Exodus 28:36-43 HOLY TO THE LORD

"Make a plate of pure gold

and engrave on it as on a seal:

HOLY TO THE LORD.

Fasten a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban;

it is to be on the front of the turban.

It will be on Aaron's forehead,

and he will bear the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites consecrate,

whatever their gifts may be.

It will be on Aaron's forehead continually

so that they will be acceptable to the LORD.

Weave the tunic of fine linen and make the turban of fine linen.

The sash is to be the work of an embroiderer.

Make tunics, sashes and headbands for Aaron's sons,

to give them dignity and honor.

After you put these clothes on your brother Aaron and his sons,

anoint and ordain them.

consecrate them so they may serve me as priests.

Make linen undergarments as a covering for the body,

reaching from the waist to the thigh.

Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting

or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place,

so that they will not incur guilt and die.

This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants."

Exodus 28:36-43 (NIV)

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The theme of holiness and being set apart unto the LORD continues in these verses, which speak of the turban, tunics, sashes, headbands and undergarments which Aaron and his sons will wear in their service as priests of the LORD.

The plate of pure gold attached to the turban, with its engraved message of 'HOLY TO THE LORD' set the tone of these verses.  Aaron, as high priest, would bear the guilt for any sin/shortcoming involved in the offering of sacred gifts by the Israelites.  Remember that on the Day of Atonement, the high priest (as representative for the Israelites) would make an offering for the sins of the nation.  I suppose that any guilt occurring from offering sacred gifts in a less than acceptable way would be covered by this arrangement until the next day of Atonement.  Thus the pure gold plate would be "...upon Aaron's forehead continually so that they will be acceptable to the LORD."

As usual in the previous priestly garments, the tunic and turban (and most likely, the headbands and sashes) would be woven of fine linen.  The sashes would be the work of an embroiderer.

Tunics, sashes and headbands would be made for Aaron's sons to give them dignity and honor.  As previously mentioned, this was not so that they would be proud of their position, but so that they would be recognized by the people as being set apart for the work of service to the LORD.

Linen undergarments would be worn by Aaron and his sons to prevent indecent exposure (and thus guilt) as they ministered in the Tent of Meeting or approached the altar to minister in the Holy Place.  [Exodus 20:26 "And do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it."]  At times Aaron and his descendants would minister on altars with steps (Leviticus 9:22, Ezekiel 43:17), yet these linen undergarments would prevent such problems of exposure.

These instructions were to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants.

Exodus 28:31-35 The Robe of the Ephod

"Make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue cloth,

with an opening for the head in its center.

There shall be a woven edge like a collar around this opening,

so that it will not tear.

Make pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn

around the hem of the robe, with gold bells between them.

The gold bells and the pomegranates are to alternate

around the hem of the robe.

Aaron must wear it when he ministers.

The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place

before the LORD and when he comes out, so that he will not die."

Exodus 28:31-35 (NIV)

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The design for the robe of the ephod was fairly straightforward:  made from blue cloth, with an opening in the center for the head, with a woven edge around the opening to prevent tearing.  The robe was decorated around the hem with alternating pomegranates and gold bells.

The NIV Study Bible says regarding these verses:

"According to Jewish tradition,

one end of a length of rope was tied to the high priest's ankle

and the other end remained outside the tabernacle.

If the bells on his robe stopped tinkling while he was in the Holy Place,

the assumption that he had died could be tested by pulling gently on the rope."

 

...because, I suppose, nobody wanted to be the one who had to enter the Holy Place and pull the unfortunate man's body out if he had somehow transgressed and paid for the sacrilege with his life.

Why, though, did God direct the priest to have the bells as part of his outfit in the first place?  The text above says that the sounds of the bells will be heard when the priest is entering or leaving the Holy Place, "...so that he will not die."  Obviously, God did not need to be warned that someone was entering or leaving the Holy Place, because He knows everything.  However, this explanation from the ESV Study Bible may provide some insight:

"Approaching God carelessly can lead to death (Exodus 19:21-25).

