The White Robe and Girdle

First of all, a long beautiful white robe was put on Aaron. These details are given in Exodus 28. The first garment to be worn was a long white robe which speaks of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, which we receive by faith (Rom.1:17; 10:3- 10; 2Cor.5:21). It is by faith we are made righteous. We acknowledge first of all, "Oh God, it does not matter what I do, or what I like or what I suffer or where I go, but make me righteous by faith." It is not by tears, fasting prayer, sufferings or by our own efforts we become righteous. It is only by believing from the heart that the Lord Jesus Christ our Creator and our Savior took our place on the Cross. He died in our stead, for He did no sin and knew no sin. Willingly He emptied Himself and died in our stead. By that faith we become righteous and not by ourselves nor by any effort of any kind on our part. That our nakedness could not be covered by ourselves is the first message shown in the long white robe. Our friends, relations and other people and our charity cannot cover our sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ by His life and through grace covers our nakedness because He died for us.

All the garments were made with divine wisdom at God's command. They were not made by clever tailors or designers all the details were given to Moses on the mountain in writing. God had made the plan, and we read that He had filled the people with His wisdom for the execution of that plan (Exo. 28:3). It was not earthly wisdom, it was heavenly wisdom and pure wisdom of His fullness. Every detail of this garment and other items were given by God Himself. It is only by the Holy Spirit we can understand the way of salvation (1 Cor. 2:14). Unless we believers abide in the Holy Spirit, our preaching is in vain and unless we are anointed by the Holy Spirit, people will not understand what we say.

The Lord was showing His people how they can be partakers of His glory and beauty. The garments were not meant for worldly glory, for there were no such garments in any part of the world. They were heavenly garments. Nobody has ever had these garments. Judging by the color and design everything came from heaven itself. So first, we have to learn the meaning of righteousness to enjoy our share in God's fullness. Many of us take pride in ourselves. We say in our hearts sometimes, "I am not like so and so. I am not as weak as he is nor so foolish." But later on we discover that all of us do many foolish things. We do many wrong things and often fall into temptations. The very second we depend upon our own will power and our ability, we fall away. You may put your foot on a piece of soap with out looking at it. You may slip and fall and fracture your leg. You do not want to do it, but yet you fall and stay in bed for many months. So knowingly or unknowingly we act like this. We speak a word in foolishness and suffer afterwards. God is showing that we are weak and foolish. But by faith we have to say, "Lord Jesus, You are my righteousness. I am not depending upon my own righteousness, prayers, books, garments nor upon my own personality." Thank Him for becoming your righteousness.

Then, day by day we have to appropriate the very same righteousness.

Our life is in the blood. As the blood flows in us we know that we live. As soon as the heart stops beating, man dies and the body starts stinking. As long as the heart is beating, even though the body is very weak and sickly for many weeks and months and has no proper food, the body is alive. When we die, the body starts stinking that very second and that is why the body has to be buried or burnt. Similarly we have to be conscious of His life flowing in us constantly, not occasionally (Col. 3:4). When we feel the pulse, we know that life is still present whether the person is walking, sitting or lying down and that the heart is beating and the person is alive. There is some consciousness of life. The love of the Lord Jesus Christ flowing in to us constantly and freely, keeps us alive. Any pride, hatred or other sin can stop or lessen the flow.

In some homes, there are water taps. One morning water may not flow freely but only a few drops come through. At the same time there may be a full flow in other homes. When the pipe line is opened, much dirt may be found in the pipe, but when the dirt is removed, again there is a full flow. How is the life flowing in you? Is it just in drops or is it full and free? God wants us to have abundant life. He wants to give us everything in abundance - abundant life, abundance of peace, abundance of power and He wants to make us abundantly fruitful. Whenever we are conscious that the flow has decreased, that peace, joy and strength are becoming less, we must search our hearts, examine ourselves, humble ourselves and say "Lord, why has my peace become less? Why is it that I do not feel Thy presence so strongly? I do not have the same strength for my temptations, nor the same hunger for God's Word, nor the same burden for prayer." There is some blockage somewhere and that must be removed. Then we can affirm, "Lord Jesus, You are my righteousness and I lay hold on Thee." Do not depend upon your will power. Go on claiming His life. Say before going out any where, "Now, Lord, I commit myself unto Thee." Generally, we do so for a long journey: "Lord, we are going to the Holy Convocation, please be with us and prepare us." But on the other hand, we do not pray for small journeys and not even at the end of the journey. That is our nature. We only pray for big things and thus we are deceived by the enemy. We become careless and negligent, and lose our peace and joy. It is the daily appropriation of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, that gives us the fullness.

We read further in Lev. 8:7 that the girdle had to hold the robe in place. It was a long, loose robe and the girdle held it in the proper place. The girdle speaks of faith and reminds us that we have to claim the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ day by day, and that we should not depend upon our own abilities in serving Him. We must depend upon His strength all the time, and receive His life by faith. Usually we forget to do this, and that is why we fail so often to serve Him effectively, and find at last that our labors have been wasted. It may take many such failures for us to learn to put our faith in Him. So the girdle reminds us that it is by faith we receive strength to serve Him, and not by our own talents nor by our own wisdom.