1Corinthians 1:1 comments: Paul's introduction to his first letter

1 ¶  Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

Paul’s letters directly to Christian churches start with his name. An apostle is someone ordained by Christ Himself to be given to the gospel of God. That’s his or her calling and purpose to spread and to confirm that message.

Luke 6:13  And when it was day, he [Jesus] called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;

Acts 1:2  Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:

Acts 9:15  But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he [referring to Paul]  is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

Romans 1:1  Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

Galatians 1:1  Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

Ephesians 1:1  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Colossians 1:1  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,

1Timothy 1:1  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

2Timothy 1:1  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

Sosthenes is mentioned in Acts 18 as a Jew at Corinth, the chief ruler of the synagogue there, who is beaten by the Greeks before the judgment seat of Gallio, the Roman deputy or proconsul of Corinth. This occurred during Paul’s visit there when he affirmed that he would expand his ministry to the Gentiles in Corinth. This seems to be a reference to his work in Corinth as he had been witnessing to Gentiles already (see his work in Athens in Acts 17) and did not stop witnessing to Jews. Now Sosthenes is an important helper of Paul.

Acts 18:1 ¶  After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; 2  And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. 3  

And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers. 4  And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. 5  And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. 6  And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

    7 ¶  And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. 8  And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians

hearing believed, and were baptized. 9  Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: 10  For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. 11  And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

    12 ¶  And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, 13  Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. 14  And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: 15  But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. 16  And he drave them from the judgment seat. 17  Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.

    18 ¶  And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria…

According to Romans 16:22 and the postscript traditionally inserted at the end of the letter to the Romans Paul dictated that letter to Tertius, whose name meaning ‘third’ indicates that he was a slave, from Corinth and sent it to Rome by Phebe, a servant of the church at Cenchrea, a port of Corinth.

1st and 2nd Corinthians comments: Introduction

Outside of the Bible our information on how the early church functioned is very limited. I will focus on what the Bible says and then supplement it with historical documents, mostly primary documents written by people who mostly were pagan witnesses. I want to focus on the first century as that is the time frame we are studying although I may have to bring in accounts from just a little later. The letters to the church at Corinth are very important to our understanding of what a New Testament church was really like and how it functioned. We will explore it together and I invite your comments, suggestions, and even your disagreements as I learn a great deal as I study the Bible.

Pliny the Younger was the governor Bithynia in what we know today as Turkey, geographically Asia Minor. He wrote a letter about Christians to the Emperor Trajan around 115AD. Here is the content of what we have today. Paul could not go to Bithynia but Peter may have gone there.

Acts 16:7  After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.

1Peter 1:1  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

Here is one translation from the Latin between the two men.

“Pliny the Younger to the Emperor Trajan

It is my practice, my lord, to refer to you all matters concerning which I am in doubt. For who can better give guidance to my hesitation or inform my ignorance? I have never participated in trials of Christians. I therefore do not know what offenses it is the practice to punish or investigate, and to what extent. And I have been not a little hesitant as to whether there should be any distinction on account of age or no difference between the very young and the more mature; whether pardon is to be granted for repentance, or, if a man has once been a Christian, it does him no good to have ceased to be one; whether the name itself, even without offenses, or only the offenses associated with the name are to be punished.

Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed. For I had no doubt that, whatever the nature of their creed, stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy surely deserve to be punished. There were others possessed of the same folly; but because they were Roman citizens, I signed an order for them to be transferred to Rome.

Soon accusations spread, as usually happens, because of the proceedings going on, and several incidents occurred. An anonymous document was published containing the names of many persons. Those who denied that they were or had been Christians, when they invoked the gods in words dictated by me, offered prayer with incense and wine to your image, which I had ordered to be brought for this purpose together with statues of the gods, and moreover cursed Christ--none of which those who are really Christians, it is said, can be forced to do--these I thought should be discharged. Others named by the informer declared that they were Christians, but then denied it, asserting that they had been but had ceased to be, some three years before, others many years, some as much as twenty-five years. They all worshipped your image and the statues of the gods, and cursed Christ.

They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food--but ordinary and innocent food. Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my edict by which, in accordance with your instructions, I had forbidden political associations. Accordingly, I judged it all the more necessary to find out what the truth was by torturing two female slaves who were called deaconesses. But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive superstition.

