Exodus 24:10-13; mentions an interesting place that we are called to enter into; the sapphire platform. “10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire as bright blue as the sky. But God did not raise his hands against the leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank. The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction. Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God.”
I’d like to point out that Moses walked with Joshua. We’re going to talk about that later, so remember that. Before we go there, let’s talk about something called Holy Fire.
There are two special stones mentioned in Exodus that the high priest wore. The high priest was a representation of Jesus who was to come. Those stones are called Thummim and Urim on the breastplate of Judgment. They are located near the heart of the priest.
Thummim means integrities, wholes; completenesses. The 'IM' at the end of the word makes it plural. Urim is the plural of the word ur (ore) which means fire. The breastplate of Judgment becomes the armor of God (breastplate of righteousness). Before we get into that, let’s look at the word Urim, Fire. And the eysh which also means Fire.
It’s important to recognize that the integrities of God always go hand in hand with fires. We see Isaiah 49:6 is a scripture that is speaking of Jesus. It refers to him as a light to the gentiles. That word used is ur. He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth."
We see in this verse both Holiness and Fire. In Isaiah 6, Isaiah sees the throne of God, God, the throne room, and the seraphim. “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.” At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And with it, he touched my mouth and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.”
This is the place that is being spoken of in Psalm 91. This is the place that’s under the shadow of his wings. That’s not to say God has wings, but He has angels that cover his throne just like we see on the ark of the covenant where the cherubim cover the mercy seat.
Isaiah was immediately convicted of his words when he stood before this throne. He said he deserved to die because of his words and he lived amongst people of unclean lips. The angel came with a fiery coal and cleansed his lips. In verse six it says the angel brought a live coal with tongs. The first thing I notice is the coals were hot and glowing. So, the first stones spoken of in Ezekiel are this platform. The next thing I noticed here is the angel didn’t dare to touch it with his hands. There’s something about this fiery platform that is to be revered and not just flippantly dealt with. To even touch this platform has a requirement of immense holiness. Moral of the story; if you want to stand before God then you need to be mindful of your words and your actions in life.
Take a look at Acts two. The Holy Fire came down on the 120 and the first thing they did was speak with their words from their mouth! Holy Fire produces transformation. Holy Fire comes from the throne of God which means it’s produced by closeness with God. Are your words separating you from God? Is fire pouring from your mouth? Where was Isaiah when he was touched by the Holy Fire? He was standing before the throne.
What does all this have to do with the breastplate of judgment?
We’ve established that the breastplate of judgment has a fiery stone called the Urim and that the ur or fire of God is a type of representation of Jesus. To stand on the firey stones, we need to walk with Jesus. Just like Moses did in Exodus 24. He went up to the mountain of God, unto his presence, onto the platform but he walked with Joshua into the place, or as you may recognize the name “Yahshua.” What we need to realize is that we not only need to walk with Yahshua, that’s not as close as you can get to him, but we need to wear Jesus and exist within his very being.
We are instructed to wear Jesus daily. We see this in Romans 13:14, “Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”
The word used for clothe yourself is endysasthe. This comes from the word enduo. This means to clothe yourself, to put on, to wrap around, to endue, sink into, or to be enveloped. Enduo is where we get the word to endue in English. Endue means to endow or provide with a quality or ability. In this case, we wear Jesus Christ as though he were a garment. He becomes our mantle.
What does clothing yourself in Jesus look like? How do you know if you are operating in the greatest mantle that has and will ever exist? Paul teaches us in Colossians 3:12-15, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”
Again, we see the word endysathe or put on and be endowed with. In verse 14 we see it says over all these virtues put on love. What’s interesting here is that Paul tells us to clothe ourselves in all these virtues, which all of these are the divine nature, it over all of this (like a sweater) put on love. We know from scripture that Jesus is the so. Of God and is God; we also Know Jesus is love, and according to 1: John 4:8 God is love.
This shows us that what we are called to put on and operate in is Jesus which covers all the other things we are supposed to operate internally or unseen. If you work in retail you know that the women’s underwater section is called the “intimates” section. That is why panties typically represent intimate or private areas in one's life. In the same way, the divine nature is our intimate area that is beneath the mantle of Christ that we are called to operate in.
By putting on the mantle of Christ, clothing yourself in him, then you incidentally clothe yourself in the armor of God. Don’t believe me? Curious how that’s possible?
Here’s how. Ephesians 6: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”
Each of the aspects of the armor is a different aspect of Jesus. Jesus is righteous and he made us the righteousness of God (1 Corinthians 1:30, Jesus is the Prince of Peace and the gospel of peace (he’s the good news), Jesus is salvation, He’s the word of God; he’s our shield in psalm 18. So, we see through all of this that the mantle we want to operate in is the mantle of Christ.
If we remain in him, then we can’t be touched. We will be in that psalm 91 place. We will not have to wake up and declare that we are wearing the armor of God, rather, we will simply live life imitating the life of Jesus and our armor will always be on. We must be mindful of our words and walk the walk, not just talk the talk.