When we rest in christs fulfilled and ongoing priestly work, we are able to approach the. In the jewish system, a priest mediated between the people and god. They are given a highly responsible role of stewarding the sheep in the shepherds stead, though of. In the book of hebrews, jesus is called a high priest hebrews 2.
Only gods servant, the branch, can sit on the throne in the temple as both king and high priest. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, yeshua the son of god. Lewis johnson provides a detailed and informative comparison of the levitical priesthood and how it was designed to reflect the role of christ in connecting his believers to god. King messiah will build the temple, bear the glory, and sit upon the throne as both king and priest. Aaron and christ, or the typology of the priesthood slj. With the deaths of the high priests throughout the centuries, others were appointed to replace them, that is, until jesus became the final and eternal high priest. He is the great prophet, like unto whom the messiah will be deut. Our great high priest therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavensjesus the son of godlet us hold fast to the confession. High priest is only one of the many titles applied to jesus. The book of leviticus is the third of five books of the law of moses, also known as the torah or pentateuch. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. God invites israel to live in close proximity to his holy presence. Our great high priest leviticus the theme of the book of leviticus is holiness.
The day the priests dropped dead leviticus, hebrews, 1. The high priest had to be whole physically without any physical defects and holy in his conduct leviticus 21. Then follow the dedication of the priests who were the mediators of this fellowship in chaps. Our great high priest leviticus you shall be holy to me, for i the lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine leviticus 20. Leviticus takes on whole new meaning when you read it in the light of hebrews talking about christ, our great high priest.
Why was the high priest such an important position in the old covenant. Only the high priest, however, was allowed to enter the holy of holies and then only on the day of atonement leviticus 16. Every priest was a levite, but not every levite was a priest. Aharon was a prophet, high priest, and the elder brother of moses in the abrahamic religions. Moses provisional priestly role seems to come to an end here. Aaron and christ, or the typology of the priesthood leviticus 8. Yet it seems of little relevance to christianity, and even provides little practical guidance for jews ever since the dest. Because the high priest held the leadership position, one of his roles was overseeing the responsibilities of all the subordinate priests 2 chronicles 19. She called him levi, which means joined or united, for she said, now this time will my husband be joined unto me. I do know one guy at our church who loved leviticus he called it the book of enchantment, though we could never figure out whybut he was probably the. The book of leviticus is thought to lay down rules for all jews, but some biblical scholars think the laws were originally meant for a more select group. The unique offering on the day of atonement for the sins of israel consisted of two goats leviticus 16. Leviticus has a lot of rules about putting things in order, starting right away in chapter one.
The first goat was killed, and the high priest cleansed the sanctuary and the holy objects with its blood. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. Our high priest is the son of god perfect forever desiring god. Messiah, savior, son of god, son of man, friend of sinners, etc. This great day of atonement is declared the once for all offering of christ in hebrews 9. Every part of the high priest s garments describes some aspect or attribute of our lord jesus. Moses was the great mediator between god and the israelites superior even to the high priest. Yet the great climax of this book can be clearly seen in leviticus 16 where god gives the instructions for making atonement for sin on the great day of atonement yom kippur. The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair become unkempt or tear his clothes. Seiss scholarly treatment of the teachings of this book should be read by every alert christian. Many christians want to skip over the book of leviticus because they regard its study as tedious or irrelevant for followers of yeshua. Leviticus chapter 4 kjv king james version 1 and the lord spake unto moses, saying.
High priest of king solomons temple by an unknown artist. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. The lord has sworn and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever according to the order of melchizedek. Each one focuses on a particular aspect of who he is and what that means for us. Even including some of the whole burnt offering and the priest that offereth any mans burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered. Everything from sexual conduct to the handling of food, to instructions for worship and religious celebrations, is covered in detail in the book of leviticus. The bible tells us that christ is our great high priest and that he goes before usbut what does this mean for the modernday believer. Melchizedek eternity, nature of jesus christ, priesthood jesus christ, eternity of. Understanding the significance of jesus christs role as our great high priest will. Having thus fairly introduced his great theme, the writer strikes the keynote of his great argument. The office of the high priest was hereditary and was traced from aaron, the brother of moses, of the levite tribe exodus 28.
