Clothes Make the Man
Once again let me welcome the readers to parasha Tetzaveh. It begins in Exodus 27:20-30:10. In the last parasha, we read about the items being made for the Tabernacle. In this current reading, we'll see how YHVH dresses the Priests. But, first things first. YHVH tells them to bring pure pressed olive oil for the light. This olive oil had to be the purest of the pure. It could not contain particles or sediment of any kind. If you notice, it says Aaron and his sons were to tend it from evening to morning, not the other way around. Remember, we've said that YHVH'S days begin at evening, not at twelve o'clock midnight or at daybreak. See Genesis Chapter One, where it states it was evening and morning the first day, it was evening and morning the second day and so on. This seems strange to us at first. But think about how many things began in darkness and then came into light. The earth itself was dark and void until YHVH said, let their be light, seeds germinate in the dark and then grow up into the light and even you began in the darkness of your mother's womb, before you came out into light. The beginning of a new month emerges out of a darkened moon to a crescent of light. So maybe that thought is not as far reaching as we might think it is. Give it some thought. Ok, so now let's get on with the chosen attire:. These garments were to be for the glory of God and the splendor of Israel. YHVH chose the people who would tailor make these garments. They were wise hearted people whom YHVH had anointed especially to do this job. Sewing, now there's one job I know YHVH would never choose me to do. I hate sewing! For one thing, I can't get the hang of it. If I hem a pair of pants, I can just about guarantee you one leg will be shorter than the other and it will take me at least two tries to get them the same length.
So I stick to the simpler tasks, like sewing on a button. But only if it's a two hole button and not one of those four hole ones, they always mix me up as to which way to sew, right to left in the holes, or up and down, or a few stitches in each direction:. Ok, ok, back to the subject. The High Priest wore a total of eight vestments. This is counting his crown. During a certain time, he only wore the four solid white garments. This was on Yom Kippur when he went into the Most Holy Place. The other priests wore four white garments all the time. The garments were never allowed to be made from mixing wool and linen together. This is simply a picture of not mixing death and life together. The wool came from a living animal, whereas the linen came from a plant which was never alive like the animal. However, some people think their plants are alive and say they grow better when they talk to them. I've never had a house plant to live for me, even if I talked to it, I think I must have always gotten one of the deaf ones:. The High Priest wore what is called an ephod. This ephod sort of looked like an apron. It had two shoulder straps on it. On the shoulder straps contained two onyx stones (one on each shoulder) that had the names of the twelve tribes inscribed on them (6 on each side). They were written on the stones according to their birth order. This should remind you of the story of Joseph and how he sat his brothers down to eat in Egypt by their birth order. Attached to these straps was the Breastplate. This also contained the twelve stones on it, representing the twelve tribes. It was attached by gold rings to the shoulder straps with a blue thread and attached at the bottom of the waist of the ephod by the same manner. The Breastplate folded like a flap and inside the back of it was the Urim and the Thummim. When the High Priest (Kohen HaGadol) asked a question of YHVH, it is said the letters from the tribe's names would light up on the Breastplate and spell out the answer to him. The Urim and Thummim were believed to be two stones (lots) which were tucked inside the fold in the back of the Breastplate, it contained what they said was the unmentionable name of God on it. The word Urim comes from the word light and Thummim from the root word for completeness. When these two words are combined, you have 'complete light'. This was believed to have been what made the letters light up on the Breastplate, YHVH'S name, which is complete light. Next we see the robe made of all blue. It was to be all one piece, which was made with an extra sturdy neck.
I would say it was particularly made more sturdy there to hold up from being pulled over your head so many times. But that's my opinion, which "I believe" most of the time is correct:. Then on the hem of the robe we see pomegranate shaped tassels and bells being sewn on. They were sewn on alternately, a bell and a pomegranate, a bell then a pomegranate. There were seventy two bells and seventy two pomegranates. Those two numbers totaled come to a hundred and forty four. This should remind you of the 144,000 called out believers mentioned in Revelation. It all ties in with leadership, as Aaron was a leader, so will be the Messianics become the leadership. You didn't think you were learning all this Torah to go float on a cloud and play a harp for eternity did you:? Let me say that we've heard the story in the past, that Aaron had a rope tied around his waist. This supposedly was in case he died going into the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle. Supposedly in that case, they could pull him out by the rope, but that is just not true. Nowhere, even in all the commentaries I've ever read, does it mention such a thing. Where some people came up with this I'll never know! No Priest ever died going in there. In Exodus 28:35, it says these bells and pomegranates were put on the robe so the sound would be heard before YHVH, so the priest wouldn't die. YHVH built in safe guards for that. No rope around the waist was needed! The High Priest also wore a crown made of pure gold. Engraved upon it were the words; Holy Unto YHVH. It was tied to the turban with blue thread. Both Aaron and his sons were outfitted in a set of white linen garments. YHVH fitted them right down to their under breeches. Could these breeches that came from the waist to the thigh be the first pair of boxer shorts invented:? Now Moses is to have a consecration service. He is to pour oil over the heads of Aaron and his sons. Then Moses is to bring in a bullock and have them lay their hands upon the bullock. This was to purify them from their sins.
