Bibledoorajar: Bonds of Love

                            " There is never space between us for a separation
                             We are put together in the tightest way
                             And the Holy fusion causes this almagamation
                             Woh, we are held together in the brightest way"
                                        We Are Bonded, Twilah Paris

     We now have a view of the High Priest bearing stones on his shoulders and on a breastplate.  Each stone in its' placement is reflecting the glories God had given to the tribes of Israel. Now God instructs Moses to have specially prepared chains made that would be used to connect the stones on the shoulders with that of the breastplate. They were to be bonded together and nseparable in God's view. When the High Priest came before Him in the tabernacle the stones reflecting the children of Israel would show brightly and differently in the light of the candlestick and the glory which came from the cherubim over the mercy-seat.  The glory of the tribes as gifted by God would shine always because God had declared that the light would shine continually in the tabernacle. The shewbread was to set before God continually. Continually. Continually. Continually.
     Jesus has ascended to the Father. His priestly ministrations before God on behalf of we His people are continual. He ever lives to make intercession for us. Continually. Continually As the song says, Woh, we are held together in the brightest way. Woh, indeed! Thank you Fathe!

Bibledoorajar: Functioning in Place

     I think all Bible class participants want to avoid conflict during class discussions. I further think that that may be why many never speak up and share their views. Humanly, rejection is not easily received nor dealt with. After a particularly rejecting episode, I accompanied a sister to a retreat to seek a freshness in the Lord. Being away, we worshiped with a different congregation. What we heard during the praise portion was a reminder that only He is holy and that we only serve one Master. And the sermon? Well, it was on Jesus' admonition to not worry for He has all things covered. Just as those stones on the High Priest shoulders, He will carry each and every one of His to the very "steps" of glory. He knows when each of us was born to the Father and He WILL GET US HOME!
     But now we must consider further. The High Priest also wore before the ark and mercy seat a breastplate. It, too, was composed of twelve stones representing the 12 sons (tribes),  but the precious stones were not placed upon it in birth order. Rather, they were laid out in an order that reflected their diversity. Reuben may have been the first born, but he was not first on the breastplate. The first was Judah( praise).  From there, each stone (tribe) mentioned shone forth with a brilliance of its' own without rivaling the others for glory or beauty. Each had an appointed place that was entirely different from the birth order. No stone was the same as another. One might be extremely bold in color where another flashed it's own peculiar glory and beauty. The stones on the breastplate were unified, but very diverse. The glory seen in each was not intruded on by another, each having its' own place.
     The Father has gifted the living stones of the church in a diverse way, each of us giving forth a brilliance that is different but not defective. It might be defective if it was up to us to maintain it, but it cannot be broken because of the great faithfulness of our High Priest, Jesus. That is why we do not need to worry. Even if another "stone" seeks to conflict with us, Jesus will continue to help us exhibit our peculiar beauty and glory upon which the other cannot intrude. How great is that? What a comfort in times of differences among our brethren. The Bible does not tell us everything about every stone on the breastplate and we in the church will not know each other fully until we are all home where there will be no conflict. And just as now, Praise will have the first place. So praise the Lord, don't worry and shine on. Enjoy the diversity and always remember you have been intentionally placed in the church!

                     "Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place,
                       I can feel God's mighty power and His grace.
                       I can feel the brush of angel's wings,
                       I see glory on each face,
                       Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place."
                                                                    Lanny Wolfe

Bibledoorajar: What We Know and How to Go

     The scripture says that on each shoulder of the ephod worn by the High Priest were two opals encased in gold. Don't think about the pale opals that one sees today and that are not considered precious. The word from which this opal comes reflects a precious stone that was fiery and lustrous. These stones added to the necessary vestments that Aaron needed to wear in order to be High Priest. Each item reflected the relatedness Aaron had with the people of Israel and his responsibilities toward them.  Wearing the vestments helped him realize his compassion and mercy toward each one of the tribes. The vestments transformed him, so to speak, making him more attuned to the God/man relationship and his role in that relationship. It gave him power with the people and a virtue not earned. These stones were to shine forth as a memorial to the tribes, six being represented on each shoulder. When Aaron came before God, the tribes came with him. All the natures and characteristics we have learned about the tribes, the meaning of their names, prophecies over them, etc. shone forth to their God from the oldest to the youngest. However, one wonders about the closeness the average person felt toward God under that system.
     When Jesus changed the Aaronic priesthood to that of Melchizodek, the need for memorial stones and proper vestments was no longer necessary. The disanullment of all that law and requirements brought us a new and better hope that each believer is assured the closest of fellowship to our God.  Jesus gives us robes of righteousness that help us experience that closeness and each of us can envision ourselves as living stones that belong to God. It is what we know and therefore we know how to go.

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?