Skip to content

When we confess that Jesus is our Substitute most people mean this:

Jesus stands in our place - living the life we should have lived, dying the death we should have died

I wonder though how many also have this understanding of Jesus' substitution:

He sits on the bench for the first half before the Coach brings Him on as match-winner in the closing stages.

I find that many Christians, though believing in the pre-existence of Christ, function with an understanding akin to this latter belief.

Though we shout from the roof-tops the centrality of Christ, we affirm His exclusivity, His supremacy, His full deity - in practice our gospel has Jesus coming late to the game to solve a problem He's had nothing to do with.  We insist that He is the crux, the ultimate, the final, the greatest, the fulfilment but somehow lose that He is the Beginning, the Author, the Logos, the Creator, the Head etc.

In such theology Jesus becomes the Kappa and the Omega, the Middle and the End.  The foundations are laid.  God is defined (monadically).  Humanity is defined (apart from the true Man).  The God-man relation is taken for granted (according to these Christ-less definitions).  Sin, law, wrath, sacrifice, blessings, hope etc are slotted into place.  And then Jesus comes to find His place within this pre-fab mould.

But we know this can't be right.  Jesus is not merely the cherry on the cake.  He is the flour, eggs, sugar, butter and everything else besides.  We know this because we have come to experience life in Christ.  And it is not the experience of Jesus-the-bridge-to-something-else.  He has not taken us by the hand to another reality (heaven, glory, forgiveness, God), He Himself is our all in all.  All those other things find their meaning in Him and only in Him.

Now it seems to me there are three ways that this christocentricity can be argued:

  1. Systematically
  2. From the New Testament back
  3. From the Old Testament forwards

Systematically we point to verses like Matthew 11:25-30 or John 1:18 or Colossians 1:15 and say Christ is, was and ever shall be the one and only Mediator of the Father in revelation and salvation.  This, when grasped, opens our eyes to see that all of history, all of theology and all of God to His very depths is truly trinitarian and christocentric.  Glory!

But of course, people will soon ask you to show it in biblical-theology terms.  So we could appeal to the New Testament.  Jesus was constantly saying things like He was the One who spoke with Abraham (John 8:56), He was the One the prophets persecuted (Matt 5:11-12), He was David's Lord (Matt 22:42-45), He was the One who kept pursuing Jerusalem (Matt 23:37).  Or Paul would say Christ accompanied Israel in the wilderness (1 Cor 10:4,9), Hebrews insists Moses trusted Christ (Hebrews 11:26), Jude asserts that Jesus saved Israel out of Egypt (Jude 5).  And this gets people excited.  For a while.

And then someone says: "Ahhh, with what freedom the Apostles imposed christocentricity on the Hebrew Scriptures."  And all of a sudden you get odd things asserted like: "It's ok for Apostles to retrospectively award a Christ-focus to the OT even though the Jewish authors intended nothing of the sort."  And thus a rarely substantiated but practically unimpeachable maxim is born: "They spoke better than they knew."

Well let's put to one side the lack of Scriptural warrant for this 'spoke better than they knew' theory. Let's set aside the ethical conundrum of Apostles modelling such dodgy hermeneutics.  And let's set aside the logical absurdity of post-humously granting OT saints encounters with Christ.  Instead let's move to the third argument.  Because if I can show that the OT by itself proclaims Christ then all such claims will be shown to be completely unnecessary.

So here's my assertion that I will seek to unpack over a long series of posts: The OT on its own grounds, in its own context, according to its own intention is a plain and understood revelation of Christ.  I will seek to argue that,

  • Christ is active pre-incarnation
  • He is the Mediator in Old Testament times as well as New
  • He Mediates as a distinct Person, divine and yet differentiated from God Most High
  • He was trusted by (the faithful) OT saints as their LORD and as the One who was to come to save
  • In this way the object of saving faith has always been Christ
  • And in this way the experience of true faith has always been irreducibly trinitarian and christological.

Here's how the posts developed:

The Angel of the LORD part 1

The Angel of the LORD part 2

The Angel of the LORD part 3

Trinitarian passages in the OT

Some multi-Personal passages in more depth - Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah

Christ in the Psalms

Eleven reasons this stuff matters

Quotes from Justin Martyr and Irenaeus

Quotes from Martin Luther and John Calvin

Quotes from John Owen and Jonathan Edwards

NT's handling of OT part 1

NT's handling of OT part 2

Conclusion?

.

Read Exodus 40

In verses 1-33, Moses' name is mentioned 12 times.  He is emphatically the one who completes the tabernacle: "Moses finished the work." (v33)  As far as the shadows of the old covenant go - Moses is the man.

Yet as the chapter concludes (v34-38), it's clear that Moses cannot even enter into this model of heaven and earth, this dwelling place of the Divine Glory.  The Cloud is too much for him.  This is the Cloud of God's Presence which accompanies the Angel (also known as the Glory) of the LORD (13:21f; 14:19f, 24; 16:10; 19:9, 16; 24:15f, 18; 33:9f; 34:5; 40:34ff).

Previously, Moses had entered into the Cloud of the Divine Glory on a few select occasions (19:20; 24:18; 33:9; 34:5) but only under certain conditions and only when invited.

Yet here verse 35 is clear - Moses cannot enter the tabernacle because the Cloud of Glory is tabernacling there.  In fact the next book of the bible (Leviticus) has to be written to set out how humanly impossible it is for man to dwell with the everlasting burning (Isaiah 33:14).  Men of dust cannot enter the Divine Glory.  The Divine Glory must enter men of dust.

He will tabernacle with Israel in flesh (John 1:14) - in their flesh even.  The Heavenly Man will take the humanity of the man of dust and transform it from within.  In this way the whole world would see His Glory.  And when He is torn down and rebuilt, He will be both a perfected Temple, inviting all nations in and an ascended High Priest, going into the Holy of Holies to carry us on His heart.

