Year 1, Week 11, Day 1 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 11, Day 1

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Exodus 28.

Today’s reading pertains to the Levitical priesthood. Specifically, Exodus 28 describes the priestly attire. This section of Exodus is outlining the details of the Tabernacle-the place where the LORD will manifest His presence with His people. The Israelites would need to access the LORD’s presence through the mediating work of the priesthood. The LORD called Aaron and his sons as the nation’s first priests. The LORD stipulated the exact garments that Aaronic priesthood were to wear. The design of the garments reflected particular truths that both the priests and the people were to grasp.

I was struck by what today’s reading reveals about the LORD’s provision of a mediator so that they can come into His presence. The priests would be set apart unto the LORD for the purpose of providing the ongoing means for the people to come into the LORD’s presence. The priestly garments reflected their being set apart: “And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron's garments to consecrate him for my priesthood. These are the garments that they shall make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash.” (Exodus 28:2-4).

The Priest’s garments were not normal everyday wear; they were unusual garments worn for a special purpose—the LORD’s purpose. The garments were to reflect glory and beauty (Exodus 28:2,40), for they were to reflect the glory and beauty of the LORD: “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor [beauty] of holiness” (Psalm 29:2). The garments also reflected the LORD’s commitment to His people: “Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints shout for joy.” (Psalm 132:9).

While the details of the priest’s mediatorial work will be described in greater detail elsewhere (such as in Leviticus), the garments themselves give some description to the priest’s work of mediation between God and man. The priest’s garments reflected that they belonged to the LORD, to do His work: “You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the LORD.’ And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban.” (Exodus 28:36-37). The priests were set apart for the LORD’s purposes. The priest’s garments also reflected that they performed the LORD’s work on behalf of the people: “And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked. It shall have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges…You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the remaining six on the other stone, in the order of their birth” (Exodus 28:6-10). The ephod or vest had shoulder pieces inlaid with onyx stones with the names of the tribes on them The breastpiece, attached to the ephod, also had the names of the tribes on them: “You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, in skilled work. In the style of the ephod you shall make it…You shall set in it four rows of stones…There shall be twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They shall be like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes.” (Exodus 28:15-21). The priest’s work was to come before the LORD for the sake of the people. In particular, through sacrifice, the priests bear the guilt of the people: "It shall be on Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts” (Exodus 28:38); as well as their judgment: “Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the LORD regularly” (Exodus 28:30b). Israel’s guilt and judgment would be transferred to the sacrifice that the priests offered to the LORD.

The arrangements of the Aaronic Priesthood were provisional, but they teach us truths that have an enduring value. These temporary arrangements provide a preview of a better and lasting mediator and sacrifice: “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.” (Hebrews 8:6). Christ is a better High Priest: "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession” (Hebrew 4:14); who offered not an animal sacrifice, but Himself: "he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12). The obsolete priesthood of Aaron teaches us about the significance of Christ’s permanent priestly work: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe