so that he would not die?

Originally posted on October 07, 2009 – by Andre Piet

From a visitor of the gathering last Sunday I received the following question:

Hi Andre,

Last Sunday there was no time for it, but a question about your sermon has kept me thinking. Based on (…) the various parts of the priestly garment, you did not address one aspect at all with regard to the bells in verse 35:

Aaron shall wear this when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the LORD and when he comes out, so that he would not die.

Assuming that here too a deeper layer (prophecy) is present in the Scripture, I now wonder why Aaron would die if the bells are not audible when he comes out or leaves the sanctuary.

Good question! Indeed, I left the end of verse 35 of Exodus 28 untouched, and this was noticed by several listeners. Here I would like to fill that gap.

The subject on Sunday was how the hem of the garment of the high priest refers to the present work of Christ. Consider this: just as the high priest was in the sanctuary (for example to supply the lampstand with oil), so Christ as High Priest is currently in the heavenly sanctuary. Hidden and withdrawn from sight. Yet the high priest could be heard, because golden bells were attached all around the bottom of his garment. As soon as the high priest moved, this could be heard by the attentive listener outside the sanctuary. The bells speak of the Word that is heard from Christ outside the heavenly sanctuary. Just as the hems and bells went over the earth, so the sound of the Good Message also goes over the earth. Indeed, they were golden bells. Gold is a precious metal (=does not rust) and refers to the imperishable glory of the Gospel.

And now the question. In the concordant interlinear (ISA) we read the following (note: from right to left):

Both the NBG and the Statenvertaling read “so that he would not die”. However, it is still questionable whether these translations render the text correctly. Instead of the causal “so that”, it actually says “and”. Then the reading becomes:

Aaron shall wear this when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard (…) and he shall not die.

The idea in this verse is not that Aaron’s sound had to be heard so that he would not die. No, the thought rather seems to be that Aaron’s sound would be heard, unless he would die. As long as the bells were heard, those outside the sanctuary knew that the high priest was alive. This, by the way, confirms that the golden bells indeed refer to the living High Priest.

Under the Old Covenant one priest succeeded another “because they were prevented by death from continuing”. (1) Aaron and his descendants were mortal. This in contrast to Him who became High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek” “by the power of an indestructible life“. (2)

———————————————–

References:

1. Heb.7:23
2. Heb.7:17, 16

Delen: