What Our Pastors, Priests, and Ministers Could Learn From What God Wanted of the Israelite Priests

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Exodus 28: Aaron’s Garments, Breastplate, Robe of the Ephod, Golden Plate, Tunic, and the garments of the Priests’

Exodus 28:1-43: In chapter 28 of Exodus, God gives detailed instructions for each of the items listed in our heading. Please read your preferred version of Scripture in parallel. Below we simply highlight some of the key features of the chapter for our study.

The first thing that we note here (in verse 1 in fact) is that God Himself selects those that would be His priests, His ministers and He does so from among the people.  David Guzik writes, “The priesthood of Israel was not ‘earned’ nor aspired to. It could only be inherited by birthright. One must be born into a priestly family. The priesthood was no place for ambition or self-glory. It was only entered into by God's call and invitation.” Not only is this critical in the selection of our ministers in our churches, but it is also important to us a laity. Guzik says, “In the New Covenant, our priesthood is also not earned nor aspired to. We are priests because of our new birth into Jesus' priestly family.”

We would do well to remember both these points when it is time for us to replace our spiritual leaders in our congregations.  We need to make sure it is God’s choice and perhaps rather than going thousands of miles away to find our man (or woman as the case may be), we need to look right within our own “people” as they too qualify.

In verse 2 we see that it is the congregation’s responsibility (with their special skills as per verse 3) to provide God’s selected priests or ministers with the needs of their office (here represented by their priestly garments). Today this may include their library, means of transportation, and even a residence. And it is here we also learn that it is the peoples’ responsibility to “consecrate” (bless, dedicate, or devote) the priests to enable them to minister (not so much to them) as to God Himself.

Much is said in the chapter about an ephod – this is the apron that the priest wore to perform their formal duties. God wanted two onyx stones to be set in the apron, one on each shoulder. On the stones, the names of the sons of Israel (or Jacob) would be engraved, six on each one, in order of birth. These are to be borne by the priests before God as a memorial. Matthew Henry suggests that by having the names of the twelve sons of Israel on them, that justified all the people of all the tribes to approach God through the priests.

Verses 15 to 31 tell us about the “breastplate” and there too, twelve stones represented the twelve sons of Israel, this time located over the heart of Aaron to be carried by him as a continuous memorial. Inside the breastplate, also over the heart, were placed the Urim and the Thummim. The reference to the heart some believe is symbolic of the priests’ need not to just “serve God by serving the people” but also to love the people they serve. How often is our service to God solely out of duty without true love for those whom we serve “for” God?

Robert Jamieson says these two words signify "lights" and "perfections". He writes, “They received the name because the bearing of them qualified the high priest to consult the divine oracle on all public or national emergencies, by going into the holy place--standing close before the veil and putting his hand upon the Urim and Thummim, he conveyed a petition from the people and asked counsel of God, who, as the Sovereign of Israel, gave response from the midst of His glory. Little, however, is known about them.” He goes on, “But it may be remarked that Egyptian judges wore on the breast of their official robes a representation of Justice, and the high priest in Israel long officiated also as a judge; so that some think the Urim and Thummim had a reference to his judicial functions.”

Chuck Smith writes this about the Urim and the Thummim: “Now some believe that the Urim and the Thummim were actually two stones, a black stone and a white stone; that in the inquiring of the Lord, the priest would reach in and pull out one of the stones. If he pulled out the white stone, it was God saying yes. If he pulled out the black stone, it was God saying no. That is one of the most prominent theories of what the Urim and the Thummim actually were. Two stones by which the priest would say, "God show us, shall we go now?", and he'd pull [out a stone] and if the white stone would [come] out, "Yes, we go now", [if] the black stone would [come] out, "No, we wait". Then they would keep asking questions that could be answered by yes and no, inquiring of the Lord for directions and guidance.” In the New Testament the apostles tried to discern God’s will by drawing straws and casting lots. The problem with this is that it only allows the Infinite God two possible answers to our questions and keeps from us anything “different” God may want to say to us.

