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Exodus Chapter
Twenty-eight
Exodus 28
Chapter Contents
Aaron and his sons set apart for the priest's office,
Their garments. (1-5) The ephod. (6-14) The breastplate, The Urim and Thummim.
(15-30) The robe of the ephod, The plate of the mitre. (31-39) The garments for
Aaron's sons. (40-43)
Commentary on Exodus 28:1-5
(Read Exodus 28:1-5)
Hitherto the heads of families were the priests, and
offered sacrifices; but now this office was confined to the family of Aaron
only; and so continued till the gospel dispensation. The holy garments not only
distinguished the priests from the people, but were emblems of that holy
conduct which should ever be the glory and beauty, the mark of the ministers of
religion, without which their persons and ministrations will be had in
contempt. They also typified the glory of the Divine majesty, and the beauty of
complete holiness, which rendered Jesus Christ the great High Priest. But our
adorning under the gospel, is not to be of gold and costly array, but the
garments of salvation, the robe of righteousness.
Commentary on Exodus 28:6-14
(Read Exodus 28:6-14)
This richly-wrought ephod was the outmost garment of the
high priest; plain linen ephods were worn by the inferior priests. It was a
short coat without sleeves, fastened close to the body with a girdle. The
shoulder-pieces were buttoned together with precious stones set in gold, one on
each shoulder, on which were engraven the names of the children of Israel. Thus
Christ, our High Priest, presents his people before the Lord for a memorial. As
Christ's coat had no seam, but was woven from the top throughout, so it was
with the ephod. The golden bells on this ephod, by their preciousness and
pleasant sound, well represent the good profession that the saints make, and
the pomegranates the fruit they bring forth.
Commentary on Exodus 28:15-30
(Read Exodus 28:15-30)
The chief ornament of the high priest, was the
breastplate, a rich piece of cloth, curiously worked. The name of each tribe
was graven in a precious stone, fixed in the breastplate, to signify how
precious, in God's sight, believers are, and how honourable. How small and poor
soever the tribe was, it was as a precious stone in the breastplate of the high
priest; thus are all the saints dear to Christ, however men esteem them. The
high priest had the names of the tribes, both on his shoulders and on his
breast, which reminds us of the power and the love with which our Lord Jesus
pleads for those that are his. He not only bears them up in his arms with
almighty strength, but he carries them in his bosom with tender affection. What
comfort is this to us in all our addresses to God! The Urim and Thummim, by
which the will of God was made known in doubtful cases, were put in this
breastplate. Urim and Thummim signify light and integrity. There are many
conjectures what these were; the most probable opinion seems to be, that they
were the twelve precious stones in the high priest's breastplate. Now, Christ is
our Oracle. By him God, in these last days, makes known himself and his mind to
us, Hebrews 1:1,2; John 1:18. He is the true Light,
the faithful Witness, the Truth itself, and from him we receive the Spirit of
Truth, who leads into all truth.
Commentary on Exodus 28:31-39
(Read Exodus 28:31-39)
The robe of the ephod was under the ephod, and reached
down to the knees, without sleeves. Aaron must minister in the garments
appointed. We must serve the Lord with holy fear, as those who know they
deserve to die. A golden plate was fixed on Aaron's forehead, engraven with
"Holiness to the Lord." Aaron was hereby reminded that God is holy,
and that his priests must be holy, devoted to the Lord. This must appear in
their forehead, in open profession of their relation to God. It must be
engraven like the engravings of a signet; deep and durable; not painted so as
to be washed off, but firm and lasting; such must our holiness to the Lord be.
Christ is our High Priest; through him sins are forgiven to us, and not laid to
our charge. Our persons, our doings, are pleasing to God upon the account of
Christ, and not otherwise.
Commentary on Exodus 28:40-43
(Read Exodus 28:40-43)
The priest's garments typify the righteousness of Christ.
If we appear not before God in that, we shall bear our iniquity, and die.
Blessed is he, therefore, that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, Revelation 16:15. And blessed be God that we
have a High Priest, appointed of God, and set apart for his work; furnished for
his high office by the glory of his Divine majesty, and the beauty of perfect
holiness. Happy are we, if by the law spiritually understood, we see that such
a High Priest became us; that we cannot draw near to a holy God, or be
accepted, but by him. There is no light, no wisdom, no perfection, but from
him; no glory, no beauty, but in being like unto him. Let us take encouragement
from the power, love, and compassion of our High Priest, to draw near with
boldness to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Exodus》
Exodus 28
Verse 1
[1] And
take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the
children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even
Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.
Aaron and his sons —
Hitherto every master of a family was priest to his own family. But now the
families of Israel began to be incorporated into a nation, and a tabernacle of
the congregation was to be erected, as a visible centre of their unity, it was
requisite there should be a publick priesthood instituted. Moses, who had
hitherto officiated, and is therefore reckoned among the priests of the Lord, Psalms 99:6, had enough to do as their prophet,
to consult the oracle for them, and as their prince, to judge among them. Nor
was he desirous to ingross all the honours to himself, or to entail that of the
priesthood, which alone was hereditary, upon his own family; but was very well
pleased to see his brother Aaron invested with this office, and his sons after
him; while (how great soever he was) his sons after him would be but common Levites.
It is an instance of the humility of that great man, and an evidence of his
sincere regard to the glory of God, that he had so little regard to the
preferment of his own family. Aaron, that had humbly served as a prophet to his
younger brother Moses, and did not decline the office, is now advanced to be a
priest to God. God had said to Israel in general, that they should be to him a
kingdom of priests; but because it was requisite that those who ministered at
the altar should give themselves wholly to the service, God here chose from
among them one to be a family of priests, the father and his four sons; and
from Aaron's loins descended all the priests of the Jewish church, whom we read
of both in the Old Testament and in the New.
Verse 2
[2] And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for
beauty.
The priests garments were made for glory and
beauty - Some of the richest materials were to be provided, and the belt
artists employed in making them, whose skill God, by a special gift, would
improve to a very high degree. Eminency, even in common arts, is a gift of God;
it comes from him, and, ought to be used for him. The garments appointed were,
(1.) Four, which both the high-priest and the inferior priests wore, viz. The
linen breeches, the linen coat, the linen girdle which fastened it to them, and
the bonnet; that which the high-priest wore is called a mitre. (2.) Four more
which were peculiar to the high-priest, the ephod, with the curious girdle of
it, the breast-plate of judgment, the long robe, and the golden plate on his
forehead. These glorious garments, were appointed, 1. That the priests
themselves might be minded of the dignity of their office. 2. That the people
might thereby be possessed with a holy reverence of that God whose ministers
appeared in such grandeur. 3. That the priests might be types of Christ, and of
all Christians who have the beauty of holiness put upon them.
Verse 6
[6] And
they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine
twined linen, with cunning work.
The ephod, was the outmost garment of the
high-priest; linen ephods were worn by the inferior priests, but this, which
the high-priest wore, was called a golden ephod, because there was a great deal
of gold woven into it. It was a short coat without sleeves, buttoned close to
him with a curious girdle of the same stuff. The shoulder pieces were buttoned
together with two precious stones set in gold, one on each shoulder. In
allusion to this, Christ our high priest appeared to John, girt about the paps
with a golden girdle, such as was the curious girdle of the ephod, Revelation 1:13. Righteousness is the girdle of
his loins. He is girt with strength for the work of our salvation. And as Aaron
had the names of all Israel upon his shoulders in precious stones, so He
presents to himself and to his Father a glorious church, Ephesians 5:27. He bears them before the Lord
for a memorial, in token of his appearing before God as the representative of
all Israel, and an advocate for them.
Verse 11
[11] With
the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shalt thou
engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel: thou shalt
make them to be set in ouches of gold.
Ouches —
Hollow places, such as are made in gold rings, to receive and hold the precious
stones.
Verse 15
[15] And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after
the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and
of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.
The most considerable of the ornaments of the
high priest was this breast-plate, a rich piece of cloth curiously wrought with
gold and purple, two spans long, and a span broad; so that, being doubled, it
was a span square. In this breast-plate, the tribes of Israel were recommended
to God's favour in twelve precious stones. Some question whether Levi had a
precious stone with his name on or no; if not Ephraim and Manasseh were
reckoned distinct, as Jacob had said they should be, and the high priest
himself being head of the tribe of Levi, sufficiently represented that tribe.
Aaron was to bear their names for a memorial before the Lord continually, being
ordained for men, to represent them in things pertaining to God; herein
typifying our great High Priest, who always appears in the presence of God for
us. The name of each tribe was engraven in a precious stone, to signify how
precious, in God's sight, believers are, and how honourable, Isaiah 43:4. The high priest had the names of
the tribes both on his shoulders and on his breast, noting both the power and
the love with which our Lord Jesus interceeds for us. How near should Christ's
name lie to our hearts, since he is pleased to lay our names so near his? And
what a comfort is it to us, in all our addresses to God, that the great High
Priest of our profession has the names of all his Israel upon his breast,
before the Lord, for a memorial, presenting them to God?
Verse 30
[30] And
thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and
they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron
shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the
LORD continually.
The Urim and Thummim — By which the will of God was made known in doubtful cases, was put in
this breast-plate, which is therefore called the breast-plate of judgment. Urim
and Thummim signify light and integrity: many conjectures there are among the
learned what they were: we have no reason to think they were any thing that
Moses was to make, more than what was before ordered; so that either God made
them himself, and gave them to Moses, for him to put into the breast-plate when
other things were prepared; or, no more is meant but a declaration of the
farther use of what was already ordered to be made. The words may be read thus,
And thou shalt give, or add, to the breast-plate of judgment, the illuminations
and perfections, and they shall be upon the heart of Aaron - That is, he shall
be endued with a power of knowing and making known the mind of God in all
difficult cases relating either to the civil or ecclesiastical state. Their
government was a theocracy; God was their king, the high priest was, under God,
their ruler, this Urim and Thummim were his cabinet council: probably Moses
wrote upon the breast-plate, or wove into it, these words, Urim and Thummim, to
signify, that the high-priest, having on him this breast-plate, and asking
council of God in any emergency, should be directed to those measures, which
God would own. If he were standing before the ark, probably he received
instructions from off the mercy-seat, as Moses did, Exodus 25:22. If he were at a distance from the
ark, as Abiathar was when he enquired of the Lord for David, 1 Samuel 23:6, then the answer was given either
by a voice from heaven, or by an impulse upon the mind of the high priest,
which last is perhaps intimated in that expression, he shall bear the judgment
of the children of Israel upon his heart. This oracle was of great use to
Israel, Joshua consulted it. Numbers 27:21, and it is likely, the judges
after him. It was lost in the captivity, and never retrieved after. It was a
shadow of good things to come, and the substance is Christ. He is our oracle;
by him God in these last days, makes known himself and his mind to us. Divine
revelation centers in him, and comes to us through him; he is the light, the
true light, the faithful witness; and from him we receive the Spirit of truth,
who leads into all truth. The joining of the breast-plate to the ephod notes,
that his prophetical office was founded on his priesthood; and it was by the
merit of his death that he purchased this honour for himself, and this favour
for us. It was the Lamb that had been slain that was worthy to take the book
and to open the seals. Revelation 5:9.
The judgment —
The breast-plate of judgment: That breast-plate which declared the judgment or
mind of God to the Israelites.
Verse 31
[31] And
thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.
The robe of the ephod — This was next under the ephod, and reached down to the knees, without
sleeves, and was put on over their head, having holes on the sides to put the
arms through, or, as Maimonides describes it, was not sewn together on the
sides at all. The hole on the top through which the head was put was carefully
bound about, that it might not tear in the putting on. The bells gave notice to
the people in the outer court, when he went into the holy place to burn
incense, that they might then apply themselves to their devotions at the same
time, Luke 1:10, in token of their concurrence with
him, and their hopes of the ascent of their prayers to God in the virtue of the
incense he offered. Aaron must come near to minister in the garments that were
appointed him, that he die not. 'Tis at his peril if he attend otherwise than
according to the institution.
Verse 32
[32] And
there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a
binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an
habergeon, that it be not rent.
An habergeon — A
coat of armour.
Verse 33
[33] And
beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple,
and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them
round about:
Pomegranates —
The figures of Pomegranates, but flat and embroidered.
Verse 36
[36] And
thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of
a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
On the golden plate fixed upon Aaron's
forehead, like an half coronet, reaching, as the Jews say, from ear to ear,
must be engraven, Holiness to the Lord - Aaron must hereby be minded, that God
is holy, and that his priests must be holy. The high priest must be consecrated
to God, and so must all his ministrations. All that attend in God's house must
have holiness to the Lord engraven upon their foreheads, that is, they must he
holy, devoted to the Lord, and designing his glory in all they do. This must
appear in their forehead, in an open profession of their relation to God, as
those that are not ashamed to own it, and in a conversation answerable to it.
It must likewise be engraven like the engravings of a signet, so deep, so
durable; not painted, so as it may he washed off, but sincere and lasting.
Verse 38
[38] And
it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy
things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and
it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the
LORD.
