Aaron: The Significance of the Symbols

We return once more to the site My Morning Meal, written by Peter Corak. I found this article really brought to life a passage I had perhaps rushed through previously. Clicking the header which follows will take you to where we located it.

Aaron Shall Bear

Reading in Exodus this morning. And what catches my attention, and imagination, is a phrase repeated four times in the instructions concerning the priest’s garments.

The uniform to be worn by Aaron was, to say the least, pretty elaborate. And, I’m thinking it must have weighed a ton. No light weight, sweat resistant, high-tech stretch fabrics here. Instead, multi-layered garments of thick coarse yarn and fine linen. Supplemented with onyx stones for the shoulders and twelve precious stones interwoven within the breastpiece. Add to that chains of pure gold attaching this to that through rings of gold, and I’m thinking this is a pretty weighty garment.

But it’s nothing compared to the weight of what it signified. The weight born by the priest before the LORD in the Holy of Holies.

And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD on his two shoulders for remembrance.

(Exodus 28:12 ESV)

So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of judgment on his heart, when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD.

(Exodus 28:29 ESV)

And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the LORD regularly.

(Exodus 28:30 ESV)

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. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

(Exodus 28:38 ESV)

Aaron shall bear.

Aaron was to carry, take, lift up, support, and sustain. The weight of Aaron’s garment had direct correlation to the weight of Aaron’s responsibility to bear the sons and daughters of the exodus before the LORD of their deliverance.

He would bear their names, on his shoulders and on his heart, before the Lord regularly. Bringing the people of Passover before the God who had made provision for them to be passed over. A reminder, a memorial, of the people God had redeemed through the blood of a lamb. Aaron would carry symbols bearing the names of the tribes of Israel. And when He saw them, God would look afresh upon the people — each one, name by name — who He had led out of Egypt with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God providing Himself a perpetual reminder of the people He had promised for Himself.

Aaron would also bear the judgment of the people. Not judgment as in divine punishment, but judgment as in divine discernment, determination, and direction for a set apart people. With a heart for their good and God’s glory, not only would Aaron bear the peoples names before the Lord, but would bear the LORD’s will concerning their ways.

Lastly, Aaron shall bear any guilt for the peoples’ less-than-holy holiness. With “Holy to the LORD” born on the front of his turban, he would compensate for the blemishes of well-intended sacrifices. He would stand in the breach of offerings which came up short, though offered sincerely. It was because he stood in the gap, that the worship of a less than perfect people could be a sweet-smelling savor to a thrice holy God.

God would remember His people. God would lead His people. God would look past His people’s imperfect worship. All because Aaron shall bear. All because the high priest would carry God’s people into God’s presence. He would take them, lift them up, support them, and sustain them as they sought to walk with God in their midst.

Jesus is our High Priest.

► A merciful and faithful High Priest in the service of God (Heb. 2:17).
► A great High Priest who has passed through the heavens (Heb. 4:14).
► One who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses (Heb. 4:15)
► and bridge the gap because He is “holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” (Heb. 7:26)
► Even now “seated at the right hand of the throne of Majesty in heaven” (Heb. 8:1).

Aaron shall bear . . . the remembrance of God’s people, on his shoulders, over his heart, and upon his head into the presence of God. A picture that, in like manner but to a far greater degree, Jesus shall carry His people too.

Consequently, He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

(Hebrews 7:25 ESV)

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

What wondrous grace. To God be the glory!

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Diversions:

We’ve seen Bible verses that frequently become memes. And we’ve seen lists of the most looked-up Bible verses at online Bible platforms. This is different. It’s a list of frequently occurring verses posted by Chinese Christians for Lunar New Year.

Calvary Opened the Door to Intimacy with God

A year ago we introduced you to author K.K. Hodge, who describes herself as “a family nurse practitioner, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, Sunday School teacher, church treasurer, and crazy critter farmer.” She writes devotions at Inspirations from the Funny Farm and you can read this one at source by clicking the header which follows.

All Access Pass

Exodus 26:31-34 Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker.  Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the covenant law behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Put the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law in the Most Holy Place.

Mark 15:37-38 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

Part of my Bible study this week was the Holy of Holies. I read the scripture above as well as Leviticus chapter 16, and I couldn’t help but continually rejoice all week over the fact that Jesus gave us an all access pass to God Almighty! For real, Peeps. We have an all access pass. Ponder on that for a moment and what a true treasure this is.

