Exodus 26-28 Good evening, glad to see you all here tonight. We are continuing our study through the book of Exodus tonight. If you remember God has separated the Elders, with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu form the people. Then God separated Moses and Joshua, and called them further up the mountain. Moses left Aaron and Hur in charge at that point. P a g e 1 And Moses and Joshua waited for six days for the Lord to give further instruction, on the seventh day Moses was called into the cloud for his meeting with God. And it is here that God gives Moses the instructions to build the tabernacle, or tent where Israel will worship while they are sojourning through the desert. And this place will be where they are to meet with God until a permanent Temple can be built in the promise land.
P a g e 2 Now we have to remember here what God is teaching them. These people are coming out of Egypt, and the polytheism has been ingrained in their hearts and minds for hundreds of years. They really have no sense of what is Holy or Sacred. The Egyptians called anything a god. They worshipped nature and served the creature rather than the Creator. And the Hebrews maintained their knowledge of Yahweh, or the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But they had incorporated their worship of Him with the cultural gods in Egypt. We will see proof of this in a few weeks, when they make an idol for themselves. God through this tabernacle is teaching them the concept of Holiness.
P a g e 3 He is putting so much detail into this place of worship, and He is separating Himself from anything else that these people know. He is teaching them how severe it can be to deal with Him like the fake gods they left in Egypt. In fact, because of the casual approach they had in their hearts, their very first priests will end up dead, because they failed to acknowledge the specifics of what God is establishing here. The worship for the One True God will be established by God Himself, and cannot be lowered to a humanistic religion. In Egypt, mankind determined how they should worship whatever they called a god. And with mankind s wicked heart designing the forms of worship to please their fake gods, it was usually fleshly driven, with sexual orgies, and fleshly appetites being filled.
P a g e 4 Not with the One True God, man cannot exalt himself to a place to decide the form of worship that will please God. God sets the parameters, and in doing so this concept of Holy or set apart will meet their understanding. They will understand their God is like no other god, He is set above anything else in the material world and spiritual world. So in God s instructions to build this place of worship, you will find it interesting that God is designing and planning from the Most Holy Place and working Himself out into the courtyard. Man approaches God from the courtyard in, but God designed this from His place of entrance the Mercy Seat. God began with the Ark of the Testimony, which was covered with the Mercy Seat, this being the Most Holy place in the whole tabernacle. Than He moved out to the Table of Showbread, then even further to the lampstand.
And next as God moves further out we will get the material for the tent itself. P a g e 5 But we see God builds His tent from the inside out, just like He does with us. The Tabernacle (Ex 36:8-38) 26:1 "Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine woven linen and blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim you shall weave them. 2 The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits. And every one of the curtains shall have the same measurements. 3 Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. 4 And you shall make loops of blue yarn on the edge of the curtain on the selvedge of one set, and likewise you shall do on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set. 5 Fifty loops you shall make in the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is on the end of the second set, that the loops may be clasped to one another. 6 And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and
P a g e 6 couple the curtains together with the clasps, so that it may be one tabernacle. So we are going to see four layers to this tent structure as we move from the inside out. The most inner layer, the layer that could only be seen from the inside of the tent is one of fine linen. They would have artistic designs of cherubim woven throughout. This of course as we discussed last time serves as a picture and a shadow of things to come. We understand the tent here has to be done just as God says, because it is representing the heavenly place of worship. Where the Psalmist declares of God Ps 80:1 You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth! This first set of decorative curtains were sets 5 curtains sewed together. Those sets of five curtains were not sewed to the other sets of 5 curtains.
P a g e 7 But they were joined together with these clasps of gold in a system of loops. This would link all the set of five together. This would be the first layer draped over the tent. The beauty of this curtain would only be visible from the light of the lampstand glowing from inside, no outsider would be able to see the artwork. So this would be a job of course for the artistic person, who does not mind the tedious process of all that goes into making this layer. It is interesting how God has a purpose for everyone in the building of His tent. Even the artistic type, these people I usually do not understand or get. They use a part of their brain that I do not have. They are usually a little more complicated of a person, but as we can see they are important to God s work. I was a rough framer, my work was of the structure, the backbone of a building.
