The Priestly Garment...no sweat
© B. K. Chadwell, June, 2009
Lev 16:24 And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put
on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt
offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the
people.
Rev 1:6 (NIV) To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his
blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God
and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
So now, He has also made us kings and priests unto Him. Our reasonable service is to be obedient and serve only Him. Now, as with the Levitical priests of the old covenant, part of our duties as kings and priests unto Him under the new covenant, includes interceding in prayer to God the Father, for all the Saints, as well as ourselves, according to the will of God.
Ezekiel 44:15-19
But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood, declares Yahweh God. They shall enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My table to minister to Me and keep My charge. It shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and wool shall not be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house. Linen turbans shall be on their heads and linen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat. When they go out into the outer court, to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.
To be clothed with the old covenant priestly garments is a part of
the mystery of the Kingdom and speaks of the things of the
Government of God that would be ushered in by Jesus, the Christ.
Luke 24:49(Peshitta text) And I will send upon you the promise of
my Father; but remain in the City of Jerusalem until you are
clothed with power from on high.
Just prior to Pentecost, before His final ascension, Jesus chooses to use the specific Aramaic word which is translated as "clothed". He used this word when He spoke of clothing His disciples with power from on high. Not unlike other words He used which point to something temporal and natural, it is a parable or metaphor pointing to something eternal and spiritual.
The word "clothed" (Luke 24:49) was used by Jesus, and was heard
in the original Aramaic language of Jesus day and later translated and
written down as the Greek word; "enduo " with a modern English
definition as; "endued".
With a cursory reading of Luke 24:49 and with subsequent reading in the first chapters of Acts, the word "endued" and our modern definition; "to give qualities or abilities to" might seem altogether appropriate.
However, compare the above modern English definition of "endued" with the more correct; "clothed" as used in the Aramaic Peshitta text translation, below:
Luke 24:49(Peshitta) And I will send upon you the promise of
my Father; but remain in the City of Jerusalem until you are
clothed with power from on high.
Clothed is also more consistent with the original Greek definition from Strong's Greek concordance:
ἐνδύω enduo (G1746) en-doo'-o
From G1722 and G1416 (in the sense of sinking into a garment); to invest with clothing (literally or figuratively): - array, clothe (with), endue, have (put) on.
Jesus words in Luke 24:49 related to His disciples being clothed with power from on high on the day of Pentecost. These same followers had already received the Holy Spirit when Jesus breathed on them earlier. Being clothed with power from on high and receiving the Holy Spirit were two distinctly separate incidents in time for these disciples.
John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
Jesus' disciples who had both received the Holy Spirit before Pentecost and subsequently were clothed with power from on high on the day of Pentecost then went forth preaching to the Jews. They preached repentance and belief in Jesus, in order that other Jews might receive the promise of the Father and also be clothed with power from on high. They began preaching in Jerusalem and then, later, were sent forth to the Gentiles and the uttermost parts of the world. This was the beginnings of the new "Government of God" or "Kingdom of God" in the earth, the promised new covenant; "Christ in us, the hope of glory".
To be clothed with the old covenant priestly garment is a part of
the mystery of the Kingdom and speaks of the things of the
Government of God that would be ushered in by Jesus, the Christ. It
was a priestly garment that would not cause the priests to
"sweat".
No sweat?
What spiritual insights are we to glean from the mystery of the "old
covenant" priestly garment that did not cause the priests to
sweat? What is the meaning of this parable or metaphor?
I once mediated a dispute regarding complaints of alleged offensive body odor of one employee by other employees in a mill. After hearing the official complaint, I felt it fair to hear the alleged offenders' story. That person, I discovered, did shower daily and was otherwise clean in personal appearance. However I have never forgotten the simple explanation for body odor that this employee gave me;
"Keith, when I work... I sweat and when I sweat... I stink".
I dismissed the complaint and gave some appropriate instructions to the complainer's supervisor.
A METAPHORE typically asserts that one thing is another (in some respect), or suggests that it acts like or has some of the qualities of something else, as in the examples; “a copper sky” or “a heart of stone”.
A parable is a placing beside; a comparison....yet only a similitude.
The Bible is filled with parables, similes, metaphors, dark sayings, etc. and through this type of language and in this manner God has hidden “the Mystery of his will” that is to be revealed in Christ.
Little or no exertion also suggests, "no work" and thus "no sweat". We might even suggest the word "rest" might also be applicable.
Can we now see a spiritual connection by the Holy Spirit with a royal priesthood of the new covenant that has been "clothed" with the priestly garment by the Spirit of Christ. This is the royal priesthood of new covenant believers who are prepared to "enter into His rest" and rely only on Him to do the work.
Rev 1:6 (NIRV) To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his
blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and
Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering
into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Rom 8:26-27 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
To be clothed with the priestly garment...
To Enter His rest...
NO SWEAT !
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