* I haven’t posted here in quite some time. I found that people are more apt to listen to a podcast, than they are to read a post due to the business of our everyday lives. The blog is not obsolete, but activity has decreased. Posts and podcast, while possibly related, will not be merely echoed content of the other. If interested, you can subscribe and listen to the Mathitis podcast via your favorite podcast app or by visiting this link.
“The robe will be worn by Aaron whenever he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he enters the sanctuary before the Lord and when he exits, so that he does not die…. These must be worn by Aaron and his sons whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary area, so that they do not incur guilt and die. This is to be a permanent statute for Aaron and for his future descendants.” (Exodus 28:35, 43 CSB)
As I read this, a question crossed my mind - Why? Wear this special robe with pomegranates and bells on it or die. Wear this ephod, belt, and other ascribed garments when you go to minister before God or die. As I read it, it seemed harsh at first. I wondered if there was a certain symbolism that the prescribed fruit and bells communicated that perhaps the lack of their presence would somehow distort the meaning. Perhaps this is the case, but I couldn’t discover any. I turned to some commentaries and Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible is a great resource, and was helpful. Matthew Poole’s Commentary was similarly helpful; but Barnes' Notes on the Bible phrased it in such a way that I realized I was being childish. Albert Barnes said, “An infraction of the laws for the service of the sanctuary was not merely an act of disobedience; it was a direct insult to the presence of Yahweh from His ordained minister, and justly incurred a sentence of capital punishment.”
As sometimes a child’s demand for a reason behind a command or instruction is met with a “because I said so”, this is how The Holy Spirit answered my question. I noted in the margin of the Bible (by verse 43) “The Respect of Submission”. It seems even as a child of God, we sometimes still struggle with childlike faith. While longing to submit ourselves to God, we sometimes slip into a conditional submission of “I’m glad to do it, but can you explain why to me?”
Peter tells us in I Peter 5 to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, which is an enormous change from the arrogant fisherman who, knowing how to fish, incredulously cast his empty net at the instruction of a carpenter-turned-Rabbi but who was most certainly NOT a professional fisherman. To his surprise, Peter caught a whole mess of fish. This result of catching more than possible in the midst of circumstances that every fisherman knew was impossible, especially after a tiresome night of non-stop net casting that produced zero return, made Peter drop to his knees in shame of his previous unbelief. After years with Jesus, after seeing time and again The Messiah proving that He is The Son of God, the very embodiment of Jehovah; Peter tells us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God in faith.
So, is there a particular reason why God commanded the blue robe with pomegranates and bells be worn by Aaron when he ministers? Perhaps. But God hasn’t seen fit to answer me that at this time, any more than He provided Moses a reason beyond “Because I said so.” In the same sitting, I turned to Psalm 33 to continue the designated Bible reading for the day and God, once more, chose to impress this lesson on my heart as I read verse 4,
“For the word of the LORD is right, and all his work is trustworthy.”
(CSB)
We trust Him because He is God. What He says is right, even if we don’t understand.
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