He ascends to fill the universe (Eph 4:11).  Now that He's on high, His word flows out, filling the earth with His glory, the nations streaming to the true Temple (Isaiah 2:1-5; Ezekiel 47).

In Exodus, only the High Priest's breastplate was 'Holy to the LORD.' (39:30)  But as the knowledge of the glory of the LORD fills the earth (Hab 2:14), there will be a time when even the most common articles will be 'Holy to the LORD' (Zech 14:20f).  This is the cosmic filling to which this cloud points.

In the meantime, the Israelites (Moses included) can only follow the tabernacling Glory (v36-38).  And only in the shadows of the Levitical law can they enter in vicariously through their high priest.  The law comes through Moses.  He sets up the shadows, he cannot establish the reality.  Grace and truth - hesed we'emet (34:6), the very Name and nature of the living God - comes through the LORD Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)

And so at the end of Exodus we see the designs the LORD has on the whole of creation.  He will fill it in the end.  What a contrast to the book's beginning.

In the beginning we saw an enslaved and oppressed people, helpless and hopeless.  By the end we see these same helpless people laid hold of by a magnificent salvation.  They are freed, enriched, guided, cared for, brought to the Father and established as a kingdom and priests.  All this is through the grace and power of Christ alone and in spite of their own profound wickedness and sin.

So from the slavery and genocide of Egypt the LORD Jesus has created a people headed for the land of milk and honey, carrying with them the blueprint of the Father's own cosmic plans for redemption.  Jude was right in his summary of Exodus:

Jesus saved a people out of Egypt  (Jude 5)

.

Tom's the acceptable face of the All Souls Langham Place website and studying at a vicar factory in Oxford.  This post is a shaft of reflected glory!

Read Exodus 34

This is the second time Moses has gone up the Mountain of God and spent 40 days and forty nights with the Lord. It is the second time he has received the 10 words of God written on two stone tablets. It is the second time he has made the covenant between God and the people.

Why does it need to be done twice? What was wrong with the first time?

Please indulge me as I endeavour on a some-what allegorical journey.

The two descents of Moses represent the two descents of Christ from heaven.

The first time Christ comes, in the incarnation, he finds the people in faithlessness and sin. They are worshipping created gods [The Satanic Guardian Cherub, Ez 28:14, who has the face of a Bull], and have forgotten the Word of the Lord who gave them life, and birth as a people and nation (cf. John 1:10-11).

On seeing their faithlessness and evil, Christ burns with anger. Like Moses he smashes the covenant between the people and God. No longer can the people dwell with the living God, they must be cut off from his presence and blotted out of the book of life. Yet, moved with compassion and love for his people, Christ offers up himself to be cursed in their stead, “Alas, this people have sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive their sin – but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” (Ex 32:32).

Thus, Christ dies, the people are saved from the curse of the Law, and The Golden Calf is destroyed.

We arrive at Exodus 34.

In Exodus 34:2-3, Moses ascends the Mountain of God. This time he is to ascend alone. This corresponds to the ascension of Christ to the throne room of the Father forty days after his resurrection from the dead. He is to come alone, as a representative of the human race, ready to make a new covenant between God and humankind.

When Moses reaches the top of the Mountain, two things happen. There is a great proclamation of the Lord’s greatness and character (Ex 34:6-8), and Moses, seeking acceptance and favour from God, puts in a request.

Likewise, when Christ ascended into heaven and entered through the gates of Zion, he was welcomed by songs of victory and praise, (cf. Ps 24:7-10, Rev 5:6-14). On approaching the throne of Heaven, Christ seeks the favour of his Father, and is warmly granted it. He then puts in a request with the Father, similar to that which Moses made: “O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

Why does Moses (and later Christ) request that the Lord go in the midst of the people? Two reasons: 1) The people are stiff-necked, and need to be liberated from their sinful hearts, and 2) in order that the people might become the inheritance of God.

I suggest here that this request from Moses corresponds to the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost after Christ ascended to the right-hand of the Father. In the absence of Christ from his people, he does not leave us alone, but gives us another counsellor. The Spirit brings both a softening and renewal of the heart to a “stiff necked” people, and He also possesses the Church to make her co-heirs with Christ, inheritors of all the nations and the New Creation.

In 34:10-16, the Lord promises a marvellous thing. He will drive out the wicked people and nations, and hand over the Promised Land to his people. [Note here, that it is the Lord himself, Christ, who drives out the nations from the Land. In Ex 23, it is the task of the Angel of the Lord to drive out the nations. Thus, Moses perceives no difference between Yahweh and the Angel who bears that same Name.]

This great promise of the Land and the deposit of the Holy Spirit, will surely keep the Church of Christ going as they travel through the wilderness.

Inheriting the Land is underpinned by three festivals (34:18-28, see Jackie Lam on Ex 23), reminding us again, that life in the New Creation is only made possible because of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world, and the redemption of the First Born.

The chapter ends with the second descent of Moses (Ex 34:29-35). This time he comes in glory. His face is shining as he comes in the likeness of God. Alas, it is still only Moses, and not the triumphant return of Christ in all his splendour at the consummation of all things. So he veils his face as a reminder to the people that these things are still to come and not the reality themselves. The ministry of Moses is still external, written on tablets of stone, and must not be confused with the ministry of the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3 helpfully reminds us of these things. The glory of Moses is coming to an end, and so he veils his face to prevent the Israelites from getting too excited (2 Cor 3:13). Moses shone because he communed with Christ. He saw him face to face, and so became like him (1 John 3:2, 2 Cor 3:18). Like the Moon staring full faced at the Sun, becomes just like him bearing his image, so we too who look to Christ, bear his likeness.

This kind of glory does not come through the law but through the reality of that to which it testifies. In veiling his face, Moses condemns the people, and prevents them from seeing the reality. For “their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away” (2 Cor 3:14).

