To minister unto Me in the priest's office. Exodus 29:1-37 The consecration of priests I. THE PRIESTS WERE WASHED FIRST. 1. Regeneration. 2. Remission of sin. II. After being washed, THE PRIESTS WERE CLOTHED. We must have the fine linen of an inward sanctification, and the outer garment for glory and for beauty, of the imputed righteousness of Christ. 1. These garments were provided for them. 2. These garments formed a complete apparel. 3. These garments were very comely to look upon. 4. The dress provided was absolutely necessary to be worn. III. THESE PRIESTS WERE ANOINTED. Be filled with the Spirit. A man in Christ is fragrant with a holy perfume before the Lord, but out of Christ he is an unclean thing, and cannot approach the altar. IV. They had next to SHARE IN THE SIN-OFFERING. Lift your eyes to Jesus, your ransom and substitute. V. After the sin-offering the consecrated ones went on to take their SHARE IN THE BURNT-OFFERING. The sin-offering indicated Christ as bearing our sin, but the burnt-offering sets Him forth as presenting an acceptable offering unto the Lord. VI. After the priests had seen for themselves the sin-offering and the burnt-offering, it was needful that they should partake of a third sacrifice, which was a PEACE-OFFERING. This was shared between the Lord and the priest or offerer. Thus it was an open declaration of the communion which had been established between God and man, so that they ate together, rejoicing in the same offering.Conclusion: 1. Do you and I offer sacrifice continually? Do we every day feel that our whole being is "Holiness unto the Lord"? 2. What have you to offer now? Bring continually of your — (1) Substance. (2) Talent. (3) Influence. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) The Tabernacle of the congregation. Exodus 29:10 The tent of meeting J. Aldis. The Tabernacle of the congregation — or, rather, tent of meeting — was the place where God's presence was manifested. This was granted to the people of Israel, first in the pillar of fire and cloud, then in the Tabernacle and Temple. And now for us in Jesus Christ there is "God manifested in the flesh." I. IN AND THROUGH CHRIST GOD IS REVEALED. II. THROUGH HIM AND BY HIM THE LORD GOD IS APPROACHED. 1. We have the right of approach through Jesus Christ. His life embodied a perfect righteousness. His death is the accepted sacrifice. 2. We have not only the right of approach, but also the power to approach, sharing the Spirit of the Divine Redeemer; for the final result and crowning proof of our Lord's exaltation was this — He sent the Comforter. ( J. Aldis. ) Which is waved, and which is heaved up. Exodus 29:26-28 The wave-offerings and heave-offerings J. Pulsford, D. D. 1. As illustrating the state of the heart in those who truly offer themselves up to God, there is something impressive and beautiful in the ancient wave-offerings and heave-offerings. Waving is one of nature's universal laws. The whole creation, with its myriads of planets, suns and heavens, lives because it waves to and fro the central life. The life of God waves to and fro between our spirits and Him. 2. In prayer our souls are heaved up towards the eternal Soul of our souls. Nothing heaves up the soul like a perfect love. Our daily heave-offering is a labour that has a great reward. Our aspirations, our inner hearings and upliftings, are the works which will follow us into the eternal world. They will follow us by being actually constituent elements of our future body. 3. Some persons think it strange that we should be exhorted to hasten the coming of the kingdom of God. But all who have a thrilling expectation of it may be sure that. the vital element of the new coming is waving in upon them, and that as they heave up their souls and expand with desire to draw down the heavenly fire they are unconsciously hastening the coming of the day of God. ( J. Pulsford, D. D. ) The peace-offering E. F. Willis, M. A. This was the most important sacrifice of all. It consisted of a ram, called "The Ram of Consecration," or more literally, the "Ram of the Fillings," because the hands of the consecrated persons were filled by portions of it being placed upon them. Of this ram of consecration, after Aaron and his sons had imposed hands upon it, and it had been slain, some of the blood was placed upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, and similarly upon the same three members of his sons, the remainder of the blood being sprinkled upon the altar round about (vers. 19, 20; Leviticus 8:22-24 ). This represented the consecration to God of such members of the body as would be more especially called into exercise by the duties of the priestly vocation. The ear was consecrated to listen to the voice of God, the hand to do His will, the foot to walk in His ways. Secondly, those parts of the peace-offering, which hereafter, in the exercise of their priestly office, it would be their duty to receive of the offerer and burn upon the altar, were laid upon the hands of Aaron and his sons, together with a meat-offering, and waved as a wave-offering before the Lord (vers. 22-24; Leviticus 8:25-27 ), and then burnt upon the altar (ver. 25; Leviticus 8:28 ). This ceremony was called the filling of the hands , and so essential a part of the consecration ceremony was it, that the expression to "fill the hand" became equivalent to "consecrate to the priesthood." The sacrifice itself was called the ram of consecration, or the ram of fillings. The intention of this action was to deliver to the ordained persons the sacrifices which they were