Aaron must have this upon his forehead, that
he may bear the iniquity of the holy things, and that they may be accepted
before the Lord - Herein he was a type of Christ, the great Mediator between
God and man. Thro' him what is amiss in our services is pardoned: even this
would be our ruin, if God should enter into judgment with us: but Christ our
high priest bears this iniquity; bears it for us, so as to bear it from us.
Thro' him likewise what is good is accepted; our persons, our performances are
pleasing to God upon the account of Christ's intercession, and not otherwise.
His being holiness to the Lord, recommends all those to the divine favour that
believe in him. Having such a high priest, we come boldly to the throne of
grace.
Verse 39
[39] And
thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of
fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework.
The embroidered coat of fine linen - Was the
innermost of the priestly garments, it reached to the feet, and the sleeves to
the wrists, and was bound to the body with a girdle or sash of needlework. The
mitre or diadem was of linen, such as kings anciently wore in the east,
typifying the kingly office of Christ.
Verse 43
[43] And
they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the
tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to
minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a
statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.
It shall be a statute for ever — That is, It is to continue as long as the priesthood continues. And it
is to have its perpetuity in the substance, of which these things were the
shadows.
──
John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Exodus》
28 Chapter 28
Verse 1
The priest’s office.
Interpretation of the priesthood
The Hebrew priesthood was instituted because the people were not
qualified to draw near to God in person. By virtue of their election, the
people of Jehovah were entitled to dwell in His habitation, but their
consciousness of sin made them afraid of Him: therefore, in condescension to
their inability to understand the greatness of His love, He provided a class of
persons who, as the representatives of His elect, might in their stead enter
the Tabernacle. To draw near to God, and to be a priest, are equivalent
expressions. Aaron drew near in behalf of those who were elected to have spiritual
communion with God, but were not yet delivered from bondage to fear; and his
admission within the habitation signified that they were entitled to a
corresponding access in spirit, that they were called a kingdom of priests for
the reason that they might thus draw near to God in spiritual fellowship. By
his office he was qualified to do outwardly and symbolically what all might do
in spirit and in truth. But, before Aaron could enter the holy habitation in
behalf of the people, he must officiate at the altar of sacrifice, and expiate
sin; for his constituents were sinful, and the representation of their approach
to God as members of His household must be preceded by signs that their sin was
taken away: otherwise it might be inferred that Jehovah was indifferent whether
His people were holy or unholy. The Hebrew priesthood therefore symbolized in
general, the expiation of sin, and the admission to filial intercourse with God
effected thereby. (E. E. Atwater.)
The priests
I. Qualifications.
Every applicant for the priesthood had to prove his descent from Aaron, and had
to be free from bodily defect or blemish (see Leviticus 21:1-24). This restriction
pointed to the dignity and holy character of the position occupied by a priest,
and to the inward purity requisite for the proper discharge of his sacred
duties.
II. Duties. The
chief duty of the priests was to offer or present offerings and sacrifices to
God. They had sometimes to kill the victims (Leviticus 16:1-34) and always to sprinkle
and pour out their blood, and also to burn their carcases, or part of them, on
the altar. They had the charge of the altar and the sanctuary; they had to see
that the fire was ever burning on the altar; they made loaves of shewbread,
trimmed and lighted the lamps of the golden candlestick, and evening and
morning burned incense on the golden altar, and, in general, conducted the
sacred services of the Tabernacle worship. Their duties were not, however,
confined to the performance of the rites and ceremonies of that worship; for
the law being committed to their custody, they, with the Levites, were
intrusted with the religious instruction of the nation (Deuteronomy 33:10); and the people were
exhorted to seek knowledge at the priests’ lips.
III. Maintenance.
The priests were not permitted to follow any secular calling. Their time was
entirely devoted to their sacred work; hence it was necessary and just that
their maintenance should be provided for at the expense of those for whose
spiritual and temporal welfare they ministered. The remuneration consisted principally
of the redemption money paid for the first-born Israelites, the first-fruits of
the field, the fruit of trees in the fourth year, parts of various of the
offerings, and a tenth of the tithes which fell to the Levites. They were not
able, of course, to reap all these dues till they reached the promised land. (W.
Brown.)
The priesthood
Previous to this time, there was probably no separate order of
priesthood in the Church of God; but every father was the priest of his family,
as in killing the lamb of the passover and sprinkling the blood, or each
worshipper had been at liberty to transact the business of sacrifice as he
pleased. So far, in the history of Israel as redeemed from Egypt, Moses seems
to have officiated occasionally as priest, as in the case of offering the
sacrifice and sprinkling the blood of the covenant; or he selected young men as
temporary priests. But the erection of a special place of worship, most notably
carried with it the setting up an order of priesthood, with ritual of worship.
The very name “cohen,” which we translate “priest,” is supposed to denote the
idea of a familiar friend of God. The distinctive function of the office was to
receive and present to God, as His nearest friend and associate, that which
belonged to Him. The three great elements entering into the idea of their
position and office were:
1. That they are chosen by Jehovah Himself to be His.
2. That they are officially holy in a pre-eminent sense.
3. That they have, by reason of their election and holiness, the privilege
of drawing near to God, as holding a position intermediate between man and God,
and therefore of mediators. (S. Robinson, D. D.)
Holy garments for Aaron.
The vestments of our High Priest
The vestments appointed by God for the high priest when he went
into the holy place were, besides those which he wore in common with the other
priests, four: the ephod, with its “curious girdle”; the breastplate; the robe
of the ephod; and the mitre.
1. And speaking of these garments generally, you will notice that it
was God’s especial command that they should all be made of linen, which, being
a material of a very simple and natural kind, has always been understood by the
Church to be typical of that human nature which Christ wears still in His
glorified state, and in which, as man, we are distinctly to understand that He
now executes, as our Representative, all the services of His exalted
Priesthood.
2. And, further, it is to be observed generally, that all the
garments were carefully fastened together so as to be one. The girdle binding
the ephod, and the ephod the robe, and the breastplate carefully joined to the
ephod by chains of gold; signifying, again, the complete unity which there is
in all Christ’s work for His people, so that it cannot be divided; for if we
have Him in one of His offices so, necessarily, we hold Him in all. A blessed
truth I there is no such thing as anything partial in the work of Jesus; no partial
pardon; no partial peace! If you have one promise, you have every promise!
3. And yet, once more, generally, you will see that (unlike the
description of our Saviour’s garments in the 59th chapter of Isaiah,
and unlike that which is provided for the believer in the 6th
chapter of Ephesians)all these are robes, not of war, but of peace. Indicating
that the warfare is now accomplished, and that our Saviour, having triumphed
over His enemies and ours, is now set down in the calm and quiet of His holy,
peaceful functions. A thought which should be one of unselfish joy to the
Christian.
4. The robe of ephod represents the perfect robe of the obedience of
the Lord Jesus Christ, which He wore as man, and which He will always present
to the Father for our sakes. Its seamless fabric denotes the perfectness and
the unity of the righteousness which He has wrought.
5. The ephod itself was a closer vestment--long behind, and short in
front--which was worn over the robe, and fastened by clasps, or “ouches,” over
the shoulders; it was also “for beauty and for glory”--“of gold, of blue, and
of purple, of scarlet, and fine-twined linen, with cunning work,” costly and
magnificent. Upon each shoulder, in the “ouches,” was placed an onyx stone, and
on either onyx stone were engraven the names of six of the tribes of the
children of Israel, placed according to their seniority. Concerning this
engraving, God was very express: “With the work of an engraver in stone, like
the engravings of a signet,” that is, very accurately, very deeply, very
beautifully, “shalt thou engrave the two stones with the names of the children
of Israel: thou shalt make them to be set in ouches of gold. And thou shalt put
the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod for stones of memorial unto the
children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his
two shoulders for a memorial.” And, then, the ephod was girt about with a
girdle of the same kind. Here, then, we have our great High Priest continually
standing in heaven, and always of necessity bearing, as part of His own glory,
the names of all His people in holy remembrance before God. He both remembers
us, and causes us to be remembered. We are held in perpetual remembrance. The
weakest and the strongest--the greatest saint with the unworthiest and
guiltiest sinner--we are all remembered: everything which goes to make our name
is there: the smallest work, the secret sorrow that the world knows nothing of:
it is all in the memorial: our prayers, and tears, and sighs--they are all gone
there! they are all rivetted there! There they are! They are knit into the
dignity of Jesus, into the glory and the excellency of Jesus!
6. The breastplate teaches that Christ not only bears His people on
His shoulders for strength, but lays them separately on His heart for love. He
identifies His interest with ours. It becomes a dear and fond thing to Him to
have us upon His breast, that He may save us and magnify us for ever! We live
always in His love, and God sees us there; in that love, loves us--unloveable
though we be--for the love He has to us. And, living on His heart, each one in
his own proper place and order, we hold in Him safe and privileged intercourse.
7. The high priest wore a mitre of linen, with this inscription,
“Holiness to the Lord.” Now observe the comfort of this thought. Here we all
are assembled, in our holy devotions before the mercy seat of God, but every
prayer we have put up this day is stained, and every service is unclean before
Him “who chargeth His angels with folly”! Presently, your petitions will go up
in your own bedroom; and the very supplication, in which you ask for pardon,
only goes to increase the amount of the guilt that has to be pardoned. It is
all unclean! The brand of sin, the degradation of sin, is everywhere! But He,
in His very character and being, as our Representative, is standing before God;
and high emblazoned upon His front is His own proper righteous title, “Holiness
to the Lord”--not for Himself, He needs it not, but for us! He “bears the
iniquity of our holy things”--what a thought! even as if we were the holy, we
poor worms--as if we were the holy--we stand before God: “Holiness to the
Lord.” A poor sinner, incapable of one pure thought, lifts himself up in
Christ, and looks in the face of God, and stands there, in his High
Priest--“Holiness to the Lord”;--and God recognizes His own eternal counsel,
and acknowledges the unworthiest services of the poorest sinner to
be--“Holiness to the Lord.” (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
The priestly garments
They signified--
1. The function to be glorious and excellent.
2. The fitness of their persons to that office.
3. The glory of the true High Priest, Jesus Christ, of whom Aaron was
but a figure.
For all the glistering show of these priestly garments set forth
the more angelical brightness of all the virtues which should shine in Jesus
Christ. The priestly garments appointed by God were ten in number; of which
four belonged to the inferior priests (Exodus 28:40; Exodus 28:42).
1. A linen garment. Which signified the white garment of Christ’s
righteousness and innocency; which they were to appear in before the Lord, if
they would be acceptable in their persons and duties. Noting to us by the way,
that every godly minister wears a white linen garment, not woven and made by
men, but by God; not without him, but within him; not a shadow or ceremony, but
the substance and truth, to which all shadows give place. Nay, there is no
private man that is godly, but he must wear this white linen garment, having
put it on in the laver of regeneration: as Galatians 3:27.
2. A girdle (verse 40). Which signifies constancy and stability in
the truth, both in our High Priest, Jesus Christ, who was not a reed shaken,
but a firm rock: as also in His members, who are commanded to stand fast, their
loins girt with verity (Ephesians 6:14). Hence follows, that the
minister’s word must be yea and nay; his course must be constantly gracious and
watchful. And for private Christians (Hebrews 13:9).
3. A bonnet (verse 40). A symbol and sign to them of God’s protection
still covering them in their faithful service: signifying to us the Lord’s
cover and faithful protection both over our head, and over His member’s for His
sake.
4. The breeches (verse 42). Putting more comeliness upon the uncomely
parts. Signifying to them and us--
I. First the ephod
(verse 4), in which--
1. The matter. It was not wool or silk, but linen, which riseth out
of the earth (Ezekiel 44:17). Signifying that holy
flesh of Christ which veiled His Deity as a garment; and that it was taken not
from heaven, but from His mother on earth, as the matter of that garment grew
immediately out of earth.
2. The form. It was a long white garment: signifying the long white
garment of Christ’s absolute righteousness; white, innocent and unspotted; and
long, to cover all our nakedness, without patching of merits.
3. The ornament of it. In it were set two onyx stones, and in them
the names of the twelve tribes of Israel engraven, which Aaron carried upon his
shoulders; signifying--
II. The second
garment peculiar to the high priest was called the breastplate of judgment
(verse 15), the most precious part of all his garments.
1. In respect of the twelve costly and glittering stones, which were
set in four rows, according to the number of the tribes (verse 17-22). In
which--
(a) The ardent love of Jesus Christ towards His Church, who bears it
not only on His shoulders as a shepherd, or only in His arms as a nurse; but
upon His heart, and in His heart, never to forget our good.
(b) Bearing of the names continually before the Lord on His heart
signifieth the continual mindfulness and intercession of Jesus Christ for His
Church in that heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 7:25). By virtue of which all our
prayers get audience and acceptance.
