It says in Revelation 1:5-6 that Jesus Christ has bought us with His blood to be kings and priests or a royal priesthood, which goes hand in hand with the eagle’s wings and obedience to His communication (cf. Exodus 19:4-6).

 

… 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father – to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

 

4 “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.’

 

 

This reveals to us that the prophetic royal presence of God is recognizable in the form of the flying eagle (cf. Revelation 4:6.7d), which, combined with the obedience of His people, leads to the structure of the royal priesthood.

 

6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the centre, round the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and behind.

…, 7d the fourth was like a flying eagle.

 

This is also linked to the order of Melchizedek, who was a king and high priest as well as coming from the city of peace – Salem (cf. Genesis 14:18 i.c.w. Hebrews 7:1.3).

 

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, …

 

1 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, …

3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest for ever.

 

Within the structure of Aaron as the high priest, which according to Psalm 133 is linked to the anointing of God and is released through the unity of the brotherhood in Christ (cf. Romans 8:29-30), there is a mystery in many facets hidden in his clothing.

 

1 A song of ascents. Of David.

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!

2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe.

3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life for evermore.

 

29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

 

 

At this point we will focus on the golden Choshen – breastplate, with the twelve different precious stones and the engraving of the names of the sons of Israel and the braided golden chains that were attached by Choshen to both shoulder pieces of the high priest. These were two onyx stones – Shoham, on each of which six names of the sons of Israel were engraved on the left and right in order of age (cf. Exodus 28:9-14.21-22).

 

9 ‘Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel 10 in the order of their birth – six names on one stone and the remaining six on the other.

11 Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in gold filigree settings 12 and fasten them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear the names on his shoulders as a memorial before the Lord.

13 Make gold filigree settings 14 and two braided chains of pure gold, like a rope, and attach the chains to the settings. …

21 There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

22 ‘For the breastpiece make braided chains of pure gold, like a rope.

 

In the context of the truth of Psalm 133, it shows us that the anointing of God is released from a higher spiritual realm upon the high priestly ‘corpus of Aaron’ through the unity of the brethren in the Spirit, so that the clothing is covered by the oil.

 

As the name ‘Aaron’ is associated with light and can also be translated as ‘enlightenment’, it is clear that impulses of light emanate from it. This light radiates through the respective item of clothing located on the ‘corpus of Aaron’ or casts a shadow in the area where this presence is located.

 

If we now look at the twelve gemstones in the high priest’s Choshen with this awareness, we can also see that the light from the ‘corpus Aaron’ takes on the color of the respective translucent gemstone or reflects its color in the room, whereby there are gemstones in the Choshen that are opaque. Their task is to cast shadows in the respective room. One example of this is the gemstone onyx – Shoham, which is completely black and is the only gemstone that appears most frequently in the high priest’s clothing, namely three times. It is set once in the golden Choshen and is found on the right and left shoulder of the high priest.

 

The onyx therefore not only bears the assigned name of a son of Israel on the chest (Note: on the Choshen), but also all the names of the sons of Israel on the shoulders. As the onyx is opaque and casts shadows due to the presence of light, the ‘fear of the LORD’ has a special significance, which is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge (cf. Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7a).

 

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

 

7a The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, …

 

We also remember in this context that the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ (cf. Colossians 2:3).

 

… 3 in whom [Note: Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

 

The onyx therefore carries the greatest weight of the twelve gemstones by their number, which is why it is also related to the glory of God together with the other gemstones, which requires it to carry responsibility. The Hebrew word for ‘glory’ is ‘kābôd’ or ‘kavod’ and is associated with ‘weight, heaviness’. Nothing that can be duly carried with recklessness or a lack of understanding of authority.

 

 

Thus, the location of the onyx on the chest and shoulders of the high priest indicates the closeness to Christ Jesus and His anointing (cf. John 21:20 i.c.w. Isaiah 10:27).

 

20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, ‘Lord, who is going to betray you?’)

 

27 In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat [Note: because of the anointing].

 

Being close to Christ allows us to experience things that are hidden or kept from others and to be spotlessly powerfully active in the anointing that He has imparted.

