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. 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. (Exodus 28:29-30)
As I read through the Old Testament, I am continually delighted and amazed at the many ways God reveals Himself, and in that, the perfect love and salvation He planned before the foundation of the world for mankind. Once again, as I have been reading through the book of Exodus, I'm seeing the love of God, just how dearly He loves us and cared for all concerning us. Many are afraid of the Old Testament, as though the God of the Old Testament were somehow more severe, angry, and unapproachable. Yet as I've been reading through it, I've seen the love of God - the God of both the Old Covenant and the New, opened up to me in so many ways that my heart is just full and overflowing. I encourage you to read through the Old Testament if you have not done so, and to pray as you do for the Lord to reveal Himself and His glory to you in it. There are many types and foreshadows. So many get hung up on the foreshadows themselves and try to incorporate them in Christianity, and totally miss what they are pointing to...Christ the substance! All God has done and will do reveals His love for mankind, His perfect plan of redemption, and His judgment which flows also out of that love, against evil and corruption, bringing us to the final purpose of freedom of all evil, and perfection before Him so that we may dwell in His presence and glory forever, sharing with Him in that glory. He never acts outside of Who He is, and He never changes. He paints for us, such a wonderful picture of His unfailing love in all of His Word, which is an endless treasure chest full of treasures for us to pull out of it and learn from.
The Old Testament all speaks of Christ to us, once we know the New Testament fulfills that through the coming of Christ into this world. It will ultimately be fulfilled through His second coming, and the final judgment of all evil in this world. The book of 1, 2, and 3 John speak of God as "love." John tells us God IS love. Yet we fail to see the many ways He reveals that love to us. I saw that love revealed to me this week as I was reading Exodus 28, and the garments of the High Priest. This all typifies Christ, our High Priest forever, and His love for us. I just wanted to share some of my gleanings on His priestly garments with you today, and I pray they will bless you as much as they have me. As I was reading how Jesus Himself, bears the judgment of His own children upon His heart continually in Heaven before the Father, it melted my heart with the warmth of His love for me. It made me also think of other Scriptures such as Romans 8:31-39. And many other Scriptures speak of how complete and perfect that salvation is that He prepared for us. How then, can we ever think it is so fragile that we can lose it? So many ways He tries to tell us of it in His whole Word, yet we miss it so often. Today is such a dark and evil day when it seems the powers of darkness have been given free reign over the world and many are saying, "What is happening Lord? What are we supposed to do?" Yet God tells all to His children as to what His plan is in saving us, in keeping us, in judging the world, and in our own final redemption. We need, more than ever before, to have a clear understanding of the completeness, the solidness, and the earnestness of that salvation and of His love for us that will not ever fail us as we walk through these evil days until He comes. This is what will sustain us to the end. When we see and rely on the love of God and His goodness, we will also trust that love when all seems dark and we are in the fiery furnace of persecution, which is going to come to all who believe, trust in, and adhere to the Jesus Christ of the Bible, here in America, and is even now beginning in many ways.
Darby's notes on Exodus 28:29-30. I would encourage you to read the entire chapter of Exodus 28.
"But to pursue the ephod itself. The high priest represented all the people before God, and presented them to Him, and this in a double way. First, he bore them on his shoulders-carried the whole weight and burden of them on himself. Their names were all graven upon the two onyx stones which united the parts of the ephod; there was no wearing the ephod-that is, exercising the priesthood-without carrying the names of the tribes of Israel on his shoulders. So Christ carries ever His people.Next, the breastplate was attached inseparably to the ephod, never to be detached. There also he carried the names of his people before the Lord, and could not, as thus dressed in the high priestly robes, be there without them. As it is expressed, he bore them on his heart before Jehovah continually. They shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before Jehovah. Thus are we borne ever before God by Christ. He presents us, as that which He has on His heart, to God He cannot be before Him without doing so; and whatever claim the desire and wish of Christ's heart has to draw out the favour of God, it operates in drawing out that favour on us. The light and favour of the sanctuary-God as dwelling there-cannot shine out on Him without shining on us, and that as an object presented by Him for it.
This was not, however, all. The Urim and Thummim were there-light and perfection. The high priest bore the judgment of the children of Israel in their present ways and as to their present relationship [5] upon his heart before Jehovah, and this according to the light and perfection of God. This we need, to get blessing. Stood we before God, such as we are, we must draw down judgment, or lose the effect of this light and perfection of God, remaining without. But, Christ bearing our judgment according to these, our presentation to God is according to the perfection of God Himself-our judgment borne; but then our position, guidance, light, and spiritual intelligence are according to this same divine light and perfection. For the high priest inquired and had answers from God according to the Urim and Thummim. This is a blessed privilege [6]."
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)
Jesus is a High Priest that cannot fail. He is a High Priest that bears us on His heart continually. He continually makes intercession for us before the Father. If you want to go into further study on this, the book of Hebrews brings out this perfect role of our High Priest and the fulfillment of the types of this from the Old Testament. In Hebrews God shows us how futile trying to continue to live under the law system of Judaism is now that Christ has come and fulfilled the law, and that He alone is our "propitiation" and our High Priest, making continual intercession for us before the Father.
...but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 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 7:24-25)
What love!! I am overwhelmed by it! How can I ever doubt such a Savior, and how can I ever fear when He is my High Priest? As I meditate on the love of this Savior which is beyond anything I can conjure up in my own mind or heart or try to imagine myself, I am left in such awe and wonder and my heart is filled to overflowing! I want my life to be pleasing to such a Savior. I want it to be a testimony of such glory and love. I want my thoughts, my actions, my words and all that I do to honor such a Savior. I don't want to fail Him. But fail Him I do, sadly. But yet, He never fails me. He is always making intercession for me, bearing my judgment ALWAYS, CONTINUALLY, and saving me to the uttermost. The more that realization hits me, the more my heart is humbled before Him and drawn to Him and to His love. I want for everyone to see it! I wish I could somehow make everyone see it and also know Him. And this is my prayer, that somehow my small efforts to write this love down in words which are so inadequate, will be used by the Holy Spirit to bring that same joy of His salvation to someone else, and draw them to this living Word of life.
May the Lord bless you as you think on these things.
If you are not sure you have eternal life, if you want to know more about salvation through Jesus Christ, and how you can be sure, you can read more about it here.
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