Priests

In short

Not the Catholic kind; we’re talking about men in the Old Testament who offered sacrifices in the temple and tabernacle.

Why they are important

Priests alone were allowed to come before God. As Korah and his men learned, “no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the LORD said” (Num 16:40).

Background

1. The first priest mentioned in the Bible is Melchizedek, and that’s a fascinating story for another day (November 1, actually)
2. But I’ll focus on priests of the Mosaic Law. The first is Aaron, who is Moses’ brother.
3. In fact, ALL ordained priests after Aaron are Aaron’s descendants (Num 3:10)
4. Another key word to remember about priests is LEVITES (people from the tribe of Levi)
5. Aaron is a Levite (Ex 4:14), and therefore all priests are Levites
6. But, of course, all Levites are not necessarily priests.
7. But ALL Levites are set aside for service to the temple and priesthood (Num 3:6-9). Again, that’s a story for another day (May 8, actually).
8. Knowing that priests are Levites comes in handy – for example, it makes it obvious that someone from Judah could not possibly be a priest after the order of Aaron (BIG HINT there)

Examples

Most of them are actually very BAD examples.

• Aaron. While Moses is receiving the laws, to include the establishment of Aaron as priest (Ex 29:9), Aaron decides to break the first two commandments (Ex 20:2-4) by making a golden idol for the people to worship (Ex 32).
• Two of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu. Right after being consecrated to serve, they break the rules and are killed on the spot by the LORD (Lev 10:1-2).
• Eli’s sons. They would steal sacrifices for themselves (which is ironic, since the sacrifices are theirs to eat anyway) and also were killed by the LORD (1Sa 2:25).
• Ezra. He was a good one, who grew up in exile, oddly enough.
• Caiaphas. High Priest at Jesus’ trial and persecuted the apostles as well. His father-in-law, Annas was also high priest.

The royal priesthood

I’ve always thought 1 Peter 2:9 was a really cool message to Christians: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

But did you know that’s actually a quote from Exodus 19:5? “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

So, did you catch the hint in background #8 earlier? Kings come from Judah and priests are from Levi, so how on earth can everyone be a “kingdom of priests” or a “royal priesthood”?! That’s a great question for another day (May 10, actually).

Theology and doctrine

The rejection of Eli in 1 Samuel 2:27-36 may be bigger than it seems at first.

The rejection seems to stretch all the way to the entire Levitical priesthood.

• The LORD recalls whom he chose “out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest” (1Sa 2:28) – that’s Levi.
• He describes how he reveled himself “to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh” (1Sa 2:27) – that’s Moses and Aaron, I’d say.
• In 1Sa 2:30, God rejects Eli and “the house of your father,” so that they will not minister to God forever.
• Instead, God says, “And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever” (1Sa 2:35) – that seems to allude to David* (of the tribe of Judah, whom Jesus, the great high priest, was descended from).

Footnote

* “I will build him a sure house” (1Sa 2:35) alludes to a similar promise to David in 2Sa 7:11 and 27. And David did several priestly things in his life, like wearing a linen ephod.