The Blueprint for the Priestly Garments — Chuck Smith

Oh, let the sun release your soul. The Word for Today, the broadcast ministry of Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently leading us on a verse-by-verse study through the entire Bible.

And on today's edition of The Word for Today, we'll be looking at the blueprint that was laid out for Moses as he was instructed to make the garments for the priest. So, let's turn in our Bibles to Exodus, chapter 28, verse 1.

And Pastor Chuck Smith begins today's lesson.

The Garments for Aaron and His Sons

Now, we come to the priestly garments. And, um, God commanded Moses to make these garments for Aaron, his brother, as the high priest, and for his sons. The garments were to be for glory and for beauty, verse 2.

So they were to call the gifted artisans to make these garments, that he might be sanctified or set apart as the priest and to minister for the people as their priest. Now, the first part that they describe as far as the making of the garment is sort of a vest.

It's called an ephod. And the ephod came over the shoulders. It was tied here at the shoulders. And it was tied with a little pin that was actually an onyx stone in a setting of gold. And an onyx stone on each side.

The Ephod and the Twelve Tribes

And in these onyx stones were inscribed the names of the 12 tribes. So that whenever the priest went into the Holy of Holies wearing this priestly robe, there on his shoulders the names of the 12 tribes as he bore the 12 tribes before the Lord.

And so the idea was the bearing of the names of the tribes before the Lord with these pins that held this ephod on his shoulders in the onyx stone, the inscription of the names. It describes how they were to weave it out of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine linen.

So it must have been quite exquisite in its color and in its beauty, a real work of art. And then there was to be the breastplate that the priest wore over the ephod by a span. So it was a square little plate, again woven of the same gold and purple and scarlet threads and all.

The Breastplate and the Urim and Thummim

And one span, but on this little breastplate there were to be 12 precious gems. And on these gems also the names of the 12 tribes of Israel thus worn over the heart of the priest as he entered in to minister for the nation he had over his heart.

The 12 tribes again on this breastplate that he wore over the top of the ephod. And there were the rings in it with a chain of gold and hung over his heart. And thus he bore before the Lord the names of the sons of Israel.

And in that breastplate they put the Urim and the Thummim. Now herein we run into a difficulty. What in the world is the Urim and the Thummim? The words mean lights and perfections. Now just exactly what the Urim and the Thummim was we do not know.

Anything that we would offer would be speculation. We do know that the Urim and the Thummim were the methods by which the people came to the priest to inquire of the Lord. Now just in what manner, in what way it worked I don't know.

What I do know that it wasn't the magic glasses that Joseph Smith found with the golden tablets by which when he wore them he could translate the hieroglyphics on the tablets. That's what he claimed. He found the Urim and the Thummim glasses, magic glasses that once he put them on the hieroglyphics were intelligible to him.

Seeking God's Will Through the Urim and Thummim

No. But they were in some way used to inquire of the will of the Lord. Now it has been suggested that the Urim and the Thummim were in reality a white stone and a black stone. And that when they would ask God a direct question the priest would reach in and pull out a stone.

If he pulled out the white stone the answer from God was yes. If he pulled out the black stone the answer was no. And so they would go, they would pray and say Lord give us understanding now. Do you want us to go out against the enemy?

And they would pull out the stone. And then they would become more specific. Shall we go now or shall we go later? And they would ask the questions and they would pull out the stones. That is one suggestion.

I don't know. The words again mean lights and perfections, the Urim and the Thummim. But by these there was a method by which they discerned the will of God and received answers from God and direction.

And further on you'll find them inquiring of the priest through the use of the Urim and the Thummim, the inquiring of the priest for the will of God. Now they were to make a robe that would go over the ephod and it was all of, or just under the ephod it was all of blue.

The Bells, Pomegranates, and Reverence in God's Presence

Opening in the middle for the head and you just put your head through and the thing came over you, the blue robe of the ephod. And then they were to put upon it, on the hem, little pomegranates, blue and purple, and scarlet yarn.

So they were to make these little pomegranates. And why pomegranates I don't know. And bells of gold between them and all around. So there was to be on the hem this little pomegranate, colored pomegranate, and then a golden bell.

A pomegranate, a golden bell, all the way around the hem of the robe of the high priest. The purpose of this, 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.

