Set Apart for God’s Purposes (Exodus 29:21)

“Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments. And on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.”
– Exodus 29:21

Did you hear what is to be sprinkled here on Aaron and his garments and his sons and his sons’ garments? Two things. One blood that’s on the altar, and two, anointing oil. Now think about the significance of those two things and then think about how that applies to our oil.

This Verse Explains the Importance of the Blood of a Sacrifice

One, the blood that’s on the altar, the blood of a sacrifice that makes it possible for the priests, Aaron and his sons, to minister in the presence of God. This is the beauty, we’ve seen it over and over again, talked about in Exodus, Jesus has died on the cross, he has shed his blood so that we become like priests. We’re able to enter into the presence of God by the blood of Jesus. That’s only possible by his blood, by his sacrifice for our sins.

Exodus 29:21 Explains the Importance of the Anointing Oil

And second, the anointing oil. So, to anoint something is basically to set it apart for a special purpose, specifically for a holy purpose, so this will cause Aaron and his garments to be holy, his sons and his sons’ garments to be holy with him.

And so, I think about my life. I want to encourage you in your life. For all who have trusted in the blood of Christ to cover over our sins, it makes access to communion with God possible to pray in this way for his anointing. For God to set our lives apart for his holy purposes. We don’t live today like we lived before we were saved the blood of Christ from our sins. And we live different. We have distinct lives. We’ve been set apart for holy purposes by God. And we want to live in that way, anointed.

Exodus 29:21 Calls Us to Live Set Apart

We want our lives to be set apart for God’s purposes, not for our own purposes, not the purposes of this world would have us live for, but for God’s purposes. So we pray today, God, we praise you for the privilege of communion with you, this access in your presence right now by the blood of Christ and we pray, under the banner of the blood of Christ for your anointing on us.

God, set us apart for your purposes today. Help us to live for your purposes. Help us not to get caught up in the purposes of the world, even selfish ambition. Selfish purposes. Living for ourselves, God. We don’t want to live for ourselves. We want to live for you. Set us apart for you today. Help us to be holy, separate, in that sense. Not living for the pleasures and pursuits and purposes of this world but living for pleasure in you, living out of the pursuit of you, living for the purposes you have shown us in your Word.

This Verse Leads Us to Live Holy

God, we pray for that kind of anointing in our lives today. Help us to live holy, distinct, different lives, not for the sake of being distinct or different, but for the sake of your glory through our lives, anoint us, we pray, for the accomplishment of your purposes through us, all made possible by the blood of Christ that covers over our sins. God, use us for your holy purposes today, we pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.

David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow MeCounter CultureSomething Needs to ChangeBefore You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.

Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.

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