271 And make an altar of hard wood, a square altar, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high. 2 Put horns at the four angles of it, made of the same, plating it all with brass. 3 And make all its vessels, the baskets for taking away the dust of the fire, the spades and basins and meat-hooks and fire-trays, of brass. 4 And make a network of brass, with four brass rings at its four angles. 5 And put the network under the shelf round the altar so that the net comes half-way up the altar. 6 And make rods for the altar, of hard wood, plated with brass. 7 And put the rods through the rings at the two opposite sides of the altar, for lifting it. 8 The altar is to be hollow, boarded in with wood; make it from the design which you saw on the mountain.
9 And let there be an open space round the House, with hangings for its south side of the best linen, a hundred cubits long. 10 Their twenty pillars and their twenty bases are to be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their bands are to be of silver. 11 And on the north side in the same way, hangings a hundred cubits long, with twenty pillars of brass on bases of brass; their hooks and their bands are to be of silver. 12 And for the open space on the west side, the hangings are to be fifty cubits wide, with ten pillars and ten bases; 13 And on the east side the space is to be fifty cubits wide. 14 On the one side of the doorway will be hangings fifteen cubits long, with three pillars and three bases; 15 And on the other side, hangings fifteen cubits long, with three pillars and three bases. 16 And across the doorway, a veil of twenty cubits of the best linen, made of needlework of blue and purple and red, with four pillars and four bases. 17 All the pillars round the open space are to have silver bands, with hooks of silver and bases of brass. 18 The open space is to be a hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, with sides five cubits high, curtained with the best linen, with bases of brass. 19 All the instruments for the work of the House, and all its nails, and the nails of the open space are to be of brass.
20 Give orders to the children of Israel to give you clear olive oil for the lights, so that a light may be burning there at all times. 21 Let Aaron and his sons put this in order, evening and morning, before the Lord, inside the Tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the ark; this is to be an order for ever, from generation to generation, to be kept by the children of Israel.
281 Now let Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, come near from among the children of Israel, so that they may be my priests, even Aaron, and Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, his sons. 2 And make holy robes for Aaron your brother, so that he may be clothed with glory and honour. 3 Give orders to all the wise-hearted workmen, whom I have made full of the spirit of wisdom, to make robes for Aaron, so that he may be made holy as my priest. 4 This is what they are to make: a priest's bag, an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of coloured needlework, a head-dress, and a linen band; they are to make holy robes for Aaron your brother and for his sons, so that they may do the work of priests for me. 5 They are to take the gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen,
6 And make the ephod of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen, the work of a designer. 7 It is to have two bands stitched to it at the top of the arms, joining it together. 8 And the beautifully worked band, which goes on it, is to be of the same work and the same material, of gold and blue and purple and red and twisted linen-work. 9 You are to take two beryl stones, on which the names of the children of Israel are to be cut: 10 Six names on the one stone and six on the other, in the order of their birth. 11 With the work of a jeweller, like the cutting of a stamp, the names of the children of Israel are to be cut on them, and they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold. 12 And the two stones are to be placed on the ephod, over the arm-holes, to be stones of memory for the children of Israel: Aaron will have their names on his arms when he goes in before the Lord, to keep the Lord in mind of them. 13 And you are to make twisted frames of gold; 14 And two chains of the best gold, twisted like cords; and have the chains fixed on to the frames.
15 And make a priest's bag for giving decisions, designed like the ephod, made of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen. 16 It is to be square, folded in two, a hand-stretch long and a hand-stretch wide. 17 And on it you are to put four lines of jewels; the first line is to be a cornelian, a chrysolite, and an emerald; 18 The second, a ruby, a sapphire, and an onyx; 19 The third, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 The fourth, a topaz, a beryl, and a jasper; they are to be fixed in twisted frames of gold. 21 The jewels are to be twelve in number, for the names of the children of Israel; every jewel having the name of one of the twelve tribes cut on it as on a stamp. 22 And you are to make two chains of gold, twisted like cords, to be fixed to the priest's bag. 23 And put two gold rings on the two ends of the bag. 24 Put the two gold chains on the two rings at the ends of the bag; 25 Joining the other ends of the chains to the gold frames and putting them on the front of the ephod, at the top of the arms. 26 Then make two gold rings and put them on the lower ends of the bag, at the edge of it on the inner side nearest to the ephod. 27 And make two more gold rings and put them on the front of the ephod at the top of the arms, at the join, over the worked band: 28 So that the rings on the bag may be fixed to the rings of the ephod by a blue cord and on to the band of the ephod, so that the bag may not come loose from the ephod. 29 And so Aaron will have the names of the children of Israel on the priest's bag over his heart whenever he goes into the holy place, to keep the memory of them before the Lord. 30 And in the bag you are to put the Urim and Thummim, so that they may be on Aaron's heart whenever he goes in before the Lord; and Aaron may have the power of making decisions for the children of Israel before the Lord at all times.
31 The robe which goes with the ephod is to be made all of blue; 32 With a hole at the top, in the middle of it; the hole is to be edged with a band to make it strong like the hole in the coat of a fighting-man, so that it may not be broken open. 33 And round the skirts of it put fruits in blue and purple and red, with bells of gold between; 34 A gold bell and a fruit in turn all round the skirts of the robe. 35 Aaron is to put it on for his holy work; and the sound of it will be clear, when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, keeping him safe from death. 36 You are to make a plate of the best gold, cutting on it, as on a stamp, these words: HOLY TO THE Lord. 37 Put a blue cord on it and put it on the front of the twisted head-dress: 38 And it will be over Aaron's brow, so that Aaron will be responsible for any error in all the holy offerings made by the children of Israel; it will be on his brow at all times, so that their offerings may be pleasing to the Lord. 39 The coat is to be made of the best linen, worked in squares; and you are to make a head-dress of linen, and a linen band worked in needlework.