in future to offer to God; it was a formal initiation into the sacrificial duties of their office. It indicated that from that time forward, the right and duty of officiating at the altar, and of superintending the burning of the sacrifices, would be theirs. Similarly, in the early ordinals of the Greek Church, a portion of the "sacrifice," i . e. , of the consecrated elements, was placed in the hands of the person who was ordained priest: a tradition still observed in the Eastern Church, and which, in a remarkable manner, links together the priesthoods of the Jewish and Christian Churches. The next part of the ceremony connected with the ram of consecration, was the sprinkling of Aaron and his sons and their vestments with its blood, mingled with anointing oil ( Leviticus 8:30 ). Hence it could be said that the sons of Aaron were anointed as their father was anointed ( Exodus 40:15 ); they, like him, were sprinkled with oil, but he alone, as high priest, had the oil poured upon his head, and could thus be called, in contradistinction to the other priests, preeminently "the anointed priest." In this secondary anointing, it is to be observed, that the clothes were sprinkled and consecrated upon and with the persons. The clothes represented the office filled by the person. The person and the clothes together represented the priest; therefore the consecration was performed on both together. Lastly came the sacrificial meal: the solemn eating of the body of the consecrating peace-offering by Aaron and his sons within the precincts of the Tabernacle ( Leviticus 8:3 ). It is interesting to observe that the apostles were consecrated to their priestly office by a like "filling of the hands," and by a like sacrificial meal, when our Lord placed in their hands the broken bread with the words, "Take, eat, this is My body." ( E. F. Willis, M. A. ) I will dwell among the children of Israel. Exodus 29:38-46 The Divine presence in the Church J. S. Exell, M. A. I. THE CONDITION OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE, moral and spiritual condition: everything must be holy. Entirely, daily, permanently, must we yield ourselves to God. II. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE. 1. Enlightening (vers. 42). 2. Glorifying (vers. 43, 44). 3. Redeeming (ver. 46). 4. Abiding. "Dwell." "Pleasures for evermore." ( J. S. Exell, M. A. ).

Benson Commentary 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, Exodus 29:1 . To hallow them, to minister to me — We come now to the directions given to Moses about the ceremonies of consecrating Aaron and his sons to the priests’ office. These were to be performed in a solemn manner, thereby to strike both them and the people with a still deeper sense of the dignity and sacredness of that function. They were chiefly to consist of three sacrifices, which, though distinguished from each other, were all of the expiatory kind, as appears from this, that the priests laid their hands on the two former, ( Exodus 29:10 ; Exodus 29:15 ,) and were sprinkled with the blood of the last. Take one young bullock — This is mentioned first as the chief part of the ceremony, though several things were to be done previously to it, as washing them with water, ( Exodus 29:4 ,) robing them in their sacerdotal garments, ( Exodus 29:5 ,) anointing them with oil, ( Exodus 29:7 ,) then the ceremony was to be completed by peculiar sacrifices, ( Exodus 29:10-11 ;) all which things are described as put in execution, Leviticus 8:2 . 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. Exodus 29:2 . Unleavened bread — To signify that both themselves and their services must be sincere, and free from all hypocrisy and wickedness. Cakes tempered with oil — Denoting that all their oblations and services must be under the influence of divine grace. Wheaten flour — The best part of the principal grain, to show that God must be served with the best. 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 29:4 . Unto the door of the tabernacle — God was pleased to dwell in the tabernacle, the people attending in the courts, so that the door between the court and the tabernacle was the fittest place for them to be consecrated in who were to mediate between God and man, to stand between both, and, as it were, lay their hands on both. Thou shalt wash them with water — To signify that they must be clean who bear the vessels of the Lord, Psalm 50:16 ; Isaiah 52:11 . Ablution was an ancient rite in all acts of worship, as a proper emblem of sanctifying grace, and internal purity, without which external oblations and services are of little signification before God. As this was the first thing that was done for hallowing the priests, (Leviticus 8.,) it is probable their whole bodies were now washed, in token of the necessity of their being washed from all their sins by pardon and regeneration, and thoroughly renewed in heart and life, that they might begin their services aright: but afterward they were appointed to wash only their hands and their feet before they entered the tabernacle, ( Exodus 30:19 , &c.,) to remind them of those daily imperfections from which even such as are regenerated and created anew have need to be cleansed by a daily application of pardoning mercy, through the blood of atonement. Thus the Lord Jesus, “He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.” 