Priestly Garments, Part 1
Notes
Transcript
I. Those set apart for service, 28:1.
I. Those set apart for service, 28:1.
Aaron and his sons were set apart to minister as Priests to the LORD. The people could bring their thank offerings, made atonement for their sins, and entered the presence of the living God but not on their own. This was not a serve yourself tabernacle. The LORD had standards for the sacred duty of ministering before Him. The ministry of these who were called by the LORD Himself was to be for the LORD. They were also those who mediated between the LORD and His people, representing the people before the LORD. Though their more specific duties would be given later, the very apparel they wore spoke of their role before the LORD and are a type of the Lord.
The LORD has spent much time in detailing the construction of the Tabernacle and its implements. He has said very little about the priests and their duties. However we have a good idea of some of their responsibilities from the way the Tabernacle was furnished. The priests made holy bread and put it on the table of showbread. They offered sacrifices on the altar in the courtyard. They took care of the sacred objects used to pour drink offerings, sprinkle sacrificial blood, and tend the fire on the altar. The priests were even going to be responsible to take down, carry, and set up the Tabernacle whenever God and His people were on the move. As we saw last week, they were also to keep the lights burning on the golden lampstand.
Did you notice that Aaron and his sons did not claim this office for themselves. Their calling came from God. There was no such thing as a self-appointed priest. This principle is true for the church as well. There are no self-appointed pastors, elders, or deacons. When God calls someone to public service, He gives an inward sense of calling, but it will also be confirmed by those who hold spiritual authority in the church.
II. Clothing to Fit the Service, 28:2-5.
II. Clothing to Fit the Service, 28:2-5.
Starting in verse 2 and continuing through verse 5, we have a description of the special clothes God had for His priests to wear, especially the high priest.
This clothing for the high priest was to be carefully made by men with a God-given gift for craftsmanship. There was a breastpiece, adorned with gemstones, which went over the high priest’s chest. The breastpiece was attached to an ephod--a long sleeveless vest somewhat like an apron, which was suspended by shoulder straps, almost like overalls, and tied around the priest’s waist with a belt. But these were just Aaron’s outer clothes. Underneath these, Aaron wore a robe, a tunic, and linen underclothes, with a turban for his head.
These were the ceremonial robes to be worn by the high priest as he performed the sacred duties of his office. These garments are described in the text as holy, glorious and beautiful. No one else wore anything like this. Because they were holy garments , they were set apart for sacred duty: they were holy clothes for a holy calling. The wearing of these clothes by the high priest in his duties demonstrated that what he did--whether lighting the lampstand or offering sacrifices on the altar-- was holy before God.
There was something glorious about the high priest’s calling, which was displayed by the special grandeur of his clothing. And the high priest’s garments were beautiful. He was the best dressed man in Israel, wearing robes made of pure white linen and decorated with colorful yarn in gold, blue, purple and scarlet. He was outfitted in the same colors of the Tabernacle; almost as if he “embodied the tabernacle.” When anyone saw him they would immediately recognize that he belonged there in God’s sacred space.
The priest and the Tabernacle both pointed to God. The words describing the high priestly garments could just as well be used to describe God’s divine nature. This is generally how the Bible employs them. God is holy, set apart in His purity. God is glorious, working all things for His glory. Isaiah 6:3.
And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”
God is also beautiful, as King David said in Psalm 27:4.
One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple.
These three are essential attributes of God. Refer to Psalm 29:2.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in holy array.
As God is like this--beautiful in His holiness and glorious in His splendor--then the only way to approach Him is to be adorned with holiness, glory, and beauty, the way the high priest of Israel was dressed when he put on his sacred robes and entered the Holy of Holies.
III. The special ephod, 28:6-14
III. The special ephod, 28:6-14
These grand garments were important not only for the high priest. They were important for Israel as well. The High priest represented Israel every time he performed his sacred duties; he did not act for himself alone, but for all the people before God. He was their representative, and that role was symbolized by the ephod, described in verses 6 through 14.
