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,

2 and unleavened bread and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil -- of wheat 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.

4 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 embroidered girdle of the ephod.

6 And thou shalt put the miter upon his head and put the holy crown upon the miter.

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.

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.

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 alongside 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 outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

15 "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 on top of his pieces and on top of 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 savor, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

19 "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.

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),

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 from 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.

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.

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 a heave offering; and it shall be a heave offering from the children of Israel from the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the LORD.

29 "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 who 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.

31 "And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration and boil 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 with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.

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.

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.

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.

38 "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 evening.

40 And with the one lamb a tenth part of flour mingled with a fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering.

41 And the other lamb thou shalt offer at evening, 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.

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, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

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Exodus 29 Commentary

Chapter 29

The sacrifice and ceremony for the consecration of the priests. (1-37) The continual burnt-offerings, God's promise to dwell among Israel. (38-46)

Verses 1-37 Aaron and his sons were to be set apart for the priest's office, with ceremony and solemnity. Our Lord Jesus is the great High Priest of our profession, called of God to be so; anointed with the Spirit, whence he is called Messiah, the Christ; clothed with glory and beauty; sanctified by his own blood; made perfect, or consecrated through sufferings, ( Hebrews 2:10 ) . All believers are spiritual priests, to offer spiritual sacrifices, ( 1 Peter. 2:5 ) priests, ( revelation 1:5 revelation 1:6 ) . They also are clothed with the beauty of ( 1 John. 2:27 ) Spirit of God is called the finger of God, ( ( Luke 11:20 ) , compared with ( Matthew 12:28 ) ,) and by him the merit of Christ is applied to our souls. This consecration signifies the admission of a sinner into the spiritual priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Verses 38-46 A lamb was to be offered upon the altar every morning, and a lamb every evening. This typified the continual intercession which Christ ever lives to make for his church. Though he offered himself but once for all, that one offering thus becomes a continual offering. This also teaches us to offer to God the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise every day, morning and evening. Our daily devotions are the most needful of our daily works, and the most pleasant of our daily comforts. Prayer-time must be kept up as duly as meal-time. Those starve their own souls, who keep not up constant attendance on the throne of grace; constancy in religion brings in the comfort of it.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 29

This chapter gives an account of the form and order of the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priestly office; preparatory to which Moses is ordered to take a young bullock, two rams, bread, cakes, and wafers unleavened, and bring them and Aaron and his sons to the door of the congregation, where the ceremony was to be publicly performed, and which began with washing them, Ex 29:1-4 and then proceeded by putting on the priestly garments directed to be made in the preceding chapter, first on Aaron, who also was anointed, Ex 29:5-7 and then upon his sons, Ex 29:8,9 after which the bullock and the two rams were to be slain, and orders are given what was to be done with their blood, and the several parts of them, as well as with the cakes and wafers, Ex 29:10-23 and directions are given to make these wave and heave offerings, Ex 29:24-28 and that the garments of Aaron's should be his son's that succeeded him, Ex 29:29,30, and that the flesh of the ram of consecration with the bread should be eaten by Aaron and his sons and no other, Ex 29:31-35, the altar also where they were to officiate was to be cleansed, sanctified, and an atonement made for it, Ex 29:36,37 after which two lambs every day, morning and evening, were to be offered on it in all succeeding generations, Ex 29:38-42, and the chapter is closed with a promise that the Lord would meet with the children of Israel at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and would sanctify the tabernacle, and dwell among them, and be their God, Ex 29:43-46.