Making the Priestly Garments

 

 

 

Exodus 39:1-26

 

November 20, 2024

 

Making the Priestly Garments

From the blue and purple and scarlet yarns they made finely woven garments, for ministering in the Holy Place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

He made the ephod of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. And they hammered out gold leaf, and he cut it into threads to work into the blue and purple and the scarlet yarns, and into the fine twined linen, in skilled design. They made for the ephod attaching shoulder pieces, joined to it at its two edges.  And the skillfully woven band on it was of one piece with it and made like it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

They made the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold filigree, and engraved like the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the sons of Israel.  And he set them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

 He made the breastpiece, in skilled work, in the style of the ephod, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.  It was square. They made the breastpiece doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth when doubled.  And they set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row; ¹¹ and the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond;  and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in settings of gold filigree.  There were twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They were like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. And they made on the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold.  And they made two settings of gold filigree and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece.  And they put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece.  They attached the two ends of the two cords to the two settings of filigree. Thus, they attached it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod.  Then they made two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod.  And they made two rings of gold, and attached them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod; they bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it should lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece should not come loose from the ephod, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

He also made the robe of the ephod woven all of blue,  and the opening of the robe in it was like the opening in a garment, with a binding around the opening, so that it might not tear.  On the hem of the robe, they made pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.  They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates—a bell and a pomegranate, a bell, and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe for ministering, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

This chapter begin with a lot of they a he, so we would have to go back and recall who they are addressing.  The they refers to the skilled craftsmen and artisans of Israel; “he” refers specifically to Bezalel.   

That refers to information, but that is not what one should learn from this; our God is detail-oriented.  The precision and thought that went into the garments for Arron and his sons.

As we give thought to the precision God put into a garment, have you given thought to the detailed design of your body?   The plans God has for your life.  In Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  

That made me give thought to my plans for retirement; I had a good plan: move to Asheville, N.C., and volunteer at the Bill Graham Cove.  Now that sounds like a good plan, being of service to others.  We planned to do that for six months, and if that was not where God desired us to be, we would go to Colorado Springs and do the same thing at Focus on the Family.  But while calling on an old Friend, he asked if Jan and I would like to come to his open house.  He said we would see people we had not seen in 40 years.  So, we went, and it was a great time, visiting with many people we had grown up with.  But while sitting on Buddy’s back porch, looking at the twin sister, tall hills, I said Jan this seems right, and she said I was going to tell you the same thing.

We built a house; it took over a year, but it put us one hour and fifteen minutes from our two grandsons, and we got to invest in their lives.  We are reaping the reward of following God’s plan and not ours.  Jan has been able to invest in many girls at a lock-up home for girls, and I’ve been able to invest in a few men who need a mentor.  God has a plan, and it is better than anything you can do without him.

From our Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Materials for the Tabernacle

 

 

Exodus 38:21-31

 

November 19, 2024

 

Materials for the Tabernacle

These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.  Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses;  and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.

All the gold that was used for the work, in all the construction of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary.  The silver from those of the congregation who were recorded was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary: a beka a head (that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary), for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men.  The hundred talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil; a hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent a base.  And of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their capitals and made fillets for them.  The bronze that was offered was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels;  with it he made the bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and the bronze grating for it and all the utensils of the altar,  the bases around the court, and the bases of the gate of the court, all the pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs around the court.

I took this from the internet on the value of a talent in Exodus: “A talent" in Exodus is roughly equivalent to around $522,000 in today's dollars, based on the understanding that a talent is equal to 3,000 shekels, making it a substantial sum of money in ancient times; however, the exact value can vary depending on whether it is measured in gold or silver and the specific time period being considered.” 

 

That was a lot of gold and silver for a people of about two million, to be having while wandering around in a desert.  So how did they get all the materials needed?  That's a great question, and the answer is God provided them.  Now he used the Egyptian people to do so when the people of Israel left Egypt.

 

You may also have wondered, as I did, what a beka was. It was a tax of half a shekel of silver paid by each man in the congregation who was at least 20 years old.  We serve a mighty God, who has promised to provide all we need, but often the Church is not about needs but wants.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Making the Court

 

Exodus 38:9-20

 

November 18, 2024

 

Making the Court

And he made the court. For the south side, the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits; their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.  And for the north side, there were hangings of a hundred cubits; their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.  And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their ten pillars, and their ten bases; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.  And for the front to the east, fifty cubits.  The hangings for one side of the gate were fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases.  And so, for the other side. On both sides of the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases.  All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen.  And the bases for the pillars were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. The overlaying of their capitals was also of silver, and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.  And the screen for the gate of the court was embroidered with needlework in blue and purple, and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits high in its breadth, corresponding to the hangings of the court.  And their pillars were four in number. Their four bases were of bronze, their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets of silver.  And all the pegs for the tabernacle and for the court all around were of bronze.

The tabernacle of Moses was the temporary place of worship that the Israelites built according to God’s specifications while wandering the desert and used until King Solomon built a temple. The word tabernacle is a translation of the Hebrew mishkan, which means “dwelling-place.”