P a g e 8 I have no patience for the tedious work of a finish guy, or painter. That takes another type of person for which, I cannot relate. Over in our children s ministry our Children s ministry leader Christina lined the hallway with all these beautiful handmade pictures and scripture wonderfully placed in the midst of them. My mind does not think that way, although I really enjoy looking at those kind of things. My mind is more focused on how strong the structure is, how practical the workspace is. We all have our place here, even you artistic creatures have an important place in God s work. So moving onto the next layer of the tent. 7 "You shall also make curtains of goats' hair, to be a tent over the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains. 8 The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; and the eleven curtains shall all have the same
P a g e 9 measurements. 9 And you shall couple five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the forefront of the tent. 10 You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain of the second set. 11 And you shall make fifty bronze clasps, put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one. 12 The remnant that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. 13 And a cubit on one side and a cubit on the other side, of what remains of the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and on that side, to cover it. The beautiful artistically woven linen is now protected by the normal tent material of the day, goat s hair. It would be woven together by joining together 5 strips of fabric and six strips of fabric. The set of 5 fabrics and the set of six fabrics were joined together with this time bronze clasps.
P a g e 10 The further we get away from the Ark, we will see the metals will move to a lesser and lesser value. This goat skin would serve as a practical means of protection. It was made larger, so it could drape over the back of the tabernacle, and further on the sides. This dark goat skin would completely cover the linen from the outside obscuring the representation of heaven. The only way to see this heaven with the cherubim would be to go through the one entrance to the tabernacle. There is only one way to enter into God s presence here, and it is through the one door He will provide on His tent. The next layers will be of ram skins dyed red and another layer of badger skins. 14 "You shall also make a covering of ram skins dyed red for the tent, and a covering of badger skins above that.
P a g e 11 So a leather like layer and the badger skins actually are probably more accurately seal skins, that would serve as a water proofing for the tent. So the inside of this tent would be very dry and very dark. The only light again would be from the lampstand. So next is the framing portion, of course a really important job here. Now you will not find this in any commentary, just here for us tonight, my own insight to the technician who would be in charge of the framing. The framer would be a man s man, a stout man, a godly man, a man of great importance. Highly respected in the camp, a hero. Or perhaps not, in fact, framers today are about the filthiest creatures that I have ever known, we were the bottom of society. A miserable trade it is. But even in God s work, we have a place.
P a g e 12 And next God gives the blueprint for the structure of this tent. 15 "And for the tabernacle you shall make the boards of acacia wood, standing upright. 16 Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the width of each board. 17 Two tenons shall be in each board for binding one to another. Thus you shall make for all the boards of the tabernacle. 18 And you shall make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. 19 You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons. 20 And for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, there shall be twenty boards 21 and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards. 22 For the far side of the tabernacle, westward, you shall make six boards. 23 And you shall also make two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. 24 They shall be coupled together at the bottom and they shall be coupled together at the top by one ring. Thus it shall be for both of them. They shall be for the two
corners. 25 So there shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver sixteen sockets two sockets under each of the boards. P a g e 13 So each board here would be made of the very durable acacia wood, they would stand 15 tall and be covered in gold. They would be pretty thick about 2 3 wide. Imagine being the guy tasked to carry these from place to place? Or even these sockets of silver that would serve as the base of the boards, they would weigh according to David Guzik, about a talent of silver each. The board would rest on about 264 lbs of silver each. That would be heavy to carry from place to place. But the silver served as a very important picture of God s redemption. The base or foundation of this tent was made of silver, which throughout scripture pointed to redemption for sin.