Matthew Henry suggests that whatever they were, they were directly made by God. And goes on to suggest that having these, given their meaning, “ . . . the High Priest was endued with a power of knowing and making known the mind of God in all difficult doubtful cases, relating either to the civil or ecclesiastical state of the nation. Their government was a theocracy: God was their King, the high priest was, under God, their ruler, the Urim and Thummim were his cabinet-council . . .”

Around the hem of the robe were golden bells alternating with pomegranates.  The tinkling of the bells would let the people know whenever Aaron was in the holy of holies performing his duties in accordance with God’s instructions. If the bells stopped ringing something had gone wrong and the priest had been “wiped out” by God. Thus there would be a rope tied on his foot, the end of which was left outside the veil, and if the bells were no longer heard, the other priests would drag his body out.

The chapter also describes Aaron’s plate (fastened to his turban, headgear) and inscribed with the words, “Holy to the Lord”. In verse 38 we read that through this plate Aaron was able to take away the iniquity (sin) of the holy things that people consecrated to God, making them acceptable or holy unto Him.

For Aaron’s sons, the people were to make tunics and caps.  Interestingly, these were simply for “glory and for beauty”. From that I take that God does not mind that we go to some extremes of adornment for Him (which I might add is considerably different than adornment for ourselves). This may also say something to us with respect to the dismal black (as Guzik calls it) that many of our priests and ministers wear today.  Guzik quotes Clarke who writes,

"Is then the dismal black, now worn by almost all kinds of priests and ministers, for glory and for beauty? Is it emblematic of any thing that is good, glorious, or excellent? How unbecoming the glad tidings announced by Christian ministers is a color emblematical of nothing but mourning and woe, sin, desolation, and death!"

Certainly this, along with many other things in this chapter, is worthy of our consideration today.

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The Lord Visits Sinai -- Exodus 19:20-25

The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.  Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish.  Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, or else the Lord will break out against them.”  Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain and consecrate it.’” Then the Lord said to him, “Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, or He will break forth upon them.”  So Moses went down to the people and told them.
 

I love the opening sentence of this passage – “The Lord came down, to the top of the mountain, and He called Moses up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.”  What a perfect scene it is.  God comes down to meet man and invites him up to Him.  And notice the text says that God came down to the top of the mountain signifying His position above all the earth.  And Moses accepted the invitation of God.  That is God’s plan for each of us.  That is His heart.  But so many are too busy with things that do not matter as much in the big scheme of things, to accept His invitation.  It takes discipline to ‘put the urgent aside for the important’.

And when man accepts the invitation, God speaks to him.  In the case of Moses here, God tells him to go down again to warn the people not to break though the barriers in order to get a closer look at Him.  God did not want any of the children of Israel to die as a result of disobedience.  Had not God already warned them?  Had He not already given instructions to Moses to give to the people?  Did He not know that Moses had obeyed and had taken the necessary precautions to prevent the people from getting too close to God?  Of course He did.  But is it not like our loving God to give people a second chance, a second warning, to hear His word?  Consider how many warnings you and I have had. 

And there was another reason for God to repeat His instructions.  It appears the priests of Israel thought they were already consecrated enough and did not have to go through it again when God had sent the instruction to do so through Moses, earlier in this chapter (verse 10).  So God says to Moses now, “And also get the priests to consecrate themselves.”  I love that word “also” as if to say, “Who do they think they are, not consecrating themselves?”  The message is very clear to pastors and Christian leaders, when it comes to the instructions of God, no man (or woman) is above them.  No one gets a special pass.  It was not beyond God to “break out against” the priests if they thought that by their position, they were above others and thus God’s instructions did not apply to them.  Woe to spiritual leaders today who think they are.  Not only is God no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), but I also believe He is no respecter of titles.

Now something most interesting occurs next.  Moses actually tells God there is no way that the people will come up the mountain because “we heeded your warning and we set bounds as you instructed”.  Instead of the normal immediate obedience that we were getting used to expecting from Moses, we get some push back to God.  What was going on here?  Surely God was aware of all that had been done.  Matthew Henry believes that Moses was pleading that no further action was necessary, as all the God-given instructions had been followed.  To this Henry says, “But God, who knew their willfulness and presumption, and what was now in the hearts of some of them,” hastens Moses down with this charge, that neither the priests nor the people should force the lines that were set to come up to God.

