So I’m just reading through the Old Testament these days,
trying to learn from the characters and their situations. There has been some amazing stuff: Amazing
deliverance from God, amazingly little faith from the Israelite people in the
midst of deliverance, amazing grace over and over again, and amazing
details. In these details is where I
found myself in mid-Exodus the other day.
I’ve never thought of God as a clothing designer, but you
hit Exodus 28 and you find out that He is.
And you find out whether He prefers boxers or briefs for his priests! Details, man!
In verses 3-5, God gives the general description of what
Moses should have made for Aaron and his sons:
“Tell all the skilled workers to whom I
have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for
his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. These
are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven
tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your
brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests. Have them use gold, and blue,
purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen.”
Now God had given wisdom “in such matters”
(as clothing) to skilled workers. If I
was God (excellent that I’m not!), I would have left it at that and let “the
Spirit move” these folks to make something nice. After all, they did have wisdom
in such matters. I’d be thinking, I’ve
got 66 books to tell the entire world that I love them, that I want them in
relationship with me, that I’m willing (and did) send my only Son to be punished
in their place for the wrongs they’ve done, that if they believe and trust in
me they will find rest for their souls – the rest they’ve been longing for.
Gonna be honest, I wouldn’t waste a whole chapter on priestly
garments. But God didn’t waste
the chapter.
The rest of the chapter is a detailed
description of the stones and metals to be used, the order of the stones on the
breastplate, the way that the ephod should connect to the breastplate, what the
tunic should be made of, oh, and don’t forget to put an opening in the middle
of the tunic for the head! (v.31). Duh. There is instruction on the turban, the
sash, the caps, even the undergarments (read Exodus 28:42-43 to find out if
they were boxer-like or brief-like!). In some cases, he explained why he wanted
it like he did (as a memorial to the Lord or to remind the priests of the 12
tribes of Israel, etc…), but often he did not give his reasoning.
Why did God spend so much time in the
details? Even as I began to write this, I wasn’t sure. But think about this: God is infinite. He is not constrained by tiredness, hunger,
time, ability, headaches – like we are. And
one of the big reasons that I overlook or delegate the details is because I JUST
CAN’T DO IT ALL. Ah-ha! That’s it: God
can do it all. He can run the universe, move storms to where he wants them, throw
large amounts of snow on the upper Midwest, name stars, put rulers in place,
take rules out of place, and provide for orphans all while also being
incredibly deep in the details. Put
boxers on my boys or they’ll die! (It really says that - go read Exodus 28:42-43!)
I love this God, don’t you?
