Dear Christian reader, see that your heart is thoroughly established in the peace which Jesus has made "by the blood of His cross."
CHAPTERS XXVIII. & XXIX.
These chapters unfold to us the priesthood, in all its value and efficacy. They are full of deep interest. The very word "priesthood" awakens in the heart feelings of the most profound thankfulness for the grace which has not only provided a way for us to get into the divine presence, but also the means of keeping us there, according to the character and claims of that high and holy position.
The Aaronic priesthood was God's provision for a people who were, in themselves, at a distance, and needed one to appear for them in His presence continually. We are taught in Hebrews vii. that this order of priesthood belonged to the law—that it was made "after the law of a carnal commandment"—that it "could not continue by reason of death"—that the priests belonging to it had infirmity. It could not, therefore, impart perfection, and hence we have to bless God that it was instituted "without an oath." The oath of God could only stand connected with that which was to endure forever, even the perfect, immortal, untransferable priesthood of our great and glorious Melchisedek, who imparts both to His sacrifice and His priesthood all the value, the dignity, and the glory of His own peerless Person. The thought of having such a Sacrifice and such a Priest as He causes the bosom to heave with emotions of the liveliest gratitude.
But we must proceed to the examination of the chapters which lie before us.
In chapter xxviii. we have the robes, and in chapter xxix. we have the sacrifices. The former have more especial reference to the need of the people; the latter, on the other hand, to the claims of God. The robes express the varied functions and qualities of the priestly office. "The ephod" was the great priestly robe. It was inseparably connected with the shoulder-pieces and the breastplate, teaching us, very distinctly, that the strength of the priest's shoulder, and the affection of the priest's heart, were wholly devoted to the interests of those whom he represented, and on whose behalf he wore the ephod—that special priestly robe. This, which was typified in Aaron, is actualized in Christ. His omnipotent strength and infinite love are ours—ours eternally—ours unquestionably. The shoulder which sustains the universe upholds the feeblest and most obscure member of the blood-bought congregation. The heart of Jesus beats with an undying affection—with an everlasting and an all-enduring love for the most neglected member of the redeemed assembly.
The names of the twelve tribes, engraven on precious stones, were borne both on the shoulders and on the breast of the high-priest. (See verses 9-12, 15-29.) The peculiar excellence of a precious stone is seen in this, that the more intense the light which is brought to bear upon it, the more brightly it shines. Light can never make a precious stone look dim; it only increases and develops its lustre. The twelve tribes—one as well as another, the smallest as well as the greatest—were borne continually upon the breast and shoulders of Aaron before the Lord. They were each and every one maintained in the divine presence in all that undimmed lustre and unalterable beauty which belonged to the position in which the perfect grace of the God of Israel had set them. The people were represented before God by the high-priest. Whatever might be their infirmities, their errors, or their failures, yet their names glittered on the breastplate with unfading brilliancy. Jehovah had set them there, and who could pluck them thence? Jehovah had put them thus, and who could put them otherwise? Who could penetrate into the holy place to snatch from Aaron's breast the name of one of Israel's tribes? Who could sully the lustre which gathered round those names, in the position which Jehovah had placed them? Not one. They lay beyond the reach of every enemy—beyond the influence of every evil.
How encouraging and consolatory it is for the tried, tempted, buffeted, and self-abased children of God to remember that God only sees them on the heart of Jesus! In His view, they ever shine in all the effulgence of Christ—they are arrayed in divine comeliness. The world cannot see them thus; but God does, and this makes all the difference. Men, in looking at the people of God, see only their blots and blemishes. They have no ability whatever to see further, and as a consequence, their judgment is always wrong—always one-sided. They cannot see the sparkling jewels, bearing the names of God's redeemed, engraven by the hand of changeless love. True it is that Christians should be most careful not to furnish the men of the world with any just occasion to speak reproachfully. They should seek, "by patient continuance in well-doing, to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." If only they entered, by the power of the Holy Ghost, into the comeliness in which they ever shine, in God's vision, it would assuredly lead to a walk of practical holiness, moral purity, and elevation before the eyes of men. The more clearly we enter, by faith, into objective truth, or what is true of us in Christ, the deeper, more experimental and practical will be the subjective work in us, and the more complete will be the exhibition of the moral effect in our life and character.
But, thank God, our judgment is not with men, but with Himself; and He graciously shows us our great High-Priest, "bearing our judgment on His heart before the Lord continually." This imparts deep and settled peace—a peace which nothing can shake. We may have to confess and mourn over our constant failures and short-comings,—the eye may, at times, be so dimmed with the tears of a genuine contrition as to be but little able to catch the lustre of the precious stones on which our names are engraven, yet there they are all the while. God sees them, and that is enough. He is glorified by their brightness—a brightness not of our attaining, but of His imparting. We had naught save darkness, dullness, and deformity. He has imparted brightness, lustre, and beauty. To Him be all the praise throughout the everlasting ages!