Exodus 28
McGeeCHAPTER 28THEME: Aaron and his sons set apart for the priesthood; the ephod; the breastplate; the Urim and Thummim; the robe of the ephod
Exodus 28:1
AARON AND HIS SONS SET APART FOR THE PRIESTHOODWe have seen that every thread, color, and chord in the tabernacle suggest the person and work of Christ. Now we come to the ones who are going to serve in the tabernacle. The Levites were to care for the tabernacle, and Aaron and his sons were to be the priests. Aaron was to be the high priest. In order for Aaron to serve as high priest he had to have certain garments. And these garments speak of Christ. It is true that most of the instructions given in Exodus do not make very thrilling reading, nor do they read like a detective or a mystery story, but they do reveal Christ. Do you wonder why God gave us all of these instructions? Little children learn by pictures. The Bible is a picture book and God wants us to learn the truths He has for us by looking at the “pictures” He has given us. These garments were not holy in the sense that you and I think of holy today. The Hebrew word for holy means “set apart.” These garments were set apart for the service of God. Anything that is set apart for God is holy. Suppose you have ten dollars in your pocketbook and you want to give one dollar to the Lord’s work. You may have received that ten dollars from a store, and the store may have received it from a gambler, who in turn may have received it from a prostitute, who may have gotten it from a thief and so on. But the minute you set that money aside for God, it is holy. Anything set aside for God is holy. These are holy garments and are to be used in the service of God. I do not wear a robe like the Levites used to wear but when I was a pastor I had a mohair suit which I wore exclusively in the pulpit. I had a great deal of fun kidding my intimate friends about my “holy suit.” When I preach, I have on my holy clothes and, in one sense, I am accurate because anything set aside for the service of God is holy. Notice that these are for the glory of God and they are beautiful. I love that. Things do not have to be ugly, friends, just because they are used in the service of God. I personally resent that the world, the flesh, and the Devil seem to get everything that is beautiful. Why can’t we give God some of the beauty? He is the one who made beauty. If you do not think He splashes color around, watch a sunset, or look at the leaves in the fall. Look at the heavens during a clear sunny day and then watch them during a storm. God majors in colors and beauty, and these garments for the priests were to be beautiful and for the glory of God.
Exodus 28:3
Aaron is to be set aside for the ministry of the great high priest. These are to be his garments:
Exodus 28:4
Here are six garments that are to be used in the service of God. They are to be worn by Aaron and then, of course, passed on to those who shall succeed him in the office.
Exodus 28:5
These garments are to be made out of the very best material. I feel like God ought to have the very best, but I must confess that we need to be very careful about this subject. Never in my ministry have I driven an automobile that is considered expensive, like a Cadillac or a Lincoln. One time a man offered to buy me an expensive car and I refused. I happen to drive a Chevrolet but, quite frankly, I feel I have as much right to drive a Cadillac. Now this is where I must be careful.
Right now I know a certain minister who is coming under great criticism because several people went out to his headquarters one day and found nothing but Cadillacs parked around the place. The type of ministry in which he is engaged begs and urges people to give money to his work and there are those who feel the money received is not being spent wisely. May I say that money sent into a ministry should not be spent needlessly. We ought to be very careful what we do with contributions. I have attempted to follow a pattern of being very careful with money because I ask people to give to my radio ministry. For this reason I drive a Chevrolet. So if anyone is thinking about giving me a Cadillac, forget it. Seriously, we need to be careful. On the other hand, we should recognize that God’s work should have the very best, and that does not necessarily mean a Cadillac. When we moved into our new headquarters, we needed to settle the question of what kind of equipment we should have. Should the machine used to make the radio tapes be a cheap model? No! The tapes are very important and so we got the best machine we could find. We feel that good equipment for God’s work is essential; God’s work ought to have it. I trust that you understand what I am saying because I believe that God is being cheated and robbed. Malachi asked this question, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings” (Mal_3:8). God knows that a man will rob Him. Man was that way in Moses’ day and man is still the same today.
