Exodus: Unity of Law and Grace

The Ephod

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Pentateuch

Lesson: The Ephod

Genre: Lessons with Q & A

Track: 97

Dictation Name: RR171BA97

Location/Venue:

Year: Early 70’s

Let us worship God. Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. Seeing that we have a Great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Let us pray.

All glory be to thee, O God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, who in thy wisdom has crated all things, and in thy mercy has called us to be thy people. We thank thee that all thy promises to us in Jesus Christ are yea and amen, that thy purpose for us is altogether wise and holy. Give us grace, therefore, to trust in thy wisdom, in thy purpose for us, and in all things faithfully to do thy will, to obey thy law, to rejoice in all thy way, and to praise thee as we ought. IN Christ’s name, amen.

Our scripture lesson is Exodus 28:6-12. Our subject: The Ephod. Exodus 28:6-12. “And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulderpieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. 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. And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: Six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches [or settings] of gold. And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial.”

The ephod and the breastplate marked the high priest, and the ephod described in these verses is the high priest particular garb. It was set apart from the kind of ephod worn by Samuel in 1 Samuel 2:18 and by David in 2 Samuel 6:14. What Samuel and David wore is described as a linen ephod. The ephod was a kind of coat or vest whose fabrics were the same as those of the curtains and the veil of the tabernacle, with the addition of the gold thread. There was thus an emphasized connection between the high priest and the sanctuary. The threads were inclusive of gold threads, a fact signifying royal power. The high priest was the spiritual ruler of the community and he represented royal power. He was, in this sense, God’s ruler on earth. At the same time, because the high priest’s breastplate carried the engraved names of all the tribes, he was their representative before God. He was the mediator between God and man. He was a type of Christ, of Christ in his incarnation. He was the union of God and man in one person as the great mediator, and so Christ represented both God and man. This, the high priest did, in an elementary fashion without any change in his nature in that he was the mediator. When the high priest was invested into his position, he was anointed with oil. It was poured over him and it was also applied to his forehead in the form of an “x,” which is one type of cross.

The word “ouches” in verse 11 is an Elizabethan word and it means a clasp, a setting, or some ornamental aspect of a garment. The high priest was, in a very strict sense, the only true priest in all Israel. All other priests were his deputies. On this analogy, Roman Catholicism has seen the pope as the only true priest or presbyter, and all others as his deputies. The Reformation however, insisted on the high priestly office of Christ, and the status of deputies or ministers for all earthly deputies of ministers. The garb of the high priest has a resemblance to the clothing in Antiquity of kings, and of course, even into modern times, kings wore similar clothing. This fact emphasized God as king, and the high priest as His deputy. Even more, it must be said that neither Israel then nor the church now can ever rightly see themselves as other than deputies, and as deputies whose status depends on faithfulness.

The mediatorial status of the high priest was depicted in the engraved stones on the shoulders of the ephod. These stones were to be carefully engraved by skilled craftsmen with the names of the twelve tribes. As the mediator of the covenant people, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies bearing their names and as their representative. As such, he represented the whole family of faith. He carried their names over his heart. Hebrews 7:25-28 says of Jesus Christ that this is His office now. “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.”

Our high priest, Jesus Christ, is the perfect man and He is God incarnate. This is the first and foremost fact. Being sinless, he needs no daily sacrifice of atonement for His sins as did all Hebrew high priests. Second, what the old high priest did simply typified what Christ in His coming would accomplish: atonement for sin. Then third, as we have God’s own oath, which we are told clearly in Hebrews 7:21-22, we know that our high priest is efficacious in his work for all time and eternity. We have thus not a daily repeated act, but a once for all atonement and an eternal standing before God. This is why we have an eternal security. If the doctrine of eternal security, which the reformed faith affirms, is denied, then in effect we are saying that Jesus Christ is no more efficacious in his atonement than the high priest was in what he did. That our salvation is not effectually accomplished, once and for all. Fourth, the consecration of our high priest is for evermore.

The end of the high priestly function in Israel has a curious history. Its greatest power in the beginning of its corruption came with the Maccabees. The Romans, on taking over Judea, helped further the corruption of the high priest while increasing its nominal powers. The unhappy fact was that more than a few people in Judea welcomed this corruption, because corruption in high places puts those men on a level with those beneath them. Many people find it easier to relate to someone as evil as themselves than to their betters.

