Verses 1-3 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, 2 And unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shalt thou make them. 3 And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams.
Male sacrificial animals were used as their shed blood was a foreshadowing of the shed blood of the LORD Jesus Christ.
Leaven often represents sin in the Scriptures. Unleavened wheat products were representative of the sinless character of the LORD Jesus Christ. Only someone without sin could take the sins of the world away.
The oil was most likely olive oil and it often represents the Holy Spirit of God.
Verses 4-9 And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water. 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: 6 And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre. 7 Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him. 8 And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them. 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 washing of the priests not only removed the wilderness dirt from their skin, but was symbolic of the washing away of sin and of a type of baptism. They were to be set apart for a ministry for the one, true God and they needed to be clean, both physically and spiritually before putting on the holy garments. Note that this cleansing occurred outside the tabernacle.
Application: Before Aaron or his sons could enter the tabernacle, they had to be clean and clothed appropriately. Before believers can enter into the kingdom of God, they need to be clean from sin and clothed with righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ and through the presence of the Holy Ghost/Spirit indwelling within them.
Verses 10-14 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. 11 And thou shalt kill the bullock before the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 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. 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. 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.
The shedding of the blood of an innocent animal was done as a sin offering to the LORD. Horns often represent strength in the Bible. The altar was sanctified by Moses through the placing of the blood upon the horns of the altar and by the pouring of the blood beside the bottom of the altar.
The “caul” is thought to be a lobe of the liver of the sacrificed animal. Livers and kidneys are the organs that purify and remove the toxins from any living organism and fat tends to store those toxins that remain in the body. So the organs and fat that contain the toxins were burned upon the altar, but the rest of the animal was burned outside the camp and not on the altar. This ritual represented the purifying by fire of the polluted body parts of the animal killed. In like manner, sin is the spiritual toxin that pollutes mankind. The LORD Jesus Christ offered His body on the cross as the final blood sacrifice to remove the toxin of sin from mankind. This sacrifice was outside the city of Jerusalem just as the bullock was burned outside the place where the Hebrews were living. The whole purpose of this sacrificial system given to the Hebrews by God was to point to the day God would descend from Heaven and inhabit a body made of flesh and become the sin offering for the whole world.
Application: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” Leviticus 17:11
“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” Hebrews 9:22
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” Revelation 1:5
Under the Old Covenant with the Hebrew people, animal sacrifices were made so that blood would be shed for the remission or taking away of the sins of the people. God saw these blood sacrifices as remitting or paying for the people’s sins. Under the New Covenant where all believers today dwell, the shed blood of Jesus atones (makes us one with God), purges and washes (cleanses), provides remission (payment), and gives us eternal life. For those heretical evangelical preachers that teach that the temple system and the killing of sacrificial animals needs to return under the present day Zionist system, this writer says they need to repent of their sin and stop teaching a false doctrine. Believers today do not dwell in the Old Testament teachings and temple system. Believers today make up the spiritual temple of God and are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. Trying to bring back an Old Covenant system that God himself destroyed in order to please a people group that hates the name of Jesus and hates all Christians is saying that the killing of the only begotten Son of God was in vain. Disgusting!
Verses 15-18 Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. 16 And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar. 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. 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.
The burnt offering included all of the animal after it had been cut up and washed.
Application: Rams are male sheep. Believers are called the “sons of God” (as are angels) in the Scripture as God does not recognize male and female as being different and the Bible is written in the masculine tense. That being said, believers are like the ram of the burnt offering. They are to be a sweet savour unto the LORD. The Hebrew word for “savour” is “reyach” and it means scent, fragrance, or aroma. Believers are to be separate from the world’s system, washed clean by the shed blood of Jesus, and are to please the LORD through obedience to His word and through loving His people.
Verses 19-21 And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. 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. 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.
Aaron and his sons were to be covered with the blood of the sacrifice just as believers today are covered by the blood of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But why was the blood only put on the ear lobes, on the thumb and on the big toe of their foot? And why only on the right side of their body? Not really sure, but will offer a possible reason. The priests were to hear the Word of the LORD, obey the Word of the LORD, and walk in the Word of the LORD. The Word (commandments and statutes) was to be their life and they were to know it so well that they could lead the nation of Israel in righteousness. The earlobe represented the hearing of the Word. The thumb represented the doing and obeying of the Word. And the foot represented the walking and going and sharing of the Word with the people. Just an idea. You decide.
