Robed in Righteousness

1 “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3 You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams. 4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 5 Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 6 And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. 7 You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8 Then you shall bring his sons and put coats on them, 9 and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

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 29:1-21ESV

God had given Moses His construction plans for the Tabernacle and its elements. He had provided the designs for the sacred garments of the priests. Now, He gave Moses instructions for the consecration of Aaron and his sons so that they might serve as His holy representatives before the people.

Once the Tabernacle was complete and ready for use, there would be one final step before God’s presence could dwell among His people. God had appointed Aaron and his sons to serve as priests and He had assigned given them the high honor and heavy responsibility of maintaining the spiritual welfare of the entire nation. The priests and the entire Tabernacle in which they would serve had to be thoroughly purified and consecrated to prepare the way for the Lord’s presence. 

Despite the Tabernacle’s ornate and rather lavish design, it was still just a glorified tent. The elements contained inside its decorative walls, though covered in gold and decorated with precious gems, were just ordinary objects made with human hands. Those who had been chosen to wear the sacred garments and enter the inner recesses of the sanctuary were just ordinary men.

When the people of Israel looked at the Tabernacle they would see a structure they had helped to build. Their contributions had helped to fund its construction. Their sweat equity had transformed the words of God into a reality, and as they stood before the completed structure, they could take pride in what they had accomplished. So, it was essential that the people understand the sacredness of the Tabernacle. During its construction phase, they would have entered into its various chambers and touched the objects that would later become off-limits. They would have been familiar with every nook and cranny of God’s house and proud of the role they had played in its construction. But once completed, the Tabernacle would no longer be accessible. The gifts they had donated for its construction were no longer theirs. The doorway into the grounds of the Tabernacle would be closed to them. 

The Tabernacle was meant to be a sacred space, set apart for God’s use. But it had been made with human hands and constructed from earthly materials. When King Solomon completed his grand plan for the Temple in Jerusalem, he admitted, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27 ESV).

Centuries later, the apostle Stephen picked up on this thought in a sermon he preached to a crowd of Jews in the city of Jerusalem, not long after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

“…it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

“‘Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
    or what is the place of my rest?
Did not my hand make all these things?’” – Acts 7:48-50 ESV

And the apostle Paul would echo the words of Stephen in an address he gave at the Areopagus in Athens.

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” – Acts 17:24 ESV

As Moses and his fellow Israelites stood back admiring the glorious Tabernacle they had helped to create, it would have been easy for them to take credit for its existence. They would have assumed that it somehow belonged to them. But God wanted them to know that this building, while magnificent and worthy of praise, was unfit for His habitation. God didn’t need a house to live in. This Tabernacle was not for His benefit but for the benefit of the people of Israel. It would become a lasting symbol of His abiding presence and a vivid reminder of His holiness. But it all began on the day that Moses consecrated Aaron and his sons.

Chapter 29 of Exodus parallels chapter 8 of Leviticus. Each outlines the detailed instructions given by God to Moses for the elaborate opening ceremony of the Tabernacle. First on the agenda was the ordination of Aaron and his sons. Before they could serve in God’s house, they had to be purified with water. Then their personal garments were replaced with the sacred robes provided for them by God. Once properly attired, Aaron and his sons were anointed with oil. This ritual was designed to signify their set-apart status. It represented the pouring out of God’s Spirit upon each of the men, preparing them to serve in His holy house.

But one further step was required before these men could enter God’s presence. They had been ceremonially cleansed and robed in righteous garments but there was still the matter of their sin. To the human eye, they looked like priests and appeared to be holy and fully prepared for their role. But Moses was ordered to offer three different sacrifices to ensure that Aaron and his sons would be acceptable to God. Their garments could not take away sin. Though they looked like priests, they remained covered in guilt and unworthy to enter into God’s presence.

The first sacrifice involved a bull that was offered as atonement for sin. Its blood was sprinkled on the horns of the altar, making it holy before the Lord. But before the bull was killed, Aaron and his two sons laid their hands on the animal, ceremonially transferring their sins onto the beast. Its death served as a substitute for their own.  Their sin debt was paid for by another.

The next sacrifice was a ram and, as before, Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the animal before it was slain. Then its blood was sprinkled on the sides of the bronze altar and its entire body was burned as “a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord” (Exodus 29:18 ESV).

