UNPOLLUTED STONE
Exodus 20:24 An altar of earth
thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and
thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my
name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. 25 And if thou wilt make me
an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up
thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
God is Holy. When we press hard to make something
beautiful for Him and create something special it isn’t the object that
impresses God; it is our heart. David
wasn’t allowed to build the first temple because his hands were bloody from all
his years as a soldier. God was
impressed by his desire to build it but could not allow someone with his
violent past to do so. David provided
millions of dollars worth of gold, silver, bronze and precious gems for the
building but they all were unworked, uncut and unpolluted. Cleaner hands than his would build a house
for the ark of the covenant.
When it came time for Moses and
Aaron to build an altar, God understood that they would one day wish to build a
more permanent one for their sacrifices.
We should look at verse 25 closely because it is important. My late apostle always kept his car clean and
treated his office and the church he built the same way. Why?
Because they were a gift from God and he wanted God to know he was
appreciative of that gift. Israel, the
people of God, were saved by faith just as we are but the saving work of Jesus
had not yet taken place.
We are holy before God by Christ’s
sacrifice and when we do a work for God He sees Jesus in us and withholds
judgment. Since the holy work of Jesus
abides (lives) within us, God can abide within us. Jews were holy only if they kept the law perfectly
and nobody could ever fully keep the law.
A Jewish man once told me that the only time a Jew could feel truly
‘safe’ with God was on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Jesus died for us (our own Yom Kippur
Sacrifice) one time…forever (1 Peter 3:18).
His sacrifice was perfect and freed us from this body of flesh by
faith. Because we are eternally holy by
faith in the sacrifice of Christ, the Spirit of God is able to dwell in this
temple of our bodies. God’s Spirit did
not dwell in the Jews because their bodies were not perfected in Christ. Any work they did had to be made ceremonially
clean by ceremonial means before being accepted in God’s presence.
Since the bodies of the Jews were
not cleansed perfectly in Christ, the work they did was not perfect
either. A sacrifice had to be CEREMONIALLY
perfect to be accepted by God and if the altar was polluted the sacrifice was
polluted. The stones, if stones were to
be used, had to be holy, in the same state that God created them when He
created the earth. You could build a
fire pit out of stones, but not using dressed or man shaped stones. They had to be raw stones. In the same manner God would not allow the
stones that built the actual temple to be dressed (cut) at the site of the
temple because the temple SITE was holy.
They had to be perfectly measured and cut hundreds of miles away and
shipped to the site for assembly.
God will not accept or inhabit
polluted stones. The High Priests from
Aaron to Caiaphas (John 11:45) had to wear their ephod perfectly. It had to be clean, flawless in its
arrangement and each item had to be correct.
The High Priest wore two onyx stones as clasps over his shoulder and
each stone had the names of six of the tribes of Israel inscribed upon them. In this manner he carried Israel upon his
shoulders at all times. The breastplate
he wore had twelve stones upon it. Each
of those stones were engraved with a tribe name so Israel would always be upon
his heart. A final plate of pure gold
was tied to his hat and HOLY UNTO THE LORD was inscribed on it. When God saw those items, especially the
golden plate, He did not look further into the heart of the High Priest. At that point any sins or pollution in the
High Priest’s own heart were winked at and ignored for the sake of the office
he held.
This is why God did not strike down
Aaron in Numbers 12 though He struck Miriam with leprosy for her sin. He did not strike him down for creating a
golden calf in Exodus 32 either, but as soon as Moses removed his priestly
garments and gave them to Aaron’s son Eleazar, Aaron died. In spite of all his flaws and sins, God would
not punish him as long as he stood in the office of High Priest. When he died, his sins were covered because
of the works of the next High Priest, but his life ended. This continuing parade of High Priests
throughout Israel’s history prevented God from sending those who trusted in
blood sacrifice to Hell. The ceremonial
office with the ceremonial ‘forgiveness’ allowed God to set judgment aside until
Christ came and filled the actual office and through His blood brought REAL
salvation.
TABLES OF STONE
Exodus 24:12 And the Lord said
unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee
tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou
mayest teach them. 13 And Moses rose up,
and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
I would like to have seen the first
two stones God carved the ten commandments upon. Were they smooth or rough, perfect in their
straightness or with an organic flowing look?
We don’t know because Moses did not describe them other than to tell us
about the ten laws. Most pictures I have
seen show them flat on the bottom and curved on top. Some describe them as rectangular but rough
edged. At this time in history most
people wrote upon clay tablets because the soft clay was easy to inscribe and
would be hard and durable when dry.
Few used stone because of the work
involved inscribing it. Our God is also
Lord of the subatomic. He might have
used a figurative finger to inscribe the two tablets or He might have simply
released the molecular bonds of the stone where He wanted the words to
appear. Such an act would have released
great heat and light. That same heat and
light upon the mount of God caused Moses to say, “I exceedingly fear and
tremble (Hebrews 12:18-21).” Jewish
tradition states the stone tablets were rectangular and that the letters were
bored completely through the tablets so they could never be worn down. The tablets are said to be made of sapphire
stone or lapis lazuli. When I consider
that my watch has a sapphire crystal over the hands because of its hardness and
strength, it makes me want to see the originals even more.
