Exodus 28:3-30 Bible Teaching

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Okay, before we move into our text and teaching for today, I want to preface my remarks about an important principle or trait found in the Children of God and that is of . . . “seeking in spirit and truth.”

Remember what Yeshua said to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:23:

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

We recall what the writer of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 11:6

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that ??? diligently seek him.”

We have come to a place – perhaps we have always been in this place since Constantine – where people have believed that God is a rewarder of those who steadfastly follow established traditions and the information fed to them by religious empires. But the fact remains –

“without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that ??? diligently seek him.”

Interestingly, the group of souls I associate with remotely for the most part – those of you here, those who watch from home, those who form our governing leadership, from what I can tell all seek, search and test everything and they do so “arduously” through the scripture by the spirit.

We have come to see how much the masses have been purposely misled over the centuries and in many ways how much of the deception has occurred at the hands of the corrupt religious leaders of Judaism starting way back in the Second temple period and reaching out all the way (AT LEAST) to the creation of the corrupted Masoretic Text.

Remember, that was the text created like 700 to 1000 years after Christ to replace the Septuagint – or the Greek Translation that Yeshua Himself cited repeatedly.

So we left off last week in Chapter 28 of Exodus and the mentioning of something called the Urim and Thummim.

The founder of Mormonism, a man who knew his Bible, took the esoterica therein and created answers for that religion. If we submitted to tradition we might as well believe what he said about them.

But that’s not us, is it?

We will get to the topic of Urim and Thummin soon. But first we have to address something relative to diligently seeking the truth. Recall that in verse 3 of chapter 28 YAHAVAH said to Moses,

Exodus 28.3-30
February 18th 2024
STONES URIM

Exodus 28:3 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.

And we talked last week all about seeking to also be filled with the Spirit of Wisdom to create as YAHAVAH so leads us. Let’s continue on with the text as it says at verse 4

4 And these are the garments which they shall make;

a breastplate,
an ephod,
and a robe,
and a broidered coat,
a mitre, (headdress)
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.

From verses 5-7 we read about the creation of what is called, the Ephod as it reads

5 And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen.
6 And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work.
7 It shall have the two shoulder-pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together.

Then at verse 8 we read about the Ephod –
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.

We will discuss what an Ephod is before we conclude today. Then from verses 9-12 we read about two engraved onyx stones set upon the shoulder of this ephod with the names of six of the Tribes of the Nation on each that rested upon the shoulders.

Then God talks at verse 13-14 about ouches of Gold, saying

13 And thou shalt make ouches of gold;
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.

And at 15-16 we read about the making of this thing called a breastplate of judgement as God says

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.
16 Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.

So, it is of equal sized sides – a span of length and an equal span of breadth. Then in this “four square piece” called the Breastplate of Judgement, God says,

17 And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones:

And this is the part that I want to address now as God has Moses write relative to these stones:

the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row.
18 And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
19 And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
20 And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their enclosings.
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.

Verses 22-28 discuss how to connect these things together with two gold rings and then we read at verse 29,

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.
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.

I want to point out something radical and I thank our Brother Grady in Sonora Mexico for his DECADES of privately seeking truth through the scripture as a means to diligently discover truth.

I test EVERYTHING he suggests and have yet to come up with anything substantive that is off or wrong.

Do you remember when we were covering the Book of Job, and I made a case for Ha Satan being something a bit different than what the Catholics have taught us to believe he is but that the historical Satan was represented by different entities, people or groups over the course of Ancient history?

Do you remember when I suggested that Ha Satan in Yeshua’s day was actually the religious Jews of His time? All the evidences were presented in two parts when we covered Job 1:7-12.

We also have shown in the past that along the way a gaggle of some Jewish Rabbi’s came together around 700 to 1000 AD and, hating the fact that their scripture was translated in Greek and that this is what Yeshua cited throughout His life, they decided to provide the world with their own translation.

We showed how these Rabbi’s produced what is called the Masoretic text and we too, have shown that it serves to obfuscate the truth rather than clarify it in the end.

Their collusion has had a real impact on Christian thought the world as Christians unitedly pronounce His Name (that He wanted known) as YAWAY or JEHOVAH as well as obscuring other items along the way.

The point?

