In
speaking of the physical restoration of Zion in the last days, Isaiah used the
marriage figure to depict the covenant between the Lord and His people. Zion is
a “bride” adorned with pearls who awaits her “husband”, Jesus Christ. It’s a
beautiful depiction of the joy awaiting the saints of the latter-days (see The
Old Testament Student Manual Book 2, p 207):
“I
will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he
hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the
robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a
bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10)
A
prophet who used the imagery of the ‘garments of salvation’ on a more personal
level is Nephi of the Book of Mormon. Nephi leaves me breathless when I read
his lamentation over his humanity and his pleading that the “gates of hell be
shut continually before him” so that he may have a broken heart and a contrite
spirit and “walk in the path of the low valley….” (2 Nephi 4:32). What makes it
heart rending is that Nephi was an incredibly righteous man. Anyone who laments
over their humanity though, which diverts one’s course of righteousness, would
relate to Nephi’s heartfelt remorse for his sins and imperfections.
What
he said next, however, is what tugs at my heart. Nephi was an ardent admirer of
Isaiah and he referred to him simply as ‘the prophet’. He quoted Isaiah’s
reference to ‘the robe of righteousness’ in the very next verse and he did so
with great meaning and reason:
"Oh
Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness! O Lord,
wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine enemies! Wilt thou make my
path straight before me! ......Oh Lord, I have trusted in thee and I will trust
in thee forever.........I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto
thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever
ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God." (2 Nephi 4:33,35)
And this
is the reason why Nephi appealed to God for His ‘robe of righteousness’. Lehi,
his father was a successful and rich merchant and the family lived on the
outskirts of Jerusalem. Living and trading so
close to the desert means the family would have been accustomed to Bedouin’s
way of life. Nephi would have been very familiar with the significance of ‘the
robe’:
"In Arabic culture, when a person is running away, he
runs to the tent of any great sheikh he can find. He goes in and kneels down
before the sheikh and says, 'I am thy suppliant'. The sheikh is then obligated
to put his caftan over his katef which is the same as shoulder - to put the hem
of his garment over his shoulder and say, 'Ahlan wa-sahlan wa-marhaban'. This
is your tent, this is your family'....He says, 'We'll make a place for you'.
Then the lord or the chief is under obligation to defend you against the
enemies that are chasing you. You are now under his protection, and he will
protect you." - Hugh Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon,
Semester 1. (Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies),
p. 252
The
significance of ‘the robe’ was well known throughout the ancient Near East.
Cast your mind back to Jesus’ time when the woman from Capernaum who had
suffered for 12 years with 'an issue of blood' understood this concept too. She
had spent everything she had on treatments that had been fruitless and had
brought her no relief from her chronic condition. Then there came a ray of
hope. She had heard of Jesus whom many proclaimed to be the Messiah who spoke
with authority and when He spoke people were healed.
The
possibility of a healing worked in her to the point of complete faith that this
man was her only hope. When she pressed through the crowds, however, she did
not pat the Messiah on His back, she descended to the hem of his robe for the
point of contact to release her faith for a miracle in her life. The touch
needed, the robe crucial, for attached to the robe of His garment were tassels
which represented the word of God (Numbers 15:37-41) and the authority of Yeshua whose divinity she
was acknowledging.
One would
think this sacred act of faith is sufficient for a faith promoting story but
this story teaches us about more than faith on behalf of this woman. This story
teaches us about the protective nature of the Lord's robe of righteousness.
According to the Levitical law it was forbidden for this woman to be in public
for she was considered socially unclean (Lev. 15:25). The Saviour knew that she
was healed when she touched His robe and she knew that she was healed but
nobody else would have known had He not made her faith known to the gathered
crowd. How else could she have proved her healing to those who would have to proclaim
her socially clean? The Saviour knew this and announced her cleanliness amidst
many witnesses. That’s protection of His robe of righteousness.
Another
wonderful example. In the country of the Gadarenes there was a man who was
beset by a legion of devils who lived in tombs and cried night and day, cutting
himself with stones (Mark 5:1-5). The Gospel of Luke tells us this man wore no
clothes (Luke 8:27). In scripture, to be naked is to have your sins,
vulnerabilities and weaknesses exposed. When all Jewish men wore robes and
prayer shawls with tassels which reminded them of God, the legions of devils
residing in this man must have wanted his nakedness exposed to signify lack of
God's protection from his sins.
The idea of
having our sins and vulnerabilities enfolded in the Saviour's robes, which can
offer us protection from the same, is seen when John the Baptist rebuked the
Pharisses and Sadduccees, warning them: "If ye receive not me, ye receive
not him of whom I am sent to bear record; and for your sins ye have no
cloak" (JST Matthew 3:34). The possessed man was not only freed from devil
possession but was given protection from his sins by His robe of righteousness
as he sat, fully clothed, in his right mind, at the feet of the Saviour (Luke
8:35).
The robe of
righteousness exists for the spiritually astute of this day also. We might not
have visual reminders of God’s protection, but it is there for the asking every
time we kneel in prayer before His throne…..
