Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

How many have ever sung the children’s song, “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes?” It is a children’s song that goes back to 1912 and can be sung to the tune of “London Bridges Falling Down.” The words are on the screen so sing it with me: Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. Eyes and ears and mouth and nose, Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. And the idea was to repeat it two or three times, and to do it faster each time as you do the motions. I found this variation online. Let’s try this together: Ankles, elbows, feet & seat, feet & seat. Ankles, elbows, feet & seat, feet & seat. Hair & hips & chin & cheeks, Ankles, elbows, feet & seat, feet & seat.

When we think of someone being dedicated or committed, what or who do you think about? Here are a few stories of people who were dedicated, committed and did not give up: Walt Davis was totally paralyzed by polio when he was nine years old, but he did not give up. He became the Olympic high jump champion in 1952. Lou Gehrig was such a clumsy ball player that the boys in his neighborhood would not let him play on their team. But he was committed and did not give up. Eventually, his name was entered into baseball's Hall of Fame. And lastly, Woodrow Wilson could not read until he was ten years old. But he was committed and became the twenty-eighth President of the United States.

So I want to use that song and those stories, this morning, to develop the idea of dedication and commitment. If we include the variation, notice how many body parts are mentioned: head, shoulder, knees, toes, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, ankles, elbows, feet, seat, hair, hips, chin and cheeks. The body parts go from top to bottom and head to toe of the human body. And in those stories notice that it said they didn’t give up and they were committed. This concept of “from head to toe” will be important this morning as we study our scripture found in Exodus 29:10-21, and as we talk about dedication and commitment.

In our scripture, we continue with the consecration of Aaron, the high priest and his sons, who will be priests under him. We will see three sacrificial offerings that will be made during the consecration ceremony. These offerings must be made for the high priest and his sons to serve the Lord in the Tabernacle. They will be forgiven, dedicated, and marked during the ceremony to follow, that will set them apart to serve the Lord. God demands that His priests be fully dedicated and committed to Him. And as Christians, God’s “royal priesthood, we are also held to that same high standard today. We have been saved and called to be a “royal priesthood” and commanded to pursue, grow and multiply disciples. Our lives and our abilities must be fully dedicated and committed to that Great Commission. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God demands His people be fully dedicated and committed to Him.

Let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, as we look into your Word, will your Holy Spirit arrest our hearts, minds and souls. Let us totally focus on you and allow your Spirit to speak to us. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear what it is you want us to learn and share from our scripture this morning. Empower us to allow it to permeate our very being. We give you honor and glory for the power of your Word. In Jesus’ name, Amen. ​​  ​​ ​​ ​​​​ 

There are three points this morning. The first is, Priests Forgiven, found in Exodus 29:10-14. This is what God’s Word says, “Bring the bull to the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. Slaughter it in the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Take some of the bull’s blood and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. Then take all the fat on the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar. But burn the bull’s flesh and its hide and its intestines outside the camp. It is a sin offering.”

Chapter 29 is all about the consecration of the priests who would serve the Lord and the people in the Tabernacle. The animal sacrifices and the cereal offerings have been presented or brought before the Lord at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Aaron, the high priest, and his sons, his deputy priests, have also been brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. It is interesting to note that so far in the consecration process, everything has been done for Aaron and his sons. They have not taken any active part in the process. Their interaction has all been passive. This is because in the consecration ceremony they were to be ministered too. Once they were consecrated and ordained as priests, they would be the ones ministering to the Lord and the people. So how do we see their passivity? First, in Exodus 28:1 God commanded Moses to have Aaron, and his sons brought to him “from among the Israelites.” Again, as I have mentioned the past couple of weeks, they didn’t earn it, choose it or deserve it. God chose them from among His special people to be His priests to serve Him, just like we have been chosen by God to serve Him as a “royal priesthood.”

