"VESTURE"

As we study the Scriptural term "vesture," let’s keep in mind that the term in general means a "covering" or a "garment." Spiritually, this speaks of the imputed righteousness of the believer wherein the righteousness of Christ Himself is given to the believer.

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. This is a type or foreshadowing of the Kingdom Age when the rulers of the world will have been in a long spiritual draught and will be ready to hand over the rule of the world to the Deliverer of the Jew, to the returning Christ Jesus who will rule the world with a rod of iron.

And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand… Joseph is a type of Christ—the "ring" indicating His royalty. …and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck… The world will finally recognize Christ Jesus as THE HIGH PRIEST of God Almighty. As we will see in the next passage, the vestures of "fine linen" were worn by the high priest. And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had… This term "the second chariot" does not indicate that Christ Jesus is in any way inferior to the rule of man; it is sequential, indicating that God will first let man try to rule the world and when he sees that he is not up to the task, the Son of God will rule in God’s stead. and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. The language agrees with the Christ of the Kingdom Age wherein the people will not be given a choice as to if they want to obey Christ or not. In fact, the reason that His rule will be known as the 1,000 years of peace will be because He will rule with a rod of iron—permitting no acts of sin or violence.

The second mentioning is found in Deuteronomy, and it has to do with the particulars of how the vesture is made.

Deut. 22:
11 Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, [as] of woollen and linen together.
12 Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest [thyself].

11 Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, [as] of woollen and linen together. In the Old Testament, the priest that entered the holy place in the heart of the tabernacle/temple had to wear a linen vesture (Lev. 6:10; 16:4, 32). We see the reason for this in Ez. 44:18: "They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat." (See Lev. 19:19.) The symbolism is that sweat is associated with "works"; and the Bible is explicit that God never has, and never will, accept the works of man which to Him are as filthy rags because they stem from the corrupted nature that Adam brought into mankind (Isa. 64:6). We should also note that it is forbidden to wear a mixture of the lightweight linen and wool which is heavy and causes perspiration. James touched upon this taboo in James 3:12: "Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh." (Reading prophetically: "Can the fig tree [those under the law], my brethren, bear olive berries [the fruit of those under grace like those of the Age of Promise]? either a vine [the Grace Age Church], figs [the fruit of the law which has never and never shall reach perfection]? so can no fountain both yield salt water [the undrinkable water of the law] and fresh [the refreshing life sustaining water of the Spirit and the Word]."

It is interesting that there are only two other mentionings of sweat in the Bible. In Genesis 3:19 we are told that in the natural, man will make his living by the sweat of his brow. The other verse is in the Gospel of Luke, and it has a spiritual application.

Luke 22:44

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Although God will not accept the work (sweat) of man, He will and He has accepted the work of Christ Jesus, His Only Begotten Son. Because Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, He was part man and part God. (Perhaps a better way of describing His nature would be that He was all man and all God.) At any rate, because of His unique make up, Christ was able to live above sin; and, consequently, He was able to offer Himself—a sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God—and thus He died for the sin of the whole world.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

12 Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.

The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary defines fringes as:

…an ornamental border consisting of short straight or twisted threads or strips hanging from cut or raveled edges or from a separate band… and/or …something that is marginal, additional, or secondary to some activity, process, or subject.

Note that these fringes were four (the number of the earth) and that they were upon the four quarters of the vesture that the Jews were to use to cover themselves. Spiritually/prophetically, this also depicted another primary chore given to Israel: i.e., the duty of sharing their "covering for their sin" with the world around them. Of course, the Bible and history tell us that they failed miserably on both accounts.

For dogs have compassed me… That is, those with the nature of dogs have compassed Him and taken Him to the cross. How sad that this characterization could be used by the very ones that Christ had come to seek and to save. But this is not the first time that the children of Israel had been labeled as "dogs" by God. Isaiah, one of their favorite prophets, had already depicted them as such.

Isa. 56:10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

…the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. The "assembly" is a term assigned to a religious body; in this case, Jesus is referring to the Sanhedrin (the ruling body of the Jewish nation). Although the Roman soldiers had driven the nails, Jesus is letting them know that He understands who is really responsible for His crucifixion.

…I may tell all my bones… Remember the dry bones of Ezekiel’s vision? (See Ezekiel chapter 37. For an interesting study, go to the Gateway Bible or the Blue Letter Bible in our Treasure Chest of Bible Study Aids on our home page and type in the expression "my bones.") Here in prophetic language, the Lord Jesus is telling His people chosen in Abraham what they will do to Him when He visits them.

…they look and stare upon me. In context, this "stare" means to gloat or to jeer.

…They part my garments among them… That is, they misuse His Word and their positions. …and cast lots upon my vesture… That is, they will see no value in His atoning death upon the cross; and they will count the
covering that He will provide for man a base thing.

In this next passage, the Psalmist is saying that although Christ’ creation will grow old, like a vesture (Like the righteousness of the man He created) He will make a new one that will have no taint of sin or corruption. And as for Christ Himself, He never grows old or changes.

Psalm 102:
25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

-The next two passages speak of the fulfillment of Psalms 22 above.

[Jesus refused the "comfort" of man, which is bitter at its best.]

[An ungodly Gentile ruler could see who Jesus was, but the remnant of Abraham’s seed, for the most part, could not.]

This next passage is basically a repeat of Psalms 102 above—only this time we are given the Father’s commendation and pledge to His Son in the light of what He did on the Cross for the man He had created.

The following is a quote from the Zondervan Bible Dictionary:

Keeping these facts in mind, we can see the reason for the use of the "vesture" and the "thigh" in the same breath. The "spiritual" vesture was first given to Abraham and his seed and was to be made available to the whole world for the "covering of sin." But Israel, because of the weakness of the flesh, was unable to take this gift to its neighbors. Consequently, Christ Jesus came to the earth in the fullness of time and died on the cross to make this righteousness available; and He then took the "vesture" from the Hebrews and put it in the hands of the Holy Spirit and a yielded Church. However, the New Testament church will fall into the same pit fall as did Israel, we’re told (Romans 11), and this will leave Jesus no recourse but to come to the earth and take charge of the "vesture" Himself; and we're told that He will do this in the power and might of His sword.