His provisions! Folks, the work has all been done by Him; all we have to do is apply it to our lives. The reason for setting us apart is so that “I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God.” Also, He wants them to realize that He has been faithful so they can continue to trust in Him. May we continue to praise the Lord for all that He has done for us!