I therefore postponed the investigation and hastened to consult you. For the matter seemed to me to warrant consulting you, especially because of the number involved. For many persons of every age, every rank, and also of both sexes are and will be endangered. For the contagion of this superstition has spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms. But it seems possible to check and cure it. It is certainly quite clear that the temples, which had been almost deserted, have begun to be frequented, that the established religious rites, long neglected, are being resumed, and that from everywhere sacrificial animals are coming, for which until now very few purchasers could be found. Hence it is easy to imagine what a multitude of people can be reformed if an opportunity for repentance is afforded.

Trajan to Pliny the Younger

You observed proper procedure, my dear Pliny, in sifting the cases of those who had been denounced to you as Christians. For it is not possible to lay down any general rule to serve as a kind of fixed standard. They are not to be sought out; if they are denounced and proved guilty, they are to be punished, with this reservation, that whoever denies that he is a Christian and really proves it--that is, by worshiping our gods--even though he was under suspicion in the past, shall obtain pardon through repentance. But anonymously posted accusations ought to have no place in any prosecution. For this is both a dangerous kind of precedent and out of keeping with the spirit of our age.”(1)

(1)   http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/pliny.html. (accessed 3.28.2018).

Corinth was in Greece, over a thousand miles to the west of where Pliny was writing from in present-day Turkey. Corinth, Greece, had been an important commercial center with a rich and long history but was captured and destroyed by the armies of Rome in about 146BC. Julius Caesar founded a Roman colony there in 44BC and brought in Roman colonists. It became an important administration and trade center. There were many religious cults and temples based there including one to Aphrodite, the Greek version of the Roman Venus, who is also the Greek version of the Babylonian Ishtar, Astarte, and the Ashtoreth of the Bible.

Paul traveled to Corinth in his missionary work as you can see in Acts 18.

Now, let’s go backward in time about 60 years to see what the Holy Spirit of God has preserved for us as a primary source, two letters to the Corinthian church.

Exodus 40: final comments on Exodus

40:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2  On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 3  And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail. 4  And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof. 5  And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle. 6  And thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 7  And thou shalt set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and shalt put water therein. 8  And thou shalt set up the court round about, and hang up the hanging at the court gate. 9  And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy. 10  And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy. 11  And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it. 12  And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water. 13  And thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 14  And thou shalt bring his sons, and clothe them with coats: 15  And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office: for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.

    40:16 ¶  Thus did Moses: according to all that the LORD commanded him, so did he. 17  And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up. 18  And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and fastened his sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up his pillars. 19  And he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as the LORD commanded Moses. 20  And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark: 21  And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD commanded Moses. 22  And he put the table in the tent of the congregation, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the vail. 23  And he set the bread in order upon it before the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses. 24  And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward. 25  And he lighted the lamps before the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses. 26  And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the vail: 27  And he burnt sweet incense thereon; as the LORD commanded Moses. 28  And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle. 29  And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat offering; as the LORD commanded Moses. 30  And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar, and put water there, to wash withal. 31  And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat: 32  When they went into the tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses.

 33  And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.

    40:34 ¶  Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35  And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36  And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: 37  But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. 38  For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

    

 Much of what is written here has already been commented on. We’ve learned a great deal about our worship and our reality here in Exodus and there are a few things I want to point out again. Our work for God is only acceptable to God if it is sanctified by Him. He makes our prayers and our worship acceptable to Him.

Aaron acts as a mediator between God and man in his office as priest. For Christians, Christ is our mediator. There are many verses about Christ bearing our sins and I will not post them all but this one is applicable to what Aaron was doing. We need no priest other than Christ, fully human and fully God, who in his humanity is our priest.

1Timothy 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…

Aaron is to bear the iniquity of the holy things in 28:38 and make acceptable to God the Hebrew’s fallible and weak offerings to him. Our worship without God’s help is a meager and pathetic thing. We don’t even know how to pray as we ought, we are so blinded by our sin nature. We need help.

The Holy Spirit even sanctifies our prayers.

Romans 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Another point is that God blessed the midwives and made them houses.

Exodus 1:21  And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.

Now, lest you think God is in the business of building suburban developments near Cairo understand that a house can be a family, or a dynasty, that goes on for generations.

Exodus 6:14  These be the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben.

1Samuel 20:16  So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David’s enemies.

As well as a building…

1Kings 9:10  And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king’s house,

So, depending on the context house can be short for household as well including servants, wives, and children.

Genesis 45:2  And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.

So, a question for fundamentalists arises naturally from this. Is this reference following a physical building or a group of people characterized in type as a spiritual building?