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: Exodus 29:5 . They shalt take the garments, &c. — This was to signify that it was not sufficient for them to put away the pollutions of sin, but that they must put on divine graces, and be clothed with righteousness, Psalm 132:10 . They must also be girded, as men prepared and strengthened for their work, and they must be robed and crowned, as men that counted their work and office their true honour. Exodus 29:6 And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre. Exodus 29:7 Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him. Exodus 29:7 . Thou shalt take the anointing oil — Emblematical of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah 61:1 ; and pour it upon his head — In token of the pouring out of that Spirit upon him to qualify him for his work, that the church might be filled with the sweet savour of his ministrations. 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. 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 29:10 . There must be a sin-offering to make atonement for them. The law made them priests that had infirmity; and therefore they must first offer for their own sins, before they could make atonement for the people, Hebrews 7:27-28 . They were to put their hand on the head of their sacrifice; confessing that they deserved to die for their own sins, and desiring that the killing of the beast might be accepted as a vicarious satisfaction. It was used as other sin-offerings were; only, whereas the flesh of other sin-offerings was eaten by the priests, in token of the priests taking away the sins of the people, this was appointed to be all burned without the camp, to signify the imperfection of the legal dispensation, for the sins of the priests themselves could not be taken away by those sacrifices, but they must expect a better high-priest, and a better sacrifice. 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. 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. 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. Exodus 29:15 Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. Exodus 29:15 . There must be a burnt-offering, a ram wholly burned, in token of the dedication of themselves wholly to God, as living sacrifices, kindled with the fire, and ascending in the flame of holy love. The sin-offering must first be offered, and then the burnt-offering, for till guilt be removed no acceptable service can be performed. 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. 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 29:19 . There must be a peace-offering; it is called the ram of consecration, because there was more in this, peculiar to the occasion, than in the other two. In the burnt-offering, God had the glory of their priesthood, in this they had the comfort of it. And in token of a mutual covenant between God and them, the blood of this sacrifice was divided between God and them, part of the blood was sprinkled upon the altar round about, and part upon them, upon their bodies, and upon their garments. Thus the benefit of the expiation made by the sacrifice was applied and assured to them, and their whole selves, from head to foot, sanctified to the service of God. The blood was put upon the extreme parts of the body, to signify that it was all, as it were, enclosed and taken in for God, the tip of the ear and the great toe not excepted. And the blood and oil signified the blood of Christ, and the graces of the Spirit, which constitute and complete the beauty of holiness, and recommend us to God. The flesh of the sacrifice, with the meat-offering annexed to it, was likewise divided between God and them, that (to speak with reverence) God and they might feast together, in token of friendship and fellowship. 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. 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. Exodus 29:22 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: Exodus 29:23 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: Exodus 29:24 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. Exodus 29:25 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. Exodus 29:26 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. Exodus 29:27 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: Exodus 29:28 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. Exodus 29:29 And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them. Exodus 29:30 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 . Exodus 29:31 And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place. Exodus 29:32 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. Exodus 29:33 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. Exodus 29:34 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. Exodus 29:35 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. Exodus 29:35 . Seven days shalt thou consecrate them — Though all the ceremonies were performed on the first day, yet they were not to look upon their consecration as completed till the seven days’ end, which put a solemnity upon their admission, and a distance between this and their former state, and obliged them to enter upon their work with a pause, giving them time to consider the weight of it. This was to be observed in after ages: he that was to succeed Aaron in the high-priesthood, must put on the holy garments seven days together, in token of a deliberate advance into his office, and that one sabbath might pass over him in his consecration. Every day of the seven, in this first consecrations, a bullock was to be offered for a sin-offering, which was to intimate, 1st, That though atonement was made, yet they must still keep up a penitent sense of sin, and often repeat the confession of it. 2d, That those sacrifices which were thus offered day by day, could not make the comers thereunto perfect, for then they would have ceased to be offered, Hebrews 10:1-2 . They must therefore expect the bringing in of a better hope. Now this consecration of the priests was a shadow of good things to come. 1st, Our Lord Jesus is the great High-Priest of our profession, called of God to be so consecrated for evermore, anointed with the Spirit above his fellows, clothed with the holy garments, even with glory and beauty, sanctified by his own blood, not that of bullocks and rams. 2d, All believers are spiritual priests, to offer spiritual sacrifices, ( 1 Peter 2:5 ,) washed in the blood of Christ, and so made to our God priests, Revelation 1:5-6 . They also are clothed with the beauty of holiness, and have received the anointing, 1 John 2:27 . 