Holy Garments and Jesus | Introduction

Throughout the Word of God one can see principles set forth as true or false, holy or wicked. The prophet, Amos, makes the comparison of God's Word to a plumb line that, when held to our lives, guides and instructs us in the ways of truth. At times those reading its sacred content find themselves stalled in areas, such as the numbering of the children of Israel, genealogies and instructions in the Law. Some argue that because Christ came and fulfilled the Law we need not even bother with the Old Testament, after all we are covered by grace. However, the Old Testament provides tremendous insights to the standards Jesus Himself raised while on earth. One such insight is the principle of holy dress. If we are indeed a 'royal priesthood, an holy nation' as Peter would tell us, then one can deduce that the principles of the priestly garments described in Exodus 28 can be applied to our lives today. In this post, and the  following from me, I will attempt to unpack from scripture how Jesus typified these principles becoming our ultimate High Priest, and what each detail of the garment means for Christian living and dress today.

 

Before we jump into the details let's nail down one thing. 

 

What makes a garment holy or unholy? 

God is careful to let Moses know that these garments are to be 'holy garments' (Ex 28:2), so how does God denote holy from unholy? If God prescribed the priest to wear holy garments (then spends an entire chapter on what those should be), then we can surmise that He has spelled out what holy is. God instructs Moses on everything from material, to color, to cut and construction; surely we should obey that, yet I see no one walking around wearing a headpiece He describes in Exodus. I do not think we have to obey the letter of this Law, rather we MUST obey the Spirit.
So we are still left with the question of 'what makes a garment holy?' Instead of looking at this with an exegetical outlook, lets look thematically. If God is holy (Leviticus 20:7) then what makes a garment holy is guided by the question 'are the garments we are wearing guided by the principles that God (who is holy) has set forth in His Word?'

We need to stop asking 'what makes it holy?' and start asking 'what has God said is holy?'

Let me qualify before we start throwing stones. I am not against asking what makes something holy, however if all we do is ask that question we will miss the greater theme. The theme of holiness. Asking 'what makes it holy' is a good question but it is a surface question that is dangerously legalistic. When we ask that question answers are x, y, and z: yet when we ask 'what has God said is holy' we are forced to dig for answers rather than blindly following what others have said. 
Essentially, you should end up at the same answer but a little different route to the answer.

For instance, in the early 20th century women of ill-repute wore red shoes to signify their profession. Wearing red shoes is not a sin, unless it says that you are associated with ungodly practices. Thus, our good preachers of the time preached that women ought not wear red shoes. Not because the shoes were a sin but what they said was. 

The theme of holiness. 

Nothing makes a garment holy other than fulfillment of God's principle. We can wear linen, cotton, polyester, or a combination thereof (although I'm not sure why you would want to). We can wear purple, green, blue or red.

 The color makes no difference.  

What God says makes ALL the difference.