The overall shape of the tabernacle of Moses followed traditional structures of the time. It consisted of an outer court, approximately seventy-five feet wide by one hundred and fifty feet long, with a fifteen-foot by forty-five-foot structure in the back (Exodus 27:9–19). The court walls consisted of linen curtains attached by bronze hooks to a series of pillars. The pillars were supported on the bottom by bronze sockets and possibly held in place with rope that attached to bronze rings. The gate, always facing east, was about thirty feet of blue, purple, and scarlet woven into a curtain of linen. The altar of burnt offering and the bronze laver that the priests purified themselves in sat in the courtyard.  (Got Question)

 

The people of Israel and those who came with them could enter the courtyard, but only the priest and Levite could enter the Tabernacle, and only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies once a year.  The altar for burnt offerings was in the courtyard, and the bronze laver held water for washing.

 

It is hard for us to understand the fullness of what Jesus did on the cross; the veil was torn, and we now have access to the Father.  No more outer court, and you are invited to receive the new life that is given to all who see, the forgiveness of sin through the blood of Jesus Christ.  

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

17 INCHES……...

  

 

  

17 INCHES……... 

 

Twenty-six years ago, in Nashville, Tennessee, during the first week of January 1996, more than 4,000 baseball coaches descended upon the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd annual ABCA convention.

While I waited in line to register with the hotel staff, I heard more veteran coaches rumbling about the lineup of speakers scheduled for the weekend. One name, in particular, kept resurfacing, always with the same sentiment — “John Scolinos is here? Oh, man, worth every penny of my airfare.”

Who is John Scolinos, I wondered. No matter; I was just happy to be there.

In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung — a full-sized, stark-white home plate.

Seriously, I wondered, who is this guy?

After speaking for twenty-five minutes without once mentioning the prop hanging around his neck, Coach Scolinos seemed to notice the snickering among some of the coaches. Even those who knew Coach Scolinos had to wonder exactly where he was going with this, or if he had simply forgotten about home plate since he’d gotten on stage. Then, finally …

“You’re probably all wondering why I’m wearing a home plate around my neck,” he said, his voice growing irascible. I laughed along with the others, acknowledging the possibility. “I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.”

Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room. “Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?”

After a pause, someone offered, “Seventeen inches?” more of a question than an answer.

“That’s right,” he said. “How about in Babe Ruth’s day? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?” Another long pause.

“Seventeen inches?” a guess from another reluctant coach.

“That’s right,” said Scolinos. “Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?” Hundreds of hands shot up as the pattern began to appear. “How wide is home plate in high school baseball?”

“Seventeen inches,” they said, sounding more confident.

“You’re right!” Scolinos barked, “And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?”

“Seventeen inches!” we said, in unison.

“Any Minor League coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball?”… “Seventeen inches!”

“RIGHT! And in the Major Leagues, how wide is home plate in the Major Leagues?

“Seventeen inches!”


“SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!” he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. “And what do they do with a Big-League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches?” Pause.

 

“They send him to Pocatello!” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter. “What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. If you can’t hit a seventeen-inch target? We’ll make it eighteen inches, or nineteen inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.”

Pause.

 

“Coaches… what do we do when your best player shows up late to practice? Or when our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him? Do we widen home plate? "

The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coach’s message began to unfold.

 

He turned the plate toward himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something. When he turned it toward the crowd and pointed up, a house was revealed, complete with a freshly drawn door and two windows. “This is the problem in our homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids. With our discipline.

We don’t teach accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards. We just widen the plate!”

Pause.

 

Then, to the point at the top of the house, he added a small American flag. “This is the problem in our schools today. The quality of our education is going downhill fast, and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be successful and to educate and discipline our young people. We are allowing others to widen home plate! Where is that getting us?”

Silence.

 

He replaced the flag with a Cross. “And this is the problem in the Church, where powerful people in positions of authority have taken advantage of young children, only to have such an atrocity swept under the rug for years. Our church leaders are widening their home plate for themselves! And we allow it.”

“And the same is true with our government. Our so-called representatives make rules for us that don’t apply to themselves. They take bribes from lobbyists and foreign countries. They no longer serve us. And we allow them to widen home plate! We see our country falling into a dark abyss while we just watch.”

I was amazed. At a baseball convention, where I expected to learn something about curve balls and bunting and how to run better practices, I learned something far more valuable.

From an old man with a home plate strung around his neck, I had learned something about life, about myself, about my own weaknesses, and about my responsibilities as a leader. I had to hold myself and others accountable to that which I knew to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down an undesirable path.

“If I’m lucky,” Coach Scolinos concluded, “you will remember one thing from this old coach today. It is this: "If we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools & churches & our government fail to hold themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to …”

With that, he held the home plate in front of his chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside, “…We have dark days ahead!”

Note: Coach Scolinos died in 2009 at the age of 91, but not before touching the lives of hundreds of players and coaches, including mine. Meeting him at my first ABCA convention kept me returning year after year, looking for similar wisdom and inspiration from other coaches. He is the best clinic speaker the ABCA has ever known because he was so much more than a baseball coach. His message was clear: “Coaches, keep your players—no matter how good they are—your own children, your churches, your government, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches.