P a g e 14 Lev 5:15 "If a person commits a trespass, and sins unintentionally in regard to the holy things of the Lord, then he shall bring to the Lord as his trespass offering a ram without blemish from the flocks, with your valuation in shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary, as a trespass offering. The foundation of this tent points to the redeeming work of Christ, who was betrayed Himself by 30 pieces of silver. So the foundation speaking of redemption. The boards themselves would be held together by this decorative system of tenons or tabs with rings that bars slipped through to kind of give this building its shear strength. Today when you frame, you put what s called sheer panels or plywood on the wall to hold tight the side to side movement of the building. They would have 4 of these rings on each board, so four bars could go across each wall on the side, and on the back.
This would be the strength of the tabernacle. So moving on, these bars for the sheer strength are described P a g e 15 26 "And you shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle, 27 five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the far side westward. 28 The middle bar shall pass through the midst of the boards from end to end. 29 You shall overlay the boards with gold, make their rings of gold as holders for the bars, and overlay the bars with gold. So these bars were to slip through the rings on the boards, four through rings. And it says the fifth bar would go through the beam of wood itself. So four of these bars would be visible, one would not. The picture I handed out, shows this wrong. It shows 3 on the inside and two going through the outside.
But it would be four visible, and one actually going through what I perceive as a hole through the wood joining the wood together. David Guzik says: This speaks to both the visible and the invisible unity among God s people; P a g e 16 this system of linking bars could both be seen and was invisible. You see every one of us in the body of Christ have a place to be used of God, when unified in our purpose it brings strength to His Work. 30 And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain. And God reminds Moses to build this as precisely as he was shown on the mountain. God gave Moses this vision or plan, and Moses would have to pass this vision to those who have the skills to build this tent. It is much like God works today.
P a g e 17 He is faithful to pass the vision to His leaders, who in turn must pass it on to those who are in the midst of the work. If the leader fails to give this vision, or does not speak what God has given him, the work ceases. If Moses kept all of these details to himself, the work of the tabernacle would not have been completed. And leaders today who fail to cast the vision of what God is speaking to them, often have incomplete works. So the details continue on 31 "You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim. 32 You shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks shall be gold, upon four sockets of silver. 33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy. 34 You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony
P a g e 18 in the Most Holy. 35 You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand across from the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; and you shall put the table on the north side. Now we have the design of the veil or curtain separating the holy place from the Most Holy place. This curtain would hang across four pillars that had the same kind of silver foundations as the outer boards. It would hang with golden hooks. It was decorated with the cherubim as well. Now we are starting to see the depth God is going to establish in their hearts and minds to what Holy is. Behind this curtain sat the Mercy Seat on top of the Ark. This curtain was a barrier to God. Only once a year, the High Priest would go in on the Day of Atonement to sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat. He had to precisely follow all of God s direction in his approach.
It meant his life if he failed on one thing on his approach to God. P a g e 19 On the Most Holy side of the curtain, there would be no light shone. The curtain blocked the light from the lampstand which was in the holy place. Only when the priest would move that curtain aside on the day of atonement would the light shine in, when he presented the blood. But God was unapproachable, by any other way, then through the blood of the sacrifice that the High Priest brought yearly. And this in Israel s mind is putting God in His right perspective. He could not be put in their pocket like the idols in Egypt. Their God was not made from human ideas and crafted by human hands, but He was unapproachable in regards to mankind sins, and His sinless perfection.
Life was required on man s behalf. P a g e 20 If there was no blood sacrifice when that priest tried to enter, his life would be taken. That is true justice in regards of who we are in the light of who this Most Holy God is. We cannot come to Him casually, or however we feel, we cannot praise a Holy and Righteous God on the basis of being a good person. In fact, any approach to God on our own merits and good works is offensive to Him, and disgusts Him. Isa 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; And on judgment day when the Books are open, and if you come to God on the basis of your good works, Revelation tells us you will be judged accordingly. God will look at your works, and anyone honest with themselves, looking truly at who they are in light of a Holy and Righteous God, those Books opened, telling the story of your life should terrify you.