Many a times we feel that we obeyed all of God’s commandments as to how we should live and we still are not being blessed. In fact, sometimes some of us feel we have been abandoned by Him.  We have clung on to God for His blessings rather than for Who He is.  We want to see more from God.  Our text, as Henry implies, suggests that God knows our presumptions and what wrongful attitudes are now in our hearts.  But He does not let go.  He sends the instructions again and warns us.  He is looking for a change in our hearts.  He wants us to love Him for Who He is, not for what he may not allow to happen to us.

So here God tells Moses to “go down and come up again, bring Aaron, but keep the priests and the people away”.  Only Moses and Aaron could come up the mountain for their hearts were right and God was delighted to honor them.

Of interest also is that Moses talks about the mountain being consecrated.  We have no earlier mention in the text of that being part of what God had asked for.  However, with it being part of the inspired Word of God, we must accept its validity.  Moses was basically saying, “Because you God were to come to the mountain, we understand the need to consecrate it.”  Are we asking God to visit us in our places of worship, in our homes, at our workplace? If so, have we consecrated these places in preparation for His presence?

Bible commentator Matthew Henry ponders what God was really forbidding the priests and the people to do.  He suggested it was the ability to ‘gaze’ at Him.  He was willing to let them ‘see’ enough to awaken their consciences, but not enough to allow them to gratify their vain curiosity.  Henry writes:

“They might see, but not gaze. Some of them, probably, were desirous to see some similitude, that they might know how to make an image of God, which he took care to prevent, for they saw no manner of similitude . . . Note, In divine things we must not covet to know more than God would have us know; and He has allowed us as much as is good for us. A desire of forbidden knowledge was the ruin of our first parents. Those that would be wise above what is written, and intrude into those things which they have not seen, need this admonition, that they break not through to gaze.”  And Henry continues, “The restraints and warnings of the divine law are all intended for our good, and to keep us out of that danger into which we should otherwise, by our own folly, run ourselves. It is at our peril if we break the bounds that God has set us, and intrude upon that which He has not allowed us; . . . And, even when we are called to approach God, we must remember that He is in heaven and we upon earth, and therefore it behooves us to exercise reverence and godly fear.”

The points are well made.  We need not add anything here with respect to what Henry expounded on.

On a separate note, I did find it interesting that both in verse 21 and again in verse 24 of this chapter, God speaks to Moses about Himself in the third person, “the Lord” and then God adds, “He will break forth”.  It is as if, from our human and limited perspective (our Hellenic minds) there are too entities here – the ‘Lord God’ Who loves and protects and cares and wants none to perish, and the ‘Lord He’ whose judgment may befall us.  However from a divine perspective (and the Judaic mindset), there is no such division – it is One Lord, One God.  It is us that have to get comfortable with that, or at the very least to accept it.

As a result, I have also often wondered about our approach to the Almighty God.  We seem to do it with so little reverence at times.  There is indeed a time for closeness with God, a time of intimacy or even familiarity perhaps through Jesus Christ, our Brother and Best Friend.  I am neither denying nor objecting to that need.  However, when we approach the Almighty God on His Throne of grace and wisdom and judgment and truth, can we give Him any less respect than He seems to give Himself?

The passage ends with Moses, seemingly understanding where God was coming from, obeying and going down and telling the people again what God expected of all of them, including the priests.

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God Instructs Moses To Prepare The People For His Coming Down On Sinai -- Exodus 19:10-13

The Lord also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”
 

Clearly we can see from the text “The Lord also said to Moses” that there was a conversation going on here.  Can you imagine how awesome it would be speaking with God in this way?  The fact is that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, did make that possible for us and even today we can enjoy communion with God as we spend time with Him.

