The Priest

My relationship with God requires a great High Priest.

Leviticus 8:1-5 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 "Bring Aaron and his sons, along with their sacred garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of bread made without yeast, 3 and call the entire community of Israel together at the entrance of the Tabernacle." 

4 So Moses followed the LORD's instructions, and the whole community assembled at the Tabernacle entrance. 5 Moses announced to them, "This is what the LORD has commanded us to do!"

Exodus 28:1-3 "Call for your brother, Aaron, and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Set them apart from the rest of the people of Israel so they may minister to me and be my priests. 

2 Make sacred garments for Aaron that are glorious and beautiful. 3 Instruct all the skilled craftsmen whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom. Have them make garments for Aaron that will distinguish him as a priest set apart for my service.

---

When we think of the word priest we think of a messy occupation that would gross us out if we had to do it today, we think that priest are no longer needed and we are so thankful that we don't need to provide an animal sacrifice anymore. But the work of the priest is much more than that, we need to expand our thinking of who a priest is and what they do so that we can see why we still need priest today.

The history of God's priest in the Bible shows us that the qualifications for the job has changed many times. The first time that the function of a priest is mentioned is way back in the garden when God shed the blood of animals to extend forgiveness and to make clothing for Adm and Eve. 

Outside of the garden a little later Cain and Abel would be acting as their own priest and then Noah, Abram, Isaac, Jacob and also Job were all making sacrifices to God. First the Bible shows us individuals functioning as their own priest and then later it shows us the head of the family doing this work. (Genesis 8:20, 12:7, 13:4 26:25, 31:54, Job 1:5).

After God chose a people for himself he gave them rules about how to live a new way to please him that would make them different from the rest of the world. They would have a new worldview, a new civilized way of loving God and their neighbor, new food rules and also new rules about how to worship.

God's rules for worship began with the worship leaders back in the book of Exodus, next he gave them his rules about how to worship, including the sacrifices in Leviticus 1-7, and now they are ready to ordain the first High Priest and the first priests that will serve under him.

The preparations for the ordination:

• Washed (Leviticus 8:6)
• High Priest Garments (Leviticus 8:7-9)
• Anointing (Leviticus 8:10-12)
• Priest Garments (Leviticus 8:13)

The offerings for ordination:

• Sin offering (Leviticus 8:14),
• Burnt offering (Leviticus 8:18)
• Ordination offering (Leviticus 8:22)
• Wave offering (Leviticus 8:25-29)

God's priest are ordinary men that need to be forgiven and cleansed before they can put on their priestly garments. The priest must be sanctified by the Sin Offering and the Burnt Offering before their special Ordination Offering and Wave Offering. These rituals would last for seven days and Aaron and his sons would have to stay at the Tabernacle the whole time.

The fact that Aaron was chosen as the first High Priest is an amazing symbol of God's mercy and grace, as the leader of God's people while Moses was away, Aaron led the people to idol worship. But instead of being disqualified, by God's grace he was elevated to a position of honor that he didn't deserve.

Malachi 2:5-7  “The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name. 

6  They passed on to the people the truth of the instructions they received from me. They did not lie or cheat; they walked with me, living good and righteous lives, and they turned many from lives of sin.  7  “The words of a priest’s lips should preserve knowledge of God, and people should go to him for instruction, for the priest is the messenger of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies."

God's chosen people (the nation) would have a chosen people (the priest) to be the ambassador between God and his people. They will lead them in worship, teach them truth and govern their everyday life. The priest would focus on helping the people maintain a clean and holy life that would please God and bring him glory that would be seen among the nations.

There Is A New High Priest

Hebrews 9:11-12 So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood-not the blood of goats and calves-he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

As I said earlier in this post, the priesthood has changed, it was originally the work of the individual or the head of the family, later it became an official occupation of a few men but now it has changed again. Because of Jesus the priesthood that God initiated in Exodus and Leviticus is now obsolete.

Jesus would die as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, but he wasn't just the perfect lamb that covered our sins, because of his sacrifice and resurrection from the dead he is now our ultimate High Priest that was chosen by God and because of his perfect obedience he is now interceding for us at God's throne in Heaven.

If you know your Bible a little bit you may wonder "how can Jesus become the High Priest if he is from the tribe of Judah? Didn't the priest come from the tribe of Levi?"

