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CHURCH LETTER
` Behold . . . . . . . '
As readers of our Church Letters know the Psalms are divided into Five Books, each one corresponding to the Five Books of Torah and their underlying message. Torah, which the Greeks named `Penteteuch', reveals the Word, whilst the Psalms reveal the heart of the Word and are therefore personal. The title of this Letter comes from the opening words of Psalm 133, and it is this single word `behold' which opens our ears and understanding for it breaks into our senses in order to draw our attention to something important. The Father sends His Word, and in this word `behold' the Holy Spirit quickens it to our ears and senses in order to bring understanding and life. Psalm 133 is one of the fifteen `Psalms of Degrees' and is often used to extol the virtue of harmony between people, and this is commendable, but if it is read and applied in isolation from the other fourteen the Word being sent by the Father to His children is missed.
The fifteen Psalms of Degrees are broken into five distinct groups of three Psalms each, and Psalm 133 is the second Psalm of the last group of three Psalms. This Psalm opens - as do all the other fourteen Psalms of Degrees - with the words, `A Song of Degrees'. The Hebrew for the word `Song' is `Shir', denoting, as the title says, that it is a Psalm to be sung, for singing always has a sense of joy and praise within the words - as will be seen here in these fifteen Psalms. All of the five groups of these fifteen Psalms of Degrees contain three Psalms which follow the same pattern. The first Psalm of each group reveals distress; the second, trust, and the third, the blessings that flow from that trust in the midst of their distress. Again with our understanding of Scriptural numeracy we see that these numbers speak their own distinctive message over and above the narrative of these Psalms: The total number of `fifteen' Psalms speaks of the fulness of God's Grace to those who are singing these Songs of Degrees in the midst of distress, `My Grace is sufficient for you'. This message continues in the formation of the five groups of three Psalms - His Grace in the midst of distress leads to the Blessing of Resurrection Life!
And so at last we come to Psalm 133, the second of the last group of the Songs of Degrees, and we are told this Song is one of trust in unity, but first a reading of Isaiah 38.20 shows that these fifteen Psalms were compiled by King Hezekiah:
" The LORD was ready to save me; therefore we will sing my songs to the
stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the House of the LORD. "
For the setting of these fifteen Psalms we read in 2 Kings 20:1-11: `in those days Hezekiah was sick unto death.' The prophet Isaiah came to him with a message calling him to repentance, which led Hezekiah to turn his face to the wall, praying to the LORD, saying:
" `I beseech You, O LORD, remember now how I have walked with You in
truth and with a perfect heart, and I have done that which is good in Your
sight', and Hezekiah wept sore. "
Isaiah then told Hezekiah the LORD had heard his prayer and would heal him, `and on the third day you shall go up to the House of the LORD'. Remember here the five groups of three Psalms: The first, distress; the second, trust, and the third, blessing: (v6)
" And I will add unto your days fifteen years, and I will deliver you
and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. "
Then Hezekiah asked: `What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me?'. And so we come to the naturally impossible movement of the shadow of the sun moving backwards on the sundial: (v 11)
" And Isaiah the prophet cried out to the LORD, and He brought the
shadow ten degrees backwards on the dial of Ahaz. "
Psalm 133 starts with the words, `. . . of David'. which brings the question: Why when compiling these fifteen Psalms did Hezekiah bring David into his thinking? Furthermore, why was David brought into this last group of three Psalms and placed as the second Psalm which speaks of trust in the midst of distress, for trust will bring blessing. This takes us back to 2 Samuel 19 which tells of David's grief over the rebellion and finally the death of his son Absolom, and how in the midst of his distress David was still striving for unity through forgiveness to the people who had gone over to Absolom's side in his ambition to usurp his father's place on his throne. That trust for unity in the midst of distress was rewarded when we read that: `David won over the hearts of all the men of Judah as though they were the heart of one man' (v14). The Kingdom was secure!