Here in the King James we read the listing of the stones that were to be in the breastplate of judgement Aaron would ultimately wear.

Again it says,

Exodus 28:17 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. 18 And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. 19 And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. 20 And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their enclosings.

The list of stones provided here in Exodus and lining up in the breastplate of Aaron is, in order and again,

Sardius
Topaz
Carbuncle
Emerald
Sapphire
Diamond (???)
Ligure
Agate
Amethyst
Beryl
Onyx
Jasper

What do these stones represent? God tells us, saying,

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.

Under the auspices of diligently seeking, this list of stones is intriguing. For example, did you know we have another place where stones almost exactly like these, in almost exactly this order, are mentioned?

It’s found in the 28th Chapter of Ezekiel which is the GO-TO chapter for Christians today to reference when they want to describe, Satan.

Remember? In that place, The King of Tyrus is described literally and people reading it suggest that the verses simultaneously describe Ha Satan.

This is what it says there,

Ezekiel 28:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

In the description of the stones in Aaron’s breastplate there are twelve stones named. In the Masoretic text translation of the Ezekiel passages there are only ten and they are apparently describing the King of Tyrus and what Christians believe is HA Satan Himself.

But why only ten stones which are all mentioned in the Breastplate of Judgment that Aaron was supposed to wear with each stone representing a Nation in the Nation of Israel.

Is it because the stones in Aaron’s breastplate represent the twelve tribes of Israel and the ten stones represent the King or Tyrus and Ha Satan in Ezekiel?

No. It’s because the Masoretic text changed the stone number and order in its translation, obscuring the fact that the same twelve stones in Aarons Breastplate ARE IN FACT mentioned in Ezekiel 28 describing the King of Tyre and to many ha Satan.

How do we know this? Because the Septuagint translation of Ezekiel 28 has all twelve stones in what appears to be the same order as Exodus! This suggests that what the Christians have used to describe SATAN in Ezekiel is actually describing the twelve tribes.

Let’s take a look at the board:

Exodus Aaron’s Breastplate 12
SAME IN SEPTUAGINT

(MASORETIC and SEPTUAGINT TEXT READS)

Septuagint of Ezekiel 28 (12) King of Tyre
Satan

ALL THE SAME NAME AND SAME ORDER)
Revelation 12 – the first foundation

Masoretic TEXT only lists
Sardius
Topaz
Carbuncle
Emerald
Sapphire
Diamond (chry
Ligure
Agate
Amethyst
Beryl
Onyx
Jasper

TWELVE IN BREASTPLATE OF AARON = 12 Tribes

the sardius,
and topaz,
and emerald, (REV)
and carbuncle,
and sapphire,
and jasper, (last)
and ligure,
and agate,
and amethyst,
and chrysolite (dia)
and beryl,
and onyx:

TWELVE IN DESCRIBING KING OF TYRE =
HA SATAN
jasper;
the second, sapphire;
the third, a chalcedony;
the fourth, an emerald;
the fifth, sardonyx;
the sixth, sardius;
the seventh, chrysolite; (Diamond)
the eighth, beryl;
the ninth, a topaz;
the tenth, a chrysoprasus;
the eleventh, a jacinth;
the twelfth, an amethyst.

TWELVE are RESTORED

USED
Chalcedony
Chrysoprasus
Jacinth

MISSING
Carbuncle
Ligure
Agate

the sardius,
and topaz,
and emerald,
and carbuncle,
and sapphire,
and jasper,
and chrysolite (dia)
and beryl,
and onyx:
(Gold is added) of Ezekiel 28)

TEN

THREE MISSING from Exodus/Ezekiel list
-Ligure
-Agate
-Amethyst
– and gold is ADDED

AND THEY CHANGED THE ORDER!!!!!!

Before leaving this – let’s turn to another reference in the sacred text where twelve “stones” are mentioned. It’s found in the fulfillment book of all of this, the Book of Revelation, chapter 21 beginning at verse 9 where John describes the heavenly Jerusalem he saw in VISION and says the following:

9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.
19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

In conclusion of all of this? We have the Old Testament Exodus designing a breastplate worn by Aaron with twelve distinct stones each with a name of one of the Twelve tribes inscribed upon it.