Every part of the tabernacle service involves intentional actions

 on the part of the priests and the people

 that are meant to teach Israel that the LORD is holy.

The LORD did not need to be alerted to Aaron's presence by the sound of bells,

but they served to greet God reverently when Aaron entered and left the tabernacle."

   

The Urim and Thummim: Breastpiece of Decision

In the previous post, we were looking at the construction of the breastpiece of the High Priest.  For details of how it was to be made, read  the posts on Exodus 28:15-21 and Exodus 28:22-30.  After studying Exodus 28:15-30 carefully, we had a fairly clear idea of the appearance of this breastpiece.  Now, in this post, we will deal with several questions which probably arose in your mind, as they did in mine:

What was this breastpiece of decision and what were the Urim and Thummim?

Let me take these questions one at a time.

Obviously, the breastpiece of decision had something to do with, well, making decisions.  Not 'what-should-I-have-for-breakfast' types of decisions, but instead, decisions which had to do with what God wanted the people of Israel to do as a nation.  Otherwise, the high priest, who represented the nation, wouldn't have had to have one.

What I usually do when there is a subject in the Bible which I don't fully understand, is to look at all of the passages in the Bible which speak about that subject.  Now, you could do that several ways, like reading through the whole Bible and listing the passages which speak of the matter, and then studying them to get the full picture.  However, a quicker way to do that is to look up the subject in a concordance, where all of the references for passages which contain that particular word/subject are listed.  Then you can look each reference up in the Bible.  You don't have a concordance?  Don't worry, there are concordances online which can be freely used.  You  may also be able to use one at a library, if they have one.

Another Bible study help is a commentary.  Commentaries contain just that:  comments upon a particular word or passage or concept.  Use a variety of them, as many as you can find.  I have found that most will have some nugget of information which you can use.  Many will also give you an outline of each book of the Bible, its historical background, and helpful maps and drawings or pictures.  Recognize that the writers are also fellow humans, and thus, can make errors or come to wrong conclusions.  I compare what they write with the Bible, to see if what they say rings true.  Remember that only the Bible is the source which is always true.

Now, back to our study.  Let's look at some of the Bible passages which speak about the breastpiece.  Most of the references to the breastpiece seem to be in the books of Exodus and Leviticus.  Check it out:

Exodus 25:7
             28:4,15,22-24,26,28-30
             29:5
             35:9,27
             39:8,15-17,19,21

Leviticus  8:8

Most of the references above are regarding the construction of the breastpiece or how it was placed in relation to the high priest's outfit.  The highlighted references above may yield some other facts, so let's take a look at them more closely:


Exodus 28:15  "Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions -- the work of a skilled craftsman.  Make it like the ephod:  of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen."


[As we already noted, this breastpiece was somehow to be used in making decisions for the nation.]


Exodus 28:28-30  "The rings of the breastpiece are to be tied to the rings of the ephod with blue cord, connecting it to the waistband, so that the breastpiece will not swing out from the ephod.  Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the LORD.  Also, put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the LORD.  Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the LORD."
    
[There was great care taken to fasten the breastpiece securely to the ephod so that it was not left swinging about in an undignified manner.  Aaron bore the names of the tribes of Israel over his heart.  The Urim and Thummim were put into the breastpiece, so that Aaron would always have the means of making decisions for the Israelites.]

The NIV Study Bible comments on this verse noted that "...the Hebrew for the phrase 'Urim and Thummim' probably means 'the curses and perfections'...Urim begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and Thummim begins with the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  They were sacred lots and were often used in times of crisis to determine the will of God (see Numbers 27:21).  It has been suggested that if Urim (curses) dominated when the lots were cast the answer was "no," but if Thummim (perfections) dominated it was "yes."  In any event, their "every decision" was "from the LORD" (Proverbs 16:33)."

I must confess that I find this method of decision-making a bit odd.  It seems that it was only used in a crisis situation, though, so perhaps it was done this way so that the people would not have to worry if the decisions being made were just coming from out of the high priest's own mind and not from God.  Or perhaps it underlined the fact that they were relying upon the LORD for direction in the crisis.