3d, It is likewise here intimated that gospel ministers are to be solemnly set apart to the work of the ministry with great deliberation and seriousness, both in the ordainers and in the ordained, as those that are employed in a great work, and intrusted with a great charge. Exodus 29:36 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. Exodus 29:36-37 . The consecration of the altar seems to have been coincident with that of the priests; and the sin-offerings, which were offered every day for seven days together, had reference to the altar as well as the priests. An atonement was made for the altar — The altar was also sanctified; not only set apart itself to a sacred use, but made so holy as to sanctify the gifts that were offered upon it, Matthew 23:19 . Christ is our altar, for our sakes he sanctified himself, that we and our performances might be sanctified and recommended to God, John 17:19 . Exodus 29:37 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. Exodus 29:38 Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. Exodus 29:38 . Two lambs day by day continually — This daily service, a lamb offered upon the altar every morning, and also every evening, typified the continual intercession which Christ ever lives to make, in the virtue of his satisfaction, for the continual sanctification of his church: though he offered himself once for all, yet that one offering thus becomes a continual offering. And this teaches us to offer up to God the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise every day, morning and evening, in humble acknowledgment of our dependance upon him, and our obligations to him. Exodus 29:39 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: Exodus 29:40 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. Exodus 29:40 . A tenth-deal, or tenth part of an ephah, is about three quarts. A hin is five quarts. Exodus 29:41 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. Exodus 29:42 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. Exodus 29:43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. Exodus 29:43-44 . There I will meet with the children of Israel — I will make this tabernacle the seat of my cloud of glory, which will be the symbol of my divine presence, and from thence I will give frequent discoveries of my will, and tokens of my favour toward them. The tabernacle of the congregation — ??? ???? ohel mogned, the tabernacle of meeting, so called because there God and his people met together. I will sanctify Aaron and his sons — God sanctified, set them apart, and marked them out to be his priests in a solemn manner by the appearance of his glory at their first sacrifice, and by sending fire from heaven to consume their burnt-offering, Leviticus 9:23-24 . Exodus 29:44 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. Exodus 29:45 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. Exodus 29:45 . I will dwell among the children of Israel — As a proof of this the Shechinah, or symbol of his peculiar presence was among them. I will be their God — I will watch over them as a nation, by a peculiar providence, and show myself to be, indeed, that all-powerful and merciful God who delivered them in so miraculous a manner from Egyptian bondage. Exodus 29:46 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. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 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, CHAPTER XXIX. THE CONSECRATION SERVICES. Exodus 29:1-46 The priest being now selected, and his raiment so provided as that it shall speak of his office and its glory, there remains his consecration. In our day there is a disposition to make light of the formal setting apart of men and things for sacred uses. If God, we are asked, has called one to special service, is not that enough? What more can earth do to commission the chosen of the sky? But the plain answer which we ought to have the courage to return is that this is not at all enough. For God Himself had already called Paul and Barnabas when He said to such folk as Simeon Niger and Lucius of Cyrene and Manaen, "Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them" ( Acts 13:1-4 ). And these obscure people not only laid their hands upon the great apostle, but actually sent him forth. Now, if he was not exempted from the need of an orderly commission by the marvellous circumstances of his call, by his apostleship not of man, by the explicit announcement that he was a chosen vessel to bear the sacred name before kings and peoples, it is startling to be told of some shallow modern evangelist, who works for no Church and submits to no discipline, that he can dispense with the sanction of human ordination because he is so clearly sent of heaven. The