We jump out to Ezekiel where the Septuagint translations uses the same stones of the same number to describe both the King of Tyre, but Christians say it describes the person of, Ha Satan when in reality the contextual meaning of these same stones speaks ONLY to the twelve tribes of Israel – in Exodus, in Ezekiel and in Revelation. Context proves it!

But the Masoretic text, in what appears to be a effort to erase the connection between the two references, changed their translation and this change has caused Christians to errantly assign Ezekiel 28 to describe a being named Satan when in reality it straightly describes the 12 tribes of Israel – something the Rabbi’s wanted erased forevermore.

What makes the sale is in the fulfillment of all things Revelation (and John’s description of the New Jerusalem above) brings the 12 stones back – and it is still connected to the 12 Tribes but this time in victorious glory through their faith on His Son.

Okay – now we come to the verse of interest I mentioned last week – verse 30 where Moses adds,

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 YAHAVAH: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before YAHAVAH continually.”

There are a couple of different views on what exactly this Urim and Thummin are that Moses is instructed to “put in the breastplate of judgement.” And again, which would be “upon Aaron’s heart” when he goes in before YAHAVAH in an effort to “bear the judgement of the children of Israel upon his heart before YAHAVAH continually.”

To get the best grip on this let’s first work through some of the strange clothing YAHAVAH describes that Aaron the High Priest would wear.

What’s an ephod?

Seems to be like a long paucho of sorts, girded over the shoulders.

It was first a sacred vestment worn only by the high priest Ex 28:4 but interestingly it was afterwards worn by what we might see as ordinary priests (1st Samuel 22:18) including Samuel and David.

It was made of fine linen, and consisted of two pieces, which hung from the neck, and covered both the back and front, over whatever tunic and outer garment that was also worn. (Exodus 28:31)

The high priest’s ephod was embroidered with many colors. The two pieces of the Ephod were joined together over the shoulders and held in place by clasps, buckles of gold and/or precious stones.

It was then fastened round the waist by a “curious girdle of gold, blue, purple, and fine twined linen.” (Exodus 28:6-12)

The breastplate we have been talking about, set with stones along with what was called, the Urim and Thummim, was then attached to the ephod.

Now, again, this breastplate that Aaron was to wear over his chest which was called the breastplate of judgement.

It was made of embroidered cloth, set with four rows of precious stones, three in each row.

On each stone was engraved the name of one of the twelve tribes (Exodus 28:15-29; 39:8-21) and is believed to have been about ten inches square.

The two upper corners were fastened to the ephod by blue ribbons. Exodus 28:28 says that it was not to be “loosed from the ephod.”

The lower corners were fastened to the girdle of the priest. Because it was to remind the priest of his representative character, it was called the memorial.

With all of that in hand, what then is this Urim and Thummin? We know they following:

1. They are not described anywhere.
2. There is no direction given to Moses or any other how to “make them.”
3. Whatever they were, they do not appear to have been made on the occasion of God commanding them.

One commentator writes about this chapter, saying,

“The Urim and Thummim were not the work of the artificer; neither had the artificers or the congregation of Israel in them any work or any voluntary offering to create them but they were a mystery delivered to Moses from the mouth of God, or they were the work of God himself, or a measure of the Holy Spirit at that time.”

The scriptures more than support the idea that God was often consulted by or through this Urim and Thummim but how or in what manner he was consulted appears nowhere.

Interestingly, this method of communicating with God, does not appear to have been in use from the consecration of Solomon’s temple to the time of its destruction; and after its destruction it is never once mentioned again.

This made for ripe picking by Joseph Smith when he claims to have found “a pair” of Urim and Thummim with the Golden Plate on a hill near his home.

Frankly, the Jews say that the five following things which ONCE existed in the first temple but again, were not present in the second:

1. The ark with the mercy-seat and cherubim;
2. The fire which came down from heaven;
3. The shechinah or Divine presence;
4. The Holy Spirit, (meaning,, the gift of prophecy);
5. The Urim and Thummim.”

This suggests that the Nation of Israel was dying out by the second temple period the religion of “Judaism” was taking over.

The Hebrew term “Myrwa” (urim) means, “LIGHTS,” and the word Mymt tummim, means, “PERFECTIONS,” so it is believed that they were probably designed to point out the light of spiritual things God would bestow on them.

