Royal Priesthood

Prayer

Part of the Royal Priesthood

As many of you know, I grew up as part of the Roman Catholic Church. Our family was actively involved in our local parish - all of my siblings and I went to the Catholic school that was part of the church, we went to Mass most every Sunday. Several of my brothers and I served as altar boys.

And despite the fact that my first choice would have been to play middle linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys, there was a time in my childhood when I thought that I might become a priest.

Now, it hasn’t been in the way that I thought it would happen - in my mind I thought that if I were to become a priest my day to day clothing would be black pants, along with a black, short-sleeved button-down shirt with while tab collar, then putting on robes and various vestments in order to celebrate the Mass. But the truth of the matter is that I have ended up becoming a priest.

Now, to be clear, I don’t mean that by becoming a pastor I have become a sort of priest, just wearing a different outfit. I mean it in the sense that every Christian, every follower of Jesus - that includes both you and I - are priests. Through faith in Jesus we have all become part of God’s royal priesthood. This is known as the priesthood of all believers.

From the very beginning, God created us to be a part of his royal priesthood. Today, as we continue our journey through the story of the Old Testament, making our way through Leviticus, we’re going to take a look at the role of the priests. But in order to understand the role of the priests in Leviticus, we have to understand what it means to be a part of God’s royal priesthood, priests who serve the living God.

So, we have to go back to the very beginning, to Genesis, to the creation of humanity. Now, the word priest is never used here in Genesis, but the role of priest is. And not just a priest, but a royal priest.

To start with - what is a priest? A priest is an intermediary, go-between between God and his people. A priest represents God to the people, and represents the people to God. Or, in the case of Genesis, all of creation. Humanity - and only humanity - was created in God’s image, to reflect him. In this way, we represent God, his character and nature to all of creation. That is the priestly aspect. And it is royal, kingly, because we are given dominion, stewardship, over creation. We reign over it.

Conversely, we represent creation to God. It is on behalf of the world, on all of creation, that we come before God. We hold responsibility for the world and its care before God.

But we rebelled against that rule, at least in how we would do it. We wanted to rule over creation on our terms, not on God’s. We failed to represent his character - so we (in the persons of Adam & Eve) were kicked out of Eden, out of the garden, place where heaven and earth were one, where God dwelt with his people, where God and humanity work together as one.

And because we represent all of creation before God - creation suffered with us. The impact of the Fall, of our sin, has caused, as Paul describes it in Romans 8, creation to groan, waiting for our redemption. It is caught in bondage of decay, of death, because of our sin.

This theme of royal priesthood continues through the story of the Old Testament - we see it next in the story of Abraham. We’ve been talking about this repeatedly, but remember that God made promises to Abraham to make a great nation from him, a nation that would be a blessing to all other nations.

In other words, this nation that would arise from Abraham, would serve in the role of priests to all of the other nations, as an intermediary - they would represent God to the nations by being his holy people, his set-apart nation. And they would represent nations to God by being the people who were faithful to him, who served him alone as the one true God.

But like Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah tried to do it on their own terms, they tried to build the nation themselves - Sarah gave her maidservant, Hagar, to Abraham as his wife to bear a child on her behalf. So in addition to seeing this theme of royal priests - we’re serving a consistent failure to serve faithfully.

Of course, there’s the story of Abraham being tested by God, commanded to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to God (which is a priestly act, to offer sacrifices). And here Abraham was being asked to “surrender his family future to God” by sacrificing Isaac.

But it’s in this story that we get the hint of the royal priest who is to come, the one who will make the great sacrifice on behalf of all people. Central aspect of the story was Abraham’s confidence that “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.” God will provide the sacrifice.

Another example is a story we did not cover when we went through the book of Genesis, it is Genesis 14:18-20, Abraham has an encounter with a mysterious character by the name of Melchizedek: Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

There’s so much in this little story: Melchizedek is a royal priest - he is the king of Salem, described as a priest of the God Most High. He represents God to Abram, blessing him. Abram, in turn, brings an offering, giving him a tithe, a tenth.

But note the clues here: He is the king of Salem, which is the same root word of Shalom, of peace, he is the king of peace. His name, Melchizedek, means king of righteousness. So he is a priest of the God Most High, King of Peace, King of Righteousness. And what does he bring Abram? Bread and wine. Hmmm. Hold on to that, because we’re going to see it again.

Priests in Leviticus

So, we have this recurring theme of royal priesthood throughout the Old Testament (by the way, the Bible Project has a wonderful series of videos that lays all this out in greater detail) - we have Adam & Eve (humanity) as royal priests, Abraham as royal priest, Melchizedek as royal priest. This brings us to where we are in the story of the Old Testament, in the book of Leviticus.

Now, there are numerous chapters that lay out the instructions God gives for the priesthood that he is establishing here - they begin in Exodus, where we have instructions on the Tabernacle and the duties the priests have caring for the Tabernacle, as well as their garments. In Leviticus, instructions for the priests are laid out in chapters 8-10 and 21-22.

Now, the priesthood described here is known as the Levitical priesthood, because the priests all came from the tribe of Levi (hence, Leviticus), specifically from the line of Aaron, Moses’ brother.

But remember, even in establishing the Levitical priesthood, God’s intent was for the entire nation to be his royal priesthood. In Exodus 19, before God presents the covenant, the Ten Commandments to the Israelites, he says this: Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

But then God specifically calls Aaron and his descendants to be those who would serve as priests for the nation of Israel. I want to take a few minutes to walk through some of the descriptions of the Levitical priesthood, to show how they continue in this theme of the royal priesthood.