So according to the traditions, when the high priest went into the holy of holies, that once a year on the day of atonement, to bear before the Lord the atonement for the sins of the nation, these golden bells on the bottom of his robe, they would wait outside and they would listen for the bells, but there was a rope tied to his foot.

And if ever the bells would cease, they'd drag him out. He had been slain before the Lord. There was something wrong with him, with his life, or with his sacrifice. Again, to give the people that feeling of reverence and awesomeness in coming into the presence of God.

I mean, you just don't come in on a chummy high bud and how's everything going business. I mean, it's you hear people talking in a very loose and frivolous way sometimes about God. You know, like a good buddy basis.

Hey, he is the creator of the whole universe and we always stand in awe and in wonder before him. It isn't really a good buddy kind of a relationship. And the people had that consciousness. Even when the high priest would go in after all of the ritual and all of the ceremony, all of the bathings and everything else.

Here were these golden bells that they would listen for. And if everything became silent, you know, there are clips, everything's silent, man, bad news, you know, and drag him out. So that was the purpose.

Holiness to the Lord on the High Priest's Forehead

Now also, on this turban that he wore, this mitre or crown, there was a gold plate. And on this gold plate was inscribed holiness to the Lord. And he goes ahead to describe this blue turban that the high priest was to wear upon his head.

So verse 38, it shall be on Aaron's forehead that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things with the children of Israel, hallowing all of their holy gifts, and it shall always be on his forehead that they may be accepted before the Lord.

And skillfully weave the tunic of fine linen thread and so forth. And there to make then the priestly garments, and it describes those garments made for his sons. Now having then made the garments, it was then necessary to consecrate Aaron for the priesthood and his sons.

Consecration Through Sacrifice

And so God instructed Moses how to go about consecrating them for their ministry. And it basically was done in three offerings, a bullock and two rams. The bullock was first offered as a sin offering, the fat of it burned upon the altar, and then the rest of it taken outside of the camp and burned outside of the camp.

It was the sin offering. The blood of the bullock was to be put upon Aaron and the garments. It was the blood of sacrifice. But the interesting thing is that in verse 10 they were to bring that bull into the tabernacle and Aaron and his sons were to put their hands on the head of the bull.

Now as we move along we're going to find that this is common in the sin offering sacrifice. And later on you as a common person wanting to offer a sin offering sacrifice to the Lord would bring your sacrifice into the area of the tabernacle, into the area of the burnt offering altar.

And you would lay your head upon the animal. It was a symbolic gesture in which you were transferring all of your guilt and sin over onto that animal. And so your guilt was being passed to the animal.

Your sins and the guilt of your sin being passed on the animal and then the animal having received your sins was slain. For the wages of sin is death. And there came then that consciousness that this animal is my substitute.

I really should be dying. That animal is my substitute. It's dying in my place. For all of my sins have been transferred by my laying of my hands on the head of the animal. My sins transferred on it and it dies in my place and I have that uncanny realization, hey this animal is dying because of me, because of my guilt, because of my sin.

Now when we come to Jesus Christ the same idea. He bore our sins. All we like sheep have gone astray. We turned every one of us to our own way and God laid on Him the iniquities of us all. And when we see Jesus dying on the cross we must recognize that it is not for His guilt but for my guilt that He is dying.

He is my substitute. He is my sacrifice. My guilt was transferred onto Him and He bore the punishment or the judgment, the penalty for my sin in His death. For the wages of sin is death. And so you see the picture and it all begins to come clear as to what Jesus has done for you in His sacrificial death as our sins were placed upon Him and He died in our stead.

And so this bull, Aaron and his sons, put their hands upon it. The bull was slain. The blood was then taken and sprinkled upon the altar, put upon the horns of the altar and then poured out beside the altar and the fat burned on the altar.

The bull then taken out the rest of it outside of the camp and it was there burned. Then they were to take the first ram and they were to sacrifice the first ram. This then was the burnt offering which was the offering of consecration.

Now you see you can't really consecrate your life to God until the sin question is first resolved. I can't really give God anything of myself, service or whatever that means anything until the sin issue is first taken care of.

And so the bull was to take care of the sin issue. Once that has been taken care of, now I can consecrate my life unto God. And thus interestingly enough in this consecration offering they then took a portion of the blood and they put it upon his ear, upon his thumb and upon his big toe.

And the idea of that is that I might have an ear that is consecrated to hear the voice of God. I might have hands that are consecrated to do the service of God. I might have feet that are consecrated that I might walk in the path of God.

