Exodus
28:6 ¶ And they shall make the ephod of gold,
of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen,
with cunning work. 7 It shall have the
two shoulderpieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it
shall be joined together. 8 And the
curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same,
according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple,
and scarlet, and fine twined linen. 9
And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the
children of Israel: 10 Six of their
names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other
stone, according to their birth. 11 With
the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt
thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou
shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. 12
And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for
stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their
names
before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial. 13 And thou shalt make ouches of gold;
14 And two chains of pure gold at
the ends; of wreathen work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathen
chains to the ouches.
Exodus 28:15 ¶ And thou
shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the
ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple,
and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.
16 Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall
be the breadth thereof. 17 And thou
shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the
first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this
shall be the first row. 18 And the
second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. 19 And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an
amethyst. 20 And the fourth row a beryl,
and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings.
21 And the stones shall be with the
names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like
the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to
the twelve tribes. 22 And thou shalt
make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of
pure gold. 23 And thou shalt make upon
the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends
of the breastplate. 24 And thou shalt
put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on
theends of the breastplate. 25
And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou
shalt fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of
the ephod before it. 26 And thou shalt
make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the
breastplate in the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod
inward. 27 And two other rings of
gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod
underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling
thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod. 28 And they shall bind the breastplate by the
rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may
be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not
loosed from the ephod. 29 And Aaron
shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment
upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial
before the LORD continually. 30 And thou
shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they
shall be upon Aaron’s heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall
bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD
continually.
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.
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