Context No. 3135 of 4322 · Exodus

Exodus 29:26-30: in context

26“You shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD. It shall be your portion. 27You shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the wave offering, which is waved, and which is raised up, of the ram of consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons. 28It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel; for it is a wave offering. It shall be a wave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their wave offering to the LORD. 29“The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to be consecrated in them. 30Seven days shall the son who is priest in his place put them on, when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the holy place.

In the consecration of Aaron, two provisions are set out. The breast of the ram is given to the priest as his portion, a perpetual due from the offerings. And the holy garments of Aaron are to pass to his sons after him, worn for seven days by the son who succeeds him when he comes to minister in the holy place.

Two things stand together here. The priest is given a portion from the offerings, God provides for those who serve him at the altar. And the sacred garments are handed down, son to son, so that the priesthood continues unbroken across the generations. The office is larger than any one man; when Aaron dies, his son puts on the same garments and continues the ministry. There is continuity built into God's service, a handing-on of the holy calling from one generation to the next, so the work never depends on a single life. It points to the one High Priest whose priesthood, unlike theirs, needs no successor, because he lives forever.

Do I hold the callings and responsibilities God gives me with an eye to handing them on faithfully to those who come after me?

Sources

Exodus 29:29: "The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to be consecrated in them."
Numbers 20:28: "Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son."
Hebrews 7:24: "But he, because he lives forever, has his priesthood unchangeable."