In this respect, it is revealing to view the attitude of the Islamic people of Malay toward out Lord. The Islamic form of the word “Jesus,” is Isa. For some of these people, a sinless prophet such as Jesus means an effeminate man, and hence, in Malay, the name Isa is only given to girls, apparently on the assumption that when they are good, they are compelled to be good. Well, this is an interesting fact because it is a reversal of the whole moral order. Strength is associated with sin. We have a parallel exalting of the ugly over the beautiful as more forceful an important, as Dr. David Estrada Herrero of our staff has shown.

In one sphere after another, values in the non-Christian world are turned upside down. I don’t think it is fanciful to say that the stress on plainness and even ugliness in churches is related to this trend. This reversal of things in every sphere, but careful attention to and stress on beauty and glory and God’s requirements concerning worship go unheeded today. The emphasis on plainness and cheapness is entirely non-biblical. Some people seem to have an apocryphal book in their heads which they use to undermine scripture. The sad fact is that in Europe and in this country, magnificent church furnishings in some of the more beautiful churches, primarily Catholic and Episcopal, have gone into antique shops and newer items have replaced them, so that for awhile in the seventies and eighties, early eighties, one of the moneymaking areas of the antique business was to buy up the furnishings of ancient churches to sell them for interior decorations, and the new vain in architecture in some of these churches once given to a stress on beauty is one of starkness and ultra-modern design.

These verses deal with one article of clothing alone, and they represent beautiful and costly workmanship. At every point with respect to worship, we have a similar emphasis. All this is closely tied to the radical prohibition to blemished offerings to God. God cannot be given our second best, only our best. Anything else He declares is an act of contempt for him. But this is not all. What we give must cost us something. This is why, while deer were described as “clean” animals, they were not acceptable as a sacrifice because they were costless to us. No long-term work and effort went into such an offering as would if a lamb, or a calf, or a kid were offered. Gifts or sacrifices thus came out of the realm of work and production.

The work of engravers is mandated. More than a few times, we see skilled artisans associated with the construction of the tabernacle. The arts are closely linked to faith and at times, to worship. In verse 8, we see that the high priest’s girdle, or belt, is a work of art, and of costly material. God obviously sees no virtue in cheapness in things pertaining to His house and worship. All too long, men have tried to read all kinds of spiritual meanings, and allegories as well, into such plain words as those of our texts, which call for costly and beautiful workmanship. After the Babylonian captivity, God told Judea through the prophet Haggai, how He felt about their priorities when they went into costly homes and put cheapness into the temple. “Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, ‘Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts. Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD. Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.”

To be generous toward one’s self and to be cheap towards God brings judgment. Let us pray.

Thy word, O Lord, is truth, and thy word speaks to our every condition, to our need, to our sins, to our slothfulness, to everything. We thank thee for thy word. We thank thee that day by day, thy word corrects us and blesses us. Make us joyful therein. In Christ’s name, amen. Are there any questions now about our lesson?

Few areas of scripture have been more subjected to fanciful interpretation than that which we have been studying. All kinds of allegories have been read into our text and nothing said about the kind of workmanship God requires for everything connected with His service. Yes?

[Audience] Regarding your comment about churches in Europe, disposing of old art works and so forth, I was struck by the recent tour through the Kremlin. They have restored everything to its absolute ultimate beauty, all of the gold work, filigree, and furniture, and everything, tapestry, everything has been done exactly, it seems to be, exactly when it was originally put in there. It’s curious why they would preserve that part of their history and the churches in western Europe would not.

[Rushdoony] Well, this is been done because of the tourist value. The Soviet Union systematically destroyed some of the most beautiful churches in the Soviet Union, including Moscow, and the furnishings, the artwork, the icons, everything were subjected to the bulldozer. One prominent artist there dedicated himself to restoring those things, sometimes going to where the workmen were bulldozing a building and begging for something out of it, taking it home and restoring it. He has turned his apartment into a virtual museum of Russia’s past. It’s ironic that he is held in low regard by the western world, although a few prominent westerners have had him do their portraits, but there is an interesting article about this particular artist in the current Architectural Digest. Well, if there are no further questions, let us conclude with prayer.

Our Father, how great thou art. How marvelous thy ways. How beautiful and glorious thy creation. Forgive us our Father, for having turned so much of our lives in our little world into the ways of sin and ugliness. Grant that by thy spirit we become restorers, beginning with the restoration of men to thee and thy grace. To thy word, to thy mandate for us. And then the restoration and reconstruction of all things in terms of thy word. Bless us to this purpose. And now go in peace. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost bless you and keep you, guide and protect you this day and always. Amen.

End of tape.