Holy Clothes
Exodus 29
I don’t pretend to be an expert on teen fashion, but I have seen enough of these particular pants worn to know that they are in fashion. I’m talking about jeans that have rips and holes in them. The funny thing is, you probably have to pay extra for them. When I was a kid, jeans like this became painting clothes or cut-off shorts. I recently offered a teen who was wearing these type of jeans some money. She looked at me funny and asked why I was offering her money. I told her the money was for new jeans because she clearly didn’t have any to buy new jeans. Let’s just say she wasn’t impressed with my joke.
Fashion I suppose is in the eye of the beholder. When it came to the clothing worn by the high priests, it didn’t come down to personal choice. God had very specific plans for the garments worn. Exodus 29 is a continuation of God’s instructions for the priest’s attire. The previous chapter gives the specific details of the garments, while this chapter, once the attire is put on, focuses on the consecration of the high priest.
The word consecration carries the idea of separating oneself from unclean things. Similar words would be purity, holiness, or sanctification. In this chapter we see that meeting with God in the tabernacle required ceremonially consecration. It involved the shedding of blood and covering the altar with it.
Notice it involved the garments, as well. Verse 21 says, “Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons' garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons' garments with him.”
There is great significance to this. The shed blood made the priests, and their garments, holy. As followers of Jesus we must remember to view the Old Testament through “gospel lenses.” Otherwise, we will miss how the Law is pointing to redemption. The high priests could stand before a holy God because the blood that covered them made them holy.
It was Jesus that was able “to sanctify the people through his own blood” (Hebrews 13:12). There is no other way you or I could have ever gained entrance before a holy God. Salvation is by grace. As Paul put it in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”
How amazing is that? The response should be to live holy before God. The New Testament actually uses clothing as a metaphor for holy living in numerous places. One of them is in Revelation 3 when Jesus describes some of the people in Sardis who have remained holy in an unholy world. In vs. 3-4 Jesus told John (the author of Revelation), “Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”
In response to Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf, may we, like these believers in Sardis, strive to live unsoiled by the sin of the world. May we one day in glory present our lives before God, “clothed thus in white garments.”
Exodus 29
I don’t pretend to be an expert on teen fashion, but I have seen enough of these particular pants worn to know that they are in fashion. I’m talking about jeans that have rips and holes in them. The funny thing is, you probably have to pay extra for them. When I was a kid, jeans like this became painting clothes or cut-off shorts. I recently offered a teen who was wearing these type of jeans some money. She looked at me funny and asked why I was offering her money. I told her the money was for new jeans because she clearly didn’t have any to buy new jeans. Let’s just say she wasn’t impressed with my joke.
Fashion I suppose is in the eye of the beholder. When it came to the clothing worn by the high priests, it didn’t come down to personal choice. God had very specific plans for the garments worn. Exodus 29 is a continuation of God’s instructions for the priest’s attire. The previous chapter gives the specific details of the garments, while this chapter, once the attire is put on, focuses on the consecration of the high priest.
The word consecration carries the idea of separating oneself from unclean things. Similar words would be purity, holiness, or sanctification. In this chapter we see that meeting with God in the tabernacle required ceremonially consecration. It involved the shedding of blood and covering the altar with it.
Notice it involved the garments, as well. Verse 21 says, “Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons' garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons' garments with him.”
There is great significance to this. The shed blood made the priests, and their garments, holy. As followers of Jesus we must remember to view the Old Testament through “gospel lenses.” Otherwise, we will miss how the Law is pointing to redemption. The high priests could stand before a holy God because the blood that covered them made them holy.
It was Jesus that was able “to sanctify the people through his own blood” (Hebrews 13:12). There is no other way you or I could have ever gained entrance before a holy God. Salvation is by grace. As Paul put it in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”
How amazing is that? The response should be to live holy before God. The New Testament actually uses clothing as a metaphor for holy living in numerous places. One of them is in Revelation 3 when Jesus describes some of the people in Sardis who have remained holy in an unholy world. In vs. 3-4 Jesus told John (the author of Revelation), “Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”
In response to Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf, may we, like these believers in Sardis, strive to live unsoiled by the sin of the world. May we one day in glory present our lives before God, “clothed thus in white garments.”
Posted in Journey of Hope