Exodus 28:1-8 KJV 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. [2] And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. [3] And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. [4] And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. [5] And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. [6] And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work. [7] It shall have the two shoulderpieces thereof joined at the two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together. [8] And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
Exodus 28:42-43 KJV And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach: [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.
Leviticus 6:8-10 KJV And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, [9] Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. [10] And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.
Leviticus 16:4 KJV He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.
I. INTRODUCTION—THE HIGH PRIEST AND ORDER OF THE PRIESTS
When we look to the Tabernacle and the definite order that God established in it, we cannot doubt the fact that God used every piece of it to instruct the New Testament church in some way. The same holds true for the priestly garments that were designed for the priesthood. Just as the garments were made for the priests to enter into the ministry of the Tabernacle, there are also garments for us to come into the presence of the Lord. When we come into the presence of the Lord the garments that have covered us in a spiritual sense are very important.
When we look at the garments that God established for the priesthood to wear, it is noted that there were seven basic pieces that the High Priest would wear. There were some garments that only he could wear which is symbolic of the ministry of the great High Priest, Jesus Christ. There are certain matters afforded to Him because He is God that the New Testament saint does not have available to him. The High Priest would wear:
• The ephod—28:6-14
• The breastplate—28:15-30
• The robe of the ephod with a belt—28:31-35
• A mitre (turban) with a gold medallion—28:36-38
• The linen breeches—28:39-43
The ordinary priest would wear a similar uniform although not as ornate as that of the high priest (28:40-43).
• The linen breeches
• The embroidered coat
• The belt (girdle)
• The turban
Nothing was spared on the quality and work of these garments that the priests were directed to wear. In fact we should believe that anyone who enters into any kind of ministry for the Lord must see it as a very high calling that demands the very best that a man possesses. Furthermore it needs to be a commitment on the part of all who are involved in any form of ministry to be sure that as a God-chosen instrument that we should be clean and honest in our handling of the Word of the Lord. We need to give of our best to do the will of God!
Because all of this construction reflects the character of Jesus Christ, nothing but the highest quality of material and work would suffice for this. Note some of the expressions that are used in conjunction with the work and construction of the Tabernacle and priestly garment materials:
• Fine linen
• Pure gold
• Precious stones
• Costly ointment
• Cunning workmanship
• Wise-hearted
If that kind of premium was placed on the materials in the Tabernacle and the garments that served as a foreshadowing of our own service today, we must offer up sacrifices of worship and service that will be pleasing to God! If this attitude could prevail in our worship services and congregational meetings at all times, it would change the entire atmosphere of the church.
The pattern of worship for the Israelites in the OT called for them to gather at regularly sanctioned times to worship. In the OT it was called the Tent of the Meeting or the Tent of the Congregation. When we come to the NT, Jesus said that He would build His Church (ecclesia). That word is a derivative from the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) used a congregation. Some 80 times is this word used in the same manner. Therefore when the writer of Hebrews noted that we were not to forsake the assembling of ourselves (Heb. 10:25), it is to be understood that we are to be a meeting people on a regular basis. Furthermore it is important how we present ourselves to that meeting.
If God were to judge us for the manner by which we come and go at times in the New Testament church, it would be devastating for us. The fact is that His mercy, grace, and longsuffering prevails in such a way that it has kept us from losing the glory of God in our midst. God would visit us with greater revelation, insight, wisdom, blessing, and glory if we were to come into the congregation by honoring the protocol for worship that He has established. We can only hope that this kind of teaching helps us to understand the gravity of worship.
• How often have we come to worship with a distracted air about us?
• How often have we gone through the motions of worship with sin in our lives?
• How often have we knelt to pray with a grudge that has been held against another?
• How often have we clapped with hands that were defiled from handling defiled, worldly and ungodly ambitions, desires, and passions?
• How often have we praised God with a tongue that a few hours earlier had been used in anger, gossip, talebearing, and slander?