example of the Old Testament will no doubt be brushed aside as if the religion which Jesus learned and honoured were a mere human superstition. Or else it would be natural to ask, Is it because the offices and functions of Judaism were more formal, more perfunctory than ours, that a greater spiritual grace went with their appointments than with the laying on of hands in the Christian Church, a rite so clearly sanctioned in the New Testament? It is written of Joshua that Moses was to lay his hands upon him, because already the Spirit was in him; and of Timothy that he had unfeigned faith, and that prophecies went before concerning him ( Numbers 27:18 ; 1 Timothy 1:18 ; 2 Timothy 1:5 ). But in neither dispensation did special grace fail to accompany the official separation to sacred office: Joshua was full of the Spirit of Wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; and Timothy was bidden to stir into flame that gift of God which was in him through the laying on of the Apostle's hands ( Deuteronomy 34:9 ; 2 Timothy 1:6 ). Accordingly there is great stress laid upon the orderly institution of the priest. And yet, to make it plain that his authority is only "for his brethren," Moses, the chief of the nation, is to officiate throughout the ceremony of consecration. He it is who shall offer the sacrifices upon the altar, and sprinkle the blood, not upon the first day only, but throughout the ceremonies of the week. In the first place certain victims must be held in readiness--a bullock and two rams; and with these must be brought in one basket unleavened bread, and unleavened cakes made with oil, and unleavened wafers on which oil is poured. Then, at the door of the tent of the meeting of man with God, a ceremonial washing must follow, in a laver yet to be provided. Here the assertion that purity is needed, and that it is not inherent, is too plain to be dwelt upon. But such details as the assuming of the existence of a laver, for which no directions have yet been given (and presently also of the anointing oil, the composition of which is still untold), deserve notice. They are much more in the manner of one who is working out a plan, seen already by his mental vision, but of which only the salient and essential parts have been as yet stated, than of any priest of the latter days, who would first have completed his catalogue of the furniture, and only then have described the ceremonies in which he was accustomed to see all this apparatus take its appointed place. What we actually find is quite natural to a creative imagination, striking out the broad design of the work and its uses first, and then filling in the outlines. It is not natural at a time when freshness and inspiration have departed, and squared timber, as we are told, has taken the place of the living tree. The priest, when cleansed, was next to be clad in his robes of office, with the mitre on his head, and upon the mitre the golden plate, with its inscription, which is here called, as the culminating object in all his rich array, "the holy crown" ( Exodus 29:6 ). And then he was to be anointed. Now, the use of oil, in the ceremony of investiture to office, is peculiar to revealed religion. And whether we suppose it to refer to the oil in a lamp, invisible, yet the secret source of all its illuminating power, or to that refreshment and renovated strength bestowed upon a weary traveller when his head is anointed with oil, in either case it expresses the grand doctrine of revealed religion--that no office may be filled in one's own strength, but that the inspiring help of God is offered, as surely as responsibilities are imposed. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me." With these three ceremonies--ablution, robing and anointing--the first and most personal section of the ritual ended. And now began a course of sacrifices to God, advancing from the humblest expression of sin, and appeal to heaven to overlook the unworthiness of its servant, to that which best exhibited conscious acceptance, enjoyment of privilege, admission to a feast with God. The bullock was a sin-offering: the word is literally sin , and occurs more than once in the double sense: "let him offer for his sin which he hath sinned a young bullock ... for a sin(-offering) " ( Leviticus 4:3 , Leviticus 5:6 , etc.). And this is the explanation of the verse which has perplexed so many: "He made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin" ( 2 Corinthians 5:21 ). The doctrine that pardon comes not by a cheap and painless overlooking of transgression, as a thing indifferent, but by the transfer of its consequences to a victim divinely chosen, could not easily find clearer expression than in this word. And it was surely a sobering experience, and a wholesome one, when Aaron, in his glorious robes, sparkling with gems, and bearing on his forehead the legend of his holy calling, laid his hand, beside those of his children and successors, upon the doomed creature which was made sin for him. The gesture meant confession, acceptance of the appointed expiation, submission to be freed from guilt by a method so humiliating and admonitory. There was no undue exaltation in the mind of any priest whose heart went with this "remembrance of sins." The bullock was immediately slain at the door of "the tent of meeting"; and to show that the shedding of his blood was an essential part of the rite, part of it was put with the finger on the horns of the altar, and the remainder was poured out at the base. Only then might the fat and the kidney be burned upon the