Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 31:18

18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

It might be easy to forget, all of the last seven chapters has been Moses receiving instructions from the Lord back up in Mount Sinai. He had already gone up once to retrieve the law, brought it back down to the Israelites, and was then called back up. Because the Israelites had accepted the first set of instructions, they were to be rewarded with the second. This was not a quick visit to the mountain either. We were told previously that Moses was in mount for 40 days and 40 nights.

From what we’ve already read it is clear that the Lord showed Moses the appearance of the tabernacle and all of its parts in a vision. It also seems that He verbally gave the dimensions and description of it all. Not only this, but in today’s verses we hear that God wrote the same information on two tables of stone with His very finger. Thus, Moses had received the information in triplicate, to ensure that everything would be done correctly.

Unfortunately, even while Moses was receiving the instructions that would allow God to dwell in harmony amongst the Israelites, they were rapidly diverging from the Lord down at the base of the mountain. We will hear about this in detail in the next chapter’s opening verses. This moment seems to be an allegory for all the world, where people are divided between those up at the summit seeking the spiritual and those down in the earth seeking the carnal. Let us keep that dichotomy in mind when we read what transpires when the two are reunited.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 28:17-21

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.

The face of the breastplate would be covered with twelve precious stones. They would be four rows of three stones, and each would be inscribed with the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. We were already told that each priest would bear the twelve names upon his shoulders, six on each side engraved in a single onyx stone, and now all of them again on the chest, but here each carved into its own unique jewel.

There may be some symbolism in this. Having a cluster of names on each shoulder could mean having a broad sense of the burden for the work that the priest must perform for each tribe. The work for the Danite would be indistinguishable from the work for a Benjaminite. Each would be part of the same mass of labor, and so, too, their names could be massed together, six on each shoulder. But the tribes were not to be lumped together in such a way upon the heart. Twelve unique stones on the chest suggests having a unique and individual love for each tribe, the priest being able to appreciate their separate roles within the whole.

As for the types of stone that are described, some of them are assumed my modern scholars to be incorrectly interpreted. For example, there is no evidence that these ancient people would have known of the diamond, nor that they would have had the technology to etch a name into it. It therefore seems highly likely that a different stone was meant.

I have to assume that each stone was not chosen at random. If a sardius was selected for Reuben, I assume there was something in the nature of the sardius that was seen as particularly fitting for the nature, role, and destiny of Reuben within ancient Israel. There are several commentaries that suggest what those connections might have been, but I do not have the background to know which ones are most credible, so for now I will content myself with the opinion that the connections do exist.