The Clothes Make the Man
The Clothes Make the Man
Leviticus 8
Mark Twain once said, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” Or, at least, that’s what they claimed he had said, but it wasn’t exactly what he said. It was a paraphrase. He actually said,
[One] realizes that without his clothes a man would be nothing at all; that the clothes do not merely make the man, the clothes are the man; that without them he is a cipher, a vacancy, a nobody, a nothing…There is no power without clothes.
Twain noticed something powerful about clothing. Clothes do not merely cover our bodies. They reveal things about us, and Mark Twain wasn’t the first one to make that observation.
In 1500, Desiderius Erasmus, one of the forerunners to the Protestant Reformation, published Latin and Greek proverbs pulled from ancient writers, and said the very same thing in Latin, “vestis virum facit”, which means “clothes make the man.” Then, 100 years later, William Shakespeare echoed Erasmus in his play, Hamlet, when the character Polonius said, “The apparel oft proclaims the man.” One could say that line has been part of Western culture for more than 400 years, but do you agree with it? Do you agree that the clothes make the man? Or, do you agree with Mark Twain that “the clothes are the man?”
Is this a true statement or is it merely wise thinkers capturing something that happens in our world? Just before Samuel chose David to be king, the Lord said to him,
Do not look on his appearance...For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
The Lord looks at the heart, but that’s not what man looks at. Why do we say “Don’t judge a book by its cover?” when that is what everyone naturally does? As humans, we look at someone’s outward appearance and make judgments. The Lord knows this and, in Leviticus 8, God uses this natural response to reveal something about Himself.
In Leviticus 8, the Lord ordains Aaron and his sons to serve as priests in the Tabernacle. At the end of Exodus, God promised to build the Tabernacle and establish the priesthood. Leviticus 8 is the fulfillment of that promise. God does not look at man’s outward appearance, He judges his heart. So why does God care about how the priests are dressed? He cares because He knows that how they dress communicates something about Himself, both to the priests themselves and to the people they serve.
And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. Exodus 28:2
For Aaron’s sons you shall make coats and sashes and caps. You shall make them for glory and beauty. Exodus 28:40
It may seem like Leviticus 8 is just a list of regulations for an obsolete ritual, but God wants us to see His glory and His beauty in establishing a new Eden for His people. God knows that man judges the outward appearance, and He wants the priest’s outward appearance to reflect His glory, beauty, and holiness to His people.
Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden for their sin, and now God has come to His people in the Tabernacle.
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Exodus 40:34–35
The LORD is in the tabernacle and Moses, God’s representative, is not able to enter. Remember how Leviticus began,
The LORD called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting,
Leviticus 1:1
Leviticus answers the question of how man can enter God’s presence. The establishment of the priesthood is the final necessary act that will allow God’s people into His presence in the new place He has created, just as He created the Garden of Eden.
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments and the anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread. And assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” And Moses did as the LORD commanded him, and the congregation was assembled at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Leviticus 8:1–4
Notice the Lord’s command to Moses, “Assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” This is a big deal!! Everyone has to see this! The whole assembly is gathered to see the glory and beauty and holiness of God as He creates a new place where His people can enter His presence.
Sidney Greidanus observes a series of sevens connected to creation and God’s presence with His people.
In Genesis 1, there are seven acts of speech for seven days for the creation of the world. In Exodus 25-31, there are seven acts of speech for the creation of the sacred space in the tabernacle. In Exodus 40:17-33, there are seven acts of Moses in the construction of the sacred space. In Leviticus 1-7, there are seven speeches for the sacrifices in the sacred space. And now in Leviticus 8, there are seven acts for the ordination of the priests for the sacred space.
And each act is done by Moses with the refrain, “And Moses did as the Lord commanded him,” seen in v..4, v. 9, v 13, v.17, v.21, v.29, and v.36. These seven acts are communicated that God is creating a new place for his people to be in his presence. As one scholar notes,
Thus, this chapter, [Leviticus 8] describes the conclusion and the culmination of God’s creation of a means to maintain a relationship with his people.
The Lord is the main actor in this chapter. He is creating a new place where His people can be in His presence. So, as we consider the priests, we must look through their outward appearance to see both the glory and beauty of God and the glory and beauty of this display of His love for His people as He creates a new place for them to enter His presence.
The Clothes of the Priests
The clothes make the man or, in this case, the clothes make the men. Exodus 28 contains more specific details about the priest’s clothing. Here, in Leviticus 8, Moses gives the highlights.
And Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing that the LORD has commanded to be done.” And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. And he put the coat on him and tied the sash around his waist and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him and tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band. And he placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. And he set the turban on his head, and on the turban, in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown, as the LORD commanded Moses. Leviticus 8:5–9
In verse 7, Moses puts the coat on Aaron as he is being ordained as the High Priest. Gordon Wenham writes,
A uniform enables the rest of society to identify immediately figures of authority, and to pay them appropriate respect. Furthermore we can see that, in general, the more prestigious the office, the more splendid the uniform.
When you see a 4-star general with all the honors on the outside of his or her uniform, you immediately understand the office and the prestige of that office. This is the same thing that happens with the clothes of the High Priest.
The coat, or robe, that Moses placed on Aaron’s had a hole at the top for his head and had decorative blue, purple, and scarlet pomegranates lining the hem of and golden yarn connecting them (Exodus 28:31-34). The sash was woven with blue, purple, and scarlet to match the colors of the Tabernacle. As one author notes, “the high priest’s distinctive apparel showed he belonged to God in the Tent of Meeting.” The ephod was a sleeveless garment woven with gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarns. In Leviticus 8:7, Moses notes that he “tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him”, highlighting how beautiful even the waistband of the robe was.
The breastpiece had four rows of three stones each. Each stone was engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel so the High Priest would have the twelve tribes next to his heart as he performed his priestly duties. The Urim and Thummim were probably stones that were used in casting lots that only gave yes or no answers. In verse 9, the turban was placed on Aaron’s head, along with the golden plate and the holy crown.
“You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the LORD.’ Exodus 28:36
Aaron’s outfit was brightly colored, dazzling in appearance, so the High Priest understood the beauty, majesty,and holiness of the task he was performing.
It is important to note that all these clothes have royal overtones to communicate the priest-king nature of the office. As Jay Skylar notes,
The robes are identified elsewhere as the clothing of princes (1 Sam 18:4) and kings (1 Sam 24:4,11); blue was associated with the clothing of a kingdom’s lead administrators (Ezek 23:6); turbans are associated with crowns (Ezek 21:26)...such royal clothing would have remind the Israelites that the high priest was part of a royal administration. In short, he led the royal attendants (the priests) of the heavenly King (the Lord), who was dwelling in the midst of his kingdom people (the Israelites) in his holy palace (the tent of meeting).
Sam Emadi adds,
“And so these priests are being set up in Israel's life to function like a new Adam, just as Adam was a priest-king over all of creation. Now we have these new priest-kings who are going to mediate the presence of God to the people of Israel in this reestablished garden called the Tabernacle.”
Do you see how these clothes are not merely beautiful and glorious, but they communicate something beautiful and glorious about God? God wants to dwell with His people! He established Adam as a priest-king to rule the Garden before his rebellion. Now God is establishing priest-kings in Leviticus and foreshadowing a future priest-king who will come to mediate the presence of God to His people. In the New Testament, Paul wrote to Timothy,
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:5–6
Jesus could be our mediator because He came in the order of Melchizedek, who appeared in Genesis 14 as the prototype of the priest-king mediator.
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. Hebrews 7:1–3
The clothes of the High Priest, the mediator in Leviticus 8, point to a greater mediator who is to come. Moses is establishing the High Priest as the priest-king mediator and showing that even in his clothes, he is also functioning as a king. His clothes point to the ultimate Priest-King, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all who believe and who will serve as High Priest forever.
Not only does the High Priest point to Christ, he points to us as well. God had always promised that He was going to make a kingdom of priests.