Moses knew that they needed to turn to Christ for the veil to be removed. As long as they turned to him (Moses and the Law) for their hope, the veil must remain.

Let’s not be like those Israelites who trusted in the shadows rather than the realities, but turn to Christ and eagerly await his second appearing.

11

The LORD is moving His people on from mount Sinai.  They now have the portable mountain - the tabernacle - and they must press on to the promised land (v1).

But who will go with them?  That's the key question.  And it's one that was actually settled back in chapter 23:

20 "See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land

The Angel would be the One through Whom the Father brings them in.  To have the Angel is to be brought into the land, to have forgiveness and the very gospel character (the Name) of God Most High.  To listen to the Angel is to listen to the Unseen LORD.

In chapter 23 the Father speaks of sending the Son as the way that He draws near and blesses the Israelites.  Now in Exodus 33, He speaks of sending His Son as the way to keep His distance from the Israelites:

2 I will send an angel before you... 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people... 5 You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you.

So which is it?  Does the Father save through the Son because that's how He draws near or is it because that's how He keeps His distance?  Well prior to the sin of chapter 32, the Father described the Angel's mediation in terms of closeness.  Now (v1-6), after the idolatry of chapter 32, the mediation is described as a response to sin.

But from 33:7 onwards we will return to the chapter 23 perspective - i.e. to have the Angel is to have the favour and blessing of God Most High, because the Name of the Unseen LORD is in the Visible LORD.

Verses 7-11 are a parenthesis, describing a common occurence.  Moses used to go and see the LORD face-to-face. This is incredible intimacy: "face to face as a man speaks with his friend." (v11)  Moses chooses to tell us of this regular blessing down at the foot of the mountain so we can contrast it with the events of v12 and following.

On top of the mountain Moses (very forgetfully) asks again who will go with the Israelites.  He's told "My Presence will go with you."  This is literally the word for "face."  Moses has just told us of his face-to-face enjoyment of the LORD in the tent of meeting and now the LORD on the mountain says His "Face" will go with Moses.  The Father is yet again pledging the help of His Son, His Angel, His Face - the LORD Jesus.  When Moses hears the Angel described as the Presence of the Unseen LORD he is satisfied:

"If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here." (v15)

Give me Jesus or give me death!  This is the sentiment of all who truly know the Father's Face.

Moses then asks a question reminiscent of Philip's in John 14:

Show me your glory (v18)

How will God Most High reveal His glory?   Well He will not show His face - for no-one can see Him and live (v20).  The LORD in the tent of meeting can be seen face to face, but the LORD on the mountain is known in a different way.  He is known through His name - the Name that is in His Angel.

It is a Name dripping with compassion and mercy (v19) - a Name that is seen when we look to the concrete and visible saving actions of the Son.

And as we will see in the next chapter, when that Name is pronounced, Moses recognizes immediately that the Name of God Most High is precisely what he has seen in the Visible LORD:

O Lord (Father), please let the Lord (Son) go in the midst of us

To have the Son is to have the Father after all.  Sin is a problem - it does cause estrangement.  There is indeed a sense in which the Father cannot dwell with His people because of their rebellion.  But precisely through the gracious salvation of the Angel, we are not finally estranged from God Most High, but rather brought near.

No-one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.  (1 John 2:23)

.

It was 3 days from the arrival at Sinai to law-giving. (19:11)

1 day later the blood of the covenant was sprinkled on the people (24:4)

6 days after that Moses enters the glory cloud on top of the mountain (24:16)

For 40 days Moses receives the instructions for the tabernacle (24:18)

So when Moses descends the mountain we have a kind of a Pentecost - a 50th day.

But it's a reverse-Pentecost.  The nations are repulsed (32:25).  3000 people die (v28), cf Acts 2:41).  And all because they didn't wait for the LORD (v1, cf Acts 1:4).

The people have always wanted (and needed) someone to go before them.  The Unseen LORD had promised His Divine Angel to fight at their head (23:20ff).  He was the One who had commissioned Moses (3:2) and brought them out of slavery (14:19) on eagles wings (19:4) to serve God Most High (3:12).  Moses and the elders have seen Him and eaten with Him (24:9ff).  Yet He obviously wasn't moving according to the people's timetable.  So in impatience they settle for counterfeits - a religious substitute for Christ.  (Notice the same sin again in 1 Samuel 8:20 - this time the Israelites seek a political substitute for Christ - one 'to go before them').

In contrast to the free and liberal giving for the tabernacle, Aaron demands offerings for his false gods (v2).  False religion is always compelled, true worship of the LORD is always free.

The plunder from the Egyptians (3:22; 12:36), instead of being pressed into the LORD's service, is made into a golden calf.  But this is idolatry no matter how much the LORD's name is invoked (v5).

Why a calf?  Well Psalm 106:19-20 clarifies that this is the calf of an ox.  Now when you put Ezekiel 1:10 and 10:14 together you see that cherubs are like oxen.  And we all know who the guardian cherub is (Ezekiel 28:14ff).  Here is worship of Satan!  Within a month of being sprinkled by the blood of the covenant and solemnly vowing to uphold it, while Moses is on the brooding fiery mountain with God Most High, here they are worshipping the devil.  Notice how "the LORD" is invoked in their Satan worship - a salutary lesson that not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" is truly serving Him!

These people deserve the burning wrath of the LORD out of the heavens (v10; cf Gen 19:24).  But just as Moses had interceded for wicked Pharaoh (e.g. 8:8) now he intercedes for wicked Israel.  The LORD had called Israel "your people" (v7), Moses responds to the LORD - they are "your people" (v11) and implores the LORD to turn (shub) from wrath and have compassion (naham) (v12).  The LORD does indeed have compassion / is sorry but this is not the end of the matter.

