Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and honor – Exodus 28:2

In Exodus, we read that God told Moses to bring Aaron and his sons out from among the Israelites, “so that they may serve me as priests” (28:1). They were to bear responsibility for offences connected with the sanctuary and the priesthood (1). They were set apart unto God to serve Him in holiness.They were called to stand before God and make sacrifices, bringing the people to Him in holiness. In short, God called the Old Testament priests to maintain His holiness among His people.

God gave skills to some people to make sacred garments for them for “dignity and honor” (2). God desired that the priest would walk in dignity and honor in their service because their call was sacred. Their ministry was before a holy God(Ex. 39:30).That required decorum and integrity. It was a divine calling and therefore not a duty to trifle with.

Unfortunately, the priests were unable to keep the sanctity of the office as the Lord required. A walk through the prophetic books will reveal harsh rebukes from God to the priests for their waywardness and undignified service.

Christ Jesus, however, has established a new and better priesthood, of the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7:17). He was faithful in service and dignified in its execution. He faced diverse temptations and overcame them all (4:15). The integrity of His service qualified Him to offer for all time, one sacrifice for sins, and to sit down at the right hand of God (10:12), interceding for us (Rm. 8:34).

 He has chosen us as His special possession and made us priests in His Kingdom (1 Pt. 2:9). As priests, we have the same responsibility to maintain God’s holiness as the standard of life in this dying world. He has therefore taken off our filthy garments and replaced them with fine garments – the righteousness of Christ Jesus (Zech. 3:3-7; Rm. 3:22). In this priestly garment, we are called to live with dignity and honor, and to serve Him with integrity.

Considered this way, our walk with Jesus and call to service must be an exciting experience. We have no excuse, therefore, to hang our heads in shame and feel powerless. The Holy Spirit lives in us to empower (Acts 1:8) and equip us for every kind of service (1 Cor. 12:4). That’s why God commands us to walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), be holy (1 Pt. 1:16), and to set our minds on things that are divine (Phil. 4:8). “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rm: 14:17).

We have a higher calling from God than the Old Testament priests, folks. We are better adorned, equipped, and enabled to serve God in Christ. We cannot fail Him. We cannot fall into the degenerated priesthood of the Aaronic order. We have a responsibility in a higher order and to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

So, let us rise up and serve God with dignity and honor and for His glory. It’s the least He could ask of us for all He has done for us in Christ.