But lets look at some of those differences between the old testament priests and christ as our great high priest. The day would come when the sons of levi could step aside to welcome this priest of priests. The high priests belonged to the jewish priestly families that trace their paternal line back to aaron, the first high priest of israel in the hebrew bible and elder. As usual, god revealed these laws to moses, not directly to the priests or even the high priest, aaron leviticus 16. When the high priest entered into the holy of holies and sprinkled the blood upon the mercy seat the sins of the entire nation for the previous year were forgiven by god. More insights from your bible study get started with logos bible. Rather than a yearly or daily atonement, jesus sacrifice is onceforall hebrews 10. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens. Jesus christ is both our high priest and the lamb of god who takes. Hebrews has several passages depicting jesus as the high priest hebrews 2. Alistair begg explains that jesus has done all that is necessary to restore us to a right relationship with god. Thus, leviticus is best explained as a guidebook for instructing gods people about holy living and worship.
Who is the high priest of the book of leviticus answers. The last half of leviticus 6 and a lot of leviticus 7. In chapter 10, however, aaron is installed as the high priest, and he very much comes into his own. Christ is both our priest and our sinatoning sacrifice, the lamb of god who has taken away our sins. He met abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and abraham gave.
The book of leviticus new international commentary on the. Leviticus means concerning the levites and as the work of the ancient levites is explained so the prophesied work of the great and divine high priest is being explained. The law includes the books of genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy. Now these are to you the unclean among the swarming things which swarm on the earth. Christ is both the maker and the matter of the atonement. The tent of worship leviticus remember, when jesus died on the cross, the veil in solomons temple tore from top to bottom. Hilkiah finds the book of the law 8 then hilkiah the high priest said to shaphan the scribe, i have found the book of the law in the house of the lord. The high priest was the supreme religious leader of the israelites. Aug 02, 2008 the high priest is also a type of christ. Most notably, the torah bars the high priest from drawing near to any dead body, including those of his parents. The death of the high priest marked the end of an epoch. Leviticus serves as a guide to the chosen, though sinful, people of a holy god. The priests of nehemiahs day seem opposed to reform, whereas leviticus magnifies the office of high priest. These pictures are serve as visual aids to teach us about our great high priest.
In order to read leviticus well we must therefore remember these two things. Leviticus literally means the book of the levites and contains all the laws concerning the priests and their duties. Stand over there, arrange the wood, wash various animal parts, remove the fat and bloodgod at a sacrifice is a lot like a typea dad at a bbq. Leviticus was written for priests, not you, say scholars. This book explores how the sacrificial rituals and. According to verse 1, another great thing about the reality which is greater than the shadow is that our high priest is seated at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. New living translation the high priest has the highest rank of all the priests. The priesthood of melchizedek is a role in abrahamic religions, modelled on melchizedek, combining the dual position of king and priest. Leviticus chapter 9 kjv king james version the oil also represent the gospel which were upon the head of the priest notice in lev 8. Our great high priest leviticus redeemers grace church. Throughout the book of hebrews we see jesus referred to as the great high priest. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
One of the great distinctions of this third book of the bible is found in the name given by leah to her third son. The book of leviticus the book of leviticus the name leviticus was given to the third book of the pentateuch by the ancient greek translators because a good part of this book deals with concerns of the priests, who are of the tribe of levi. He has, by his one great sacrifice for sin, forever put away all the sins of all his people isa. Nov 29, 2017 as a book of the pentateuch, attributed to moses himself, leviticus is considered one of the most sacred books of the bible. Dec 15, 2019 a perfect, eternal priestking, at once davids son and davids lord. Now keep in mind, also, that once a year the high priest would go into the holy of holies, and he would take blood to cover the sins of all the people. The book in hebrew is named after the first word wayiqra, and he called as the lord. Yes and no yes, in the sense that as i will later cover in leviticus 10, the ordination of these high priests is akin to the ordination of ministers and pastors. Jesus the great high priest therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, jesus the son of god, let us hold firmly to. This aaron, who is now honored by being appointed as israels first high priest, is the same man who seemed to be, at best, a sort of tag.
