CHAPTER 29

(1491 B.C.)

CONSECRATION

¹And this is the thing that you shall do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto Me in the Priests office: Take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish. (This Chapter pertains to the consecration of the Priests. It began with Sacrifice, i.e., the Cross. All consecration must begin with the Cross, or else it isnt consecration. The young bullock symbolized the Manhood of Christ, while the two rams symbolized His Kingly Nature.)

²And unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shall you make them. (The unleavened bread signifies the Perfect Life of Christ, and the oil typified the Holy Spirit, which was upon Him without measure [Jn. 3:34]. The flour symbolized the purity and glory of Christ.)

³And you shall put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams. (The unleavened bread and the wafers were put into one basket, because all pertained to Christ.)

CLEANSING

⁴And Aaron and his sons you shall bring unto the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, and shall wash them with water. (Even though it does not mention it here, this was probably before the great Laver. The washing with water speaks of the Word of God [I Cor. 6:11].)

THE HIGH PRIEST

⁵And you shall 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:

⁶And you shall put the Mitre upon his head, and put the Holy Crown upon the Mitre. (All of these things were Types of Christ, in His Atoning, Intercessory, and Mediatorial Work. It was topped off by the placing of the Holy Crown upon his head. It marked the royal character of the High Priest, who, as the main Type of Christ in the Mosaic Law, was bound to be Prophet, Priest, and King. But yet, all of these things were but types, and carry no reality, except by Faith. Everything looked forward to the One Who was to come, Who would redeem humanity, and do so by going to the Cross.)

⁷Then you shall take the anointing Oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him. (This signified, as would be obvious, the Holy Spirit [Lk. 4:18-19].)

THE ORDER

⁸And you shall bring his sons, and put Coats upon them.

⁹And you shall gird them with Girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the Bonnets on them: and the Priests office shall be theirs for a perpetual Statute: and you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons. (If it is to be noticed, Aaron was anointed before the blood was shed, as it respects the Sacrifices being offered. This was done in this manner, because he stands before us as the Type of Christ, Who, in virtue of what He was in His Own Person, was anointed with the Holy Spirit long before the work of the Cross was accomplished. The sons of Aaron, even as we shall see, on the other hand, who in a sense represent Believers, were not anointed until after the blood was shed, presenting the fact that the Holy Spirit could not come until after the Cross.)

THE SIN OFFERING

¹⁰And you shall 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 (in effect, transferring their sins to this innocent victim; this portrays Christ taking our sins upon Himself, and then paying the penalty for those sins, which we will see momentarily).

¹¹And you shall kill the bullock before the LORD, by the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation. (This was commanded by the Lord. This tells us that Jesus had to die. In fact, His Crucifixion was not an execution, or an assassination, it was a Sacrifice. It had been planned by God from before the foundation of the world. It was the very purpose for why Christ came [I Pet. 1:18-20].)

¹²And you shall take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the Altar with your finger (horns specify power; as well, these horns were on all four corners of the Altar, pointing toward the north, south, east, and west; this signified the Power of the Cross in delivering man from sin [I Cor. 1:18], and that this great Salvation would be for all of humanity, hence, the horns pointing in all directions), and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the Altar. (This signified the Blood that would be shed by Christ at the Crucifixion, in the pouring out of His Life, which would redeem humanity, at least for those who will believe [Eph. 2:13-18].)

¹³And you shall take all the fat that covers 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. (The fat signified the health and prosperity of the animal, symbolizing that God would give His best for our Redemption and, as well, it signified blessing upon the one who receives Redemption [Gal. 2:20-21].)

¹⁴But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shall you burn with fire without the camp: it is a Sin Offering. (The curse of sin, which was on them, made them unfit for food, and even unworthy of burial within the camp. So the remains were to be taken outside the camp, and burned with fire. Jesus was the Sin-Offering. He suffered without the camp, i.e., without the gate [Heb. 13:12].)

THE BURNT OFFERING

¹⁵You shall also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.