Then Moses was to kill the bull and put its blood upon the horns of the altar and pour the rest of the blood out beside the altar. Other parts of the bull were to be taken outside the camp and burned (the flesh, skin, & dung). Then next he was to take a ram and Aaron and his sons were to lay their hands on the ram. This blood was to be sprinkled all around the altar. The ram was to be cut in pieces and washed and the whole ram burned upon the altar. Then a second ram was taken and once again Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. After this ram was slain, the blood was taken by Moses and applied to the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand and the tip of their right big toe. Some of the blood was sprinkled all around the altar. Then some of that blood from the altar was mixed with anointing oil and sprinkled upon both Aaron and his sons, as well as their garments. After this, Moses still had to go through doing a wave offering with Aaron and his sons. This included certain parts of the ram, bread, matzah and a cake of oiled bread. Then YHVH had Moses to take the breast of the wave offering and the shoulder of the contribution offering from Aaron and his sons and wave it before Him. This was done to set a law from that time forward, those pieces were to be given to Aaron and his sons from the people's offerings as their personal allotment. After this, there was a seven day consecration period in which Moses would act as the High Priest. He would do the offerings during this seven day period. Aaron and his sons ate ram and bread for seven days. We overlook the fact it says for seven days Moses had to make atonement 'for the altar' in order to set it apart as holy also. So we see for seven days Moses had the office of the Kohen HaGadol (High Priest). Last in this parasha comes the Altar of Incense. This was not the altar where they offered up the meat offerings, nor even their drink offerings. This was the altar where only the sweet incense was burned. Aaron was to burn incense on it every morning and every evening. This represented the prayers of the people. It is said in commentaries, as there were two incense burnings each day, there were two miracles that occurred connected to it. One, the smoke always rose straight up, no matter how windy it might be. The second, the rain never put out the fire. So we've taken a look at how YHVH intends for the Priests to dress. How do you think He wants His priests of today (you and I) to dress? I don't believe it would be with our pants hanging down to our knees, or our blouses cut down to the navel. After all, you know what they say, clothes make the man! In this parasha, the clothes designer was YHVH himself! Calvin Klein, eat your heart out:.
So I stick to the simpler tasks, like sewing on a button. But only if it's a two hole button and not one of those four hole ones, they always mix me up as to which way to sew, right to left in the holes, or up and down, or a few stitches in each direction:. Ok, ok, back to the subject. The High Priest wore a total of eight vestments. This is counting his crown. During a certain time, he only wore the four solid white garments. This was on Yom Kippur when he went into the Most Holy Place. The other priests wore four white garments all the time. The garments were never allowed to be made from mixing wool and linen together. This is simply a picture of not mixing death and life together. The wool came from a living animal, whereas the linen came from a plant which was never alive like the animal. However, some people think their plants are alive and say they grow better when they talk to them. I've never had a house plant to live for me, even if I talked to it, I think I must have always gotten one of the deaf ones:. The High Priest wore what is called an ephod. This ephod sort of looked like an apron. It had two shoulder straps on it. On the shoulder straps contained two onyx stones (one on each shoulder) that had the names of the twelve tribes inscribed on them (6 on each side). They were written on the stones according to their birth order. This should remind you of the story of Joseph and how he sat his brothers down to eat in Egypt by their birth order. Attached to these straps was the Breastplate. This also contained the twelve stones on it, representing the twelve tribes. It was attached by gold rings to the shoulder straps with a blue thread and attached at the bottom of the waist of the ephod by the same manner. The Breastplate folded like a flap and inside the back of it was the Urim and the Thummim. When the High Priest (Kohen HaGadol) asked a question of YHVH, it is said the letters from the tribe's names would light up on the Breastplate and spell out the answer to him. The Urim and Thummim were believed to be two stones (lots) which were tucked inside the fold in the back of the Breastplate, it contained what they said was the unmentionable name of God on it. The word Urim comes from the word light and Thummim from the root word for completeness. When these two words are combined, you have 'complete light'. This was believed to have been what made the letters light up on the Breastplate, YHVH'S name, which is complete light. Next we see the robe made of all blue. It was to be all one piece, which was made with an extra sturdy neck.