Leviticus 8:8   "He placed the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece."

[This was part of an account where Moses was ordaining Aaron and his sons as priests of the LORD.]

Here are some verses where the the Urim and Thummim, or just the Urim, are mentioned.  There are not a lot of such verses, but perhaps they can shed some light upon how they were used or in what kinds of circumstances they were employed:

Exodus 28:30
Leviticus 8:8
Numbers 27:21
Deuteronomy 33:8
I Samuel 28:6
Ezra 2:63
Nehemiah 7:65

Some verses where King David called for "the ephod," [which implied the accompanying articles of the high priest's garment, including the breastpiece, which held the Urim and Thummim] are as follows:

I Samuel 23:9-12
I Samuel 30:7-8

That is all that I know at this time regarding the Urim and Thummim.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Exodus 28:22-30 More About the Breastpiece

"For the breastpiece make braided chains of pure gold, like a rope.

Make two gold rings for it and fasten them to two corners of the breastpiece.

Fasten the two gold chains to the rings at the corners of the breastpiece,

and the other ends of the chains to the two settings,

attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front.

Make two gold rings and attach them to the other two corners

of the breastpiece on the inside edge next to the ephod.

Make two more gold rings and attach them

to the bottom of the shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod,

close to the seam just above the waistband of the ephod.

The rings of the breastpiece are to be tied

to the rings of the ephod with blue cord,

connecting it to the waistband,

so that the breastpiece will not swing out from the ephod.

Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place,

he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart

on the breastpiece of decision

as a continuing memorial before the LORD.

Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, 

so they may be over Aaron's heart

whenever he enters the presence of the LORD.

Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions

for the Israelites

over his heart before the LORD."

Exodus 28:22-30 (NIV)

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There are an awful lot of prepositions in this section, so I tried to put spaces between the various steps involved in the making of this breastpiece.  Otherwise you can get lost in the midst of the rings, chains, settings, corners and ephod!

I found that if I read this passage slowly, imagining what I would be doing at each point if I was actually making the breastpiece, the description made perfect sense.

Of course I also asked God for wisdom, as He instructs us to do in James 1:5 

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God,

who gives generously to all without finding fault,

and it will be given to him." 

James 1:5 (NIV)

Now comes the really puzzling part.  What was this "breastpiece for making decisions" (Exodus 28:15) all about?

Also, what on earth are the Urim and Thummim?

Since over the years I never fully researched an answer to these two questions, and since this post is already long enough for one reading, I will deal with these questions in the next post.

I will say, though, that even as I just began to examine various passages which speak of the Urim and Thummim, God's Word itself began to make the matter clear.  This is what I love -- when the Word is interpreted by the Word itself, instead of by anyone's mere speculation.  We are not given exhaustive information about these matters, but enough to move on in confidence about the purpose of these items.  So I look forward to studying these matters more fully and sharing with you what I find.

Exodus 28:15-21 The Breastpiece of the High Priest

"Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions--

the work of a skilled craftsman.

Make it like the ephod: of gold,

and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn,

and of finely twisted linen.

It is to be square

 -- a span long and a span wide --

and folded double.

Then mount four rows of precious stones on it.

In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz and a beryl;

in the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald;

in the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst;

in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper.

Mount them in gold filigree settings.

There are to be twelve stones,

one for each of the names of the sons of Israel,

each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes."

Exodus 28:15-21 (NIV)

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So far, the construction of the breastpiece is fairly straightforward.  It is made of materials identical to materials used in the construction of the Tabernacle: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarns and finely twisted linen.  It is square and folded double.  Mounted upon it in gold filigree settings are twelve precious stones -- one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

[It should be noted that the precise identification of some of these stones is uncertain, so you may find some stones listed differently in other versions of the Bible.] However, the attention to detail and the use of gold filigree settings and precious stones engraved with the name of each tribe certainly indicate the great value and loving regard which God placed upon His people.