May the mumbling commence!
And now we have priests for the priests. Though the whole nation of Israel is priests, Aaron and his sons step forward to be priests for the priests. Though the whole church is full of ministers, some people step forward to ministers to the ministers. These people, who God calls forward, should be accorded respect. In the early days of Israel in the wilderness, Aaron received the garments of the high priest. There was the ephod, the breast piece, the robe, the turban, the tunic, and the undergarments. The finest material was worked on by the finest craftsmen. Gold was used and blue and purple and scarlet yarn. Sound familiar? It should, because these same items were used in the construction of the temple. Holy camouflage (you decide)?
I want to think about a couple of the details to the high priest’s garments (which by the way must have been quite heavy). Aaron would carry the names of the sons of Israel whenever he ministered. The names would be on his shoulders – six on each. They would also each be given a precious stone on the breastplate, which was used for making decisions. What a concept! Think about all the tribes of Israel as Aaron made decisions that would affect everyone.
I was wondering which of the twelve sons of Israel were named on the precious stones on the breastplate and which tribe were assigned to which stone. The popular consensus among scholars follows the way the tribes set camp around the tabernacle. Two of Israel’s sons were replaced – Levi and Joseph – by the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. It is thought that Aaron, himself, was already representing the tribe of Levi.
The likely precious stone assignments started out on the east side of the Tabernacle, where the sun rises. It was the camp of Judah, and it left first when the people of Israel broke camp. So, Judah’s stone would have been ruby, red in color. (Hmm… Red the color associated with blood, and Jesus comes from this tribe…) Issachar and Zebulun would have rounded out the camp of Judah, so their stones would have been respectively topaz (light green) and beryl (deep red). (All of these tribes were children of Leah.) My wife, Anita, likes the color red, so she would probably like the standard of Judah. Next, would be the south, the camp of Reuben. Reuben’s precious stone would have been turquoise or perhaps emerald (green). Reuben’s camp also contained Simeon and Gad, so their stones would have been respectively sapphire (deep blue) and diamond (clear) or emerald (green). (All of these tribes were children of Leah or Leah’s maid.) What cool colors! I would have liked the standard of Reuben.
Next, would be the west, the camp of Ephraim. Ephraim’s precious stone would have been jacinth or ligure (dull red). Ephraim’s camp also contained Manasseh and Benjamin, so their stones would have been respectively agate (gray) and amethyst (purple). (All of these tribes were children of Rachel – two of them through her son Joseph.) These colors would make a subdued but royal standard of Ephraim. Lastly, would be the north, the camp of Dan. Dan’s precious stone would have been beryl or chrysolite (blue-green). Asher and Naphtali would have rounded out this camp, and their stones would have been respectively onyx (blue-white) and jasper (green). (All of these tribes were children of the two maids.) I would have liked this standard, too. The camp of Dan formed the rear guard with the camp of Ephraim as Israel broke camp.
More briefly, I wonder about the bells that adorned the high priest’s robe. They would sound as Aaron ministers to protect him. I have heard of wearing a bell on your pack when you hike in bear country, so you do not surprise bears. Could ministry for God be so dangerous? (Have you heard about the rope they tied around the waist of the high priest on Atonement Day? It supposedly was to drag him out of the Holy of Holies if he died!)
I guess that would be a good reason to so carefully consecrate Aaron’s family for this work, with the anointing oil and the rams’ blood. Each was placed on the right earlobe, the right thumb, and the right big toe – perhaps to bless their hearing the Lord and their doing and walking for the Lord. And twice daily sacrifices (dawn and dusk) of lambs began – perhaps a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus (the reason why we no longer do these sacrifices).
Though I am a big picture person, I give thanks this day for the details (even when I think they are dragging me down)!
Enough mumbling for today…
Peace Out
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