• How often have we come into the presence of the Lord and allowed sin to stand between us and the Lord so that we were before God illegally?
These are the kinds of questions that need to provoke active thinking in our minds so that we flee from this world’s superficial traps that seek to destroy us. I can only emphatically declare to you that it does matter how we come into a place of worship! There is so much more that God has to offer us if we can approach him with a purity of heart and presence of mind that will honor Him. This only takes place with active preparation on our part.
II. THE LINEN BREECHES
The reason we undertake the linen breeches first is because of the interior location of them. As with the Tabernacle series, we started with the Ark of the Covenant and we went toward the altar. With this series, we start with the interior and will work outward to the other garments.
A. A Covering for Modesty
Exodus 28:42-43 AMP You shall make for them [white] linen trunks to cover their naked flesh, reaching from the waist to the thighs. [43] And they shall be on Aaron and his sons when they go into the Tent of Meeting or when they come near to the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bring iniquity upon themselves and die; it shall be a statute forever to Aaron and to his descendants after him.
All of the priests were to wear the linen breeches that would cover them from the waist to the thigh. Every time these priests came into the Tabernacle or Temple they were to be covered by these linen breeches. The purpose of the linen garment was to cover them as they fulfilled various aspects of the ministry in the Tabernacle.
This linen was representative of righteousness, holiness and purity. Generally when this word linen is used in relation to the Tabernacle and its ministry it is seen as pure and white. Various Scriptural references concerning the white linen can shed further light on this:
• Leviticus 6:10—The beautiful gift of righteousness that has been given by God.
• Isaiah 61:10—A robe of righteousness and garments of salvation.
• Revelation 19:8—White represents the righteousness of the saints.
• Romans 13:14—Put on Christ as a garment.
• Exodus 26:1—Linen curtain served as a shelter. Represented the righteous life of Christ.
• Exodus 27:18—Linen court for protection. Represented righteousness joined with judgment.
• Matthew 22:11-12—A man without the wedding garment. Represented the righteousness of the saints.
• Isaiah 1:18—Snow and wool are known for their whiteness.
• Hebrews 4:15; 7:26—The faultless humanity of Christ is typified by white linen.
This covering was for the sake of modesty and purity. God’s anger and judgment is stirred when it comes to immodesty and immorality. On the other hand, God’s blessing is enacted toward those who give themselves to the pursuit of righteousness.
It is fitting that when we look to the failure of man in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3, that God’s first act of redemption for Adam and Eve was a covering of clothing. In their sin and failure, they had attempted to cover their sin with their own ingenuity and material. But it was greatly lacking because God shows up and to their great embarrassment can see through all of their puny efforts to cover their immodesty.
They had never seen death before and immediately before their eyes, God slays one of the animals that He had created. The Creator becomes a slayer for the sake of their sin. The same hands that created the world kill an animal so that they can have proper garments to cover their nakedness. Therefore in carrying this thought all the way through, we have to understand that a covering is imperative for us if we are to be involved in proper and true worship.
Exodus 20:25-26 KJV And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. [26] Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
This passage is concerning the construction of the altar and the service that was involved in it. It is very important to note that God wanted His altar to be associated with purity, modesty, and a covering. Furthermore, He directed that when they were to build this altar it was to be built without steps going up to it. The heathen built their altars with steps leading up to them. If you look at the design of the Egyptian altars which is where the children of Israel had just immediately escaped from, this passage becomes clearer.
The Egyptian priest was clothed in a very short flimsy skirt. As he ascended the altar all of those gathered around the altar would be provoked to sensual immoral behavior. This was activity was not limited to the Egyptians but would be promoted among the majority of societies who gave themselves to the worship of idols. As the priest would ascend the altar more and more of his body would be exposed to the people and it would spur the people to sinful “worship” involving their lustful passions.
This sinful behavior would be replicated later in the exodus when Aaron built the golden calf. This is what provoked the wrath of Moses so much when he came down from the mountain to find the children of Israel involved in their false worship.
