EXODUS LESSON 49

    We will begin this lesson in Exodus 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,"

    We see that God not only set Aaron and his sons aside to minister
in the temple, but they were to be consecrated to the Lord by
ceremony. This calling by Almighty God was to be consecrated by the
shedding of blood. Moses was to consecrate Aaron and his sons. The
garments were part of this consecration. These linen garments, that
they were to take on, were symbolic of righteousness. The most
important thing a priest had to be, was to be in right standing with
God.

    Exodus 29:2 "And unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered
with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: [of] wheaten flour
shalt thou make them."

    "Unleavened bread" is symbolic of the body of the Lord Jesus
Christ. "Unleavened" means free from sin.  "Oil" is symbolic of the
Holy Spirit of God. We might say that not only does a minister of God
need Jesus in his life, but he needs the Holy Spirit, as well.  This
is not a maybe, but a must. The "wheat" is symbolic of the believers
in Jesus Christ. You know, the Scripture says, let the wheat
(Christians) and the tares (unsaved) grow together until the end.
This unleavened bread is Jesus' sinless body.  The adding of the oil
to the bread shows the Holy Spirit strengthening.  Jesus' body is the
bread.

    Exodus 29:3 "And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring
them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams."  Exodus 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."
Exodus 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:"

    A sin offering which was not associated with a burnt offering had
never before been done before this consecration.  This was a specific
offering (a blood offering).  This bullock would bear the sins of
Aaron and his sons. This is like Jesus bearing the sins of the
Christians. When the sin was symbolically laid upon the head of the
bullock, then Moses slew the bullock. This bullock actually was killed
by Moses (a shadow of God, in this instance).  Jesus actually bore our
sins and died on the cross to do away with the sin He had taken on
Himself. The Scriptures even say, "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise
him...", Isaiah 53:10. We see, here, Moses shedding this blood of the
bullock for the sins of Aaron and his sons. For a minister of God to
be acceptable to God, he must first get forgiveness for his own sins.
The next step, after repenting and being forgiven, is to be baptized. We
see, here, Moses washed them and made them ready for the new garments.
Aaron and his sons had to put on the righteousness of Christ (linen
garments).

    This brazen altar just inside the curtain was where the bullock
(sin offering) was killed and the blood put on the horns of the altar.
These horns represented power of the altar; the power of the shed blood.
We read in Matthew 26:28 a comparison, "For this is my blood of the
new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." You
can easily see this shedding of the bullock's blood was symbolic of
Jesus shedding His blood for our sins.

    The ram was for a burnt offering.  This whole offering was burnt
up. After the ram was killed, Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar
round about. The altar was completely consecrated to God.  This blood
was put all around the altar and all over it, showing that the only way
to God is through Jesus Christ.  Jesus had to die to make the way to
God open for us. He opened the way to the Holy of Holies for us.
Through His death, we have life. We see, in this, the blood will be
applied to the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe
of his right foot.  The blood on the right ear consecrated the hearing
of Aaron and his sons. The blood on the right hand indicated the
handling of God's works being consecrated.  The blood on the big toe
meant his walk would be with God. The ministers of God must take
notice. We must walk the Godly path, we must do the Godly work, and we
must allow only Godly things to enter into our ears. We will find, in
the ram offering, the total submission to God's will. A total
separation from worldliness of all kinds. The process, now again, is
repentance, baptism, separation, put on the righteousness of Christ,
and then put upon the minister the responsiblities of the congregation
(with the garment and ephod, breastplate, and girdle).

    Exodus 29:6 "And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put
the holy crown upon the mitre."

    We see, here, that the Holiness of the Lord must be put into the
mind of the minister of God, and then the authority (crown) is put on.

    Exodus 29:7 "Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour [it]
upon his head, and anoint him."

    This was covering him with the Holy Spirit (oil) of God.

    Exodus 29:8 "And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon
them." Exodus 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."

    The "consecration" was the same for the priest as for the high
priest. The difference was in the garments they wore and in their
authority.

    Exodus 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."  Exodus 29:11 "And thou
shalt kill the bullock before the LORD, [by] the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation." Exodus 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."

