Old Testament Commentary - Exodus 29

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 29 Aaron and his sons to be washed, anointed, and consecrted—Various sacrificial rites shall be performed— Atonement to be made for sins of people—The Lord promises to dwell among them.
1 AND this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to ^ahallow them, to minister unto me in the ^bpriest's office: Take one young ^cbullock^a, and two rams without blemish, 2 And ^aunleavened bread, and cakes unleavened ^btempered with oil, and wafers unleavened ^canointed 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.	1^a Take one young bullock The young bullock was for the priests or the priesthood either as individuals or as representatives of the people. Of course the bullock was representative of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for sin. The bullock was also the symbol of the tribe of Ephraim, which one may come to understand that the Messiah was to descend from this tribe (Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph). In Dueteronomy 33:17 it states speaking of Ephraim, that 'His glory is like the firstling of his bullock' and that with his horns 'he shall push to people together to the ends of the earth'. This latter speak most specically of the 'ten thousand of Ephraim' and also it speaks of the supporting 'thousand of Manasseh'. Here Ephraim's roll is implied concerning the gathering and bring together Israel in the latter days, which the church with Jesus Christ as it head is proceeding to do (D&C 133:26-33)	1^a OR consecrate or set apart. ^b Lev. 21:10 (10-15) ^c OR young bull (also vv. 3, 10-12, 14, 36).; Lev. 8:2; 1 Chr. 13:9 2^a Lev. 2:4 ^b HEB mingled OR smeared
4 And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the ^adoor of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt ^bwash them with water. 5 And thou shalt take the ^agarments, and put upon Aaron the ^bcoat, and the robe of the ^cephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate^a, and gird him with the ^dcurious girdle of the ephod: 6 And thou shalt put the ^amitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre.	5^a and the breastplate Now the roll and the purpose of the 'breastplate' was that it held in place the Urim and the Thummim (Lev. 8:8). Therefore it should be understood that this was a part of the temple clothing worn by the administering High Priest.	10^a JST Gen. 50:29; 10^a Acts 7:21; Heb. 11:24; ^b IE in Egyptian "To beget a child" and in Hebrew "To draw out". D&C 109:60-61; D&C 133:34; TG Israel, Joseph, People of ^b Septuagint; crosing his hands
7 Then shalt thou take the ^aanointing 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 ^agird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and ^bput the bonnets on them: and the ^cpriest's office shall be theirs for a perpetual ^dstatute: and thou shalt ^econsecrate Aaron and his sons.		10^a JST Gen. 50:29; 1^a OR consecrate or set apart ^b Lev. 21:10 (10-15) ^b OR young bull (also vv. 3, 10-12, 14, 36).; Lev. 8:2; ^b IE in Egyptian "To beget a child" and in Hebrew "To draw out". D&C 109:60-61; D&C 133:34; TG Israel, Joseph, People of ^b Septuagint; crosing his hands
10 And thou shalt cause a ^abullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their ^bhands 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 ^apour all the blood beside the bottom of the ^baltar.
13 And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the ^acaul 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 ^abullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou ^bburn with fire without 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 ^aunto his pieces, and unto his head. 18 And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt ^aoffering unto the LORD: it is a ^bsweet ^csavour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
19 ¶ And thou shalt take the other ^aram; 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 ^ahe 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 ^arump, 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 ^bshoulder; 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 ^aunleavened 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 ^awave 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.
26 And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecration, and wave it for a ^awave 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 ^aheave offering, which is ^bwaved, and which is ^cheaved 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 ^astatute 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.
29 ¶ And the holy ^agarments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be ^banointed 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.
31 ¶ And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and ^aseethe 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 ^aeat those things wherewith the atonement was made^a, *to consecrate and* to sanctify them^b** : but a ^bstranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy. Sacrement of the Atonement The Lord's Supper is not completely understood by all. It, as seen here, had its foreshadowing in the 'ordinances' of the sacrifices of the tabernacle. When Jesus anounced to the people who he was as the emblems of the antonement, which they should eat, they understood him not or at least rejected him that he was the Sacrificial lamb, the very Christ. Also, as with the sacrament when partaken properly in the pure intent of participation, it to is to the sanctification of those who are participating and being made clean in and through the sacrifice of the body and blood of the Savior. That is as we strive to keep the commandments of the Lord and to walk in his ways and take his name upon us, he through the atonement that he has now performed has taken our sins upon himself and imputed his righteosness upon us.	33^a they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made Jesus in John chapter 6 of the New Testament turned to his followers of thousands and spake unto them of eating of the flesh and drinking of the blood of the atonement, his atonement. On various levels the people could not receive that which he was teaching them that they were to partake of the sacrifice of the atonement, come unto him, take his name upon them and become even as he was, that is one with the Father, our Father Who art in heaven. Some may have thought it absurd to canabalize the human body. Other may have understood who Jesus was teaching them of whom he was, the Son of God, the Holy Sacrifice for Sin and in that they were rejecting him that he was not to them considered to be the Christ. At whatever level of understanding, they turned from him and then rejected him. It seems they would partake of 'his free lunch' but not of the substance of his message that he was the Savior of the World, the Promised of God. 33^b to consecrate and to sanctify them The priest eating of the sacrificial lamb which represented the Lord of the atonement for sin was NOT to feed them temporally. As stated here, by that power of the 'atonement' their participation in eating of the emblems of the atoning sacrifice was to them 'consecration' as the priests representing God and to their sanctifying them though still creatures of sin, that through the atonement of Christ they were made clear before the Lord!
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. 35 And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee: ^aseven days shalt thou ^bconsecrate 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 ^aoffer upon the altar; two lambs ^bof the first year ^cday by day continually. 39 The one lamb thou shalt ^aoffer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: 40 And with the one lamb a tenth ^adeal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten ^boil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a ^cdrink offering. 41 And the other lamb thou shalt offer at ^aeven, and shalt do thereto according to the ^bmeat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
42 This shall be a continual burnt ^aoffering throughout your generations at the door of the ^btabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to ^cspeak there unto thee. 43 And there I will ^ameet with the children of Israel, and the ^btabernacle 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 ^aI will ^bdwell ^camong the children of Israel, and will be their ^dGod. 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.