Hezekiah, on his sickbed, near death and childless, was in great distress over his divided kingdom which was threatened by the armies of the king of Assyria. As David before him, he was in deep distress, but was led by Isaiah to trust that in his distress he would be granted fifteen more years, during which time his son would be born to secure the House of David, according to the LORD's word to David. Hezekiah's one desire during the whole length of his reign was for unity for the whole kingdom of Israel. 2 Chronicles 30 tells of his continuing work of striving for the unity of the whole kingdom and of his trust for a son who would unify his kingdom:
" And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the House of the LORD in Jerusalem to keep the Passover unto the LORD God of Israel . . . . So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel . . . . that they should come to keep the Passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem . . . . So the proclamation passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even to Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. Nevertheless many of Asher and Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. Also in Judah the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the LORD . . . . So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there was not the like in Jerusalem. "
And so Psalm 133 celebrates and gives thanks to the LORD for His faithfulness in giving Hezekiah fifteen more years, trusting God that not only would Judah be spared the onslaught of the Assyrian armies but that he would be raised from his sickbed, and as fifteen years were added to his life there came the certainty that a son would be born to him who would fulfil his great desire for a unified Kingdom of Israel. Hezekiah, and David before him, longed for their people to be as the heart of one man. But that was not to be during the times of David and Hezekiah for they were speaking and working towards a time yet to come. We see this longing beautifully expressed in the words of verse 3 of this Psalm:
" (It is like) as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended on
the mountains of Zion, for there the LORD commanded blessings,
even life for evermore. "
There is only one dew that forms in the warm summer months in Israel. The spiritual message of this Psalm lies not in the natural dew falling on Hermon, but in the fact that there is only one dew which falls on Hermon in the north - the northern tribes of Israel - and on the mountains of Zion - the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The message of Psalm 133 is that with unity the LORD's blessings flow with everlasting life, speaking of the one heart of both David and Hezekiah and pointing to the one heart of the Messiah Jesus for His people and His longing that in their distress they will find that trust and enter into the LORD's blessing - true unity with their Messiah Jesus! Verse 2 speaks of:
" . . . the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard,
even Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments. "
For an understanding of the full beauty of those words we turn to chapter 28 of the Book of Exodus, and to the anointing of Aaron and his sons to enable them to minister to the LORD `in the priest's office'. Verse 2 tells us of the garments of the high priest, that, `You
shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother for glory and for beauty'. Verse 3 continues, `. . . that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me in the priest's office'. Moving on to verse 6 we read, `And they shall make an ephod of gold, of blue and of purple, of scarlet and fine twisted linen, the work of a skilful weaver'. The word `ephod' has a meaning of `to bind, to hold in place something'. In this case, to bind the breastplate in place on the high priestly garments. Verse 9 continues with the placing of `two onyx stones upon which were engraved the names of the children of Israel', six names on each of the two stones, then to be placed upon the shoulders of the ephod, that is, to bind them upon the holy garments, as recorded in verse 12 As this is a Church Letter space restricts us to the spiritual truths seen in Aaron's garments of Psalm 133, and we do not intend to comment on all priestly garments. We therefore move on to verses 15-19 of Exodus 28:
" And you shall make the Breastplate of Judgement with skilled work . . . . .
Foursquare it shall be doubled . . . , and you shall set in it settings of stones,
even four rows of stones . . . And the stones shall be with the names of the
children of Israel, twelve according to their names . . . (and) that the Breast-
plate be not loosed from the ephod. And Aaron shall bear the names of the
children of Israel in the Breastplate of Judgement upon his heart when he goes
into the Holy Place as a memorial before the LORD continually. "
Verse 30 concludes this shortened description of the high priestly garments:
" And you shall put in the Breastplate of Judgement the Urim and the
Thummim, and they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goes in before
the LORD. And Aaron shall bear the judgement of the children of Israel
upon his heart before the LORD continually. "
And finally verses 31 and 32 tell us:
" And you shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. And there shall be
a hole in the top of it, in the midst of it. It shall have a binding of woven
work round the hole, as it were the hole of a collar that it be not rent. "
These brief listings of the holy garments of the high priest finally take us to the Urim and Thummim. First we note that they were not told to make these two stones, for as all the high priestly garments were holy and for his glory and beauty, no human hands other than those of the anointed skilled workers touched them. So too these two stones within the Breastplate of Judgement were no ordinary stones picked up out of the dust of the earth. They were precious stones formed out of the depth of the earth, that is, precious jewels - seen in the word-meaning of Urim and Thummim as `Light and Perfection', that is, judgement is brought to the Perfect Light. There is nothing hidden in the judgement of the LORD for the children of Israel, and so the stone drawn out of the Breastplate of Judgement would reveal a holy, righteous and perfect judgement by the anointing upon it. As to whom among the children of Israel were being judged, Scripture does not say. Could the answer be seen in the two onyx stons set in the shoulder straps of the ephod upon which were engraved their names? Directly below them in the Breastplate of Judgement lay the Urim and Thummim awaiting the oil of anointing being poured down over Aaron's head, anointing the righteous stone whilst leaving the other stone in judgement.
It is well known that the casting of lots was common practice in ancient times, with the use of black and white stones for judgement or direction. However there is nothing in Scripture that implies that the Urim and Thummim were black and white, for those practices were pagan traditions and would have no place in the LORD's judgements for the children of Israel! The high priestly garments were of one piece and nothing unholy would be within those holy garments. Reading again Psalm 133 we see that the precious ointment (of anointing) upon the head of Aaron flowed down, `upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments'. This anointing of Aaron was no mere smearing of oil upon his forehead with a finger but a pouring of the precious oil upon his head. The anointing oil ran down over Aaron's head and beard and continued down the ephod and into the pouch of the Breastplate of Judgement, anointing the Urim and Thummim which lay within it. Aaron, when drawing out the stone of Judgement, would have drawn out the one with the anointing oil upon it - a precious stone glistening with the oil of the LORD's judgement, leaving the unanointed stone in the darkness of the pouch.
