（出28）最宝贵的衣服: 归主为圣

（出28）最宝贵的衣服: 归主为圣

我妈妈给儿女们做过很多衣服，有些现在还在，她去世后我不舍得穿了。我太太不太做衣服，但我女儿小小年纪就感兴趣学针织。

出埃及记28章是圣经里很特殊的，比较传统的女生可能喜欢看，因为这一章讲了很多做衣服的事。我们看到一套圣经里最宝贵的衣服，按穿戴顺序(参考：出29：5,6；利8：7-9），有

  1.  细麻内裤（出28：42）,
  2.  杂色细麻内袍（出28：39）,
  3. 绣 花 的 手 工 腰 带（出28：39），
  4. 蓝色羊毛外袍（出28：31）（袍 子 周 围 底 边 上 用 蓝 色 ， 紫 色 ， 朱 红 色 线 作 石 榴 。 在 袍 子 周 围 的 石 榴 中 间 有 金 铃 铛 (出28：33)）；
  5. 以弗得围裙（出28：6）（用金 线 和 蓝 色 ， 紫 色 ， 朱 红 色 线 ， 并 捻 的 细 麻做成，左右肩带上各有一块宝石，各刻着六个以色列儿子的名字）,
  6. 连着以弗得围裙的胸牌（出28：15）（材料同上，上有十二种宝石，各刻一个以色列儿子的名字）, 胸牌内藏有有乌陵土明，用来寻求主的旨意（出28：30），
  7. 细 麻 布  冠 冕（出28：39）,
  8. 冠冕上有金牌, 上书 归主为圣（出28：36）。

这些衣物的做工很精致。关于（出28:6）“他 们 要 拿 金 线 和 蓝 色 ， 紫 色 ， 朱 红 色 线 ， 并 捻 的 细 麻 ， 用 巧 匠 的 手 工 作 以 弗 得 ”,  从Rashi解经可以看到，以弗得的每一根线都是28根线分成四股复合线再拧成的超级复合线。其中有六根麻线夹上一根金线拧成的一股线，六根蓝色的羊毛线夹上一根金线拧成的一股线，有六根紫色的羊毛线夹上一根金线拧成的一股线，还有六根红色羊毛线夹上一根金线拧成的一股线。四股复合线再拧成一股超级复合线。

这套衣服是大祭司亚伦穿着侍奉造物主的，去世前传给儿子继承（民20：26）。

新约说基督徒是祭司，（彼前 2:9）   “惟 有 你 们 是 被 拣 选 的 族 类 ， 是 有 君 尊 的 祭 司”，那么我们从大祭司亚伦的穿戴能学到些什么？

  1. 乌陵土明靠近心脏的中心地位，启示我们寻求主的旨意来指导生活。基督徒的人生观是基督式人生，即人生来自造物主，在世为受差遣，但每个人受差遣的具体任务不同，同一个人不同阶段的任务也不同，所以需要寻求主的旨意，才能完成此生的目的。
  2. 宝石上刻着以色列十二儿子的名字，启示我们把属主的子民看成一家人那样的整体。
  3. 归主为圣的金牌冠冕，启示我们从为自己而活的世人中分别出来, 我们是专门属于造物主的，活着的唯一目的是为了侍奉祂，不管是洗碗，改作业，写报告，好像是为了人做的，但根本上是为了完成造物主在这些特定情况下给我们的任务。
  4. 以弗得的复合线的成分可以启发我们，造物主把每个归主为圣的个人分别安置在不同的群体里，但又是一起配合为主做工的。每个超级复合线包含有四种不同色彩的复合线，是红蓝的四种组合： 白（麻）线（无红无蓝），红（毛）线（有红无蓝），蓝（毛）线（无红有蓝），紫（毛）线（有红有蓝）。这可以代表四种人，具体应用按红蓝所发表的可以有无数变化，例如如果红代表行动能力，蓝表示书本知识，则我的群体对应于能读书而不会干活的蓝色复合线。从政治倾向来说，如果红表示共和党，蓝表示民主党，那么我的群体对应于对两者都不喜欢的白色复合线。但我是属主的子民，所以实际上对应于这个六根白麻线的群体中的那第七根金线，与位于紫毛线群体，红毛线群体，蓝毛线群体中的第七根金线反而是同一的，都是归主为圣的，都与头上写这些字的金牌是用相同材料造成的。

让我们作那金线，不管政治背景如何，身居那个群体，都一起寻求造物主的旨意，行走归主为圣的人生路。

（附：我女儿13岁时为这篇文章所作的英文翻译：）

Exodus 28: Tetzaveh –  Holy to the L-rd / The Gold String / The Most Precious Clothes

By the daughter of Mijiale, based on a writing in Chinese by her dad Mijiale

My grandmother made many clothes for her children. Some of them are still around today. They were too precious for my father to wear after my grandmother’s death. My mother does not make clothes often, but I have taken an interest in certain crafts such as knitting.

