EXODUS CHAPTER 28 INTRODUCTION

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1 EXODUS CHAPTER 28 INTRODUCTION Having more or less dealt with the structure and furnishings within the tabernacle although we will come to it again in later chapters, God now commands the appointment of a High Priest to function within the tabernacle. In this chapter and the next one we have detailed descriptions of his clothing and his consecration to the Priesthood. 1. THE PRIESTHOOD (vs. 1-5) Now the Priesthood in Israel was to be a hereditary Priesthood with the Priests being appointed from the tribe of Levi and from the house of Aaron. Moses is to oversee this whole process of appointing and setting apart Priests to function within the tabernacle of God. So Aaron is to come before Moses along with his four sons. The sons are separated into pairs with the first pair being infamous for their abuse of the Priesthood and as a result God brought judgement upon their heads (Leviticus 10:1-5). As a result it was Eleazar and Ithamer who took their place within the Priesthood (Leviticus 10:6). Now Aaron is to wear special clothes while carrying out his duties within the tabernacle. Aaron will of course become the first high Priest within the tabernacle structure and so we have a description of his clothing. Three adjectives are used to describe the clothes of Aaron. They are to be sacred or holy is a better word for the Hebrew word means to set apart or to be distinct or to be unique. These garments are to be different from Aaron s ordinary clothes and they are to be used solely for his duties within the tabernacle. They are to reflect the fact that as High Priest he is to be holy set apart from the people for he will represent the people before God and no one can approach God unless they are holy, set apart people. The other two words dignity and honour are probably better translated as glory and beauty. Now the Priest s garments are to reflect the God whom he approaches; for God himself is described as holy, full of glory and beautiful in many places throughout the Old Testament. In other words Aaron s garments are a reflection of God s character. These garments are to be made by those who literally are wise of heart. Now this expression points to those who had be given wisdom to have the skill and knowledge in making such garments. In other words God granted these individuals the gifts necessary in order that God s people might benefit from their skills. God put such a high value upon the Priesthood in Israel that he would provide the gifts necessary to carry out the making of their garments to his exact requirements. The material that is to be used is the same material that was used for the veil and the curtains within the tabernacle but with some further additions of gold and precious stones. Now before we go on to look at the High s Priest clothing is some detail we need to see a very clear application for us here. First of all no Priest took this task upon himself he had to be appointed to the task. It was God who instructed Moses to appoint Aaron and his sons to the function of the Priesthood (v 1). No man was self-appointed everyone was appointed by God, all future Priests would come from Aaron s family and tribe. Now in Hebrews 5:1-10 where the writer is contrasting the Old Testament Priesthood with the Priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ we read there that the reason for this God ordained appointment was to encourage the needy to come to God. The High Priest was taken from among men not from heavenly beings like angels taking one of their own was to display two things to the people of God. First that there is a way for sinners to approach God through sacrifice; for the High Priest was aware of his own sins and had to offer 1