Application: All believers are to hear, obey and walk in the Word of the LORD. They are to live it so well that unbelievers will see Jesus Christ in them as they go through their activities of daily living. Ask yourself if you are really listening to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, if you really know and understand the Scripture, if you are obeying the LORD’s commandments, and if you are walking each day with the LORD.
Verses 22-25 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: 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: 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. 25 And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour before the LORD: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Each offering was different depending on its purpose. The offering above was to be done when consecrating someone. The Hebrew word used here for “consecration” is “millu” and it means setting or installing.
Verses 26-28 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. 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: 28 And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’ by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it is an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the LORD.
A wave offering was held up and waved in the air before the LORD. Remember that the LORD’s presence was in the tabernacle in the form of the cloud and the pillar of fire. A portion of this sacrifice was to be given to the priests in order for them to eat. The priesthood was their job and they were to be in the tabernacle and later in the temple daily if they were the high priest and the assistants. Later it will be seen that the Levite men that were to serve in the tabernacle or temple had specific assigned weeks of service. But these men were not the priests, but the workers that kept the temple in good repair and supplied it with those things necessary for the priests to carry out their duties. The priests had to be descendants of Aaron.
Verses 29-30 And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them. 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.
Just as the priesthood was passed down from Aaron to the generations to follow, the sacred garments were to also be passed down. These garments were cared for and worn until the days of Caiaphas when the LORD Jesus Christ was on Earth during the Roman occupation.
Application: Since all believers are priests in the spiritual kingdom of God, it is their responsibility to pass down to future generations robes of righteousness and consecration. This can only be done by training up children in the Word of the LORD and by sharing the Gospel with the lost unbelievers. Then the believers’ children will form the next generation church along with unbelievers who repent and are converted
Verses 31-34 And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place. 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. 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. 34 And if ought 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.
The Hebrew word for “seethe” is “bashal” and it can mean to boil, cook, bake or roast. Not sure if the meat was boiled or roasted. Regardless, because it was from a sacrifice of consecration, it was to only be eaten by those men being consecrated as priests. Because there was no refrigeration in those days, bacterial decomposition would start in any food that was not eaten the day it was prepared, and the food would be spoiled and possibly make anyone who consumed it very sick. God and His kingdom is holy or set apart and rotting food was not acceptable. Notice that the food had to be eaten in a holy place. This would prevent the food from becoming “takeout” and possibly being shared with others.
Verses 35-37 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. 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. 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.
The sacrificial rituals that were given to Moses were to be done for a full week. Notice the number seven here, the number of divine perfection.
Verses 38-46 Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. 39 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even:
The killing of two lambs each day was a ritual that continued as long as the temple system was in place. This was a daily reminder of the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the World, the LORD Jesus Christ.
40 And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering.
Application: This ritual was the equivalent of the Communion that the Christian church practices today. The flour and oil is the unleavened bread representing the body of Jesus, and the wine is representative of the shed blood of Jesus. The difference today is that a real lamb is not necessary as the LORD Jesus Christ was the lamb of God that took away sins once and for all; another Biblical proof that the Old Covenant temple practices are dead and gone and the New Covenant practices are alive and well. In the days of the Hebrews, the priests communed with God on behalf of themselves and the people. Today, believers commune with God without the need for an intercessory priest. Communion is a reminder of the sacrifice of the LORD and of the privilege each believer has to approach the very throne room of God through prayer and thanksgiving.
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 savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Perhaps the dual ritual of the sacrificial lamb was necessary because the LORD understands that people are easily distracted and forgetful.
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. 43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. 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. 45 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. 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.
The important thing to take from these verses is that the continual burnt offering was connected to the presence of God who promised to dwell among the Hebrew people and to be their God. Today, the believers’ personal sacrifice of their will, their time, and their treasure for the LORD brings His presence in the form of the Holy Spirit/Ghost into their lives and He still dwells with His people and He is still their God. How blessed we are!