Theme: Blue is the Colour
Blue is a colour that represents both the sky and the sea, and is associated with open spaces. Although when we feel down in the dumps we might say we are feeling blue it is many experts will say that the colour blue has positive effects on the mind and the body by invoking rest and causing the body to produce chemicals that are calming. It is believed that it helps to slow human metabolism, is cooling in nature, helps with balance and self-expression and is also an appetite suppressant!
In
the Bible the colour blue is used as a teaching tool about the character of God
and as a reminder of how we need to respond to him. The Hebrew word used in the
Bible for the blue used in worship is tekhelet. Tekhelet was produced by a
special blue dye which came from a sea snail found in the Mediterranean.
There are four uses of tekhelet in the Hebrew Scriptures. 1. Royalty
The process to produce the tekhelet dye is complicated and so tekhelet was always been expensive. For this reason alone it became a symbol of kings in the ancient Near East. Ezekiel 23:5–6 speaks of the Assyrian nobles who were dressed with blue and Esther 1:6 describes the Persian royal palace has having white and blue wall hangings.
There is also a connection with blue and authority. When God was confirming his covenant with the Israelites he invited Moses, Aaron Nadab and Abihu and 70 elders to come before him.
Exodus 24: 9-10 says that they went up and “saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself.”
The two most powerful things in the experience of man outside of God were the blue sky and the blue sea. Life and death came from them both as in many ways it still does. Here in Exodus is a God who has them both as a pavement upon which to rest his feet. He is not subject to nature, he is above it.
The book of Ezekiel opens during a time when Israel had been overtaken by the invading Babylonians. People of any leadership ability were taken into exile and those left behind struggled to survive after years of war and famine. At this worrying time the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel. In the midst of many spectacular visions Ezekiel sees the throne of God.
“Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord and when I saw it I fell down and I heard the voice of one speaking.” (Ezekiel 1:26-28)
Following this vision of the sapphire blue throne, Ezekiel would forever remember that though things seemed out of control, God was still on his throne.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven hallowed by your name.” (Matthew 6:9)
When we prayer that prayer we are not just announcing God’s postal address but declaring his status in the universe. What Moses and Ezekiel realised through their experience was that God’s heavenly position was not about location but about his ability to take control.
When children are small they often assume that their parents can do anything. They soon learn that whilst sometimes parents can do what is asked there are other occasions when it is beyond their power to do anything about it.
But with God we do not just have a father but a Father in heaven. A God who can act without the limitations of humanity to support, provide for, redeem and liberate his children.
2. Priesthood
The second use of blue in the Bible is in the tabernacle and later the temple. There were four layers of curtains covering the tabernacle. There were patterns woven into the inner curtains and blue was a main part of the colour scheme.
Also the formal ritual clothes of the High Priest who served in the house of God were dominated by the colour blue. Exodus 28:31-43. In these verses the linen robe called an ephod, the breast piece, and the headpiece all had blue in them. Overall the High Priest’s outer robe was to be entirely made of material dyed with tekhelet.
This was a reminder of God’s sovereignty but also of his holiness. Whilst white is the most obvious symbol of purity to us, the Israelites lived in a climate, where much to the year they experienced the clear, blue cloudless skies and the sun shining down on the unpolluted blue waters of a lake. It is dazzling and breath-taking.
The reality was that the priests themselves just wore the robe. Although hopefully they lived obedient lives, like all men they failed to perfectly reflect the righteousness and purity of God. The priests themselves were sinners and therefore had to make sacrifice for themselves as well as the people. Also when they died the priests had to be replaced.
If we have a God who is so
great that he can have a sapphire sky as a mere footstool but we also have the
image of the blue robed priest, who is a forerunner of the great high priest
Jesus of whom Hebrews
4:14 “We have a great high priest who
has gone into heaven and he is Jesus the Son of God. That is why we must hold on to what we have
said about him. Jesus understands every weakness of ours because he was tempted
in every way that we are. But he did not sin! So whenever we are in need we
should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be
treated with undeserved kindness and we will find help. “
What
an amazing God we serve!
3. Obedience
It
is a fact of human nature that if we do not have something to remind us we tend
to forget about God and fall back into our old ways. In the Old Testament the way God’s people were helped to remember God and his commands was through blue ribbons.
In Numbers 15:37–41 God instructed His people to put tassels on the corners of their garments. On each of the fringes they were to place a blue cord or ribbon. This instruction had this purpose. “You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord that you may obey them.” (v39-40)
The tassels are a reminder of God’s word, his truth and his commands. When they looked at the tassels they were reminded that the God who is holy as command that his people be holy as he is holy. They are called to live lives in line with the character and ways of God, which has been revealed to them through the law.
A problem arises from the fact that people despite the reminder on their clothing they failed to be holy as God is hold and failed to keep the commands. Sometimes they lost sight of the fact that keeping the law was not just a matter of outward observances but a matter of loving God with all their heart mind and soul.
This sometimes led to hypocrisy. In Matthew 23:5 Jesus says about the Pharisees, "But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries, and lengthen the tassels of their garments.”
So what is to be done?
The prophets of old saw the problem and received the promise from God when the word of God would just not be written on tablets of stone and remembered by tassels and ribbons on clothes but it would be internalised. Through Jeremiah God promised “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33)
And this promise was fulfilled through Jesus. According to John 1:1 and 14, Jesus is the word of God made flesh. Jesus lives out the written word of God. We are promised that through the Holy Spirit, Jesus the living word comes to live in us and empowers us to fulfil God’s command to be holy and righteous. Paul prays with confidence, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” (Ephesians 3:16-17)
We are a people who are called to a performance religion but a people who are given the means to actually fulfil the commands of Christ through his indwelling presence in our hearts. We call that holiness.
We are not any different to Pharisee who lengthened the tassels on their robes to parade their religious superiority if all we do is turn up for parade on a Sunday morning but don’t live the life and if we are just outwardly conforming to rules but not loving him.
The blue in our flag doesn’t just point to the fact that God is holy but that through the sacrifice of Jesus and the empowering of the Holy Spirit I can be holy too.
Blessings
Carol
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