Animals, Colors, Metals, Numbers and Signs in Scripture.

Seven - Completion

Complete Consecration of the High Priest 

Two Old Testament passages of scripture set forth the principle that the one who served in the office of the High Priest must be completely consecrated before he fulfilled that office:

1.  Ex. 29:29 "And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them. 30 And that son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place. 31 And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place. 32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 33 And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy. 34 And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy. 35 And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them."

2.  Lev. 8:33 "And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you. 34 As he hath done this day, so the LORD hath commanded to do, to make an atonement for you. 35 Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not: for so I am commanded."

From the above passages, we understand that what the High Priest ate and what the High Priest wore served to consecrate him.  Also, he was to keep the charge of the Lord during his consecration.

Our High Priest is Jesus Christ: Heb. 3:1 "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus."  The Lord told us about his holy food in Matt. 4:4 "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."  The holy food of Jesus Christ was every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God.

Next, the holy garments of Jesus Christ were the garments of righteousness as he "is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself."  Jesus Christ had no sin so he did not have to offer up a sacrifice for himself. 

In the consecration of Jesus Christ, he kept the complete charge of the Father as he said in John 6:37 "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."

The types and shadows under the law only point us to the perfection of the true.  This is true of the High Priesthood under the law.  It only pointed us to the perfection of our High Priest, Jesus Christ: Heb. 7:28 "For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore."  The word of the oath referred to in the above scripture is described in Heb. 7:21 "(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:) 22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament."  Jesus Christ is our High Priest after the oath of God: "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." 

We have a High Priest who was completely consecrated to that office.

Complete Armor for God's People 

We are told in Eph. Chapter 6 that we are to put on the whole armour of God: 10 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." 

In this spiritual warfare to which we as good soldiers of Jesus Christ are to fight God has given us seven pieces of armour by which we may stand against the wiles of the devil:14 "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."

The first piece of armour is about our loins.  The loins is the strongest and largest muscles of the body.  It is where the main strength of the body lies.  We are to have our loins gird about with truth.  With truth, we can begin to stand in our fight against the principalities, powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world.  Without truth, we have no strength to stand.

The second piece of armour goes about our chest.  We are to have on the breastplate of righteousness.  The breastplate protects our vital inwards.  Having no righteousness of our own, we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ.  We are made righteous through the shed blood of Jesus Christ that is imputed unto us in regeneration.  Having the imputed righteousness of Christ protects us against the accusations of Satan whereby he would destroy our heart toward a walk of faith.

The third piece of armour is about our feet.  A soldier must have his feet properly shod and protected.  If the feet are not properly shod, then he cannot stand to fight against the enemy.  In our Christian warfare we have our feet shod by the preparation of the gospel of peace.  The gospel prepares us for the trials and battles of life and instructs us in how that we are to stand against the wiles of the devil.

The fourth piece of armour is the shield of faith.  The shield is necessary in protecting against the fiery darts that are hurled our way.  These fiery darts would destroy us in our Christian warfare if we had no faith by which we can trust in the God who has bought us and given us exceeding precious promises.  However, with faith we can quench Satan's fiery darts.

The fifth piece of armour is the helmet of salvation.  The helmet protects our mind.  A lack of understanding of both our eternal salvation and our timely or temporal salvation will greatly affect our mind and how we react to the problems, adversities, conflicts, tribulations, and temptations of life.  Having a proper understanding helps us to keep our priorities in order and helps us to keep those things in their proper perspective.

The sixth piece of armour is the first of our offensive weapons.  This piece is the sword of the Spirit.  The sword of the Spirit is the word of God.  With the word of God we can go forth with the truth in offense against our enemies and as a witness towards the children of God.  We are told that if we resist the devil he will flee from us.  It is with the word of God that we resist the devil and his angels.

The seventh piece of armour is prayer.  Prayer is both an offensive and defensive weapon.  Through prayer we receive strength from God to stand against the onslaught of the devil and we also receive strength whereby we are given wisdom and understand on how we can carry forth with the word of God not only in our own lives, but also as a witness to the truth of God's word.  We are to pray not only for ourselves but also for all the saints of God and for the gospel ministry. 

We give thanks to God that he has given us a complete armour whereby we may stand against the wiles of the devil.