Word of Encouragement (01/29/2025)
“And now arise, O Lord God, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in your goodness. 42 O Lord God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one! Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.” (2 Chron. 6:41-42)
Solomon prays, “Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation....” You can see what Solomon has done here. The priests were to be clothed with the priestly garments, which God commanded to be made for “glory and beauty” (Ex. 28:2, 40). It was only right that those who served in the sanctuary of the Lord should have an appearance that reflected the magnificent environment in which they ministered. We don’t know exactly how the priestly garments looked, but as far as we can tell from their description, they were not gaudy and tacky. Their glory and beauty had to match the holiness of God, whom they served.
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Solomon equated the priestly garments with “salvation”—that is, he saw the “glory and beauty” of the garments as representing the glory and beauty of salvation. We can trace this idea all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were made naked. This was not a permanent arrangement. We know this because the glorified saints in heaven we see in Revelation are clothed with the robe of righteousness. This is not because Adam’s fall spoiled God’s original plan (whatever it was) and God had to come up with a different plan altogether. People fail, but God never fails. He has decreed all things before the foundation of the world. The naked condition of Adam and Eve, in which they were created, and the test, under which they were placed, were closely connected: their nakedness showed that they were under probation to demonstrate their loyalty to God. If they passed the test regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God would have granted them not only eternal life (not just immortal life) but also garments of righteousness as their reward.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and saw their nakedness as a shameful thing, they covered themselves with fig leaves. But “the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them” (Gen. 3:21). Because Adam and Eve failed to earn the robe of righteousness through their obedience, God provided for them a temporary covering. This prefigured God’s salvation: what Adam and Eve failed to earn through their own righteousness, God would provide for them by His grace. This was fulfilled when Jesus sacrificed Himself (like the animal that was slaughtered to provide garments of skins for the sinful Pair) to provide His people with the robe of His righteousness.
Solomon’s identification of the priestly garments with salvation looked forward to Jesus Christ. And this is the reality for all those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. Your life is destined for glory and beauty. May it begin to show today.