¹⁶And you shall slay the ram, and you shall take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the Altar. (The portrayal in the Levitical Offerings of Substitution and Identification is the very heart of the Gospel. Jesus Christ became our Substitute, and we identify with Him, and are, thereby, saved [Rom. 5:1]. As the young bullock of Verse 10 represented Christ at the height of His Manhood giving Himself for the sin of the world, the ram represented Christ in His position as King. The ram signified that the death of Christ was not merely the death of just anyone, it was the death of the Son of God, the King of kings and Lord of lords [Jn. 3:16].)

¹⁷And you shall cut the ram in pieces (signifying that sin is more than a surface problem; it goes to the very vitals of the individual), and wash the inwards of him (this portrays the purity of Christ), and his legs (signifying that the walk of Christ was perfect), and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head (portrays the fact that Christ was perfectly lucid at all times during the Crucifixion).

¹⁸And you shall burn the whole ram upon the Altar: it is a Burnt Offering unto the LORD (the Burnt Offering signifies consecration; the Lord would give Heavens best for our Redemption): it is a sweet savour (it was such because it represented what Christ would do in order to redeem fallen humanity), an offering made by fire unto the LORD. (The fire signified the Judgment of God which came upon Christ, instead of upon us. Once again, its the Doctrine of Substitution and Identification.)

CONSECRATION

¹⁹And you shall take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram (do so before it was killed).

²⁰Then shall you kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron (presenting the fact that Christ heard only the Father [Jn. 14:24]), and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand (proclaims the fact that Christ always did right), and upon the great toe of their right foot (Christ always walked right regarding character), and sprinkle the blood upon the Altar round about. (This proclaimed the fact that they could not live as they ought to live, do as they ought to do, be as they ought to be, without Faith in Christ and what He would do for us at the Cross [Rom. 6:3-5].)

²¹And you shall 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 (it seems that the blood and the anointing oil were mixed together, and then sprinkled upon Aaron, upon his garments, as well as upon his sons, etc.; this proclaims the way in which the Holy Spirit works; He works entirely within the parameters of the great Sacrifice of Christ, typified by the blood [Rom. 8:2-3]): and he shall be hallowed (consecrated), and his garments, and his sons, and his sons garments with him.

²²Also you shall take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covers 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:

²³And 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:

²⁴And you shall put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons; and shall wave them for a Wave Offering before the LORD. (All of this specifies thankfulness for material blessings, but, above all, for what Christ would do in order to redeem humanity. Wave Offerings now are carried out by Believers lifting their hands and praising the Lord.)

²⁵And you shall 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. (This signifies that our praises to the Lord are done strictly because of what Christ has done at the Cross, and such are accepted by the Lord solely because of our Faith in Christ and His Atoning Work at the Cross [Eph. 2:13-18].)

THE PEACE OFFERINGS

²⁶And you shall take the breast of the ram of Aarons consecration, and wave it for a Wave Offering before the LORD: and it shall be your part. (In other words, they could take this part for themselves for food, symbolizing the eating of Christ [Jn. 6:53].)

²⁷And you shall 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 (the shoulder was to be heaved, while the breast was to be waved; the former typified Christ taking our sins upon Himself, while the latter typified thankfulness that He had done so):

²⁸And it shall be Aarons 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. (When a Burnt, Sin, or Trespass Offering was presented to the Lord by the Priests, and on behalf of the people, then a Peace Offering was to be presented to the Lord. It signified that God had accepted the Offerings, and Peace with God was restored. A part of the flesh of the Peace Offering was to be given to the Priests and, as well, to the individuals who offered up the Sacrifice. They were then to have a feast, celebrating the restored Peace. Under the New Covenant, we do the same thing now, by simply praising the Lord; however, all of this tells us that our praises must ever be based on the fact of what Christ did for us at the Cross [Col. 2:14-15].)

²⁹And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them.

³⁰And that son that is Priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he comes into the Tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the Holy Place. (The High Priesthood was to ever remain in the family of Aaron, which it did down through the centuries, with the exception of the last years when Jesus came. Then it was dictated by Rome. The consecration which lasted for seven days, seven being Gods number of perfection, all typified the Perfection of Christ [Heb. 7:26-27].)

³¹And you shall take the ram of the consecration, and seethe (roast) his flesh in the Holy Place.

