291 " Now this is what e you shall do to them to consecrate them to minister as priests to Me: take one young bull and two rams without blemish , 2 and unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil , and unleavened wafers spread with oil ; you shall make them of fine wheat flour . 3 "You shall put them in one basket , and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams . 4 "Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water . 5 "You shall take the garments , and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastpiece , and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod ; 6 and you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban . 7 "Then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 8 "You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. 9 "You shall gird them with sashes , Aaron and his sons , and bind caps on them, and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute . So you shall ordain e Aaron and his sons . 10 "Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting , and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull . 11 "You shall slaughter the bull before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting . 12 "You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger ; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar . 13 "You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver , and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar . 14 "But the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse , you shall burn with fire outside e the camp ; it is a sin offering . 15 " You shall also take the one ram , and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram ; 16 and you shall slaughter the ram and shall take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar . 17 "Then you shall cut the ram into its pieces , and wash its entrails and its legs , and put them with its pieces and its head . 18 "You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar ; it is a burnt offering to the Lord : it is a soothing aroma , an offering by fire to the Lord . 19 "Then you shall take the other ram , and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram . 20 "You shall slaughter the ram , and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear and on the lobes of his sons' right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet , and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar . 21 "Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil , and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons' garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated , as well as his sons and his sons' garments with him. 22 "You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail , and the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver , and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination ), 23 and one cake of bread and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before the Lord ; 24 and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons , and shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord . 25 " You shall take them from their hands , and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before the Lord ; it is an offering by fire to the Lord . 26 "Then you shall take the breast of Aaron's ram of ordination , and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord ; and it shall be your portion . 27 "You shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering which was waved and which was offered from the ram of ordination , from the one which was for Aaron and from the one which was for his sons . 28 "It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the sons of Israel , for it is a heave offering ; and it shall be a heave offering from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings , even their heave offering to the Lord . 29 " The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, that in them they may be anointed and ordained e . 30 "For seven days the one of his sons who is priest in his stead shall put them on when he enters the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place. 31 "You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place . 32 "Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket , at the doorway of the tent of meeting . 33 "Thus they shall eat those things by which atonement was made at their ordination e and consecration ; but a layman shall not eat them, because they are holy . 34 " If any of the flesh of ordination or any of the bread remains until morning , then you shall burn the remainder with fire ; it shall not be eaten , because it is holy . 35 "Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons , according to all that I have commanded you; you shall ordain e them through seven days . 36 " Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement , and you shall purify the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to consecrate it. 37 "For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy , and whatever touches the altar shall be holy .
38 "Now this is what you shall offer on the altar : two one year old lambs each day , continuously . 39 "The one lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight ; 40 and there shall be one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil , and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with one lamb . 41 "The other lamb you shall offer at twilight , and shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning , for a soothing aroma , an offering by fire to the Lord . 42 "It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord , where e I will meet with you, to speak to you there . 43 "I will meet there with the sons of Israel , and it shall be consecrated by My glory . 44 "I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar ; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me. 45 " I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God . 46 "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 .
301 "Moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense ; you shall make it of acacia wood . 2 "Its length shall be a cubit , and its width a cubit , it shall be square , and its height shall be two cubits ; its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 "You shall overlay it with pure gold , its top and its sides all around , and its horns ; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it. 4 "You shall make two gold rings for it under its molding ; you shall make them on its two side walls -on opposite sides -and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. 5 "You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold . 6 "You shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony , in front of the mercy seat that is over the ark of the testimony , where e I will meet with you. 7 "Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps . 8 "When Aaron trims the lamps at twilight , he shall burn incense . There shall be perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations . 9 "You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or burnt offering or meal offering ; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it. 10 "Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year ; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations . It is most holy to the Lord ."
11 The Lord also spoke to Moses , saying , 12 "When you take a census of the sons of Israel to number them, then each one of them shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord , when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them. 13 "This is what everyone who is numbered shall give : half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary ( the shekel is twenty gerahs ), half a shekel as a contribution to the Lord . 14 "Everyone who is numbered , from twenty years old and over , shall give the contribution to the Lord . 15 "The rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than the half shekel , when you give the contribution to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves . 16 "You shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting , that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before the Lord , to make atonement for yourselves ."
17 The Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 18 "You shall also make a laver of bronze , with its base of bronze , for washing ; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar , and you shall put water in it. 19 "Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it; 20 when they enter the tent of meeting , they shall wash with water , so that they will not die ; or when they approach the altar to minister , by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to the Lord . 21 "So they shall wash their hands and their feet , so that they will not die ; and it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations ."
