2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES

Wednesday in the Word

Second Baptist Church

May 2, 2018

Exodus  29:29-30:21

1. Verses 29-30. The under garments of the high priest would wear out, but the outer garments would last. The outer garments of the High Priest were unique to the High Priest, those garments were to be passed down to the next in line to be High Priest when Aaron died. For the entire Old Testament time, a descendant of Aaron served as the high priest. When there was a change of priest, the same seven-day ordination would take place.

2. Verses 31-41. The seven-day ordination process is summarized. The priests are consecrated, the tent is consecrated and the altar is consecrated. First, the ram of ordination is cooked and the high priest and his sons eat the ram at the entrance of the tent of meeting. A bull is sacrificed for seven days, the altar is purified. Immediately after the consecration of the altar, the daily sacrifice was set up. Two lambs were to be offered up every day unto the Lord. These two lambs were to be offered early in the morning and in the evening. These two lambs were to be the continuous offering. A lamb was to be offered upon the altar every morning, and a lamb every evening. The lambs were offered with an oil/bread offering and a wine offering. These offerings are a reminder of Jesus’s continual sacrifice and how Jesus is our daily sustenance (bread), the empowerment of the spirit (the oil) and the atonement of blood (the wine). The continual offering is a picture of how Jesus makes us acceptable to God for service. At this point everything is HOLY, and all preparations are made to now fellowship with God.

3. Verses 42-46. Once all this is done, God tells Moses, now I will meet my people at the entrance of the tent and speak with them. For fellowship to happen with God, there must be a consecration of priest, altar, and tent/tabernacle. God is not fellowshipping unless preparations have been made for holiness. God is teaching the people reverence for the HOLY GOD. God says that the place will be consecrated by his glory. Moses could only consecrate some of the things, but God will consecrate the place of meeting with his glory. His glory will make the place holy. The place wasn’t holy by itself, it had to be made holy by the glory of God. The altar would make the priest holy, but the glory of God would make the tent of meeting holy. God now promises to dwell among the people and show them that He is God. God wants the people to get to Know him.

4. Chapter 30:1-10. The smallest piece of sacred furniture was the altar of incense. Made of special wood and overlaid with gold like the other items in the sacred space. This was to provide a beautiful aroma in a place of much sacrifice. The priest would bum incense starting in the morning and again in the evening. A special incense was made that was only used for this altar. The altar was consecrated or anointed once a year and it stood in front of the Holy of holies. This atonement was on the Day of Atonement, which is the tenth day of the seventh month. This seventh month is about October on our calendar. The high priest, after burning incense inside the Holy of Holies, took the blood and sprinkled it on the mercy seat. He took some of the blood and put it on the horns of the altar of incense. This blood on the mercy seat was to cover the sins of the people. The blood on the horns showed that the power and strength was in the shed blood. This blood once a year was to cleanse the altar spiritually. To cleanse it from the un-holiness of the children of Israel. The blood on the horns of the altar of incense was for the cleansing from sin of the high priest and his people, the children of Israel. This blood on the horns had to do with the priest and his whole congregation. Next to the ark and the mercy seat, this altar of incense was most holy. The value of this altar of incense lets us know the importance of prayer in God's sight. We know that incense often was a symbol of prayer. The constant burning of the incense is a reminder to always pray and that God loves the prayers of his people.

5. Verses 11-16. God commands Moses when he counts the men of fighting age 20, each man should give about what amounted to $1.00. This money was used for the service of the tabernacle. The women didn’t pay this money, and the rich and poor paid the same. The shekel was a symbol of each person. The souls of the rich and poor are alike precious, and God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34; Job 34:19). In other offerings, men were to give according to their worldly ability. But this, which was the ransom of the soul, must be alike for all. The souls of all are of equal value, equally in danger, and all equally need a ransom, Each of age man had the same responsibly to the tabernacle. God said that this money would also cover them against disease. God was teaching the people to have a financial commitment to the worship service. This was a reminder of who was keeping them and blessing them. Their offerings were an acknowledgement that all good things came from God. This was important for the soldiers to know that God was the one who gave them the victory.

6. Verses 17-21. This is the basin/tub of cleansing located between the altar of burnt offering and the door of the tabernacle. It was made of bronze and set aside for ceremonial washing of the priests before they entered the Holy Place. The symbolic meaning is indeed significant and precious. It provided a type of cleansing that served to maintain fitness for a spiritual ministry. The altar of sacrifice dealt with the priests’ guilt, but something else was required for effective fellowship and worship in the tabernacle. The blood did not remove the defilement of sin. So before one could enter the presence of a holy God, sin had to be taken care of (Eph. 5:26; John 15:3 in the life of the believer today). We are freed from the guilt of sin and its penalty by the application of the blood (Rom. 5:9), but there remains defilement of sin that comes through daily living and is cleansed by the washing of the Word of God (John 13:10). This altar was to be in the outer court. This was not to be inside the tabernacle. Nothing made of brass could be in the Holy Place or the Holy of Holies. This basin was not only made of brass but was on a stand of brass as well. This laver had many physical uses. One of which was every time Aaron or his sons went into the Holy Place, they were to be washed before they entered. They were to wash their hands and feet on penalty of death before they entered the Holy Place. This was not an option, it was mandatory. The animals had to be washed also. This water in this basin was to be kept fresh and full always. The spiritual meaning of this laver could certainly be baptism; because after repentance at the brazen altar, certainly comes the washing of baptism.

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