1Corinthians 14:23  If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

How do physical buildings come together to meet? Seems an absurdity.

Colossians 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence…24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

The church is Christ’s body on earth, not a building.

Acts 2:47  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

1Timothy 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

So, what is the house of God, to the Roman Catholic ‘wannabes’ of Protestant fundamentalism, the Vatican’s auxiliaries? Has the gate of heaven reference in Genesis 28:17 confused you? Do you consider your specific church building, the place where your church meets, the ladder between heaven and earth? What about Christ in John 1:51? And what about these verses?

1Corinthians 3:16 ¶  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1Corinthians 6:19  What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

    Our bodies are the tabernacle where God meets with us after the resurrection because His Spirit resides in us.

John 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

God’s Spirit is already inside of us if we are Christians and we do not need to ask for Him to “come down and walk among the pews.” We should ask to be filled with His Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 ¶  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

God has placed in our hearts the things He wants from us if we will hear and obey.

Jeremiah 31:33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

2Corinthians 3:2  Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: 3  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

We must remember that Christ has fulfilled the Law for us. He is the fulfillment of it.

2Corinthians 3:12 ¶  Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: 13  And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 14  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16  Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

In Paul’s great argument, his letter to the Romans, he lays it out.

Romans 10:1 ¶  Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. 5  For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. 6  But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) 7  Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 8  But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Always remembering that we Christians are not justified by the Law given to Moses.

Galatians 3:19 ¶  Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20  Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21  Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 26  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

There are many wonderful passages in Exodus. One that is revealed in the translation of great importance is this.

Exodus 12:3  Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4  And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

These verses give us an understanding who Christ was and is.

He is a lamb (verse 3), a sacrifice and ransom to God, the propitiation to satisfy God’s wrath for mankind’s sins against Him. He is the lamb (verse 4), the only way to salvation. He is your lamb (verse 5), who died for your sins on the cross at Calvary and rose for your justification.

God is with us in our wilderness wanderings as we leave the world when we are born again and often wander in the wilderness trying to find our way.  God wants to lead us, to direct us to our Promised Land, eternal life with Him. The kingdom of God is within us.

Luke 17:20 ¶  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Exodus teaches us about how the Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt as we are enslaved to the world before we followed Christ. The Red Sea crossing is our salvation experience as we are led by God toward what He has ordained for us. We resist and struggle against Him often and just as the generation of Hebrews that left Egypt could not enter the Promised Land neither can our flesh, in its present form, go to ours. We must leave our temporal bodies in the wilderness.

God’s glory filled the tabernacle in the wilderness and we should desire that His Spirit fill this tabernacle in which we walk and live in a fallen world. In that tabernacle is an ark that contains the testimony of God as it should be in us.

Exodus teaches so much and I have only scratched the surface. I hope you will look into it for deeper truths and more important connections than I could give you here.

Exodus 39 comments: the ephod and the breastplate revisited

39:1 ¶  And of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made cloths of service, to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the LORD commanded Moses. 2  And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. 3  And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work. 4  They made shoulderpieces for it, to couple it together: by the two edges was it coupled together. 5  And the curious girdle of his ephod, that was upon it, was of the same, according to the work thereof; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen; as the LORD commanded Moses. 6  And they wrought onyx stones inclosed in ouches of gold, graven, as signets are graven, with the names of the children of Israel. 7  And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that they should be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses. 8  And he made the breastplate of cunning work, like the work of the ephod; of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. 9  It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled. 10  And they set in it four rows of stones: the first row was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this was the first row. 11  And the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. 12  And the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. 13  And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were inclosed in ouches of gold in their inclosings. 14  And the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, every one with his name, according to the twelve tribes. 15  And they made upon the breastplate chains at the ends, of wreathen work of pure gold. 16  And they made two ouches of gold, and two gold rings; and put the two rings in the two ends of the breastplate. 17  And they put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate. 18  And the two ends of the two wreathen chains they fastened in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod, before it. 19  And they made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, upon the border of it, which was on the side

of the ephod inward. 20  And they made two other golden rings, and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart of it, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod. 21  And they did bind the breastplate by his rings unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod; as the LORD commanded Moses. 22  And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. 23  And there was an hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of an habergeon, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend. 24  And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen. 25  And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, round about between the pomegranates; 26  A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in; as the LORD commanded

Moses. 27  And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons, 28  And a mitre of fine linen, and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen, 29  And a girdle of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, of needlework; as the LORD commanded Moses. 30  And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing, like to the engravings of a signet,

HOLINESS TO THE LORD. 31  And they tied unto it a lace of blue, to fasten it on high upon the mitre; as the LORD commanded Moses.