The garments of the priesthood, and their significance
In almost every modern nation there are some remnants of the
ancient custom of representing office by garments of peculiar material, shape,
and colour. History registers the decline of the custom, but not its birth and
growth; for it was as powerful as ever in the earliest age which has
transmitted to us its records. In the time of Moses, both kings and priests in
every country were clothed in a garb not only distinctive but emblematic. In
interpreting the significance conveyed by the garments of the Levitical
priesthood, it will be convenient to treat first of the four pieces worn by
priests of ordinary rank, and then of those peculiar to their chief. Is there,
then, no significance in the fact that this official costume consisted of four
pieces? As four limits the colours of the tapestry, the ingredients of the
incense, the spices of the holy anointing oil, the composite parts of the
cherubs, we conclude that the same signature of the kingdom of God was
designedly impressed on the official costume of those who were elected to draw
near to Jehovah.
This judgment is confirmed by the recurrence of four as the number
of pieces additional to the dress of the ordinary priests which the head of the
order was required to wear in the performance of official duty. The numerical
signature of the Tabernacle was thus impressed on the official garments of its
priesthood. The garments of the priests of ordinary rank were all of pure white
except the girdle. The drawers, the coat, and the bonnet were of shesh, bleached,
but not dyed. White raiment was emblematic of ethical purity. It was “the
righteousness of the saints.” As worn by the priest, it signified that those
who were admitted to intimacy with the Holy One of Israel must be pure in heart
and life. The material also contributed something to the significance of the
dress. The garments must all be of linen; and in the vision of Ezekiel the
directions given for the official raiment of the priests add to the requirement
of linen the express prohibition of anything woollen. The reason of the
requirement lies, doubtless, in the greater cleanliness possible in a warm
climate to one whose garments are exclusively of this material. Not only was
the costume of a priest significant in its material, colour, and number of
pieces, but each of the four garments of which it was composed contributed an
element peculiar to itself.
The coat, or tunic, was first in importance, as it was in size.
Reaching from the neck to the ankles, it was merely coincident, as a covering
of the person, with the whole costume; so that the other three garments were
supplements to this, rather than its equals. Its import, as might be expected,
is also nearly the same as that of the whole dress. As the entire costume of
four pieces, by means of its material and its dominant colour, was suggestive
of holiness, so was the coat in particular, as it invested the person from the
neck to the ankles with linen white and shining as light. Moreover, this
garment was woven in one piece to represent, by this sort of integrity, moral
wholeness or holiness. The tunic of the priest was also woven so as to exhibit
checks like the pattern called damask; for such is the meaning of the
descriptive adjective which the English translators incorrectly regarded as
equivalent to “broidered.” The coat was therefore covered throughout with
four-sided figures of small size. Bahr thinks that these were symbols of like
import with the precious stones in the breastplate of the high priest; as if
every member of the sacerdotal family bore on his person visible signs that as
a priest he was the representative of the tribes of Israel, these symbols
designedly having, in the case of the subordinate priests, only a reflection of
the glory and beauty of those which distinguished the head of the order. A
girdle of some kind was in ancient times, as it is even now, essential to the
completeness of an oriental costume; and, by means of diversity in material,
size, shape, and ornamentation, was easily made a badge of office.
The girdle of the Hebrew priest seems to have been, more than any
other article of his attire, an official badge. According to the traditional
law of the Hebrews, the priest must remove his girdle when he ceased to
officiate, but might, if more convenient, continue to wear the other official
garments through the day. How the girdle of the priest symbolized his office as
an attaché of the Tabernacle, is evident when we consider its peculiar
ornamentation. Like the other garments it was of white linen; but, unlike them,
it was interwoven with threads of blue, purple, and crimson. The four colours
of the Tabernacle signified that the wearer belonged to the institution. This
badge of office certified that he had a right to enter the habitation where
these significant colours were dominant. The Arab wears on his head a cap
similar to the Turkish fez, which he calls a tarbush. The Bedouin
spreads over it a handkerchief folded so that three of the four corners hang
down on the back and shoulders, and binds it in place with a twisted rope of
goat’s hair or camel’s hair, reaching around his head. The Syrian Arab, if he
wishes any addition to his tarbush, ties a handkerchief over it, or
winds around it a shawl of wool, silk, or cotton, so as to form a turban. The
oriental turban has exhibited both in modern times and in the remotest
antiquity, a great variety of form, material, and colour. By means of this
diversity it has served to distinguish between men of different nations, and of
different classes in the same nation.
As an ancient Assyrian king was distinguished by a head-dress of a
peculiar shape and ornamentation, as a descendant of Mohammed is known by the
colour of his turban, so the dignity of the Hebrew priest, as an attendant on
Jehovah in His holy habitation, was symbolized by a turban peculiar to his
order in its material, its colour, and perhaps its shape. The priests must wear
drawers while officiating, to cover their nakedness; and neglect to do so was
to be punished with death, even if no exposure of the person resulted. The
covering was therefore symbolic. It was a removal from the significant tableau
in which the priest was engaged, of those parts of his person which, as
excretory, were especially representative of defilement. The significance of
the costume of the Hebrew priest cannot be fully seen by one who overlooks the
fact that it left his feet uncovered. An oriental does not wear a shoe or
sandal for protection from cold, but from filth, and lays aside at least the
outermost covering of his feet when he enters a house, because he will not need
such protection in such a place, and because his shoe might bring filth into
the house. The costume of the high priest consisted of the four pieces worn by
his subordinates, and of four others peculiar to him as the head of the order.
Over the tunic he wore the robe of the ephod, the significance of
which resulted from its blue colour and the ornamental fringe which hung from
its border at the bottom. To understand the meaning of this fringe see Numbers 15:38-39. The ornaments were
intended to remind the wearer of the commandments of Jehovah, and were
connected with his garment, whatever its colour, by a cord or ribbon of blue,
to signify the heavenly origin of that which he was to keep in remembrance. But
this fringe, in the case of the high priest, consisted of tassels in the shape
of pomegranates, alternated with little golden bells. If, as seems probable,
the pomegranates symbolized the law in its totality as including every specific
requirement, it is at least a plausible conjecture that the bells with which
they alternated signified that the high priest, or rather the covenant people
whom he represented, were not only to remember the commandments of Jehovah, but
by obeying to proclaim them. So far as they remembered and obeyed it, the Word
of the Lord sounded out from them. The specifications for the ephod make its
shoulder-pieces so prominent that the Greek and Latin versions give it names in
those languages which characterize it as a shoulder-garment. But the shoulder
as the seat of strength was, in the early times, when the strongest ruled, the
seat of authority, and the most appropriate position for an emblem of
government. We infer, then, that the ephod was a symbol of rank; and from the
materials of which it was made, that it invested the wearer as a badge of
royalty. This garment was provided for the high priest as the representative of
the holy nation, that the jewels on its shoulders, and the threads of beaten
gold woven into it throughout, might signify that they were kings as well as
priests.
The breastplate of judgment was closely connected in significance
with the ephod, indicating that the wearer was a ruler endowed with wisdom for
the decision of important questions relating to the public welfare. He wore it
on his heart because the heart was regarded as the seat of wisdom. The
head-dress of the high priest was distinguished from that of his subordinates
not only by its shape, but by its plate of gold bearing the inscription,
“Holiness to Jehovah.” This plate, peculiar to him as the head of the
priesthood, and of the nation as a kingdom of priests, was another badge of
rank, and equivalent in meaning to a crown. The inscription, peculiarly
important from its position on the forehead, proclaimed that the high priest,
through his election, his physical faultlessness, his separation from common
life, his investment with the robes of office, and his consecration, was so
holy that he might not only approach Jehovah, but could take away the sins of
his people (verse 38). Their iniquity was taken away, and they were accounted
holy because their representative was holy. (E. E. Atwater.)
The robes of glory and beauty
Aaron had not in himself the proper qualifications for shadowing
forth the Lord Jesus, the great High Priest; so the requisite beauty and glory
were put on him symbolically. Arrayed in those beautiful, costly, and
Divinely-appointed garments, he was symbolically what Jesus Christ is in
reality, and he could minister about the Tabernacle as a type of Him who is the
true Minister and the ever-living Saviour. These garments were said to be “for
glory and for beauty” (verse 2). They were very costly and very beautiful, and
everything belonging to them was significant in some way of the manifold
excellencies and glories of the blessed Jesus. They are so many glasses which
God has given to us, by which we may see Jesus in various aspects, as
manifested to us in all His moral comeliness, and beauty, and spiritual
excellences. I love to see Jesus as set forth here, because He is so lovely.
“He is altogether lovely” (Song of Solomon 5:16). And yet even here
we do but see through a glass darkly; we only know Him in part; we do not see
Him face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12). He is here
looking forth at the windows, and showing Himself through the lattice (Song of Solomon 2:9), and it is very
blessed to see Him thus; but it will be much better to see Him as He is, with
no window or lattice between Him and ourselves (Philippians 1:23; 1 John 3:2). (G. Rodgers.)
The ephod.
The ephod
The ephod, with its “curious girdle” and the oynx stones upon its
shoulder-pieces, was the distinctive priestly garment. It hung upon the
shoulders down to the waist, and was formed of the most costly and beautiful
materials, corresponding exactly to those employed in the interior decoration
of the holy place. The girdle was made of the same materials, with the same
combination of colours. As garments were associated in the Hebrew mind with
character, and the girdle with energy in work, we find in the correspondence of
both with the interior of the holy place, a memorial of the necessity that
those who enter the house of the Lord must be themselves holy and beautiful in
character, and be engaged in high and holy service. But the most important
parts of the ephod were the shoulder-pieces, on which were set two oynx stones,
with the names of the tribes engraven on them (see Exodus 28:12). Here we have the idea of
representation clearly and beautifully symbolized. The shoulders, to a Hebrew
mind, were the symbol of strength; and the idea was, that when the high priest
entered the holy place he did not go alone, but carried with him on his strong
shoulders the children of Israel whom he represented; and the estimation in
which the people were held was expressed in the value of the precious stones on
which the names were engraved, and the setting of pure gold with which they
were surrounded. (J. M. Gibson, D. D.)
The ephod
The ephod, with the breastplate and girdle fastened to it,
and put upon the person of Aaron, constituted him a worshipper; adorned with
this he could draw near and worship in the holy place. It was put on over the
blue robe, and is supposed to have been much shorter than that garment,
reaching a little below the knees, whilst the blue robe reached down to the
feet. It fitted closely to the person, and was kept in its place by the girdle.
It was made of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen. These materials
represent the purity, loveliness, and glory of Christ as the Man Jesus Christ
and the mighty God. It would spangle with gold, and the colours would be so
blended as to display their richness and beauty in the best possible way. The
four materials were the same as the vail was made of, viz., fine linen, blue,
purple, and scarlet, which represent the manhood of Christ in all its
perfection as such (Hebrews 10:19-20); but in the gold thread
with which that cloth was embroidered (Exodus 39:3), I see the Godhead of the
Lord, and the two are so joined together that you cannot have one without the
other. The back and front parts of the ephod were joined at the shoulders, by
means of the shoulder-pieces from which it was suspended. In each
shoulder-piece was a precious stone set in gold--an oynx stone, a beautiful
white and half-transparent stone. In these precious stones the names of the
twelve tribes of Israel were engraven. Aaron carried the names of his people
upon his shoulders. He presented them thus before the Lord, and when God looked
down upon Aaron, He saw the names of His people indelibly engraven in white
stones. The shoulder is the place of strength. The omnipotent strength of
Christ is ours. He carries His people’s burdens and themselves too (Isaiah 63:9; Isaiah 40:11; Isaiah 46:4; Psalms 55:22). The government is upon His
shoulder, and the crown is upon His head. (G. Rodgers.)
Verses 15-30
The breastplate of Judgment.
The breastplate
A full description of the breastplate is given twice over
in the Book of Exodus, and from it we may gather certain useful lessons as to
the Church in all ages.
I. There were
twelve stones in the breastplate, each of them different, and each bearing a
different name. This shows what variety there is among believers. So long as
the human race differs so much in mental structure, we shall not be able to
think alike, even in those things that are spoken of in Holy Writ. There are
differences with regard to worship, differences in religious feelings and
experiences; the stones are not alike, yet they are all on the same
breastplate.
II. This brings us
to another truth--the unity of the Church, all differing, yet all on the heart
of Christ. The enemy has only to show himself, and men who differ amongst
themselves agree to drive him back.
III. They were all
precious stones; not one was mean or contemptible. God’s Church has ever been
costly. No jewel is what it afterwards becomes when first found. Let not the
stone which sparkles in its setting sneer at that which only looks like a
pebble. The Master has chosen it; He knows that He has put within its rude
exterior that which only needs time and skill to make it “shine as the stars
for ever and ever.”
IV. Why were those
precious stones put upon the breastplate? They were not on the mitre; they were
upon the heart, teaching us that the Church is beloved. Every believer is on
the heart of God.
V. Great pains
were taken to keep the Breastplate from being lost. It was not only fastened to
the shoulders by chains, but the bottom part of the breastplate was fastened by
two rings lashed to the two rings in the ephod. This tells us of the Church’s
security. (T. Champness.)
