THE PRIESTHOOD OF GOD
© Hubert Krause  Sept 1999
The Church of God in Williamstown
WEB SITE: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~sanhub/index.htm

INTRODUCTION
Most of us are probably more than familiar with these words of God to Moses in respect to His people Israel:

Now we can all cite some of the functions and responsibilities of the Levitical priesthood which was to intercede for Israel with God and be a role model for the nation: the supervision and the offering of the sacrifices, the care of the sanctuary and the tabernacle, roles of mediation, teaching and judging, to name but a few. Yet as we know, Israel of old as a nation never fulfilled this purpose of God for them, never did become a "kingdom of priests". The priesthood which then ministered before God was taken from the tribe of Levi alone, and even they failed to live up to the standards of the law of God.

Yet the promises of God to His people of old have, and will have, their fulfillment in the Israel of God (Gal 6:16) being perfected today. The purpose of this message is to consider some of the ways in which this is so, and how the Church is the spiritual priesthood of God, mediators between Him and mankind; it is a priesthood that will expand over the entire millennial world.

AN ETERNAL PRIESTHOOD
Along with God's promises to the true Israel of the messianic rule of His Son and of the unending dynasty of David is that of an everlasting priesthood. Let us consider this prophetic priesthood:

This promise of God of this coming priestly covenant is as guaranteed as His covenant with David and as His covenant with Noah (Ge 8:22; 9:8-17): In the imagery of the Jubilee year (Lev 25), a coming time of liberty and restoration is announced when the Israel of God now in training will totally and literally fulfill its destiny, becoming the prophesized 'kingdom of priests'—priests who both rule and who also serve the one King—mediating between Him and the nations: So how are we today priests of God, and what are some of the functions and responsibilities of a spiritual priesthood?

HOLY AND CONSECRATED TO GOD
The Levitical priests were consecrated to—set apart for—God:

God's expectations of both the high priest and his fellow priests were extremely high (Lev 21:1-23). A more stringent standard of adherence to the laws of cleanness was demanded of the priest, in accordance with his office. Rules to safeguard holiness were laid down in the law, both for the ordinary priests (Lev 21:1-9) and for the high priest (vv. 10-15). "Regard the priests as holy", God instructed Moses (Lev 21:8).

In similar manner, God expects much more of those He is training today. Peter tells us that, in contrast to the one single tribe in Old Testament times, all Christians today compose this royal priesthood (1Pe 2:5,9). A spiritual priest of God is likewise wholly consecrated to His service. As priests of the Temple of God, Christians are to reflect the holiness of God, as Paul explained to the Church in Corinth:

So are we, as the apostle Peter admonishes us (1Pe 1:15-16), "holy in all [our] conduct" (cf. 2Pe 3:11) a "holy priesthood" (1Pe 2:5), even as God who called us is holy? A priest of God must be holy.

A priest of ancient Israel could be disqualified for service in the sanctuary because of physical blemishes or defects (Lev 21:16-24): blindness, lameness, deformities, and the like. What can disqualify us from the service of God today? Spiritual blindness? A less-than-single-minded walk with God? Christ being malformed instead of fully-formed in us (Gal 4:19)?

We will revisit this theme of holiness shortly.

PROCLAIMING GOD
The Old Testament priesthood proclaimed God, representing Him to the nation of Israel. One of its functions was to collectively bless the people in the Name of God:

Notice the purpose of this priestly blessing of the nation: Jewish tradition has it that this blessing was pronounced by the priest at the close of the daily sacrifice. Notice that this benediction from God placed His Name, representing His person and all that this implies, upon the Israelites, thus linking them with Himself in a covenant relationship.

The divine Name, through Jesus Christ, has been similarly invoked upon us (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1Pe 4:14,16). Notice how James puts it:

This is the Name with which we, as priests of God of and in His temple, are now and forever sealed: As the priests of ancient Israel blessed the nation, so the Church by whose means, through Jesus Christ, mankind is restored to a right relationship with God, is to be a blessing to all nations, covenanting them to God through the promises made to Abraham, as Paul teaches us (Ro 4:13; Gal 3:8): How well do we uphold the Name of the God whom we serve, the Name imprinted upon us? And how well do we proclaim this Name to others by our words and our deeds? Is the Name of God furthered or impugned and retarded by our lives in the world? The apostles, imbued by the power of the Spirit of God on the Day of Pentecost in 31 AD declared "the wonders of God" to the multitudes assembled in Jerusalem (Acts 2:11). "I will proclaim the Name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!", Moses sang to the assembly of Israel (Dt 32:3).
Do our words, and our lives, similarly attest to the virtues of the great God who has called us into the priesthood of the Church? All about us, all that we do as saints of God should bring glory to Him. So do we glorify God, and does our service to God glorify Him, both now and in the ages to come?

