The priest was to wear the right clothes—the clothes God said to wear. The
priest had his own clothing, but God said, in effect, “If you want to come into
My presence, clothe yourself with what I tell you to put on.” The application
for us comes from Ephesians 6:11-20, in which Paul talked about putting on the
“full armor of God” (vv. 11, 13). I believe this analogy is
misunderstood. It is not so much a military concept as a preparatory one. It is
talking about preparing for prayer (vv. 18-20). Before you pray, you need to be
wearing “the helmet of salvation” (v.17). This refers to atonement: being
saved and having the blood of Christ applied to your sins. You are also to put
on “the breastplate of righteousness” (v. 14). This means being right
with God through the righteousness of Christ.
Why was the priest to wear linen? Linen is a fabric that breathes; there was
to be no perspiration in God’s presence. Why? It is because sweat represents
rebellion against God.
To Adam
[God] said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from
the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ cursed is the
ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of
your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the
plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food.”
(Gen. 3:17-19)
Sweating over work was not in God’s original plan. It is a result of Adam’s
disobedience.
Let’s look at the broader meaning of this idea. Sweat represents any attempt
to reach God on our own merits. It means trying to work ourselves into God’s
presence. Do we see examples of this today? Suppose a person’s heart isn’t right
before God. To compensate, he sends three hundred dollars to the Red Cross. In
itself, there’s nothing wrong with the gift to the Red Cross. Yet God says, in
effect, “That’s not going to get Me to like you by doing good deeds, while at
the same time you’re living contrary to My Word.” That’s sweating. Instead, we
are to put on the breastplate of righteousness. A breastplate protects the heart
and other precious organs. With this analogy, God is saying, “I want you to be
pure in the most vital areas of your life.” We can do that only by appropriating
the righteousness of Christ through faith: “God made him who had no sin to be
sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor.
5:21). Then we need to live in that righteousness, doing what is right by
keeping in step with the Spirit. (See Gal. 5:25.)
When we put on God’s righteousness, we can rejoice before the Lord.