2 sacrifice for his sins first. If this man can approach God so can anyone who comes to God His way. Secondly since the high Priest dealt with them in a gentle manner then God would do likewise (Hebrews 5:2). Likewise Jesus did not appoint himself to the task of being our High Priest but was ordained by his Father (Hebrews 5:5 & 10). Therefore the Priesthood of Christ was pleasing to his Father for he had appointed him and all that he does, as High Priest is acceptable and pleasing to his Father. Now Jesus willingly became our High Priest and superseded the Old Testament Priesthood for Jesus knew no sin and therefore did not offer sacrifice for his sin as Aaron did but instead he became our sacrifice for our sins. He came to earth and became man and was therefore appointed to the task of High Priest from among men in order that he might represent us before God and in order that sinful men and women could have their sins forgiven and brought to God. In Aaron s case he went into the Most Holy place once a year to offer a sacrifice for the sins of the people. But our High Priest the Lord Jesus has offered himself once for all in order that we can have our sins forgiven and in order that we might be brought to God. Our High Priest having offering himself as our sacrifice has now entered into the heavenly tabernacle where he is at the Father s right hand interceding for his people. Aaron s clothing reflected God s character but our High Priest reflects perfectly the character of his Father. Jesus was completely holy and pure he is set apart and he is most glorious and displays his own glory to the world. There was a beauty about him not about his appearance but about his character and His nature. So our High Priest is Jesus, He is also our sacrifice for sin He represents us before God and brings us to God but have you come to him? Have you accepted his sacrifice and sought God s forgiveness? Have you come in repentance and faith to Jesus our great High Priest and pleaded with him that his sacrifice for sin might be applied to your soul? If you haven t then you are not in a relationship with God. He does not accept you and you do not have a High Priest to represent you before a holy and wrathful God. Your only hope is to come to Christ, to trust him to save you because he has died for sinners just like you and just like me. 2. THE HIGH PRIEST S GARMENTS (vs.6 43) The first piece of the High Priest s dress that is mentioned is the Ephod (vs. 6-14) The Ephod appears to have been a type of apron made from the same colours and materials as the curtains inside the tabernacle. The Ephod had shoulder straps bearing two beautiful gems engraved with the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob). It also had gold chains for the purpose of attaching the breast piece to it. Once again only skilled craftsmen were allowed to make this article of clothing. Now every time the High Priest went into the Most Holy Place he would wear this Ephod with onyx stones on each shoulder piece with the 12 names of the Sons of Israel written on it. In doing so the High Priest was symbolising that each Israelite was represented when he went before the Lord. Everyone were sinners even the High Priest was a sinner and they all needed God s forgiveness. The only way that they could receive such forgiveness and acceptance with God was through the sacrifice offered by the High Priest. So in carrying out his duties the High Priest is seeking forgiveness for all of Israel. As he looks at those onyx stones with the 12 names of the sons of Israel on them he was offering a sacrifice that was sufficient for all Israel if they all believed. Now our beloved High Priest had the names of all his people upon himself when he died and rose again for the sins of his people. We 2

3 are all sinners but our High Priest did not sin but yet he died in our place as our substitute in order to carry our burden of sin upon his shoulders so that we would be forgiven. His death on that cross is sufficient for every sinner who comes to him in faith and seeks forgiveness. So I can with confidence say to you that if you come to him and ask for his forgiveness recognising your sin before him then his sacrifice is sufficient payment for your sins. This means that you can be forgiven and accepted by God. It s a marvellous thought that our names Christian are upon Jesus today, our sins are forgiven, we are justified because of him and He represents us before our heavenly Father. If God the Father should ask his Son why should I let Noel Ramsey into my heaven Jesus would show his Father my name, look I have died for him I have paid for his sin, therefore he is forgiven, he is welcome he is one of mine. Isn t that a lovely thought Christian he knows you because he died for you and represents you before His Father in heaven? We therefore are precious to him not because of who we are or what we have achieved but because of what Jesus our High Priest has done on our behalf. We have a wonderful Saviour. Next comes the breastpiece (vs ). He wore this on top of the Ephod. This was a piece of richly embroidered cloth, which was folded in two. The whole thing was about 9 inches square and by being folded it formed a kind of pocket. On the outside of the breastpiece were fixed 12 precious stones, arranged in four rows of three. Each of these stones had the name of an Israelite tribe engraved upon it. This meant that when the High Priest went into the presence of God he carried with him the names of all the Israelites in two places. He bore their names on his shoulders and carried them upon his heart this was to show the love he had for them (v 29). Finally inside the pocket of the breastpiece were kept the Urim and Thummim (v 30). These appear to have been two special stones, which were used to make decisions. They were often used in time of crisis to determine the Lord s will on a certain matters (Numbers 27:21). We do not know exactly how they were used in discovering God s will, but it is clear that the Lord used them to indicate his will to his people. Now I trust that we can see an application here. Now if the Ephod reminds us of Jesus as our High Priest carrying our burden of sins upon his shoulders then this breastpiece reminds us that He has our names written on his heart. He loves us so much; in fact his death for us demonstrates just how much He loves us. Now if He loved us with such an amazing love then this breastpiece also reminds us that as our High Priest we must come to him and consult him about every decision in life. We must allow him to be our guide and direct us, we must frequently consult with him about the various decisions of life, and we must simply follow him and walk in his footsteps. Because we are so dear to him and are constantly upon his heart then he will never lead us in a direction that will ultimately harm us. He will also guide us in a direction that will ultimately bring blessing into our lives. He is our great High Priest He can be trusted He died for us and now intercedes for us; so let us be people who come humbly before him seeking him for daily guidance. We must not leave him out of our decision making process until some crisis comes along. No He loves us and knows what is best for us therefore let us consult him and humbly obey his leading within our lives. What happens when we do not know what way to go and are confused about his leading? Then remember one of the tasks of the High Priest in the Old Testament was to pray for the people. 3