Let us note what else the priests of ancient Israel had to proclaim.

PROCLAIMING GOD'S HOLINESS
One of the functions of the Levitical priesthood was to ensure that no unacceptable sacrifices were offered. Lev 22:17-33 details the offerings which were acceptable to God, in general only those free of blemish or defect. Only the best was to be given to God (Dt 15:21).
After this had been carefully spelled out to the priests, notice what then God said to Moses:

Through their service at the sanctuary and their supervision of the sacrifices brought by the people, the priests were to ensure that the holiness of God was proclaimed. God took it personally when His priests were derelict in these responsibilities: Because verse 9 speaks of drunkenness, Jewish tradition has it that Nadab and Abihu had acted under the influence of strong drink, so perhaps the holy incense was being offered in a profane manner and attitude. As priests they had been especially close to God, and should have known better. Aaron could but acquiesce in the sentence of judgment on his own sons (cf: 1Sa 3:18).
The salient lesson of the death of the two sons of Aaron lay in the following: If a priest of God is unable to distinguish between what is holy and what is profane how can he serve God who is holy, and the people of God who are to develop holiness by practicing and proclaiming that which is holy? Like the "unholy incense" here offered at the altar, under what conditions might our prayers to God be considered unholy, even profane? In this case, as mentioned, it would seem that the direct reference was to intoxicating drink, yet what is the spirit of intoxication that can pollute the holiness Christians are to be putting on, that can pervert the apostolic truth of the faith once delivered? The spirit of Babylon pervades all the nations and drives them to madness, the Scriptures tell us (Jer 51:7; Rev 17:2-4; 18:2-3). How much of it is still insinuated within our words, thoughts and actions? A spirit of madness, of lack of balance, is of the world—even if it proclaims itself to be of God!

It is the promise of God that His faithful priests, depicted as spiritual Zadokites (Ezek 44:15; raised before God while Levites in the flesh, we might say, are demoted), those who have never strayed from God and who therefore alone minister in the very sanctuary of God (v. 16), will indeed be making this distinction as part of their millennial responsibilities:

Interestingly, in this chapter describing the future priests of God, the prohibition on the drinking of wine when officiating directly before God is retained (v. 21). God is uncompromising when it concerns what is holy, as must we also be.

CLEAN AND UNCLEAN
Let us continue a little further with this theme of distinguishing between 'clean and unclean', or between holy and common.

After thorough examination, it was the priests of ancient Israel who declared an individual suffering an infectious skin disease 'clean' or still 'unclean' (Lev 13-14). This was as much an act of judgment on their part as were any of their other judicial functions. Isolation outside the camp was the sentence of all those found to be ritually unclean (Lev 13:45-46; Nu 5:1-4; 12:14-15; 31:19-24;.2Kg 7:3); it was a misery sufficient to bring even Jews and Samaritans together (Lk 17:12-19)! Such an individual could not re-enter the camp of Israel until he had been pronounced clean—again, by the priest.
In Christ's day, the priests still supplied the ritual certificate of cleansing which enabled people so afflicted to be re-instated into society once pronounced clean (Mt 8:4; Mk 1:44; Lk 5:14; 17:14).

How are these priestly functions of old fulfilled by the Christian priesthood of God today? How do we declare and pronounce judgment on cleanness—what God accepts—and on uncleanness—what is unacceptable to Him?
Let us notice in Isaiah's prayer a description of the uncleanness of sin, an uncleanness that must be dealt with:

How is this uncleanness then dealt with, cleaned up?
Christ tells us that the Word of God is able to cleanse those who follow it of sin: As we understand, the Word of God cleanses us when we act upon it. It assures us of what is acceptable to God, and bound by His Word, and what is not.

Notice Christ's words to Peter, later extended, in Mt 18:18, not just to the other disciples, but by inference to the entire spiritual priesthood of God:

The authority of priests of God to bind or loose is not one of arbitrary admission and exclusion (unlike the rabbis of the school of Hillel who "loosed" many things that the school of Schammai "bound"!], but one of deciding what is and what is not the will of God, as revealed in His Word. It is what is God's will that will be endorsed by Him. The judicial acts of Christians—priests of God—require spiritual discernment, based on the Word of God, not the mere physical observations of the Old Testament priests. What is, and what is not, acceptable to God?
The words of the resurrected Christ to His disciples were in a similar vein: Christians are empowered, in accordance with the Word of God, to make pronouncements on sin—to determine spiritual cleanness and uncleanness. Repentance or the lack of repentance are Christian acts of spiritual discernment—just as the priests of Israel discerned the clean and the unclean through physical observation and examination.
However, such pronouncements by the priesthood of God must be correct, must they not?