Second, they were “brought” to the entrance of the Tabernacle foreshadowing Jesus bringing us to God. 1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” Three, they were “washed” foreshadowing the believer’s salvation and baptism. Fourth, they were “clothed” with their special garments which foreshadowed us being clothed in Christ’s righteousness. Fifth, Aaron, as the high priest, was anointed with oil. Oil in the Bible represents the Holy Spirit so this anointing foreshadowed our being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Sixth, we will see next week that their “hands will be filled” as they are ordained. And seventh, also next week, we will see that they will be “sanctified” which foreshadowed our being set apart to and for God and in and by Christ.

Aaron and his sons look the part of the priests on the outside. ​​ However, they are still full of sin and filth on the inside and that is what Moses was to take care of in the next step of the consecration process. In order for the priests to be ordained, three sacrifices had to be brought before the Lord over seven days. The first sacrifice was the biggest size-wise, the most important and had to come first because it was a sin offering. This sacrifice would atone for the sins of the priests, giving God’s forgiveness to them. We are going to see a pattern emerge as we study these three sacrifices. The first thing that had to be done was to select the sacrifice. We saw in verse one that Moses was to select a young bull without defect, and it is this bull that is to be brought to the front of the Tent of Meeting. The second thing that had to be done was that Aaron and his sons were to lay their hands on the head of the sacrifice. This was not a simple laying on of hands but a “leaning” on; of putting significant pressure on the bull’s head. This action identified the priests with the bull as the sacrifice for their sins. Spurgeon says, “The Hebrew word means more than lightly placing the hand. It was pressing hard on the bull’s head. They leaned on the victim, loading him with their burden, signifying their acceptance of its substitution, their joy that the Lord would accept that victim in their stead. When they put their hands on the bull, they made a confession of sin.”

I want us all to stop and dwell on this action that is to take place. God is teaching His people the principle of substitution. That what is about to happen to this bull should happen to them. As they watch the bull burn on the altar, the bull they have just leaned on with their sinful hands, they realize that they were the ones who deserved to die. God in His mercy allowed a substitute to take their sin and to die in their place. Currid says, “What we see is a case of transference (or substitution), in which the unholiness and impure nature of the priesthood are transferred to the animal. The animal is then sacrificed, thus making atonement for those men.” Do you see the picture of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ in this sacrifice? Only a spotless sacrifice, without defect or sin could be our substitute and redeem us. Do you ever stop and think and realize that we are the ones who deserved to die. But God in His mercy allowed His one and only son to take our sin on him and to die on the cross in our place. This should deeply move us to be fully dedicated and committed to God (Big Idea).

The third thing that had to be done was to slaughter the bull immediately. This is what it meant to slaughter the bull in the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. There could be no second thoughts and no compromise. God was teaching His people that the only way to deal with their sin was the immediate death of the sacrificial animal. The fourth thing that had to be done was to sprinkle or place the blood and then burn the sacrifice on the altar. There had to be blood because that was the only way atonement for sins could be satisfied. Hebrews 9:22 says, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Moses was to take some of the bull’s blood and put it on the horns of the altar with his finger and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. The animal’s shed blood indicated that a life has been surrendered as the extreme penalty for sin and that life was wholly dedicated to the Lord. Applying the blood to the horns of the altar and to the base of the altar, or to the top and bottom of it, signified that God had accepted the sacrifice offered in the sinner’s place. It was also a permanent reminder of what had taken place. In Leviticus 8:15 we learn that the blood purified and consecrated the altar. This was the only way that blood could be disposed of because the lifeblood of all creatures belonged to the Lord who created all things.

