[1] Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. [2] Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.
False Teachers and True Contentment
Teach and urge these things. [3] If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, [4] he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, [5] and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. [6] But godliness with contentment is great gain, [7] for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. [8] But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. [9] But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. [10] For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Fight the Good Fight of Faith
[11] But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. [12] Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. [13] I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, [14] to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, [15] which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, [16] who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
[17] As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. [18] They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, [19] thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
[20] O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” [21] for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.
Grace be with you.
Making the Priestly Garments
[1] From the blue and purple and scarlet yarns they made finely woven garments, for ministering in the Holy Place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
[2] He made the ephod of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. [3] And they hammered out gold leaf, and he cut it into threads to work into the blue and purple and the scarlet yarns, and into the fine twined linen, in skilled design. [4] They made for the ephod attaching shoulder pieces, joined to it at its two edges. [5] And the skillfully woven band on it was of one piece with it and made like it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
[6] They made the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold filigree, and engraved like the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the sons of Israel. [7] And he set them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
[8] He made the breastpiece, in skilled work, in the style of the ephod, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. [9] It was square. They made the breastpiece doubled, a span its length and a span its breadth when doubled. [10] And they set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row; [11] and the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; [12] and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; [13] and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in settings of gold filigree. [14] There were twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They were like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. [15] And they made on the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. [16] And they made two settings of gold filigree and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. [17] And they put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. [18] They attached the two ends of the two cords to the two settings of filigree. Thus they attached it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. [19] Then they made two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. [20] And they made two rings of gold, and attached them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. [21] And they bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it should lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece should not come loose from the ephod, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
[22] He also made the robe of the ephod woven all of blue, [23] and the opening of the robe in it was like the opening in a garment, with a binding around the opening, so that it might not tear. [24] On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. [25] They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates—[26] a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe for ministering, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
[27] They also made the coats, woven of fine linen, for Aaron and his sons, [28] and the turban of fine linen, and the caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twined linen, [29] and the sash of fine twined linen and of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, embroidered with needlework, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
[30] They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the LORD.” [31] And they tied to it a cord of blue to fasten it on the turban above, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
[32] Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the people of Israel did according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses; so they did. [33] Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its hooks, its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; [34] the covering of tanned rams’ skins and goatskins, and the veil of the screen; [35] the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat; [36] the table with all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; [37] the lampstand of pure gold and its lamps with the lamps set and all its utensils, and the oil for the light; [38] the golden altar, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance of the tent; [39] the bronze altar, and its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin and its stand; [40] the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, and its pegs; and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; [41] the finely worked garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons for their service as priests. [42] According to all that the LORD had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work. [43] And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the LORD had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses blessed them.
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Exodus 39:30 [30] “They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the LORD.”
God is so merciful, loving, and kind to us. Exodus 39 is describing the garments for the priests who are Aaron and his sons. The same Aaron who in a few chapters ago had crafted a golden calf for the people to worship. God is going to place a crown on his head that says, “Holy to the LORD”. It is a picture of what was to come. It is a picture of how God sets us apart for HIMSELF. HE sanctifies, sets us apart, believers as a royal priesthood. We are not made holy because of our own righteous actions. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). It isn’t about what we have done but what Jesus has done for us.
Jesus has redeemed us. He has clothed us in righteousness and set us apart for HIMSELF so that we may worship and glorify HIS name.
“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.” 1 Peter 2:9