Exodus 28:12 says, “And thou shalt put the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the LORD upon his two shoulders for a memorial.” He shall bear them up, hold them up, lift them up and carry them before the the LORD on his shoulders in prayer, the place of strength continually. Listen, we need to ‘bear up the sheep’ God has given us in our ministries to protect, feed, nurture, guide and admonish; not just put up with them, but ‘bear them up’ before the the Lord! Let them roll their burdens on us, so we can roll them on the Lord, be a burden bearer, become a wheel-barrow not a borrowed wheel! In Isa. 9:6 it tells us the One who is coming, the Messiah will bear the (misra) dominion, rule, government, kingdom on His shoulder. In Luke 15:5 we have the parable of the shepherd who had 100 sheep and lost one and left the 99 and went and found the one, “And when he found it, he laid it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” The place of strength, comfort, safety and rest. Don’t you remember when you were a child sitting on your father’s shoulders, high above the crowd, you felt like a king or royalty. That’s what we are to do with those God has placed in our ministries, ‘bear them up’ before the LORD, in prayer continually. Note v.10, there were six names on each stone according to their birth order and they were evenly distributed, no favorites, all equally brought before the throne, all equally in need of spiritual attention, all equally in danger of attack by the enemy from without and within. Oh my friend, if there ever was a need or a time for prayer, it is now, the hour is late, the archangel is wetting his lips, the little hand is on the 12 and the big hand left the 11 some time ago. We are not in the last days any more, we are in the last seconds of the last minutes, we need to pray like it’s up to God and work like it’s up to us, were out of time! “Bear up” the sheep God has given you to minister to on your shoulders in prayer continually, rejoicing before it’s to late!

Ex. 28:29 says, “And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgement upon his heart, when he goes into the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually.” His shoulders were the place of strength but his heart was the place of passion, affection, love, devotion and compassion, why? Because he is wearing the breastplate of judgement as he goes into the holy place before the LORD for the children of Israel. We need to be careful we are not to hasty in our judgement of fellow believers in the body of Christ, ‘but by the grace of God there go I.’ Aaron bore their names close to his heart as he went before the LORD. When I was a pastor I kept a small note-book in my shirt pocket and in it was a list of all my people and their prayer needs right over my heart, all the time, except when I went to bed. Today you might keep a list in your cell-phone, but where do you keep it, in your back pocket, close to your, never mind.

We as leaders will bear the judgement of those whom Christ has placed under us in our ministries, so those under our ministries must be careful how they in turn respond to our leadership and in turn treat their leaders, Heb. 13:7 & 17 say, “Remember, them who have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, concerning the end of their manner of life.” & “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls, as they that must give an account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief; for that is unprofitable for you.” So, we too need to continually ‘bear up’ God’s children on our shoulders to assure them of His strength and comfort and on our hearts to assure them of His love and compassion, as well as ours. Ex. 28:30 also tells us that Aaron was to place the ‘Urim and Thummim’ in the breast plate of judgement over his heart when he went in before the LORD, (urim) means lights, and (thummim) means innocent and has been translated, lights and perfections. Or in some translations it appears as ‘revelation and truth or doctrine and truth.’ You should be aware that ‘Thummim‘ is pronounced ‘Tumim‘ in modern Hebrew. Also although they appear to be in the plural tense with the ‘im’ Hebrew ending they are singular words, the plural ending enhances their apparent majesty. But there was only one ‘ur’ and one ‘tumm’ in the pocket behind the breast plate of the high priest. Many scholars believe that they are connected to the Babylonian terms of ‘urtu’ and ‘tamitu’ meaning oracle and command, respectively and that the ‘Urim and Thummim’ were used to answer the question, innocent or guilty by reaching into the pouch of the breast plate, Lev. 8:8 and taking out one stone, gem, lot, article or whatever they were. They would have been identical and impossible to tell apart by feel only by color such as, one black and one white. There is so little known about these objects I would be in trouble if I went any further.

Then in Ex. 28:38 it says, “And it shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts, and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.” The ‘Holy Crown’ – “Holiness To The LORD” on Aaron’s forehead to bear the iniquity of the holy things, that is, be responsible for every neglect or offense respecting the ‘holy things.’ We as leaders, pastors, teachers, deacons, parents, students need to do more than put up with His sheep, we need to ‘bear them up’ on our shoulders and shoulder their burdens; second we need to hold them and their problems close to our hearts with compassion and love like Christ did; and third we need to keep them and their needs on our minds and in our prayers unceasingly. What did Paul tell us in I Thess. 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.” Or ‘Cease without praying!’ It is actually two words in the Greek, “Unceasingly Pray!” We are also clothed with an Ephod just like Aaron when we enter into the ‘Holy of Holies’ for His children, the righteousness of Jesus The Christ! II Cor. 5:21. The ‘Ephod’ was an article of clothing, an object of worship in ancient Israelite culture and was closely associated with oracles or prophetic practices. The Jews were the guardians of “the oracles of God,” Rom. 3:2. The term “oracle” is used specifically in the context of Christianity for the concept of ‘divine revelation;’ in Judaism for the ‘Urim and Thummim’ in the breastplate; in general for any utterance considered prophetic.   Aaron had to come to God through the blood of a dead animal, but we can come to God through the blood of a living Savior, His only begotten Son, Yeshua ha Mashiach! I Sam. 12:23, should be our plea, our pledge, our promise; “Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you;”   “…Between The Lines…”

“LORD, help me to bear Your children up before You continually, to shoulder their burdens, to have a compassionate heart for their sins, and to pray for their needs without ceasing and forgive me my sin of, NOT!” In Jesus name, Amen!”

“Pastor’s Prayer Principle!” – Exodus 28:6-38  8/28/12