Next, the fat on the inner parts, the covering of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them were to be burned on the altar. These were considered the choicest or best parts of the sacrificial animal and so were offered symbolically to the Lord. And the useless parts, the flesh, hide and intestines, were to be burned outside the camp. This foreshadowed the death of Christ who was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem. Hebrews 13:11-12 says, “For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the Holy Place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp. Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood.” Outside the city was considered unclean and a place of disease and death. Jesus had to be crucified outside the city and suffer God’s curse against our sin. This sin offering should remind us of and prompt us to seriously dwell on the sacrifice of Jesus who was our sin offering and that only through his death on the cross could we be forgiven of our sins. Also, this sin offering was necessary because the priests were sinful men and needed to be cleansed just like everyone else. Lastly, the majority of the bull was to be burned up because it was a sin offering and not a sacrifice to be enjoyed as was a fellowship offering.

That brings us to our second point, Priests Dedicated, found in Exodus 29:15-18. This is what God’s Word says, “Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. Slaughter it and take the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar. Cut the ram into pieces and wash the internal organs and the legs, putting them with the head and the other pieces. Then burn the entire ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord.”

The second sacrifice was one of the two rams. Again, we see the same pattern as with the first sacrifice. The sacrifice was selected, Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the ram’s head which symbolically received the sins of the priests, it was slaughtered immediately, the blood was splashed against the altar on all sides and the entire ram was burned on the altar. This sacrifice was a “burnt offering.” It was the order of things that a burnt offering followed a sin offering. The significance of the burnt offering is total dedication to the Lord. Once the sins of the priests were dealt with, they now fully dedicated and committed themselves to the Lord for His service. This was significant because the priests had to rely on God for everything. They would not receive an inheritance of land in the Promised Land and/or tribal allotments as the other tribes would. God was to be their inheritance, their possession and their portion. This sacrifice symbolized giving themselves fully to the Lord and signified their wholehearted devotion to Him (Big Idea).

The burnt offering also made atonement for the sinner which involved ransoming and purification. The sacrificial animal was to be a ransom payment for the life of the sinner. Notice that with the burnt offering all four sides of the altar were splashed with the blood and that blood was smeared and poured on the top and the bottom of the altar, respectively, with the sin offering. This symbolized that the entire altar, from top to bottom, from head to toe, was purified. The altar was fully dedicated to the Lord. Next, we see that the ram was cut into pieces, the inner parts were washed and put with the head and other pieces. This signified that everything was done in a particular and specific way, not haphazardly, but just as the Lord commanded it to be done. His specific instructions to Moses will not only apply to the Tabernacle, etc. but to the sacrifices as well. This offering was symbolic of “food” given to the Lord and no other could partake of it. When burned on the altar it would be a pleasing aroma to the Lord meaning that the offeror has willingly obeyed and wholly dedicated themselves to Him. And God is pleased with them for bringing their offering. This sacrifice reminds us of Jesus Christ who was wholly dedicated to his Father’s work and in obedience willingly went to the cross to cleanse us of our sin. Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Durham says, “Jesus’ sacrifice was a fragrant offering filling heaven with holy perfume. We must imitate Him through our obedience and sacrifice of love to others.” That brings us to our first next step which is Imitate Jesus Christ through my obedience and sacrifice of love to others around me.

This brings us to our third point, Priests Marked, found in Exodus 29:19-21. This is what God’s Word says, “Take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. Slaughter it, take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Then splash blood against the sides of the altar. And take some blood from the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. Then he and his sons and their garments will be consecrated.”

The third sacrifice was the second ram and was considered to be a kind of “fellowship” or “peace” offering. Again, we see the same pattern as with the first two sacrifices. The sacrifice was selected, Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the ram’s head which again symbolized it received the sins of the priests, it was slaughtered immediately, and the blood was splashed against the altar on all sides. But we notice something different in the pattern. Before the blood is splashed against the altar, the blood is first applied to the priests themselves. It is very significant as to where the blood was applied. It was applied on the lobes of their right ears, on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. The right side of the body stood for a man’s strength and the priests were reminded to serve the Lord in His strength and not their own. And God wanted the “life blood” of the sacrificial animal to mark the priests consecrated to Him. The blood has been applied to the altar and has seeped into the surrounding ground. Its purpose, so far, was to cleanse the place but not the person. The blood being applied from the top to the bottom of the priests signified that they belonged to God from head to toe and were fully dedicated, committed and consecrated to their task. Davis explains it like this: “This act implied the complete dedication of life and ability to the service of God. Symbolically the blood put on the right ear sanctified that organ to hear the word of God; that which was put on the right hand set the hands apart in their performance of mediatorial work. The right foot spoke of the sanctified walk of the life of the priest as an example to others.”

