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" And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats. And thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them for glory and for beauty."-Ex. 28:40
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" And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron and for his sons. " And goodly bonnets of fine linen."-Ex. 39:27, 28
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The Garments for glory and beauty with which the sons of Aaron were clothed, consisted of coats, girdles, and bonnets of fine twined linen. There was no ornament or embroidery: no gold or brilliant colors. They were arrayed in pure white garments.
Aaron, as the high priest, appeared in the presence of the Lord in a representative character, personating we may say, the whole nation Israel, and upholding it in the glory and beauty required by God; bearing the names of the tribes on his shoulders and breastplate, graven on precious stones. His sons the priests stood in no such official dignity, but had access into the holy place and ministered at the altar, on behalf of the people, not as representing them, but rather as leaders of their worship, and instructors of them in the holy things of God. They were types of one aspect of the church of God-the heavenly priesthood. In the Revelation, the four and twenty elders have a priestly standing; they form the heavenly council, being elders, and therefore also judges. They are seated on thrones, because kings. They are clothed in white raiment, as priests, and they have on their heads crowns of gold, that is, victor's crowns, or chaplets. Chapter 4:4.
The countless multitude are also seen clothed with white robes; a priestly company serving day and night in the heavenly temple. Chapter 7:9. The Lamb's wife is seen arrayed in fine linen clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. Chapter 19:8.
Thus the priestly dress of fine linen, and the garments of unsullied whiteness represent the same thing-spotless righteousness. The standing of the believer in Christ before God; not having his own righteousnesses, but the righteousness which is of God by faith.
There is an interesting passage in Isa. 61 to, " I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels."
It will be observed from the margin that this might be translated, " as a bridegroom decketh himself as a priest with ornaments," and the word for ornaments is the same as that used Ex. 39:28,28And a mitre of fine linen, and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twined linen, (Exodus 39:28) "goodly bonnets." The garments of salvation, the robe of righteousness, are like the bridegroom's priestly glory; and like the bride's adornments. May not this passage in Isaiah have been in the mind of the Spirit of God, when inditing that portion of Rev. 19:8,8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (Revelation 19:8) referred to above.
The bridal ornaments are the priestly robes of fine linen. Christ our righteousness. The Church will shine forth in His spotless white and glistening raiment, clean and bright, clothed with Christ.
As believers in Jesus we have already put on Christ. He is our spotless robe of righteousness. But we have also to remember the exhortation to be constantly putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. Our conduct and walk should correspond with our real standing before God, and our way to aim at this is by setting the Lord alway before us, and seeking to walk in His steps; remembering ever to connect our thoughts and meditations of Him with His death upon the cross; for thereby we shall get the strength we need, at the same time, that we have before us the perfect example.
In this respect the Lord's people often fail and are discouraged: they very properly look at the Lord Jesus as the pattern of what they should be in their Christian course, but they fail to realize the power required in order to follow Him. This arises from their not eating His flesh and drinking His blood whilst they gaze on Him.
We shall find many beautiful illustrations of this truth in the Epistles. Paul, when he says, " the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God," immediately adds, " who loved me, and gave himself for me," proving that all his strength was derived from this remembrance of the love of Christ, manifested in His death. Both the Epistles to the Corinthians are filled with direct or incidental allusions to the death of Christ. They are Epistles containing many rebukes, and much practical exhortation. When the apostle Peter puts before those to whom he wrote, the exceedingly difficult grace of bearing patiently sufferings wrongly inflicted, he presents Christ as an example, and adds " who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree-by whose stripes ye were healed."