You have to wonder if God’s tablets
were smoother or rougher than the ones Moses carved. Few things in nature are alike, people,
trees, rocks, etc. God seems to revel in
diversity and I can imagine the original stone tablets were each unique and
peculiar to God in some manner.
Ultimately those broken God given stones were placed within the ark of
the covenant along with the unbroken stones cut by Moses. I would have loved to see them.
HEART FULL OF STONES
Exodus 28:17 And thou shalt set
in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a
sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. 18 And the
second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. 19 And the third row
a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst. 20 And the fourth row a beryl, and an
onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings. 21 And the
stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to
their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall
they be according to the twelve tribes.
We normally consider someone to be
sensitive if they have a tender heart and not a heart of stone; in fact Ezekiel
11:19 and 36:26 says that God will take our heart of stone and give us a heart
of flesh. In the case of the High Priest
however it is a matter of remembrance and not actual heart. He is to hold each individual tribe in his
heart as if they are his children and he is their father. The stones are arranged in four rows of three
stones which represents the complete authority of God and His triune nature.
There are four directions, North,
South, East and West; four seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. The four winds blow throughout the earth and
four faces upon the cherubim who carry the throne of God (Ezekiel 1). Three represents the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. It also represents prophet,
priest and king. The High Priest stood
in Christ’s position until they were replaced by Jesus our Great High Priest
after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 5:6, 10, 6:20, 7:11, 17,
21). In that position Christ is prophet,
priest and king over all the earth.
There has been some question
whether the twelve tribes include Levi or if Joseph is represented by Manasseh
and Ephraim and Levi is left out. I
believe there is good reason to understand the twelve tribes represented are
the very twelve sons born to Jacob which include Levi and Joseph. The High Priest is expected to pray for all
Israel and that includes Levi too.
Remember, God does things in many levels and the stones used and their
layout means something. It is the honor
of kings to search out a matter (Proverbs 25:2). Keep searching. When you study ask yourself what significance
the numbers mean or what do the names mean.
It’s important and most Bible helps don’t translate proper names so you
have to be diligent.
STONE OF WISDOM
Exodus 31:1 The Lord said to
Moses, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the
tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability
and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic
designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting,
and in carving wood, to work in every craft. 6 And behold, I have appointed
with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given
to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you
See, I have called…place your name here…and filled
him with the Spirit of God, ability, intelligence, knowledge and all
craftsmanship. Sometimes in your life
God tells your pastor or church leader what your calling is and sometimes He
just tells you. Moses had a task to
perform but he couldn’t do it himself.
Bezalel the son of Uri and Hur was a master craftsman. God did not like tool marks marring the
stones used for ephods or in the sanctuary.
They had to be flawless and express the beauty of God and His
holiness. Moses was a statesman, priest,
prophet and lawgiver. He had an ear to hear so God could speak to
him and lead him while he lead Israel.
Sadly, he had a temper and was impulsive too which kept him from the
promised land until after his death. In
spite of those flaws God said he was more meek than any man (Numbers 12:3)
which allowed him to walk without pride or haughtiness.
Moses had a flaw that we should all
be aware of and take care for. He
misread a situation and disobeyed God while trying to defend God. There are churches today that preach hatred
and anger to those of other religions.
They seem to be defending God rather than allowing God to defend
Himself. Even in the Old Testament when
God ordered His people to destroy certain nations down to their last man, woman
and child, it wasn’t because God was unable to act against wayward souls. Israel was tasked with destroying those with
flawed soresh (souls). Noah had a
perfect soresh and was considered tamim (perfect) in all his generations. That means he had no demonic or angelic
pollution in his family tree. Satan had
not polluted them as he had so many others.
When we today try to live our lives
by Old Testament standards of the Law (Torah), we fail to acknowledge the great
work of Christ to draw all mankind to Him.
Jesus does not want the Muslims and Hindus of the world destroyed, He
wants them converted. You do not draw
souls to the love of God by murder, anger and outrage. You draw them by love. False religions, homosexuality, rampant
sexuality and sin are all attacks against God and His Holiness, but they are
challenges to be met with love, grace, mercy and overcome by the power and
miraculous life changing ability of God.
When we respond in fear, anger or outrage we fail God. He has placed great abilities within us and
expects us to discover them and embrace them for His kingdom.
It’s obvious from Exodus 6:30 that
Moses had no faith in himself or his speaking abilities. In the beginning of his ministry he leaned
heavily on his brother but Aaron lacked Moses’ integrity. Shortly after Moses first encounters with
Pharaoh you don’t hear Aaron speaking again.
The Spirit of God rose up within him and he was greater than any other
because of it. That same Spirit and
anointing did not apply to carpentry and gem cutting. Joshua and Caleb were great men of war but
they were never the statesmen that Moses was.
Each of us have the gifts God has placed in our lives and should stick
to them.
Notice what God says in the passage
above: …I have called…I have filled …I
have appointed. GOD CHOSE. GOD EMPOWERED. GOD MADE THE CONNECTIONS. Moses never had a labor pool problem. God had perfected the lively stones who were
supposed to work with him. Because he
heard God he knew who the workers in his midst were. His father-in-law came and offered Moses some
good advice because that was his gift.