Moses descends the mountain with the same burning anger as the LORD Himself (v19).

Through the priests he executes a judgement on the people - this is the Levites' ordination!  (v29) They have always been blood-thirsty men: "their swords are weapons of violence." (Gen 49:5)  When you came to a Levite to confess your sin, you were coming to a violent man with a sword.  As he plunged that sword into the animal substitute you would be left in no doubt that this blood-shed is precisely what you deserved.

But even after this blood-shed, Moses realises there's still a work of atonement to be performed:

I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin. (v30)

Here's what he offers to the Father:

Blot me out of the book you have written. (v32)

He doesn't offer the blood of goats or bulls, he doesn't offer the blood of the guilty.  He offers his own blood - the blood of the innocent, the blood of a Levite, the blood of the people's ruler.

Would Moses himself be the promised Lamb to be provided on the mountain to make atonement?  Genesis 22:1-14 has been promising just this atonement for centuries - the Lamb on the mountain as a burnt offering.  And Abraham is certainly on Moses' mind (v13).  Would Moses be the One to make atonement?

No.  God Most High declines Moses' offer.  Instead He reminds him of His Angel - the true leader of the people (v34).  The true Warrior and Commander at their head was indeed going before them.  They must continue to wait for Him and to trust in Him.

One day He would descend from the heavenlies, the Divine Angel and Saviour, an Intercessor for the people, a Priest in the order of Melchizedek, the Ruler of rulers and a true Innocent.  He would be handed over to death by Levites, killed by piercings and blotted out of the Father's book.  And right there in bloody sacrifice the true God is on show for the whole world.  Not a golden calf.  More of a bronze serpent.  But this is the real God.  Every other god is a counterfeit.

.

.

Rich Owen ministers here (check out his sermons!).  He has previously blogged in this series here and here.

Read Exodus 29 - The Consecration of the Priests

Whenever I read these chapters, I am utterly gripped by the intricacy and the ‘in your face’ way in which Israel were being taught through all these ordinances.  The artistry and precision over the worship of Israel must have been fascinating to witness and highly instructive.

So lets stand on the outside of the tabernacle screening and look in. What do I observe as a faithful Israelite? What do I see? What is required? Who is present in this?

First we must remember the purpose of it all. The goal of all of this ceremony and religion is fellowship with the Lord – verse 43 to 45 and this fellowship with the Lord brings personal knowledge verse 46 of the One they serve. They are brought into relationship by what occurred.

As Dr Robert Reymond says, the goal of redemption is our adoption as sons. The goal of all the visual theology here in these chapters is fellowship with the Lord and adoption into his family.

So as I contemplate fellowship with the Lord and look in to the tabernacle courtyard, the most obvious thing I observe is that I can do nothing to gain this fellowship. It is a task which falls only to one man, the High Priest. He will meet with the Living God on my behalf. He represents Israel. He represents me, but he must first be prepared for worship.

This is a chapter about the preparation this High Priest needs. Firstly then, purity is required (v1). The blood sacrifice required must be spotless and without defect and this High Priest is to be washed in water (v4).

He then has the anointing oil poured over him (v7). The oil is poured over his head and over that wonderful golden plate inscribed with the words HOLY TO THE LORD, it runs down his face and over his beard (Ps 133) and runs down onto the ground. The High Priest is given the anointing that the King would later receive. The High Priest is the anointed one, covered with the anointing such that it overflows from him.

The glorious robes, the glint of the precious stones and the golden sheen of pure olive oil must have been a sight to behold! However, all these wonderful garments and adornments are nothing with blood.

The bull is now presented and killed (vs10-11). The horns of the altar are wiped with blood and the rest (the majority – a decent bull will contain about 40 pints of blood) is poured out onto the ground around the base of the altar (v12). This is the sin offering. A vast sea of blood is needed for sin, it is a great price.

The rams are now presented and killed (vs15++).

Again, the blood is sprayed everywhere – all over the altar (v16). The first ram is then cut up and burned up, all to satisfy the Lord’s pleasure (V18). The second ram is for the ordination of the High Priest. It’s blood is poured onto the right ear, the right thumb and the right big toe (v20) of the high priest. He is covered, head to food in blood.

The High Priest having shone with glorious splendour has now descended and become a terrifying blood soaked monstrosity. He looks awful. He is then sprayed with blood and oil again (v21) – all over those fabulous robes. His hair greasy and his beard straggled as the oil on his face mingles with blood.

Here oh Israel, is your High Priest, now he is ready for his work.

The pieces of this ram are waved and I know that a portion of this sacrifice is kept by the high priest. This ram was not just for ordination but the people of Israel. By his keeping a share, I am joined to the anointed one, the blood soaked High Priest because this sacrifice, breast and thigh, represent me and guarantee that I will gain fellowship as I look on (verse 28).

I watch as Aaron eats the ram for ordination along with the bread and wine and I rejoice! A man of Israel, an Adam is eating and drinking with the Lord!

I look closer and I see that the high priest is not alone (vs27-28 & vs 31-34). His fellowship with the Lord is enjoyed with his offspring. His own sons are present with him enjoying the fellowship with the Lord. Oh to be a son of the High Priest!

The promise is made here too (vs29-20), that these glorious garments now consecrated, made holy by blood and by the anointing oil – these robes are to be given to all the descendants of the High Priest. Anyone born of the one anointed and bloody man who alone makes sacrifice will be given the holy robes of righteousness, justices and purity, so that they too can fellowship with God Most High.

So I am left to contemplate once more.

This is not adequate. Can a ram or a bull really atone? Can they really satisfy the Lord? The obvious answer is no. This is repeated, again and again and again. Is an animal sufficient to cover a man? Again, obviously no – Adam and Eve received animal covering but were still removed from that direct fellowship with the Lord which they previously enjoyed.