The ephod was made of fine linen adorned with richly colored thread. it seems to have been a long, sleeveless apron or vest, with two straps or suspenders that went over the high priest’s shoulders. Following God’s special instructions to Moses, the finishing of the ephod by the craftsmen included taking two semiprecious stones and mounting them in ornate settings made with golden wire, a delicate, intricate design. These were to be attached to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. Those shoulder pieces had two chains of gold braids hanging down like ropes, presumably to hold up the breastpiece. But the most important thing about the ephod was what was written on it.
Inscribed on the two stones were twelve names: the names of the sons of Jacob, whom God gave the name Israel. On one stone were the names Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, and Gad. On the other stone were the names Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. These were the twelve tribes of Israel.
IV. Spiritual Significance
IV. Spiritual Significance
Spiritual significance of these inscriptions is evidenced in the layout of Israel’s camp in the wilderness. Camping in the wilderness, living in a giant tent city organized by tribes, with three tribes camping at each of the four points of the compass, the center of the encampment was the Tabernacle--the place were God was. When the high priest entered that holy place, he bore the tribal names of Israel upon his shoulders. This showed that the high priest represented the people before God. God said
“You shall put the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for a memorial.
Whenever the high priest would put on these ceremonial robes, he lifted the people onto his shoulders and carried them into the presence of the LORD.
Exodus 19:5, 6
‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;
and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
God spoke here of great spiritual realities--Israel belonged to God as a treasure and was called to serve Him as a holy kingdom of priests--that were symbolically reenacted every time the high priest went before God. He would serve as representative of Israel’s role as a kingdom of priests.
The high priest wore these clothes when he first made atonement for sin for himself. Moses gave God’s command to Aaron, saying,
Moses then said to Aaron, “Come near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, that you may make atonement for yourself and for the people; then make the offering for the people, that you may make atonement for them, just as the Lord has commanded.”
As Aaron offered this sacrifice, he was carrying Israel on his shoulders, representing the people before God. This priestly act of this one man made atonement for all the sin of God’s people.
V. Our Great High Priest-Jesus
V. Our Great High Priest-Jesus
But herein lies the problem: the high priest himself was a sinner. His magnificent raiment could not hide the sin in his heart. The clothes did not make the man. The sacrifices he offered were neither perfect nor permanent--otherwise he wouldn’t have to keep on repeating the sacrifices over and over again. Not one of Israel’s high priests ever lived up to God’s holy standard. Aaron sinned by leading the people in false worship at the golden calf. Aaron saw his sons Nadab and Abihu sinned by offering unholy fire on God’s altar, and for that they were destroyed. Eli sinned by failing to discipline his sons, who were such wicked men that God struck them both down on the same day.
The prophets reveal to us that one of the reasons that Israel went into exile was because of the corruption of the priests, and eventually the priesthood broke down altogether. Listen to these words from Hosea 3:4
For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols.
This prophecy meant that when the people of God fell under judgment, they would live without a royal king or a holy priest. This went on for centuries.
God’s people needed a perfect priest, uncorrupted by his own sin. They needed a glorious priest who would shine forever in God’s light, a beautiful priest who would offer his pure life to God. They needed Jesus, because the great message of the gospel is that God has provided the perfect priest in the person of His own Son.
Jesus is a priest without sin, pristine in his holiness, magnificent in his glory, sublime in His beauty. Heb. 1:3
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
So when he performed the great work of his priesthood by offering Himself as the sacrifice for our sins by dying on the cross, He did not wear any of the high priestly garments. Rather He suffered for our sins in naked glory. He needed no outward splendor because he had a splendor all His own. It was the glorious holiness of His own beautiful Person that made His sacrifice acceptable to God.
And God has promised to accept anyone and everyone who comes to Him in the name of Jesus Christ. When Jesus died on the cross, Jesus was carrying us on His shoulders, taking our sin upon Himself in order to deal with it in the presence of God Not only have our names been written on God incarnate, as the prophet Isaiah said...
“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.
… but Jesus stands today as our representative before God.
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;
Our great High Priest is the assurance of our salvation. As God has accepted Him, so He will accept us .
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,
where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.