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I love finding ways to feel God in my day, whether I’m going to work or cooking dinner. I make sure I’m connected to Him by listening to Bible stories, sermons, praying, and singing praise songs. All the apps I test are introduced into my everyday life so that I can feel their usability on a daily basis.
Reading through the Old Testament, we have stumbled across the word “ephod” a few times. Some people just skip it saying ‘oh, that must be something people of that time used, shouldn’t matter now.’ But it carried great weight in biblical times, and as a result, its spiritual meaning is still of importance to us in present times.
So what is an ephod? What was it used for, and why was it so important in the Old Testament?
In Scripture, there are two references to it.
One talks about an apron-like garment worn by the high priests in Israel. Describing it, Exodus 28:6 says it was made of “gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked.”
Exodus 28:12 also mentions onyx stones engraved with the names of the 12 tribes being set in the ephod over the shoulder straps.
In dressing the priest during those times, the ephod was the garment on which the Hoshen, or breastplate containing Urim and Thummim, rested. It was fastened at each shoulder and had an intricately woven band for fastening it around the waist like an apron.
Other references to it in Scripture talk about what is believed to be a portable idol. Judges 8:26-28 talks about Gideon making an ephod from 1700 shekels of gold sourced from the gold earrings of the Ishmaelites, and putting it in his city where Israel came to worship it.
The man Micah in Judges 17:5 also made one for himself and set his son as priest to it. Another reference to it in such light is in Hosea 3:4,
” …without ephod or household idols“
Here it is used together with the word “teraphim“ which means ‘graven image’.
So we can deduce from these references that the ephod is also a word for some type of idol.
It was worn by the high priests of the Levitical priesthood alone during rites and any period they came before God’s presence.
God had instructed that they were not to wear ordinary clothing during their service, but that they were to put on “holy garments” made by those whom the Lord had “filled with the spirit of wisdom.” (Exodus 28:2–3)
Along with the breastplate and the Urim and Thummim, the ephod was also used as a means of divination.
Exodus 29:29 also records that the office of the high priest, along with the ephod and all the sacred garments were passed from Aaron to his son and then through the descendants of Levi. Later in the Bible, 1 Samuel 2:18 records that Samuel wore a linen ephod while serving before the Lord. King David also wore one in 1 Chronicle 15:27 as he and others carried the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem.
Its primary purpose was to play a part, along with the breastplate containing the Urim and Thummim, in communication with God to know His will and seek His counsel.
David, after hearing that Saul was plotting against him, went to Abiathar the priest in 1 Samuel 23:9, and asked him to “bring the ephod”. Then he asked God for guidance, and He told him what to do.
Later in 1 Samuel 30:7, he repeated the same thing when he needed to inquire of God again.
The ephod stood as part of the only known way to access God in those times. The high priests never went into the Holy of Holies without it and other sacred garments. They would have been struck dead because they were too unclean. Even when Gideon and Micah set up the idols, in a way, it was their attempt at the same purpose; establishing a connection to the divine.
The ephod was also a symbol of the people and their sins. God told Moses the two engraved stones on the ephod were “memorial stones for the sons of Israel” and that “Aaron is to bear the names on his shoulders as a memorial before the Lord” (Exodus 28:12).
As a mediator between God and men, the priest bearing the ephod stood as a reminder that mankind could no longer come to God without someone in-between because of their sins and Adam’s fall from grace.
The Levitical Priesthood with the ephod suffered a huge loss because of Israel’s sin and idolatry. God departed from them and refused to speak anymore.
Hosea 3:4 puts it this way,
“For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods.”
This was Hosea prophesying that they would no longer have a means of communicating with God and for many years, God’s voice left Israel.
In His mercy, and in order to fulfill His redemption plan for mankind, He sent Jesus to the earth very many years later to die for the sins that kept man away from God. When Jesus died, the veil in the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom. This was symbolic of the fact that God would no longer hide, or wait for an ephod to speak to His people.
We were granted free access to come before His presence without fear of being struck dead because our sins were paid for. God Himself in the form of His Spirit left the temples and decided to dwell on the inside of us.
In Christianity today, we do not need an ephod or anything else to communicate with God. That’s because we already carry Him with us wherever we go. We can approach Him to seek His counsel whenever we want because He lives within us.
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