Exodus 28:6
THE EPHODThe ephod is difficult to describe. It was worn over the linen garment. Two long pieces of cloth were brought together and fastened by a stone on one shoulder and a stone on the other shoulder. The material was gathered in the middle with a girdle. Six of the names of the children of Israel were engraved on one onyx stone and six names were engraved on the other. When the high priest went into the presence of God, he carried the children of Israel on his shoulders. That speaks of the strength and power of the high priest. Heb_7:25 tells us about Jesus Christ our High Priest: “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Christ is able to save us, you see. He has strength and power. Do you remember the parable He gave about the little lost sheep? The shepherd went out and found him and put him on his shoulders (Luk_15:1-7). Jesus Christ carries me on His shoulders and that is where He carries you, friend. From time to time I get off His shoulders but He is right there to lift me back to that place of safety and continue to carry me. What a lovely picture the ephod gives us of Christ.
Exodus 28:15
THE BREASTPLATEThe best way to describe the breastplate is to call it a vestbut a very beautiful onethat went over the garment. It was a breastplate of judgment. Why? Well, friends, it pictures the fact that sin has been judged. We need the breastplate of righteousness today as believers. You see, the breastplate covers the vile heart within us. That is the only way we could stand in the presence of God. It means that our sins are judged. The righteousness of Christ has been made over to us. So this is called the breastplate of judgment. The breastplate was, in a way, part of the ephod. The ephod and the breastplate went together and was a thing of beauty.
Exodus 28:17
On the breastplate of the great high priest were these twelve precious stones which were arranged three in a row, and there were four rows.
Exodus 28:21
These stones are also found in the Book of Revelation where we are told that they form the foundation of the New Jerusalem. Each stone was a different color and together they formed a flashing and beautiful display. I am of the opinion that God’s universe is filled with color, and when sin is finally removed we will see it flash with color. These twelve stones are quite interesting. When the high priest went into God’s presence wearing the breastplate, he pictured the Lord Jesus Christ who is at the right hand of God interceding for us. The Lord not only carries us on His shoulders, the place of power and ability, but He carries us on His breast. We are engraven on His heart. He loves us! What a picture this is of His love for us.
Exodus 28:30
THE URIM AND THUMMIMI am going to tell you a secret and I do not want you to tell anyone. I do not know what the Urim and the Thummim were. I have read books by about twenty-five different authors and have discovered that they do not know either. The interesting thing is that they had something to do with determining the will of God. Just how, I do not know. Some people think the Urim and Thummim were dice, but I do not believe it. Whatever they were, they determined the will of God. God has kept the details obscure for a very good reasonsome nut would try to produce a Urim and Thummim today and would claim that it would give us all the answers. We have a lot of people around today trying to give us the answers without the Urim and Thummim! God wants us to go to Him for the answers.
Exodus 28:33
THE ROBE OF THE EPHODThe first sermon I preached in California was on the golden bells and pomegranates. I told the congregation I did not know exactly what a pomegranate was. Well, I found that they are grown in Southern California. By nine o’clock that evening I had at least twenty bushels of pomegranates on my back porch! I know what they are now. The pomegranates speak of fruit, and the bells speak of witness. We should have both of these in our lives. We ought to be a witness for Christ, and there ought to be the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal_5:22-23) in our lives. You should not be handing out tracts, friends, unless you are making the right kind of “tracks” in this world. Too many people want to witness but do not have a life to back it up. There are also some folk who have a life to back up a witness, but who do not witness. We ought to have a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate.
Exodus 28:35
These symbols of life and witness would give a sound as the high priest went in and out of the sanctuary. “That he die not” alerts them to the fact that if he should default in the ritual he would be stricken dead.
Exodus 28:36
These garments distinguished the high priest from the other priests, and they set forth the glories and beauties of our High Priest who is “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” He died down here to save us. He lives at God’s right hand to keep us saved.
Exodus 28:39
God wanted no nudity in the service for Him (and we should keep this in mind for today). God wanted no display of the flesh. These garments were a covering over any work of the flesh.