He taught him how to delegate the load of providing counsel to the
nation to others of wisdom. Moses taught
the leaders and the leaders taught the people.
Has God called you to be a lively stone in His kingdom? Has He called you to a place of wisdom?
I recognize my strengths…writing,
counseling, preaching, praying…but I also recognize my weaknesses. I am not a financial genius or the most
empathic of saints. Those aren’t gifts
God has given me and I don’t really see Him building them in at this stage of
my life. My prayer is that God will put people
with those gifts in my life and link them to what God is doing in me so the
work of God will not suffer for their lack.
You cannot do it all. There is no shame in doing your part and
giving honor to someone else for doing theirs.
Giving them honor for their gifts does not lessen you in your
gifts. Bezalel will be honored forever
in the Torah for his skill as will Moses but they could never have done each
other’s job. Give honor where honor is
due. Give substance to those who bless
you in profound ways. Let your gifts
make room for you and let God knit you together with others in love. If we do this we will not have lack and every
task will get done. What would have
happened if Bezalel had said, “I don’t want to do that kind of stuff. I want to sing in the choir!” We need to know what God expects and be the
best He has made us. True fulfillment
comes from the knowledge that we will one day hear, “Well done thou good and
faithful servant.”
DISEASED STONES
Leviticus 14:39 And the priest
shall come again the seventh day, and shall look: and, behold, if the plague be
spread in the walls of the house; 40 Then the priest shall command that they
take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an
unclean place without the city:
Leviticus 14 is full of laws for
cleansing lepers. Science would have you
believe that leprosy is strictly a medical condition like AIDS or the flu but
my Bible lets me know that they are all spiritual conditions that lead to
medical ones. Israel had remarkably
fewer diseases and physical defects than any other nation when they were
serving God faithfully. His promise was
that he would not put those diseases upon them as He did to Egypt (Exodus
15:26). For those who serve God He is
the Lord that HEALS! I have read Exodus
15:26 in five different English translations and the Hebrew and it still reads
the same. God PUTS the diseases upon
those who refuse to seek and serve Him.
It is one of His ways to chasten us.
The other day Pastor Rick Warren
said that a Christian who refuses to acknowledge God’s laws and declares their
intention to keep on sinning in spite of God’s clear and unambiguous word
should be thrown out of the church until they repent. He quoted 1 Corinthians 5:5 in this
matter. Why would a loving and gracious
God want His own children to be cast out of the assembly until their flesh is
troubled and possibly even destroyed?
That seems more than drastic, it seems mean spirited and unloving
doesn’t it?
Not at all.
In the United States the AIDS
epidemic arrived through homosexuals and drug abusers. These people in turn shared their dirty
needles and sexual practices to others and transmitted the disease to those others. In many cases men cheated on their wives
with other women or even other men and gave their righteous wives the terrible
diseases. In some cases it worked the
other way and cheating wives gave the disease to their honorable husbands. This caused many women to bear children who
carried a deadly disease from birth. As
a country we chose to blame nature for this disease rather than sexual
practices that went completely against God’s plan for our lives. We have turned the homosexual community from
the pariah of sexual sin to a protected group through politics and slick
advertisements.
God warned us that He would allow
diseases (note the word itself ‘dis=against’ and ‘ease=comfort’ or against
comfort) to come upon us if we refused to obey Him fully and completely. In other words, God will take away your
comforts if you refuse to serve and obey Him, especially those who bear His
name and publically declare to serve Him.
These diseases are not to destroy us but because we have refused to
serve Him. He is the God who heals us
and awaits our return to do just that.
The reason we are to separate ourselves from those who have committed
these sins is so their spiritual and natural consequences do not fall upon
us. If we stand with those who commit
these sins, God says it is as if we are a co-partaker of these sins ourselves.
Too many Americans and probably
those from other nations as well believe that God is the great cosmic lover who
cares for us so much that He would not even allow difficulty to come against
us. This foolish idealistic belief in
God is why so many feel they can look up to heaven and say, “Forgive me Father
for I have sinned,” and then go right back to their sinning. While it’s true that you can commit terrible
sins and through repentance be cleansed of your guilt, there will be a price to
pay afterward, especially if you do not actually cease.
In Israel, leprosy first attacked
those who ceased faithfully serving God and then spread to the very stones of
their homes and their clothing. It
started small and spread, just like sin.
If you stayed in close proximity to them the disease would spread to you
as well. Lepers were required to cover
themselves and cry “unclean” when anyone was around. They were also put without the camp. Mankind has a powerful desire to blame
someone else for their hardships and sins.
We never want to take responsibility for our own actions but God insists
that we do. You cannot avoid the
judgment of God for your sins whether you are saved or not. If not, you are judged for all your sins and
if you are saved, you are chastened as a disobedient child. This is why God said, “Come out from among
them and be ye separate (2 Corinthians 6:17).”
Beloved, be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that will he reap (Galatians 6:7)! Sow holiness and righteousness beloved.
Bishop J
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