Exodus 28:39  And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework.
40  And for Aaron’s sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.
41  And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him; and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office.
42  And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach:
43  And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.

This week the president of the U.S. stated that he has been able to get Israel and Hamas to agree to release all the hostages by Monday. He did not mention which Monday, but it is assumed that it will be next Monday.
There is talk of nominating Mr. Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. Based on some of the recent recipients of that prize, it really is not that great an honour to be granted that prize. It seems to be awarded more for political ideologies, rather than actually having any real influence of world peace. I just read that the peace prize went to a politician from Venezuela.
The Bible is clear:

More than once we read a statement similar to:

Isaiah 48:22  There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.

In Isaiah 9:6 we read:

Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

There are many people who do not want to hear this, but the fact is that if God is not in charge of your life, you cannot know true peace. If God is not in charge of a nation, there cannot be true peace.
It is good to have an absence of war. War means death. War means death of “innocent” people. How about the million plus babies that are murdered every year in the U.S. According to (CIHI) there were 101,553 abortions in Canada in 2023. The world calls the murder of unborn children abortion. That sounds much nicer than murder. Some people are so delusional that they assume that if they change the name of something it makes it better.
Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace and without knowing Him as Saviour and Lord, you will never know true peace. Those who are saved are commanded to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. One day there will be real peace in Jerusalem. That will come after the Tribulation time. Jesus Christ will usher in that peace.
In Exodus 28 we have been looking at the priestly garments. God was showing Moses, at this particular time, that the priesthood was very important to the well-being of the nation of Israel. Man needs a way to be made right with God. Man lost his privileged place with God when Adam sinned against God. God needed to drive the man out of the Garden after the fall. However, God still wanted man to have a right relationship with Him. The difference was that prior to the fall of man, he was right with God. Since the fall, man has to choose whether he wants a right relationship with God or not.
In the Old Testament, God provided the priesthood as the means for man to approach God. The priests were to be God-fearing men who would receive the offerings of the people and present them before the Lord. The people needed to have a humble and repentant heart in bringing their sacrifices to the priests.
In today’s text we see that the priest needed a special coat as well. This coat was not something that could be bought in the market. It needed to be specially made for the priest. The coat was representative of the need to have our sins covered. We cannot come before God and fellowship with Him when sin is in our life. A lost sinner obviously comes to God, completely polluted with sin. God will hear the prayer of the repentant sinner who wants to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. The blood of Jesus Christ washes away our sin. We need to be set free from the bondage of sin and we need a new nature. In the Old Testament, the priest had to put on a material coat and a material breastplate, etc. In the New Testament dispensation, we put on Christ. The typology is done. In the Old Testament, the typology was to be symbolic of faith in God to keep His promise to provide that Son, that Lamb, that Messiah that would complete the typology. Aaron trusted in that. A few other priests would as well. Many would not. The good news is that the rejection of the truth by priests, did not cancel out the truth.
The priest also needed a mitre on his head. His thinking needed to be changed to be aligned with God. We need our thinking changed and that can only be changed for the good when we know the true God as Saviour. He alone can make the right changes in our life. The priests were not dressing for a fashion show. They were dressing to remind themselves and the people of the holiness of the LORD.
We read in verse 40 that Aaron and his sons needed to have these special coats and girdles and bonnets. They were to reflect the glory and the beauty of the Lord. It was the office of the priesthood that needed to be respected. It was important to have God-fearing men able to fulfill the office.
In verse 41 we read that Moses was to put these garments on Aaron and his sons. They also needed to be anointed and consecrated for the work they needed to do. They were to be sanctified, (set apart) for service to the Lord. Not just anyone could volunteer to be a priest. The nation of Israel would soon lose sight of the significance of the priesthood and they would accuse Moses and Aaron of taking too much authority upon themselves. God would refute that accusation.
In verse 42 even the undergarments of the priests were described here. They needed to be properly covered. It did not matter if it was summer or winter, they needed to be covered up. They did not have air-conditioning there. God knows how much heat we can take and He was not out to kill those whom He chose to be priests.
In verse 43 we read that Aaron and his sons needed to wear these garments all the while they were in the tabernacle or entering into the holy place. These garments were symbolic of the fact their hearts needed to be free from sin. God had the right to strike any priest dead that would try to come before Him with sin in his heart.
This law was to be a statute for ever for Aaron and his descendants. The priesthood would always remain with the tribe of Levi. Specifically it was to the family of Aaron and his descendants. Aaron did not campaign for the position. It was God’s choice to put him into that office. With being given that place of service, came responsibility. The priest was to show the people the way of blessing and close fellowship with the Lord.
We do not need a physical priest today. Those who assume they have one, have missed the mark. Jesus Christ is THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST. He is the Saviour of the world. Outward rituals are worthless. God has given us two ordinances now. We have baptism which is a picture of salvation. We have the Lord’s Supper which is a reminder of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Neither of those ordinances save us. They do not enhance our salvation either. They are commanded of God for those who are saved.
The blessing of the Lord has always been something that must be accepted by faith. Those who are saved are blessed in trusting in the God Who cannot lie.
Pastor Bartel