So what is the solution, how can we make it passed that Holy Curtain separating us from God? P a g e 21 The answer is in Heb. 9:11-15 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. You see Jesus at His death the scripture says in
P a g e 22 Matt 27:50-51 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked At the very moment of Jesus sacrifice of Himself, He forever made a way through Him alone to the Most Holy place. You see this picture of Holiness here in Exodus, the severity of God separating Himself from humanity by His Holy Righteousness serves a greater picture of salvation. The Holy requirements were satisfied once and for all by Jesus, He is the Door we go through now. And we can now Heb. 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. This is why Israel for all those years had to establish this picture of God, so we can more clearly understand
what the cross of Christ accomplished for us who believe. P a g e 23 This tabernacle is so important in the picture it paints of our Holy God. God s throne was not in the tent, the tent served as an illustration for God s eternal throne. It had to be exactly as God determined it to be. Moving on 36 "You shall make a screen for the door of the tabernacle, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver. 37 And you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be gold, and you shall cast five sockets of bronze for them. So here we have the entrance of the tabernacle, and the curtain or screen hanging at the entrance. It is similar to the veil, but does not have the cherubim on it. Its sockets or bases were of bronze not silver.
P a g e 24 David Guzik says Since bronze (or brass) must be made with a refining fire, it pictures purity and endurance through trial - the entrance to the tabernacle hangs on the foundation of what Jesus has done for us. So now we will continue to move outward from the Most Holy place in Chapter 27. The Altar of Burnt Offering(Ex 38:1-7) 27:1 "You shall make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide the altar shall be square and its height shall be three cubits. 2 You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it. And you shall overlay it with bronze. 3 Also you shall make its pans to receive its ashes, and its shovels and its basins and its forks and its firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze. 4 You shall make a grate for it, a network of bronze; and on the network you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. 5 You shall put it under the rim of the altar beneath, that the network may be midway up the altar. 6 And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of
P a g e 25 acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. 7 The poles shall be put in the rings, and the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar to bear it. 8 You shall make it hollow with boards; as it was shown you on the mountain, so shall they make it. This alter would be a box like structure 7 ½ feet square and 4 ½ feet high. It would be coated in bronze which could withstand very high temperatures. It would have horns on all the corners of the alter, where the blood would cleanse the alter from the atoning sacrifices. The horns would reach out in all directions. The grating would rest on a ledge around this alter and perhaps served a similar purpose as a barbeque grate. The burnt offering would be placed on top of it. The ashes would fall through the grate and the bronze shovels and utensils would be used to clean and maintain the operation of the altar.
P a g e 26 Alter means killing-place today as believers we believe in a sacrifice at another killing-place or alter at the cross. We come to that alter the cross and lay down our own lives. Paul says in Galations Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. And even later in the same letter he says Gal 6:14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Are you crucified to the world this evening, or do you still play around on the wrong side of grace? The Christian life is one of laying ourselves down at the altar, and giving of our lives, because He gave His.
The Court of the Tabernacle (Ex 38:9-20) P a g e 27 9 "You shall also make the court of the tabernacle. For the south side there shall be hangings for the court made of fine woven linen, one hundred cubits long for one side. 10 And its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets shall be bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be silver. 11 Likewise along the length of the north side there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, with its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of bronze, and the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver. 12 "And along the width of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits, with their ten pillars and their ten sockets. 13 The width of the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits. 14 The hangings on one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets. 15 And on the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets. This would be a courtyard of 150 feet by 75 feet.