³²And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket (which Jesus addressed in John 6:53-63; this is symbolic of one accepting all that Christ did at the Cross), by the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation (Jesus is the Door [Jn. 10:1, 9]).

³³And 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 (a stranger could not partake of this repast, referring to the fact that the person who doesnt know Christ surely cannot partake of His Blessings [Jn. 3:3]).

³⁴And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy. (This pertains to the fact that one must partake of all of Christ, in other words, the entirety of the Cross, which all of this typifies.)

³⁵And thus shall you do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded you: seven days shall you consecrate them.

³⁶And you shall offer every day a bullock for a Sin Offering for Atonement: and you shall cleanse the Altar, when you have made an Atonement for it, and you shall anoint it, to sanctify it. (This proclaims the fact that Christ sanctified the Cross, but the Cross didnt sanctify Him, because He didnt need such. This completely abrogates the erroneous doctrine, as taught by some, that Jesus died spiritually while on the Cross. This meant He died as a sinner and went to the burning side of Hell, which is not taught in the Bible. The Bible doesnt teach that Redemption was afforded in Hell, but rather on the Cross [Eph. 2:13-18; Col. 2:14-15]. Despite the fact that the Cross was a place where sin was atoned, still, Christ, by His Perfection, sanctified it in totality.)

³⁷Seven days you shall make an Atonement for the Altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an Altar most holy: whatsoever touches the Altar shall be holy. (Jesus sanctified the Cross; consequently, everything done there is most holy. As well, everyone who places their faith and trust in Christ, and what He did at the Cross, is holy; however, it is all of Him, and none of us [I Cor. 1:17-18]. All of this tells us that there is no holiness for Believers outside of the Cross.)

THE DAILY OFFERINGS

³⁸Now this is that which you shall offer upon the Altar: two lambs of the first year day by day continually. (The word continually stresses the fact that the Believer must place his faith and trust in Christ and the Cross, doing so daily, and everlastingly [Lk. 9:23-24].)

³⁹The one lamb you shall offer in the morning (9 a.m.); and the other lamb you shall offer at evening (3 p.m.; Jesus was placed on the Cross at 9 a.m., the time of the morning sacrifice, and died at 3 p.m., the time of the evening sacrifice [Lk. 23:44-46]):

⁴⁰And with the one lamb a tenth deal of the flour (typifying the Perfect Manhood and Perfect Life of Christ) mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil (typifying the Holy Spirit, which was on Him and in Him, as in no other, and brought to fruition after the wilderness experience, hence, the word beaten, which speaks of the crushing of the olives [Mat. 3:16; 4:1-11]); and the fourth part of an hin (about a quart) of wine for a Drink Offering (which speaks of joy, which all will have who follow Christ [I Pet. 1:8]).

⁴¹And the other lamb you shall offer at evening, and shall do thereto according to the Meat Offering (Thanksgiving Offering) of the morning, and according to the Drink Offering thereof, for a Sweet Savour, an Offering made by fire unto the LORD (all of this represents what Christ would do at the Cross and, as such, is a Sweet Savour to God the Father [Mat. 3:17]).

⁴²This shall be a continual Burnt Offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD (a continual trust in Christ and the Cross; hence Paul referred to the Cross as The Everlasting Covenant [Heb. 13:20]): where I will meet you, to speak there unto you. (Christ is the Source, but the Cross is the Means by which God meets with us, and the only Means!)

⁴³And there I will meet with the Children of Israel, and the Tabernacle shall be sanctified by My Glory (His Glory is only upon that which is of Christ, and is extended to man by and through what Christ did at the Cross [Heb. 10:10]).

⁴⁴And 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 Priests office (the Lord sanctified the Tabernacle, because it was a Type of Christ; the Altar, as well, was sanctified, because it represented Christ and what He would do at the Cross; all the Priests were sanctified, because they were Types of Christ; it must be noted that it is all in Christ and what He did at the Cross).

THE PROMISE

⁴⁵And I will dwell among the Children of Israel, and will be their God. (Due to the Cross, the Lord now dwells within the heart and life of the Believer [I Cor. 3:16].)

⁴⁶And 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. (All of this tells us that the Lord will meet with us and dwell with us, only as we go by the way of the slain Lamb [Jn. 1:29].)