I would say it was particularly made more sturdy there to hold up from being pulled over your head so many times. But that's my opinion, which "I believe" most of the time is correct:. Then on the hem of the robe we see pomegranate shaped tassels and bells being sewn on. They were sewn on alternately, a bell and a pomegranate, a bell then a pomegranate. There were seventy two bells and seventy two pomegranates. Those two numbers totaled come to a hundred and forty four. This should remind you of the 144,000 called out believers mentioned in Revelation. It all ties in with leadership, as Aaron was a leader, so will be the Messianics become the leadership. You didn't think you were learning all this Torah to go float on a cloud and play a harp for eternity did you:? Let me say that we've heard the story in the past, that Aaron had a rope tied around his waist. This supposedly was in case he died going into the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle. Supposedly in that case, they could pull him out by the rope, but that is just not true. Nowhere, even in all the commentaries I've ever read, does it mention such a thing. Where some people came up with this I'll never know! No Priest ever died going in there. In Exodus 28:35, it says these bells and pomegranates were put on the robe so the sound would be heard before YHVH, so the priest wouldn't die. YHVH built in safe guards for that. No rope around the waist was needed! The High Priest also wore a crown made of pure gold. Engraved upon it were the words; Holy Unto YHVH. It was tied to the turban with blue thread. Both Aaron and his sons were outfitted in a set of white linen garments. YHVH fitted them right down to their under breeches. Could these breeches that came from the waist to the thigh be the first pair of boxer shorts invented:? Now Moses is to have a consecration service. He is to pour oil over the heads of Aaron and his sons. Then Moses is to bring in a bullock and have them lay their hands upon the bullock. This was to purify them from their sins.
Then Moses was to kill the bull and put its blood upon the horns of the altar and pour the rest of the blood out beside the altar. Other parts of the bull were to be taken outside the camp and burned (the flesh, skin, & dung). Then next he was to take a ram and Aaron and his sons were to lay their hands on the ram. This blood was to be sprinkled all around the altar. The ram was to be cut in pieces and washed and the whole ram burned upon the altar. Then a second ram was taken and once again Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. After this ram was slain, the blood was taken by Moses and applied to the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand and the tip of their right big toe. Some of the blood was sprinkled all around the altar. Then some of that blood from the altar was mixed with anointing oil and sprinkled upon both Aaron and his sons, as well as their garments. After this, Moses still had to go through doing a wave offering with Aaron and his sons. This included certain parts of the ram, bread, matzah and a cake of oiled bread. Then YHVH had Moses to take the breast of the wave offering and the shoulder of the contribution offering from Aaron and his sons and wave it before Him. This was done to set a law from that time forward, those pieces were to be given to Aaron and his sons from the people's offerings as their personal allotment. After this, there was a seven day consecration period in which Moses would act as the High Priest. He would do the offerings during this seven day period. Aaron and his sons ate ram and bread for seven days. We overlook the fact it says for seven days Moses had to make atonement 'for the altar' in order to set it apart as holy also. So we see for seven days Moses had the office of the Kohen HaGadol (High Priest). Last in this parasha comes the Altar of Incense. This was not the altar where they offered up the meat offerings, nor even their drink offerings. This was the altar where only the sweet incense was burned. Aaron was to burn incense on it every morning and every evening. This represented the prayers of the people. It is said in commentaries, as there were two incense burnings each day, there were two miracles that occurred connected to it. One, the smoke always rose straight up, no matter how windy it might be. The second, the rain never put out the fire. So we've taken a look at how YHVH intends for the Priests to dress. How do you think He wants His priests of today (you and I) to dress? I don't believe it would be with our pants hanging down to our knees, or our blouses cut down to the navel. After all, you know what they say, clothes make the man! In this parasha, the clothes designer was YHVH himself! Calvin Klein, eat your heart out:.