The fence would be made of white fine woven linen. P a g e 28 The pillars would be 7 ½ feet tall with bronze bases and silver top pieces. And silver hooks hanging the linen. Next is the gate 16 "For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver. It shall have four pillars and four sockets. So the gate was about 30 feet long. The curtain was made of the same colors as we have seen throughout. These colors throughout had meaning and significance. The blue was a heavenly color, the scarlet speaks of Christ s blood, the purple was a mixture of both blue and scarlet and speaks of Royalty. J. Vernon McGee who finds pictures of Christ throughout the whole tent says the blue and the scarlet speak of heaven touching earth, or the
P a g e 29 humanity of Christ. The purple speaks of Jesus as the King of the Jews. This gate at the entrance of the courtyard had a curtain with the same colors of the screen going into the tabernacle, and ultimately the veil before the Mercy Seat. Only one way in the courtyard, only one way into the tent, and only one way into the Most Holy place. Jesus is that way. These curtains speak of this. Jesus said Himself in John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. And the colors at the entrances give testimony to this. Verse 17. 17 All the pillars around the court shall have bands of silver; their hooks shall be of silver and their sockets of bronze. 18 The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits, made of fine woven linen, and its sockets of bronze. 19 All the utensils of the tabernacle
for all its service, all its pegs, and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze. We see here the tops of the pillars would be a spectacle in the bright desert. P a g e 30 They would be a shiny silver, again speaking of redemption, and the base would be bronze speaking of the judgement Jesus took in our place. And we see pegs to hold it all down, and various other objects and utensils needed for the operation within the court of the tabernacle were made of bronze. This would mark the outward limits of holiness. Approaching God would be a process that every stage of the approach would remind them of who they were in the Light of Who God was. No longer can God be dealt with casually. The Care of the Lampstand (Lev 24:1-4) 20 "And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually. 21 In the
P a g e 31 tabernacle of meeting, outside the veil which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening until morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to their generations on behalf of the children of Israel. So they are commanded to bring in the pure oil of pressed olives. The best would be required for this lampstand. They would bring in continually enough to keep a perpetual light even burning all throughout the night. It would keep the outer part of the tent lit, while the ark was separated by the veil from the light. The oil will continually be a picture of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit today provides the light and fire in the church, and God s Work here on earth. We must continually be powered by the supply of the Holy Spirit to live out our calling as a church. Which Eph. 5:8-9 says
P a g e 32 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), When we walk in the power of the Spirit the fruit that comes from our lives. We will then be an illuminating force here on earth. We are children of the light, and our oil that supplies that light is the Holy Spirit. So next we will get into the priesthood, those ministers within the tabernacle Garments for the Priesthood (Ex 39:1-7) 28:1 "Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron's sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. So firstly regarding the priesthood, it was something born into.
By God s call only was this family set apart for the ministry of the tabernacle. P a g e 33 This was no place for ambition or self-glory, it was only through God s invite. Even for us today, the ministry is not a place of glory, or a reward for hard work, the ministry is still only through God s call and invite. There is no room for ambition among God s workers. We will see here they were to have Holy Garments. They have a heavenly calling, and will be representing heavenly pictures. Their clothing must be set apart and stand out as Holy. For this the artisans are called upon once again 3 So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest. 4 And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a
P a g e 34 sash. So they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest. So first we will deal with the High Priest, who will be Aaron, and when Aaron dies this set of High Priestly garments will be handed down to one of his sons who will continue the work of the High Priest. The High Priest would always be a descendant of this man Aaron. Those artisans called here to make these garments are gifted beyond their natural talents, it says that God s Creating Spirit will give them the wisdom to make this from the word of Moses. There are many talented people in the church, but apart from the empowering of the Holy Spirit they are ineffective in the work of the ministry. I have seen very gifted musicians use the ministry to try to get the attention of that of a rock star, and their ministry was powerless to affect people s lives.
P a g e 35 When the Holy Spirit empowers the worker, the glory and attention go to God, and people s lives are touched. It is important that the Spirit is the one empowering us for the work. So the direction to these Spirit filled artisans will start with the Ephod. The Ephod 5 "They shall take the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine linen, 6 and they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, artistically worked. 7 It shall have two shoulder straps joined at its two edges, and so it shall be joined together. 8 And the intricately woven band of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. Now the writer of Exodus writes in a way to assume that the reader understands the meaning behind all of these details.