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” Exodus 19:5–6
Christian, we have been washed with the blood of the Lamb and because we have been washed, we must clothe ourselves with Christ. The holiness that God required of the priests in Leviticus, He now requires of us.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9–10
We are a royal priesthood, kingdom priests, who have clothed ourselves with Christ. We have put on Christ and His compassion, love and mercy. We are a kingdom of holy priests who speak for God in a world of darkness.
The Consecration of the Priests
After Moses clothes Aaron, the High Priest, he then consecrates him as holy, set apart to perform his duty.
Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its utensils and the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him. And Moses brought Aaron’s sons and clothed them with coats and tied sashes around their waists and bound caps on them, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Leviticus 8:10–13
Moses prepares Aaron with the anointing oil, similar to what happens when someone is anointed king. After Aaron is consecrated and anointed with oil, Moses brings in Aaron’s sons, and they are dressed for their duty.
After the formal consecration, Aaron and his sons must walk through the sin and burnt offerings to receive atonement from the Lord.
Then he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. And he killed it, and Moses took the blood, and with his finger put it on the horns of the altar around it and purified the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it to make atonement for it. And he took all the fat that was on the entrails and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat, and Moses burned them on the altar. But the bull and its skin and its flesh and its dung he burned up with fire outside the camp, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Then he presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. And he killed it, and Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar. He cut the ram into pieces, and Moses burned the head and the pieces and the fat. He washed the entrails and the legs with water, and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering for the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses. Leviticus 8:14–21
Because the priests were not without sin. they had to be purified by the Lord before they could serve the people.
The whole assembly stood by the tent of meeting watching this ritual leading up to the third sacrifice, the sacrifice of ordination.
Then he presented the other ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. And he killed it, and Moses took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. Then he presented Aaron’s sons, and Moses put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar. Then he took the fat and the fat tail and all the fat that was on the entrails and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat and the right thigh, and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD he took one unleavened loaf and one loaf of bread with oil and one wafer and placed them on the pieces of fat and on the right thigh. And he put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons and waved them as a wave offering before the LORD. Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar with the burnt offering. This was an ordination offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD. And Moses took the breast and waved it for a wave offering before the LORD. It was Moses’ portion of the ram of ordination, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and also on his sons and his sons’ garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. Leviticus 8:22–30
Moses touched the priest's right ear, right thumb, and right big toe to show that the priest was cleansed and ordained from head to toe.
As you will remember from our recent studies on these sacrifices in the first seven chapters, this was a bloody affair. The priest’s atonement and forgiveness were costly. As leaders, their sins cost the life of the male bull, the best and most expensive animal. The priest laid their hands on the animal, symbolically transferring their sin on to it before watching its life be taken. The entire ceremony was costly and solemn and weighty. It was no small matter.
This passage serves as a reminder to elders and deacons, those who are serving as leaders in the church. We know we are going to be judged with a greater strictness. We have been given great tasks to help lead and shepherd God’s people. We have been set apart for this duty, and we should approach it with reverence and awe as we try to set an example before the people. The whole assembly watched the priests being set apart, both to remind the priests of God’s faithfulness and to remind the people of their responsibility to follow their leaders.
We see these twin truths in Hebrews 13:17, where the people are commanded to obey, and their leaders are reminded to keep watch over the souls of the people.
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Hebrews 13:17
Beloved, God commands your leaders to keep watch over your souls, knowing one day, we will stand before God to give an account. This should encourage you to submit to your leaders because when you follow your leaders, it is easier and more joyful for them to keep watch over you. Leadership may be hard, but leading people who follow joyfully is a delight. Twin truths: first, God has set aside leaders to keep watch over people’s souls, and this is a glorious and weighty task. Second, since God has set apart leaders, it is the assembly’s responsibility to submit and honor those who God has placed over them. As a church, may we rejoice in these twin truths.
The Communion of the Priests
After the ceremony to complete the consecration, God and the priests shared a fellowship meal that lasted seven days.
