The Suit Makes The Man

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My father wore a suit for three reasons: for funerals and weddings, to donate blood (don’t ask me why), and to go to church.

These events in his life were significant and special, and he treated them as such.

As I was reading Exodus 28 this morning I was reminded that for God, the appearance of His priests before Him was a special event that required suitable clothing.

Exodus 28:2, 3 says: “Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron, so they may serve me as priests. Tell all the skilled men to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so that he may serve me as priest.”

In the next section of the chapter, we discover that when Aaron went in to serve the Lord he went in as a representative of the people. Consequently he literally carried them with him via a special piece of his garments: “Engrave the names of the sons of Israel on the two stones the way a gem cutter engraves a seal. Then mount the stones in gold filigree settings and fasten them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel. Aaron is to bear the names on his shoulders as a memorial before the Lord” (Exodus 28:11, 12). He also carried the names of the twelve tribes on the breastplate that was also designed as part of his clothing (15-30).

On Aaron’s forehead, attached to his turban was a plate which read “Holy to the Lord.” The following verses picture Aaron as a type of sin-bearer as he enters the Holy of Holies to present offerings to the Lord on behalf of the people he serves: “It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and he will bear the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites consecrate, whatever their gifts may be. It will be on Aaron’s forehead continually so that they will be acceptable to the Lord” (Exodus 36-38).

This whole picture reminds us of the description we are given in Hebrews of the the priestly role of the Lord Jesus Christ as He intercedes for us before His Father, with the appreciable difference that Jesus only had to make the sacrifice once (Hebrews 4:14-10:18).

But aside from the parallels between Aaron and Jesus is the connection to my father. Dad was never up on the platform or behind a pulpit but he had been rightly trained that to come before Almighty God in God’s house was a special event and deserved to be treated with respect.

Since God hasn’t changed and I’m still a sinner even though I am forgiven by His grace, I don’t think that truth has changed. God still deserves to be respected, especially in His own house.