Knowledge of aaron, along with his brother moses, comes exclusively from religious texts, such as the bible and quran. This is unfortunate because leviticus is truly the central book of the torah, and in its pages the great sacrificial work of yeshua is foreshadowed and explained for us. Another thing that god starts giving directions about is, well, direction. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. The high priest, that is to say, the priest, is the greatest among his brethren. We must learn to love and fear god for his powerfully personal attributes, understanding them through the gospel as we adopt them as our own. Priest, high definition and meaning bible dictionary. Even though aaron was the first high priest mentioned in the book of exodus, louis ginzberg in legends of the jews noted that in legends the first man that assumed the title of high priest of god is enoch, who was succeeded by methuselah, lamech, noah, shem, melchizedek, abraham, isaac and levi.
The high priests belonged to the jewish priestly families that trace their paternal line back to aaron, the first high priest of israel in the hebrew bible and elder brother of moses, through zadok, a leading priest at the time of david and solomon. The book of leviticus, king james version dramatized. Moses served in the role of a prophet when he did this. If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the lord by deceiving a neighbor about something entrusted to them or left in their care or about something stolen, or if they cheat their neighbor, read verse in new international version. Christ is the great high priestand the book of leviticus describes the office of the high priest, a type of christ. In a curious incident in the life of abraham, a priestking by the name of. New american standard bible and since we have a great priest over the house of god, new king james version and having a high priest over the house of. Messiah as both king and priest john mcternans insights. Second, the israelites would have been impressed with the grace of god in the appointment of aaron as israels high priest.
Just as the prophetic role of the messiah was prefigured in the old testament by moses, so the priestly role of the messiah was prefigured in the old testament by the great melchizedek, king of salem, priest of the most high god see genesis 14. May 08, 2012 the old testament briefly mentions that he was the king of salem jerusalem and a high priest who blessed abraham and received his tithing. In fact, if you read through this new testament text you will quickly see that presenting jesus as our high priest is the central theme of the entire letter. The book of hebrews has much to say about christ as our great high. Now, of course, he isnt dressed like this in heaven. Under the law of moses the king and high priest could never be united under one person. Aaron was the first high priest and his male descendants became priests, with the firstborn son in each generation inheriting the high priesthood. Earlier this morning i was thinking about the duties of the high priest of israel on this great day of atonement. It is about how the people of god should live, eat and sacrifice.
In the book of leviticus the children of israel were marking time at mount sinai. The king of the universe, god, is sitting in his throne room. I will be working through that in the latter part of this post. So technically leviticus is named after levi, the first priest. First of all, the old testament priest, as weve said, had to be from the tribe of levi. His sacrifice is what provides cleansing for our sins. Try meditating on the picture of a high priest sacrificing an animal and both priest and animal are types of christ and imagine the implications of christs work on the cross. The near place of the levites is seen in the fact that they were joined to aaron who was of the same family, the high priest who could enter the holiest on. It is apparent that this is a very important title, and we know just from its repeated use that it. The apostle paul writes in the book of hebrews of jesus becoming the everlasting high priest upon his death, burial and resurrection. Jul 25, 2016 if you ask christians for their favorite book of the bible, hardly anyone is going to answer, leviticus.
Also the tithe laws indicated about a ratio of 10 levites to one priest in leviticus, but ezra 8. Leviticus chapter 22 kjv king james version 1 and the lord spake unto moses, saying. In this way the high priest was cleansed and could then go on to offer the cleansing sacrifices for the people leviticus 16. Through his highpriestly work, the smoke of every altar would finally cease, the cherubim would finally sheathe their sword, and the doors to the. The office of priest was an important one in the old testament system and is fulfilled by jesus. Only the high priest could enter and, before doing so, he was required to make a sacrifice for himself.
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