We need a true sacrifice. We need a man to provide a covering for man, a pure man, without defect or blemish, one which will satisfy, one which will be enough so that there is no need to repeat it year after year. We need a High Priest who doesn’t have to atone for his own sins, who enters in his own right, with his own blood, once for all.

I need to be born of the High Priest, I need to be his son to share those robes of fellowship, to wear the blood and the oil of consecration.

All this visual hope! All this graphic theology! Am I to divorce this from all that has gone before?

Surely the Seed, the promised One is such a Man.

What a day of teaching the watching Israelite has had! What amazing instruction which leads him to faith in the Promised Messiah, to a knowledge of the way Messiah would die for sin.

I have been told that my reading is anachronistic on a number of occasions.

I point to Hebrews 9 verse 8 which states that the Holy Spirit was teaching those watching people of Israel that the way into the real Most Holy Place, not the earthly copy, required something more. Here is the way, but it is not yet open. A greater and more perfect sacrifice was needed.

Here scripture affirms that the people were being taught – this is so important. This was the Holy Spirit teaching and leading the ancient church to faith in Christ – which is what He always does. They looked forward with Spirit lead visual words. I look back with Spirit lead written words.

Dave continues his excellent blogging from here.

The priests’ garments (Ex 29, 32)


Clothes and priesthood

Why do we wear clothes?

It’s a question worth thinking about. Ritual works mainly at the level of the level of subconscious association, so to understand the rituals of the OT we have to ask basic questions we wouldn’t usually bother thinking about.

I think most, if not all, our answers to the question could be broken down into one of two categories:

1. To hide ourselves from cold and shame of nakedness.

2. To project ourselves by expressing our identity

Priests also had a dual role which correspond to this. As mediators they represented God to Israel and Israel to God.

Representing Israel to God - clothes to hide behind

The priests wore linen undergarments to cover their nakedness, particularly when ascending the alter (28:42; cf. 29:26). But that was just the first layer of clothing, in addition there was “a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash” (v.4). In any culture that is a lot of clothes, many providing layers between the body and God. These clothes acted as a barrier between God and humanity similar to the curtains of the Tabernacle. The sinful priest was hidden behind layer upon layer of clothing, as the Israelite camp was protected from God‘s direct presence by the curtains of the Tabernacle.

It is no light thing to enter God’s presence, as Nadab and Abihu found later (Lev 10). In Exodus 28 YHWH is clear that if the priests did not wear the specified clothing then they “bear guilt and die” (v.43, c.f. v.35). In a sense the priests’ clothing was their armour shielding them from God’s presence, and it is striking that the ephod had an opening for the head “like a coat of mail” (v.32, ESV footnote).

The breastpiece was the most important piece of this armour. Soldiers wore breastplates to protect their vital organs in battle, and against the wrath of God the priests relied on their breastplate. But, of course, material layers would never protect you against the consuming fire of God’s wrath against sin so the breastpiece of the priests was set with twelve stones engraved with “the names of the sons of Israel… to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD” (v.29).

When God remembers in the OT there is usually a twofold action. He turns back from judgement, and he turns towards blessing. He encourages Noah that when the clouds of his wrath gather the rainbow will appear he will see it, “remember” his covenant and so restrain from sending another “flood to destroy all flesh” (Gen 9:14-16). Similarly when God’s wrath against the sin of Israel and the priest burns, he will see the names engraved on the breastpiece and remember his covenant with Israel. His anger will be deflected and the priest will live.

But if the priests of Israel were sons of Israel by birth, why did God need reminding of their identity as individuals and as representatives of the nation? Sadly, because despite all its gifts, Israel often acted just like all the other nations. Saved by YHWH out of Egypt, Israel had been adopted by God and should reflect their Father’s character. “Be holy, for I am holy” (Lev 11:44) was the central command Israel had been called to obey, and their identity was indissolubly tied to this. Sin and death had no place in the life of a servant in God’s house. But by worshipping other gods Israel traded its identity as God’s chosen priestly nation set apart for God’s service for the false-security that the allegiance of other gods and nations offered.

Israel needed to be clothed with Israel in order to be able to stand in the presence of God. What Paul said to the Romans, applied as much to Israel in the wilderness who had already scorned their identity several times, “it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring” (Rom 9:8). To enjoy God’s presence the priests had to be counted as Abraham’s offspring “who is Christ” (Gal 3:16). The OT priests put on the promise of Christ when they dressed in the breastpiece and the shoulder pieces with faith.

To be clothed with the true Israel is to be clothed with holiness. For the Levitical priest’s sacrifice to be acceptable he wore a “plate of pure gold” fastened to the front of his turban engraved with the words “Holy to the LORD” (28:37). The tribe of Levi (like Israel as a whole) did not choose to set themselves aside for YHWH’s service, but were chosen by God who sanctified them for the task (Lev 21:6-8). Only by wearing reminders of God’s election of Israel in the “Holy One of God”, Jesus Christ (Mark 1:24), could the Levitical priests be confident that YHWH would accept the offerings of the people (28:38).

We may worship in a different Tabernacle, but we are also God’s priests seeking to “offer to God acceptable worship“ before our God who is “a consuming fire” (Heb 12:28-29). Instead of the breastpiece, ephod etc, we put on Christ by being baptised into his death when we are counted as “Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal 3:29). In this way we can “draw near to the throne of grace” with confidence (4:15-16) secure in our identity with Christ, the only holy son of Israel.

Representing God to Israel, clothes to express our identity

As well as representing Israel to God in the Tabernacle the priests represented God to Israel outside the sanctuary. Their many duties included teaching the law, answering questions with the Urim and Thummim they were equipped with, and judging uncleanness in particular (Deut 33:10; Ex 28:30, Num 27:21; Lev 10:8-11, Deut 17:9). Appropriately their clothing reflected this office.