Melchizedek and the Priesthood of Christ is a great essay that explains how and why Jesus replaced Aaron's lineage. Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the High Priest, he met all of the credentials, but he came from the tribe of Judah through the lineage of the kings. (Psalm 110:1-7, Hebrews 7:11-28)

God's People Serve As Priest

1 Peter 2:9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

All of God's children are a chosen people that live as members of a holy nation that serve as royal priest so that the people that are not a part of this holy nation can see the goodness of God.

I think that it is a shame that most of us think about ourselves when we hear that we are priest or we hear about the priesthood of the believers. We think about the fact that we don't need to go through another human in order to talk to God or to receive forgiveness. But if we are true to the original priest in the Old Testament and apply their job description to ourselves then we will see things differently.

Direct access to God is just one of the benefits that we have as priest that are working under the great High Priest.

We are supposed to be:

• A set apart people that live to serve God and others.
• A light to the dark world around us so that they can God's goodness.
• A blessing to our neighbors and family, helping them to know how to please God.
• A multiplying people, making more and more priest to serve God and others.
• An encouraging people, nudging others to good works and holiness.

Salvation is a free gift but, as you can see from this list, it is so much more than a fire insurance policy. Obedience to God's commands should be a natural reaction when you understand how tremendously ugly your sin is next to God's holy standard. If you don't feel an urgency to live God's way then you may not be his child.

Titus 2:14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. 

1 Peter 1:15-16 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, "You must be holy because I am holy."

The proper Old Testament priest were radically different people, holy, cleansed and anointed for service. Shouldn't we be just as committed to the same high standards? 

The Old Testament commands to be holy are repeated in the New Testament so why don't we consider holiness as a requirement in our own lives?

RELATED ARTICLES

In the Beginning God Created a Priest (crossway.org)

Were Adam and Eve Priests in Eden? (bibleproject.com)

10 Things You Should Know about the Priesthood of Believers (crossway.org)

American Gospel

Too many want to embrace God's promises after death without obeying him in this life.

1 John 2:4-5  If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.  5  But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.

1 John 3:4-8  Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.  5  And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.  6  Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is. 

7  Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.  8  But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.

---

American citizens are prone to think of themselves as God's people and future residents of Heaven but way too many of us are not basing their beliefs on what God and Jesus said about the people that will be in Heaven.

The idea that you can know about Jesus and what he did without allowing it to have an affect on how you live is a very American way of viewing the gospel but it is not the gospel that the Bible tells us about. It doesn't take a Bible degree to see the truth that so many are missing.

The fact that so many believe the wrong thing about their eternal future proves that way to many of us haven't examined the Bible to see that their thinking is obviously wrong. The Bible never teaches us to believe without being changed into someone new that looks obviously different from the rest of the world.

Jesus Tells Us:

Matthew 16:24-26 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

Matthew 18:3  Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Luke 6:46  “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?

John 14:15  “If you love me, obey my commandments.

John 14:23-24  Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.  Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.

John 15:14  You are my friends if you do what I command.

The First Church Leaders Tell Us:

Romans 12:1-2  And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15  Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

1 Peter 1:13-15 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

James 4:8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

Titus 1:16  Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.

Too many people want to embrace God's promises after death without doing what he told us to do in this life. God has made it clear that his people that love him will also want to please him just like we want to please the people around us that we love.

Too many of us are working to gain all of the pleasures and satisfaction that the world has to offer without considering the end result. We can gain the whole world and enjoy every pleasure that it has to offer but what eternal value does it have?

1 John 2:17  And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

The Bible makes it clear that I am not saved because I live the right way but it is equally clear that if I truly love God and believe in the work of Jesus through his death and resurrection then I will not be able to live a life that displeases God. The character traits of Jesus will gradually become a greater part of who I am.

The Promised Son Fails

The heir of the promise didn't do anything to deserve God's blessings.

Genesis 26:1-3  A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.  2  The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you.  3  Live here as a foreigner in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. I hereby confirm that I will give all these lands to you and your descendants, just as I solemnly promised Abraham, your father.

Genesis 26:10  “How could you do this to us?” Abimelech exclaimed. “One of my people might easily have taken your wife and slept with her, and you would have made us guilty of great sin.”