Exodus 32:25-30 KJV And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) [26] Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD'S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. [27] And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. [28] And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. [29] For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. [30] And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.
The disobedience and rebellion of the children of Israel in the presence of the golden calf caused them to remove their clothes. They literally were engulfed by the same kind of passions that the Egyptians had been involved in. Would it be too far removed to say that the same thing is taking place in our society today? We are seeing increasingly immodesty and uncovering as never before. Furthermore it has gotten to the place that it is accompanied by sloppiness not only of immodest dress but also of character.
Some scoff and mock pastors, ministers, and preachers in our generation when they get angry and preach against the effects of worldly worship. The fact is that we are much aware of what happens when our worship gets corrupted and dirty. Holiness is still the order of the day for those men and women who want to please God! It is important to understand the spiritual principle involved here: God is concerned about the covering of our bodies! The devil is doing his best to cause us to dress immodestly because he understands the connection that will lead to deception and decadence.
But when we notice that God was stating clearly to Moses when the altar was built, He did not want man-made tools smoothing it out. He wanted the altar to be rough and without steps so that His priests would not fall into the same trap of promoting sensuality among the worshippers. It is important when we come to worship that man-made talent, charisma, and personal gifting not do anything that would alter the plan that God has designed for us to fulfill. When man starts tampering with the protocol that God has established for His church, false-doctrine, self-aggrandizement, and all manner of spiritual ailments began to move into the church.
We must be very careful that we do not allow Egyptian influences to make their way into our worship. Because Pentecostal worship very much involves the emotions, we cannot afford to allow them to devolve into the superficial. Worship is meant to be sacred and we must be very keen to determining what the difference is between emotion and the moving of the Spirit. The devil would love to corrupt worship by allowing it to become entirely emotion driven. Worship that is emotion driven always has to depend on human talent and ingenuity. Emotion driven worship is very much dependent on image. That is why much of the media driven “worship” today has to have performers who fit into a certain profile that will appeal to those who are watching.
If we go back to the initial analogy of the rough altar that God required, we can see that it was not airbrushed, photo-shopped, or forced to fit into the specifications that Egypt desired. We need to heed the warning that is given here and not allow the world to corrupt our worship. God demands that flesh be covered when it is in service for the Lord. Notably this is why that some of our preachers and singers can never be suited to fit on the altars of the world. The world has no desire for the kind of ministry that is covered by God’s requirements. In fact, “ministry” that serves to cater to the passions, desires, and pursuits of the world will lead us directly into the demonic when it comes to the worship of the Lord. Biblical discernment mixed with prayer is our only hope!
Several years ago I was at a meeting when a preacher of sorts began to lead the congregation toward some very sensual themes in his preaching. Within me there began to be a great railing and rising anger at the ability that this preacher was having at swaying this very large crowd. I was at a loss to explain the gullibility that seemed to be manifested. Shortly afterwards, I was in a restaurant with many ministers who had been in this meeting. I, along with one other man, began to dissent about the content of the message and we were mocked and derided. Furthermore in the following days some of the internet forums loudly supported what had taken place. However as time passed, the counterfeit was exposed for what he was. This is the great danger of allowing the mixing of Egypt with the reverent things of godliness.
B. The Curse of the Carnal Man
Leviticus 16:1-4 KJV And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died; [2] And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. [3] Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. [4] He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.
Aaron’s sons died because of their offering of strange fire. Many commentators on this passage of Scripture seem to indicate that these young men had gotten drunk on wine and had allowed the fire on the altar to go out. After their deaths, Aaron could not even mourn their deaths. His two sons had been consecrated, as had every other priest, to the service of the Lord and now they were dead. Somewhere along the way, they had allowed the carnal whims to take control of their lives and it caused their priorities to get out of place.