The priests’ garments were made of “blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen” just like the Tabernacle curtains (26:1-36; 28:5). The square breastpiece worn by the priests suggested the Holy of Holies where YHWH dwelt. The priest in his many layers of rich clothing walked around in a mini-Tabernacle, because he was as God to the people.

The purpose of the priests’ garments as a whole was “for glory and for beauty” (28:2, 40) and “evoked the majesty of God himself” (p. 77, Wenham, 2003). They certainly had that effect on the 2nd century BC author of the Letter of Aristeas who on seeing a priest was “greatly astonished… at the mode of his dress, and the majesty of his appearance … as to make one feel that one had come into the presence of a man who belonged to a different world” (96-99). The majesty of God was never displayed in Brutalist or Fascist art. God’s art didn’t just communicate power or wealth, but also creative beauty and life.

1 Peter reminds us that we have been made “a royal priesthood” for the same horizontal purpose to the rest of humanity as the Levitical priesthood, that we “may proclaim the excellencies of him who called” us (2:9). The appropriate clothing for us is to clothe ourselves with humility and good works which will shine as a light before men and win them to Christ (3:1-5, 5:5; c.f. Matt 5:16). This adornment is our beauty and our glory.

But like the priests’ garments it is God’s clothing we are walking around in. And as the garments for priests before God were the same as the garments for priests before Israel, so our garments before the world are the same garments as those we wear before God. We put on Christ as humans standing before God, but we also put on Christ as God’s ambassadors to the world. It is his character, worked by him in our lives by his Holy Spirit, that we want to put on. A “new self…created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:24).

In Christ, we are holy, God-like people who speak the truth, labour, share, build up and forgive others. That is who we are so we shouldn’t hide that light, but take it out of the wardrobe and wear it so that the world will “see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt 5:16).

.

Dave's blog is one of my absolute favourites and I'm really pleased he's doing today's and tomorrow's posts.

Bezalel and Oholiab

A great commission

After YHWH had given Moses his design brief for the Tabernacle he also instructed him that he wanted two craftsmen named Bezalel and Oholiab to do the work.

The Tabernacle was not just to be a functional space, but also a work of great beauty and artistry. The God who created the beauty of a stunning sunset was going to dwell with his people in a place which would reflect that same creativity and craftsmanship. For Bezalel and Oholiab this was the greatest commission they had ever received and they must have felt immensely privileged by the opportunity to exercise their gifts to such a great purpose.

But this was also an honour for all the people of Israel. Bezalel of Judah and Oholiab of Dan were representatives of what would be most Southern and Northern tribes in the promised land. They led a team of craftsmen who were no doubt drawn from all the tribes (35:34), and relied on the materials which were contributed by the whole people (36:3-7).

God had graciously spoken his covenantal word and the people would now respond.

... but how could Israel ever provide an appropriate response to the grace they had received? How could a nomadic group of runaway slaves construct the dwelling place of the Lord of the universe?

God's work

YHWH's grace is overflowing. He not only graciously spoke and acted to save, but he also graciously provided the response demanded. The people were so moved to make great gifts of precious metals, textiles and wood to build the sanctuary that they had to be held back from giving more than was required (36:6), but all that they gave was what they had been given by God. He had worked wonders in Egypt so that they had left Egypt wealthy rather than not empty handed (3:21-22; 11:2-3). Bezalel and Oholiab were filled with the Spirit of God so that they also had the skills and knowledge to complete their task, and everyone involved in the work received the ability that they had as a gift from YHWH (31:3-6; 35:30-35).

Exodus can frustrate us with the almost exact repetition of God's instructions (25-31) in the account of the construction (35-40). God said "You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. But this repetition hammers home the obedience of the people, and the creative power of God’s word. He said “let there be a Tabernacle” and there was a Tabernacle.

The Tabernacle was the obedient work of Bezalel, Oholiab and all of Israel to their glory, but it was God’s work too.

God’s starter home

But even with God’s enabling there is no getting away from the fact that this was a mere tent. As King David later recognised, it was incongruous that the kings of the ancient world lived in houses of cedar when the “ark of God dwells in a tent” (2 Sam 7:2). So soon enough another Judahite would be leading the construction of a dwelling place for YHWH, massively exceeding the first in grandeur and beauty.

However, even this was not sufficient for YHWH. When Solomon’s great temple had been destroyed, God looked forward to his dream home whose glory was “greater than the former” (Haggai 2:9). Each sanctuary of God may have extended its boundaries further and further but still we must wonder what kind of house could humans ever build for God (Isaiah 66:1; Acts 17:24)?

God’s master plan

Indeed, God’s dream home had never been a tent. He had looked forward a day when the whole cosmos would be filled with his presence. The first tabernacle/temple was the Garden of Eden, the bounds of which Adam and Eve were to extend until they filled the whole earth (Gen 1:28) and the symbolism of much of the Tabernacle and Temple looked back to this garden. It’s not coincidental that in the tabernacle instructions to Moses are structured around 7 occurrences of “YHWH said” (25:1, 30:11, 17, 22, 34, 31:1, 12), where the sixth introduces instructions about personnel and the seventh introduces the Sabbath. A garden full of fruitful life which was worked and kept by humanity was God’s dream home (Gen 2:15; the Heb for ‘work‘ and ‘keep‘ normally referring to priestly activity in the OT).

But as well as looking back the Tabernacle looked forward. The old creation was now lost and just a residual memory of all temple-builders in the world, but entering the Tabernacle people could also see the future New Creation. Isaiah 66 admits that humanity could never build a house sufficient for him (v.1), but looks forward to a day when all the world will come to the house of YHWH (2:2; 66:20) and the only way all these people will fit is if the temple/Jerusalem/Zion is actually a “new heavens and the new earth” which only God can make (v.22). And that is exactly what John sees in Revelation 21 when he is given a vision of a city shaped as a cube, like the Holy of Holies, corresponding to the new heavens and new earth which comes from God. A sanctuary where everyone, including Gentiles, will be priests and worship in the presence of God.

