Exodus 28:5–14

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions, where every day you and I, we get together, we have a little bit of coffee, we get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2022, Lord willing, we'll make it from Genesis through Leviticus.
I'm so glad to be with you today. Why don't we have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word as we learn about the ephod. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We think of it a blessing it is to get to be in your word. And we pray that your Holy Spirit would not just let these be things that we learn intellectually, but that they would seep down into our hearts and change the way we live in Jesus's name. Amen. Okay. So we are at Exodus, Exodus chapter 28. And we had gotten just the introduction yesterday. So now we're at Exodus chapter 28, beginning at verse five, and we'll go through verse 14. Here we go.
They shall take the gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine linen, and they shall make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, artistically worked. It shall have two shoulder straps joined at its two edges, and so it shall be joined together. And the intricately woven band of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, made of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine linen. And you shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six of their names on one stone and six of the names on the other stone, in order of their birth. with the work of an engraver in the stone like the engravings of a signet you shall engrave the two stones on the names with the names of the sons of israel you shall set them in settings of gold and you shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of israel so aaron shall bear their names before the lord on his two shoulders as a memorial you shall also make settings of gold and you shall make two chains of pure gold like braided cords and fasten the braided chains to the settings well we need to ask ourselves a what's this about b what's the best verse to summarize this and c what do we call it to do right so what's what's this about what's what's going on here Now, this is the e-fod.
An e-fod is some type of linen garment. There's other e-fods that would be made, right? Samuel's mom makes for him a linen e-fod. David wears an e-fod. There's this idea of an e-fod. It's something that's probably about, you know, thigh high, could be to the waist, could be all the way up to the shoulders. Here it's definitely all the way up to the shoulders.
But it's kind of like an apron, but it has a back on it as well. And so it has a sash around the middle where, you know, kind of like a bathrobe would, where you have to tie it together. Now, whether or not it's connected in the front and the back, kind of like a sandwich signboard type thing, that's possible, where it's kind of hinged at the shoulders. Or it could be possible that it's one piece of fabric in the front and one piece of fabric in the back, and they're connected by that gold thread. I don't know.
But a few interesting things about this ephod. Most ephods are pretty just linen and generic. But this ephod, this ephod is meant to be made from the same materials as the curtains in the temple. Sorry, the curtains in the tabernacle, that inner part where it was gold and scarlet, right? Where it's woven together.
This is a very, very ornate ephod. It's meant to set apart the high priest wall or might be a whole bunch of other types of ephods. This is the one that's special. There's nothing plain about it, but it's meant to catch the eye. It's meant to be beautiful. It's meant to show the splendor and the glory of the office of the priesthood. And so this is what Aaron is supposed to wear. This is what the high priests are going to wear.
And there's quite a bit of time taken. also on two stones, right? One on each shoulder that are set in settings of gold. And these onyx stones, these black stones on each shoulder in the order of genealogy from oldest to youngest on one shoulder was six names. On the other shoulder was six names. These were the names of Israel. And this is actually what I'm going to say is the best verse. I have this underlined in my Bible. Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders as a memorial. What is this all about? Right?
This is all meant to be a symbolization that Aaron was going before God and he was bearing the names of God, of God's people on his shoulders. And so as he went in doing his priestly duties, it was not just for him, but it was for the whole nation. And yet every time that Aaron would walk out of the holy of holies or out of the holies and go into the courtyard, he was wearing the fine linen of the inner tabernacle. to show that he was also bearing that same sign of God with his people, clothing his people.
And so there's this beautiful picture here. Aaron is burying God's people as memorial before Jehovah that when he goes into the tabernacle, that God knows this is an intermediary. This is a this is a mediated agreement. But there's also God who's put his mark on the priest and saying, you are also my representative to the people. It's a two-way street here. And so this beautiful picture of the ephod is meant to show that it is God with his people and his people before God. And it's the priest who bears those names.
I've already told you what I think is the best verse to summarize this. I have verse 12 underlined, but you could say that you don't like that and you would underline something else. That's fine. Let me know down in the comments what you would underline. But last see calling, what are we called to do? I think this is a beautiful passage.
It's a beautiful passage because remember, everything in the tabernacle and all the points of the high priest, the book of Hebrews tells us it pointed us to the heavenly tabernacle and pointed us to the chief priests of the heavenly tabernacle, Jesus Christ himself.
Jesus Christ bore our iniquities. Jesus Christ carries our names upon his shoulders. Jesus Christ is the one we might say who would have two onyx stones on his right shoulder and on his left, one with a name of the Jews and one with the name of the Gentiles by whom's blood he has redeemed his people.
He goes into the Holy of Holies before God, the father, and he makes intercession for us. He is the one. who bears our iniquities. He is the one who is our high priest. He is the one who has also shown us that God is with man and his son. He has sent us a high priest. He has given us a high priest and it is Jesus Christ. So brothers and sisters, what are you called to do? Look to Jesus because he bears you before the father. Your name is written upon his shoulders. And he goes to the father and he makes intercession continually for you.
Let's pray. Father, when there are times of despair and times that we desperately need your presence, we thank you that we have a high priest. That Jesus Christ does bear our burdens, brings his sacrifice to you and you have accepted it. And Father, that we know that you have made your presence known amongst us because you sent us our high priest, Jesus. Lord, we pray that we would have comfort and that we would trust in you. Father, thank you so much for all you have done in Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen. May the Lord bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. And I'll see you next time. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. we'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.