The breastplate
As the heart is the place of affection, and the shoulder the place
of strength, Aaron had to carry the names of his people on his heart, to show
that he loved them, and on his shoulder, to show that he was ever ready to
serve them. The typical and spiritual meaning of this is very sweet. Jesus
Christ is our great High Priest, and the names of all His people are not upon,
but in, His heart. His omnipotent strength and His infinite love are ours--ours
for ever. He never forgets one of His people, nor fails to love them. They are
His jewels, His special treasures, His Father’s love-gifts, and He values them
because His Father gave them to Him. The time is coming when He will count up
His jewels, and it will then be found that not one soul given to Christ by the
Father will be missing. As every ray of light that fell upon Aaron would fall
upon the names of Aaron’s people, so every smile that God gives to Christ is
given also to the people of Christ; for Christ and His people are one, and God
never looks upon Christ without seeing His people--all His people, for they are
in Him--loved as He is loved. (G. Rodgers.)
The topaz
The topaz is a beautiful jewel, of a bright orange or golden
colour, though they are sometimes found green, blue, and red. It is very hard,
being next to the ruby in this respect. I saw lately an account of a fine old
topaz seal among the curiosities in a museum in England. What is called the
field of the seal was blue. On this there were three arrows. On the top or
crest of the seal was the head of a dragon on a crown. And round the seal was
this inscription or motto--“Sola bona quae honesta.” The meaning
of this is “Honesty, which is the only good thing.” And this, according to the
old proverb, might be rendered, “Honesty is the best policy.” The topaz is
considered to represent honesty. Most people think that if they don’t cheat
when they get a chance, and don’t steal from those about them, they are honest.
True honesty means to give to all persons whatever belongs to them. I want to
speak of four different kinds of temptations, and to show how this precious
jewel, the Bible topaz, will be a safeguard to you against them all.
I. The first kind
of temptation in which this jewel will be a safeguard to us are temptations for
the eye. You know when an army is besieging a walled city or fortress how very
careful those inside of it are to protect the gates. But our souls are like
walled cities or fortresses. Satan is the enemy trying to get in. And the eye
is one of the gates of entrance. We must guard this gate well if we want to
keep our souls safe. Job said he had “made a covenant with his eyes “not to
look on anything that it was not right to look at. David used to pray--“Turn
away mine eyes from beholding vanity.” And if we keep this precious Bible
jewel, the topaz of true honesty, about us, it will be a safeguard to us in
temptations. The first temptations from which it will save us are temptations
for the eye.
II. The second kind
of temptations in which this Bible jewel, the topaz of true honesty, will be a
safeguard to us are temptations for the ear. This is another of the principal
gates of entrance to the soul. And it is a very important gate. It ought to be
most carefully guarded. We receive a great deal of good, and a great deal of
harm, through the ear. If our souls are saved at last, they will be saved by
what we hear; and if our souls are lost at last, they will be lost by what we
hear.
III. The third kind
of temptations from which this jewel will save us are temptations for the
tongue. Oh, how much sin people commit by means of the tongue! If we could keep
from saying what is wrong, how nicely we should get along! Well, if we carry
this Bible jewel, the topaz of true honesty, about us all the time, it will
keep us safe from these temptations.
IV. The fourth and
last kind of temptations we are to speak of from which this jewel keeps us are
temptations for the hand. I mean by this, the temptation to take or to keep
what does not belong to us. If we keep this jewel about us--that is, if we
remember God’s presence and try honestly to please Him--it will save us from
ever taking or keeping what does not belong to us. If you want to keep this
jewel about you all the time, so as to be kept from temptation, there is one
text you must always remember. It is this, “Thou, God, seest me.” Oh! pray God
to write that text on your memory. (R. Newton, D. D.)
The emerald
The emerald is a jewel of a beautiful, soft, rich green colour.
Ireland is called the “Emerald Isle” because the grass which covers its hills
and valleys is such a beautiful green. When you look at this island from the
deck of a vessel far off at sea, it looks like a great jewel--a great emerald
rising out of the ocean. The emerald stands, in value among jewellers, next to
the ruby. It is spoken of several times in the Bible. In old times people used
to think that the emerald had certain wonderful or magical powers. It was not
true that it had any such powers. But hope, which is the Bible jewel
represented by the emerald, does have them. I wish to speak of three of these
powers. This will give us three reasons why hope may be compared to an emerald.
I. And the first
reason why hope may he compared to an emerald is because it makes us
industrious. People used to think that the emerald had the power of curing
idleness or of making men industrious. If it only had this power the emerald
would be the most valuable of all jewels. Then, when boys and girls were put to
school, it would only be necessary to hang an emerald round each one’s neck,
and there would be no lazy scholars. The owners of all our workshops and
factories would want to have a good supply of emeralds. I need not tell you,
however, that the emerald never had any such power as this. But hope, the
beautiful Bible jewel, that which the emerald represents, does have this power.
If people hope to get rich they know that they must be industrious and work
hard.
II. Again, people
used to think that the emerald had the power of taking away fear. And this
leads us to speak of the second reason why hope may be compared to an emerald,
because it makes us courageous. The Bible tells us that “hope maketh not
ashamed” (Romans 5:5). In one place in the Bible
hope is compared to a helmet. And a soldier who had his head covered with a
good helmet would be very bold and courageous. He would not be afraid when the
arrows were flying thick around him. In another place in the Bible hope is
compared to an anchor (Hebrews 6:19). Suppose that you and I are
at sea on board a vessel. A storm is driving our vessel right on towards a
rocky and dangerous coast. If we have no anchor on board we may well be afraid,
for pretty soon we shall be dashed against the rocks and perish. But suppose we
have a good anchor, and a strong cable to hold it by on board our vessel. We
drop our anchor in the sea. It sinks to the bottom and is buried in the mud and
sand, or takes hold of the rocks there. It keeps the vessel from drifting
towards the shore. We are safe. Our fear is gone. Let the winds blow, and the
waves roar ever so much, they can’t hurt us. The anchor gives us hope, and this
hope makes us bold or courageous. And it is just so when we become Christians.
Then we love Jesus. We have hope in Him. That hope is to our souls just like
what the anchor is to the sailor. It keeps us from being afraid.
III. Another strange
power, which it used to be supposed the emerald had, was that of taking away
gloom and sadness from the minds of people. Of course this was a mistake. It
never had any such power. But this points out to us a third reason why hope may
be compared to an emerald. It is because it makes us cheerful. Hope is a
bright, sunshiny thing. You know how beautiful the rainbow is! Hope is sometimes
compared to the rainbow. And it may very properly be so compared, because it
seems to paint in bright colours the things it leads us to look for, and to put
rainbows all about them. There is a steam ferry-boat on the river Mersey in
England. It runs from Liverpool to Birkenhead and back. Several years ago
passengers on that ferry-boat would sometimes see on a warm bright day a poor
crippled boy. His body was grown almost to a man’s size, but his limbs were
withered and helpless, and not bigger than the limbs of a child. He used to
wheel himself about in a small carriage, like those that boys use in their
play. He had a little musical instrument called a concertina, and on this he
used to play some sweet simple tunes. He never asked for anything, but yet very
few of the passengers could hear his touching music, or look at his honest,
cheerful face, without dropping a penny or two into his carriage. One day a
lady was standing near, looking at him with great pity. She thought how sad and
lonely he must feel, unable to help himself, and with no prospect of ever being
any better in this world. She said to a lady who was with her, but not
intending that he should hear it--“Poor boy l what a sad life he has to lead;
and nothing in all the future to look forward to!” But he did hear it. And in
stepping out of the boat that lady saw a tear in his eye and a bright smile on
his face trying to chase the tear away, as he said--“I’m expecting to have
wings some day, lady.” (R. Newton, D. D.)
The sapphire
I want to find out what this jewel stands for or
represents. Well, when I come to read about the sapphire, I find that in old
times people used to think that if you carried one of these jewels on your
heart, or in your bosom, it would have the effect of making you strong. And
then we have only to ask ourselves which of the Bible jewels, or Christian
graces, is it which has the greatest power to make people strong? We see in a
moment that it is faith. And so we feel safe in saying that the sapphire stands
for faith or trust in God; Faith may be compared to the sapphire because it
makes us strong. I wish to speak of two things for which faith makes us strong.
I. In the first
place, faith makes us strong to suffer.
II. The second
reason why faith may be compared to the sapphire is because it makes us strong
to serve. Now, my dear children, if you want to have this Bible jewel, you must
ask Jesus to give it to you. You can’t find it. You can’t buy it. Your parents,
or teachers, or friends, can’t get it for you, or give it to you. Nobody but
Jesus can give it to you. It is only His grace that can put it in your hearts.
If you pray earnestly to Jesus to give you a believing, trusting heart, He will
give it to you. This precious jewel, trust in Jesus, is all we need to make us
comfortable and happy here, and all we need to save our souls and take us to
heaven at last. It is faith, simple faith, or trust in Jesus, that saves us. (R.
Newton, D. D.)
The diamond
Every true Christian is a spiritual diamond, one of God s jewels.
Let us look at this diamond and see what there is about it on account of which
a Christian may be compared to it.
I. Its hardness.
It is one of the hardest things in the world.
1. It will bear a great deal of rough handling without being
scratched or injured at all, And Christians are just like diamonds on this
account. They can bear trial or hard treatment without being injured by it.
2. It can make marks that cannot be rubbed out. When we become
Christians, we are like diamonds in this respect. One day the superintendent of
a Sunday school in this city was going along near Third and Dock Streets. He
saw one of the large boys belonging to his school coming out of a
drinking-saloon. The boy’s name was George Simpson. As the superintendent
passed by he raised his finger, and shaking it gently, he said, in a kind, but
serious way, “Take care, George, take care.” Some ten or twelve years passed
away. He had forgotten all about it. But one day a very genteel-looking man
came up to him in the street, and, bowing to him, said, “I think, sir, this is
Mr. P., who used to be superintendent of such a Sunday school?” “That is my
name, sir, but I don’t remember you.” “Don’t you remember a boy named George
Simpson who used to belong to your school?” “No, I can’t recollect the name.”
“Well, sir, don’t you remember meeting him one day coming out of a
drinking-place near the corner of Third and Dock Streets, when you shook your
finger at him, and said, ‘Take care, George’?” “Oh, yes, I remember that.”
“Well, sir,” said the young man, “I am George Simpson, and I want to thank you
for what you did and said that day. It was a little thing, but it saved me from
ruin. I was just beginning to go in the drunkard’s ways. But something in your
words and manner made a great impression on me. I gave up drinking. Not long
after, I joined the Church. Now I am living in the West, and am quite well off;
but, my dear sir, I owe it all to you.” Here you see how the superintendent was
like a diamond, making a mark that never can be rubbed out.
II. Its brightness.
The most brilliant of all jewels. It gives up freely the rays of light that God
freely bestows upon it. And this is what makes it look so bright and beautiful.
And so you see that when Jesus said, “Freely ye have received, freely give,” it
is about the same as if He had said, “Be like the diamond, which gives back
again so freely the light which it receives”. A piece of coal does not reflect
any light. All the light that falls on it is swallowed up and kept to itself.
This is what makes it look so black, so dark, and disagreeable. Selfish,
miserly people are like coal in this respect. They don’t reflect or scatter
about them anything they receive. Whatever God gives them they swallow up and
keep to themselves.
III. But there is a
third thing connected with diamonds, on account of which Christians may be
compared to them, and that is the way to find out counterfeits. There are many
counterfeit diamonds. Men can make imitation diamonds. And these often look so
very much like the real that it is difficult to tell one from the other. And
then God sometimes makes stones that appear so much like diamonds that hardly
one person out of twenty can tell the difference between them. Sometimes even
the merchants who are engaged in buying and selling diamonds can hardly tell a
real jewel from an imitation. There are one or two tests, however. A real
diamond can’t be scratched. Another way is by putting it beside a true diamond
and comparing them together. And so, if you wish to tell if a person is a true
Christian, you must compare him with Jesus, and see if he is like Him. Jesus
was gentle, loving, and kind. And the Bible says that “unless the same mind be
in us that was in Christ Jesus, we are none of His.” This means that unless we
are like Him we are not true Christians. And then there is another way by which
you can tell a real diamond from a counterfeit. If you put them in water, the
diamond will still look bright and shine; the counterfeit, instead of shining,
will look dark and dull. The Bible compares affliction or trial to water; and
you can easily tell a true Christian from a counterfeit by seeing how he acts
when affliction comes upon him. (R. Newton, D. D.)
The agate
In old times people used to think that this jewel had the power of
securing success. It was supposed that if persons only had an agate with them
they would be sure to get the victory over their enemies. The agate was
considered as the conqueror’s jewel. And now what is the Bible jewel that will
always give us the victory--that will make us “more than conquerors through Him
that hath loved us”? It is the grace of God. This is the Bible jewel that we
may compare to the agate. And there are two things over which this jewel, the
grace of God, will make us conquerors, if we have it in our hearts. Each of
these things begins with the letter S.
I. The first thing
over which this Bible jewel, the grace of God, will make us conquerors is sin.