    We see, again, the way is the same for every one.  The way is
through the shed blood of Jesus.

    Exodus 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."

    This was actually the insides of this ram.  We see that the inward
parts would be burned on the altar of bronze, and the other part would
be taken out of the camp. This fat, kidneys, and other inward parts
were burned as a sweet savour unto the Lord.  The spiritual meaning to
this, perhaps, had to do with the inward parts of the Lord being holy, as
well as the outward. We can see in all of this, that inside where
battles are really won, that Jesus' will became the will of the
Father.

    Exodus 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."

    We see in this, Jesus being crucified without the city wall.  This
flesh was symbolic of the body of Jesus Christ.

    Exodus 29:15  "Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his
sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram."

    We see, in this, the altar being cleansed by the blood.  Aaron and
his sons had transferred their sins to this ram, when they laid their
hands upon his head.

    Exodus 29:16 "And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his
blood, and sprinkle [it] round about upon the altar." Exodus 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."
Exodus 29:18 "And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it
[is] a burnt offering unto the LORD: it [is] a sweet savour, an
offering made by fire unto the LORD."

    We see above, the examination and cleansing of the offering.
Jesus was without blemish.  The offering was acceptable unto God. This
was a sweet savour to God.

    Exodus 29:19  "And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and
his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram."  Exodus
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."

    We discussed this earlier, but perhaps, should discuss, again, that
the putting of the blood on the right ear was to consecrate the
hearing. These ears would be very careful what came into this being.
We believers' ears have been purchased by the shed blood of Jesus. We
should not listen to anything that would not be pleasing unto God.
This includes not listening to temptation of any kind. By the shed
blood of Jesus, we have ears that have been set aside to hear only the
things of God. 
   
     The right hand, throughout Scripture, indicates power.  The priestly
 hand had been consecrated to handle gifts of the temple.  They were told of God to touch no unclean thing.  We, Christians, as we put our hand to the 
task, must remember that our hand belongs to God.  Even as we do the daily tasks of this life, they should be done as unto the Lord. I believe this is telling us, that we must not have two lives, but one. Whatever we do for a living, if we are Christians, should, also, be dedicated to God.

    Putting the blood on the great toe of the right foot can only mean that
our every step should be guided by God.  We should not ever go anywhere that
we could not take the Lord.  I believe this is telling us that the path of
righteousness is to be the day-by-day walk of the Christian: a separated walk, a consecrated walk, a walk Jesus can go with you.

    Exodus 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."

    Here, we see not only the body consecrated, but everything that
belonged to him. We, Christians, must realize that even our garments must
be dedicated to God. God does not want just a portion of us. He wants
all of us. To be a minister, or even a witness for God, we must be
dedicated to Him with all that we have. Even the way we dress should
show who we belong to. We can witness without ever opening our mouth,
in the way we dress, and act, and conduct our daily lives. They were
made holy by the blood, just as we are made holy unto the Lord by His
shed blood.
















                          Exodus 49 Questions

1.  Why was Moses to hallow Aaron and his sons?
2.  How were they to be consecrated?
3.  The linen garments were symbolic of what?
4.  What type of bread was used?
5.  What type of flour was used?
6.  What is unleavened bread symbolic of?
7.  Oil is symbolic of what?
8.  Wheat is symbolic of what?
9.  Jesus' ------------- is the bread.
10. What was the bread brought with?  (two things)
11. What was Moses to do first, after they were brought to the brazen
    altar?
12. What did this symbolize?
13. What would this bullock bear?
14. What is the first thing a minister of God must do before he or she
    is acceptable to God?
15. What is the next step?
16. What did putting on the new garments mean?
17. What do the horns of the altar mean?
18. What was the blood of the bullock symbolic of?
19. Why was this blood put all around the altar?
20. Through His death, we have ------------.
21. What three places on Aaron's body would the blood be put?
22. Why?
23. What did putting on of the mitre and crown show us?
24. Why did Moses pour oil on them?
25. What was to be done with the inward parts of the bullock?
26. This burnt offering was a --------  --------unto the Lord.
27. The right hand, in Scripture indicated what?
28. What portion of our life, if we are a Christian, should be
    dedicated to God?