Exodus 29:1-9

¹ “Now this is what you should do to them to consecrate them, so that they may serve me as priests. Take one young bull – a son of the herd, and two rams without blemish, ² and unleavened bread, unleavened loaves mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. You should make them of fine wheat flour. ³ You should put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams. ⁴ You should bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. ⁵ Then you should take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the sacred pouch, and wrap him with the skillfully woven sash of the ephod. ⁶ And you should set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. ⁷ You should take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. ⁸ Then you should bring his sons and put coats on them, ⁹ and you should wrap Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind headbands on them. And the priesthood should be theirs by a statute forever. This is how you will give Aaron’s hands and his sons’ hands fully to their ministry.

hands given over fully

The elaborate ordination ceremony for the priesthood under the Mosaic covenant begins by collecting all the elements of the ordination. The offerings include three animals: two perfect rams from the flock, and one perfect young bull from the herd. There are also a basket full of cakes of wheat, of two different types – unleavened thick cakes, and unleavened thin ones, both types anointed with oil. There is all the special clothing designed and manufactured to designate the priests and to protect them from God’s power while in his presence. There is water for washing them, and oil for anointing them. Both of these elements ensure purity and distinctiveness.

Before going into the details of the ceremony, it is important to think about some of the purposes for it, which can be deduced from this introductory passage.

1. These men were being introduced to a new kind of employment. The ceremony was to give their hands fully to that new ministry. Whatever they had been before, or done before, was no longer what defined them. They were now to be priests to the LORD.

2. The ordination required the taking of the lives of these animals. It was a solemn event and its seriousness could not be understated.

3. There was symbolism here that suggested meaning that perhaps even those going through the ordination would have to contemplate. Some aspects of the ceremony were probably not even understood by them.

Under the new covenant, initiated by Jesus himself, all believers are to serve God as priests.[1] No doubt there are many aspects of that priesthood which we do not yet understand. But we can understand that there is a work that we can do that helps to form the connection between a needy people and the God they need. It is a work we often call evangelism. That is a priestly function that we can be involved in now.

LORD, show us how to give ourselves fully to the work of bringing people into a relationship with you.

[1] Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6.