“We have been thinking of all sorts of things to talk about this evening,” said Charley, “because, you see, this is our last chance, Aunt Edith, if you really are going away to-morrow.”
“I am afraid we shall not get on very well if we try to talk about ‘all sorts of things,’ Charley,” said his aunt, smiling; “Suppose you tell me what you have been particularly thinking about since our last talk; we were speaking then of the different garments worn in the East, were we not?”
“Yes, Auntie,” said May, “and Charley thought yesterday of one thing which you had forgotten: he said you had not told us a word about wedding garments, and you know they are mentioned in the Bible, for there is the parable about the man who came to the marriage of the king’s son, and when the king came in to see the guests, he said, ‘Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?’ I have often wondered how it was—perhaps he was too poor to buy a proper dress, for the people were called from the highways and hedges; and yet, when the king asked him how it was he had come without one, he was speechless—he did not say one word to excuse himself. What do you think, Aunt Edith?”
“I think, dear children, that when that solemn question was put to him, the man who had dared thus to intrude into the presence of the king was speechless because he had not a word to say, not an excuse to offer. It was the custom for the giver of the feast to provide dresses for all who were invited to a wedding; therefore, for any one to present himself among the guests in any other dress, however fitting it might be in his own eyes, was an insult to him who had not only provided the feast but also the garments in which the guests were to appear at it.”
“Oh, then, the man without a wedding garment was to blame," said May, "for he might have had one if he had chosen—just as the prodigal son had the ‘best robe’ brought forth and put upon him, instead of his own poor clothes," she added, thoughtfully.
“Just as any wanderer from the far country," said her aunt, "may now be ‘clad in beauty not his own,’ may now come to God, not in any dress of his own providing, but clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus rendered fit for His holy presence. As soon as we have the very faintest sense of what befits the presence of God, we feel our own unfitness to be there—our need of the ‘wedding garment.’”
“I see," said Charley; "if the man had known what it was to be invited by the king, he would have felt that his own clothes would not do at all, and would have been glad to have a dress given him which would make him fit to be there. Will you tell me, Aunt Edith, who the ‘children of the bridechamber’ were?”
“Perhaps they were the ten virgins who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom," said May.
“I believe ‘children of the bridechamber’ meant the guests invited to a wedding," said their aunt, "or perhaps the companions of the bridegroom who went with him to fetch the bride home.”
“How curious that they should be called children," said May.
“It is not an uncommon expression in the East, May; ‘children of death,’ or ‘of the sword,’ would mean those who were appointed to die. So we read of ‘children of pride’; and our Lord spoke of the ‘children of the kingdom,’ ‘children of this world,“Oh, yes, and ‘children of light,’ and very often ‘children of men,’” said Charley. “Then who were the ten virgins, Aunt Edith? Were they the bride's companions?”
“I think I had better tell you a little about the marriage customs of the East, Charley," replied his aunt, “and then if you do not understand anything, you can ask me, and I will explain it if I can.”
“Thank you, Auntie," said May; "I daresay we shall understand. When Charley asked about the ‘children of the bridechamber,’ I was just going to ask who the ‘friend of the bridegroom’ was. You know John the Baptist said, ‘the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.’”
“You must not forget, May, that he added, ‘this my joy therefore is fulfilled.’ When I tell you," continued Aunt Edith, "that often as long a time as a year passed between the ceremony of betrothal and the marriage, and that during all that time it was not customary for the bridegroom to have any communication with his future wife, except by means of a friend, you will see that this friend of the bridegroom was very important to him, and also that when the marriage day had come, his office ended. In speaking of himself as the ‘friend of the Bridegroom,’ John, the forerunner of Christ, beautifully recognizes this. As it has been said, he was ‘near enough to Jesus to be glad and rejoice that Jesus was all.’”
“Did the bride have a wedding ring, Aunt Edith?”
“I don't know, May; but I have read that it is the custom among modern Jews for the bride to wear a ring from the time of the feast of betrothal.”
“It says, ‘Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?’ so I suppose when the wedding day came, the bride wore a very splendid dress," said Charley.
“The Hebrew Word translated 'attire,' Charley, is said to mean a bridal girdle; the bride also wore a wreath of flowers, but I cannot tell you much more about her dress. You must remember that the grand marriage ceremony was the progress of the bride from her father's house to that of her husband; to this there are many allusions in Scripture. It was at nightfall, or even later, that the bridegroom, accompanied by his ‘companions’—you may remember that Samson had as many as thirty—started from his house ‘with the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness,’ for he was attended by a band of singers, and with ‘the light of a candle’; for as it was after sunset, when darkness rapidly comes on, those who accompanied the procession carried lighted torches.”
