Exodus 29:22-3522Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, 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 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 thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons; and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. 25And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor before the Lord: it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord. 26And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord: and it shall be thy part. 27And thou shalt 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: 28And it shall be Aaron's 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. 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 cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place. 31And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and seethe 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, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 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. 34And 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. 35And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them. (Exodus 29:22‑35)
AFTER the sprinkling of the blood and the oil, certain parts of the ram of consecration “and one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer,...” were put into the hands of Aaron and his sons to be waved “for a wave offering before the Lord.” Here we have another precious picture of Christ. The ram speaks of Him in His death. The one loaf and wafer of unleavened bread tell of His spotless humanity and perfect holiness in life as devoted wholly to the glory of God. These things were put into the hands of Aaron and his sons.
The word consecration means “filling the hand,” and so this would tell us that God would by His Spirit at first fill our hands with Christ. And then we can as priests present Christ to God in worship, for only what He puts into our hands, of Christ, is acceptable to Him.
True consecration to God is being filled with Christ. Surely our “hands” and our hearts should be filled with the sense of the loveliness of Christ, and thus we find our dight in reminding God our Father of all the excellencies we see in His beloved Son.
Moses then received these precious things from the hands of the priests and burned them on the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savor bore the Lord. God first fills our hands and then gives us the joy of presenting Christ to Himself. He dights in receiving this worship from us. The flesh can have no part in this; true worship can only be by and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The shoulder and the breast of the ram were for Aaron and his sons; they could feast on these. This is the peace or communion offering, and so we not only have joy in presenting Christ to God in worship, but we find our own peace and joy in such a blessed occupation.
The flesh of the ram was then to be seethed and Aaron and his sons were to eat it in the holy place, for feeding upon Christ must be connected with the altar. We are called to the privilege of having fellowship with God and Christ in thoughts of His work of atonement. We cannot feed upon Christ if we separate Him from the cross. Furthermore no strangers should eat of this priestly food. Only those who have been redeemed to God by the blood of Christ have these privileges.
ML-11/08/1970