Exodus 29:28
And 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.
The verse sets apart the lifted portion of Israel's peace offerings to the Lord as the lasting due of Aaron and his sons in their priestly office. It belongs to the consecration of Aaron and his sons for sanctuary service, whose blood and anointing set them apart to bear the people's burdens in the tabernacle shown to Moses on the mount. Its forever means only as long as that ceremonial order could last, for those ordinances of offerings were limited and ended at Christ's death. Like all its rites and sacrifices, it was a shadow lesson of salvation, pointing forward to the Messiah, the Lamb of God who alone takes away sin. That earthly priestly ministry passed away entirely when Christ died once for all, giving place to His ministry in the heavenly temple.
Sanctuary Setting and Wording
Exodus 29 stands among the detailed instructions for the sanctuary and its services given to Moses on Mount Sinai during the forty days after Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage. The directions specified the building to be made exactly after the divine pattern shown in the mount so that God might dwell among Israel, covering its dimensions, materials, furnishings, vessels and service, and the priesthood to minister before the ark containing the law. The materials named are gold, silver, brass, acacia wood, fine linen, goat's hair and other things offered for the tabernacle built by Moses, with its structure together with all its furniture and vessels as the sanctuary for God to dwell among Israel. The work was to be done properly according to God's detailed specification by specially endowed workmen, because centuries of slavery had unfitted Israel to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required.
The chapter describes the consecration of Aaron and his sons for priestly service, which lasted seven days and included sacrifices. The blood and anointing oil sprinkled upon them represented the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit, which alone qualified them for holy service. Their consecration set them apart to serve God and bear the people's burdens.
That Levitical order of priesthood was commenced by Moses setting apart Aaron and his sons to minister before the ark of the testament in the most holy place of the typical sanctuary, and was carried forward through the entire period of the Old Testament while that sanctuary continued. Its earthly ministry was performed in two divisions, daily service in the holy place and yearly service in the most holy place, after the holy places and sacred vessels were anointed. The priests' work included regular morning and evening offerings, incense, appointed services on Sabbaths and festivals, and offerings brought by individuals, with the high priest entering the most holy place once a year to minister for the people's sins and cleanse the sanctuary.
The verse establishes that the heave offering from Israel's peace offerings is set apart to the Lord and belongs to Aaron and his sons by a lasting statute as a priestly due under the laws governing Israel's worship. In the Greek version peace offering uses the same word used elsewhere for salvation, so the offering can be called a salvation offering. It points to the Saviour, in whom alone is salvation, and to the types and shadows fulfilled by Him.
The verse belongs to the law of ordinances regulating offerings, written out after the moral law in Exodus 19-30 and recorded chiefly in Exodus 25-30. Those instructions given through Moses after the speaking of the Ten Commandments consisted of ceremonial requirements distinct from the Ten Commandments and distinct from the civil laws in Exodus 21-23, having reference to flesh in the sacrificial offerings, here the heave offering from the peace offerings appointed to Aaron and his sons. They are described as burdensome ordinances.
The word forever in the verse is used for a ceremonial ordinance connected with the Levitical priesthood. There it means only the longest period the ordinance could last in its circumstances, not necessarily duration without end, for the ceremonial ordinances were limited and were abolished at Christ's death.
Shadow Pointing to Christ
The sanctuary with its various forms and rites was a great, multiple object-lesson comprehending in its teaching the great plan of salvation. It was given after Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage, because hundreds of years of slavery had unfitted Israel to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required. The directions belonged to the building of the marvelously beautiful sanctuary structure, raised from free-will offerings so that God might dwell among Israel, built by specially endowed workmen after the divine pattern given to Moses in the mount. As part of the laws regulating offerings, its sacrifices and offerings were typical and shadowy, serving as shadows that reveal the substance of the new dispensation.
That provision was the worldly sanctuary first pitched in the wilderness under explicit directions covering its dimensions, material, furnishings and service, constructed exactly as commanded so that God might dwell among His people. It was afterward succeeded by the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, where the true worship of God centered until the sacrifice of Christ. Like all the rites and ceremonies of ancient Israel it was an object lesson pointing to the coming Messiah, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. In Him was shown power to forgive sin, transform the character, and deliver from burdens.
That ancient tabernacle was made for a ministry involving sacrifices and offerings, including the heave offering from the peace offerings appointed to Aaron and his sons, having reference to flesh in the sacrificial offerings of Exodus 25-30 given after the Ten Commandments were spoken. That sacrificial ministry passed away entirely and forever when Christ came and died once for all and the veil of the temple was rent, and it instead typified the great temple in heaven where Jesus now ministers. The blood offerings of bulls and goats could not really take away sins, and were not to be continued after Christ suffered but were abolished in His flesh, finding their fulfillment in the body of Christ. Only Jesus, the Lamb of God, takes away the sin of the world, appearing once to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, bearing sins in His own body on the tree so that those dead to sins live unto righteousness, with eternal life coming only by eating the flesh of the Son of man and drinking His blood. The Levitical order of priesthood set apart to minister before the ark of the testament in the most holy place of the typical sanctuary, a ministration commenced by Moses and carried forward through the entire Old Testament while that sanctuary continued, could toward a sinful people only exhibit guilt and just condemnation and death under the holy law, showing them exposed to its penalty with no promise of pardon in itself and offering no sacrifice that could take away sin, but could only point penitent sinners forward to the great Sacrifice to be offered for the sins of men.
Teaching and Application
The verse belongs to the instructions for the sanctuary and its services, which set out on earth God's plan for dealing with sin. That service involved the people working with God in the work carried out through Christ. God gave particular directions for the services connected with His worship. Those services were intended to bring people into harmony with God's holy law. Priestly rites were committed to Aaron and his sons, and no one else was to perform them unless specially directed by the Lord.
Saul had not been ordained for priestly service and had been told to wait for Samuel, so his offering sacrifice himself was presumptuous disobedience. The setting apart of the priests shows that sanctification can mean consecration to a religious use. The offerings and consecration God required of the high priest were the same as those required of the cleansed leper. This means the humblest child of God must be as devoted and consecrated as Christ was. The verse is part of the laws God gave to regulate the worship of Israel, distinct from the laws He gave for civil government in Exodus 21 to 23.
Religion and civil government have essentially different purposes and must operate on entirely separate lines. True religion is designed to bring men back to God by persuasion, while civil government is a temporary arrangement made necessary by sin to control men by force and to regulate their relations toward each other in this life only. Any commingling of the two produces discordant clashing detrimental to both.