Awesome Hands – part 105

Rams

October 5, 2016

Discovering that we are like the bullock in its violent sinful rebellion to God can be shocking to say the least. Such a powerful animal is likened and represents a nature that seems so natural to all of us especially when you are given to see that this is indeed who we all are in our appointed time.

In our study tonight, we are going to pick up form this point and see how we are represented as the two rams sacrificed by Aaron and his sons. We are also the priests doing the sacrifices in God’s appointed time.

“Rams”

Our verses for study this evening are Exodus 29:15 – 22.

Exo 29:15  Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.
Exo 29:16  And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar.
Exo 29:17  And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head.
Exo 29:18  And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Exo 29:19  And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.
Exo 29:20  Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.
Exo 29:21  And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him.
Exo 29:22  Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of consecration:

Obviously there is a lot being stated in these verses, so we will cover them a few at a time.

Notice there are two rams that are used differently and actually have specific representations for us. First, we have a ram which will be sacrificed as a burnt offering. With all the offerings the Lord tells us what they mean to Him. So, let’s look at the burnt offering of ram.

A ram is of the flock, whereas the bullock offering from the previous verses is of the herd.

Lev 1:2  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.
Lev 1:3  If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.
Lev 1:4  And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
Lev 1:5  And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Lev 1:10  And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish.

What is the difference between a beast of the herd and a beast of the flock?

Herd:

H1241

bâqâr
baw-kawr’
From H1239; a beeve or animal of the ox kind of either gender (as used for ploughing); collectively a herd: – beeve, bull (+ -ock), + calf, + cow, great [cattle], + heifer, herd, kine, ox.
Total KJV occurrences: 183

H1239

bâqar
baw-kar’
A primitive root; properly to plough, or (generally) break forth, that is, (figuratively) to inspect, admire, care for, consider: – (make) inquire (-ry), (make) search, seek out.
Total KJV occurrences: 7

The beasts of the herd are those animals which “inquire, search and seek out”. They plough.

Luk 9:59  And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Luk 9:60  Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
Luk 9:61  And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
Luk 9:62  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Flock:

H6629

tsô’n    tse’ôn
tsone, tseh-one’
From an unused root meaning to migrate; a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats); also figuratively (of men): – (small) cattle, flock (+ -s), lamb (+ -s), sheep ([-cote, -fold, -shearer, -herds]).
Total KJV occurrences: 274

H6629
tsô’n  /  tse’ôn
BDB Definition:
1) small cattle, sheep, sheep and goats, flock, flocks
1a) small cattle (usually of sheep and goats)
1b) of multitude (simile)
1c) of multitude (metaphor)
Part of Speech: noun feminine collective
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from an unused root meaning to migrate
Same Word by TWOT Number: 1864a

So, we have those who “search and seek out” and those who “migrate”. Depending on your appointed times to fulfill these “roles”, these beasts describe us all as the children of God.

Before the wilderness experience, and as seen in the Passover, sacrifices were made in the home. Now we have sacrifices being implemented by the priests and the very first sacrifices are to set in place the priests appointed by the Lord.

In our previous study, we saw that only one bullock was used as an offering to the Lord.
In this study, we are also going to see a burnt offering in the first ram and then a different offering in the second ram.

What then is the spiritual significance of the burnt offering? We are not left to wonder.

Exo 29:18  And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

A sweet smelling savour unto the Lord sounds like a good thing, so what else does a sweet smelling savour mean to us as Christians, the true spiritual Israel of God?

Eze 20:40  For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.
Eze 20:41  I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
Eze 20:42  And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.
Eze 20:43  And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.
Eze 20:44  And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

2Co 2:14  Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
2Co 2:15  For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
2Co 2:16  To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
2Co 2:17  For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

Notice, in the offering of the bullock the blood was placed on the horns of the altar and the rest was placed at the base of the altar. The inwards were placed on the altar and the outer parts of the animal were burned without the camp.

With this burnt offering of the flock of God, the blood is used differently.

Exo 29:15  Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.
Exo 29:16  And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about upon the altar.
Exo 29:17  And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash the inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head.
Exo 29:18  And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

This burnt offering is completely burned on the altar and that is because it is representing Christ and His complete offering. In Christ we, too, are offered as a burnt sacrifice, because as kings and priests we are the ones who have been appointed to partake of the table/altar of the Lord.

Mal 1:7  Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
Heb 13:11  For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
Heb 13:12  Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

Before that is seen as an elitist position, let’s read the rest of the verses we are covering today to see if this altar and table are truly connected and WHO exactly is “set” to partake of this altar and table of the Lord.

Exo 29:19  And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram.
Exo 29:20  Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.
Exo 29:21  And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him.
Exo 29:22  Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of consecration:

Now we see an interesting progression of what these two rams are used for versus the sin offering of the bullock.

The first ram is the burnt offering of a sweet smelling savour to the Lord while the second offering will be used to consecrate the priesthood.

So what does this consecration mean?

H4394

millû’
mil-loo’
From H4390; a fulfilling (only in plural), that is, (literally) a setting (of gems), or (technically) consecration (also concretely a dedicatory sacrifice): – consecration, be set.
Total KJV occurrences: 15

H4394
millû’
BDB Definition:
1) setting, installation
1a) setting, stones for setting
1b) installation (of priests)
Part of Speech: noun masculine
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H4390
Same Word by TWOT Number: 1195e

H4390

mâlê’    mâlâ’
maw-lay’, maw-law’
A primitive root, to fill or (intransitively) be full of, in a wide application (literally and figuratively): – accomplish, confirm, + consecrate, be at an end, be expired, be fenced, fill, fulfil, (be, become, X draw, give in, go) fully (-ly, -ly set, tale), [over-] flow, fulness, furnish, gather (selves, together), presume, replenish, satisfy, set, space, take a [hand-] full, + have wholly.
Total KJV occurrences: 251

H4390
mâlê’  /  mâlâ’
BDB Definition:
1) to fill, be full
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to be full
1a1a) fulness, abundance (participle)
1a1b) to be full, be accomplished, be ended
1a2) to consecrate, fill the hand
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to be filled, be armed, be satisfied
1b2) to be accomplished, be ended
1c) (Piel)
1c1) to fill
1c2) to satisfy
1c3) to fulfil, accomplish, complete
1c4) to confirm
1d) (Pual) to be filled
1e) (Hithpael) to mass themselves against
Part of Speech: verb
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: a primitive root
Same Word by TWOT Number: 1195

The purpose of the second ram is to “set” the priests in the priesthood. The root of this consecration, or setting up of the priests, means to fill or fulfill the role. Literally, the Lord fills His temple with the things and people He needs in order to SERVE the temple.

Exo 25:7  Onyx stones, and stones to be set^H4394 in the ephod, and in the breastplate.

Eze 43:5  So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled^H4390 the house.

The symbolism behind the tip of the right ear, the right thumb and right big toe having blood placed on them is that the priests hearing of the words of the Lord, work to be done in the tabernacle and the walk that must be followed are ALL SET BY THE LORD; thus, the will of the Lord is absolute and works ALL.

There is even more involved in the symbolism of the rams and of the progression they represent in the heave offering of the second ram. This will be covered in the next study as we continue to see how we have been set as kings and priests to be raised up in the kingdom of heaven.