I’m going to use comments that have been written previously for Exodus 28 including some thoughts on the Urim and Thummim, not mentioned here.

My wife, Beth, had this wonderful thought that I want to try to do justice to in regard to this description. The Urim and Thummim are one means by which communication is made from God.

Numbers 27:21  And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.

Without going into detail on the electrical conductivity properties of gold and how it is used in cellphones and other electronic devices or in the sound conductivity of stones what we may have here is a communication device for when the priests were away from the ark of the testimony. In fact, I have read commentators who speculated on this saying things like this was like an advanced walkie-talkie or using some other analogy. This brings to mind a peculiar statement that Jesus makes that on the surface just sounds like hyperbole but may have a much more profound meaning.

Luke 19:40  And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

I believe it was Peter Ruckman who speculated that stones were natural recording or transmitting devices. Whatever the case, this is very interesting to consider when the material elements are combined with the electrical impulses coming from Aaron’s heart who knows what we are talking about specifically? Like many other things in the Bible narrative, God’s revelation of His ministry of reconciling man to Himself, the Holy Spirit just breezes by these things without a concern for the detail we crave.

The breastplate of judgment has four rows of stones in it. This, surprisingly, may give us a clue as to the office that Satan held before he tempted man and woman to question God’s word. The Holy Spirit sometimes gives two descriptions in one by likening and comparing one subject to another so we have an understanding of the nature of both. Assuming that God is likening the king of Tyre to Satan in Ezekiel 28, giving us a description of Satan while comparing that king to him, we have these words;

Ezekiel 28:11b…Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Was Satan, also known as Lucifer, God’s priest in Eden? Is that why Adam and Eve seemed to have no problem conversing with him in his form as a serpent, a dragon, reptilian but beautiful? He must have been a magnificent creature as we have other dual descriptions in Isaiah 14 with Satan as Lucifer, the light-bearer, the shining one as per Strong’s dictionary, and in Job 41, the king over all the children of pride (Job 41:34).

For a dragon and a serpent being synonymous with each other and Satan based on context see;

Revelation 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Another description that reminds you of this breastplate of judgment is of the walls of the New Jerusalem, the cubed city described in Revelation, chapter 21, that is probably even now on its way to earth.

The ephod is blue and it is one piece with the opening for the head reinforced so it would not be torn in taking on and off. It was more like what we think of when we think of as a long poncho. According to Matthew Henry the Medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides said that the sides were not sewn so the arms for free to move although others say there were arm holes. Think of the similarity with Christ’s outer garment.

John 19:23  Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.

The bells would alert people that Aaron was still alive when he went into the holy place alone.

Leviticus 16:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died; 2  And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. 3  Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 4  He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.

    5 ¶  And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. 6  And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. 7  And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 8  And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9  And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. 10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. 11  And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself: 12  And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: 13  And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: 14  And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.

    15 ¶  Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 16  And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17  And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. 18  And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. 19  And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

   

20 ¶  And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: 21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22  And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. 23  And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there: 24  And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people. 25  And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar. 26  And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.

Aaron acts as a mediator between God and man in his office as priest. For Christians, Christ is our mediator. There are many verses about Christ bearing our sins and I will not post them all but this one is applicable to what Aaron is doing. We need no priest other than Christ, fully human and fully God, who in his humanity is our priest.

1Timothy 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…

    39:32 ¶  Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished: and the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they. 33  And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and his sockets, 34  And the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, and the covering of badgers’ skins, and the vail of the covering, 35  The ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat, 36  The table, and all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread, 37  The pure candlestick, with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for light, 38  And the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle door, 39  The brasen altar, and his grate of brass, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot, 40  The hangings of the court, his pillars, and his sockets, and the hanging for the court gate, his cords, and his pins, and all the vessels of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of the congregation, 41  The cloths of service to do service in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons’ garments, to minister in the priest’s office. 42  According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. 43  And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.

  Most of this has been discussed previously. One thing I would like to add here is that the Israelites were obedient to God in this, the building of the tabernacle. However, we’ve already seen that they were disobedient at other crucial times. The issue is that God’s people will often be diligent and obedient in one thing and yet appear to be anything but His in others. It is the same with all of us.