Bible Study on Exodus 28, verses 6 to 30, the ephod

 

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 beingdoubled; 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 the ends 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.