One significant feature of the definition of raiment in the Bible is its portrayal of clothing as more than just a mere covering for the body. Raiment is often associated with the concept of dignity and honor, representing one’s social status and worthiness. In the Bible, references to raiment are often made in the context
Welcome to our enlightening WordPress post: “Definition Of Raiment In The Bible.”
Prepare yourself for an intriguing journey into the realm of biblical wisdom as we explore the fascinating concept of raiment. In the Bible, raiment holds a profound significance, encompassing clothing, garments, and attire, beyond their mere material existence. Delve into the depth of its meaning and unravel its unique features that make it a captivating subject of study.
Raiment, the divine covering for our physical bodies, plays a pivotal role in reflecting cultural, social, and theological aspects of biblical narratives. As we embark on this exploration, we will witness how raiment intertwines with human experiences, bringing forth its rich symbolism.
Through a comprehensive analysis, this post will decipher the deeper connotations associated with raiment, enabling you to truly grasp its essence. Unveiling its divine backdrop, we will traverse through both the Old and New Testaments, unearthing significant scriptures and anecdotes that shed light on its importance.
Within the pages of this post, you will discover how raiment plays a pivotal role in portraying one’s identity, social status, and spiritual journey. It serves as a visual representation of humility, righteousness, and even acts as a medium for divine intervention.
Witness the enlightenment that accompanies the realization of how even seemingly mundane articles of clothing bestow immense value and significance in biblical contexts. Learn how the raiment-related stories of biblical figures provide valuable life lessons and inspire us to embrace our spiritual essence.
By engaging with this post, you will gain a profound understanding of the significance of raiment in the Bible. Unlock the spiritual depth weaved within clothing choices, as they intertwine with cultural norms, societal expectations, and expressions of faith.
Benefits of diving into this transformative topic include:
- Enhanced comprehension of biblical narratives
- Deeper insights into cultural and historical contexts
- Greater appreciation for the richness of God’s teachings
- A broader perspective on the power of symbolism
- Strengthened connection with your own spiritual journey
Join us on this spiritual odyssey, as we unlock the mysteries of raiment in the Bible. Embrace the transformative power that lies within each thread, and let the scriptures illuminate your path towards self-discovery and spiritual growth.
So, prepare your hearts and minds as together, we embark on this captivating exploration of the “Definition of Raiment in the Bible.” Let its divine wisdom enrich your understanding and inspire your life’s journey.
Raiment of God
Genesis 24:53
And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave [them] to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
Genesis 27:15
And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which [were] with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:
Genesis 27:27
And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son [is] as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:
Genesis 28:20
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
Genesis 41:14
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved [himself], and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
Genesis 45:22
To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred [pieces] of silver, and five changes of raiment.
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.
Exodus 12:35
And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:
Exodus 21:10
If he take him another [wife]; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.
Exodus 22:9
For all manner of trespass, [whether it be] for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, [or] for any manner of lost thing, which [another] challengeth to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; [and] whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbour.
Exodus 22:26
If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
Exodus 22:27
For that [is] his covering only, it [is] his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I [am] gracious.
Leviticus 11:32
And upon whatsoever [any] of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether [it be] any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel [it be], wherein [any] work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed.
Numbers 31:20
And purify all [your] raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats’ [hair], and all things made of wood.
Deuteronomy 8:4
Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
Deuteronomy 10:18
He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.
Deuteronomy 21:13
And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
Deuteronomy 22:3
In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother’s, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.
Deuteronomy 24:13
In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD thy God.
Deuteronomy 24:17
Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, [nor] of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to pledge:
Joshua 22:8
And he spake unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with brass, and with iron, and with very much raiment: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.
Judges 3:16
But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh.
Judges 8:26
And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred [shekels] of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that [was] on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that [were] about their camels’ necks.
Ruth 3:3
Wash thy self therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: [but] make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.
Samuel 1 28:8
And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me [him] up, whom I shall name unto thee.
Kings 2 5:5
And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand [pieces] of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
Kings 2 7:8
And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid [it]; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence [also], and went and hid [it].
Chronicles 2 9:24
And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
Esther 4:4
So Esther’s maids and her chamberlains came and told [it] her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received [it] not.
Job 27:16
Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
Psalms 45:14
She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.
Isaiah 14:19
But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, [and as] the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
Isaiah 63:3
I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people [there was] none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
Ezekiel 16:13
Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment [was of] fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
Zecharia 3:4
And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
Matthew 3:4
And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
Matthew 6:25
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Matthew 6:28
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
Matthew 11:8
But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft [clothing] are in kings’ houses.
Matthew 17:2
And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
Matthew 27:31
And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify [him].
Matthew 28:3
His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
Mark 9:3
And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.
Luke 7:25
But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts.
Luke 9:29
And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment [was] white [and] glistering.
Luke 10:30
And Jesus answering said, A certain [man] went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded [him], and departed, leaving [him] half dead.
Luke 12:23
The life is more than meat, and the body [is more] than raiment.
Luke 23:34
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
John 19:24
They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
Acts 18:6
And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook [his] raiment, and said unto them, Your blood [be] upon your own heads; I [am] clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
Acts 22:20
And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.