God’s new Tabernacle creator

Humanity (pre-fall) could have completed God’s creation mandate (Gen 1:28) to extend the bounds of the garden-temple to encompass the whole world, but they cannot re-create the cosmos. And re-creation is what is required. It would not be enough for Christians to pick up the creation mandate again because the raw-material has been corrupted. So while we can reduce poverty, we need another to make poverty history. “God’s inability to dwell in any structure on earth not only refers to the Creator’s transcendence but plausibly includes reference to the necessity for purification and re-creation” (p.138, Beale, The Temple and the Church‘s Mission). The whole creation needs to be devoted to destruction, before being brought back to life again. Only then would it be a fit Tabernacle/temple for God to dwell in.

Only God could do this and yet the task was rightly humanity’s.

The good news is that the Tabernacle has been destroyed and rebuilt, by man.

The Word of God through whom all things were made, came to complete the commission given to Adam. The Word who spoke light into being and the Tabernacle into existence, became what he had created. The Holy Spirit empowered this man, as he had empowered Bezalel and Oholiab, to do what no man could ever do (John 1:32). Again God had not only given the command, but provided the response - and this time to the uttermost.

This man built the new tabernacle, the New Creation, by becoming the old, corrupted tabernacle due for demolition; he “tabernacled among us” (lit. 1:14). His body was the temple (2:21), and humanity who had been in the business of demolition since Adam, destroyed it just as he predicted they would from the very beginning of his ministry (2:19).

Instructed by the Father and for the love of his creation, he lay down his life, knowing that by the power of the Spirit he would take it up again (John 20:17-18; Rom 8:11). The temple of his body was destroyed but he raised it up in three days (John 2:19-23). The New Creation came into being on Easter Sunday 2000 years ago, as the firstfruits of Christ’s body was lifted from the grave (1 Cor 15; 2 Cor 5:2).

God’s co-workers

This New Creation is breaking into the lives of people, as they become part of Christ’s body, the temple of the Holy Spirit (e.g. 1 Cor 3:16; 2 Cor 5:17; Eph 2:21-22; 4:12). The work has been completed and our great commission is to proclaim that to the ends of the earth, encouraging people to participate in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 28:18-20). In this way we will build up the temple of God in our generation, accompanied by Christ and empowered by his Spirit as God’s co-workers.

It may not always be pretty. The first Christian martyr Stephen was stoned for preaching this message. He taught that the old temple was to be destroyed (Acts 6:14) and this angered the Jews. They were wedded to this creation and the sin it was mired in, but Stephen saw the Tabernacle and Temple as pointing to something greater. He reminded them “the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands” (Acts 7:48) and he paid for it with his life. But as he died he saw the future New Creation hidden in heaven. As Moses had seen the heavenly pattern from which to build the first Tabernacle (Acts 7:44; Heb 8:5) when Stephen died he saw “the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56).

That is the vision we need to see in the glorious Tabernacle built by Bezalel and Oholiab so we can follow their example of intelligent, skilled and creative obedience to our Great Commission.

.

My friend Paul Hawkins has written a cracker on the altar of incense.  Enjoy!

Read Exodus 30:1-10, 34-38

I wonder how many of us are in something like a prayer triplet, getting together with say two other Christians to pray together?

CAUGHT UP IN THE TRINITY

Exodus 30 is a great chapter on prayer.  We’re in the middle of the tabernacle, this massive multimedia picture of heaven and earth.  And inside the tabernacle were three pieces of furniture described back in Exodus 25.  The ark, symbolising the throne of God the Father. The table of the Presence, symbolising God the Son, present with us.  And the lamp-stand, a picture of God the Holy Spirit, shining to the world.

But there was one other piece of furniture in the tabernacle, only one, which was the altar of incense.  In verses 1-3 we see it was quite small, it was made of wood covered with gold and if we look on to verse 6, Moses is told

“Put the altar in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the Testimony—before the atonement cover that is over the Testimony—where I will meet with you.”

That means it would have stood right in the middle of those other three things, symbolically in the middle of Father, Son and Spirit.

So what’s this altar, and this incense, all about – what’s it a picture of?  Well we’re told in a number of places and one of them is Revelation chapter 8 verse 3, which says an angel

came and stood at the altar.  He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.”

The prayers of all the saints.  That’s us!  It’s as if the Father the Son and the Spirit are at three corners of a triangle and we and our prayers are right in the middle.  Here’s the original prayer triplet, God himself, and the glorious reality is that if we’re Christians we are surrounded by him.

OUR PRAYERS RISE TO GOD’S THRONE

I don’t know what sort of terms you’re on with Her Majesty the Queen.  If I gave her a call I think I might just struggle to get put through.  But with prayer, it’s not just that we can get through to God if we call him up – if we sort-of throw up a few prayers.  No, we’re in the centre of his life, we’re family, it’s like we’re with the Queen in her living room, and she’s saying, how’s it going – what’s on your mind?

And prayer is how we live out this family life caught up in God.  Look down at verses 7 and 8 – Aaron burned incense (so think: prayers of the saints) every morning and evening, regularly before the Lord.  Verse 9, he didn’t come with a sacrifice or another offering or anything, no just incense, prayer.  Prayer is our expression of the divine life.

THE LAMB’S BLOOD MAKES US WELCOME

So how is it that we can share in God’s life – how come we’re caught up in this divine prayer triplet? Well verse 10 talks about atonement being made with the blood of the atoning sin offering, it says it’s most holy to the Lord.  Isn’t that the heart of the message of the cross, where the Lord God himself, gave his own blood to make us holy.  His passion gives us his life.

And do we see how that means we are very welcome as he brings us into the throne-room of God?  Very welcome.