“In the parable, it must have been dark at the time of the procession," said May, "because it says, At midnight there was a cry made, ‘Behold, the bridegroom cometh.’ But you have not told us about those virgins who took their lamps, Aunt Edith.”
“I think they were, as you said, May, the bride's companions; they seem to have been in waiting that they might join the procession as it passed from the bride's house to that of the bridegroom—for it was there, or at the house of his father, that the marriage feast was prepared.”
“I wonder whether their lamps were like those of which you showed us a picture—I mean the earthen lamps which were found in tombs?”
“The word is the same as that translated ‘lanterns,’ Charley, where we read that those who came with Judas on the night of His betrayal to take the Lord carried ‘lanterns, and torches, and weapons.’ These ‘lamps’ or ‘lanterns’ were bundles of tow, steeped in oil, fastened to the end of sticks; such a light would be entirely dependent for its brilliancy upon the supply of oil, yet the flax might smolder for some time after the oil was exhausted. If you remember this, you will understand the cry of the foolish virgins, ‘Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out.’"
“They could not light the bridegroom home if they had no oil," said May, "and that was what they came for; so the only ones who went in with the bridegroom to the feast were those who were ready for him. It reminds me of that sad song Mabel used to sing-
‘Too late, too late; ye cannot enter now!’”
"Can you think of any very beautiful dress, Charley," said his aunt, "which did not belong only to the wearer, but passed at his death to the one who succeeded him in the office which he filled?"
“I suppose you mean the king's robes,” said Charley, doubtfully.
“No, I believe you are thinking of the beautiful dress which Aaron wore.”
“Oh, yes," said May, "because you remember how, before Aaron died upon the top of the mountain, Moses took off his garments and put them upon his son. You meant the high priest's dress, which his son wore after him, didn't you, Aunt Edith?”
“Yes, May, I was thinking of those garments ‘for glory and for beauty,’ and I was going to ask you whether you had noticed that the ephod, to which the breastplate with its four rows of precious stones was attached, and as the breastplate itself, were made of the same material and of the same colors—gold, red, blue, crimson, and white—as the beautiful veil which hung before the most holy place in the tabernacle.”
“I did not know that, Aunt Edith, but the other day, when we had been reading about the New Jerusalem—it is in nearly the last chapter of Revelation—papa said the precious stones which ‘garnished’ the foundations of the holy city were the same as those twelve stones which were set in the breastplate which Aaron always wore on his heart when he went in before the Lord.”
“That is very interesting," said his aunt. "Can you tell me, May, what that beautiful breastplate, with its sparkling rows of gems, meant?”
“I cannot tell, Aunt Edith, but I know that every beautiful stone had the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel engraved upon it; and that the breastplate was fastened to the ephod, so that Aaron must wear it always.”
"You are quite right, May: when Aaron went in before the Lord, he carried upon his heart the names of God's people, and the light of the holy place only made those names shine the more brightly. Aaron was but a type of the Lord Jesus, who now in heaven bears ever upon His heart the names of His redeemed people. You know the names of the twelve tribes were also engraved upon the two onyx stones, which clasped the ephod, and God said they were to be for a memorial—‘Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord upon his two shoulders for a memorial’: the shoulder is the place of strength, as the heart is the place of affection.”
"I do not understand what sort of a dress the ephod was.”
“It was made in two parts, Charley, the back and front being clasped together by these jeweled clasps, while it was fastened at the waist by the curious girdle,' embroidered with beautiful colors. The blue robe of the ephod, which was worn under it, had the border of which I am sure you remember reading—pomegranates, embroidered in blue, red, and crimson, with a golden bell between each.”
“I remember," said May; “I have always thought it must have been so pretty—'a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate'—and the sound of the bells was heard, too, when Aaron went into the holy place and when he came out.”
“Then there was the miter, Aunt Edith," said Charley, with the broad gold plate, upon which ‘Holiness to the Lord’ was written; that was one of the garments ‘for glory and for beauty.’ I am glad you did not forget, when you were speaking about the dresses mentioned in the Bible, to speak of the most beautiful dress anyone ever wore.”
“There are hidden meanings and beauties in the holy garments with which God Himself clothed Aaron, which are much more wonderful than the garments themselves, with all their splendor of color and of light. I hope, dear children, that these evenings, during which we have, as it were, just tried to take a peep from a distance—a passing glimpse here and there—at some of those manners and customs of the East, to which such constant allusion is made in the Bible, may not be quite forgotten by any of us. Remember that no detail, however trivial it may seem, is unimportant if it helps us to understand the sacred Scriptures, though God alone can teach us really to profit by the words which He has caused to be written for us, and to treasure them in our hearts, not only as His own message, but as His message to us.”
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