The Church of God, as individuals and as a collective, must be able to discern sin—uncleanness—in order to be able to exercise judgment on it (Mt 18:15-17; 1Co 5:1-13). And this must be a regular practice, or our spiritual senses may well become dulled to sin's presence. What had happened to the ability and willingness of the Corinthian believers to identify and act against sin that immorality such as was not countenanced even by Roman society (1Co 5:1) was allowed to continue unchecked in the Church of God? It had to take action by the apostle Paul before the appropriate pronouncement and judgment against sin took place. Are we competent and ready to make these judgments, even the 'trivial cases' of right and wrong between believers in the Body of the Church, as Paul refers to in 1Co 6:2-3?

As the priests had to discern conditions of cleanness or uncleanness, so do Christians need to develop the sound judgment necessary to discern good and evil:

Through constant use of our God-given minds are we training ourselves in the art of distinguishing between good and evil—between 'clean' and 'unclean'?

Let us now consider physical and spiritual sacrifices.

SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES
Notice how the apostle Paul regarded himself:

The preaching of the Gospel is a counterpart of the rituals of the temple of old, and Paul was a priest of God working to offer to Him a sacrifice of Gentile converts won to the Gospel and nurtured in the faith (cf. Php 2:17). In similar manner are all believers considered as the priesthood of God, and all the works of Christianity viewed as a sacrifice. This is true now, and will be for all eternity.

The burnt offerings of old sacrificed to God were "pleasing aromas" to Him (see Ge 8:21; Ex 29:18,25,41; Lev 1:9,13,17):

Just as this aroma of a sacrifice faithfully made was pleasing to God because it symbolized the spirit of obedience in which He delights, so the sacrifice of Christ is likewise described as a "fragrant offering (NIV)", or "sweet-smelling aroma" (Eph 5:2, NKJV). It fulfilled the symbolism of the burnt offering: a total dedication to the will of God: Doing the will of God sets aside and supercedes these sacrifices of old (v. 9). The intention of God has always been loyal obedience to His will, as exemplified by His elect Son. True sacrifices are the offering of ourselves to God. Is our total life therefore consciously and readily dedicated to do the will of God?

The metaphor of the Church as a spiritual temple and Christians as stones built into it is presented to us, among others, by Peter who also, as we have noted, offers us the analogy of the Church as a priesthood:

As the physical sacrifices of old brought before God were to be without blemish or defect, so must our spiritual sacrifices be clean and pure in order to be acceptable. So what are the sacrifices made by the spiritual priesthood of God today? We need to offer our bodies, with all their component members—all the diverse faculties and personalities of our beings—as a total sacrifice-offering of righteousness to God for service to Him. This type of sacrifice is not a propitiatory sacrifice, to avert God's wrath, but a sacrifice of obedience as well as of praise (Hos 14:2: "thank offerings to God"): Worship with the lips is not enough, however; it must be accompanied by good deeds which are also acceptable sacrifices to God (cf. Php 4:18): Let's be sure, then, that, day by day, we are such living sacrifices, acceptable to God.

TEACHERS AND GUARDIANS OF THE WORD
In Moses' blessing of the tribes of Israel (Dt 32) Levi, prophetically, was to teach God's precepts to Jacob and His Law to Israel, as a blessing to the nation (Dt 33:10). One of the main duties of the priests was to read and to teach this very law.
Notice what occurred shortly before the death of Moses:

Just as a secular treaty document was placed in the religious sanctuary of the vassal state, so was the Law of God, the Book of the Law, to be kept in the Ark of the Covenant, entrusted to the care of the priests. But the priests did more than read and teach this law. Again, prophetically, Levi was also to 'watch over' God's word and to 'guard' His covenant (Dt 33:9), a reference to the priestly responsibility to look after the Ark in which it was resident as well as to ensure that the law was upheld in the lives of the people. Even as the priests of ancient Israel publicly read from the Law in their instruction of the people, so the apostle Paul recommended to Timothy that he should devote himself "to the public reading of Scripture" and to the "preaching" and the "teaching" that would flow out of this (NIV, NRSV: 1Ti 4:13). This had been an essential part of synagogue worship (Lk 4:16; Acts 13:15, 27; 15:21), and was to form an important component of Christian worship.
Referring again to the admonition to Christians in Heb 5, it is obvious that as priests we are collectively intended to be teachers: Yet instead of being able to teach, here was a Church hindered by its slowness of learning (v. 11)! For them, advanced teaching was not possible (vv. 11, 13). For us to teach others, we must therefore first teach ourselves (Ro 2:21).