22 Moreover, the Lord spoke to Moses , saying , 23 "Take also for yourself the finest of spices : of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much , two hundred and fifty , and of fragrant cane two hundred and fifty , 24 and of cassia five hundred , according to the shekel of the sanctuary , and of olive oil a hin . 25 "You shall make of these a holy anointing oil , a perfume mixture , the work of a perfumer ; it shall be a holy anointing oil . 26 "With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony , 27 and the table and all its utensils , and the lampstand and its utensils , and the altar of incense , 28 and the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils , and the laver and its stand . 29 "You shall also consecrate them, that they may be most holy ; whatever touches them shall be holy . 30 " You shall anoint Aaron and his sons , and consecrate them, that they may minister as priests to Me. 31 "You shall speak to the sons of Israel , saying , 'This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations . 32 'It shall not be poured on anyone's body , nor shall you make any like it in the same proportions ; it is holy , and it shall be holy to you. 33 ' Whoever e shall mix any like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman shall be cut off from his people .' " 34 Then the Lord said to Moses , "Take for yourself spices , stacte and onycha and galbanum , spices with pure frankincense ; there shall be an equal part of each . 35 "With it you shall make incense , a perfume , the work of a perfumer , salted , pure , and holy . 36 "You shall beat some of it very fine , and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where e I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you. 37 "The incense which you shall make , you shall not make in the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the Lord . 38 " Whoever e shall make any like it, to use as perfume , shall be cut off from his people ."
23 When He entered the temple , the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching , and said , "By what authority are You doing these things , and who gave You this authority ?" 24 Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one thing , which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things . 25 "The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men ?" And they began reasoning among themselves , saying , "If we say , 'From heaven ,' He will say to us, 'Then why e did you not believe him?' 26 "But if we say , 'From men ,' we fear the people ; for they all regard John as a prophet ." 27 And answering Jesus , they said , "We do not know ." He also said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things .
28 "But what do you think ? A man had two sons , and he came to the first and said , 'Son , go work today in the vineyard .' 29 "And he answered , 'I will not'; but afterward he regretted it and went . 30 "The man came to the second and said the same thing ; and he answered , 'I will , sir '; but he did not go . 31 "Which of the two did the will of his father ?" They said , "The first ." Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. 32 "For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.
33 "Listen to another parable . There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER , and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey . 34 "When the harvest time approached , he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce . 35 "The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one , and killed another e , and stoned a third . 36 "Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first ; and they did the same thing to them. 37 "But afterward he sent his son to them, saying , 'They will respect my son .' 38 "But when the vine-growers saw the son , they said among themselves , 'This is the heir ; come , let us kill him and seize his inheritance .' 39 "They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 "Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes , what will he do to those vine-growers ?" 41 They said to Him, "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end , and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons ." 42 Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures , ' THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED , THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE Lord , AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES '? 43 "Therefore e I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people , producing the fruit of it. 44 "And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces ; but on whomever e it falls , it will scatter him like dust ." 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables , they understood that He was speaking about them. 46 When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people , because they considered Him to be a prophet .
(Read Matthew 21:23-27)
As our Lord now openly appeared as the Messiah, the chief priests and scribes were much offended, especially because he exposed and removed the abuses they encouraged. Our Lord asked what they thought of John's ministry and baptism. Many are more afraid of the shame of lying than of the sin, and therefore scruple not to speak what they know to be false, as to their own thoughts, affections, and intentions, or their remembering and forgetting. Our Lord refused to answer their inquiry. It is best to shun needless disputes with wicked opposers.
(Read Matthew 21:28-32)
Parables which give reproof, speak plainly to the offenders, and judge them out of their own mouths. The parable of the two sons sent to work in the vineyard, is to show that those who knew not John's baptism to be of God, were shamed by those who knew it, and owned it. The whole human race are like children whom the Lord has brought up, but they have rebelled against him, only some are more plausible in their disobedience than others. And it often happens, that the daring rebel is brought to repentance and becomes the Lord's servant, while the formalist grows hardened in pride and enmity.
(Read Matthew 21:33-46)
This parable plainly sets forth the sin and ruin of the Jewish nation; and what is spoken to convict them, is spoken to caution all that enjoy the privileges of the outward church. As men treat God's people, they would treat Christ himself, if he were with them. How can we, if faithful to his cause, expect a favourable reception from a wicked world, or from ungodly professors of Christianity! And let us ask ourselves, whether we who have the vineyard and all its advantages, render fruits in due season, as a people, as a family, or as separate persons. Our Saviour, in his question, declares that the Lord of the vineyard will come, and when he comes he will surely destroy the wicked. The chief priests and the elders were the builders, and they would not admit his doctrine or laws; they threw him aside as a despised stone. But he who was rejected by the Jews, was embraced by the Gentiles. Christ knows who will bring forth gospel fruits in the use of gospel means. The unbelief of sinners will be their ruin. But God has many ways of restraining the remainders of wrath, as he has of making that which breaks out redound to his praise. May Christ become more and more precious to our souls, as the firm Foundation and Cornerstone of his church. May we be willing to follow him, though despised and hated for his sake.
