Prayer ~ Lord, open my eyes and heart to see ways that I can serve You now…and someday possibly as a priest in service to Your eternal Kingdom.
He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. Revelation 1:6 (Underlined for emphasis.)
Meditate. What does it mean to be a priest in God’s
kingdom? What are the qualities and responsibilities of a priest?
As I’ve meditated on this verse and thought about just what
it means to be a priest—I’ve gone back to the Old
Testament to see what they do. Who were the priests? The family of Aaron,
Moses’ brother, were the initial priests, serving God by offering the
sacrifices of the Israelites in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple. So,
what is a priest? Webster dictionary tells us that a priest is one who is authorized
to perform religious rites.
Priests had to be males from the lineage of Aaron (Exodus
28:1), between the ages of 30 to 50 years old (Numbers 4:3), have a good
marriage (Leviticus 21:9), and properly dressed (Exodus 28:1-4). There were
other considerations dealing with health and not cutting one's hair that imposed
on priests.
Their responsibilities included teaching (Leviticus
10:9-11), serving as judges (Deuteronomy 21:5), offering sacrifices (Exodus 29:38-42),
blessing God (Deuteronomy 10:8), blessing the people (Number 6:22-27), caring
for and preparing the Tabernacle when they were traveling, and blowing the
trumpets (Numbers 10:1-10).
The most notorious priest in the Old Testament is Melchizedek
who was a priest-king from Salem—better known as Jerusalem. He doesn’t seem to
have a beginning—he just appears in scripture ministering to Abraham, yet this
was before the time of Aaron and Moses.
And Melchizedek, the
king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine.
Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: "Blessed be Abram by God
Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has
defeated your enemies for you." Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all
the goods he had recovered. Genesis 14:18-20
Jesus Christ is a king-priest in the order of Melchizedek
as noted by the scripture in Hebrews.
This change has been
made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has
appeared. Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of
belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be
destroyed. And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied, "You are
a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." Yes, the old requirement
about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. For the law
never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope,
through which we draw near to God. This new system was established with a
solemn oath. Aaron's descendants became priests without such an oath, but there
was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him, "The LORD has taken an
oath and will not break his vow: 'You are a priest forever.'" Because of
this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God. Hebrews
7:15-22
Since the old priesthood system requirements have been set
aside people don’t have to be in the ancestorial family of Aaron. Now God names
the priests just as He has chosen Jesus to be the great High Priest.
Now when people take
an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And
without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath,
so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would
never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These
two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore,
we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the
hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our
souls. It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary. Jesus has
already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the
order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:16-20Stone anchors used on ancient boats
in the Sea of Galilee.
Israel
Verse of Salvation ~ In this way, God qualified him
(Jesus Christ) as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal
salvation for all those who obey him. Hebrews
5:9
Memory Verse of the Week ~ This means that anyone who
belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has
begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
© 2022 Text, photos, and illustrations
by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New
Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright ©
1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale
House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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