Timothy 1 6:8
And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
James 2:2
For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
Revelations 3:5
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Revelations 3:18
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Revelations 4:4
And round about the throne [were] four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
WHITE RAIMENT LOANED TO US
The Scriptures give us to understand that at the very beginning of our Christian experience, we figuratively are clothed in white raiment. This white raiment represents justification—we are justified freely from all things. It is a robe without a spot. It is sometimes spoken of as Christ’s robe of righteousness, because it comes to us through Christ. It is to be had only through Him. He is able to impute to us, to loan to us, grant to us temporarily, this robe. It is spoken of as the wedding garment. At an oriental wedding, a wedding garment of white linen was used to cover over the clothing worn by each guest. It was loaned to the guest at the wedding by the host, when he appeared at the wedding-feast.
White linen signifies purity. So when Christ gives us the use of His merit, it is as a white garment to cover out imperfections. It is an imputation of His righteousness, which is to us justification. We are exhorted to keep our garments unspotted from the world. The imputation of righteousness given us, we are to preserve, to maintain. But we cannot fully maintain it of ourselves. Our tongues may sometimes say things that we wish they had not said, and our hands may sometimes do things we would not desire. Hence, God has provided a way by which our blemishes or transgressions may be eradicated—those not wilful. This way is our daily application for the cleansing of these unwilling transgressions, through the precious blood. Thus we keep our garments unspotted from the world. Thus our justification, our white robe, is maintained—should be maintained.
WHITE RAIMENT OUR OWN
But it is not sufficient that we have the imputation of our Savior’s righteousness. This imputation is only a temporary arrangement. We need to come to the place where we shall have a righteousness of our own. Our flesh is imperfect; as St. Paul says, we cannot do the things which we would. In spite of our best endeavors things are bound to go more or less wrong. But we are to prove ourselves overcomers—”more than conquerors.” The Lord has arranged that at the conclusion of our trial, at the end of the present life, all the overcomers shall receive the new body. This new body will be a body of actual purity. Thus, as the Apostle says, we shall “be clothed upon with our House which is from Heaven.” So our raiment will be changed from a garment of imputed perfection, our justification by faith, to that which represents actual perfection. At the resurrection we shall receive that body of inherent purity, without blemish, without spot, which is here pictured as “white raiment.”
“BROUGHT BEFORE THE KING”
Furthermore, we read of each of these that the Lord “will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life,” in which are written the names of all those who become truly the Lord’s people, those who have made with the Lord “a covenant by sacrifice,” all who renounce their wills, who present their bodies a living sacrifice. The name of each of these is recorded, entered in the Lamb’s Book of Life, when he starts to live the new life, and to demonstrate his loyalty. Just as these are clothed upon with the robe of Christ’s righteousness in advance of being actually tested, so their names are written in that Book in advance of being actually tested. If they do not remain faithful, their names will be blotted out of that Book of Life. But if they are faithful their names will not be blotted out of the Book of Life; and they will attain all those glorious things which are promised to those who love Him supremely.—Revelation 21:7.
More than this, the Lord says, “I will confess their names before My Father and before His angels.” The intimation here is that the overcomers will have such characters that the Lord will not be ashamed of them, but will be pleased to own them in the presence of the Father and the holy angels. We are to be “changed from glory to glory,” into the likeness of our Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18.) In the end, these overcomers will each be so grandly developed that the Lord will not be ashamed to confess any of them and to say, Here is one of My followers. Here is another. They have walked in My footsteps and have overcome. But He will be ashamed of any who are ashamed of Him. Of such He says, “Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own glory and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.”—Luke 9:26.
It is not a matter of favoritism, but of character-development. If they will not endure to the end, if they do not prove overcomers, they will not be fit for the Kingdom and association with their Lord.
This brings up the thought that there is another class mentioned in the Bible—the Great Company class, as in contrast to the Little Flock—or the antitypical Levite class as in contrast to the antitypical Priestly class. The Great Company had their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, but they were not overcomers in the truest sense. They did not stand faithful. Because of not proving faithful, they will not be confessed before the Father and the holy angels in the same sense as the Bride class.
It is stated that the Bride will be presented before the Father, and that “the virgins, her companions” (Psalm 45:13-15) will be there also—but the latter will not be confessed as the Bride class. We will not say that their names will be blotted out of the Lamb’s Book of Life. Their names may remain. But those who go into the Second Death will surely have their names blotted out of the Book; they will be destroyed with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.
ROBES WASHED IN “THE GREAT TRIBULATION”
The Great Company will not have the “abundant entrance” granted the Little Flock. And the same distinction obtains between these two classes in connection with the white raiment. While all receive the robe of Christ’s imputed righteousness, some of them do not keep their garments “unspotted from the world.” Their white raiment becomes spotted and soiled, bedraggled by contact with the earth. Their justification, or robe of Christ’s righteousness, becomes unpresentable. When a spot comes upon it, instead of having the spot cleansed away at once, they allow it to remain, and the spots accumulate until their garment becomes quite soiled. Then at the conclusion of their course, when the examination day comes, their robe is found to be spotted—yet they wear it still. They are not divested of that robe of justification. They have not abandoned the Lord and He has not abandoned them. But they have failed to use the means which the Lord provided for their cleansing.
In the Revelation this class is spoken of as “a great multitude”—the Great Company. We are told that they “will come up out of the Great Tribulation, and will wash [R5669 : page 120] their robes, and make them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Instead of doing a cleansing work day by day, maintaining their justification with God and being ready for the change (by means of their faithfulness) they are, on the contrary, found of Him as unworthy of this chief place. Their robes will not be taken from them, but they will be obliged to suffer great tribulations, with the view to making them ready to wash and make their robes white in the blood of cleansing, so that they, also, will be clothed in white and in their resurrection bodies will be pure. But they will attain this only by passing through “the Great Tribulation.”—See Revelation 7:9-14.