Exodus 29:15-2115Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. 16And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar. 17And 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. 18And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the Lord: it is a sweet savor, an offering made by fire unto the Lord. 19And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. 20Then 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. 21And 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 29:15‑21)
THE NEXT thing we have in the consecration of Aaron and his sons is the burnt offering, and in this case it was a ram. The burnt offering was all for God and as such it is the highest sacrifice in Scripture. It brings before us the perfect devotedness of Christ unto death, as wholly consecrated to the will and glory of God. That perfect sacrifice went up to God as a sweet savor. It is the ascending offering. Even if no one were saved at all, God was glorified when His beloved Son offered Himself up to make atonement for sin.
Aaron and his sons were to put their hands on the head of the ram. When they did this in the case of the sin offering, their sins, as it were, were transferred to the victim, but in the case of the burnt offering they were identified with all the perfection of the sacrifice — it was accepted for them. And this tells us that believers are now before God in all the acceptability of Christ. They are “accepted in the Beloved,” and are “holy and without blame before Him in love.” Eph. 1:44According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Ephesians 1:4).
After the ram had been slain, its blood was sprinkled round about upon the altar. The blood, in which is the life, was thus offered wholly to God, and this pictures to us how the life of the Lord Jesus was given up to God. He could say, “Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life that I might take it again.” John 10:1717Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. (John 10:17).
The ram was cut in pieces and inwards washed to tell us of the spotlessness of Christ as offered up. He offered Himself without spot to God. Then all was burnt upon the altar. Every part of the Lord Jesus, His blessed Person and His work went up, in His death as a sweet savor to God.
Next we have the ram of consecration which also speaks of the perfect obedience of Christ unto death. Aaron and his sons were to put their hands on the head of this ram also. As believers we are called to a life of devotedness to Christ and the measure of that devotion is Himself. After the ram was killed, its blood was taken and put upon the right ear of Aaron and his sons, then upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot. In this way they were brought under the value of the atoning blood, and so as believers we are not our own, we are bought with a price — the blood of Christ. We belong to Him now, and have been set free from the bondage of sin and Satan. Our ears, our hands and our feet are all to be used for Him in His service. We should be ready to “present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,” in return for such wonderful love.
Then came the oil—their garments were sprinkled with both the blood and the oil, the oil being a type of the Holy Spirit. In this way they were “set apart” unto God, and so the believer is set apart unto God. But we must be first “justified by His blood,” and our sins forgiven, before we are sealed with the Holy Ghost (Eph. 1:1313In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13)).
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