10 “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, 12 and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar. 13 And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.15 “Then you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 16 and you shall kill the ram and shall take its blood and throw it against the sides of the altar. 17 Then you shall cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head, 18 and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord.19 “You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, 20 and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar. 21 Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
Exodus 29:10-21
In verse 10-14, a sin offering was presented for Aaron and his sons who were priests. The flesh and the intestines from the bull were to be burned not just outside of the tent of meeting but outside the camp as well while the internal organs were burned on the alter. That which was internal was holy enough to burn while the flesh and intestines were unclean. Even though the intestines were internal, they were unclean for obvious reasons.
In verse 21, they were to take some of the blood of the ram and anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron’s garment and his son’s garments. This is an interesting picture. Here we have these ornate garments that were crafted with great skill with fine linens and then the blood of an animal is sprinkled on them randomly of which the blood and oil would have stained their garments. This random sprinkling, however, now made them holy. And, not only were they now holy, but also their garments.
I see this picture: Every day when the priest puts on the garments, he saw the random stains of blood and was reminded of his own sin and his imperfect frailty before God. It would also remind him of his need for purification, sanctification , and cleansing. He walks out among the people who also see these beautiful garments with stains. As the Priest goes about his work and the multitude of sacrifices, it is almost certain blood from the animals would splatter on his garment. Each morning, new stains would appear. More reminders of sin and the need for sacrifice.
In the same way, we were made by God. Perfect and clothed with amazing physical bodies of flesh and bone, adorned with mind, body, and spirit to worship and fellowship with the creator. Yet, stained with sin that randomly spots us and is ever before us, we see sin on ourselves inwardly and outwardly. We can’t shake it. We see our frailty every morning as we look in the mirror and see new stains of sin.
Now, in Matthew 3:11 John the Baptist says “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
The baptism of fire could be of judgement or of God’s cleansing sanctification. Either way, fire is a cleansing process. It burns impurities out of minerals such as gold. In the same way, when we submit our lives to Jesus, after the initial result of salvation (the “seal” as mentioned in Ephesians 1), we are continually being corrected and reformed by God’s holy fire which takes submission on our part. We must be willing to admit our inabilities and our sin before God can do his work. Our flesh will burn on this earth (or what is left) with a physical fire. But, our internal whole self (spirit, soul, and heart) have already been burned with God’s holy fire which was allowed because of the shedding of Jesus’ blood.
Remember that these stains of sin we see do not need to be a catalyst for condemnation causing us to run from God. But instead, to be a reminder of our need for a savior and a preempt on our part to go before the Holy Tabernacle with our stain before us, knowing this is how God wants it to be. Just you, him, and your stains of imperfection. Run to God’s holy throne with conviction and he will meet you with open arms and let your internal self burn with God’s holy fire.
In Exodus 19 God says “you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
God desired that all of Israel become priests. In a sense that he wanted a personal relationship with each Jew that the priesthood brought by being in the Tent of Meeting. Because of the separation of holy and common, this could not be even though God desired it. Now we have become the tabernacle (the Tent of Meeting), a living sacrifice. And in fact, in the last days we shall be a kingdom of priests. Revelations 5:10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
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