Exodus 29:10 – 18 “Bring the bull to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head. And you shall slaughter the bull before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar.
Take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar. But burn the flesh of the bull and its hide and dung outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. You are to slaughter the ram, take its blood, and sprinkle it on all sides of the altar. Cut the ram into pieces, wash the entrails and legs, and place them with its head and other pieces. Then burn the entire ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.”
At first, this scene of blood – letting seems absurd and barbaric. Why slaughter bulls and rams? Why pour out the blood? Yesterday we mentioned that both bulls and rams were worshiped in Egypt as gods. By ordering the Israelites to slaughter these animals, God is proving that the gods of Egypt are worthless and that He is the only true living God.
A Jewish scholar named Jacob Milgrom has explained that “Jews are forbidden to eat the blood of animals because blood represents life. So, while the animal’s dead body may be eaten, the animal’s life – blood must, as it were, be “returned ” to God – either by sprinkling it on the altar or by pouring it on the ground. (Deuteronomy 12:16, 15:23)”
v. 13 ”Take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar.” WHY? Again, God wants the Israelites to make a complete break with divination and other idolatrous beliefs. The organs mentioned were frequently examined by pagan priests to detect the future or to answer questions. While kidneys generally were not used, the kidneys are located immediately next to the liver. God didn’t want to take any chances that the Israelites would develop a new form of divination using kidneys instead of livers! And the same thing would hold true for the entrails.
Dennis Prager comments: “The Torah insists on burning the entrails to ensure these magical practices would have no place in the Tabernacle. In reading these accounts of the Tabernacle, perhaps the most important point to keep in mind is the Torah’s obsession with ridding the Israelites of idolatrous beliefs. Maimonides identified fifty – one of the Torah’s 613 commandments as directed against idolatry.
This is just one more example of how meaningful the details of the sacrificial system were to the Jews of ancient times and how infused they were with civilization – changing values.” (Dennis Prager The Rational Bible: Exodus)
v. 15 – 18 “Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. You are to slaughter the ram, take its blood, and sprinkle it on all sides of the altar. Cut the ram into pieces, wash the entrails and legs, and place them with its head and other pieces. Then burn the entire ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.”
God is weaning the Israelites away from a system of human sacrifice. Several different cultures, including the Egyptians, practiced some form of human sacrifice, especially of prisoners. God is substituting animals for humans that might otherwise have been killed. But there is more.
Prager continues: “By turning the ram into smoke, the priest powerfully demonstrated the gods of Egypt can disappear in a puff of smoke, whereas the God of Israel has no physical form that can be obliterated.
Like the ten plagues, which were directed at Egyptian gods, many of the sacrifices do the same thing – undermine belief in Egyptian gods (rams and bulls) and religious superstitions (reading animal entrails.)”
APPLICATION: How many of your beliefs would stand the test of fire? How many might go up in a puff of smoke? Many of us who call ourselves Christians may be holding onto beliefs that are actually as wrong as those of the ancient Israelites. One good example is the sources of information that we believe. Stay on social media for awhile and you can find all kinds of stuff… but where is the truth?
We must always be willing to submit our cherished beliefs to God, realizing that we may have been swayed by popular opinion or by plausible arguments that have no basis in fact. The story is told of a Protestant missionary in South America who was going to have to cooperate with the local Catholic church on a project. The missionary went to the Lord in prayer and complained, “God, I don’t believe everything these people do! How am I going to work with them?” At that point, the Lord answered, “I don’t agree with everything you believe, but I work with you anyway!”
PRAYER: Father God, you are the Source of all Light and Life and Truth. Open our eyes, that we may see wonderful things in your Law. Open our ears and our hearts to hear your Truth. Help us to turn away from any lies that we have believed and to seek your perfect Will. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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