Now we get to the interesting part. According to the scripture,

“When there was an inquiry, the priest stood with his face before the ark, and the one who inquired stood behind him with his face to the back of the priest.”

And the inquirer would ask a question like, “Shall I go up? or, Shall I not go up?” And the Holy Spirit would come upon the priest, and he would behold the breastplate, and he would see through the vision prophetic words, which would say,

“Go up,” or “Go not up,” (LISTEN to this) in letters which showed forth themselves upon the breastplate before his face.”

These instructions and insights are found in Numbers 27:18,21; Judges 1:1; 20:18,28; and 1st Samuel 23:9-12; 28:6.

It was through the letters (that formed the names of the twelve tribes upon the breastplate) that the answers would come forth and this is quite similar to the means by which Mormon prophet seer and revelator CLAIMED to have initially received revelation to translate the Golden Plates.

I would suggest that these claims by said prophet were all hijacked from the Old Testament narrative errantly and inserted into the creation of Mormonism to give it biblical support.

Interestingly, 1st Samual 28:6 says, that oracles of God (answers or instructions) are said in to only received by “urim, dreams and prophecies.”

Rabbinic literatures (whether it can be trusted is in dispute) says,

The Urim and Thummim was a priestly device for obtaining oracles. Josephus says that the answers ceased for the Nation 200 years before His time. 1st Samuel 14:41 gives perhaps the best purpose of the Urim and Thummim, found in 1st Samuel 14:41 where is in the Septuagint that renders it as, “give a perfect answer.”

There Saul says,

“O YAHAVAH ELOHIYM of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If the guilt be in me or in my son Jonathan. O YAHAVAH ELOHIYM of Israel, give Urim (????? ???????). But if this guilt is in your people Israel, give Thummim (????? ???????).”

From the use of the verbs hippil and nilkad in connection with the Urim (verses 41–42), it appears that they were a kind marked stones or sticks since these verbs occur in connection with the act of casting of lots (Isaiah 34:17; 1st Samuel 10:20).

They were suitable for indicating which of two alternatives was right; hence inquiries to be decided by them were designed to elicit “yes” or “no” answers.
(I Sam. 23:10–12;30:8).

The earliest speculation on the technique of the oracle is reflected in Josephus (Ant. 3:217), who states “that victory was forecast by the shining of the stones in the breast-piece.”

Interpreting Urim to mean “those whose words give light” and Thummim as “those whose words are fulfilled,” the rabbis explain that the oracle was effected by rays of light shining on the letters, or protruding from them and forming themselves into groups, so that the high priest could read them.

Only priests speaking by means of the holy spirit and upon whom the Shekhinah rested could invoke them.

The inquirer had his face directed toward the high priest, who directed himself to the Shekhinah Glory. One did not inquire either in a loud voice or silently in his heart, but like Hannah, who muttered her prayer (I Sam 1:13).

Only one question was to be put at a time, and if two were asked, only the first was answered. However, if the occasion required two questions, both were answered.

The division of the land was affected by means of the Urim and Thummim. Saul and David consulted them (according to the Midrash of Psalm 27:2).

The Urim and Thummim ceased to give oracular answers immediately after the death of the first prophets (i.e., after the destruction of the First Temple) but there are Jewish writings that suggest this method of getting answers died out in the first temple period too.

Back on the mount, Moses received instructions regarding the system of worship which was to be set up among the people; and in accordance therewith Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priest’s office. (Leviticus 8:1-36; 9:1-24)

Aaron, as high priest therefore, held henceforth the prominent place appertaining to that office.

He was the first anointed priest. His descendants, “the house of Aaron,” constituted the priesthood in general.

In the time of David, they were numerous. (1st Chronicles 12:27)

The other branches of the tribe of Levi held subordinate positions in connection with the sacred office. Aaron was a type of Christ in his official character as the high priest.

His priesthood was a “shadow of heavenly things,” and was intended to lead the people of Israel to look forward to the time when “another priest” would arise “after the order of Melchizedek.”

And we will stop here.

Comments/Insights?

Remember May 7th 8pm HOTM FULL CIRCLE LIVE! Go to HOTM.TV for all the information you might need. Also, we will have a party
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