We will do our best to understand them. However, some of this is just impossible to give an exact meaning of any sort. P a g e 36 And although the priestly families dress was simple enough, the High Priest s clothing will be complex and no expense will be spared. The first thing here is the Ephod. It would be an apron like piece with gold and all the same colors represented in the tabernacle. Blue, Purple, and Scarlet woven throughout it. Next we read of this Ephod 9 "Then you shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel: 10 six of their names on one stone and six names on the other stone, in order of their birth. 11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel. You shall set them in settings of gold. 12 And you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. So
P a g e 37 Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders as a memorial. 13 You shall also make settings of gold, 14 and you shall make two chains of pure gold like braided cords, and fasten the braided chains to the settings. So on the shoulder straps of this apron two onyx stones set in gold, with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel on them, 6 names on one side and six on the other. This was done so the High Priest could bear the names of the tribes of Israel before God. He represented the people to God. The first ministry of the priest was to God Himself, but the priest was responsible for connecting the people to God. The names of the people were on his shoulders; which shoulders would represent labor or the hard work of the priest in his ministry for the people. He would carry the brunt of the work of the Lord for the people.
No common citizen could get as close to God as the priest. So the priest brought the people upon his shoulders. P a g e 38 Even today, the Elder or leader in the church, the first and most important part of that role is to bring the people within the Body of Christ before the Lord in prayer. The Elders main ministry is that of intercessory prayer. Next the breastplate is described to the artisan The Breastplate (Ex 39:8-21) 15 "You shall make the breastplate of judgment. Artistically woven according to the workmanship of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, you shall make it. 16 It shall be doubled into a square: a span shall be its length, and a span shall be its width. 17 And you shall put settings of stones in it, four rows of stones: The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; this shall be the first row; 18 the second row shall be a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19 the third
P a g e 39 row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold settings. 21 And the stones shall have the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, each one with its own name; they shall be according to the twelve tribes. 22 "You shall make chains for the breastplate at the end, like braided cords of pure gold. 23 And you shall make two rings of gold for the breastplate, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 24 Then you shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate; 25 and the other two ends of the two braided chains you shall fasten to the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in the front. 26 "You shall make two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it, which is on the inner side of the ephod. 27 And two other rings of gold you shall make, and put them on the two shoulder straps, underneath the ephod toward
P a g e 40 its front, right at the seam above the intricately woven band of the ephod. 28 They shall bind the breastplate by means of its rings to the rings of the ephod, using a blue cord, so that it is above the intricately woven band of the ephod, and so that the breastplate does not come loose from the ephod. 29 "So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the Lord continually. 30 And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron's heart when he goes in before the Lord. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually. So this breastplate was made of the same material as the Ephod. It was to have 4 rows of three gemstones representing the 12 tribes of Israel.
It was not enough that the priest labored for the people. P a g e 41 He too must love the people, as he bore their names over his heart as well as on his shoulders. The priest must have a heart for God as well as the people. These stones identify Aaron with the people before God. There are many ministers today who have a love for God, but not the people, they seclude themselves in their study time, but never live out the second and just as important commandment to love your neighbor. There are also on the other hand ministers who love the people but have no real love for God. And their ministries are filled with humanistic approaches and remedies to life. They revert to worldly programs for their ministry structure.
P a g e 42 But a servant of God must balance both love for God and for God s people well. Aaron s breastplate reminded him of such duty to both God, and those he was entrusted to bring before God. Now this breastplate is referred to often as the breastplate of judgement. In it Aaron carried what is called the Urim and the Thummim which determined the judgements or direction of God. Now since we all know what the Urim and the Thummim are we will not give too much commentary on it. What you don t know what it is? Well let me explain it to you then. Oh, wait, no one really knows what this is. Some commentators say it perhaps was two stones, a white and black stone in a pouch. And in a yes or no kind of situation the priest would shake the bag, and if the particular stone would come out and either be the Urim or Thummim one of which would be yes and the other no.