You see it immediately in their appearance, which reflects both the royal, kingly aspect, and their role as priests, as intermediaries. Consider their garments, which had a regal appearance, dressed in white, mixed with royal colors (blue, scarlet), adorned with gold and jewels, and wearing a crown. And the garment included their representing the nation of Israel to God - their ephod had 12 gemstones, one for each tribe. The shoulder straps had memorial stones on them, onyx stones that had engraved on them the names of the tribes.

And it wasn’t just their dress that set them apart as priests, they were called to a higher standard of holiness in their lifestyle. This included who they could marry, they couldn’t have any bodily defects, and they had to avoid becoming unclean, especially by coming into presence of a dead body. All this because of their responsibility of both representing the people to God (holy when coming into his presence) and representing God to the people (picture of holiness).

It even involved their drinking habits. Listen to Leviticus 10:8-11, Then the Lord said to Aaron, 9 “You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, 10 so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean, 11 and so you can teach the Israelites all the decrees the Lord has given them through Moses.”

But more so than whether they were drinking wine or not, notice the reason - so they would distinguish between the holy and the common, the unclean and the clean. And so they could teach all the commands, the decrees God had given them (being drunk would not help them in these tasks).

Because it was all about serving as intermediaries between God and his people - representing God to his people, living lives of exemplary holiness, teaching them the things God taught. They were responsible too, for casting what was known as the Urim and the Thummim, which they would wear on their breastpiece - they cast these to help the people determine God’s will (you’ll see passages that reference the casting of lots, seeking God’s guidance, this is what they would use).

Then, of course, they were to represent the people to God. We’ve already gone through the various offerings and sacrifices (burnt offerings, grain offerings, freewill, etc.) that the priests were to make on behalf of the people. It was the high priest who alone could enter the Most Holy Place the place where God dwelled (where heaven and earth met together) on the Day of Atonement, sprinkling the blood of the goat sacrificed for the sins of the people.

Return to Royal Priesthood

But, in one way or another, all these royal priests have failed - Adam & Eve, wanted to reign over creation in their own way, Abraham and Sarah, tried to make the nation God promised them on their own, the Israelites failed as a holy nation, as God’s kingdom of priests, with their constant rebellion, constant turning to idolatry.

And the priests were no different, they failed, too. Aaron the first high priest, what’s the first priestly act he did for the people? He made them a golden calf to serve as their god. He helped them engage in idolatry.

Then his sons, Nadab and Abihu, on literally their first day on duty as priests, Leviticus 10:1-3, Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when he said: “‘Among those who approach me I will be proved holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’” Aaron remained silent. Not a great start.

But in the midst of all these failures, God has been dropping clues of a royal priest who is to come. One such promise comes from Psalm 110, a psalm of David.

Psalm 110:1-4, The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!” Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning’s womb. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

This passage, which Jesus quoted several times, speaks to the promise of Jesus as both king and priest - the King whose mighty scepter will extend from Zion, from Jerusalem. The one whom God declares is a priest forever, not in the Levitical line (Jesus was not from the tribe of Levi) but in the order of Melchizedek, the King of Peace, the King of Righteousness.

Jesus showed himself to be both king and priest throughout his ministry…declaring to the paralytic in Mark 2, your sins are forgiven (that’s a priestly role!). The leper in Matthew 8 comes to Jesus and says, “if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus responds, “I am willing. Be clean.” And heals him. We see it when Jesus took the authority upon himself to clear out the temple, overturning the tables of the moneychangers, defending the integrity of this house of prayer. Who’s in charge of the temple? The priests!

In all these ways Jesus is declaring himself to be the royal priest. The royal priest who did not fail. The royal priest fit to reign, because he represented God perfectly to the people, and the people to God.

Which is exactly what the book of Hebrews reminds us of, over and over again affirming Jesus’ identity as the royal priest, the one who is to reign over us, the one who is our perfect mediator, who will represent us before God, and will represent God to us, showing us what God is like. Just a sampling:

Hebrews 2:17, For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

Hebrews 6:19-20, We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 7:23-25, Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

So this brings us full circle to where we began. Because Jesus became the perfect high priest, who is able to save us completely, now we, too, can become what God intended for us to become from the very beginning, his royal priesthood, his kingdom of priests.

1 Peter 2:4-5, As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

We’ve talked about this passage before, but do you see the imagery here, we are being built into a temple (that’s what the stones are for, the living stones), a house in which God can dwell, his presence in us.

We aren’t just the temple, but its priests, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through our great priest, Jesus Christ.

And so, like Jesus, like all royal priests, we serve as intermediaries. Listen to Paul as he describes himself in a priestly role: Romans 15:16, He (God) gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

And so, we come to the question we always ask at the end of our time of teaching - how do we put into practice what Jesus is teaching us? Core conviction - Lived Obedience to Jesus. What practices can we engage in so we might become more of the royal priests God made us to be - those who would share in his reign, who would represent him to all of creation, to the world?

We might consider this by asking the two-fold role of priest - first, by asking how do we represent God to others? Do people see Jesus in me? Do they experience his grace, his love, his goodness, through me? Am I sharing the good news of who Jesus is with others? (Paul’s priestly duty)

This is why we talk so often about engaging in the Discipline of Confession - working towards Heart Transformation, changed from the inside out, people who love well - like Jesus.

Here’s one great exercise to help you become a person who loves like Jesus - pray through 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud…And then pray it again using your name. Let the Spirit work in you to reveal where you might grow more.

Other side of that, how do we present others to God? Paul saw his duty of proclaiming the gospel to the Gentiles as priestly, so that they might become his offering acceptable to God.

Commitment to interceding for others, bringing them in prayer before God

An offering of service, of willing sacrifice, looking to the needs of others.

Don’t let the lack of priestly garb fool you. I am a priest. So you are. We’ve been given the holy calling of serving as intermediaries - bringing Jesus to others, bringing others to Jesus.