4 Well our Great High Priest the Lord Jesus continually prays for us (Hebrews 7:25) and surely He prays that we might know the Lord s will that our confusion will be removed and his purpose and way made absolutely clear. Although because of our sin and rebellion our prayers are often presented with mixed motives. Therefore we do not always receive answers to them or we do not listen to his answers; but our High Priest always prays with right motives and of course He has no sin therefore his prayers for us are always answered. So when we don t know were to turn and we are unsure about guidance let s remember that we have a Great High Priest who is interceding for us; praying that the Lord s way which seems unclear to us might increasingly become clearer to us. The next item of the high Priestly vestments is the robe (vs ). According to Leviticus 8:7-8 the robe goes under the ephod. It is to be woven using all blue material in contrast to the ephod (28:6 and the breast-piece 28:15). The reason I think is so that these two pieces of clothing (ephod and breast-piece) would stand out against the blue background of the robe. The robe had an opening for the High Priest s head to go through. On the hem of the robe imitation pomegranates are to be made of the same material as the ephod and breast-piece. Pomegranates were abundant in the land and it might be that these pomegranates on Aaron s robe are symbolising the fruitfulness of the Land of Promise. Bells were also placed on the hem of the robe and the significance of these is not stated but it is assumed that the tinkling bells were presumably so that the people outside the Most Holy Place could trace the movements of the Priest inside. By this they would know that his offering had been accepted and that the Priest had not been struck down by God. We ought to be struck by the specific nature of God s commands to Israel regarding how members of the Priesthood were to dress and to act. The instructions are very detailed but this just underscores that the Priesthood was to operate according to the manner in which God prescribed, according to heavenly specifications. This is how they were to approach God no other way was acceptable even if the intentions are right. We cannot decide how we are going to approach God even if we have right motives and intentions we cannot come to God anyway we like we must come to God through His High Priest the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many religious people who are sincere and are seeking some sort of spiritual reality but who do not come to God his way. They try to do through some other religion or Philosophy of life. They do it through some self-effort but no one in the Old Testament could come to God unless he came the way prescribed. No High Priest could decide not to wear the robe one day; if he did he would be struck down by God. Everyone must come to God His way and so must we; we must come through Jesus the Great High Priest for sinners. Have you come to Him? I don t have time to deal with the rest of the dress of the High Priest but it is again very detailed even down to the very undergarments that a Priest is to wear. It all hammers home the point of the seriousness of approaching God. We must obey him as to how to approach him. You know because we down play sin so much in our nation that we think we can come to church without even thinking about our spiritual condition. Perhaps we are Christians but is there unconfessed sin our hearts. If so then our worship will not be acceptable. Perhaps we have come to church and as yet we have never come to know God personally because we have never come to trust Jesus Christ as our own Saviour and High Priest the one who died for us and the one who represents us before God. He became man in order to bring men and woman to God. 4

5 There is no other way, if we are trying to come some other way then we simply are ignoring what God says and ultimately we will be judged and condemned by God. But you can come to God; the way is open; you can have a relationship with Him through Christ our Great High Priest. Will you come to him and trust Him. I pray that you will. Amen 5