OUR PRAYERS SMELL SWEET TO GOD

So what does God think of our prayers?  Well what’s this incense like?  Looking on to verse 34 we see – it’s fragrant!

What’s your favourite smell?  I was thinking mine might be fresh raspberries – gorgeous.  Well these spices here have sweet and powerful aromas and as they rise to the Lord they’re verse 37 holy to him, verse 38 they’re enjoyable – no-one’s allowed to copy them for their own enjoyment, no they’re for the Lord’s enjoyment.  So when we pray, God thinks, “… what’s that lovely smell?  Ah, the incense, the prayers of my saints, how wonderful!”

Isn’t that amazing? … Not that there’s anything in us that makes our prayers smell nice – no, it’s because we’re caught up in this sweet fragrant life of God himself – God the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts and prays, for us (Romans 8), he takes our feeble prayers and wraps them up in Jesus.

SO LET’S PRAY

So what do you find hard about prayer?  I mean, we all do, don’t we?  I think for me I too often spend my time worrying, thinking, “how am I gonna cope?” instead of bringing everything to the Lord.  Maybe someone is reading and thinking “my prayers are just so rubbish” or “I’m too bad, surely God can’t accept my prayers.”

No, if we’re in Christ, the wonderful news to grasp is that God the Father is delighted with our prayers.  Next time we smell a lovely fragrant aroma, let’s think to ourselves – “that’s how God thinks of my prayers”.

So let’s pray – how often is prayer the last thing we think of, not the first thing we do – maybe it’s time to join a prayer triplet, let’s take every opportunity to pray.  We’re locked into the life of God, and the immeasurable resources of the Godhead are ready and waiting.

What a friend we have in Jesus.  What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.

.

Read Exodus 25-27

The goal of the LORD Jesus' redemption was serving God on the mountain (Ex 3:12).  But when the people get to the mountain, they don't go up (Ex 19:13b).  Instead priests go up a certain distance (Ex 19:22) and Moses alone goes all the way to the top.  But he goes on the people's behalf (Deut 5:27).  In this he is like the Prophet-to-come (Deut 18:15ff).

But now that the people have arrived at the mountain, what are they to do?  Camp out at the mountain?  Well, no, there's a promised land to inherit.  So instead, the mountain camps out with them.

The tabernacle is given to the Israelites as a kind of portable Sinai.  It has the Glory cloud at its heart (pinnacle).  It is stratified with places for the people, for the priests and for the high priest.  And salvation is pictured as the progression (ascension) from estrangement to the most holy place through sacrifice.

The mountain and heaven are very closely identified in Scripture (Gen 2:10; Deut 4:36; Psalm 15:1; 24:3; Isaiah 14:13; 2 Pet 1:18) and so on the mountain Moses receives the heavenly blueprint for the tabernacle.  It is expressly a copy of the heavenly perspective (Ex 25:9,40; 26:30; 27:8) - and so it stands at the heart of the old covenant, a picture of heavenly things, not the reality itself.  The shadowy nature of it was very clearly taught in the OT itself.

This is the layout:

Let’s think about the furniture first:  The NIV headings are quite helpful.  You’ll see from 25:10 that the first thing Moses was to build was the ark of the covenant (orange box on left).  Then (25:23) the table of the bread of the presence (orange box on right) and then (25:31) the seven-fold lampstand (to the south of the table).

Before anything else was – there was the Three.  Then, 26:1 – according to the pattern on the mountain, Moses is to make the tabernacle.

If time permits we may look at the materials in another post, but after these are described we read in 26:31 that a curtain is to be made which cordons off one section of the tabernacle from another.  And this curtain is inlaid with cherubim.

The last place we saw cherubim was at the end of Genesis 3, blocking humanity off from re-entering the presence of God.  Here this curtain cordons off the ark of the covenant.  And so 26:33; this divides the tabernacle into the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place.

Now, what do these things mean?  Well perhaps we should start with the Table of the Bread of the Presence.

Jesus is known as God’s Presence among the people (see Ex 33:14; Deut 4:37; Isaiah 63:9) and He is the Bread of life (John 6).  He is represented by the Table.

The seven-fold lampstand is equated with the Holy Spirit in Zechariah and Revelation. (See for e.g. Zech 4:1-6; Rev 1:4).

So we have, Christ, we have the Spirit – what about the ark – placed in the Most Holy Place?

Well Hebrews 9 (v24) tells us that the Most Holy Place represents the throne-room of heaven so we can safely assume that the ark of the covenant represents the Father - or at least His throne.

The curtain of the temple is the division that has occurred between God and humanity through the fall.

Since the problem is our estrangement from God, no wonder that the very next thing on the tabernacle-building agenda is the altar (ch27:1).  Only through sacrifice is the way back to the Father opened up. (See Mark 15:38).

One final piece of furniture to note - chapter 30:1 - the altar of incense (the yellow box).  This was placed before the curtain into the Most Holy Place and between the Table and the Lampstand.  In the bible this represents the praying saints (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 5:8).  More on this in a future post.

So what do we have modelled here?  Here is the way back up the holy hill for sinners.  Naturally it's a route that takes you through fiery, piercing judgement (Gen 3:24).  And it's a route that only the consecrated and anointed Priest can make - but He does so on the people's behalf, carrying them on His heart into the Presence of God Most High.

This multimedia presentation of the gospel was at the very centre of the law.  It  was very centre of Israelite life.  The heart of the law is a gospel presentation proclaiming the way to heaven.  When the law was seen as a way of us ascending into the Most Holy Place then we are dashed to pieces on it.  It brings only wrath and curse.  But when the OT Israelites saw the shadows as shadows cast by the great Light, they were led to the End of the law - Christ - and found mercy, righteousness and peace in Him.

Twitter widget by Rimon Habib - BuddyPress Expert Developer