2 - A STUDY OF THE HIGH PRIEST

2 - A STUDY OF THE HIGH PRIEST

February 17, 1965

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Exodus 28: 1, 2, 4 And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty. And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.

As we have studied the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, we find that the

Tabernacle would be valueless without the High Priest and the other

priests who ministered in it. It would just be a dead building, but it comes to life because of the ministering of the High Priest and the other priests.

1/ To start with here in Exodus 28 there are two teachings I want you to understand about the priesthood. 

If you go to Exodus 28: 1 You will find that God chose five men, Aaron and his four sons, that they may minister. I have made a mistake here, and I’ve made it on purpose. If you will go down to Verse 3, you will find that after He talks about Aaron, thy brother, and his sons, that is five in all—God says that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office. The ministries of these five men were wrapped up in each other, so that God saw them as merely one. He didn’t see five men, He saw one man, because all of them represented one man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

2/ Actually, this is a truth we can talk about today. We are one in Christ

Jesus.

I Corinthians 12: 12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

So as God looks down from Heaven He sees only Christ and we are

members of His body.

3/ Then notice, five men working together, and remember at this time,

Israel was under the law. God was endeavoring through these five men to show forth His grace. Five is the number of grace. So these five men working together show Israel that even though they are under the law, their salvation is apart from the law. There was only one way an Israelite could be saved. And that was to be dead to the law. In this tabernacle, God said that they were to put the broken law in an ark—that was a coffin, then once a year, the High Priest came in and sprinkled blood over that lid, which was the Mercy Seat which enclosed the law in a coffin, and the Children of Israel, by grace were considered dead to the law. Let us just look at the few Scriptures to prove this.

Genesis 50: 26 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Joseph died and they put his body in a coffin—that is the same word as

ark.

Exodus 25: 10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

There was a coffin made for the law.

4/ Exodus 28: 2 And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.

And here we read about the Holy garments for Aaron thy brother. We said Aaron was nothing, he was a filthy sinner. All Aaron was famous for was his garments, and that’s all. He was the man who made the golden calf, he was the man who rebelled against Moses in the wilderness with Miriam. The only thing that made Aaron famous, happened to be these garments  and, of course, this again, is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, and these garments picture Christ as glory and beauty. Christ is the glory-being of this universe.

John 17: 5 Jesus Christ says, And now, O Father, glorify Me with Thine

own Self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.

What kind of glory did He have? It is beyond our comprehension, but when He became Man, He gave up this glory, He became poverty- stricken. It wasn’t a matter, He just laid it aside, He forfeited it, but when He had been made the price of sin, returned to Him.

Hebrews 7: 26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

He was made higher than the Heavens. He was given the exalted position in the universe, and His glory was returned to Him. So that now He is the glory-being of the universe.

Let us get an example of what I mean.

Acts 26: 9 - 13 I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, A  midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.

Here Paul is giving his testimony before Agrippa, and he said, he thought he had to do many things contrary to the Name of Jesus Christ, and He did them in Jerusalem. Many of the saints he shut up in prison because he had received authority of the chief priest, and they were put to death, and he said, when they did, I gave my voice against them, and I punished them in the synagogues, compelled them to blaspheme. But he said, I went to Damascus with authority, permission from the chief priests, and there at midday I saw in the way, a light from Heaven, above the brightness of the sun—it eclipsed the noon-day sun. This is glory from the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. It eclipsed the brightness of the noon-day sun. This is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

II Corinthians 4: 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 

He says, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 

So these garments that Aaron wore, spoke first of all of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in His resurrected ministry as the Great High Priest in the Heavens.

5/ Notice, for beauty. We ought to know more about the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible is just full of it. I am astounded and amazed when I hear people talk about Christ as being ugly, or when they are so fascinated with Saulman’s head of Christ and the others—Christ does not look like that—He is the most beautiful being in the entire universe.

Zechariah 9: 17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his

beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

Here we read, … how great is His beauty, and of course, this is talking

about the Lord Jesus Christ. He created all beauty, and therefore He had

to be more beautiful than created beauty.

Isaiah 33: 17 Here we are told, Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.

This is promised to Israel. They shall see Him in His beauty.

6/ Now let us study the different garments that Aaron and his sons had to wear. We will not study them in the order they are listed in Exodus, but rather in the order in which the priest would put them on. Therefore, we begin with the under-garment, or the foundation and work outwards.

7/ Exodus 39: 27 And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for

Aaron, and for his sons,

Gazing at this coat from a distance, and especially in contrast with the

other garments, it would appear quite ordinary, but upon closer

examination, there was skill and beauty attached to the makeup of the

fabric. To many who take a casual glance at Jesus Christ, the Man of

Galilee, all they see is an ordinary, yet, good man. But if you study this

Man, look into His life, His works and His words, you will find that this is no ordinary person at all. Three words make up the total sum of what we are told about this coat of fine linen. Where would the Israelites in the wilderness possess such material?

Exodus 3:22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

They spoiled the Egyptians, and the Egyptians were always celebrated for their manufacture of linen and other clothes. The High Priest had this as an undergarment, but with the rest of the priests, this was their only garment, and, of course, this white linen speaks of the righteousness of Jesus Christ as a Man. Of course, we know He is righteous as God, but being the God-man, He was absolutely righteous and holy in His life. This is the very basis of Christ being our sacrifice.

8/ Let us get an example of this in Scripture.

John 4: 6 - 9 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Jesus Christ was on a journey and He came to Jacob’s well, and there cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said unto her, Give me to drink, and she said, How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest a drink of me? She saw only an ordinary Jew, nothing more. He looked like a Jew, He was dressed like a Jew, and His talk must have been like the Jews. But as the conversation went on, her opinion of this man, Jesus Christ, changed radically.

John 4: 19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a

prophet.

Now, from just an ordinary Jew, He suddenly becomes a prophet, because He is able to tell her that she has had five husbands, and the one she is living with right now is not her husband.

Then notice, Verses 25, 26, 29 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us allthings. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

Yes, her affiliation with Him changed her attitude completely, concerning Who He was, and so we know from study that He is a holy, righteous Man.

9/ Let’s find the testimony of Scripture as to this Man.

Luke 23: 4 Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man.

Pilot said, I find no fault in Him. Put the emphasis on “no fault” and

“man”—then listen to Pilot’s wife.

Matthew 27: 19 When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife

sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I

have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.

Have nothing to do with that just Man.

Then notice Luke 23: 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due

reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

The malefactor said, This man hath done nothing amiss.

Then Luke 28: 47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he

glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

Yes, He was the Holy, righteous, perfect man. This is the very foundation of all that He is as the God-Man.

10/ Again, may we point out, this all reaches back to the Virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 1: 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost

shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow

thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be

called the Son of God.

There was no sin in that flesh.

11/ Attached to this linen coat was a girdle, and that is a symbol of service. Having your loins gird about denotes readiness for action. That must always be the attitude of the priest, and is the attitude of Christ for us. Always serving us. This linen girdle could not be seen because it was attached to the under garment. The only time it could be seen was on the Day of Atonement. Nevertheless, there it was girding the loins. Perhaps we are not always conscious that the Lord Jesus Christ is ministering on our behalf, especially when we see no outward evidence. But we can always encourage our hearts with the fact that He is always working on our behalf. Never failing us.

Romans 8: 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who  also maketh intercession for us.

He is always making intercession for us. This has to do with the matter of fellowship. Yes, Jesus Christ is the righteous God-Man Who is always interested in us, always working on our behalf.

AMEN

2/17/1965 / 2 - A STUDY OF THE HIGH PRIEST / 6/26/2025