 

It also serves as a significant indication that the liquid state in the form of the first-mentioned river that rises in the region of Eden in the garden, like the oil that pours over the ‘corpus of Aaron’, is also associated with onyx and gold, as Genesis 2:10-12 reveals.

 

10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.

11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)

 

What this should make very clear to us is the need for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order to reveal the hidden truth and to understand it as revelatory truth. We can only enter into this truth with the Spirit of God (cf. John 16:13-15 i.c.w. John 7:38-39a).

 

13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.

15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.’

 

‘… 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’

39a By this he meant the Spirit, …

 

Now it is important for us to understand that the spiritual level of the chest in the form of the Choshen and the upper level of the shoulder pieces of the high priest receive their connection through the two woven golden chains. Because they are made of gold, these chains are closely associated with the unified interweaving of the riches of faith, that carries the messianic/anointed understanding of the sons and tribes of Israel within the messianic body of Christ.

 

This encompasses the transferred glory of God that shines in beauty through each facet of the mentioned ‘corpus Aaron’ because of the light of His revelatory power. It is glory that is transmitted by God and beauty that emanates from the respective God-given facet.

 

The shadow that is cast into the respective space due to the light can be, among other things, beautiful words that are deciphered from the hidden realities of heaven. These hidden realities, like the black onyx, resemble the dark cloud that surrounds God. It is this darkness that protects the hidden things of God from unholy influence (cf. Exodus 24:15-18 i.c.w. Psalm 18:11-12).

 

15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.

17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.

18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

 

11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him – the dark rain clouds of the sky.

12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

 

If we count the onyx as a complete gemstone (Note: with the other gemstones mentioned) in the clothing of the high priest, we get the number 14. This clearly shows the dimension of God’s intervening hand coming to earth. Behind the numerical value of ‘14’ is the Hebrew word for ‘hand – jād’, which is associated with preference. It was Joseph who, with his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim, was first blessed by Jacob before all the other sons of Israel, with Ephraim receiving the preference of his grandfather Jacob’s blessing over his older brother Manasseh and only then was Joseph blessed. It is the hand of God that opens the door to the realm of his preference or favor.

 

Thus, in this context, it can be said that the three onyx stones conceal the level of favor in Joseph, represented in the onyx in the Choshen, with his two sons, represented as the onyx on his shoulders, which points to Christ.

 

 

The interwoven area of the gold chains resembles the structure of the vine, as this is a twining plant that grows upwards.

 

It is the spirit of the discernment of the times in the structure of the donkey (Note: Issachar) that binds itself to the presence of the winding and braided together in the form of the vine, which is the presence of the Lion of Judah until the right time is opened by the living Word of God to reveal the appointed measure of the royal priesthood in greater quality before the public (cf. Genesis 49:9a.11a.14 i.c.w. 1 Chronicles 12:32; Matthew 21:2-7).

 

9a You are a lion’s cub, Judah; …

11a He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; …

14 ‘Issachar is a scrawny donkey lying down among the sheepfolds.

 

… 32 from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do – 200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command; …

 

… 2 saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.

3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.’

4 This took place to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet (cf. Zechariah 9:9): 5 ‘Say to Daughter Zion, “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” ’

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.

7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.

 

It can hardly be overemphasized and emphasized at this time how necessary it is for us as God’s people to increase in spiritual maturity and become fruitful by carrying and keeping the treasures of the Kingdom. It is these treasures that He has entrusted to us for the Kingdom to reveal to the right people in the right place at the right time.

 

Through the braided two golden chains that run from the Choshen to the shoulder pieces of the high priest and are fastened there, it becomes clear the call to ascend in the riches of faith united in Christ Jesus to bring God’s kingdom treasures to the earth (cf. John 14:6 i.c.w. John 15:5).

 

6 Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. …’

 

5 ‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. …’

 

Accordingly, we may surrender ourselves completely by giving up our own plans or desires in order to carry the anointing given to us in Christ from the power of redemption alone. Carrying something that has been entrusted to us involves a constant willingness to give an account to the one to whom it belongs.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm