Category: Exodus

Exodus 29:43 there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.

The end of this chapter revealed an important element to all of this planning, preparing, and consecrating. As commentary puts it, “what we do is remove barriers and spend time with the focus on Him.” All of the preparation, all of the work, it’s as much to prepare US as it is to prepare FOR Him. 

Exodus 29:44 “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. 

As I think about it, while my preparation looks completely different, I still prepare for Him each morning. I make my coffee, read my daily reflection, read the scripture, read the commentary, ponder, write. All of that preparation “removes the barriers” so that I can more clearly “focus on Him.”

Exodus 29:45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for this clarity today. I have been struggling mightily with these last few chapters, with the minutiae and the bloodiness. Thank You for clarity and understanding today that it’s about removing barriers so I can better focus on You. Help me to do that every day. Amen.

Exodus 29:46 They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

Have a blessed day. 

Exodus 29:39 Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight. 

Verse 42 carries the important bit in this long list of “do this, do this, do this, do this”: “There I will meet you and speak to you.” THIS is what it is all about–all the sacrifices, all the specifics, all the minutiae is so that God will meet us and speak to us.  

Exodus 29:40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering. 

He wants that relationship. He wants us to want that relationship. He won’t force it, and He’s pretty specific about the requirements (though Jesus eased those tremendously), but God wants relationship with us. He wants to meet us and speak with us daily. 

Exodus 29:41 Sacrifice the other lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and its drink offering as in the morning—a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord.

Precious Savior, Help me to never lose sight of what a gift it is that You want relationship with me. Help me to nurture that relationship daily, to sit with You, meet with You, speak with You every single day. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 29:42 “For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord. There I will meet you and speak to you;

Have a blessed day. 

Exodus 29:35 “Do for Aaron and his sons everything I have commanded you, taking seven days to ordain them. 

Being a priest, especially during the time of Exodus, was clearly serious business. The work was hard, physical, bloody, and neverending it seems. Commentary says the priests had to be careful not to “give up attending the means of grace as hearers, because they have so much to do as workers.”

Exodus 29:36 Sacrifice a bull each day as a sin offering to make atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it. 

As someone who spent decades in the classroom, I get it, at least on some level. It is so easy to get so caught up in all that has to be done that you miss the simple joy of doing it. I can imagine that was even easier for the priests of this time to miss the joy and awe of their position.

Exodus 29:37 For seven days make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy.

Precious Savior, Thank You for the joy of my salvation. Thank You for smoothing the path from me to God. Thank You for the myriad joys that surround us daily. Help us never to be so busy, so focused, that we miss the beauty of this life You have given us. Amen.

Exodus 29:38 “This is what you are to offer on the altar regularly each day: two lambs a year old.

Have a blessed day. 

Exodus 29:31 “Take the ram for the ordination and cook the meat in a sacred place. 

The priests have been hallowed for God; therefore, they may eat “these offerings by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration” (v33). No one else can because they are not hallowed, sacred. 

Exodus 29:32 At the entrance to the tent of meeting, Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket. 

It reminds me a bit of a Catholic mass. The priest and communion helpers are hallowed to serve, and the bread and wine are consecrated. Before the consecration, it’s just wafers and wine. After the consecration, it’s the body and blood of Christ, and if there are leftovers, you can’t just throw them down the sink or in the trash.

Exodus 29:33 They are to eat these offerings by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. But no one else may eat them, because they are sacred. 

Precious Savior, There is more than one way to be set aside for You, hallowed for You. And You are present in so many more things than just official consecration ceremonies. You are all around us. And You can always use us to shine Your light. Help me shine for You always, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 29:34 And if any of the meat of the ordination ram or any bread is left over till morning, burn it up. It must not be eaten, because it is sacred.

Have a blessed day. 

Exodus 29:27 “Consecrate those parts of the ordination ram that belong to Aaron and his sons: the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. 

In Exodus 29 alone there are four different types of offerings: the sin offering, the burnt offering, the wave offering, and the daily offerings. Everything is spelled out in excruciating detail. I get that God is laying the groundwork for the Israelites after 400 years of captivity in Egypt; but, it’s a lot.

