Bibledoorajar: How secure is your belt?

     The garments crafted for the priests were to bring honor and glory to their position. This was necessary as they were but mere human beings called to serve God. Of particular interest to me is the ephod and its' girdle or belt that was crafted for the high priest. It was exquisitely made of royal colors and gold was actually hammered into thread to piece the colors together. It hung kind of like a jumper over the shoulders of the high priest. But it was not to stay loose. It was to be bound very securely to the body of the priest by the girdle or belt. Thus, the garment could not fall away. 
     Jesus manifests many characteristics that we are to "put on". These are attributes of His honor and glory as the Son of God and are not some outward adornment. The Christian wears robes of righteousness as they daily follow Jesus. If smart, they will secure the robes with the belt of truth which speaks of Him and His righteousness extended to all who live by faith. That way, our robes will not fall away and will be our attire each and every day.  It is a sad thing to see a half-dressed brother or sister who is wearing a garment not secured with the belt of truth. When I was a kid I liked for my father to cut down one of his old belts for me to wear with my jeans. The story goes that I would cinch that belt so tight that they wondered if I would be able to breathe! That's is the way I  like to wear my belt of truth. I hope to be striking as I wear my garments of praise for the One who gave all for me and I desperately need that belt to stay in place!

Bibledoorajar: Mutual Tasking

     We have now come far enough in our study to realize that different aspects were necessary to bring the tabernacle and its' work to completeness. When the Holy Spirit recorded this effort in Exodus, He intertwined the efforts of the subjects at hand. One will be reading about an aspect of the work, only to find the Holy Spirit telling you about another aspect. There is, therefore, a great proximity and relatedness of all to each other and to the overall success of the tabernacle. We read of structure, we read of coverings, we read of special offerings, we read of talented workmen, we read of tabernacle contents and we read of Aaron and his sons serving as priests. It is interesting that the Holy Spirit tells us that Aaron was to bring his sons with him as priests in order that he might do his work as High Priest.

     There is a great proximity and relatedness in the church to each other and to our High Priest. He brings the sons of God with Him in order that He might do His work. At times the Holy Spirit has us focus on structure and speaks to us of elders and deacons and teachers. Then He will make it clear that we all function under the covering of the Lord. He tells us that among us will be those with special gifts and that at times special offerings will be necessary for dedicated works. This past Sunday, my home congregation focused on our special offering for an ongoing missionary work in Thailand. Several brothers and sisters that were pioneers of this work were visiting with us. They shared success stories and stories of talented workmen and stories of people with special gifts such as music. One talented Thai musician that was there lead us in a Thai rendition of It Is Well With My Soul. It was a great reminder of how the Lord brings His sons with Him to accomplish the great work of the church. The pioneers knew much more than we did about the work, but as their leader said repeatedly to us, "and you have a part in that." And, so we do. Praise the Lord who makes all things possible because He knows what love is: 

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that He

loved us and sent His Son as an atoning

sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10

Bibledoorajar: Immeasurable Privilege

     The Lord selected the tribe of Levi to provide those who would function as priests. Aaron, the brother of Moses, and his sons were the first priests and Aaron was the first High Priest. They were given the great privilege of doing service in the tabernacle and also among the people of Israel, but their privilege extended only to their nation.  It is an interesting thing that the tribe of Levi was chosen for this auspicious privilege because years before Levi had received a somewhat ominous prophecy from his father Jacob. The prophecy can be found in Genesis 49 and it implies that they might not be too safe to be around because of their great anger and cruelty. It ends by saying that their plight would be to be scattered among Israel.

     But praise God for His wonderful redeeming ways. He did indeed scatter the Levites among the nation by giving them no land. However their privilege was greater than having land. They got to be close to God in the tabernacle. And God provided for them from the abundance of all the other tribes.  However, they were mere men and they had to offer sacrifices repeatedly for themselves as well as the people of Israel. It took many of them to serve over time repeating the necessary actions. The individual's service could be interrupted by corruption or death and there was a need for the function to carry on. Josephus tells of how sometimes in an effort to get the position brides were made for the office. It wasn't what God wanted but it happened. There is, however, another privileged priesthood discussed in the Old Covenant. It was a priesthood not to the nation of Israel but to the Most High God the possessor of all the heavens and earth. It exists into perpetuity--endless in nature. The book of Hebrews declares that Jesus is a high priest after this order. As such, He has the immeasurable privilege of serving all of mankind and without corruption. He provided one complete sacrifice for all and He lives forever and serves forever, always interceding. He is involved in our worship, our community and serves as our High Priest in the Godhead. Will you commit to His cause? Are you a seeker? Will you go anywhere with Him to serve the mankind created by the Most High God?

Bibledoorajar: A New and Living Way

     We have come to a place in the story of the tabernacle where we can see very clearly why the New Covenant (testament) far exceeds the Old Covenant. No matter how great a leader Moses was, he would not perform all the necessary spiritual functions in the tabernacle. He was instructed by God to call forth his brother Aaron and his sons to function as priests. Under the Old Covenant the spiritual roles would be carried out by different people. Whereas Moses was capable, a leader, mediator and prophet, the office of the priest would fall to others. This division is not so under the New Covenant because when Christ was resurrected the book of Hebrews makes it clear that He functions supremely in all the godly roles. One man would lead us in a new and living way. He is Prophet and Priest and King.
     Aaron's name means "very high", and, indeed, God established him as high priest. He was high above his sons and high above the rest of the people. The Bible shares that Aaron was exalted as High Priest but his function in that role was temporary. But not so with Christ. God made an oath when he elevated Christ to the function of High Priest. And the oath said He would be a priest forever. See God at work in Hebrews 7: 21ff:
                   "............The Lord sware and will not repent Himself,
                     Thou art priest forever.
                    By so much also has Jesus become the surety of a better covenant."

     Aaron had no claim to an endless life on which to base power. Jesus brings us very nigh to our Father. He makes our hope to have great meaning and we have no reason to be ashamed. Near to God. What a new and better way! Praise Him. Is this your expectation?