Atoned Before God, Completely Given to God
As I meditate on Exodus 29:10-18, one question comes to my mind:
Why did Aaron and his sons need a sin offering?
They had been specifically called by God. They had been chosen for priestly service. They had been washed, clothed and anointed.
Yet, before they could begin their ministry, a sacrifice had to be offered for their sin.
This reminds me that being called by God does not make us sinless.
Aaron was the high priest, but he was still a sinner who needed atonement. Before he could minister before a holy God, his own sin had to be dealt with.
The Sin Offering
In Exodus 29:10, the bull is brought before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons place their hands on its head.
This was not an insignificant gesture. In the sacrificial system, the laying on of hands connected the worshipper with the animal being offered. Leviticus describes the same practice:
“And he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill the sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.”
– Leviticus 4:29 ESV
Aaron and his sons were not merely watching a sacrifice being made. They themselves were standing in need of atonement.
The bull was then killed before the LORD.
Some of its blood was put on the horns of the altar, while the remaining blood was poured out at its base. The fat covering the entrails, the liver lobe and the kidneys with their fat were burned on the altar. The flesh, skin and dung were taken outside the camp and burned.
God gave precise instructions for every part of the sacrifice.
The placement of the blood was also prescribed by God. Scripture does not tell us that the blood on the horns had one hidden symbolic meaning while the blood at the base had another. Rather, both were part of the God-appointed procedure of the sin offering.
Leviticus gives us the larger theological meaning of the blood:
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls.”
– Leviticus 17:11 ESV
The sacrifice therefore reminded Israel that sin required atonement.
And here the passage points us toward something far greater.
The blood of animals was never the final solution for human sin. Hebrews tells us:
“For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
– Hebrews 10:4 ESV
The sacrifices were pointing forward to Christ.
Aaron needed a sacrifice.
His sons needed a sacrifice.
And I need a sacrifice.
But my hope is not in the blood of an animal. My hope is in Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for sinners.
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.”
– 1 Peter 2:24 ESV
There is also something significant about what happened to the remaining portions of the bull.
They were burned outside the camp.
Exodus 29:14 specifically says:
“But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn up outside the camp; it is a sin offering.”
– Exodus 29:14 ESV
The passage itself does not explain every symbolic detail of this location. But when we come to Hebrews, we see a remarkable connection:
“So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.”
– Hebrews 13:12 ESV
The writer of Hebrews deliberately connects the Old Testament pattern of the sacrifice being taken outside with Christ suffering outside Jerusalem’s gate.
The shadow points us to the greater sacrifice.
The Old Testament priest needed an offering. Christ became the offering.
The Burnt Offering
Then the passage moves to the first ram.
Again, Aaron and his sons place their hands on the animal. The ram is killed, and its blood is thrown against the sides of the altar.
Here, Scripture simply gives us the prescribed procedure. We should not create a symbolic meaning for the different placement of the blood that the text itself does not give.
But verse 18 clearly tells us what kind of offering this was:
“And burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD.”
– Exodus 29:18 ESV
The whole ram was burned.
Nothing was held back.
This gives me a different emphasis from the sin offering.
The sin offering reminds me of atonement.
The burnt offering reminds me of being completely given to God.
This takes me directly to Paul’s words in Romans:
“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
– Romans 12:1 ESV
Because Christ has given Himself for us, we are called to give ourselves to Him.
Christianity is not merely asking God to forgive my sins while I continue to live according to my own desires.
It is surrender.
My thoughts.
My decisions.
My relationships.
My work.
My ambitions.
My time.
My future.
Every area of life comes under the lordship of Christ.
Paul says:
“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
– 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV
This is where the sacrifice of Christ and the living sacrifice of the Christian meet.
Christ gave Himself for me. Therefore, I give myself to Him.
This does not mean that I surrender in order to earn salvation. I surrender because I have received God’s mercy.
That is why Paul begins Romans 12:1 with the words: “by the mercies of God.”
Our surrender is a response to grace.
What About My Ministry?
There is one thought in this passage that particularly challenges me.
Aaron and his sons were being prepared for ministry, but they first needed atonement themselves.
That means ministry never places me beyond my need for the cross.
I may serve God and still need repentance.
I may teach others and still need God’s Word to correct me.
I may pray for others and still need God’s grace.
I may be called to ministry and still need to come before Christ as a sinner saved by grace.
Therefore, I never want my ministry to become more important to me than my relationship with Christ.
I don’t want to be more concerned about being used by God than about walking with God.
And I don’t want to offer God my ministry while keeping parts of my life under my own control.
Jesus showed us the perfect example of surrender in Gethsemane:
“Not my will, but yours, be done.”
– Luke 22:42 ESV
He willingly gave Himself according to the Father’s will.
So the question I take from this passage is not simply:
“Am I willing to serve God?”
It is:
“Am I willing to belong completely to God?”
Perhaps there are areas of my life that I have never truly placed before Him.
Perhaps I have surrendered my ministry but not my ambitions.
My service but not my plans.
My public life but not my private life.
My words but not my desires.
Today, I want to place everything before Him.
Not because I am worthy.
Not because I have something great to offer.
But because Christ has already given Himself for me.
Lord Jesus, thank You for becoming the perfect sacrifice for my sin.
Keep me near Your cross and never allow my calling or ministry to make me forget my dependence upon You.
Teach me to surrender every part of my life to You.
Take my thoughts, my plans, my desires, my work, my relationships and my future.
Let my life be a living sacrifice, not for my glory, but for Yours.
And when Your will is different from mine, give me the grace to say:
“Not my will, but Yours, be done.”
Today I am reminded of two things: I need the sacrifice of Christ for my sin. And having received His mercy, I am called to give my whole life to Him.
Hineni