But this is really all speculation, there is no biblical evidence for this. P a g e 43 The names mean lights and perfection which if taken literally might be a reference to the nature of God. Cole Whatever they were they were some kind of sacred lots. It is kind of good we don t know what they are, because it would not take long for some charlatan to claim they have this Urim and Thummim and if you send them a $4000 love gift they can give you God s will for your life. I can t tell you exactly what these things are, but I can tell you what they are not. They are not some mystical glasses or seer stones found by Joseph Smith used in the revelation of some new mystery of God. The Mormons believe that their founder was given these priestly seer stones by the angel Moroni.
P a g e 44 So whatever they were they were not special glasses, bur more of a way of casting lots for the priest to determine the will of God. Other Priestly Garments (Ex 39:22-31) 31 "You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 There shall be an opening for his head in the middle of it; it shall have a woven binding all around its opening, like the opening in a coat of mail, so that it does not tear. 33 And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around. 35 And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out, that he may not die. Now we have this blue seamless rob, that had a hole in the top not torn, but sown with a woven binding.
On the bottom is had decorative pomegranates with bells perhaps in between. These bells were to be ringing as Aaron or his decedents ministered before the Lord. P a g e 45 If the bells stopped ringing they would know the priest perhaps was not representing himself or the people precisely as God required, he would be struck dead. They would then be able to pull him out if they knew he died. By the time you get to Jesus day, they were tying a rope on the ankle of the priest to pull them out if something happened within the Most Holy place. The bells were a testimony of the priest s life before the Lord. The pomegranates represented the fruit that came from his life. And today we should have a testimony that lines up with the fruit in our lives.
If you are out there handing out tracks, testifying about God, you better have the fruit to back it up in your life. P a g e 46 If your bells are witnessing but there is no fruit of the Spirit in your own life your witness is phony and people, see right through it. A witness and fruit, they need to go hand in hand. Next we read 36 "You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD. 37 And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. 38 So it shall be on Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord. So a simple turban here with a plate of pure gold with the signet HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
And again this constant reminder to this nation to what Holy was. P a g e 47 And it reminded Aaron and the people of Israel about their position before a Holy God. 39 "You shall skillfully weave the tunic of fine linen thread, you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the sash of woven work. A tunic was usually made for men of rank. Remember Joseph s brother s jealousy when his father presented a tunic of many colors to him. It represents position. And the priest had position within the tribe of Israel. Now that was the last item for the High Priest, next we will see a more simply uniform for Aaron s sons. 40 "For Aaron's sons you shall make tunics, and you shall make sashes for them. And you shall make hats for them, for glory and beauty. 41 So you shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him. You shall anoint them, consecrate them, and sanctify
P a g e 48 them, that they may minister to Me as priests. 42 And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs. 43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him. So we see here holy underwear. This would ensure modesty at all times in the service before God. Perhaps this was a direct reaction to the ritual nakedness the other religions had within their satanic systems. The linen was good for both beauty and hygiene. God wants no works of the flesh before Him in worship. Remember, God is establishing Himself as Holy and set apart, this nation will serve to represent that to the world.
P a g e 49 We will soon see two priest who do not take His Holiness serious enough and they will be struck dead immediately. They failed to maintain this picture God was putting forth. The writer of Hebrews tells us why it was so important to get this right. It served a great purpose. Heb. 8:1-6 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. 4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all
P a g e 50 things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain." 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. Aren t you glad we are not looking at the picture and shadow today. We have a Mediator of a better covenant established on better promises. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. All of this pointed to Him. Today, we can come boldly to throne of grace, we go passed the veil, by the Blood of the Lamb of God. All of this was a picture pointing to Jesus, today we are part of this New Covenant. What a privileged time we live in, that Jesus opened the way for all to come to God. Jesus is the Door we come through.
If you have not come to God through the Door He established, I invite you to come tonight, all are welcome. P a g e 51 But if you are trying to access God through any other avenue then the one He established it will be hopeless. He is too Holy to approach by any other way then the way He established. So come through Jesus while the Door is still open. Amen. Prayer.