Exodus 29:1-9
It is good to be with you this week, thanks so much for joining us on Hope for Today. There is absolutely no other book like the Bible, and we believe every part of the Bible is beneficial for us. As you know, we are studying in Exodus, but this is not the only book of the Bible we have teaching from.
Here is a testimony from Macedonia, and at the time we were airing our teaching from one of the Gospels.
“I listen to Radio 7 daily because it is different from all the other radio stations in our country. The music and the radio programs give me a lot of inner peace and have helped me practically with a few relationship problems I have had this year. I want to thank you for the program, Heralds of Hope. I am a Russian orthodox believer and though I always had a Bible in my home, I never opened it. I always was told that only the priests can understand the Bible and we do what we are told. Through the program Heralds of Hope, I was encouraged to read the Bible myself for the first time. This radio program has helped me a lot to understand the Gospels. I like that the teacher studies every chapter of the Gospel. Nothing is left out. I never thought that the Gospels had so many teachings about everyday life. I learned from the program how to forgive others and since then my relationships have improved greatly.”
Isn’t this testimony amazing? Notice how the listener was impacted when they read the Bible on their own. Have you had an experience like this with God’s Word? I have and those who are involved with Heralds of Hope have also experienced the life in this wonderful book. This is the life and hope we share with you.
With that introduction let’s go with Bible teacher, J Mark Horst to the Old Testament book of Exodus. If you can, follow along in your Bible and get ready to see God and be changed by Him.
Do you think there is value in prayer? What is the point of praying to a God whom you cannot see? It all depends to whom you pray. The eternal, Creator God of the Bible promises to answer our prayers. We have prayed to Him and received direct answers to our prayers. If you pray to a different god, does he or she answer your prayers?
Sometimes in life we get discouraged, and we reach out for help to someone who will pray for us. I’m so thankful that my mother prayed for me as long as she lived. She went to be with the LORD in 2009. Then the LORD raised up another dear elderly lady who volunteered to take her place. She prayed for me as long as she lived. Praise the LORD! Many other dear Christians pray for me for which I am grateful.
Who prays for you? In Exodus 29:1-9 the question was WHO WILL PRAY FOR US? God instructed Moses how to take care of this need for His people.
1. And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them, to minister unto me in the priest’s office: Take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish,
2. And unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shalt thou make them.
3. And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams.
4. And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water.
5. And thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the [skillfully woven band] of the ephod:
6. And thou shalt put the turban upon his head and put the holy crown upon the turban.
7. Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.
8. And thou shalt bring his sons and put coats upon them.
9. And thou shalt gird them with [sashes], Aaron, and his sons, and put the [caps] on them: and the priest’s office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons.
In Israel’s worship God chose the family of Aaron to be priests who would pray for the people. God gave Moses several DIRECTIVES for this choice.
The First Directive was,
The Preparation.
The LORD told Moses to take his brother Aaron’s family and hallow them to minister unto the LORD in the priest’s office. To hallow them means to make them holy, to set them apart for a holy work.
Moses was to offer a bullock and two young rams. When these were sacrificed, Aaron and his sons would lay their hands on these animals signifying that these animals were taking their place. It was a bloody sacrifice. The animal’s blood was substitution for their blood which would have been shed because sin brings death. In this way Aaron and His sons were consecrated, set apart, and prepared to be ministers unto the LORD.
The bread they ate with the sacrifice was to be unleavened cakes or wafers. Leaven is a type of sin in the Bible and so this bread was to be unleavened. It symbolized that Aaron, and his sons, were cleansed from sin to stand before God as holy men.
Who will pray for us? The Psalmist David said, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart.” So, this was the preparation commanded by God. By this Moses set apart Aaron and his sons for the priesthood, to stand in the place of prayer.
The Next Directive was,
The Presentation.