Certainly Moses was saddened by the loss of his two nephews also but he spoke what the Lord had told him. God had reaffirmed to him that it did not matter who they were, if they came into the presence of the Lord without adequate preparation and covering, they would die. If you will notice, God required the coat also to be on these men. They could have neglected the linen breeches and no one would have known. Only the priest and God would have known this.
There is great application in this when we understand that there is a secret place in our lives that only God knows of. There is a great responsibility that we have to constantly be vigilant concerning this matter of the heart. We can be involved in all sorts of religious activities and have the appearance that all is well but if there is not a secret life of prayer and devotion, it is only a matter of time before the implosion will take place. Take heed, you have a high and holy calling!!!
We also have to be aware of this: your heart is prone to carnality if the spiritual man is not fed day-by-day.
2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
If that inward man is not renewed daily, there will be horrific consequences. I believe that we are truly living in the last days. Peter addressed the spiritual condition of our society in this way:
2 Peter 2:10 NASB and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties,
2 Peter 2:19 NASB promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
From a few other translations we note the following:
• Amplified—Those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passion.
• Bible in Basic English—Those who go after the unclean desires of the flesh.
• Good News Bible—Those who follow their filthy bodily lusts.
• Weymouth—Those who are abandoned to sensuality—craving, as they do, for polluted things.
• Phillips—Those who have indulged in all the foulness of their lower natures.
The word “corrupt” (Greek—miasmos) is defined by Thayer’s Lexicon as that which defiles; vices the foulness of which contaminates one in his contact with the ungodly mass of mankind.” The saints of God in our age can be polluted by those in our midst who are regularly engaging in sinful behavior. This word was later translated by Webster as “poisonous vapor formerly supposed to arise from decomposing animal or vegetable matter, swamps, etc. and infect the air.” It is as if noxious, poisonous vapors could infect those who came into those swamplands and the surrounding fog would hinder him from escaping and he would slowly die from the poison.
That is an excellent picture of the spiritual climate that we are living in during our times. The whole atmosphere of this world reeks of carnality and the enemy desires to siphon the spiritual life out of us on a daily basis. The modern apostolic church is engulfed by this “miasma” of corruption. The greater alarm is that most saints aren’t nearly as concerned about being in fellowship with the Lord as they think they are.
The other word, “corruption” (Greek—phthora) is defined by Thayer’s as “1) corruption, destruction, perishing; 1a) that which is subject to corruption, what is perishable; 1b) in the Christian sense, eternal misery in hell; 2) in the NT, in an ethical sense, corruption, i.e. moral decay.” The following passages give us an idea of how that the word is used in other places:
• Galatians 6:8—For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption (phthora). . .
• 2 Peter 1:4—For. . . you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption (phthora) that is in the world by lust.
• 1 Corinthians 3:17—If any man destroys (phtherio) the temple of God, God will destroy (phtherio) him. . .
• 1 Corinthians 15:33—Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts (phtheiro) good morals.”
• 2 Corinthians 11:3—But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, you minds will be led astray (phtheiro) from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
• Revelation 19:2—He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting (phtheiro) the earth with her immorality. . .
This is the kind of spiritual atmosphere that you are up against in our times. This is obviously the kind of climate the Lot was immersed in Sodom and Gomorrah. If a carnal man spends time sowing to his fleshing and indulging in sin there will be a deep working corruption that settles in on his soul. Don’t lose your fear of sin!!!
III. CONCLUSION—WE MUST BE FIT FOR OUR CALLING
Some may ask, “How do we make sure that we are fit for our calling?” The first thing we must do is to take the exhortation of Peter and be a partaker of the divine calling.
2 Peter 1:3-4 KJV According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: [4] Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Secondly we can consider our calling. We owe God our obedience and obedience is blind. We cannot afford to give all sorts of carnal reasons as to why we cannot follow. If we will follow the Lord, He will make us fit as He did with Aholiab and Bezaleel. He will also make sure that our advancement in spiritual matters comes as they are needed to do the will of God. We shall not be alone in our labors for Him.
Philip Harrelson
March 13, 2013