The Bible tells us that we are born in sin. Our hearts are full of sin. Unless
we get this sin driven out, and overcome, we never can be happy, either in this
world or in the world to come. We read a great deal in the Bible about the
wrestling, and struggling, and fighting, that Christians have to do. And the
thing they have to fight against all the time is sin. When two people are
fighting, it generally happens that they keep on at it till either one or the
other of them gets the victory. And so it is in the great battle we have to
fight with sin. Either we must conquer it, or it will conquer us. But we never
can conquer sin ourselves. And there is nothing that will give us the victory
over it but the grace of God. This is the real agate, the Bible jewel, that
will give us the victory.
II. The second
thing over which this jewel will make us conquerors is satan. This is the next
S. Satan is the great tempter. The Bible tells us that he “goeth about as a
roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” or destroy. The only way in which
Satan can destroy us, or do us any harm, is by tempting us to sin. And he
cannot hurt us, even in this way, unless we yield to the temptation. If we only
have this Bible jewel, the grace of God, with us, it will make us conquerors
over Satan. And then, although he is so powerful and so wicked, and although he
tries so hard to injure us and keep us from getting to heaven, he won’t be able
to do us any harm. (R. Newton, D. D.)
The conqueror’s jewel
The greatest enemy with which we have to fight is sin. This
enemy meets us in many forms. But the form in which it gives us more trouble
than any other is perhaps that of selfishness. This is an evil that is very
hard to conquer. Suppose we are walking in the country, and meet a snake in the
path; with the cane in our hand we strike it again and again, till it lies
still and motionless. We leave it, and go on our way, feeling sure that we have
killed the snake. But when we have finished our walk, and come back to the
place where we left the snake, we find it still alive and active. Then we say
to ourselves, “Snakes are hard to kill.” And it is just so with selfishness. It
is a very difficult thing to conquer it. If we wish to subdue it, and get the
victory over it, we must be sure to have this conqueror’s jewel, the grace of
God. And there are three things that this jewel will lead us to do in fighting
against selfishness.
I. In the first
place, it will lead us to pray against it. Prayer is necessary to our success
in everything we do. Jesus said to His disciples, “Without Me ye can do
nothing.” And this is as true now as it was then. It is as true of us as it was
of the disciples. And it is particularly true of the thing we are now
considering. If we want to get the victory over the selfishness of our own
hearts, it is especially necessary for us to pray to Jesus to help us.
II. The second
thing that this conqueror’s jewel will lead us to do in getting the victory
over selfishness is to struggle against it. We must not think that praying is
to take the place of striving. God only helps those who strive to help
themselves. Suppose that you and I have to climb up a high mountain. We kneel
down at the foot of the mountain, and pray God to help us get up to the top of
it. And then suppose we should sit down and wait for God to send an angel to
take us in his arms and carry us up to the top of the mountain. Have we any
right to expect that God would help us in that way? Not at all. We might wait
all our lives, but we never should get any help. If we want to get up the
mountain, we must begin to climb, and we must keep on climbing till we get to
the top, and while we are doing this God will help us. No soldier ever expects
to gain the victory over his enemies without a hard struggle. We have all read
about the great victory which the Duke of Wellington obtained over the Emperor
Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo. But he had to fight hard all day before he
gained that victory. And so, if we want to get the victory over our
selfishness, we must struggle hard against it.
III. The third thing
that this conqueror’s jewel will lead us to do in getting the victory over
selfishness is to remember the example of Jesus. Jesus came down from heaven to
do three things for us. The first was to fulfil God’s law for us. The second
was to die for our sins. The third was to show us how to live. The Bible tells
us that “He left us an example that we should follow His steps.” You know, when
we are learning to write, our teacher sets us a copy. Then we take the word or
sentence that has been written for us, letter by letter, and try to make others
like them. And just in the same way the life of Jesus is set before us as our
copy. We are to keep it before us, and try to make our own lives like His.
Being a Christian means being like Jesus. Now it is said of Jesus that “He
pleased not Himself.” (R. Newton, D. D.)
The amethyst
The amethyst is a very precious jewel and very much admired. Its
colour is a mixture of blue and red. It is a rich purple, very much like the
appearance of a bunch of ripe, dark-coloured grapes. The name of this jewel
comes from the Greek language, and it means not to intoxicate, or not to make
drunk. The amethyst is the temperance jewel. The boys’ and girls, and men and
women, who make clear, cold, sparkling water their principal drink, should take
the amethyst as their favourite jewel. In old times people used to think that
if they only had a cup made out of an amethyst to drink from, they never would
get intoxicated. And if they only carried one of these jewels about them it
would have the same effect. They thought the amethyst was a charm against
intemperance, and a cure for it when men fell into this dreadful habit. What a
blessed thing it would be if this were so! Then this jewel would be worth its
weight in gold, and ten times more than that. But it cannot do this. It is only
the Bible jewel, which the amethyst stands for, that can do this. And what is
the Bible jewel that may be compared to the amethyst? It is the fear of God.
This is the real temperance jewel. I wish to speak of three ways in which this
Bible jewel--the true amethyst--the fear of God--will be a temperance jewel to
us.
I. In the first
place it will keep us from learning to drink. You know what a dreadful thing it
is to be plunged over the Falls of Niagara. Nobody can go over there without
being killed. And if, when you are visiting the falls, you should see a person
sailing in a boat on the river above the falls, to see how near he could go
without being drawn over, you would think that a very dangerous position to be
in. And so it would be. So long as a person is on the river above Niagara he is
always in danger of being drawn over. But if he keep out of the river, he is
free from danger. Now, to fall into intemperance is worse than going over
Niagara. And learning to drink intoxicating liquor is like sailing on the river
above Niagara. You are in danger at any time of being drawn over. This Bible
gem, the fear of God, is the true amethyst--the temperance jewel--in the first
place, because it will keep us from learning to drink.
II. It is so, in
the second place, because it will keep us from tempting others to drink. It is
impossible to tell how much harm is done in this way. God has tried to stop
this evil by speaking about it in the Bible. He says in one place, “Woe unto
him that giveth his neighbour drink, that putteth the bottle to him” (Habakkuk 2:15).
III. And then there
is another reason why this Bible jewel, the fear of God, may be compared to the
amethyst--the true temperance jewel--and that is, it will lead us to stop
drinking even when we have got into the habit of doing so. When the habit of
drinking is once formed it becomes very strong. Nothing but this temperance
jewel will enable any one to break off from the habit of drinking. My dear
young friends, you know that in Switzerland there are great mountains, very
high and very steep. Many of them have there tops covered with ice and snow.
Sometimes great masses of this ice and snow will get loose and fall. In their
fall they go rushing down the sides of the mountains with a noise like thunder.
These masses of falling ice and snow are called avalanches. If travellers, or
cottages, or even villages are in their path, they are swept away into instant
destruction. When an avalanche is once started, it never can be stopped till it
gets to the bottom of the mountain. Sometimes a very little is enough to start
an avalanche. The stepping of your foot upon it; the taking away of a loose
stone; or even the jarring of the air may do it. What a dangerous thing it is
to loosen an avalanche and send it down the mountain side, breaking and
crushing everything before it! But drunkenness is worse than an avalanche. And
when any one gets into the habit of drinking he is loosening an avalanche over
his head which may at any time rush down upon him and kill him. Be very careful
how you do this. Don’t get into the habit of drinking, and then you will be
sure never to become a drunkard. (R. Newton, D. D.)
Verse 29
Aaron shall bear the names.
I. The person typified by aaron.
1. Christ (Hebrews 5:4-5).
2. His Divine call to the priesthood (Hebrews 5:10).
3. The destruction of His enemies (1 John 3:8).
4. The leader of His people (John 10:3).
5. The averter of God’s vengeance (1 Timothy 2:5).
II. The persons
represented by the term “Israel.” Ancient Israel, as an elect nation, was a
typical people, representing the collective body of Christ’s Church. For which
compare Deuteronomy 7:6-8 with Romans 8:28-30.
1. All true believers are called Israel (Galatians 6:16).
2. They are circumcised, as was Israel (Romans 2:28-29).
3. They are a peculiar people, as was Israel (Titus 2:14).
III. What is meant
by Aaron’s bearing them on his heart.
1. Christ’s affection for us (1 John 3:16).
2. His great pity towards us (Isaiah 63:9).
3. His interest in us (John 17:9-10; John 17:24).
IV. What we are to
understand by Aaron’s going into the holy place. Eternal exclusion from God’s
glory would have been our unchanging portion, had not the blessed Saviour
opened a way for our admission. See it literally explained in Leviticus 16:1-34.
1. It shows Christ’s entrance into heaven for us (Hebrews 9:24).
2. To present His perfect offering for us (Hebrews 9:12).
3. His continual intercession (Hebrews 7:25).
V. Here i shall
explain this “continual memorial,” ever before the lord: It may signify--
1. The constant efficacy of His blood.
2. The perfection of His everlasting righteousness.
3. The daily outpouring of His Spirit.
4. The gracious preservation of His people in holiness.
5. It represents the place which Christ’s Church occupies in His
heart, in glory.
6. And ensures our everlasting enjoyment after this time-state is
passed away. (T. B. Baker.)
The connection between priest and people
That the connection between the priest and the people might be
made more plain, God not only placed on his breast the memorials of the twelve
tribes, but also engraved their names on his shoulders. Thus the people would
understand that this one man was not separated from the others for the sake of
private advantage, but that in his one person they were all a kingdom of
priests (see 1 Peter 2:5; Isaiah 66:21; Revelation 1:6). Hence arises our
confidence of ascending to heaven because Christ raises us up with Him; we “sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”; however weak we may be in
ourselves, herein is all our strength that we are His burden. (J. Calvin.)
Shoulder and heart ministry
History shall not be forgotten, deliverances shall be held in
perpetual remembrance; marvels of the Lord wrought yesterday shall be as the
marvels wrought in the present hour. Then there shall be a tenderer
representation--the names shall be upon the heart. There shall be a ministry of
love, a pleading of sympathy, an identification of the spirit of the man with
all the difficulties and distresses of the people. Shoulder work: representing
publicity, courage, strength, leadership--shoulders to which men may look as to
strong towers; and then the delicate heart-work; the sweet sympathy, the
paternal or fraternal interest in all that concerns the development, and
culture, and completion of poor, shattered, struggling human life. It is
nothing to bear upon the shoulder--that is a kind of burden-carrying, and there
is a kind of applause immediately following the completion of any athletic
task--but who can tell the heart-work of the true mediator or minister of the
new covenant? A man who enters into this work with his whole soul must live a
life of singular tension and agony, otherwise he is but a shatterer of words;
only his shoulder engaged in the function; his heart is at liberty to run after
any vanity and court the applause of any foolish idolatry. We must look at
ideals; we must fasten our attention upon the thing as God meant it to be, and
taking the Divine meaning of the priesthood in the olden time and of the
ministry of to-day, we have amongst us men who care for us, men with strong
shoulders, tower-like men; sturdy, visible, valiant, dauntless men; men who can
speak in the darkness and make their voices heard in the storm; men who know
not the cloud of fear and who heed not the tempest of opposition. But we need
in the same men other qualities, tenderer elements, more gracious and
insinuating forces that find their way into our inmost experience, into our
heart’s aching and sore necessity--men who are taught of Heaven to speak a word
in season to him that is weary; men who have the gift of consolation, who can
lower the voice into a tender and helpful whisper, and who can bring all God’s
gospel to bear in gracious and healing application upon the wound which makes
the heart sore. This is the ideal. That we do not rise to it may be a rebuke to
ourselves, but it is no just criticism upon the Divine purpose. It is an ideal
we should do much to sustain. We cannot tell what we owe to the men who teach
us great doctrines, who pray off many a burden that strains our strength; who
speak to us, even between the lines of their eloquence, things that help us to
bear life’s misery with a more cheerful courage. We do not know what is being
done by ministry of a truly Christian type, whether in the pulpit, or in the
school, or in the family, or in the market-place. No man can measure the full
issue and outgoing of influence connected with the profound agonistic service
on behalf of truth and humanity. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Verse 30
The Urim and the Thummim.
The Urim and Thummim
A very great mystery hangs over those two words--“the Urim
and the Thummim”--commonly translated “light and perfection”--in the Septuagint
version, “manifestation and truth,”--and in the Vulgate, “doctrine and truth.”
But until there shall stand up a priest with Urim and Thummim, we are told,
both in Ezra and Nehemiah, it will remain a mystery. And as a mystery we must
view it.
I. The stones
representing the Church, that were borne upon the high priest’s breast and the
high priest’s shoulders, connect themselves with the Urim and the Thummim. In
some way or other, it is quite clear that God was pleased to reveal His will in
connection with these twelve stones. In what way it is very difficult to
determine. There are these possible interpretations. It may be that it pleased
God at certain times to throw a miraculous light upon these twelve different
coloured stones, which did in some way write His mind; either by the initiatory
letters, or by some signs which were familiar to the high priest, God did, by
the means of these twelve precious stones, representing the twelve tribes,
convey His will to the high priest--that he might again convey it to the
people. But the closest investigation that has been given to the subject does
not lead to that conclusion--and those who are the most competent to speak do
not adopt that interpretation. It has been rather supposed that these stones
were not made themselves the channels or the mediums by which God conveyed His
will, but that they accredited, as it were, and empowered the high priest, when
he was before God, authenticated the high priest, that then God seeing him in
the fulness of his priesthood, was pleased to convey spiritually and not
materially by these stones to his mind what God had in His own mind upon the
subject that was transferred to him for consultation.