While it is true that some are specifically given gifts by God to be pastors and teachers (Eph 4:11; Acts 13:1; Ro 12:7; 1Co 12:28-29), we all have a responsibility to ensure that the sacred deposit of truth entrusted to us is faithfully transmitted to others, entrusted, as Paul put it to Timothy (2Ti 2:2, NRSV) "to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well". After all, the words of God taught by the priests to the people were in turn to be taught by them to others, primarily to their children:

So are we, as priests of God, guardians and teachers of His law and His Word? And whereas the ancient priests individually taught the people, we may consider the dynamics of the Corinthian Church in apostolic times as a model for the Church of God today: Are we, the spiritual priesthood of God, guardians of the His Word and His truth?
In 1Ti 3:15 [NIV], Paul describes the Church as "God's household …. the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation [ground, stay or support] of the truth". The Church of God is the custodian of the truth of God. In this we all have a responsibility: Today we possess the paradosis in the pages of the Holy Scriptures. Do we guard and preserve them—in our hearts and in our lives?
The Church, "the solid foundation of God stands" (2Ti 2:19), upholding His truth. And in this we, as priests of God, have a vital responsibility.

SINS OF THE PRIESTHOOD: LESSONS AND WARNINGS
As we know, the priests of Israel failed abysmally in their responsibility. At various times throughout Israel's history God indicted them for several sins. Is there a danger that God's spiritual priesthood today can be likewise found wanting? Can we learn where they failed to do so? Let's consider some of their failings.

How can it be, we may ask, that a priest in the service of God does not consult or know the God he supposedly serves?

How do we, God's New Covenant priesthood, handle His law and His Word today? Can we take our cue from the apostle Paul?

The sense of the Greek implies that behind this appeal of Paul for a straightforward, balanced, pure interpretation and handling of the Word of God may have been a picture in his mind of a straight-cut furrow or road, or possibly a stone-mason achieving a perfect symmetry in his work. This is the only answer to godless chatter and heretical beliefs (vv. 16-18,23). So those who teach the law of God can be rightly accused of not knowing God if the effort is lacking to seize the knowledge available and act upon it, and act to preserve it. The knowledge of God in action alone is the path to godliness. Actions speak louder than words: Can we, in similar manner, bring disrepute upon the Word of God or the doctrine of God when our actions belie our teaching: Even the failure by slaves to show due deference to their masters would bring the Name and the truth of God into contempt and ridicule, Paul taught in his day (1Ti 6:1). This must have been a "hard saying (cf Jn 6:60)" for slaves in the Church. What are the principles applicable here for us?
A Christian priest must not only teach godliness, but also live it! Do we "adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things"? (Tit 2:10) by our lives of godliness?
A picture is then painted of the model priesthood, an apparent allusion to the covenant made with Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, in Nu 25:10-13 (as well as to Jesus Christ, our great High Priest), a covenant from which the priests of Malachi's day had strayed, but one to which the spiritual priests of God will be true: Mal 1:8 tells us that blind, crippled or diseased animals were offered by them as sacrifices to God; instead of giving God the very best, they attempted to offer Him what was of no value even to man! What is the quality of our priestly spiritual service to God?

What are some of the lessons here for us as God's spiritual priesthood?

A MORE HONOURED PRIESTHOOD
As we well understand, we have been called to become kings and priests—the kingdom of priests that Israel of old failed to become: Yet our Christian priesthood is even more honoured. Let us notice Heb 13:10: Apart from the burnt offering, wholly dedicated to God, the priests of ancient Israel partook of the sacrifices offered on the altar, except that one sacrificed on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:27). Not even the high priest could eat of this. Yet we today may partake also of that very sacrifice of expiation—the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement—when we participate spiritually in the sacrifice of the Son of God (Jn 6:48-51). Jesus Christ is our spiritual altar, a privilege not afforded the priests under the Old Covenant.
Yet to share in this privilege is to also share in a sacrifice of suffering, a suffering of the same scorn and rejection Christ endured from the world: As priests of God we have a hard road, with great responsibilities, yet priceless promises to look forward to. Through us the Name and the Purpose of God will be evangelized throughout the entire millennial world. So are we, even here and now, fulfilling our role as God's spiritual priesthood, living lives of holiness that bring glory to Him, proclaiming His Name and His praises in all we think, say and do, and judging righteously? Let us be sure that we faithfully uphold the Word of truth committed to us and that our Christian lives are the daily total sacrifice that is pleasing to God. It's a call for rededication. All these things and more are part of our preparation for the awesome task that awaits us in fulfillment of the meaning and purpose of this Feast of Tabernacles: the honor of ministering to our great God throughout the millennial age and beyond.

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