40 And for Aaron's sons you are to make coats, and bands, and head-dresses, so that they may be clothed with glory and honour. 41 These you are to put on Aaron, your brother, and on his sons, putting oil on them, separating them and making them holy, to do the work of priests to me. 42 And you are to make them linen trousers, covering their bodies from the middle to the knee; 43 Aaron and his sons are to put these on whenever they go into the Tent of meeting or come near the altar, when they are doing the work of the holy place, so that they may be free from any sin causing death: this is to be an order for him and his seed after him for ever.
211 And when they were near Jerusalem, and had come to Beth-phage, to the Mountain of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 Saying to them, Go into the little town in front of you, and straight away you will see an ass with a cord round her neck, and a young one with her; let them loose and come with them to me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you will say, The Lord has need of them; and straight away he will send them. 4 Now this took place so that these words of the prophet might come true, 5 Say to the daughter of Zion, See, your King comes to you, gentle and seated on an ass, and on a young ass. 6 And the disciples went and did as Jesus had given them orders, 7 And got the ass and the young one, and put their clothing on them, and he took his seat on it. 8 And all the people put their clothing down in the way; and others got branches from the trees, and put them down in the way. 9 And those who went before him, and those who came after, gave loud cries, saying, Glory to the Son of David: A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord: Glory in the highest. 10 And when he came into Jerusalem, all the town was moved, saying, Who is this? 11 And the people said, This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.
12 And Jesus went into the Temple and sent out all who were trading there, overturning the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those trading in doves. 13 And he said to them, It is in the Writings, My house is to be named a house of prayer, but you are making it a hole of thieves. 14 And the blind and the broken in body came to him in the Temple, and he made them well. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the works of power which he did, and the children crying out in the Temple, Glory to the son of David, they were angry and said to him, 16 Have you any idea what these are saying? And Jesus said to them, Yes: have you not seen in the Writings, From the lips of children and babies at the breast you have made your praise complete? 17 And he went away from them, and went out of the town to Bethany, and was there for the night.
18 Now in the morning when he was coming back to the town, he had a desire for food. 19 And seeing a fig-tree by the wayside, he came to it, and saw nothing on it but leaves only; and he said to it, Let there be no fruit from you from this time forward for ever. And straight away the fig-tree became dry and dead. 20 And when the disciples saw it they were surprised, saying, How did the fig-tree become dry in so short a time? 21 And Jesus in answer said to them, Truly I say to you, If you have faith, without doubting, not only may you do what has been done to the fig-tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and put into the sea, it will be done. 22 And all things, whatever you make request for in prayer, having faith, you will get.
(Read Matthew 21:1-11)
This coming of Christ was described by the prophet Zechariah, Zechariah 9:9. When Christ would appear in his glory, it is in his meekness, not in his majesty, in mercy to work salvation. As meekness and outward poverty were fully seen in Zion's King, and marked his triumphal entrance to Jerusalem, how wrong covetousness, ambition, and the pride of life must be in Zion's citizens! They brought the ass, but Jesus did not use it without the owner's consent. The trappings were such as came to hand. We must not think the clothes on our backs too dear to part with for the service of Christ. The chief priests and the elders afterwards joined with the multitude that abused him upon the cross; but none of them joined the multitude that did him honour. Those that take Christ for their King, must lay their all under his feet. Hosanna signifies, Save now, we beseech thee! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! But of how little value is the applause of the people! The changing multitude join the cry of the day, whether it be Hosanna, or Crucify him. Multitudes often seem to approve the gospel, but few become consistent disciples. When Jesus was come into Jerusalem all the city was moved; some perhaps were moved with joy, who waited for the Consolation of Israel; others, of the Pharisees, were moved with envy. So various are the motions in the minds of men upon the approach of Christ's kingdom.
(Read Matthew 21:12-17)
Christ found some of the courts of the temple turned into a market for cattle and things used in the sacrifices, and partly occupied by the money-changers. Our Lord drove them from the place, as he had done at his entering upon his ministry, John 2:13-17. His works testified of him more than the hosannas; and his healing in the temple was the fulfilling the promise, that the glory of the latter house should be greater than the glory of the former. If Christ came now into many parts of his visible church, how many secret evils he would discover and cleanse! And how many things daily practised under the cloak of religion, would he show to be more suitable to a den of thieves than to a house of prayer!
(Read Matthew 21:18-22)
This cursing of the barren fig-tree represents the state of hypocrites in general, and so teaches us that Christ looks for the power of religion in those who profess it, and the savour of it from those that have the show of it. His just expectations from flourishing professors are often disappointed; he comes to many, seeking fruit, and finds leaves only. A false profession commonly withers in this world, and it is the effect of Christ's curse. The fig-tree that had no fruit, soon lost its leaves. This represents the state of the nation and people of the Jews in particular. Our Lord Jesus found among them nothing but leaves. And after they rejected Christ, blindness and hardness grew upon them, till they were undone, and their place and nation rooted up. The Lord was righteous in it. Let us greatly fear the doom denounced on the barren fig-tree.