Thru the Bible

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: What type of books do you like to read? Mysteries, thrillers, biographies? Welcome to Thru the Bible, where our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, takes us back to childhood as he tells us the Bible is a picture book, and that God wants us to learn the truth that He has for us by looking at the pictures that He has given to us.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I'm Steve Schwetz, your host on this five-year journey through God's whole word, and I'm so glad that you've hopped aboard the Bible bus as we take a look at some of the most beautiful pictures in the Bible. Our text, well, that's Exodus 28. So grab your Bible and turn there now, and while you do that, here's Dr. McGee's introduction on what we're going to hear about the tabernacle.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Well, today we're going to a fashion show, by the way. The high priest is going to be fitted out with new garments and the priests with new garments. And there is a corollary there. There is a garment that God provides today for sinners that trust Christ.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: He not only subtracts their sin, but He adds a robe of righteousness. I tell you, that's the kind of a style show that we need in the church, isn't it? Those wearing the robes of righteousness and manifesting that to the world today.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Wouldn't that be a sight? Well, interestingly, the Bible talks a lot about clothing, and as Dr. McGee says, it's important. So stay tuned and in just a few minutes we're going to hear about some amazing garments worn by the high priests. You'll also hear Dr. McGee talk about his mohair suit that he and his friends would joke about.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Before we jump in, right now into Exodus 28, here's a letter from a fellow Bible bus passenger named Debbie. This study has been a lifeline for me for over 10 years now. I love the systematic teaching of the word of God and how it reveals Jesus throughout the entire Bible. Today, as I was listening to the part in Genesis about Jacob and Esau, I could see those men in my mind as they lived their lives.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: As I listen, I'm seeing more clearly that the people in the Bible were real people with real lives and the same struggles and joys that I have. The words in the Bible are not just a story but a telling of real life and the weaving of Jesus throughout it all. I've been in church since I was a little girl. I accepted God's invitation at 12, and now I'm 61, and the Bible is more alive to me every day as the Holy Spirit gives me eyes to see what Dr. J. Vernon McGee is teaching.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I give every month to keep the Bible bus going and have joy in the giving because I know the Lord is using you to get the whole word to the whole world in truth. Well, thanks Debbie. Thanks for your encouragement and for your generosity in ministry partnership with us.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now, if you'd like to know more about how you can partner with Debbie and others to keep the Bible bus traveling the highways of God's word, just visit TTB.org or call 1-800-65 Bible. Or you can just click give in our app. And if our time in God's word is meaningful to you, would you write and tell us your story? You can send an email to Bible bus at TTB.org. You can write to Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109, or in Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. Let's pray.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Heavenly Father, would you use the teaching of your word to reach those who live in places that we may never go? Let it bring light into a dark world and then help us to understand how to bring glory to you and all that we do every day. In Jesus name. Amen.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Open to Exodus 28 as we go through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now as we come today to the 28th chapter of the book of Exodus, it seems like we have a departure here. It actually is not from the instructions of the tabernacle. The tabernacle we've already seen a great deal of it. The details have been given to us and we've seen that in every thread and every color, every cord, why there is the meaning that it all suggests Christ and His person and in His work.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now we come to the ones that are going to serve in the tabernacle and the Levites will serve, the family of Aaron will serve as priests and Aaron himself will be the great high priest. And he'll have to have garments to serve and these garments all speak of Christ and we are given here the instructions for the garments. And it reveals to us Christ as our great high priest.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And I know of nothing that reaches down and illustrates how Christ today meets our needs and such a wonderful way. Now I'm going to begin reading at chapter 28 verse one, and I have to confess that a great deal of these instructions, they do not make thrilling reading. This doesn't read like a detective story, but it has more meaning in it than a detective story or a mystery.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And there's no mystery here because it reveals Christ. And therefore, if we don't see Him here, then it's extremely boring. I can assure you. And you wonder why God would give us all these instructions. Well, He gave them to us because actually the Bible is a picture book. And that's the way little children learn is by pictures.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I can still remember when I was a little one and I was given a book and in it, I can see those pictures to this good day. A is for apple, B is for baby, C is for cat and D is for dog. And that's as far as I can go. I wasn't that precocious to go all the way through the alphabet, but I do remember those. And God has given us these pictures that you and I as babes in Christ, and I'm not sure that many of us get past that stage.