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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