COATS OF MANY COLORS

  The subject today is a continuation from yesterday about the holy garments of Aaron and his son for the chief priest and priests. The introductory verse is repeated for continuity: “And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty” (Exod 28:2).

  Yesterday, I dealt with the Garment of Adam, the grace that Noah found, Israel’s coat of many colors, and then the priestly garments.

  God set apart Aaron and his sons for the holy priesthood. He consecrated them and made them holy and worthy of their duties, which was ultimately the same as Adam’s — to dress and keep the Garden of God (Gen 2:15). Yes, it was a Garden of Living Souls and Adam was the first to be planted and Eve was his biological “germline” as it is called in botany. Therefore, the Garden was more than trees, bushes, and vines but a “Garden of Living Souls.”

  “Dress and keep” (abad and samar in the Hebrew) means to literally to serve and guard it for its good and preservation. Thus, Adam was the First High Priest, and he was to minister to those who would multiply in the Garden. He was second only to Yahweh just as Joseph was second only to Pharaoh.

  God put a priestly vestiture on Adam and his helper Eve. The garments of the High Priest and Priestess were coats of skin (or literally robes of the naked). That implied robes to hide their nakedness.

  The priestly garments were robes and breeches of fine linen. The greatest contrast in the garments of the Garden and of the Tabernacle was that God made the coats for Adam and Eve, but the Hebrews made their own coats. In other words, God protected Adam with nearly impenetrable wool and flesh but for the priests, they again made for themselves woven fabrics but tightly woven rather than the loose garment of fig leaves.

  Whereas the first garments of Adam and Eve covered little and with no efficacy, the priestly garments covered their nakedness and were tightly woven for security and beauty. God would no longer cover them with “death” but the works of their own hands. Their security was like Adam’s, by the sweat of their faces.

  So, the Covenants provided garments of different types, but they were all by grace in that God desired that none should perish (John 3:16). The role of the Levitical Priests of Aaron was to serve and preserve the Israelites. They were the wandering Church that was seeking Paradise that was still guarded by giant cherubim (the Anakim).

  They would need protective clothing but more so the consecration to get past the “guards.” When God consecrated them, He did more than design a covering for their flesh but put his Spirit upon them — “for their glory” (splendor) as it is written.

  From Psalms, the Hebrews were to glorify God (Psalm 22:3) but in this case God glorified them, perhaps for them to glorify Him in return.

  “Glorify” in the Greek is more descriptive — doxazo — adorn with luster and clothe with splendor; to render something excellent. (Strong’s Dict.). In other words, glorification is to render something “very good’ (Gen 1:31) just as Adam was in the beginning. But Adam was not only very good but literally excellent before he sinned. He was in the Presence of God and in the Image of God. Essentially, that is the “glorification” that will only be accomplished at the resurrection.

  God reimagined Aaron and His sons to be as much like Adam in his innocence as could be. Since that was before sin, the garments would not be of “death” but vegetation just as in the beginning before anything ever died. Thus, flesh represents death and linen life!

  God had made for them “coats of many colors,” meaning fabrics. The first “fabric” was Adam’s own flesh that was excellent. After sin, it was the coat of lamb’s skins whose fabric was “death of the innocent,” the fabric of Joseph’s coat of many colors was somewhat ambiguous because the Hebrew word can be translated different ways. However, it was likely a long-sleeved gown and a richly ornamented robe according to linguists (Wikipedia).

  The priestly garments were likewise coats of many colors and were likely of fine linen. Perhaps God was dressing Aaron and his sons just as he would dress Israel and his sons. Since the coat was from Jacob for Joseph, and the inheritance was for all the sons of Israel; that the priestly garments were an antitype of that.

  With all that said, God dressed Aaron and his sons to serve and preserve (dress and keep) the Israelites. When he glorified them, God put onto them His Holy Spirit. It was an invisible coat of a different “fabric” — made from the imperishable Flesh and Spirit of God. Perhaps the Israelites had a little “Jesus” put onto them, but in the long years, the fabric wore so thin it was worn out. By the time of Jesus, the priests still dressed in splendor but there was no invisible “fabric” to glorify them!

  God provided the linen and such for the priestly garments and He did the same for the Garment of Jesus. The Garment of Jesus was a Comforter that covered the entire flesh from head to toe. No longer would the head remain bare! The mind was protected as well. It was the place of the cranium for many reasons, and perhaps one of them, was finally Adam’s skull would be covered as well as his body. (See my book, The Skull of Adam, for more on that.)

  The “Comforter” would cover Christians all over to preserve them until they are saved in the end. The “fabric” of the Comforter was the Spirit of Jesus. He gave up His Holy Ghost to serve and preserve Christians until His second coming.

  The Comforter was placed on Jesus at His baptism: “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, ‘Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased’” (Luke 3:22). The Comforter looked just like the body of Jesus — face and all. The Comforter covered the entire Flesh of the Son of Man and made Him the Son of God.

When Jesus died, he gave up the Ghost. Indubitably the repentant thief and the centurion saw the Spirit in bodily shape of God leave Him with the same motion like that of a dove.

  The Holy Ghost is as much God as is His Flesh. The omnipresent Holy Ghost surely covered the centurion and the thief. The Holy Ghost served the centurion faith and preserved the thief until the resurrection. The Comforter did the duties of Adam and Aaron — the duties of the High Priests that they failed to do!

  With Jesus gone in body, He left His Presence on Earth to serve and preserve His creatures until the Day of the Lord when they will be glorified in a new “fabric” — imperishable flesh covered with the Garment of God!

⁵¹ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Cor 15:51-53)

 The final “coat” is incorruptible flesh. That is glorification just like Adam was created. He was made immortal, but sin spoiled that. The “rapture” (snatching up by Jesus to the Presence of the Father) is glorification. The rapture restores the flesh that will eternally cover the entire person.

  Until then, God has provided a coat of another “fabric” to make the “coat of many fabrics” that he did for Joseph and the priests.

   Tomorrow the commentary will be on a coat of another fabric.

(picture credit: The Teaching Ministry of Jay Mack; "Joseph'ss Coat of Many Colors")