So far, the Garment of Adam — the same one that Noah found grace in — and the coat of many colors of Joseph have been discussed. Almost an entire chapter of the Book of Exodus describes the Priestly Garments. All those “coats” provided grace, and the Priestly Garments for the Priests, but a precious stone for each of the sons of Israel, ten by birth and the two sons of Joseph by adoption.
The subsequent verses describe the apparel that were to be
made for the priests:
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. (Exod 28:4-5)
Except for shoes, the apparel of the Priestly Garments fairly well describes the whole armor of God, to wit:
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil…
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephes 6)
The Priestly Garment had a girdle. Paul called that girdle “truth” in his analogy. The Priestly Garments were to have a breastplate. In Paul’s analogy, the breastplate represents righteousness. The ephod worn by the priests was their shields of gold with fine ornamentation. They were adorned with Urim and Thummim (lots to cast for judgments from God) to represent the Will of God, and the precious stones with the names of the Israelites inscribed on them to represent the two kingdoms of Israael. Surely casting lots for their will to be the Will of Yahweh. Paul called the shield that is represented by the ephod, “faith.”
Indeed, without God in the Flesh, the Israelites were to live by faith. They were to be of one accord with God and have the faith of God. The problem with the ephod was that it was made of gold rather than iron. Without faith, it could be penetrated, and very soon it was penetrated by the Wicked One, and the Priestly Covenant failed as well.
It is to be noted the significance of the soldiers casting lots for the Garments of Jesus. It was God’s Will be done on the Cross and the casting of lots (Urim and Thummim) was for the High Priests to determine God’s Will. The Chief Priests failed their obligation; the lots were cast by Romans! During the crucifixion of Jesus, they cast lots and Jesus was abandoned. Indeed, they were doing God’s Will for the Chief Priests, with God knowing during the exodus what the lots would determine!
The mitre is written as “helmet” by Paul. The mitre of the Priests represented salvation, or more precisely, perikephalaia soterios (Greek), or the protection of saving (literally in English; Strong’s Dict.). The Priestly mitre was not for battle but for covering the mind for its protection from the devices of the Wicked One.
The mitre was for a helmut for the “hope of salvation” not that salvation was at hand, but the promise of a Savior.
The ephod was even to be made “with cunning work” (Exod 28:6), obviously for out-cunning the Wicked One.
The purpose for some of the apparel is given in the descriptions of the Priestly Garments. Obviously, thy were meant to ward off the Evil One and keep the Hebrews safe from the cunning of the Serpent. (Gen 3:1).
Paul referred to the breastplate of God’s armor as “righteousness.” God described the breastplate of the priests as “judgment.” Each accomplishes the same objective — to please the Will of God. Ironically, the Chief Priests, garbed in their ephods, would judge Jesus guilty of His claim to be God. God saw that coming when he designed the ephod, and in fact that all the twelve tribes of Israel would condemn Jesus.
The Priestly Garment was to have chains: “And two chains of pure gold at the ends; of wreathen work shalt thou make them, and fasten the wreathen chains to the ouches” (Exod 28:14). Ouches are gold settings or attachments for the chains. Of course, Jesus came to free men from the chains of the Law. Surely because the chains are attached and not part of the ephod, means that the chains could be loosed. That is what Jesus did; He loosed the chains to the Law that the priests would put on the Israelites.
Hopefully, the reader gets the point — that the Priestly Garments were symbolic of the whole armor of God.
What is missing from the symbolism? Shoes. The Priests wore their own shoes to go wherever they may. Generally, they went even to battle! The whole armor of God provided shoes: “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Ephes 6:15). The shoes were to turn from war to persuasion. The Jews were not to fight the Romans but to persuade them to be Christians. Paul did that! Paul turned away from violence to persuasion. He had on the whole armor of God!
Before the final commentary on the different Garments for different eras, consider David. He took off King Saul’s armor and went into battle wearing garments of invisible “fabric.” David removed the wicked king’s armor and put on the armor of God. He too brought his own shoes, but again, not for peace but for battle. He wore invisible armor but it was symbolized in the five smooth stones. (For those who care, the symbolism of the “Five Smooth Stones” are presented in an earlier commentary https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2016/08/five-smooth-stones.html).
It is tempting to skip over so many of the minute descriptions of how God wants things done, but the Priestly Garments are much like the Coat of Many Colors of Joseph. How so? “And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen.” They were to be made of many colors and the “fabrics” were the Will of God!
Christians are to wear the whole armor of God. Why is that? They certainly are not chief priests nor even Levitical priests but “royal priests” on the order of Priest-King Melchizedek — pre-incarnate Jesus: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Pet 2:9). The Royal Garments of Christians are the whole armor of God, and they are to fit better on Christians than the Priestly Garments did on the priests!
Tomorrow, I will wrap this up (pun intended). There is one more “Garment” of concern.
(picture credit: Wikipedia; "ephod")
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