altar; but it is never said of any sin-offering, as presently of the burnt-offering and the peace-offerings, that it is "a sweet savour before Jehovah" ( Exodus 29:18 , Exodus 29:25 )--a phrase which is only once extended to a trespass-offering for a purely unconscious lapse ( Leviticus 4:31 ). The sin-offering is, at the best, a deplorable necessity. And therefore the notion of a gift, welcome to Jehovah, is carefully shut out: no portion of such an offering may go to maintain the priests: all must be burned "with fire without the camp; it is a sin-offering" ( Exodus 29:14 ). Rightly does the Epistle to the Hebrews emphasize this fact: "The bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the Holy Place ... as an offering for sin" are burned without the camp. The bodies of other sacrifices were not reckoned unfit for food.[40] And so there is a striking example of humility, as well as an instructive coincidence, in the fact that Jesus suffered without the gate, being the true Sin-offering, "that He might sanctify the people through His own blood" ( Hebrews 13:11-12 ). Thus, by sacrifice for sin, the priest is rendered fit to offer up to God the symbol of a devoted life. Again, therefore, the hands of Aaron and his sons are laid upon the head of the ram, because they come to offer what represents themselves in another sense than that of expiation--a sweet savour now, an offering made by fire unto Jehovah ( Exodus 29:18 ). And to show that it is perfectly acceptable to Him, the whole ram shall be burnt upon the altar, and not now without the camp: "it is a burnt-offering unto the Lord." Such is the appointed way of God with man--first expiation, then devotion. The third animal was a "peace-offering" ( Exodus 29:28 ). This is wrongly explained to mean an offering by which peace is made, for then there could be no meaning in what went before. It is the offering of one who is now in a state of peace with God, and who is therefore himself, in many cases, allowed to partake of what he brings. But on this occasion some quite peculiar ceremonies were introduced, and the ram is called by a strange name--"the ram of consecration." When Aaron and his sons have again declared their connection with the animal by laying their hands upon it, it is slain. And then the blood is applied to the tip of their right ear, the thumb of their right hand, and the great toe of their right foot, that the ear may hearken, and the best energies obey, and their life become as that of the consecrated animal, their bodies being presented, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. Then the same blood, with the oil which spoke of heavenly anointing, was sprinkled upon them and upon their official robes, and all were hallowed. Then the fattest and richest parts of the animal were taken, with a loaf, a cake, and a wafer from the basket, and placed in the hands of Aaron and his sons. This was their formal investiture with official rights; although not yet performing service, it was as priests that they received these; and their hands, swayed by those of Moses, solemnly waved them before the Lord in formal presentation, after which the pieces were consumed by fire. The breast was likewise waved, and became the perpetual property of Aaron and his sons--although on this occasion it passed from their hands to be the portion of Moses, who officiated. The remainder of the flesh, seethed in a holy place, belonged to Aaron and his sons. No stranger (of another family) might eat it, and what was left until morning should be consumed by fire, that is to say, destroyed in a manner absolutely clean, seeing no corruption. For seven days this rite of consecration was repeated; and every day the altar also was cleansed, rendering it most holy, so that whatever touched it was holy. Thus the people saw their representative and chief purified, accepted and devoted. Thenceforward, when they too brought their offerings, and beheld them presented (in person or through his subordinates) by the high priest with holiness emblazoned upon his brow, they gained hope, and even assurance, since one so consecrated was bidden to present their intercession; and sometimes they saw him pass into secret places of mysterious sanctity, bearing their tribal name on his shoulder and his bosom, while the chime of golden bells announced his movements, ministering there for them. But the nation as a whole, with which this historical book is chiefly interested, saw in the high priest the means of continually rendering to God the service of its loyalty. Every day began and closed with the burnt-offering of a lamb of the first year, along with a meal-offering of fine flour and oil, and a drink-offering of wine. This would be a sweet savour unto God, not after the carnal fashion in which sceptics have interpreted the words, but in the same sense in which the wicked are a smoke in His nostrils from a continually burning fire. And where this offering was made, the Omnipresent would meet with them. There He would convey His mind to His priest. There also He would meet with all the people--not occasionally, as amid the more impressive but less tolerable splendours of Sinai, but to dwell among them and be their God. And they should know that all this was true, and also that for this He led them out of Egypt: "I am Jehovah their God." FOOTNOTES: [40] Neither, it must be added, were the bodies of certain sin-offerings of the lower grade, and in which the priest was not personally concerned ( Leviticus 10:17 , etc.). 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