God told Moses to take Aaron and his sons and bring them to the door of the tabernacle. There he was to wash them with water. This cleansing was a very important part of the consecration of these men to stand as priests for the people. Then they were to be clothed with special garments. Moses was instructed to clothe Aaron with the coat, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, the breastplate, and the sash or belt. Exodus chapter 28 gives us the description of these beautiful garments.
The ephod was like a vest of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet. Two onyx stones were placed on the shoulders with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel engraved upon them. The breastplate over the ephod had four rows of three stones, all precious stones. They were to symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel. The miter, or turban, that Aaron was to wear on his head had engraved in it “Holiness to the LORD.”
In the presentation of Aaron and his sons to serve in the office of priest, Moses anointed them with oil. “Then shalt thou take the anointing oil and pour it upon his head and anoint him.”
So, there was a presentation of these men who were to minister in the priesthood. All God’s commands were carefully carried out with the cleansing and the clothing. Both of them are very important. Please remember that the cleansing needs to come first before the clothing can be put on.
It must have been a beautiful sight to see Aaron so clothed in the holy garments of his office. He was to serve then as the one who would I pray for the people of Israel.
The Final Directive was,
The Preservation
There was the preparation, the presentation, and the preservation. God planned that Aaron’s sons were to succeed him. They were to share with him in this office of the priesthood. They were to be the ones who would then minister after Aaron died. So, they were consecrated, they were presented at the same time as Aaron was. They were separated for this particular office and ministry. Moses was instructed to bring them and put coats upon them and clothe them with sashes and prepare them for the same kind of service that their father Aaron was to engage in. It was the office of the priest.
The choice of Aaron’s family was a never-ending statute or command. In other words, no other families, only this one, God had chosen to be the holy family to pray.
It must be clear that it was necessary to have a holy family to pray, to intercede for God’s people. So, God chose Aaron’s family to be His priest. There work is finished. They are not functioning as priests today. So, who will pray for us now? The Psalmist David tells us in the 110th Psalm, speaking of Jesus, the Messiah, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
David predicted that there would be a priest of another order beside the order of Aaron’s family. We understand that He came. He is Jesus, the God man. Now He prays for us because He is seated at the right hand of God, as our high priest.
In Hebrews 1 we read, “Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” The One who prays for us is the sacrificed, resurrected, and ascended Jesus. He prays for us. If you are willing to come to Him, He will pray for you, too.
Thanks J Mark for this teaching on prayer. Today’s title was “Who Will Pray for Us?” When I heard this title, it made me think of another question. I had to wonder, who do I pray for? Who are the people we pray for regularly? Do you take the time to bring them before God and pray for them. Yes, I know this takes effort but our time with God must be fought for and protected. Satan does not like to see you wake up early or stay up late so you can spend time with God. This is where our power lies, and Satan loves to see us get busy or distracted so we shorten our prayer time. I challenge you, don’t let it happen.
God tells us the fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much, or makes a big difference. If you are like me, it is a struggle against my flesh to keep my prayers fervent and effectual. When I am praying is when I am tempted to think about so many other things, or I feel hungry or thirsty. The truth is Satan does not care how he distracts us or keeps us from prayer, anything will work as long as our time with God is less. This is not an unusual struggle. It is a battle we are all in. So, let’s be good soldiers of Christ and defend our time with God.
If you have any questions or if you’d like a copy of today’s teaching, here is how you can contact us. The best way is email. Our email is [email protected]. If you don’t have email, no problem, you could write to us, our address is Hope for Today, Box 3, Breezewood, Pennsylvania 15533. Or you can connect with us on our website. Our website is heraldsofhope.org. On our website you can listen to our other programs and find helpful resources, so please look around while you are there. If you go to the connect tab you can message us directly. Again, the website is heraldsofhope.org.
Thank you so much for being with us. We look forward to next week and hope you will join us for more teaching from Exodus. I leave you with this verse from Hebrews that reminds us of where the power of our prayers comes from. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
*This episode is an exposition of Exodus 29:1-9 by J. Otis Yoder, re-recorded by J. Mark Horst, with an opening and closing by Arlin Horst.