“By consuming the entire animal, God was indicating that he had completely accepted the worshiper, and as it was a sweet smelling fire sacrifice, he was indicating that he was pleased to accept it. By offering the entire animal, the worshiper was indicating on his part a complete surrender to God.” – NET Bible Study Notes

The final sacrifice involved a second ram on which Aaron and his sons laid their hands. In this case, the blood of the ram was placed “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” (Exodus 29:20 ESV). This sacrifice was unique to Aaron and his two sons. It was intended to set them apart for their service as priests. In this case, the blood was not for atonement but for sanctification. It consecrated them for their unique role as God’s mediators. Covered in oil and blood, the men were ready to serve the Lord. 

Their lavish garments were now soaked with oil and stained with blood, and it was in this macabre state that they were able to enter into God’s presence. When Aaron and his sons made their way into the Tabernacle for the first time, they did so by virtue of the blood. The author of Hebrews reminds us that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22 ESV). Moses was required to shed innocent blood so that his brother Aaron might receive atonement. He had to take life so that the lives of his brother and nephews might be spared and so that they might serve the spiritual needs of the people.

Jesus did the same thing for us when He gave His life as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. The entire Tabernacle and the rites and rituals surrounding it point to Christ. Once again, the author of Hebrews makes the connection between the two.

For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. – Hebrews 13:11-12 ESV

Aaron and his sons were now ready to enter into God’s presence. But this elaborate ritual would have to be repeated over and over again before they could serve in God’s house. As sinners, they remained unfit for service without the blood sacrifice and the purification process that accompanied it. This entire ceremony was meant to communicate the holiness of God and the sinfulness of men. The blood was representative of man’s guilt and condemnation. But it also stood for God’s willingness to provide substitutionary atonement for the debt men owed. He had a plan for dealing with the problem and it involved the sacrifice of another. And as the apostle points out, “God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT).

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A New World With New Rules

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.’ 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” 

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man,
    by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.

7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.” – Genesis 8:20-9:7 ESV

Upon exiting the ark, Noah immediately demonstrates his immense gratitude for God’s salvation of him and his family. He erects an altar and offers sacrifices to God. But this response stands out as rather odd considering the context of chapter eight. Noah has just been spared from death. And he had been used by God to protect the lives of “animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens” (Genesis 6:7 ESV). God had given him the responsibility of gathering pairs of animals and placing them on the ark so that they might survive the flood.

“And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive.” – Genesis 6:19-20 ESV

And yet, chapter eight closes with Noah taking the lives of some of the animals he just helped save. This all seems so counterproductive. And where did Noah get the idea of constructing an altar and offering burnt offerings to God? This is the first mention of the term “altar” in the entire Bible, and it comes long before God gave to Moses His commands concerning the sacrificial system. It seems doubtful that this costly act of animal sacrifice was something Noah came up with on his own. God had obviously made preparations for just such an occasion because He had commanded Noah to “Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth” (Genesis 7:2-3 ESV).

In Hebrew, the term translated as “clean” is טָהוֹר (ṭâôr), and it means “pure.” It was used to refer to that which was pure or clean physically, but also those things that were considered ceremonially and morally pure. God had specifically provided Noah with two different lists of animals to collect and protect on the ark. Of the “clean” animals, Noah was to gather seven pairs. But of those animals deemed “unclean” by God, Noah was to gather only one pair of each – a male and a female.

God was obviously making plans for the future. And He must have given Noah strict instructions as to how to differentiate between the clean and unclean animals. It is likely that God provided Noah with a similar list as that found in Leviticus 11.

“Of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food. You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud. You may not, however, eat the following animals that have split hooves or that chew the cud, but not both. The camel chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. The hyrax chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. The hare chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. The pig has evenly split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is unclean. You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses. They are ceremonially unclean for you.” – Leviticus 11:2-8 NLT

God went on to give Moses a detailed list of all the sea creatures, birds, and winged insects that were to be considered clean and good for food. And it seems only logical that God provided Noah with a similar list. Otherwise, he would not have known which species required seven pairs rather than two. Since God had deemed these living creatures as clean and approved for eating, He was ensuring that humanity would have an ample post-flood food source. When Noah exited the ark, God gave him express permission to consume animals as well as plants.

“Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.” – Genesis 9:3 ESV

While this verse placed no restriction on the eating of unclean animals, it is inferred by the surrounding context. The whole purpose behind God differentiating between the clean and unclean creatures was so that Noah and his family knew which animals were approved as sources of food. But God had a second reason for setting apart the clean animals and instructing Noah to collect more of their kind. He had obviously given Noah instructions regarding the offering these pre-approved creatures as animal sacrifices. All the way back in Genesis four, the two sons of Adam inherently knew that they were to bring offerings to God.

In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. – Genesis 4:3-4 ESV

Now, centuries later, and after God had spared Noah and his family. the offerings were to continue. This time, God must have instructed Noah to build an altar and offer up a portion of the clean animals as an offering of thanksgiving. But there is something more to this act of sacrifice. In giving up these particular animals, Noah was willingly diminishing his food source. He was letting go of the very thing that was supposed to ensure the future well-being of him and his family. And, in doing so, he was displaying his trust in God. Those animals sacrificed would never breed again. They would never serve as a source of food or clothing. Noah effectively gave them back to God. And God was pleased.

“…when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth.’” – Genesis 8:21 ESV

God made a categorical decision to never destroy the earth again, in spite of the fact that nothing had really changed. God reveals that, despite Noah’s obedient sacrifice, the heart of man remained as wicked and fallen as ever. God was starting over with Noah and his family, but He knew that they were damaged goods. In a way, the sacrifice of the “pure” animals was a foreshadowing of the sacrificial system God would ordain for the people of Israel. Because of their sinful dispositions, He would provide them with an ongoing means of atonement for sin, in the form of animal sacrifice. In time, those pure and undefiled animals would be necessary, not just for food, but for cleansing from sin. Why? Because despite the purging and purifying effects of the flood, the heart of man remained permanently marred by evil.

But God made a covenant commitment to Noah, promising to never repeat the devastating destruction of the flood. Instead, He would give humanity a second chance. God chose to give Noah and his family an opportunity to fulfill the same kingdom mandate given to Adam and Eve.

“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” – Genesis 9:1 ESV

Everything was starting over. The old world had been destroyed. God was beginning again with a new vice-regent: Noah. This “second Adam” was given dominion over all the creatures of the earth. He was awarded stewardship of God’s creation, but this time, God provided Noah with some new stipulations concerning his role.

“Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.” – Genesis 9:3-5 ESV

Unlike Adam and Eve, Noah and his family were given divine permission to use the animals as an alternate food source. But this alteration to their daily diet came with restrictions. They were not allowed to consume the blood of the animal. Much later, God would give the people of Israel further instructions and clarification regarding this ban on the consumption of blood.

“For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.” – Leviticus 17:14 ESV

According to the creation account, every beast of the earth, every bird of the heavens, and everything that creeps on the earth contained the breath of life (Genesis 1:30). And when God had breathed the breath of life into Adam, he had become a living creature (Genesis 2:7). But the life of every creature is contained in its blood. This incredible substance, created by God, is what sustains the life of every living creature.

The main job of red blood cells, or erythrocytes, is to carry oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues and carbon dioxide as a waste product, away from the tissues and back to the lungs. Hemoglobin (Hgb) is an important protein in the red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of our body.

Blood carries the following to the body tissues:

Nourishment

Electrolytes

Hormones

Vitamins

Antibodies

Heat

Oxygen

Immune cells (cells that fight infection)

Blood carries the following away from the body tissues:

Waste matter

Carbon dioxide

– https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia

Life cannot exist without blood. And so, God put a prohibition on the consumption of blood. In the animal kingdom, this restriction is regularly ignored, and they suffer the consequences. Wild animals are destined to live in a perpetual cycle marked by carnivorous consumption. But for man, it was to be different. He was not to kill an animal and eat its blood. If he did, he would suffer the consequences. And if a man spilled the blood of a fellow human being, he would pay dearly.

“If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image.” – Genesis 9:6 NLT

Things were going to be different in the post-flood world. In the antediluvian world, Cain had killed Abel and had lived to tell about it. Lamech had murdered a man and had bragged about it. But now, God would deliver stern judgment upon all those who took it upon themselves to play god and take human life.

And, having laid out the new rules of engagement in His recreated world, God reiterated His original mandate to humanity.

“…be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.” – Genesis 9:7 ESV

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

New English Translation (NET)NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.