Sharper Iron & The Saga of Salvation: The LORD’s Daily Service

Rev. Nate Hill, pastor at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Winchester, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Exodus 29:35-46.

Even the priests needed atonement. They could not begin their holy service without it. For seven days, bulls were sacrificed as sin offerings for Aaron and his sons and the altar was purified and consecrated. Once that complete time was over, on the eighth day, Aaron and his sons began their regular service in the LORD’s tabernacle. That regular service involved two daily sacrifices, one in the morning and one in the evening. Each one included a lamb, grain, and wine. These daily offerings were the pleasing aroma of the LORD’s forgiveness for His people in the place where He met with them. He met with them on His terms, dwelling among them so that they would know Him as their God who rescued them from Egypt.

Our Savior Christ fulfills all of this. He has sacrificed Himself as the perfect Lamb of God who atones for the sins of the whole world. On the eighth day, the day of the new creation, He rose to never-ending life as our great and final High Priest. Our days, weeks, years, and lives are ordered around His salvation as He still comes to meet with us and dwell among us. Gathered in the fear, love, and trust of God, the Divine Service delivers to us the Lamb of God as we eat and drink His Body and Blood under bread and wine for our forgiveness.

“The Saga of Salvation” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that takes a step-by-step walk through the book of Exodus. This premier account of salvation in the Old Testament proclaims that the LORD is the one true God, the Creator and Redeemer, who alone is worthy of our worship and faith, all the while pointing us forward to the ultimate deliverance He gives through the exodus accomplished by Christ.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.

Exodus 29:35-46

³⁵“Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them, ³⁶and every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall anoint it to consecrate it. ³⁷Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.

³⁸“Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly. ³⁹One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. ⁴⁰And with the first lamb a tenth measure^[a] of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin^[b] of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering. ⁴¹The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. ⁴²It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. ⁴³There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. ⁴⁴I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. ⁴⁵I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. ⁴⁶And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

Footnotes:

Exodus 29:40 Possibly an ephah (about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters)
Exodus 29:40 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters

English Standard Version (ESV)

Rev. Timothy Appel

Although a mathematics degree may not be incredibly helpful to (proudly born-and-raised Texan) Rev. Timothy Appel while hosting Sharper Iron, his love of CFW Walther and the season of Easter will come in handy. His Call is shepherding the flock at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, Illinois, and he’s also husband to wife Kristin and dad to their growing basketball team of children. When he’s not carrying out pastoral duties, you may find him reading “The Lord of the Rings,” snacking on Reese’s peanut butter cups, playing dominoes with his boys, or studying up on Texas history (including Sam Houston, of course).