Exodus 28 is very special in the Bible. Conservative/traditional females may like this passage because this chapter has a lot about making clothes. We see the most precious set of clothes in the Bible. In the order of donning (cf Exodus 29:5,6; Leviticus 8:7-9), they are:

  1. Linen undergarments (Exodus 28:42)
  2. Woven linen tunic (v. 39)
  3. Embroidered sash (v. 39)
  4. Blue robe of the ephod (v. 31) “Make pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet yarn around the hem of the robe, with gold bells between them” (v. 33).
  5. Apron-like Ephod (v. 6) “Make the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen—the work of skilled hands… Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel in the order of their birth—six names on one stone and the remaining six on the other” (v. 6, 9, 10, 13, 14).
  6. Breastplate (connected to the Ephod) (v. 15) (same materials as above; 12 gemstones on it, engraving one of the names of Israel’s sons on each gemstone); inside the Breastplate, Urim v’Tumim are hidden, to seek G-d’s decree (v. 30)
  7. Linen turban (v. 39)
  8. Gold headplate (on turban) reading “Holy to the L-rd” (v. 36)

These items of clothing were made intricately. Again, “Make the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen—the work of skilled hands” (v. 6). It can be seen from Rashi’s interpretation of this passage that each strand of the Ephod is made of 28 single strings, and 7 strings are braided together to form a strand. Out of each group there are 4 combinations. One combination is made of 6 linen strings and one gold string, the second is made of 6 blue woolen strings and one gold string, the third is made of 6 purple woolen strings and one gold string, and the fourth is made of 6 scarlet woolen strings and one gold string. These four combinations are twisted into one mega-string combination, or what I called a strand earlier.

This set of clothes is what the Kohen Gadol (translates to “High Priest” or literally “Big Priest”), who was Aaron at the time, wore while worshipping and administering before the Creator. Before his death, he passed on this set of clothes to his son Elazer, who would become the new Kohen Gadol. (Numbers 26).

The New Testament says that Christians are a royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 

What can we learn from the clothes of the Kohen Gadol Aaron? 

  1. The closeness of the Urim v’Tumim to the heart, the center of our bodies, teaches us to follow G-d’s decree in our lives. Christians’ outlook on life is a Christ-like lifestyle, meaning that our lives come from the Creator, and we were sent here for a reason. However, each person’s assignment is different. The same person has different purposes in different stages of his or her life, so  the only way to fulfill our purpose in life is to seek G-d’s decree.
  2. The names of Israel’s twelve sons are engraved on gemstones and onyx stones, showing us that we need to look at people in G-d’s family as a whole unit and as a family.
  3. The gold headplate saying “Holy to the L-rd” represents that we are different and separate from non-believers who live for themselves. We belong to the Creator and live solely for worshiping and serving H-m. Whether it is doing the dishes, grading homework, or writing reports, it looks like it is being done for people. However, at the roots it is to fulfill the purpose that G-d sent us for.
  4. The materials of the super-combination of the Ephod can encourage us. The Creator put each believer into a different group (just like there is one gold strand in each combination group), but we all work together to work for the L-rd. There are four combinations in each strand. They are the combinations of heather 0 or 1 red and 0 or 1 blue. The linen combination is made of 0 red and 0 blue. The scarlet combination has 1 red and 0 blue. The blue combination has 0 red and 1 blue, and the purple combination has 1 each of both red and blue. This can represent four types of people. What red and blue represent can be varied widely. For example: if red represented the ability to act and do and blue represented knowledge, my father says his combination would be no red and all blue because he says he has a lot of “book knowledge” but not a lot of actual experience doing things. Looking at it from a political perspective, if red represented the Republican Party and blue the Democratic Party, then my father says he would fall into the category of the linen combination, because he does not particularly like either party. However, he is a citizen of G-d’s kingdom, he really is the seventh golden string in the linen combination from that aspect. The golden string is also located in the purple, red, and blue woolen combinations, and they are all united – they are all holy to the L-rd. Golden strings are made of the same material as the headplate that bears these words.

Let us all be that golden strand, no matter our political backgrounds nor which “combination” we “live” in; let us all seek the decree of the L-rd, walking in the path of one holy to the L-rd.