When going to concerts, one occasionally purchases the “all access pass.” This pass gives that person privileges to not only enjoy the concert close up and personal, but that person also gets backstage access and a personal meet and greet with the star attraction. That’s pretty cool! But all access to God is so much better than an all access concert pass.

Way back in Moses’ day, God’s presence was in the Holy of Holies, and God gave Moses very specific instructions in order for Aaron to enter the Holy of Holies.

Aaron wasn’t allowed to enter anytime he pleased. He had to bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He had to put on his sacred linen tunic with linen undergarments, tie a linen sash around him, and put on a linen tunic. He had to bathe prior to putting on the sacred attire. He also had to take 2 male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering from the Israelite community. He then had to offer the young bull for his own sin offering, and then cast lots for the two goats. One lot was for the Lord and one for the scapegoat. The goat whose lot was for the Lord would then be sacrificed for a sin offering, and the scapegoat would be presented alive to make atonement.

After making the sacrifices, he then had to remove his clothing and bathe in water in the sanctuary. All of this had to be done any time Aaron entered the Holy of Holies. If he failed to perform these steps, he would surely die.

Consider that regimen. What great effort Aaron had to go through each time he went before God. Jesus changed everything. The temple curtain was torn, ripped apart, when our Savior became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. When that curtain was ripped in half, the barriers where removed. No more bull or goat sacrifices.

The ultimate sacrificial Lamb paid the price for our sins. He made the final atonement needed. Jesus gave us an all access pass to God Almighty! All we have to do is approach Him in prayer…any time of the day or night…in any clothes we are wearing…at any location on this planet! We have an unlimited, total, all access pass to the Father! Isn’t that encouraging?

Are you taking full advantage of your all access pass? Give God a holler today. He’s been waiting to hear from you.

Remembering God’s Law, God’s Provision, God’s Mercy

Yesterday we looked at the topic of different things that can be used to remind us God’s faithfulness to us. Things like special places, memorial stones, etc. are permitted, but not if they become idols, that is not if they become objects of worship. One special reminder that Israel carried with everywhere they went was the Ark of the Covenant. To the best of my knowledge, we haven’t dealt with that here recently, so let’s dive in.

From the website, GotQuestions.com:

God made a covenant (a conditional covenant) with the children of Israel through His servant Moses. He promised good to them and their children for generations if they obeyed Him and His laws; but He always warned of despair, punishment, and dispersion if they were to disobey. As a sign of His covenant He had the Israelites make a box according to His own design, in which to place the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments. This box, or chest, was called an “ark” and was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. The Ark was to be housed in the inner sanctum of the tabernacle in the desert and eventually in the Temple when it was built in Jerusalem. This chest is known as the Ark of the Covenant.

The real significance of the Ark of the Covenant was what took place involving the lid of the box, known as the “Mercy Seat.” The term ‘mercy seat’ comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to cover, placate, appease, cleanse, cancel or make atonement for.” It was here that the high priest, only once a year (Leviticus 16), entered the Holy of Holies where the Ark was kept and atoned for his sins and the sins of the Israelites. The priest sprinkled blood of a sacrificed animal onto the Mercy Seat to appease the wrath and anger of God for past sins committed. This was the only place in the world where this atonement could take place.

The Mercy Seat on the Ark was a symbolic foreshadowing of the ultimate sacrifice for all sin—the blood of Christ shed on the cross for the remission of sins. The Apostle Paul, a former Pharisee and one familiar with the Old Testament, knew this concept quite well when he wrote about Christ being our covering for sin in Romans 3:24-25: “…and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” Just as there was only one place for atonement of sins in the Old Testament—the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant—so there is also only one place for atonement in the New Testament and current times—the cross of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we no longer look to the Ark but to the Lord Jesus Himself as the propitiation and atonement for our sins.

From the Apologetics website, Tekton:

1 Kings 8:9 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

Heb. 9:4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant…

Contradiction? No. Kings and Chronicles refer to a time after Solomon. Hebrews refers to a time just after Israel left Egypt and when the Ark was first made. That’s a span of almost 500 years. Do you think the manna and the rod were still fresh? No, they were organic materials and would have crumbled away long since.

