Lesson 97 - Junior
Memory Verse
"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD... for hath clothed me with the garments of salvation" (Isaiah 61:10).
Notes
God's Attention to Details
When God ordained the priesthood at the time the Tabernacle was set up in the wilderness, He told Moses not only the particular duties of Aaron and his sons, but He told him also what clothes they must wear. We find that God was very careful that everything be done exactly according to His Word. It is just as important today that we follow the teachings of the Bible in every little detail.
The clothes of Aaron and his sons were to be holy garments, and no one else could wear any clothes like them. The children of God today are clothed with an adornment, which the people of the world cannot imitate: "He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10).God had a reason for all the articles of dress, which the priests wore. They pictured the inward graces of the holy men of God. They must be of fine linen, and John tells us in Revelation that the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. Their clothes were to be for "glory and for beauty." When Peter spoke of the adorning of the children of God, he said, "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning... but let it be the hidden man of the heart, ..... even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price" (I Peter 3:3, 4).
The Robes of the High Priest
The robes of the high priest were of even greater beauty than those of the other priests. He had a more holy work to do for the Lord, and his holiness must be greater. Upon his head he wore a mitre. It was made of fine linen, folded and wound around his head as a turban. Upon the front was a plate of gold upon which were engraved the words, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. Whenever the people looked at the high priest and saw that plate of gold, they would think of God's holiness.
The greater the work the Lord calls us to do, the more we must pray and consecrate so that we will have the spirit in us that will "adorn" us for that work. The high priest's fine linen garments were richly embroidered with gold and brightly coloured threads. The robe was without sleeves, and hung almost to his ankles. Around the bottom were many little golden bells, a pomegranate of needlework between each one. No one could enter the Tabernacle but the priests, so the tinkling of the bells on the high priest's robes as he moved about told the people who were listening outside that he was alive and was making intercession before God for them.
Over this robe the high priest wore the ephod, "of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work." Part of it hung over his shoulders in back and the other part over his chest. It was fastened on each shoulder by a clasp or buckle; and also upon each shoulder was an onyx stone, the names of six tribes engraved on one, and the names of the other six tribes on the other. The Children of Israel could not go in before God themselves, but the priest carried their names upon his shoulders when he went into the Holy Place.
The Breastplate
The priest also carried the names of the Children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord in the form of a breastplate set with twelve stones. Each stone was different, and upon each was engraved the name of one of the tribes of Israel. Only the high priest wore ' the ephod with the precious breastplate; so we see that Israel must depend upon the high priest, alone, for intercession before God. There we see Jesus Pictured again in the person of the high priest. Jesus has gone into Heaven to make intercession before God for His people here on earth.
The most important parts of all the dress of the high priest were the Urim and Thummim. It was by these that the priests learned the will of God. No one knows exactly what they looked like, but God told Moses: "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" (Exodus 28:30).
God did not speak to the priests as He had to Moses, "face to face." They must depend upon the Urim and Thummim to know the will of God. Many years later, in the time of David, when the ark was not at the Tabernacle, the will of God was still learned in this way. David knew that Saul was trying to overthrow him, and he wanted to know what action God wanted him to take. So he called the priest Abiathar to bring the ephod so he could inquire of the Lord. God answered him through the Urim and Thummim ([1SM:23:1-29]).
It is believed that the Children of Israel also learned in this way which tribe should be first to go up to fight against the Canaanites, as recorded in [JUG:1:1-2]; and in Judges 20:18 we read: "And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first." But one time when Saul inquired of God, after he had sinned, there was no answer, "neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets" (I Samuel 28:6).
Whatever the Urim and Thummim were, they did reveal the will of God and gave the high priest wisdom to judge the people. The judgment of God is not "after the sight of his eyes, neither ... after the hearing of his ears" (Isaiah 11:3). He looks at the heart and can tell whether people are telling the truth or not. The high priest was a judge among the people, but he still had to ask wisdom of the Lord.
Our Part in Intercession
The Lord has chosen to clothe His children in the beauties of holiness. He has adorned us with spiritual adornment; He has covered us with the garments of praise. When the priest entered that beautiful sanctuary in which only the finest of linen fabrics and the purest of gold had been used to show respect for God's Holy Place, he had to be clothed in holy garments to be worthy to minister before the Lord. How then can man dare to minister unto the Lord with soiled garments, robes spotted by sin? If a person is a sinner he has no right to do anything in the worship of God. All he can do is to pray in humble repentance, "God, be merciful to me a sinner." God will hear such a prayer that comes from the heart, and will wash all his sins away and make him a Christian, with clean garments.
When we are sanctified we are adorned with more of the Spirit of God, which brings about that beauty of holiness. God has blessed us with spiritual blessings, and He expects us to do something for Him. We must bear our brothers upon our hearts in prayer before God. If they are sick we ask God to heal them; when they are happy, we rejoice with them; in their sorrow we weep with them and pray that God will help them bear their burden. We carry upon our hearts in prayer not only our own family, those we love most, but all God's children. "Pray one for another. . . . The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16).
Discernment
When the Holy Spirit comes into our heart and we are baptised with the Holy Ghost, He gives us the understanding to tell the false things from the true. When we are saved we feel a certain amount of that discernment, and still more when we are sanctified. But as we walk close to the Lord after we have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, He will give us greater understanding. We should pray much to have Him teach us His will.
We do not want to judge our brother; Jesus is the One who judges. But we do not believe the things that are wrong, nor agree with the things that God hates. His Spirit teaches us what is true, and leads us in the path of righteousness and true holiness. We can know when we are led by the Spirit of God and not by the spirit of the enemy, because the Spirit and the Word of God agree. Let us ever live so that God can answer us by His Spirit, just as the priests of old learned the will of God through the Urim and Thummim.
Questions
1. Describe the garments of the priests.
2. What was the inscription upon the gold plate on the mitre?
3. What does white linen typify?
4. How should a man be spiritually adorned before he is fit to minister unto the Lord?
5. What was the Urim and Thummim?
6. What is our Urim and Thummim?