Exodus 29:28 This is always to be the perpetual share from the Israelites for Aaron and his sons. It is the contribution the Israelites are to make to the Lord from their fellowship offerings.

And I can absolutely see how some can get caught up in “the letter of the law” as written in Exodus etc and lose sight of God altogether. I’m a rule follower from way back. There is something immensely satisfying about doing something “by the book.” But that becomes rote, muscle memory, and God wants our hearts.

Exodus 29:29 “Aaron’s sacred garments will belong to his descendants so that they can be anointed and ordained in them. 

Precious Savior, Thank You for a basic understanding of how I function and what happens when I switch into “rule follower” mode. You want my heart, not just rote memorization or blind obedience. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 29:30 The son who succeeds him as priest and comes to the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place is to wear them seven days.

Have a blessed day. 

Exodus 29:19“ Take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. 

I find myself incredibly thankful for Jesus in a whole new way as I read through Exodus today. The scenes described here weren’t unusual at the time. They were the only way for man to atone for his sins. It was a production, and it feels exhausting and excruciating. 

Exodus 29:20 Slaughter it, take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Then splash blood against the sides of the altar. 

It also seems a bit removed. Where is the sinner in all of this? Commentary says they were in the outer courtyard, praying for atonement, but did the ritual affect them the way it must have the priests? Was the entire ritual as visceral, as impacting for both parties? 

Exodus 29:21 And take some blood from the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. Then he and his sons and their garments will be consecrated.

Precious Savior, Thank You for Jesus, for removing the distance between You and me. Thank You for removing the bloody business of atonement and giving us the ability to metaphorically step inside the holy of holies and personally draw closer to You. Help me never to take that closeness for granted. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 29:22 “Take from this ram the fat, the fat tail, the fat on the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, both kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh. (This is the ram for the ordination.)

Have a blessed day. 

Exodus 29:15 “Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. 

Being a priest during this period seems like a bloody, awful business. They were forever involved in gore, trying to atone for the many, many sins of humanity. It seems like it would be easy to be disillusioned in this Sisyphean task. 

Exodus 29:16 Slaughter it and take the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar. 

Being human, trying to be a good person, a good Christian, can be exhausting as well. My faulty humanity frustratingly shines through all the time. And yet, like Sisyphus, like the priests of Exodus, I continue to push the boulder up the hill, hoping I’ll get a little bit further this time than the last. 

Exodus 29:17 Cut the ram into pieces and wash the internal organs and the legs, putting them with the head and the other pieces. 

Precious Savior, It is easy to feel like trying to be more like You is futile. Thank You for the knowledge that I can never be like You, but if I keep persisting, I can draw closer to You with every effort. Help me to remember it is not about perfection, it is about progress. Help me to keep striving. Amen. 

Exodus 29:18 Then burn the entire ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord.

Have a blessed day. 

Exodus 29:10-11 “Bring the bull to the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. Slaughter it in the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting.  

After yesterday’s reflection, I still have the image of Jesus in my head, which means that as I read about this holy sacrifice in the Old Testament, I am thinking of Jesus, who made the ultimate sacrifice in the New Testament. The horror of Jesus’s death is intensified when overlaid with the gory images here.

Exodus 29:12 Take some of the bull’s blood and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar.

And I’m left wondering what to do with all of that–the idea of being hallowed for God, the idea of sacrificing for God, the idea that Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for me, for you, the fact that, even with all of that, God doesn’t demand a relationship with us, but He welcomes it, desires it, not because it will benefit Him but because we are His and He knows it will benefit us and because He loves us fiercely and relationship is part of that.

Exodus 29:13 Then take all the fat on the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar. 

Precious Savior, Thank You is inadequate, but it is all I have. Help me, as I sit and ponder the magnitude of Your sacrifice, to know what to do with it. Help me to love others as You love, to show grace and mercy as You do, to be more like You. Help me, Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 29:14 But burn the bull’s flesh and its hide and its intestines outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

Have a blessed day.