And Ryken says this, “We have been set apart to serve. Our ears belong to God. He wants us to listen to his Word. Our thumbs belong to God, too, along with the rest of our hands. God wants us to serve him with all our strength. Even our big toes belong to God, which is something to think about every time we put on our socks! God wants us to walk with him as we make our way through the world. We have a high and holy calling. We have been ordained as priests to serve the living God.” The priests were stained with the blood of the sacrificial ram, and so, they should listen differently because the blood was on their ears. They should work differently because the blood was on their thumbs. They should walk differently because the blood was on their toes. That brings us to our second next step which is to Listen differently, work differently and walk differently as God’s royal priesthood in the world.”

Now it was time for the priests to be consecrated. Moses was to splash blood against all four sides of the altar. And then take some of the blood from the altar and some of the special anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. It was this action that consecrated Aaron, his sons and their garments setting them apart to serve the Lord and the people. This would complete what will already be done in the sin and burnt offerings. God accepted Aaron and his sons, clothed in their special garments, to serve in the Tabernacle. Blood signified forgiveness and oil signified purity and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Spurgeon says, “Yes, brethren, we need to know that double anointing, the blood of Jesus which cleanses, and the oil of the Holy Spirit which perfumes us. It is well to see how these two blend in one . . . It is a terrible blunder to set the blood and the oil in opposition, they must always go together.” This purity, forgiveness and indwelling of the Holy Spirit made the priests and their garments holy and acceptable to God.

Speaking of their garments, I found this interesting account in Leviticus 10. Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, two of the priests who would be consecrated like we just studied, offered unauthorized fire before the Lord. This was contrary to God’s command, and they were consumed by fire from the presence of the Lord and died. Verse 5 says they were carried from the camp still in their tunics. Their garments were so holy that although the priests were destroyed for their sin and ungodliness, their clothes were intact and still holy to the Lord.

In the December 1987 Life magazine, Brad Darrach wrote: "Meryl Streep is gray with cold. In Ironweed, her new movie, she plays a ragged derelict who dies in a cheap hotel room, and for more than half an hour before the scene she has been hugging a huge bag of ice cubes in an agonizing effort to experience how it feels to be a corpse. Now the camera begins to turn. Jack Nicholson, her derelict lover, sobs and screams and shakes her body. But through take after take--and between takes too-Meryl just lies like an iced mackerel.

Frightened, a member of the crew whispers to the director, Hector Babenco, 'What's going on? She's not breathing!' "Babenco gives a start. In Meryl's body there is absolutely no sign of life! He hesitates, then lets the scene proceed. Yet even after the shot is made and set struck, Meryl continues to lie there, gray and still. Only after ten minutes have passed does she slowly, slowly emerge from the coma-like state into which she has deliberately sunk. Babenco is amazed. 'Now that', he mutters in amazement 'is acting! That is an actress!'" Total dedication amazes people. How wonderful to be so dedicated to Christ that people will say, "Now that, is a Christian!" (Big Idea). Let us be people who are fully dedicated and committed to the Lord. Let us be people who because of our total dedication to Christ, people will sincerely say about us, “Now that, is a Christian.” That brings us to our last next step which is to Fully dedicate and commit myself to the Lord.

As the praise team comes to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s close in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this time together as your people, to come together and be strengthened by your Word. Help us to Imitate your son, Jesus Christ, through our obedience and sacrifice of love to others around us. Help us to listen differently, work differently and walk differently as your royal priesthood in the world. And as we live this out daily, help us to be fully dedicated and committed to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.