And this, my friends, is what our country has become and what is wrong with it today, so go out there and fix it

Making the Altar of Burnt Offering

 

Exodus 38:1-8

 

November 16, 2024

 

Making the Altar of Burnt Offering

He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Five cubits was its length, and five cubits its breadth. It was square, and three cubits was its height.  He made horns for it on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze.  And he made all the utensils of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its utensils of bronze.  And he made for the altar a grating, a network of bronze, under its ledge, extending halfway down.  He cast four rings on the four corners of the bronze grating as holders for the poles.  He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.  And he put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it with them. He made it hollow, with boards.

Making the Bronze Basin

He made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting.

My first thought was more about how God designed the items that went into the Tabernacle.  But the Scripture came into my mind: “Be still, and know that I am God​.".​ So, after doing so, I ask what one can learn from this teaching to help in our daily walk.

The Altar was for the outer court, where the people could bring sacrificial atonement and consecration; it was not a one-time thing; it had to be done over and over.  It was a place to atone for sin and gain favor from the Lord. The worshipper would sacrifice an animal without blemish as a gift to God.

So, as a follower of Christ, do I need an altar to go to for the forgiveness of my sins?  We are told in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that Christ became our sin offering.  “For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  In 1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed.”  Hebrews 9:27-28, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Once we enter Christ and are sealed by the Holy Spirit, we will choose not to sin. When we do, it should break our hearts, and often, that is a great time of worship and being thankful for God’s grace and forgiveness.  

But worship should take place each day of our lives, with praise and worship.  I find great peace in the early morning, getting into the Word, and getting time to allow God's Spirit to give me an understanding of how to go about the day.

Worship also occurs when we share all that God has blessed us with as a family or a nation. It takes place when we do anything for others with the right heart; serving others puts us in good company with our Lord.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Our God gave Bezalel everything he needed to do the Job

 

 

Exodus 37:10-29

 

November 15, 2024

 

Making the Table

He also made the table of acacia wood. Two cubits was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.  And he overlaid it with pure gold and made a molding of gold around it.  And he made a rim around it a handbreadth wide and made a molding of gold around the rim.  He cast for it four rings of gold and fastened the rings to the four corners at its four legs.  Close to the frame were the rings, as holders for the poles to carry the table. He made the poles of acacia wood to carry the table and overlaid them with gold.  And he made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table, its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and flagons with which to pour drink offerings.

Making the Lampstand

He also made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were of one piece with it.  And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it;  three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand.  And on the lampstand, itself were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers,  and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out of it.  Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole of it was a single piece of hammered work of pure gold.  And he made its seven lamps and its tongs and its trays of pure gold.  He made it and all its utensils out of a talent^[c] of pure gold.

Making the Altar of Incense

He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. Its length was a cubit, and its breadth was a cubit. It was square, and two cubits was its height. Its horns were of one piece with it.  He overlaid it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And he made a molding of gold around it,  and made two rings of gold on it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, as holders for the poles with which to carry it.  And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

He made the holy anointing oil also, and the pure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer.

Bezalel made all of this, and most of us who go by the title of Christian would not remember his name, much less how God's Spirit gave him the skill, talent, and knowledge to do so.

 

We, you, and I live in a culture that acknowledges the skill of sports people to the point of acting as if they accomplished the skill and understanding all by themselves.  The election of our President of the USA is now over, and I see many who act as if he has the power to change the hearts of people; he does not.  Only God can do so. President Trump will need the hand of God on him, guiding him, and all who know God asking for mercy and grace to bring us out of the evil that is at the center of our problems.  I feel the need to remind each of us what God's Word says on the subject.  Ephesians 6:10-12,  ^“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

 

If you are in Christ, then His Spirit is living in you, and it is going to require you and me to pray for our leaders, to first seek God and then to pray that God will lead us out of the control of Satan, and into victory.  We will not do that any other way.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Making the Ark

 

 

                                                    Exodus 37:1-9

 

November 14, 2024

 

Making the Ark

 

Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height.  And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it.  And he cast for it four rings of gold for its four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side.  And he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark.  And he made a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.  And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat,  one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat, he made the cherubim on its two ends.  The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.

 

·       What has Scripture reveal to us about Bezalel?  Got Questions had this to say; “Filled with the Spirit: Scripture notes that God filled Bezalel with His Spirit—an extraordinary and rare designation in the Old Testament usually reserved for prophets, priests, or leaders.

·       Fourfold Gift: God gave him wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and all kinds of practical and artistic skills.   

 

·       Exodus 31: 1-11 “The Lord said to Moses,  “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship,  to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze,  in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft.  And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you: the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, and the finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests,  and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.”

 

 

In past papers, we have shared that a cubit was about 1.5 feet, so it would be about 3.75 feet in width and about 21/4 in height, and overlaid with pure gold inside and out.  It was always to be moved by the gold poles.  Both it and the mercy seat.

 

This passage highlights the artistry and craftsmanship that went into the tabernacle's construction. The specific details about the cherubim, their wings, and their position over the mercy seat show the importance of symbolizing God's presence and the sacredness of worship practices among the Israelites.  (taken from the internet)

 

From our Back Porch,

Bob Rice