God told Moses to go back to the people and to “consecrate them” during that day and the next.  This is the first of 44 times that the specific word “consecrate” appears in the English translation of Scripture.  In its original form, it has several meanings including to be set apart, to be hallowed, consecrated, tabooed, to show oneself sacred or majestic, to be honored, to be treated as sacred, to be holy, to dedicate, to observe as holy, to keep sacred, and to be devoted.  And thus it takes on many other meanings in the English text, being employed 172 times.  God wanted this done in preparation for His coming down on Mount Sinai.  I am reminded of how often we go to our church services and ask the Holy Spirit to visit us that day, and yet we have done very little to consecrate ourselves for that occasion.  God wanted the people to take their time (two days) to prepare for His visit.

They were to “wash their garments” in preparation for the third day when He would come down on Sinai.  The people were to be ready.  They were to be waiting in anticipation.  This “washing of clothes” was a symbolic action typifying the washing of their hearts, their minds, and their lives, making themselves pure for the manifestation of God.  God was about to come down on the third day in the sight of all the people and they all had to sanctify themselves for this awesome day they were about to experience.

Matthew Henry writes on verse 11, “though they should see no manner of similitude (likeness, resemblance of God’s actual appearance), yet they should see so much as would convince them that God was among them.”  And is it also possible Henry asks, that due to the geographical nature of Mount Sinai and its height, other surrounding countries may “discern some extraordinary appearance of glory upon it, which would strike a terror upon them”?

God told Moses that people had to be restrained from moving up the mountain to God.  As David Guzik puts it, “The coming of God to Mount Sinai did not mean the people were free to go to the mountain and fellowship with God.  They had to keep their distance behind a barrier, and the penalty for failing to keep their distance was death.”  This was indeed an audience with the Creator and Ruler of the Universe and it had to be observed as that.  We would do well to remember that as we fellowship with God today.  Yes, He is our Father and Jesus is our Brother, but we are mere creations of theirs and they are parts of the Triune Godhead.  We cannot recklessly forget that.

Guzik goes on to say that “Any person or animal killed for getting too close would be regarded as so unholy they could not even be touched, they had to be executed with a stone or arrows.”  And presumably it would be up to the leaders of Israel under Moses’ direction, to do so.

The God Who created us knows us well.  He knows that it is basic to our human nature to need boundaries.  Guzik says, “In setting these boundaries and providing the death penalty for breaching them, God showed Israel (and us) that obedience is more important than their (our) feelings.  We don’t doubt that some bold Israelites felt like going beyond the boundaries [reminds me of the apostle Peter who because of his ‘feelings’ wanted to go beyond what Jesus wanted], but they were to submit their feelings to obedience.”  God said to Moses tell them not to go up the mountain or even think about it by getting close to its edge.  Matthew Henry suggests that probably Moses had a line drawn, or ditch dug, round at the foot of the hill, which none were to pass.

Moses was to warn them for God did not wish for any to perish on that mountain.  Yet the penalty for disobedience was so clear and it applied to both man and beast alike.  God wants to be with His people and He wants them to be saved from death, but He is also a God of justice.  Given Who God is, a positive outcome for man’s relationship with Him can only come from a realization of God’s authority over us and a submission to His will, His Word, and His love for us.  We have no negotiating leverage, none whatsoever, nor should we.

Finally God told Moses to tell the people that there will be a signal for them to come up to the mountain – that is, to gather together to see evidence of God’s presence.  And that signal was the sound of a long blast from a ram’s horn.  What we do not know is how exactly that sound came to be.  Robert Jamieson suggests, “This gave the scene the character of a miraculous transaction, in which other elements than those of nature were at work, and some other than [a] material trumpet was blown by other means than human breath.”  He suggests God had the trumpet blow miraculously.  It is also possible that Moses and the leaders of Israel were overseeing a great ‘national assembly’ of the people in anticipation of the visit from God and that they had the trumpet blown at an appropriate time, as discerned by the leaders, and following what God had told Moses.

I do not know about you, but even as I study this passage and write down my thoughts about it, I find myself in great anticipation of “God coming down on Sinai” to meet with His people.  And I am reminded of the promise that Jesus Christ will come back to earth again.  What a day that will be.  Are you anticipating it?  Do you believe it?  Are you ready?  Prepared?  Consecrated?

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[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

________________________________________________________________________

 

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.