II. Consider now
practically what is that which is to us the Urim and Thummim?--and how should
we consult God, and obtain our answers?
1. And here let me speak to you of the very great importance of going
to God very often consultingly. In prayer, pray consultingly--in reading, read
consultingly. Always consult God first, before you ask any man--if possible,
before you ask yourself. Before you go to a thought, if possible, ask God to
take the initiative--ask God first to speak even before your own heart speaks.
2. You must be very careful, whenever you go to consult God, that
there are two conditions.
III. There are many
ways in which God may give us the Urim and Thummim to direct our steps.
1. By a light breaking on some passage of the Bible.
2. By the Spirit of God illuminating our own minds. (J. Vaughan,
M. A.)
The Urim and Thummim
We lean to the opinion that the precious stones constituted the
Urim and Thummim, but not by reason of any supernatural illumination of the
letters, and that the stones rendered the breastplate the ornament or badge
which qualified the high priest for making inquiries of Jehovah: “They shall be
upon Aaron’s heart when he goeth in before the Lord.” The precious stones may
have received the collective name of Urim and Thummim:
1. On their own account. Of all earthly objects, these precious
stones are the most lustrous, and emit light of themselves. Like the stars they
shine in the darkest night, and for that reason they have been called the
“stars of earth.” Are they not, then, well called lights? Thummim signifies
perfection. The stones, from their brilliancy, purity, and uncommon beauty, are
perhaps the most striking emblems which earthly objects furnish of truth or
perfection, and are therefore not inappropriately named “Thummim.”
2. On account of their being the badge or ornament which it was
necessary for the high priest to wear when he consulted Jehovah. The object of
the high priest was to get light on some dark subject, or to arrive at the
truth on some matter he could not discover otherwise, or to give a righteous
decision in cases in which his knowledge or wisdom was deficient, and such as
would accord with innocence and justice. For these reasons the gems seem to be
appropriately called “Urim and Thummim.”
3. On account of their representing the children of Israel. The names
of all the tribes being on the stones--one name on each--the Israelites might
see in these stones an emblem of what it was designed they should become,
before they were meet for being worshippers in the heavenly temple; and the
high priest might be reminded by them that his mission was to bring the pious
Israelite into that state of perfection. Like these gems, man by nature is of
the earth earthy. Both have their origin in mother earth. Yet both, when
polished, may shine like the stars of the firmament, (W. Brown.)
The Urim and the Thummim
As to the Urim and the Thummim, whether they were precious stones
bearing those significant names, or what they were, no one is able at present
to decide. Urim means “Lights”; Thummim, “Perfections.” These mysterious
contents of the breastplate seem to direct our thoughts to the heart of the
Lord Jesus, as containing all lights and perfections, all grace and truth, all
mercies and righteousness. In Him was light: and He manifested forth that
light; He declared the Father. He is the light of the glory of God: all fulness
of light dwells in Him. The Septuagint translation “Manifestation,” is not an
inappropriate expression, though rather a paraphrase than a translation. We are
told in Ephesians 5:13, “Whatsoever doth make
manifest is light.” The high priest, with the Urim in his breastplate, became
the channel by which God made manifest His counsels. The Lord Jesus, as the
great High Priest, makes known the counsels and purposes of God. He is light;
and in Him is no darkness at all; so that the mind and will of God can be
perfectly revealed to Him, and can by Him be communicated to His saints. He is
the brightness or shining forth of God’s glory, the irradiation of God. The
Thummim also, or all perfections of truth and holiness, dwell in Him. Light and
truth, love and holiness, grace and righteousness are inseparable. Sometimes we
find the Urim mentioned, without the Thummim (Numbers 27:21; 1 Samuel 28:6). From these two
passages it is clear that by means of the Urim, or lights, in the breastplate
of the high priest, the counsel, judgment, and prophetic guidance of Jehovah
were revealed. In three other passages (Deuteronomy 33:8; Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65), the Urim and Thummim are
mentioned together. “Urim” is also translated “fire” and fires (Isaiah 24:15; Isaiah 31:9; Isaiah 44:16; Isaiah 47:14; Isaiah 50:11; Ezekiel 5:2). In the vision of the Son of
Man (Revelation 1:12-16), the eyes of the High
Priest, in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, were as a flame of fire.
The lights and perfections of God searched into the ways of the seven Churches;
and the Priest of the Most High could say, as He addressed each separately, “I
know thy works,” and could give a word of encouragement or of rebuke, according
as it was needed. (H. W. Soltau.)
Verses 31-35
The robe of the ephod.
The robe of the ephod
The third peculiar garment of the high priest was the robe
of the ephod (Exodus 28:5; Exodus 28:31). On the skirts of which
were fastened--
1. The pomegranates of blue silk, and purple, and scarlet round about.
This fruit hath a most pleasant smell, sweet in itself, and sweetening other
things round about it; and is full of precious juice and liquor.
2. Bells of gold between them round about, a golden bell and a
pomegranate; the use of which was, that his sound might be heard round about
when he went into the sanctuary and holy of holies. The whole garment signified
the righteousness of Christ’s human nature, which is--
3. This garment hath a sweet sound, as of golden bells, which to hear
were most delectable, because the garment of Christ’s righteousness brings
grace to us no otherwise than by the sound of the gospel. For faith, by which
we put on Christ, is wrought by hearing the sweet sound and golden bell of the
gospel. Whence some have thought, that by this part of the priest’s attire, is
shadowed the prophetical office of Christ. Sweet is the proclamation of the
gospel of peace!
4. The use. That by these bells the priests must be heard when he
goeth into the sanctuary; signifying the power of Christ, our High Priest’s,
perpetual intercession (being entered into the sanctuary of heaven) for His
elect and chosen. (T. Taylor, D. D.)
The blue robe
The robe was of one piece, and was all of blue. This colour sets
forth that which was pre-eminently heavenly in the character of Christ, and it
reminds us of that perfect, seamless robe of Christ’s righteousness, which is
“unto all and upon all them that believe”(Romans 3:22). The bottom of this long
robe was ornamented with golden bells and pomegranates. Here were sound and
fruit, and as much fruit as sound. As he moved about in the court or in the
tabernacle, every step sent forth a sweet golden sound from each of the many
little bells hanging about his feet, and Aaron would seem to say by this sound,
“I am ready to serve you, and to bless you.” The pomegranates would often
remind him that a priest must do more than make a sound; he must work as well
as talk; he must produce both sound and fruit, and both must be good. These
bells and pomegranates were about the feet--the walk of the high priest;
reminding us of the loveliness of Christ’s walk, and of the sweetness and
pleasantness of His conversation. The sound of these bells would not be heard in
the camp, and but faintly, if they could be heard at all, outside the court. To
hear this sweet sound distinctly, a man must have come as far as to the brazen
altar; but he could not come there without an offering. And as the first
offering he was required to bring was a sin-offering, if a man stood at the
altar of brass and listened to the sweet and joyful sound of the golden bells
about the hem of the priest’s blue robe, we are quite sure that he had come,
first of all, as a sinner to be pardoned and saved. So now a man must feel
himself a sinner, and in need of a sin-offering: he must come out from the
world; must draw near to Him who is both the altar and the sacrifice; must lay
his hand by faith on the head of Christ. (G. Rodgers.)
The robe of the ephod
This robe embodied the colour of the heavens; it was all of blue.
It seems to have typified the especial glory of the true High Priest, whose
name is “Prince of Peace,” the “Lord of Peace”; and who wears His princely
robes as King of Righteousness, and King of Peace, upon the ground of having
made full, perfect, and eternal peace through the blood of His cross. God,
known as love, is the God of peace: and He has brought again from the dead our
Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal
covenant. That title, “the Great Shepherd of the sheep,” seems to sum up in one
name the whole of the priesthood of Christ, as described in the Epistle to the
Hebrews. He is the Great Shepherd; for He is King as well as Priest. He has royal
power; a royal heart; royal glory; and His dominions are righteousness and
peace; and He is the Shepherd, having proved His love and care for the sheep,
in laying down His life for them; and all His priestly service on their behalf
is conducted with the heart of a good Shepherd, who loves His own, and whose
own the sheep are. This is, therefore, a princely, priestly, shepherd robe. It
displays the love of God as seen in the gift of His Son and as manifested by
the Son Himself, in laying down His life, and so making peace. It was a robe
which covered the high priest from head to foot, and showed the great object of
His priesthood, namely, to maintain, on the behalf of His own, that peace with
God which He had procured at the cost of His own blood, and which the God of
peace had sealed and established, by raising Him from the dead through the
blood of the everlasting covenant. This robe was all of one piece, woven from
the top throughout, and a provision was made by means of a binding of woven
work round about the hole in the top of it, that it should not rend or be rent.
Is not this very significant of the unchanging love of Christ? (H. W.
Soltau.)
A golden bell and a
pomegranate.
Golden bells
I am glad that the first use of bells was a religious use;
and hereafter the gospel of God to me shall be a chime of bells; and whether I
hear them in the garments of the high priest, or in the cathedral tower, they
shall suggest to me the gladness, the warning, and the triumph of the gospel.
1. These gospel bells, like those that adorned the high priest’s
robe, are golden bells. Other bells are made of coarser materials--zinc, and
lead, and tin, and copper; but these gospel bells are bells of gold. There is
one bell in Europe that cost three hundred thousand dollars. It was at vast
expense that metallic voices were given to the towers of York, and Vienna, and
Oxford. But all the wealth of heaven was thrown into this gospel bell. No angel
can count its value. Eternity cannot demonstrate its cost. When the bell of the
Russian Kremlin was being fused, the lords came and threw their gold into the
molten mass; but when this Gospel bell was to be constructed, the kings of
heaven, the hierarchs of eternity, threw into it their crowns and their
sceptres. It is a golden bell. Do you believe it? Hear it ring! “God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.” “Him hath God exalted to be a
Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”
2. I remark, further, that these gospel bells, like those around the
high priest’s garment, are bells of invitation. When the Jews heard the clash
of those bells in the hem of the priest’s robe they knew it was an invitation
to worship. That is the meaning of every church tower from San Francisco to New
York, and from London to St. Petersburgh. It is, “Come--come.”
3. I remark, further, that the gospel bells, like those on the high
priest’s robe, are bells of warning. When the Jews heard the clash and ring of
these bells, it was a warning for them to worship, lest their God be offended.
On Bell Rock, in the German Ocean, there is a lighthouse, and there are two
bells, that every half-minute ring out through the fog, through the darkness,
through the storm, and over the sea. Beware! Beware! The helmsman on the ship,
hearing the warning, turns the wheel and steers off. It is a startling thing,
at midnight, to hear the heavy clang of a fire bell, if you live in the third
ward, and the tongue of the bell strike one, two, three! If a city is besieged,
and the flash of the musketry is seen on the hill-tops, and the cavalry horses
are dashing up and down, and the batteries are being unlimbered, all the bells
of the city call, to arms! to arms! So this gospel bell is a bell of alarm.
4. I remark, further, that the bells on the high priest’s robe were
bells of joy. When the Jews heard the chiming of those bells on the priest’s
robe, it announced to them the possibility of pardon for their sins, and of
deliverance. “Behold! I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to
all people.” There have been bells rung on days of victory. The bell of London
rang after Waterloo. The bells in many of our cities rang after the settlement
of our national strife. The great bells of York, and Oxford, and Vienna, at
some time, have sounded the victory.
5. These gospel bells, of which I speak, are bells of triumph. Aye!
they are ringing now: “All flesh shall see the salvation of God.” “And He shall
reign for ever and for ever!” The Bishop of Malta, in superstition, had all the
bells of the city rung, in the hope that the storm that was raging in the city
might be quieted. That was superstition: but I think it is faith in God that
leads us to believe that the ringing of these gospel bells will yet silence all
the storms of this world’s sin, and all the storms of this world’s trouble. Oh!
when Jesus, our Great High Priest, in full robes shall enter into His glory,
the bells on the hem of His garments will ring with the music of an eternal
merriment.
6. But we shall have no share in that joy unless now we listen to the
gospel tiding. There is a bell on the other side of the waters, weighing two
hundred and eight thousand pounds; and it takes twenty-four men to ring it. But
to bring out all the sweetness of this gospel bell would take all the
consecrated spirits of earth--seraphim and archangel. Who in this august
assembly will listen? Who will listen now? In New England they have what they
call a passing bell; that is, when some one dies in a village, word is sent to
the sexton, and he sounds the bell just as often as the man lived years: and
when the sound is in the tower, the people are solemn, and they say, “Some one
is dead--who is it?” For us the passing bell will soon sound. Gone from the
family. Gone from the church. Gone from the last opportunity of salvation. (T.
De Witt Talmage.)