And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the flesh at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of ordination offerings, as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ And what remains of the flesh and the bread you shall burn up with fire. And you shall not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for it will take seven days to ordain you. As has been done today, the LORD has commanded to be done to make atonement for you. At the entrance of the tent of meeting you shall remain day and night for seven days, performing what the LORD has charged, so that you do not die, for so I have been commanded.” And Aaron and his sons did all the things that the LORD commanded by Moses. Leviticus 8:31–36
The offerings were made daily so that the priests would not die. God cares about how He is worshipped. Listen again to verse 35, “At the entrance of the tent of meeting you shall remain day and night for seven days, performing what the LORD has charged, so that you do not die, for so I have been commanded.” Notice how the chapter ends. It is not merely Moses doing as the Lord has commanded, but, “Aaron and his sons did all the things that the Lord commanded by Moses.”
After we are consecrated as holy, it is only then that we share our communion meal with God the Father. This is the special privilege of God’s people. Even today, once we confess our sins and rightly understand God’s holiness and majesty and beauty through our repentance and faith, then we are invited to the Lord’s communion meal to rejoice in our forgiveness. The biblical theme of “sacrifice then fellowship” is carried throughout the Bible.
The Clothing of the Priests
At the beginning of the sermon, I made the argument that Leviticus 8 is the final step as God creates a new place for His people to experience His presence. After the seven days of ordination, notice the beginning of Leviticus 9,
On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders
of Israel. Leviticus 9:1
The 8th day, new creation, began with God with Aaron and his sons who have put on new clothing. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve sin against God and tried to cover themselves. They tried to create their own clothing, but they needed God’s clothing.
And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Genesis 3:21
The LORD God shed the blood of an animal and clothed Adam and Eve because without the shedding of blood, sin cannot be forgiven.
Just as the Lord clothed Adam and Eve and just as He clothed the priests with royal garments, we, too, must be clothed. We must put on Christ.
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD;
my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10
Jesus Christ, who came as our mediator, was clothed in perfection. He came to clothe us with salvation, His righteousness.
Each of us who is without Christ is like Adam and Eve in the Garden. We are naked and exposed and have no power without the proper clothing. The clothes make the man, and we need the clothes of Christ. Jesus offered His life in our place to save us, and we know God accepted His sacrifice because after he died, God raised Him from the dead. All of us need a proper covering if we are going to experience forgiveness.
Friend, if you are a non-Christian, I wonder if you have ever thought about your need for the proper clothes. If you do not have the proper covering, you will not be able to go to the wedding feast. In Matthew 22, Jesus shared a parable about a wedding banquet, and this is how it ends.
“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:11–14
Those without the proper clothing will be sent to outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. They will be sent to hell.
Friend, Leviticus 8 shows us that God desires to provide proper clothing for His people. He does that through his Son.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”...
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 7:9–10, 13-14
Have you washed your robes in the blood of the Lamb? If not, all you need to do is repent of your sins and trust in Christ. Trust in His death as your ransom and His resurrection as your hope.
The clothes make the man. Do you have proper clothing? Have you put on Christ? God’s word commands Christians to
put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22–24
God has clothed us with Christ and brought us new life by his Spirit so that we can live as new creations. We must live as new creations. The old is gone, the new has come. Our lives should be so clothed with Christ that people see through our good works and praise our Father in Heaven.
As Leviticus 8 makes clear, we can’t do this by ourselves. We need God’s help.
Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” Zechariah 3:3–4
Beloved, put on Christ. Only He can take away your sins. Only He can remove your filthy garments. Amazingly, He doesn’t ask you to remove them because He took them from you and put them on as He hung on the cross. But that’s not all, He takes your filthy garments and gives you His righteous robe.
The clothes make the man, and Jesus is the only one who gives the right clothes. So let God clothe you with His righteousness so that you can become like the man, the man Christ Jesus, reflecting His glory and beauty and goodness to a world that desperately needs to see it. Then, as people see how God has clothed you, they will see their own filthy garments and seek to wash them white in the blood of the Lamb.