Garments of Glory and Beauty

The garments designed by God for the High Priest are able to show forth God's glory and beauty which He desires to share with us. That is why these garments of the High Priest in the Old Testament are called 'Garments of Glory and Beauty.' On the one hand God was showing that nobody was worthy to go into the Holy of Holies. All had sinned and so nobody could go there. Only the High Priest had the privilege to go behind the veil once a year to make atonement. On the other hand God was showing through the garments of glory and beauty of the High Priest, that He wants us also to become glorious and beautiful, although we have been ruined completely by sin, and have to say like Paul, "in my flesh dwelleth no good thing" (Rom. 7:18). Really, none of us are worthy to enjoy the presence of God in the Holy Place. But the High Priest could commune with God on that one day in the year. Through these garments God was showing how our joy and our love can be full, how our nakedness caused by sin can be covered completely and how we can become glorious in the presence of God.

Those who saw the High Priest walking up and down in the tabernacle or the temple were being spoken to by God. "Oh My people who are away from Me, I want you to be near Me and enjoy My fullness." We have to learn the same secret of enjoying fully our share in God's fullness and not to be satisfied just by having our sins forgiven and obtaining some corner in heaven. We have to learn it by faith. The Lord Jesus Christ is my garment of glory and beauty (Eph. 3:16). In Him we can see all these seven garments and thus we can be filled more and more with His fullness.

Preparation of the High Priest:

We read in Lev. 8 that Moses had to go to Aaron, first of all, with the garments, by the putting on of which the high priest fulfilled the Lord's ministry. Then Aaron and his sons were washed with water before the congregation (Lev. 8:6). Physically they were washed with water before the public, not because they were dirty but for a purpose. The water in the Bible represents the Word of God (Eph. 5: 26). As they were washed with water before everybody, they were showing to the people that they were being set apart for God's service for the whole nation, and they had to be kept under the Word of God for everything. He was not to follow any man-made custom or tradition but only God's Word. Many people, instead of following God's Word, follow traditions, practices and customs of man. That is why they do not grow spiritually. We find this in every country. At the time of childbirth, marriage or funeral they follow the customs of man rather than the Word of God. They are more bound to the customs of man than the Word of God.

We have instruction given in the Word of God for all our needs, problems and activities. Unless we honor God's Word fully we have no right to claim our full share in His fullness. We lose our share in God's fullness by ignoring the Word of God. We have to make a very strong decision and promise to God saying, "Lord, I will obey Thy word implicitly in all my activities, ways and plans." With that vision, the Lord led us in the work in Madras thirty years ago. We saw believers everywhere slaves to customs and traditions of man. We noticed that those who were free from customs of man had gone on well with the Lord, but those who were slaves to customs were blind spiritually. They cannot enjoy God's Word fully and they cannot know God's plan and purpose for their lives. That is why, before the congregation of many lakhs of people, Moses washed Aaron and his sons. It was not for the public display but for an example.

First of all, Aaron had to be blameless. The least blemish in any part of the body would have disqualified him from being High Priest (Lev. 21:18). If you go to any part of the world, you will not come across any person of that type. There is bound to be some blemish in any man, either upon the feet or on the hand or on some part of the body. How could Aaron hide the blemish from such a large company of people? As an ordinary man he must have some blemish. But I believe that by God's power he became alright. As God chose him by His own mighty hand, he came without any blemish. Similarly, if we try our best to be without any blemish, we will never succeed. We are bound to have some fault, failure or weakness somewhere, some time. It is not by our human efforts we are righteous. The Lord, Jesus Christ is our righteousness and justification. He makes me complete and perfect not by myself but as we read in Col. 2:10, "ye are complete in him." This is a very helpful and important verse The Lord Jesus Christ is my completion and my justification. That is why we pray in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Knowingly or unknowingly we declare, "Lord, by myself I have no right to come unto Thee, but because of what Thou hast done for me, I come to Thee."

I believe, that the mighty God made Aaron complete, that he might be free from every blemish. God had chosen him, just as He chose Moses. Moses never chose himself. In fact Moses was saying to the Lord, "Who am I Lord, that thou hast chosen me?" In the same way He chose Aaron. So by choosing Aaron, he was freed from every blemish. God was reminding Aaron that if he had to serve Him, he must keep himself in subjection to God's Word completely in everything. He was to make it a practice saying daily, "Lord, is there anything in my life which is not pleasing to Thee? Kindly show it to me. Give me the grace to put things right. I do want to obey Thy Word in every detail and in every matter." Then only he was given clothes as we read in Leviticus 8:7