Scripture: verse 23
Aharon is to go back into the tent of meeting, where he is to remove the linen garments he put on when he entered the Holy Place, and he is to leave them there.
Observation: The High Priest went into the Holy Place once a year, to make atonement for all of Israel. He had to wash himself in a holy place and put on holy linen clothing before entering, and when he came out he had to disrobe and leave the clothes in the tent of meeting, before taking another bath and going out to rejoin the people. (While he was in the Holy Place people were banned from the tent of meeting, so no one saw him wandering around naked. I imagine one of the women collected the clothes later for washing, but it doesn’t actually say.)
We don’t normally take our clothes off the very instant we can do so. We normally wait until we get to our bedrooms and can hang them up and put on something else. If we take our clothes off the minute we walk through the door, it usually means that our clothes are very dirty, very uncomfortable, or both. We take them off because we can’t wait any longer.
The priest’s clothes weren’t dirty (well, I guess they had some blood on them, from the sacrifices), but they were uncomfortable, because they were holy. Humans aren’t very good at being holy. We can sort of manage it for a little while, if we are only interacting with God, but as soon as the world presses in, we lose it.
In Yeshua, we’ve been declared holy. We’ve been made into something other than what we are. And it’s not always comfortable. It’s not always easy. But it’s still true.
Application: Be holy, as He is holy. It’s not actually possible, so we need to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us and Yeshua’s grace to cover our mistakes. And we watch for God to fulfill His promises of blessing.
Prayer: God, thank you for making me holy. I can’t accomplish much on my own, so thank you for accomplishing it for me. Amen.
Truth By Bits 