Priesthood is the calling to stand between God and people with sacrifice, prayer, and holy service.
In Israel the sons of Aaron kept the altar, the holy place, and the day of atonement.
Jesus is the great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.
Those who belong to Him are a royal priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
From Sinai the Lord took the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron to draw near on behalf of the nation.
- They offered blood for sin, taught the law, blessed the people, and guarded the distinction between the holy and the common.
- Their work was real, and it was incomplete.
- Every priest stood daily, offering the same sacrifices that could never take away sins.
In the days of Abraham there was already another figure: Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, who blessed Abraham and received a tithe.
The psalm swore that Messiah would be a priest forever after that order. The letter to the Hebrews says that word is fulfilled in Jesus.
The church does not replace His priesthood. She shares in it as
- a people of priests:
- a chosen race,
- a royal priesthood,
- a holy nation,
- to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called them out of darkness.
- A priest does not invent a way to God. He serves in the way God has appointed.
- The Levitical priesthood was a gift and a shadow. It could not finish the work.
- Melchizedek’s order is older than Levi and is fulfilled in Christ alone.
- Jesus is both the Priest and the offering.
- His session at the right hand means the sacrifice is done and the intercession continues.
- Believers are priests together, not a new Aaronic caste that bars the rest of the church.
- Spiritual sacrifices are praise, good works, bodies presented, and the gospel made public.
- Levitical Service – Aaron’s house at the altar, in the holy place, and behind the veil once a year.
- Order of Melchizedek – King and priest, without the line of Levi, blessing Abraham.
- High Priest Forever – Jesus, appointed by oath, holding His priesthood permanently.
- Once for All – One offering, finished, never to be repeated as a bloody act.
- Intercession – He always lives to plead for those who draw near.
- Torn Veil – The way into the holy places is opened by His blood.
- Royal Priesthood – The whole church proclaims, prays, and offers itself to God.
- Exodus 19:6 – “And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
- Exodus 28:1 – “Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests…”
- Leviticus 16:32-34 – The high priest makes atonement once a year for the people, as the Lord commanded Moses.
- Numbers 18:1, 7 – “You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary… You shall keep your priesthood…”
- Deuteronomy 33:10 – “They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law; they shall put incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.”
- Genesis 14:18-20 – “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him…”
- Psalm 110:4 – “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’”
- Hebrews 5:5-6, 9-10 – “So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’; as he says also in another place, ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.’… being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.”
- Hebrews 7:23-27 – “The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them… He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily… since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.”
- Hebrews 8:1 – “Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.”
- Hebrews 9:11-12, 24 – “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come… he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption… For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.”
- Hebrews 10:11-14, 19-22 – “And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God… For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified… Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus… let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.”
- 1 Peter 2:5, 9 – “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… 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.”
- Revelation 1:5-6 – “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.”
- Revelation 5:9-10 – “You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
- Romans 12:1 – “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
- Hebrews 13:15-16 – “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
- Malachi 2:7 – “For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.”
- 1 Timothy 2:5 – “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
We have such a high priest, seated at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Aaron’s sons stood daily. Jesus offered Himself once and sat down.
He holds His priesthood permanently. He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him.
Draw near. The way is open by His blood.
You are a royal priesthood. Proclaim His excellencies. Offer praise. Do good. Present your bodies.
There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Do not rebuild a veil He tore. Do not forget that priests of the new covenant still live holy lives, because the Holy One has made them His.
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