Some have noted that nothing in Exodus states that the rod or manna were put in the Ark. This is true; that they were there was an extrapolation of the rabbis and other Jewish writers based on Ex. 25:16, “And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.” The gold jar tradition is testified to by Philo. One would have to assume that sometime in that 500 years, the jar was lost or removed, which does not seem unlikely given the loss of thousands of other artifacts through time.

Objection: The rod of Aaron would no more have rotted than the wooden portions of the ark itself.

It’s one thing to repair the tabernacle or the ark, and another thing to replace the rod of Aaron with a fresh substitute. The gold jar, admittedly, would not have rotted as would its contents. The jar’s value as a relic would be severely (totally?) reduced by the absence of supernatural contents. It is reasonable to suppose that the jar was set to a different purpose after the manna had been reduced to dust, or that the jar was taken in mischief.

The special status of the ark would have prevented any rearrangement of its contents.

Let us not neglect dealing with periods in Israel’s history (as in Judges) where Israel was occupied by invaders if not possessed by apostate leadership. We are not able to assume that the Levites were able to keep the ark completely safe and secure throughout the aforementioned 500 years (even as the fact that we have no idea where it is NOW speaks against this).

What about the fact that any non-Levite/non-Kohathite who improperly handled or looked on the ark would be instantly struck down by God?

Even assuming that the prohibitions associated with the death penalty were absolute rather than at God’s discretion, what would prevent heathens from seizing the poles and tipping the ark’s contents out?

Later Update: A reader has pointed out that Exodus 16:31-35 also implicitly indicates that the ark contained both the rod and the manna, particularly v. 34: “As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved.” While this is not explicit, it does fit a natural assumption that they went together in the ark.

Hopefully that gets you started.

Go Deeper: For a further exhaustive study, including many scripture references, check out the Ark page on Bible.org

 

Meeting With God

Hebrews 10: 19+20

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,
(NIV)

This week we participated in a most unusual communion service. The elements — the bread and juice — were placed on a table in a self-serve style. Nothing unusual so far, right? But to get to them you had to walk behind a curtain, single file, one at a time. Suddenly, you were in there, all alone, just you and God.

Others were waiting and they joked ahead of time that they’d ‘tie a rope to your feet and pull you out if you stay too long,’ but you had these brief seconds to enter into the ‘Holy of Holies’ and express to God in a whispered prayer whatever you would say to Him, or listen to whatever He would say to you.

It’s a communion or Eucharist that I will never forget.

It brought home the idea that although we worship corporately at weekend services, ultimately, our relationship with God is individual. We’re not saved, or counted among God’s people because of what our church does collectively, but because of our personal response to God.  Consider the difference between these two phrases:

• ‘We had communion at church this Sunday’   or
• ‘While in the service today, I communed with God’

That got me thinking about the broader aspects of making our experience(s) with God more individual.

I think that sometimes people are critical of the phrases “accepted Christ” and “personal Savior,” when the problem can be solved with a rearrangement of one or two words. Consider the difference between:

• ‘I accepted Christ as my personal Savior’   and
• ‘I personally acknowledged Christ as Savior’

But then, the personal has to go beyond the initial conversion experience. Consider phrases like:

• ‘We’re now part of local congregation’
• ‘I’ve joined a weekly small group Bible study’

Each implies the idea of assimilating into the larger body, and that’s right and good, but total assimilation would mean the loss of personal identity. Your relationship to Christ cannot be expressed in terms of a relationship to a Church or study group.  (Note: Or biological family.)

Try these on for size; say them out loud if necessary; and see if they fit you:

• ‘I am growing in my understanding of the ways of God’
• ‘I am more fully aware of God’s presence in my life’
• ‘I am increasingly making decisions subject to God’s desires’
• ‘My appreciation for what Jesus did is a daily factor in my life’
• ‘I am so thankful for God’s grace’

These I/My statements — and others like them you can add in the comments — should be at the core of our spiritual identity, not statements like:

• ‘I’m really enjoying the church I’m attending’ or
• ‘My pastor is absolutely amazing’

Maybe your pastor is amazing, but he will have to give his own account to God, and you will have to give yours.

II Cor. 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (ESV)

For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. (NLT)

Romans 14:12

So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. (NIV)