We are in chapter twenty-four of Exodus with our word for today. סַפִּיר lapis-lazuli, sapphire, sapphire stone. It is used 11 times in the Old Testament. Our word is used once in the sense of an uncut sapphire stone raw material. Job 28:5-6 As for the earth, out of it comes bread, but underneath it is turned up as by fire. Its stones are the place of סַפִּ֥יר sapphires, and it has dust of gold. The rest of the uses of our word are in the sense of a precious stone that has been cut for use in jewelry or other purposes. Sapphire is a transparent stone of rich blue corundum valued as a gemstone. It is identified as precious along with onyx. Job 28:16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or וְסַפִּֽיר sapphire. It is used to compare the attractive beauty of one’s appearance. Song of Solomon 5:14 His arms are rods of gold, set with jewels. His body is polished ivory, bedecked with סַפִּירִֽים sapphires. Lamentations 4:7 Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, the beauty of their form was like סַפִּ֖יר sapphire. It was also used as part of the garments to be worn by the priests in the breastplate. Exodus 28:17-18 You shall set in it four rows of stones … the second row an emerald, a סַפִּ֖יר sapphire, and a diamond. Exodus 39:8, 10-11 He made the breastpiece, in skilled work, in the style of the ephod … And they set in it four rows of stones … the second row, an emerald, a סַפִּ֖יר sapphire, and a diamond. We also find our word used to describe Satan before his fall. Ezekiel 28:13-14 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, סַפִּ֣יר sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings … You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God. Our word is used to describe God’s appearance. Ezekiel 1:26, 28 And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like סַפִּ֖יר sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance … Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face. Ezekiel 10:1, 4 Then I looked, and behold, on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a סַפִּ֔יר sapphire, in appearance like a throne … And the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord. This is how our word is used in our chapter today.
Exodus 24:9-11 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of הַסַּפִּ֔יר sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. We also see Sapphire used to describe God and the place of God in the New Testament.
Revelation 21:10-11, 19 And showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal … The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald. The Holy Spirit is showing us how wonderful and beautify God is. I’ll close with this great verse from one of David’s Psalms. Psalm 27:4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