Lessons
As the priests must have in their skirts both bells and
pomegranates: so must every evangelical minister.
1. The bells allow them not to be dumb dogs (Isaiah 56:10), but the sound of the law
and gospel must clearly sound in their mouths, to be heard afar off.
2. These bells must be of gold, to put ministers in mind that their
doctrine be pure; not corrupt, not savouring of popish liberty, or
self-respect.
3. They must never come into the congregation without these bells;
for ministers must still be furnished with some sound matter of instruction and
edification. How is it then that many come into the congregation and never
bring bells? Many are afraid lest the sound of their bells should be heard too
much, and that it would disgrace them to be counted diligent preachers. And
many scorn others that their bells sound so often.
4. To the bells, ministers must join pomegranates: with the wholesome
word, join good works and holy life. He carries the bell, a minister whose life
is agreeable with the holy doctrine (Matthew 5:19). He that keepeth the
commandments, and teacheth others so to do, shall be great in the kingdom of
God. John Baptist had both bells (being a burning light in himself), and
pomegranates; being a shining light unto others. And as the pomegranates
smelled sweet; so must ministers labour to leave a sweet smell behind them
everywhere. (T. Taylor, D. D.)
The church-going bells
In considering the usefulness of church bells, it may be proper to
say: First, that they render a worthy claim for their existence in promoting
the temporal welfare of communities where their voice is heard. But, secondly,
the worth of a bell is perhaps still more evident when we consider its use for
religious purposes. The ways of its usefulness, when calling the people
together for worship, are easily seen.
I. It calls
attention to the claims of God for love and service. Nothing is more manifest
than that men are apt to become careless in respect to these claims.
II. It is useful in
promoting a larger attendance upon the services of the sanctuary, than would be
secured but for its influence.
III. Added to an
increase of attendants, the bell pronotes punctuality.
IV. The bell is
useful in the influence it has in preparing the mind of those who obey its call
for worship.
V. The bell is
useful because of the sacred associations connected with its sound, and the
hallowed memories its notes inspire. (G. L. Foster.)
The dumb bell
Mr. Gatty, in his book on “Bells,” gives the following anecdote,
on the credit of Cardinal Baronius: “When Charles II., king of France, A.D.
615, was at Sens, in Burgundy, he heard a bell in the church of St. Stephen,
the sound of which pleased him so much that he ordered it to be transported to
Paris. The Bishop of Sens, however, was greatly displeased at this, and the
bell so sympathized with him that it turned dumb on the road and lost all its
sound. When the king heard of this he commanded that the bell should be carried
back to its old quarters, when, strange to relate, as it approached the town,
it recovered its original tone, and began to ring so as to be heard at Sens,
whilst yet about four leagues distant from it.” The true preacher grows silent
if forced to any other service than his Lord’s. If he attempts to speak on any
other topic than that which concerns his Lord and the gospel, he misses his
former force; he is not at home, he is glad to end his speech and sit down. Our
bell is dumb if it does not ring out for Jesus. The world would soon dismiss us
if it had hired us to be its orator, for our heart is elsewhere, and only upon
the one dear, familiar theme can be eloquent. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Holiness to the Lord.
Holiness to the Lord
This plate of pure gold was fastened by blue lace to the mitre, or
turban, or tiara, or linen, which was upon the head of the high priest. He put
it on with the robe of the ephod, the robe under the breastplate and the
ephod--the robe of the ephod, which had, round the bottom, a bell and a
pomegranate alternately--fruitfulness and music--showing the fruitfulness of
the priesthood and the music of the priesthood before God, without which
emblems the high priest might never enter into the holy of holies, lest he die.
To teach man that no creature can ever stand before God but through priesthood,
lest he die. Were we to stand before God but in the fruitfulness and music of
the priesthood of Jesus Christ, we should die. The plate of pure gold upon his forehead,
he went in before God to present the inscription graven there like the
engraving of a signet, “Holiness to the Lord,” to take away the iniquity of the
holy things of Israel, and to make those holy things, purged from their
iniquity, acceptable to God. Consider the subject of holiness.
I. The word is
used in three senses in the Bible.
1. Sometimes the word “holy” means that which is set apart,
consecrated. In that sense the vessels of the Temple were holy.
2. Sometimes the word signifies the indwelling of the Spirit, with
His gradually sanctifying processes. In this sense the church is holy.
3. There is a still higher sense in which man is perfectly holy.
Christ perfects them that are sanctified.
II. The true
definition of holiness is the likeness of God. But we cannot conceive of the
likeness of God but through a medium, and that medium must be the Lord Jesus
Christ. Whatever traits we find characterizing the life of Jesus, these make up
holiness.
1. The life of Christ was a separate life.
2. He always carried about an inner sanctuary in His own soul.
3. The life of Christ had a subdued tone.
4. It was a life consecrated to an object.
5. It was a life of praise.
III. Look upon
holiness as an end to be obtained. Do not seek holiness as a means to happiness,
but happiness as a means to holiness. Be more careful about the holiness of
little things than of great things. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Christ our High Priest, bearing the iniquity of our holy things
The first thing that strikes us here is, that it is the head of
the high priest that is thus adorned, the most honourable member of the body,
the seat of the indwelling soul. Then, again, it is the forehead that is
selected, which is the comeliness and glory of the head--the place on which the
eye of the observer rests, and on which the eye of God would rest when meeting
with the priest or the worshipper. On the forehead of the high priest, on “the
forefront of his mitre,” was the ornament to be fastened. It consisted of a
plate of pure gold, the purest and costliest of metals, to signify the purity
that God demanded. On it there was to be engraved, like the engravings of a
signet, distinct and deep, “Holiness to the Lord,”--still farther foreshadowing
the awful holiness of God, and the no loss awful holiness which He required in
the sin-bearer. Forming thus the most prominent part of his dress, and placed
upon his forehead, it would be that on which the eye of God might be said first
to rest, whether at the-brazen altar, or the altar of incense, or the mercy-seat,
in all parts of his holy service. When standing before God, it was this
peculiar adorning that presented itself, with its inscription, “Holiness to the
Lord.” Thus, then, there was proclaimed to Israel a free forgiveness for the
iniquities of their holy things. It was forgiveness through the holiness of
another, as if God would teach them that while He required holiness in him who
was to bear any sin, yet especial holiness was required when bearing the sins
of our holy things. And then there was not merely the bare forgiveness, but
there was the acceptance thus provided, both for themselves and their services,
before the Lord. All this was to Israel the shadow of “good things to come.”
The law, indeed, made nothing perfect, but it was the bringing in of the better
hope, by which we draw nigh to God (Hebrews 7:19). This better hope has now
been brought in. What was thus foreshadowed afar off by Aaron, as Israel’s high
priest, has been fulfilled to us in Jesus of Nazareth, God’s own anointed
Priest.
I. We learn how
complete is the provision made by God for a sinner’s acceptance. This provision
is entirely in Him who is our great High Priest. It is not in ourselves at all,
but in Him alone. “It pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell.”
He is the Father’s infinite treasure-house of all blessing, secured for, and
set open to sinners. Nothing that a guilty soul can require, is awanting in
Him. Out of Him, there is nothing; in Him, there is everything. “He, of God, is
made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” In
our text, however, the allusion is not to His fulness in general, but to His
priesthood alone, as making provision for a sinner’s pardon and acceptance: and
this in reference to the sins of our holy things--the sins committed in our
more direct transactions with God. For every sin, and for every kind of sin,
there is provision in Him on whom our sins were laid. For all these there is a
special way of pardon ordained by God, and certain sins are minutely specified,
in order to show us that no case has been overlooked or left without a special
remedy.
II. Let us learn
how perpetual and unchangeable this provision is. It is written here, concerning
the high priest on earth, “It shall be always upon his forehead, that they may
be accepted before the Lord.” In this we have a vivid type of Him, who is “the
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever”; who hath “an unchangeable priesthood”;
who “ever liveth to make intercession for us.” He who bears the iniquity of our
holy things, is one who changes not; who is ever the same holy High Priest, and
ever glorious in the Father’s eyes. We vary, but He varies not. Our feelings
change, His alter not. Our soul fluctuates, ever rising and falling, ever
ebbing and flowing, but He remaineth steadfast and true. We grow cold and
faithless, He abideth faithful, He cannot deny Himself. His is a priesthood
which endureth for ever, which never loses aught of its efficacy and value.
III. Learn how
glorious and certain is this provision. It depends upon the holiness of the
high priest. Not upon his grace, or mercy, or compassion, but upon his
holiness. It is because there is such holiness in him to meet and satisfy the
holiness of God that our forgiveness is so secure, and the way of our obtaining
it so glorious. What an ample pardon, what a secure acceptance, must that be
which is secured to us by the holiness of our great High Priest! for His
holiness cannot change, neither can it pass away. His mercy might be worn out
by our sins, and He might forget to be gracious, but He cannot cease to be
holy.
IV. Learn how
accessible and free is this provision. It is set open to all. Its benefits are
wide and unrestricted “Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the
earth.” (H. Bonar, D. D.)
The mitre
1. Made of blue silk and fine linen (Exodus 28:39), like (as it seems) to an
half-coronet.
2. Beautified with a golden plate, on which was written “Holiness to
the Lord.”
3. The use. Aaron must ever have it on his forehead while he bears
the iniquity of their offerings, to make the people acceptable before the Lord
(Exodus 28:38).
I. The mitre and
crown on the priest’s head signified--
1. The Deity of Christ our head, which as a crown or circle wants
beginning and end.
2. The kingly office of Christ, with all that honour and crown of
glory set on the head of our Redeemer, to whom all power is given in heaven and
in earth.
II. The golden
plate in which was written “Holiness to the Lord,” did not only distinguish it
from the mitres of the ordinary priests, which wanted such a plate: but specially
typified Jesus Christ our head, in whom was most conspicuous (as in a man’s
forehead), a most Divine and perfect holiness purer than the gold of that
plate.
III. The use was
significant, that as the high priest, having on this plate, with this inscription,
got the iniquities of the people pardoned, which he bare before the Lord: So
our High Priest, Jesus Christ, presenting before His Father, His most absolute
holiness, gets a pardon for all our sins, which He bears upon Himself. And as
their sins were pardoned in respect of the high priest, who represented Christ:
So both theirs and ours are indeed and in truth pardoned, for the true and
eternal High Priest, who is Christ Himself. (T. Taylor, D. D.)
Holiness to the Lord
Holiness to the Lord! Where is that inscription to be stamped now?
The Jewish Tabernacle has expanded into that world-wide brotherhood, where
whosoever doeth righteousness is accepted. Morning has risen into day. The
ministry of Aaron is ended. All the outward glory and beauty of that Hebrew
worship which the Lord commanded Moses has vanished into the eternal splendour
of the gospel, and been fulfilled in Christ. What teaching has it left? What
other than this?--that we are to engrave our “Holiness to the Lord”
first on the heart, and then on all that the heart goes out into, through the
brain and the hand; on the plates of gold our age of enterprise is drawing up
from mines and beating into currency; on bales of merchandise and books of
account; on the tools and bench of every handicraft; on your weights and
measures; on pen and plough and pulpit; on the door-posts of your houses, and
the utensils of your tables, and the walls of your chambers; on cradle and
playthings and schoolbooks; on the locomotives of enterprise, and the bells of
the horses, and the ships of navigation; on music-halls and libraries; on
galleries of art, and the lyceum desk; on all of man’s inventing and building,
all of his using and enjoying, for all these are trusts in a stewardship, for
which the Lord of the servants reckoneth. (Bp. F. D. Huntington.)
Material and shape of mitre
Elsewhere this ornament is called “nezer,” from a verb
signifying to separate; and hence denoting a crown as a mark of separation or
distinction. The same word is applied to the diadem of kings. Indeed, such
turbans of fine linen, with an encircling or front ornament of gold or precious
stones, seem to have been the usual diadems of ancient kings. Justin says that
Alexander the Great took his diadem from his head to bind up the wounds of Lysimachus.
This shows clearly that it was of linen. Probably, it had some distinguishing
ornament like that of the high priest here.
1. Jahn says curiously enough that, in the time of Josephus, the
shape of the mitre had become somewhat altered. It was circular, was covered
with a piece of fine linen, and sat so closely on the upper part of the head
that it would not fail off when the body was bent down: apparently it did not
cover the whole of the head. It may be that there is mystical reference to the
crown of gold worn by each of those who exulted before God in the
acknowledgment that He had made them prince-priests unto Himself. Each cast his
mike-coronet down before Him, who sat upon the throne, singing--
“I
bless Thee, gracious Father, for Thy pleasant gift to me, And earnestly I ask
Thee, that it may always be In perfect consecration laid at Thy glorious feet,
Touched with Thine altar-fire, and made an offering pure and sweet.”
On the cultivation of holiness
Let me say a few words concerning the cultivation of holiness.