And so it was a dramatic kind of a ceremony. But it was very meaningful. As you see the ram that is slain and then the blood is put upon your ear and that thought, oh God may my ear ever be consecrated to hear your voice.

Listening Lord to you. May my hands ever be consecrated Lord in serving you and my feet ever be consecrated to walk in your path. And then it goes on with the wave offerings and the eating of the little cakes that were made or the loaves of bread that were made with the oil and the unleavened bread and all.

Daily Sacrifices and the Purpose of the Tabernacle

Then in verse 38 having consecrated them for the priesthood now there are certain offerings that are to be offered on a daily basis. This is what you shall offer on the altar. Two lambs of the first year every day continually.

One lamb is to be offered in the morning and the other offered at twilight. So at the beginning of the day and the end of the day. Not to them the twilight offering would be the beginning of the day. And but with us we think of the day beginning at 12 midnight but with them it began in the evening.

But the two sacrifices one in the morning one in the evening. And with them this tenth part of flour mixed with pressed oil and wine as a drink offering. This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord where I will meet you to speak with you.

So this is the purpose of the tabernacle. A place where God would meet with the people to speak to his people. And there I will meet with the children of Israel and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.

That is the Shekinah glory of God upon it. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them up out of the land of Egypt that I may dwell among them.

I am Jehovah their God. Now the purpose of the tabernacle. The place of meeting God but also to bring them into that continual consciousness of the nearness of God. That God's dwelling place is not way off in the universe somewhere.

But God seeks to dwell among his people and so is always the case. God seeks to dwell in the midst of his people. In the center of the camp. I will dwell among the people. And so their tents being pitched around the tabernacle.

The tent doors facing the tabernacle as they would come out their tent doors they would see in the morning first thing the smoke of that lamb that was sacrificed and they would be reminded of the fact that God dwelt in the midst of his people.

In the evening as they would retire into their tent looking back as they were latching the tent they would see the smoke of the evening sacrifice and again the reminder God dwells in the midst of his people.

God's Nearness and the Tabernacle Fulfilled in Christ

How we need to come to a consciousness of the presence of God. I'm dwelling in the presence of God. In him we live, we move, we have our being. And that consciousness of God's presence is such an important thing for each one of us.

Not to think of God as way off somewhere in the universe. As though I might hide from him. Do not think that God is out in the heavens that we have to say who can ascend into the heavens to bring him down.

Nor dwelling in the depths that we should say who will go down to bring him up. But the Lord is near unto you. Yea, he is as close as your mouth. For if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God has raised him from the dead you'll be saved.

God is close to each one of us. And he wants us to be aware of that closeness. He dwells among his people. And again now Jesus becoming our tabernacle. This was all a type of Jesus. God dwelling in the midst of his people.

And that's exactly what Jesus was. God dwelling in the midst of his people. The word became flesh and he tabernacled among us. And we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth.

And the whole idea of Jesus is to bring to us the awareness God with us. Emmanuel, Emmanuel. His name is called Emmanuel. God is with us. He lives with us. That's the whole meaning of Emmanuel. Call his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is God with us.

And so that presence of God among his people in the person of Jesus Christ.

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That's right here on the next edition of The Word For Today. Here's Pastor Chuck Smith.

A Blessing in the Consciousness of God's Presence

May the Lord be with you and watch over, keep you in His love. Give you a good week this week. And may you live in that consciousness of God's presence As God dwells among His people And we experience the joy And the fullness of that blessing.

For He is good and His mercy endures forever In Jesus' name.

As Easter is approaching the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is on the hearts of Christians everywhere and how they might witness this beautiful story to their loved ones. With this in mind TheWordForToday would like to present a special MP3 entitled My Redeemer Lives that includes 14 reassuring messages to answer the significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and a life that should bring hope to everyone.

Also included is a special presentation of the crucifixion from a doctor's perspective as well as a powerful salvation message shared by Pastor Chuck. And when you order My Redeemer Lives MP3 will include a free CD by Pastor Chuck to witness to your loved ones that Jesus is indeed the Messiah.

This CD entitled A Risen Love clearly presents the evidence to help others make a decision that will impact their immediate and eternal future. For more information contact TheWordForToday at 800 -272 -9673 or visit us online at TheWordForToday .org.

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