---

It seems that God really wants us to know that we don't do anything to deserve his promises. Looking at the life of Abraham and Isaac we learn that the school of faith is never closed and  the test keep coming until the Lord takes us home.

Right after the death of his father, Isaac received confirmation from God that he was next in line for the promises and he would have his favor but it didn't take long to prove that he isn't any better qualified for those promises than his father was.

Struggling to Trust in God’s Promises: Isaac Lies about Rebekah 

(Genesis 26:1-17)

• Isaac didn't go to Egypt but he still had problems with his ungodly peers that brought him a lot of fear and grief.
• Just like Abraham, Isaac feared for his life because of his beautiful wife and he repeated his father's lie. 
• Abraham and Isaac were both reprimanded by ungodly men for their sin and it seems like neither of them repented.
• Sometimes God's people seem less like their father than the people around them.

Struggling to Live with Sinful Men: Isaac Quarrels with the Men of Gerar 

(Genesis 26:18-25)

• Isaac was well known by the elites of his day but not well liked by them. Sometimes God's blessings will bring hate and resentment from the people around us that don't have the blessings.
• Isaac's neighbors didn't tell him to his face to get out of town but they did make it impossible to stay. Isaac kept the peace and moved on each time there was a dispute. 
• To Isaac these wells were a necessity for survival, but to the Philistines these were a claim to the land and a means to support his growing household and livestock.
• Isaac may not have realized it but it was the disputes over the ownership of the wells he dug or reopened that served to guide him in the direction of the land of promise.

Struggling to Recognize the Sovereignty of God: Isaac Makes a Covenant with Abimelech 

(Genesis 26:26-33)

• God came through greatly on his promise to prosper Isaac if he resisted the urge to move to Egypt to get away from the famine.
• Abraham and Isaac both offended Abimelech and they were both approached later to make a treaty with him.
• Maybe Abimelech wanted God's favor and blessings and he thought that he could get it by becoming Isaac's friend.
• Isaac had nothing to gain by making the covenant with Abimelech. Isaac already learned that his safety and his prosperity came from God and not the king.

God's covenant with Abraham was passed on to another undeserving sinner that had many flaws. Thankfully God's covenant was an unconditional one that did not rely on the faithfulness and good works of Abraham, Isaac or any of us.

Galatians 3:2-3, 9  Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.  3  How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?

9  So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

Thankfully the new covenant that Jesus offers (Luke 22:19-20) is also given freely without needing to deserve it. God's blessings and care for us is based on what the ultimate promised son (Jesus) did for us instead of what I have or have not done. God's promise of redemption that he made way back in Genesis is still good no matter how bad mankind has become and how little we deserve them.

Thank you Lord for the new covenant with the better high priest that paid the final sacrifice for every sin for those that believe in him. (Hebrews 8:1-13)

RELATED ARTICLES

10 Things You Should Know About The New Covenant (crossalk.com)

Follow

Jesus offers a simple invitation to learn more.

Matthew 9:9-13 As Jesus was walking along, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector's booth. "Follow Me and be My disciple," Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed Him.

10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and His disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with such scum? "

12 When Jesus heard this, He said, "Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do." 13 Then He added, "Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.' For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."

---

Following any religion or spiritual teacher probably makes you think of the work that will be required to follow their rules. Most religious systems say "change these things and you can join us," so it may seem strange to learn that when Jesus asked people to follow him he said "come as you are."

When Jesus began his ministry, he looked for some men to partner with, men that were willing to check out what he was doing and get to know him better, they probably never intended to keep following for so long but there was something about him that they couldn't walk away from.

When the unlearned, dirty fishermen and the repulsive tax man began to follow Jesus they didn't know what they were in for. They didn't really know him or his purpose for calling them, they didn't believe or have faith in anything, they were just excited to learn more about Jesus.

God never did like religious people so it's no surprise that Jesus did not give the invite to any of those types of people. It reminds me of Jesus birth, the least likely to get the good news were the ones that got it, the dirty shepherds and the Gentile wise men were chosen while the religious Jews that were well acquainted with scripture missed it despite the heads up they received from the wise men.

But don't be too hard on the Pharisees, some of them were really sincere and devoted to pleasing God, the bad news for us is that we are not much different. Their sinful attitude is common among man since the beginning and it continues with us.