Look upon holiness as an end to be obtained. Do not seek holiness as a means to
happiness--but happiness as a means to holiness. In heaven itself, the bliss of
that world of glory is to be most prized because the happiness of that world
will be the attainment of spotless sanctity. Be sure you take your
forgiveness--accept the peace which God freely offers--believe in the love of
God; receive gladly and gratefully every token of that love; if it be only for
this, that it is the means to holiness; it will make you holy. And you may
argue it with God so; “Lord, give me happiness that I may be holy, for I find
that without happiness I cannot glorify Thee by holiness, make me happy that I
may be holy.” Another suggestion which I would make to you in the cultivation
of holiness, is to be more careful about the holiness of little things than of
great things. It is so easy to go to church, and have a very devout manner, and
even at the time to feel devoutly, and then to go away into life, and to have so
very little holiness; rather, such unholiness, in the common affairs of our
common life. Now that which characterizes the dispensation on which we are
entered, and will characterize it infinitely presently, is this--that there
shall be holiness to the Lord, not in the sanctuary, but in the common-places
of every-day life, out of doors and in doors; out of doors on that most
familiar thing in the East, “the bells on horses”--the very harness of the
horses is to be holiness; and in doors (the same passage in the last chapter of
Zechariah), in doors, upon the most ordinary vessels that are used for domestic
uses, the commonest thing that is in the house is to be “Holiness to the
Lord!”--the very culinary vessels are to be “Holiness to the Lord.” (J.
Vaughan, M. A.)
The mitre
The white linen is the emblem of purity; the head is the seat of
thought and of intellect. Christ had a pure mind; all His thoughts were holy
thoughts. And because He is so holy, He can bear His people’s sins (Isaiah 53:4). He who is our Great High
Priest before God is pure without a stain. God sees Him as such, and He stands
for us who are His people, and we are accepted in Him. His holiness is ours by
imputation. Standing in Him we are, in the sight of God, holy as Christ is
holy, and pure as Christ is pure. (G. Rodgers.)
Holiness to the Lord in common things
In an old book I was reading the other day the writer laughed at
some commoner who had just been made a peer, because he had his coat of arms
burned and painted even upon his shovels and wheelbarrows. Now, in my
reckoning, that was a very fine action and full of significance. If a man is a
true man he is a man of God, a prince of God; and he ought to put the stamp of
his nobility on the commonest things with which he has to do. (Christian
Journal.)
Holiness unto the Lord
Write on our garnered treasures, Write on our choicest pleasures,
Upon things new and old, The precious stone and gold--Wife, husband, children,
friends--On all that goodness lends; Go write on your good name--Upon your
cherished fame--On every pleasant thing--On stores that Heaven doth fling Into
your basket--write! Upon the smile of God, Upon His scourging rod--Write on
your inmost heart, Write upon every part--To Him who claims the whole, Time,
talent, body, soul--holiness unto the lord!
That Aaron may bear the
iniquity of the holy things.
The iniquity of our holy things
I. A sad subject,
“The iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall hallow.”
1. They were “holy things.” Despite the iniquity, their offerings
were hallowed and holy. This is a precious saving clause. Our prayers, our
praises, our service of God, these are holy things, albeit that iniquity
attaches to them. They are holy as to God’s ordinance, for He has ordained them
for His glory. “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me.” When we do what God bids
us, the act is holy, because done in obedience to the Divine ordinance. Such
deeds are holy as to the Divine design: for the sacrifices which the Israelites
brought were meant to set forth Christ and His glorious work, and therefore
they were holy. The great Father teaches us much precious truth by every
institution of the Tabernacle and the Temple, and the gospel Church, and
therefore obedience to each ordinance is holy. These deeds were often holy in
the intent of the worshipper.
2. But although “holy things,” there was iniquity upon all of them;
and did we ever do anything yet that had not some spot of iniquity upon it? Is not
our repentance, after all, but poor stuff compared with what it ought to be? Is
not unbelief mixed with our faith? Hath not our love a measure of lukewarmness
in it? No act of consecration, no act of self-sacrifice, no rapture of
fellowship, no height of spirituality has been without its imperfection.
3. Furthermore, some of these sins are apparent: indeed, many of them
are painfully before our own eyes. If the Lord sees iniquity in our holy
things, what iniquities there must be in our unholy things! I have to complain
that wandering thoughts will intrude in my prayers, my study of the Word, my
sacred song, my choice meditation; indeed, even in ministering the Word among
you, I find my mind roaming. I have to complain also--and I fear many here
would have to complain even more than I do--of want of faith in prayer.
4. These are only a few of the iniquities of our holy things which we
can see; but beside these there are many imperfections of our service which we
do not notice because we are not spiritual enough to discern them; but God sees
them. Bring me that microscope! I have just now put the wing of a butterfly
under it. That is God’s work, and, as I enlarge it, I discover no imperfection,
but more and more of marvellous beauty. That butterfly’s wing under the
microscope becomes most wonderful, and I worship God as I gaze upon His
handiwork. Take the butterfly away now and put your needle in its place. What?
Why this is a rough bar of iron which has never been smoothed or polished. This
is wretched workmanship. It does not seem fitted for delicate work. Such is
man’s manufacture, the best of it. When God puts your prayers and my sermons
under His microscopic eye, they are not at all what we thought they were, but
quite the reverse. This ought to humble us as we come before the presence of
the All-seeing One.
5. These imperfections in our holy things are so grievous that they
would prevent any one of our works, or offerings, or prayers being accepted
before the thrice-holy God.
II. A glad subject.
What was done in type has also been done in reality.
1. Consider, then, that God provided the high priest. It was ordained
that he should be a man perfect in his person. In our Lord Jesus there is no
defect open or secret. He is perfect, and so He can be high priest unto God.
The man had to be chosen of God. Aaron was so. Christ is ordained of God, and
by Divine authority He stands as high priest for us. This man had to be
anointed for his work. Aaron was anointed with oil; but our Lord was anointed
with the Holy Spirit.
2. This high priest was altogether given up to his people. He has a
heart; his people’s names are on the breast-plate which covers it. He has
shoulders: his people’s names are written on his Shoulder-pieces, and thus he
lends them his power. Thus Christ has given up His thought, His judgment, His
mind, His every faculty to His people. He is all ours. The high priest reserved
nothing of himself; he gave all of himself to all his people.
3. The high priest bore “the iniquity of the holy things.” All the
iniquity of our holy things our Lord Jesus has borne, and it is no longer
imputed unto us. As He stood before God, though He bore the iniquity of the
people, yet He exhibited to God no iniquity, but on His forehead was written,
“Holiness to Jehovah.” Notice that He bore before God a holiness most precious;
in token whereof, in type, the engraving was inscribed upon a plate of pure
gold. The righteousness of Christ is more precious to God than all the mines of
gold in the whole world. There was no iniquity in His holy things; His holiness
was conspicuous and undeniable, it shone on the forefront of His mitre. That
holiness of His was permanent. One thing more I want you to notice, and that
is, that he always wore it, “And it shall always be upon his forehead.” Jesus
is always “Holiness to God” on our behalf. Our holy work is now viewed with
Divine favour. Will you not offer more and more of these holy things, since
they are in very deed accepted in Christ? Now I have taught you the main
doctrine of the type, I desire to bring forth one or two lessons.
1. The first is, see here a lesson of humility. Our good works, if we
lay them up in store, and value them as jewels, will, like the manna in the
wilderness, very soon breed worms and stink. There is enough rottenness in our
best performances to make them offensive to an enlightened conscience. Oh, that
this fact, that even our holy things are tainted, may he the death-warrant of
our pride!
2. In the next place, learn the awful hazard of going unto God
without our High Priest.
3. Learn how you must be dressed as a royal priesthood unto the Lord.
4. Lastly, let sinners gain a store of comfort here. If God’s own
people have iniquity in their holy things, and yet they have Christ to bear it
for them, how patient must He be who is our High Priest. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The coat of fine linen.
The embroidered coat
The portion of the high priest’s dress called the coat was
more properly a tunic. It was the innermost garment worn by the high priest,
being placed first upon him after he was washed (Leviticus 8:7). It seems to be derived
from a verb meaning “to cover, or hide.” It seems to have been interwoven, like
net or chequer work, so as to present what in modern days we should call a
“damask” appearance, combining weaving with a species of embroidery. The blue
robe, and gorgeous ephod with its cluster of brilliant precious stones on the
shoulders and breastplate, would entirely conceal from the eye of an observer
this fine linen coat. Beneath, therefore, the splendid dress of the high priest
there was a more humble attire of pure white, though it was still a “garment
for glory and beauty.” The outer garments were distinctly of a
representative character; that is, they bore the names of Israel before the
Lord. But in this under tunic there was no apparent connection with that
people. It was rather the personal clothing of the high priest, manifesting
him, beneath all his official glory, as one who could minister before the Lord
in a perfect righteousness of his own. A glory and beauty no less costly and
precious than was displayed by the other garments, though to the eye of sense
not so striking in appearance. In fact, the high priest could not have worn his
magnificent apparel Unless he could previously exhibit a spotless purity,
diversified in every possible way like the embroidered fine linen coat. The
Lord Jesus, in the days of His flesh, passed through an ordeal of temptation
and suffering, throughout which He evinced His complete fitness to be the Great
High Priest in resurrection, showing forth a righteousness and holiness, as
well as grace, sympathy, and tenderness which proved Him perfectly suited for
this high dignity and responsibility. (H. W. Soltau.)
The embroidered coat
This garment was most proper to our High Priest of the New
Testament, Jesus Christ, who is by it described (Revelation 1:13), “clothed in a garment
down to the feet.” Noting--
1. The excellency of His person, who is “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6), for such long white garments
ever betoken peace, both within the church and without.
2. That He excelled in wisdom and counsel, being the Great Counsellor
and the “Spirit of counsel and understanding resting in His breast” (Isaiah 11:2), for to such also the
garments belonged (Daniel 5:7; Daniel 5:16).
3. The lovely and beautiful connection and conjunction of His
prophetical, priestly, and princely offices; sincerely and perfectly fulfilling
them and appearing before God in them as in a most costly embroidered garment
consisting of many pieces and many colours fitly couched and laid together. And
this garment He wore, not only on earth (as the priests did), but now after His
ascension, He continues to perform the office of the High Priest for His
Church, in the same embroidered garment, presenting before God the merit of His
only sacrifice and making intercession to the Father for it. (T. Taylor, D.
D.)
The girdle.
The girdle
This was worn by the Hebrews as an ornament and as a strengthener.
It was put on Aaron, but our Jesus has in Himself everything that was
symbolized by this, and everything else that was put on Aaron. I like to look
at the girdle as the symbol of service, and at Jesus Christ as our girded High
Priest, ever ready to go to God on His people’s errands. Jesus is ever ready
for any service His people may need. He will present their prayers to God and
obtain answers for His beloved disciples, or He will stoop to wash their feet.
(G. Rodgers.)
The girdle
This girdle was made of the same materials as the vail; but the
order of their arrangement was that of the innermost curtains of the
Tabernacle, viz., “fine linen, blue, purple, scarlet.” The fine linen, type of
righteousness, comes first, answering to that beautiful passage in Isaiah 11:5. Righteousness and
faithfulness which the Lord Jesus has made perfectly manifest and proved to the
utmost in His death upon the Cross. The object of the girdle was to strengthen
the loins for service. And the high priest, beneath garments of majesty, glory,
brilliancy, and power, still preserved his place as the girded righteous
servant of the Lord. So the Lord Jesus upon the throne of glory, having all
power in heaven and in earth, and with the name above every name, yet delights to
maintain His place as God’s servant, fulfilling the Father’s counsels and
accomplishing His will in the salvation and ultimate perfection of those that
are His. We have in John 13:1-38 a striking illustration of
our blessed Lord’s holy service; deeply instructive to us in two ways: first,
as teaching us what His present occupations are in our behalf, and next, as
giving us an example which we have to follow if we would taste of His happiness
and joy. One way in which we may wash one another’s feet is by prayer and
intercession for one another; and another mode is by seeking to deliver any of
the Lord’s people that may be ensnared, from the entanglements into which they
have fallen. (H. W. Soltau.)
The girdle
The sixth garment is the girdle of needlework (verse 39).
Of divers matter, linen, blue silk, purple and scarlet, and of divers colours (Exodus 39:29). The use of it was to
fasten the priest’s garment unto him, that they may not hang loose upon him in
his ministration; and specially points out unto us our High Priest, Jesus
Christ, described after His ascension (Revelation 1:13), “And girt about the
paps with a golden girdle.” Noting in Christ four things.
1. The truth and constancy in accomplishing all the gracious promises
of the gospel, seeing our High Priest is girt about with a girdle of verity.
2. His justice, integrity, pure and uncorrupt judgment, as gold (Isaiah 11:5), “Righteousness shall be the
girdle of His loins and faithfulness the girdle of His reins.”
3. His readiness to do the office of a Mediator.
4. His mindfulness and care in performing His office. For as not
girding is a sign of carelessness and negligence, so girding of care and
industry. So our Lord and High Priest never carelessly cast off any poor and
penitent sinner; but in the days of His flesh minded their misery; and now in
heaven keeps on His girdle, casts not off the care of His Church, but
perpetually accomplisheth whatsoever is needful for her salvation. (T.
Taylor, D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》