Exodus 28:29-30 the Breastplate of Righteousness

We judge situations with the lovingkindness and long suffering of the heart of God. His love covers a multitude of sins. Do not grieve  Holy Spirit.

God shows no partiality. The love of God in the salvation gifted to us in  Jesus Christ protects our hearts from being hardened. We live and abide in His righteousness, safe and secure.

Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

Incredibly, despite knowing many would reject Him, Jesus went willingly to the cross because He knew many would believe, and He offers forgiveness for our wandering hearts. Love compelled Him to pay the penalty for our sins (Isaiah 53:6) so that we could be made right with God. What a tremendous gift! First5

Gratitude grows from seeing with new eyes.

Advent, as with so many markers and celebrations on our spiritual journey, is too easily put in a box of expectations. We have it figured out. And when we begin there, we miss the new and the expanding (and yes, and sometimes unsettling and stretching) places where the sacred is alive and well. It’s just not where we expected it. Say, a manger in a stable…

Let’s take John O’Donohue’s reminder with us this week, “At Christmas, time deepens. The Celtic imagination knew that time is eternity in disguise. They embraced the day as a sacred space. Christmas reminds us to glory in the simplicity and wonder of one day; it unveils the extraordinary that our hurried lives conceal and neglect. We have been given such immense possibilities. We desperately need to make clearances in our entangled lives to let our souls breathe. We must take care of ourselves and especially of our suffering brothers and sisters.” SabbathMoments 

Exodus 28:29-30

29 “So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart, when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the Lord continually. 30 And you shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. So Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually. The New King James Version

Over his heart was a touching phrase that reminded the priest of his solemn responsibility. He represented the nation before the living God. Any lesser devotion merited divine judgment. 

The breastplate held the mysterious stones called the Urim and the Thummim. These transliterated Hebrew words mean “Lights” and “Perfections” (both superlative plurals). Together their names may mean “perfect knowledge” or a similar idea. It is not known how Aaron and his successors used these stones (if indeed they were stones). We do know that God instructed his priests in many ways. It is possible that these stones were meant to assure the priest that God would reveal His true judgment to him. Hence, the expression “to consult with the Urim and the Thummim” might mean presenting a matter before the Lord with Urim and Thummim in the breastplate, a sign that the priest confidently expected the Lord to resolve the issue. The NKJV Study Bible

The placement of the names of the tribes over the heart is both literal and symbolic. The literal bearing of the names speaks to the purpose of the priesthood and its significance for the well-being and prosperity of the people of Israel. 

The sanctuary contained the altar of incense, the lampstand, and the table for the bread of the Presence. The Urim and Thummin were two objects that, together, served as a means of discerning God’s will when Israel’s leaders were unable to do so. The Bible never describes the Urim and Thummim explicitly, and their exact use and form remain unknown. These items are not mentioned in Exodus 39, when the breastpiece is actually constructed. Faithlife Study Bible

The high priest had the names of the tribes, both on his shoulders and on his breast, which reminds us of the power and the love with which our Lord Jesus pleads for those that are his. He not only bears them up in his arms with almighty strength, but he carries them in his bosom with tender affection. What comfort is this to us in all our addresses to God! 

Urim and Thummim signify light and integrity. There are many conjectures what these were; the most probable opinion seems to be, that they were the twelve precious stones in the high priest’s breastplate. 

Now, Christ is our Oracle. By him God, in these last days, makes known himself and his mind to us, Hebrews 1:1, 2; John 1:18. He is the true Light, the faithful Witness, the Truth itself, and from him we receive the Spirit of Truth, who leads into all truth. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Leviticus 8:8 Then he put the breastplate on him, and he put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastplate.

Numbers 27:21 He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the LORD for him by the judgment of the Urim. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, he and all the children of Israel with him—all the congregation.”