We tend to look down on other people, especially people that don't have Jesus' influence on their lives, we like to think that we are better than they are. The world sees our hypocrisy and it turns them off to following Jesus because too often our actions, our attitudes and our tongues prove that we are very similar to them. (Romans 2:1-3)

The more conscious I am of the work that God has yet to do on me the less critical I am of what God has yet to do in you.

-Andy Stanley

We like to make following Jesus a complicated list of rules or beliefs but when Jesus first invited someone to follow him there were not any prerequisites. Jesus didn't say you have to follow the rules or believe a certain way, he invited people to follow first, get the facts and learn more about him.

The church should be a place where those that are without Jesus feel loved, accepted and comfortable so that they can come close and learn more about Jesus. The church will never grow if people think that they have to obey our rules and be a better person before they can be welcome in our building.

Matthew 23:13, 15 "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people's faces. You won't go in yourselves, and you don't let others enter either. 15 "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!

To the people that do not know him he gives a warm invite but to the religious fakes that would not get serious about their relationship with God he was kind enough to warn them so that they could change their ways.

Religion says to believe right, behave right, change your ways and if you are successful then you can join us. Jesus says come as you are, come and see what I am all about, follow me and then you will find the power to change.

RELATED ARTICLES

What We Need To Learn From The Early Church (thegospelcoalition.org)

The Feeble Church

Do your actions please God?

Revelation 3:1-6 "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the One who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: "I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive--but you are dead.

2 Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of My God. 3 Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to Me again. If you don't wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.

4 "Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before My Father and His angels that they are Mine. 6 "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches.

---

Busy people hate to know that all of the stuff they were doing doesn't matter to anyone, that is the ultimate letdown for a follower of Jesus, the worst thing that can happen is to find out that your work and sacrifice isn't pleasing God.

What a sobering thought to know that it is possible to think that we are working for God and doing things that we think that he wants us to do and then get a message from him letting you know that you are wrong.

"I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of My God."

The church of Sardis was a busy church with a great reputation with the community but it didn't receive the same praise from God. Physically they were very alive but spiritually they didn't have much life left in them. The community didn't have any reason to oppose these people because even though they were busy they were powerless.

Dead people don't accomplish very much so there isn't any reason to oppose them, the same is true of a spiritually dead church, their busyness doesn't concern Satan. The church didn't have any spiritual attacks against them because they were not effective for the Kingdom of God.

Don't try to impress the community with your programs that are built on your own strength, these will produce little for the Kingdom without God's approval, the plans must be his and the heart of the people doing his plans must also be his and must be right with him.

If we mess up either of those conditions then we will eventually receive the news that we need to make some changes, God will deal with us when we least expect it, like a thief in the night.

“Wake up! Be watchful! Repent! Remember the Word you have received and obey it!” 

The church is Sardis had a little bit of life left in them, God could have just sat by and let that spark die out but he desires better for us and gives us a warning that our actions do not please him.

God knows our weakness and our inability to totally follow his ways one hundred percent. The cure for this nearly dead church was to remember the way that they had first responded to the truth of God and to repent.

Thankfully he is a gracious and merciful father that gives his children a chance to change their ways.

RELATED ARTICLES

Autopsy Of A Dead Church (thomrainer.com)

Doing The Stuff

It's time to get busy working for Jesus.

 

Video: Doing the Stuff 

There are too many people in the church that are very content to be consumers, they come and take in the show and enjoy the music and preaching but they never contribute to the work of the church.

Many of us talk about the work and train to do the work but we never actually get to work, in the Bible there are plenty of examples of God's people working for him and very little discussion or training about the work, it makes me wonder how we got off course.

Jesus saw how desperate the world around him was and it moved him deeply and his heart was broken that there were so few workers for such a large amount of work that needs to be done. Jesus saw the field that needed to be harvested and asked his disciples to pray for more workers.

Work

Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. Matthew 9:37-38 He said to His disciples, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields." John 17:4 I brought glory to You here on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do. 1 Corinthians 15:58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. Colossians 3:23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Contents

The idea of working for God for the rest of your days on this planet is talked about all over the Bible and especially the New Testament.

Jesus has asked us to join in the work of helping with the harvest and praying for other people to join us in the work. What an honor and privilege to be chosen for such a highly important work.

RELATED ARTICLES

Will You Join Jesus In His Work? (pastorrick.com)

Doing The Works Of Jesus (desiringgod.org)