Exodus 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…
Exodus 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment