Bells & Pomegranates - An Early Warning System

A Childhood Memory

Perhaps, if you grew up in the USA, it was a little different than it was for us, back in the Old World, in Northern Ireland. As you paid your weekly visit to the local village sweet shop (or "candy store"), to divest yourself of your remaining pocket money, when you opened the door of the boutique, a little tinkling sound notified the owner that a customer had arrived.

This decibel register was usually due to what I interpreted as a bell suspended on a long flexible, very bendy, lightweight, copper arm or spring - and the slightest motion was enough to set it vibrating to and fro, and to generate its high-pitched chimes (for the uninitiated, chime bars perform a similar function when they detect the invisible motion of the wind): it was, I found out, no matter how hard one tried, virtually impossible to enter the shop unnoticed - as soon even the smallest child entered, the alert went off, and the store attendant got up from his or her seat, and rushed to the counter to assist.

An Interesting Arrangement

Well, I have to admit that the comparisons with the bonbon retailer end at that point - the Tabernacle or Temple in which the sons of Aaron served were less about candy and more about caution. You see, Israel's High Priest, once-per-year only, on behalf of the whole nation, bore the weight of guilty of God's people on His shoulders, head & heart, into the presence of the thrice Holy LORD. Here the elder brother of Miriam was granted highly-restricted, life-threatening, access to the Ark of the Covenant. Here he would sprinkle shed blood to propitiate sin (or turn away divine wrath), on the atonement lid (or mercy seat).

To stay alive in performance of this feat, he had to be dressed in holy robes - this included a sky-blue, heavenly, robe or ephod, specifically equipped with a special sensor mechanism. On the lower hem or fringe along the robe of the High Priest of Israel, an alternative arrangement of tinkling bells and woven pomegranates was sown into place, with very costly embroidery work. Dressed in this manner, passing behind the curtain, in-woven with guardian angel cherubim, the slightest movement would sound the alert - a swish of the fringe as it brushed past the veil immediately set in motion the little round fruits which would bash into the bells, ringing out its unmistakable, characteristic "this is Aaron the High Priest coming in before the Ark of the Covenant" tinkling sound.

Moses tells us about this twice, in the second volume of his five-volume Pentatech work:

31 You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment, so that it may not tear. 33 On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. 35 And it shall be on Aaron 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 does not die. (Exodus 28:31-35)

Again, after all the instructions had been relayed to the fashion designers, the manufacturing of the garments of the High Priest took place as follows:

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. (Exodus 39:22-26)

Why, we might wonder, was such a quaint arrangement put in place to protect the life of the High Priest?

The Bells! The Bells! The Reasons for the Bells?

It was not so that God could be informed that a person had entered the Most Holy Place on the day of Yom Kippurim (the plural 'Atonements' probably suggesting either full, total, atonement of all Israel's annual guilt, or, alternatively, the many, many, debts that were settled on that day) - after all, the Omniscient LORD who decrees all events before they come to pass, knew who would be present, and who it was that had passed into the Inner Sanctum of the Tent, dressed in this bright, expensive, raiment.

Nor did this arrangement of friction-generating fruit and bells signal to the crowds outside, or priests inside the Holy Place, that Aaron had not been struck down, and that he was still standing to serve their interests at the Footstool of the Jehovah. This is highly improbable: any sound would not have been loud enough to be heard outside the Most Holy Place, and in the Tent, the ministering priest was alone and out of sight and earshot of the crowds.

Nor was it just to preserve the life of the High Priest so he might continue to serve: while it was true he needed to stay alive to minister, he had other sons who could replace him, if he was struck down: though failure to wear the fringe would, of course, have been personally tragice, it does not explain why the key reason for the hem being used to sound this alarm.

It was clearly intended to urge extreme caution upon the nephews of Moses and Aaron his brother, as He approached Yahweh; and also to help emphasize the catastrophic seriousness of the cumulative weight of the sin that the High Priest bore, as he stood before the Throne of the King of Heaven, and began to intersect with the infinite holiness of a just and righteous God.

One passage in Esther reminds us that, in the palaces of the Ancient Near East, as a subject approached a royal court, to come uninvited, without giving notice, was inappropriate and fearfully perilous:

10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, 11 "All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law– to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days." 12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. 13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" 15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 "Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish." 17 Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.
1 On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace, in front of the king's quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. 2 And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. (Esther 4:10-5:2 ESV)

The chief reason, then, is transparent and beyond dispute - this 'hem alarm' was a way to remind Aaron of the seriousness of his work, and to spare his life when he used the blood of the sacrificial goat for "divine cover up" of sin on the day of atonement (this was also, interestingly, an infinitely grace-filled method of pardon and acceptance of sinners, into which Angels, who did not fall with Satan, but kept their original holy estate, long to look - since they have never experienced sin or salvation firsthand for themselves, the gaze down of cherubs onto the atonement lid, or place of propitiation, is one of wonder, amazement, and joy):

35 And it shall be on Aaron 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 does not die. (Exodus 28:35)

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. (1 Pet. 1:10-12 ESV)

Unbelief

As I was recently reminded by a brother at camp, in later times, the Jewish tradition recounts how an additional safety measure was added to protect the High Priests at Yom Kippur: a thick rope was tied around the waist of the ministering priest as he served in the Tent on the 10th Day of the 7th Month.

Of course, no such requirement was ever stated it the Bible itself, nor was it necessary. God had said the early warning system would work - if the robe was worn as instructed, His servant could proceed safely and in confident faith. In other words, through this was an extra precaution, introduced with a good intention, it entered public worship on the basis of superstition and tradition - it was a redundant human meansure made up in their own hearts, for Yahweh had not commanded it.

Even though no Aaronic minister was ever struck dead on this occasion (suggesting the alarm system of bells and pomegranates always worked in practice), requiring him to be hauled out of the last compartment of the Tent in the Wilderness, the priests added their own ideas to the Word of God, as a kind of "belt and brace" insurance policy. They did not believe what Moses had taught. They did not rely on the command the LORD gave. Instead, they trusted on their own clever invention, refusing to rely on the promise of God spoken through His servant.

Doubtful of Acceptance in Prayer?

I suppose it is a little bit like the way we distrust and doubt the Word of Promised Access that God has spoken to us in the Gospel:

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb. 4:14-16)

Of course, we are not to be complacent, flippant, irreverent or rude as we seek the face of our God: but we are, by the blood of Jesus, trusting in His tearing of the veil by His death, to press forward to petition the LORD, with boldness and confidence.

God command us to pray, repenting of our sin, confessing our need of pardon, assured of acceptance, and of being granted an audience for the petitions we make before our Heavenly Father. Does God not love us? Has He not always loved us? And are we not embraced with the open arms of God's infinite, Calvary, love? We are - so that is why we should be urged and encouraged to pray.

So, banish all unbelief and doubt, if you are in Christ: the Gospel logic is clear - if an earthly parent would never, in a million years, give an infant child a snake or stone, when a babbling request is made known, how could or would our Father of Light, who has given us new birth, and granted us privileged status as children of God, and cannot change, not give us all things in addition to The Gift of All Gifts - His own, beloved, precious, Son, to death:

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matt. 7:7-11)

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Rom. 8:31-32)

No Alert was Sounded at the Cross

Which brings us, of course, to the ground of such bold, confident, approach to God in prayer...

The Lord Jesus Christ had no beauty to attract us to him, such as the sparkling jewels and royal threads, with which the High Priest of Israel was arrayed - the breastpiece, ephod and turban plate were dazzling, costly, luminous works of beauty and glory; but at Calvary, our Lord Jesus not only had divine glory veiled in human flesh, but was made a sin-bearing curse, and was struck and spat-upon as the naked, threadbare, garbage of the earth.

2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:2-4).

Our Savior, rather, was stripped naked of the one-piece undergarment, which was gambled for by his executors around the foot of the Tree on which He died:

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be." This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, "They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." So the soldiers did these things, (Jn. 19:23-24)

And so, when He passed into paradise (to keep his appointment with with the believing, dying thief), there was no noise to sound the alarm - no bells were sounded, but His precious blood was shed!

Jesus, The Great High Priest of the Church, had no clothing to wear, no special priestly attire, and no fringe with little ornate bells and pomegranates to sound off the alert, in order to spare his life.

Rather, for our sakes, the Man of Sorrows, from whom men hid their faces, was struck down by wrath - He was spared no heat of holy, divine, fury, as He offered Himself up as the perfect, holy, final, incinerated, whole-burnt, sacrifice.

At that point, the earth shook and quaked at the presence of Almighty God, laid bear in His finished work. Holiness blazed against the Blessed One. The carpet-like curtain of the Temple was torn from the skies above, by Judge Jehovah's just and mighty hand.

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. (Matt. 27:50-51)

On that day, at the Cross, the way for petition to be made to God, by the blood of Christ, was paved and laid open- once and for all - to those who believe, repent & humble their souls to inquire of God. Now His children can approach their Father to seek needed mercy and grace.

Conclusion

So, be sure to be reverent when you come to pray! But also remember to believe the promises of God concerning prayer! No alarm sounded! The Son has suffered! the Father is willing, gracious, and kind! The Spirit, through the Gospel, commands you and enables you, by the application of the blood of Christ, to be sure of pardon & confident in petition. And...

...Give eternal thanks that, unlike Aaron, we need no bells & pomegranates, just to approach, humbly, needily, by faith, through grace, in Christ!