(Exodus) Exodus 29:26-27 — J. Vernon McGee

The Priests’ Portion of the Ram Offering

Now, you have in verse 26, the food for the priests. Thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecration, waive it for a waive offering before the Lord, and it shall be thy part. Thou shalt sanctify the breast of the waive offering.

Now again in Leviticus, you find out that a part of an offering went to Aaron and to the priests as their part. You see, they had no part in the nation Israel, and this is the way that God supported them.

They were to serve and they would receive a part of the offering, and this is the part now that is to be for them. Now, this chapter closes with the emphasis here upon this burnt offering, and that's what you have here.

Sin Offerings, Trespass Offerings, and the Law

It's not until you get to Leviticus that you have a sin offering and trespass offering. And I know the question will rise in the minds of many, well, why is that true? Why is it that you have this sort of thing here and you don't have a sin offering yet?

Well, you see, the sin offering and the trespass offering were given at the time the law was given, and it goes with the law. In other words, sin was sin before the law, but it was not a trespass, and it was not a sin in the sense that it was an overt act against the commandment of God.

And today, sin is sin. That means if a man that commits a sin, why, it's sin. It may not be a trespass. He may not know the law. But actually, today, even in our legal courts, I think there's a rule of thumb.

I remember when I studied commercial law years ago that this was one of the axioms that was put down. Ignorance of the law excuses no one. Many things can be done in ignorance and can be wrong, but it does not become a trespass or an overt sin until it's against a commandment, you see.

The Law Reveals Humanity’s Sin

That's the reason, actually, the law was given to show man that he was a sinner. He already was one. The law didn't make man a sinner, it just revealed that he was. Now, we come to this continual burnt offering.

The Daily Morning and Evening Sacrifice

And this burnt offering is to be continually offered. That's the important thing to note. Verse 38, and I should read some of this. Now, this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar. Two lambs of the first year, day by day, continually.

The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning, the other lamb thou shalt offer at evening. And with the one lamb, a tenth deal of flour, and so on. These details we pick up later on in Leviticus when we have the sacrifices and the order of them given.

Now, the important thing for us here, the only important thing, this was the daily sacrifice. Every morning, every evening, that was a burnt offering. A lamb in the morning, a lamb in the evening. And that speaks, of course, of the fact that these people needed this continual reminder that they needed someone to take their place, that their sin merited death, and that there must be the shedding of blood.

Christ’s Once-for-All Sacrifice

Now, very candidly, this is brought out in Hebrews. We are told, once in the end of the age has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now, you see the blood of bulls and goats and lambs just couldn't take away sin.

But now he has. The Lord Jesus has dealt adequately with sin. And that's very important to see here, that his sacrifice was adequate. And he only died once, once in the end of the age, has he appeared.