To digress for a moment: We see this in its fulness in Matthew 26 just before the Passover meal, after which He would offer Himself as the final Passover Sacrifice:
" While Jesus was in Bethany . . . . . . a woman came to Him with an
alabaster jar of precious oil, which she poured on His head. "
This provoked an indignant cry from His disciples at the apparent costly waste:
" Aware of this, Jesus said to them . . . . `She has done a beautiful thing to Me'. "
By her act this unnamed woman, without doubt signifying the work of the Holy Spirit, anointed Jesus as High Priest - not of the priestly Aaronic line but after the order of Melchizedek - ready for Him to minister unto the LORD the precious Sacrifice of Himself, and Psalm 110 reveals the depth and beauty of the act of this unnamed woman.
There is a clear message in the high priestly garments: The Breastplate of Judgement, bound on to the ephod and containing within it the Urim and Thummim, was solely concerned with the children of Israel - and as seen in Psalm 133 (which corresponds with the Book of Deuteronomy) the blessing of `life evermore' is to be found when `brothers dwell together in unity'. There is no judgement in this Psalm for the anointing oil falls upon both precious jewels when unity brings forth eternal blessing, even life evermore! This was the longing of both David and Hezekiah, as seen in this Psalm, for it points to Israel's true High Priest, Jesus their Messiah, Who carries on His heart the names of the children of Israel when He makes intercession for His people in the Heavenly Holy Place! Soon after crossing the River Jordan Israel lost sight of the unity seen in the high priestly garments, and Scripture reveals Israel turning to pagan use of the ephod, which quickly became a form of talisman, something to turn to for guidance or even security in the possession of it!
Whenever the ephod is mentioned after they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, it is always separate from the high priestly garments . . . no mention of the Breastplate of Judgement with its twelve stones upon which were engraved the names of the children of Israel . . . no mention of the onyx stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod. The precious stones of the Urim and Thummim now give way to the casting of lots, as seen in the pagan tribes around them. The ephod had become an object, a talisman, and so the prophets were raised up through whom the Word of the LORD came - and they were largely ignored! No longer were the Urim and Thummim contained in the Breastplate of Judgement and so Israel proclaimed its own judgement. The high priestly garments were lost in the Babylonian onslaught and captivity - but they were not lost forever! Now they are worn by another more Righteous High Priest Who ministers in the Heavenly Temple! Jesus, Israel's Messiah, carries on His shoulders and upon His heart the names of the children of Israel when wearing the High Priests garments. As He ministers in that Heavenly Temple He holds in His hands the Urim and Thummim, both glistening with the anointing oil and offering Life for evermore!
We can also see from many other parts of Scripture that the ephod in the form of a linen garment was worn by members of the priestly order when working at their priestly duties, but in those cases there is no mention of the Breastplate of Judgement or of the precious stones on the shoulders for those pieces of the priestly garments were for the high priest alone. It is also apparent that the Urim and Thummim had become merely two ordinary stones for the purpose of casting lots. However we would mention the occasion recorded in 2 Samuel 6 where David - of the tribe of Judah and King of Israel - when bringing up the Ark of God to Jerusalem danced before the LORD wearing a linen ephod (a priestly garment), after which he sacrificed Burnt Offerings and Fellowship Offerings as a priest before the Ark of the LORD. Although there is no mention of the Breastplate of Judgement on his ephod it would seem that David had an understanding that he was a Priest/King - not of the Aaronic order but of the order of Melchizedek - now called to minister to the LORD.
Psalm 110 clearly reveals this:
" The LORD said to my Lord, `Sit at My right hand . . . . . . The LORD
has sworn and will not change His mind. `You are a priest for ever in
the order of Melchizedek'. "
There is also an implied suggestion that this was the reason for his wife Michal despising him as he danced before the LORD - she, a king's daughter and a king's wife, watched her husband apparently demeaning himself in a lowly priestly linen ephod! However we must move on.
Hezekiah and David before him heard the cry of their Heavenly High Priest, and they longed for that unity which He alone would accomplish, which He promised through the prophet Ezekiel: (Ezekiel 37:15-23 )
" The Word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, `Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him'. Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, `Ephraim's stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him'. Join them together into one stick so that they will become one stick in your hand. When your countrymen ask you, `Won't you tell us what you mean by this?' say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph - which is in Ephraim's hand - and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah's stick, making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in My hand'. Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on and say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offences, for I will save them from all their sinful backslidings, and I will cleanse them. They will be My people, and I will be their God'. "
David and Hezekiah's longings are totally fulfilled in Israel's High Priest, Jesus!
Selah!
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