Exodus 29:26, commentary and pictures

Exodus 29:26 appoints the breast of the ram of consecration to be waved before the Lord as a wave offering in the seven-day ceremony consecrating Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, and allots it to Moses as his portion. It was given during the forty days on Sinai when the pattern of the tabernacle and priesthood was shown before the sanctuary was built. On that single occasion Moses acted as the consecrating priest and took the wave breast as his only prescribed portion, leaving his own sons without office or endowment and taking nothing for himself though all power was in his hands. The consecration with its sacrifices and anointing signified devotion of the whole man to God's service and pointed in type to the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit as the true qualification for holy office. Those ministrations in flesh did not themselves take away sin but were shadows of the new dispensation, fulfilled once for all when Christ suffered and died and now ministers in the true temple on high.

Sinai Setting and Consecration

Exodus 29:26 belongs to the instructions Moses received during his forty days on the mount on Sinai concerning the tabernacle and its furnishings and the ordaining of the priesthood and the sanctuary service before the ark containing the law. Those instructions were given before the sanctuary was built and set up. They stand within the Sinai record in Exodus 19, 20, and 24-34 of God's personal descent upon the mountain with His angels.

The verse belongs to the very minute description of the sanctuary in Exodus 25 to 40, also described as Exodus 25 to 31 and chiefly Exodus 25 to 30, which Moses was to make exactly according to the pattern shown him in the mount. That description covers its dimensions, material, furnishings, and all, given after the deliverance from Egypt across the Red Sea. It is the story of the building of the inner tabernacle erected by Israel at God's command in the wilderness. That tabernacle, with Solomon's temple that later took its place, formed the center of God's worship on earth, with all earthly worship revolving around the holy of holies where the law rested beneath the mercy-seat. That ancient tabernacle, sanctuary, and priesthood bears no likeness to modern churches.

In its immediate setting the verse prescribes part of the seven-day ceremony consecrating Aaron and his sons to serve as priests, with Aaron as high priest and mediator between God and the people. The breast of the ram of consecration was to be waved before the Lord as a wave offering and allotted to Moses as his portion. The account of the services connected with the consecration of the priests belongs together with the description of the priestly garments in Exodus 28 and should be carefully studied. Moses was acting as the consecrating priest when Aaron was inducted, with the wave breast on that single occasion appointed as Moses's part. Set against the frequent ample provision made for Aaron and his sons, it is the only instance in which Moses prescribed anything for himself or his family. It proves that no feature of the law was formed to benefit him and displays his self-forgetfulness in leaving his sons without office, endowment, or wealth and in taking nothing though all power was in his hands.

The chapter establishes that the priesthood and its rites were committed to Aaron and his sons, so that others were not to perform priestly services unless the Lord specifically directed them. It set apart the Levitical order to minister before the ark in the most holy place of the typical sanctuary while that sanctuary continued. The verse illustrates that sanctification can mean setting apart or consecrating to sacred use, as the priests were consecrated for religious service. The verse belongs to the set of laws God gave Israel for the regulation of worship, distinct from the laws in Exodus 21 to 23 for civil government. The distinction shows that civil government and true religion have essentially different purposes and must operate on separate lines, the one controlling men by force in relations toward each other in this life only and the other bringing men back to God by persuasion toward reconciliation.

Shadow Substance and Application

The verse is part of God's instructions for preparing the sanctuary services as an earthly object lesson of His plan for dealing with sin and saving sinners. It belongs to the laws given through Moses concerning offerings and sacrifices, which revealed types that served as shadows of the substance of the new dispensation. It belongs to the explicit directions given to Moses in the mount for building the sanctuary in the wilderness after the deliverance from Egypt across the Red Sea, covering its dimensions, material, furnishings, and all. That description in Exodus 25 to 40 is of the worldly sanctuary first pitched in the wilderness, which was typical of and foreshadowed the true tabernacle, and whose rites and ceremonies were object lessons pointing to the Lamb of God and His power to forgive sin, transform character, and deliver from burdens.

It concerns ministration in sacrifices and offerings involving flesh in the Levitical priesthood's service in the earthly sanctuary. Those sacrifices did not themselves take away sin but found their fulfillment in Christ's sacrifice. They passed away when Christ came and suffered and died once for all, and they typified the great temple on high where Jesus now ministers. The description in Exodus 25 to 31 of the ancient tabernacle, sanctuary, and priests bears no likeness to modern churches.

The verse falls within the law of ordinances written out after the moral law in Exodus 19 to 30. It belongs not to the ten commandments that God spoke directly from Sinai and wrote on the two tables of stone to which He added no more, but to the further instruction received through Moses during forty days in the mount. It stands with the matter recorded chiefly in Exodus 25 to 30 and in Leviticus, given by the hand of Moses, consisting of burdensome ceremonies and carnal ordinances, including the yearly pilgrimages, circumcision, and diverse washings, imposed until the time of reformation as a yoke which neither the fathers nor their children were able to bear.

The verse belongs to the ceremony consecrating Aaron and his sons as priests, and the consecration sacrifice and its offerings marked their appointment to God's service. The ceremony also signified that their ears, hands, and feet were devoted to that service. The unleavened bread represented sincerity and truth, the sacrifice's shoulder represented bearing the people's burdens, and the sprinkling of blood and anointing oil represented the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit as what qualified them for their holy office. The offerings and consecration required of the high priest in Exodus 29 are the same offerings and consecration required for the cleansing of the leper, showing that the humblest child of God must be as devoted and consecrated as Christ. The exact instructions and details of the tabernacle and the consecration of Aaron and his sons provide vitalizing lessons, though their full meaning and reasons may not be fathomed.