Heavy stuff. Aaron's outfit.

Whoa, have you ever stopped to consider how much Aaron's robe, breastplate, turban and other accessories weighed? Heavy! Just scan this:

“And they shall make the ephod [of] gold, [of] blue, and [of] purple, [of] scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work. It shall have the two shoulderpieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and [so] it shall be joined together. And the curious girdle of the ephod, which [is] upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; [even of] gold, [of] blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel: Six of their names on one stone, and [the other] six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. With the work of an engraver in stone, [like] the engravings of a signet, shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. 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. And thou shalt make ouches [of] gold; And two chains [of] pure gold at the ends; [of] wreathen work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches.” (Exodus 28:1-14 av)

This dwarfs the costumes for KISS concerts (don't ask why I got that image. I just write as He gives it to me!). 

But here's what got me this morning: All the "weight" of Preparation. Skill. Art. Arrangement. Design. Production.  Refinement. Precision. Supervision. Discernment. Care. Love. Awe. Joy. Burden. And, come on...all this in the desert! With whining Israelites, crying babies, spitting camels, cranky tribe leaders, not to mention all the other asses (donkeys). Still, no detail was missed. The words convey their careful work. The commitment. The reverence of the assignment. And then, after all the toil, sweat, threading...they take it to Moses. And this entire passage of Exodus 39 ends with: 43 "Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the LORD had commanded. So Moses blessed them." And then they were ready to move into moments of tabernacle.

So, which 'them' did Moses bless? The robes? Breastplate? The other adornments? The people who worked on them? The Levites?  The twelve tribes? The generations to come? I say, 'yes.'

What about you and me? Before you answer, ask yourself: What adorning "weight" do you carry into -- your job. Your marriage. Your conversation. Your craft. Your project. Your worship. Your prayer. You see, I think God gives us all the materials we need to adorn our every moment, our every gifted day, our every interaction, our every moment of tabernacle.

For emphasis -- (b)