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I find that a great many of the super duper saints are just great big overgrown babies today. And we all need the picture book to see this great truth God has for us. Now let's look at this chapter 28 and take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother and his sons with him and among the children of Israel that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. Even Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar, Aaron's sons.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. Now I don't get the idea that there's something holy about the garments in the sense that you and I think of that today. This is not a handkerchief that's been prayed over, friends. That's superstition. That's not what you have here.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: You see, the word for holy here means in the Hebrew, set apart, and it means that which was set apart for God. Anything that's set apart for God is holy. Now you may have in your pocketbook today $10. You may want to take $1 out of that and give that to the Lord's work.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And I just will carry that illustration right on through to its logical conclusion. Maybe you want to send it to the Thru the Bible program. Well, the minute that you set that aside for the service of God, that $1, and you may have gotten it at a store, and that store may have gotten it from a gambler, and a gambler may have gotten it from a prostitute, and a prostitute may have gotten it from one who was a thief, and so on and so on.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: But the minute that that is set aside for God, that's holy. Anything that's set aside for God is holy. Now these are holy garments, they're to be used in the service of God, you see. And I am able to claim today, I don't wear a robe, but I do use a suit, a mohair suit that I use exclusively for the pulpit.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And I have a lot of fun kidding my intimate friends. I tell them I have on my holy suit today. I have on my holy clothes. Well, in one sense that's accurate. It is set aside for just one thing, that is the ministering of the word of God. Now, thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Notice they're for glory. The glory of God and for beauty. And I love that. Things don't have to be ugly, friends, just because they're in the service of God. I personally resent today that the world and the flesh and the devil has to get everything that's beautiful. Even a beautiful woman, beautiful colors, beautiful buildings. Why can't God get the beauty?

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: He's the one who made beauty. And if you don't think he splashes color around, watch a sunset. Look at the leaves in the fall or go out and look at the heavens during a storm even. Oh, God majors in colors and beauty, and there is a beauty. And so they're for glory and for beauty. And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom I feel with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now Aaron is to be set aside for the ministry of the great high priest and these are his garments. And these are the garments which they shall make. Now this is verse four. First, a breastplate. Second, an effod. And third, and a robe. And fourth, and a broidered coat. And five, a miter and a girdle, six.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. Now here are six garments that are to be used in the service of God worn by Aaron and then of course passed on to those who shall succeed him in office. Now verse five, and they shall take gold and blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now the garments are to be made out of the very best material. The very finest material. I want to be very careful here, but I feel like God ought to have the very best, and I must confess that we have to be very careful about this. I have personally in my ministry never driven an automobile that is considered exclusive like the Cadillac or a Lincoln or something like that.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: One time I had a man offered to buy me one of those cars. And I refused it. I turned it down. I drive a Chevrolet and very frankly, I feel I have as much right to drive the other, but I do know that it's misunderstood. And I feel like I should not do that at all. I feel like that we do need to be very careful.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now I happen to know right now of a certain ministry, and I won't attempt to identify it at all. That's coming under great criticism. And it's because that several people went out to the headquarters one day and they found nothing but Cadillacs parked around the place. Well, very candidly, I can see why that would be criticized because of the fact that today, especially when that type of ministry begs and urges people to give and is promoting all the time.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: If that is true, then we ought not to spend money needlessly. We ought to be very careful. And that's one of the reasons that I have attempted to follow this pattern for the very simple reason that I ask people to give to the radio. Well, I don't want to drive around over the country in a Cadillac, and I don't intend to, even if it's given to me.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: So if any of you have been thinking about giving me a Cadillac, why you forget that. May I say to you very seriously that this is something though that we need to recognize that God's work should have the very best, and that doesn't mean a Cadillac. And I'm going to be very practical and frank with you today. What kind of equipment should we have?

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: The machine that I'm making this tape on right now, what should it be? A cheap model? No, the tapes are a little important, we feel. And so very frankly, we got the very best machine we could get. Now we feel that is something that is essential, and we think God's work ought to have it. I trust that you understand what we're saying because I believe that today God's being cheated and He's being robbed.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Malachi asked the question, will a man rob God? And you know what God's answer is? Yes, He sure will. He did in that day and He will today. Now let me move on. They are to bring all of these the very best to make the garments for this man Aaron, the high priest. Now the first is an ephod.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof and so it shall be joined together. And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof, even of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And thou shalt take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel. Six of their names on one stone and the other six names on the rest, on the other stone. Now he had underneath a linen garment just like the other priests. Then over that, he had this ephod. And I don't know how to describe garments other than to say that to me you take a big long piece of goods.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And right now the center of it, you'd make a big hole for your head, then you drop that down, half of it going in front and half in the back, then you gather it in the middle with a girdle. And that's about what it amounted to. The only thing that it wasn't done quite like that. The two pieces were brought together by two stones at the top, one on one shoulder and one on the other, and six of the names of the children of Israel were on one onyx stone, six on the other.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: In other words, when the high priest went into the presence of God, he carried the children of Israel on his shoulders. And that speaks of the strength of the high priest. That speaks of power. And we have a high priest today. We're told that he is able to save to the uttermost. Because he ever liveth to make intercession for them. He is able to save, you see. He has the strength and the power.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And you remember the parable that he gave about the little sheep that got lost and the shepherd went out and found him, and what did he do? He put him on his shoulder. And that's where he carries me today. That's where he carries you, friends, because I get, you know, off on the sidelines from time to time, and he's there to put us right back on his shoulder and to carry us. What a lovely picture this is, the ephod.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And I can't go into other detail, it's here. Then over that was a breastplate. And the best way I have of describing that is it was sort of a vest that went over, but a very beautiful one. And notice this, verse 15, and thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment. Now that breastplate of judgment is interesting. Why is it a breastplate of judgment?

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Well, friends, sin has been judged. And we need the breastplate of righteousness today as believers. You see that covers the vital part of us. And that's the only way we could stand in the presence of God. And that means our sins are judged. The righteousness of Christ is made over to us. And so this is called a breastplate of judgment with cunning work.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: After the work of the ephod, thou shalt make it. It sort of was part of the ephod. The ephod and the breastplate, they rather went together. And of gold, of blue and of purple, and of scarlet and fine twined linen, shalt thou make it. Now that was a thing of beauty. That was really a beautiful thing.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Four square it shall be being doubled. A span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof. Now we're really getting down to the details of it. And I just want to lift out this particular part here, and thou shalt set in it settings of stones. Even four rows of stones. The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, a carbuncle. This shall be the first row.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: The second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. And the third row, a lajure and agate and amethyst. And the fourth row, a pearl and onyx and jasper. They shall be set in gold in their enclosures. Now, friends, this was a thing of beauty. On the breast of the great high priest, there were these stones and 12 of them now.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And there were three, and there were four rows of them, 12 stones. And on each stone, we are told, the stone shall be with the names of the children of Israel, 12 according to their names, like the engravings of a signet. Now, it was a thing of beauty. We'll take up these stones, we find them again, by the way, in the book of Revelation, the foundation of the New Jerusalem are these same stones.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And it's quite interesting to see that each one a different color. What a flashing beautiful display this was. I think that God's universe is filled with color. We don't see it today because sin has marred it. These men when they made the trip to the moon, everything else was either light or dark. Black and white. There was no color except on this little Earth.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: We're the only place that has any color, friends, because we can see the color that's here. But there's other color, and I'm of the opinion God's universe when sin is removed will flash with color. What a thing of beauty it will be. Now these 12 stones are quite interesting. You see that when he put this on and went in before the people, it represents the Lord Jesus who's in God's right hand for us.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now he not only carries us on his shoulder, the place of power and the place of ability, but he carries us on his breast, the place where his heart is. Love, you see. He loves us. What a picture this is. And we're engraved on his heart. We sometimes take that in the book of Revelation about he'll give to us a name, a stone with a name on it.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Well, we have a notion that we're going to get a new name up there. Well, I think so, but that's not it. The new name is his name. He's going to mean something different to each one of us. You see, he means something different to me than he does to you. He's met my need in a certain way. He'll meet your need in a certain way.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And there's a lot of instruction here, and I'm not going to read it because by the time I got through everybody would be tuned out, and I wouldn't blame them because it just goes into minute details. Why? Why the spirit of God, friends, is putting an emphasis on what he thinks is important. Now we come to verse 30, and thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the Lord, and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually. Now I don't want you to tell this to anybody. I'm just telling this to you and I would like to keep it a secret from everybody else. I do not know what the Urim and Thummim is.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: And I have read, I suppose, 25 different authors that have written about this, and I have news for you, they don't know either. The very interesting thing is it had something to do with determining the will of God. Just how, I don't know. Actually, there are some that thought they were dice. I don't think so. But I do think it was something that determined the will of God.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: The reason that it is obscure to us today because, as you well know, that if it were clearer, we would have some