Sunday, March 25, 2018

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.

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