Clothing of the High Priest Part 2 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

In the previous lesson it was stated that Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh. Therefore Jesus was both God and man. The clothing of the High Priest shows both sides of this fact. In the first part of this lesson the priestly garment of glory and beauty represented the glory that Jesus had with the father before he came to this earth in the form of a man. This lesson will look at the garments of the High Priest that were worn on the Day of Atonement which represent Jesus as a man becoming the ultimate sacrifice for sin.

The Day of Atonement : (Leviticus 16:1-34)

The Day of Atonement was a special day for the nation of Israel. It was a day in which the High Priest would offer a yearly sacrifice for the sins of himself and the people.

• Note that 5 animals were used on the Day of Atonement (5 in the bible is the number of death). The High Priest was to take a bullock for a sin offering for himself and a ram for a burnt offering for himself. Then he was to take two kids of the goats for a sin offering for the people of Israel and a ram for a burnt offering for the children of Israel.
• The High Priest was to put on the linen garments only for the offering of the sin offerings.
• First the High Priest would take the bullock which was a sin offering for himself kill it. Then he was to take the blood into the most holy place and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat with his finger seven times.
• In regards to the two kids of the goats for the sin offering for Israel he would take them and cast lots upon them. One lot for the Lords and the other for the scapegoat.
• After he had offered the sacrifice for himself he was to take the kid of the goats upon whom the Lord’s lot fell and offer him as a sin offering for the people and take his blood with the most holy place and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat. He is also to take the blood and reconcile the holy place, the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar.
• Then the High Priest would take the scapegoat and lay both his hands upon his head and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and their transgressions in all their sins. The scapegoat was to then be led into the wilderness by the hand of a fit man.

Typology in the two goats:

The Day of Atonement is a picture of the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. First note that the High Priest had to offer a sacrifice for himself. Jesus because he was sinless did not have to offer a sacrifice for himself (Hebrews 7:27). Next note that the reason for the two goats is because Jesus would not only die but he would be resurrected. Thus in the Old Testament their needed to be two goats in order to have one die and the other one live. This pictures Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection. Note also in the Old Testament when a person was cleansed from leprosy there were two birds used, one two die and one to live (Leviticus 14:1-8), once again pointing to the death burial and resurrection.

The Clothing on the Day of Atonement:

Note that on the Day of Atonement the High Priest did not wear the garments of glory and beauty, but he was to put on just the linen garments (Leviticus 16:4). This speaks of Jesus putting aside the glory that he had before the world began and taking on the form of a man and becoming obedient unto death (Philippians 2:5-8 ; Hebrews 2:9-18).

Note also that after the scapegoat was carried into the wilderness that the High Priest was to go back into the tabernacle of the congregation and take off the linen garments and put his other garments on. Then he was to go back out and offer the rams for burnt offerings for himself and the children of Israel. In this we see two important types:

1)  Note the wording in verse 23 when he took the linen garments off he was to “leave them there”. This pictures that when Jesus Christ makes his sacrifice it is once and for all because when he was resurrected he had a glorified body (Hebrews 9:11-15 ; Hebrews 7:23-28).

2)  It also pictures the fact that Jesus Christ is now our High Priest and he is there for us in that capacity (Hebrews 4:14-16). So when the High Priest went out to offer the burnt offering he had put on the garments of glory and beauty once again. Once Jesus had offered himself as a sacrifice for sin he was resurrected back to glory to become our High Priest.

Therefore the garments of glory and beauty represent the glory that Jesus had before with God and the linen garments represent the Lord becoming man to die on the cross. This showing that Jesus was both God and Man at the same time.