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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. |
His sons with him – There were 8,580 Levites, but only five priests sacrificing, which may illustrate the proportion of justified believers to self-sacrificing consecrated ones. T118, R443:1
After the establishment of the Kingdom the distinction between the Church and the larger company ot Levites will be perpetual. R5418:5
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| 2 And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. |
Make holy garments – Symbolizing the heavenly grandeur, honors and glories of the Messiah during his reign. OV127:5
Clad in his robes of glory, the High Priest represented Messiah blessing mankind. PD36/47
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| 3 And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. |
Spirit of wisdom – Fecundating their minds, energizing natural faculties without affecting them in any moral sense. E175[E175]
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| 4 And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. |
A breastplate – Type of the Law. T34
And an ephod – Type of the Abrahamic covenant (front part) and the New covenant (back part). T30
And a robe – Of blue, representing Christ's faithfulness. T30
A broidered coat – Of white linen, representing the High Priest's purity. It's embroidery showed works of grace. T29
A mitre – Of white linen (righteousness), to which the golden plate, or crown, (royalty) was fastened. T29
And a girdle – Indicating a righteous servant. T30
Make holy garments – Symbolizing the heavenly grandeur, honors and glories of Messiah during his reign. OV127:5
Clad in his robes of glory, the High Priest represented Messiah blessing mankind. PD36/47
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| 5 And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. |
Shall take gold – Representing the divine nature. T18, T20
And blue – Symbol of faithfulness. T30
And purple – Symbol of royalty. T34
And scarlet – Symbol of the blood of the ransom. T34, T109
And fine linen – Symbol of righteousness. T29, T30, T36
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| 6 And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work. |
Make the ephod – Type of the Abrahamic covenant (front part) and the New covenant (back part). T30
Of gold – Representing divine power. T34
Of blue – Representing the ability faithfully to maintain his righteous character. T34
And of purple – Proclaims the royal power of the Kingdom cooperating. T34
Of scarlet – Representing redemption from the Adamic curse through the blood of the ransom. T34
Fine twined linen – Indicating the restoration of man to his original purity. T34
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| 7 It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. |
Two shoulder pieces – Golden clasps, representing divine power to enable Christ to carry out the terms of both covenants. T30
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| 8 And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. |
The curious girdle – Representing a servant. "The messenger (servant) of the covenant whom ye delight in." (Mal. 3:1) T33
A servant of a "curious" or peculiar kind. R72:3
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| 9 And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: |
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| 10 Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. |
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| 11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. |
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| 12 And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial. |
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| 13 And thou shalt make ouches of gold; |
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| 14 And two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathen work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches. |
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| 15 And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it. |
The breastplate – Type of the Law. T34
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| 16 Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof. |
Being doubled – Representing the spirit and the letter of the Law. The front part, which bore the jewels, representing the spirit of the Law, fulfilled in us "who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit." (Rom. 8:4) The back part representing T35; R72:4
Representing the Jewish and Gospel ages. R72:5
A span – Indicating that the Law of God is the full measure of a perfect man's ability. T35; R72:5
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| 17 And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. |
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| 18 And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. |
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| 19 And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. |
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| 20 And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their enclosings. |
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| 21 And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes. |
And the stones – Representing the true Israel, the "Little Flock." "They shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels." (Mal. 3:17) T36
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| 22 And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of pure gold. |
Work of pure gold – Indicating that the Law is divine and that we are upheld by the golden chain of divine promises. T36
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| 23 And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. |
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| 24 And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate. |
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| 25 And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod before it. |
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| 26 And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod inward. |
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| 27 And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod. |
The ephod underneath – As the Israelite regarded them, not seeing the hidden connection, the Abrahamic covenant and the Law were all one. T34
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| 28 And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod. |
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| 29 And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually. |
Upon his heart – Showing the Law as a covering for his innermost affections. R72:4
"The Law of his God is in his heart." (Psa. 37:31) R72:4
Continually – That is, all through the year, except on the Atonement Day. R160:6*
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| 30 And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually. |
Urim and the Thummim – Hard cases of judgment were, after Moses' death, brought directly to the Lord through the High Priest, the answer being Yes or No by the Urim and Thummim. A49
Working in some unknown way with the stones of the breastplate. R5042:4; Q697:2
Perhaps by particular stones on the breastplate shining with special brilliancy; perhaps light being Yes, and dark No; nothing definite. Q728:2
Upon Aaron's heart – Indicating that it was precious to him. That which condemned all imperfection was Christ's pleasure--" I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." (Psa. 40:8) T35
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| 31 And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue. |
Of blue – Symbol of Christ's faithfulness. T30
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| 32 And there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an habergeon, that it be not rent. |
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| 33 And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:
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Shalt make pomegranates – Representing that the faithful performance of the Redeemer's work of sacrifice has borne rich fruits. T30
And bells of gold – Signifying that when our High Priest appears in glory the fruit of his sacrificial work will be proclaimed to all. T30
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| 34 A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. |
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| 35 And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the LORD, and when he cometh out, that he die not. |
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| 36 And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. |
Plate of pure gold – A crown proclaiming his royalty. Christ is to be "a priest upon his throne." (Zech. 6:13) T29
HOLINESS TO THE LORD – Thus proclaiming Christ's entire devotion to the accomplishment of Jehovah's purposes. T30
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| 37 And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be. |
On a blue lace – Showing that the crown was rightfully his. T29
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| 38 And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD. |
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| 39 And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework. |
Thou shalt embroider – The white linen coat represented Christ's purity, while its embroidery showed works of grace. T29
Make the mitre – White linen (righteousness), to which the golden plate or crown of royalty was fastened. T29
Make the girdle – Indicating a righteous servant. T30
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| 40 And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty. |
And for Aaron's sons – Representing the members of Christ's Body. T36
Make coats – Linen garments, representing the righteousness of Jesus imputed to his Body members. T36
For them girdles – Representing us as servants of righteousness. T36
And bonnets – To indicate that they were not the head of the priesthood, but merely members of the body. God gave Jesus "to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body." (Eph. 1:22, 23) T36; R72:6
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| 41 And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. |
Aaron ... and his sons – The anointing came upon Aaron only at first, but then upon each of his sons as they succeeded to the office of chief priest. F131; Q689:3
The High Priest was anointed with oil, which constituted the divine evidence of his call to the priestly office. SM598:2
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| 42 And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach: |
Linen – Symbol of righteousness. T29, T30, T36
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| 43 And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him. |
Unto the altar – The Golden Altar in the Holy represents the Church in the sacrificing condition. T120
Representing the privilege of worship and prayer. R5418:5
And die – Every feature had to be exactly performed because typical of important future events. To insure this the penalty for any violation was death. T12
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