The book of Leviticus contains God’s explicit instructions on how they should worship him. In chapter 8 the Lord explains the precise way Aaron and his sons will be consecrated for the priesthood and ordained as priests.
Moses and Aaron
In chapter 9, after Moses follows God’s instructions, Moses and Aaron go into the tent of meeting. Though we don’t know what happens inside, we wouldn’t be wrong to assume they connect with God.
When they come out the Lord’s glory appears to all the people.
Fire comes down from heaven—the very presence of God—and burns up the offering on the altar. When the people see this, they shout for joy and fall on their faces in awe, worshipping God.
Though this is the first time that fire came down from heaven it’s not the last.
Nadab and Abihu
In fact, it happens again in the very next chapter. This time, however, it’s a sign of God’s displeasure, of his punishment for disobedience.
Two of Aaron’s sons—Nadab and Abihu—fail to follow God’s specific instructions for worshipping him. In response, the Almighty sends down fire (Leviticus 10:1-3).
They die for their sin of improper worship. They are consumed, just like the offerings on the altar were consumed when they were ordained as priests.
Elijah
Later, Elijah has some fiery experiences too.
The prophet has a confrontation with the prophets of Baal on mount Carmel. He prepares an altar before the Lord, places the sacrifice on it, and prays to God.
Fire comes down from heaven and burns up the sacrifice and everything around it. The people fall before God and worship him (1 Kings 18:36-39).
Another time, the king of Israel sends a captain with fifty men to bring Elijah to him. Fire comes down from heaven and consumes all the men. And it happens again with a second delegation (2 Kings 1:9-15).
God’s Power
In each of these instances, fire came down from heaven, showing God’s power. In each case, the people worship and revere God.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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When God gives Moses the Law, he sets three key expectations for worship, along with a lengthy set of mind-numbing details to guide the practices he wants his people to follow. God addresses this throughout Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
These three main elements relate to the worship space, the worship team, and their financial support: tithes and offerings. Much of the Law of Moses relates directly to these trio of items.
The rest of God’s instructions support these three tenants indirectly by guiding the people into right living as a daily way of worshiping God through their personal practices and interpersonal interactions.
These prepare them to move into relationship with him and worship him more fully through their many annual feasts, festivals, and celebrations.
A Place
In the Old Testament God is most particular about the place where his people are to worship him. And he gives detailed instructions in how they are to do it.
First, God sets specific parameters for the tabernacle and surrounding worship space. He gives exact instructions for its size, materials, and construction methods. In some cases, he even specifies who is to oversee the work. (See Exodus 26-27 and 35-36.)
The tabernacle and adjacent area function as a home for the various objects used in the people’s religious practices. God gives detailed directions for these implements of worship too.
He specifies dimensions, base components, and fabrication instructions. Again, he sometimes names who is to head up the construction. (See Exodus 28-31, 33-34, and 37-40.)
Later the people get situated in the land God promised for them. In doing so they transition from a roaming people to a nation with borders. They no longer need a portable tabernacle that they can set up and tear down as they roam about the desert.
Years later King David has a God-approved inspiration to build a temple to honor him. Although prohibited from erecting this grand edifice himself—because he was a warring military leader with blood on his hands—the king sets aside provisions for its construction (2 Samuel 7:1-17). It’s David’s son Solomon who builds this permanent worship space for God’s people (1 Kings 6).
In doing so the tabernacle built by Moses transitions to the temple built by Solomon. The portable tabernacle of the desert as the focal point of worship shifts to the permanent temple in Jerusalem.
With little exception, the people must go to this house of worship, the tabernacle—and later the temple—to approach the Almighty. His people see the tabernacle/temple as God’s dwelling place here on earth. They must go there to experience a divine encounter with him.
Clergy
But the people won’t connect with God directly. They refuse. They’re afraid of him. Here’s what happened.
In the Old Testament we see Moses on Mount Sinai, hanging out with God. They’re having a spiritual confab of the highest order. God has some words—many words, in fact—for Moses to give to the people.
In one instance God says they will serve as his kingdom of priests, a holy nation (Exodus 19:6). Really? Did you catch that?
God intends for a whole nation of priests. And who will they be priests to? Implicitly other nations. But this doesn’t happen. I’ve not found any evidence in the Bible of them as a nation serving as priests. What happened? It could be the people were afraid of God.
Just one chapter later in the book of Exodus, the people see a display of God’s awe-inspiring power. They pull back in terror. They keep their distance. God’s magnificent display of power terrifies them.
Because of their immense fear, they don’t want to hear what he has to say. Instead they beg Moses to function as their intermediary between them and God.
They ask Moses to do what they’re afraid of doing: hear from God. Moses serves as their first liaison with God (Exodus 20:18-21). In effect this makes Moses the people’s first priest, though the duty officially goes to Moses’s brother, Aaron.
After this, God seems to switch to plan B.
Instead of his people being a kingdom of priests, he sets some of them aside—descendants of Aaron—to serve as ministers, functioning as the middleman between God and his people. This is something far different than what he originally wanted with everyone being a priest.
Recall that God talks with Adam in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8-10). And after sin forces Adam and Eve’s exile from their paradise, God speaks directly to Cain, confronting him for his sinful murder of his brother, Abel (Genesis 4:6-9).
Then once sin fills God’s creation with evil, he approaches Noah with a solution (Genesis 6:11-22). Much later God has multiple interactions with Father Abraham (such as in Genesis 17:9), as well as his wife Sarah (Genesis 18:10-15).
God then meets Moses through the burning bush (Exodus 3) and later talks with him face to face (Exodus 33:11). And God speaks to many other people in the time between Adam and Moses.
This shows a consistent history of direct communication from God to his people. Now he wants to talk to his chosen tribe (Exodus 19:9), but they’re afraid of him and don’t want to listen.
They demand an intermediary, someone to reveal the Almighty to them. They want an ambassador to represent God to them. To address this, God sets up the priesthood. These priests will serve God in his temple and be his representatives to his people.
They’ll serve as the liaison between the people and God.
Though this begins with Moses, the religious infrastructure God sets up requires many people. We have the priests: Aaron and his descendants (who are Levites). And the entire tribe of Levi plays a supporting role in God’s plan to connect with his people.
Finances
Of course, this religious structure is vast. The priests lead the people in their worship of the Almighty God, and the entire Levite tribe supports this effort. Accomplishing this requires financial support.
To address this God institutes a temple tax of sorts: the annual tithe (Numbers 18:21). This is a mandated obligation to give 10 percent to support the maintenance of the tabernacle and the needs of the staff.
But it’s not just one annual tithe. There’s another one too (Deuteronomy 14:22-27). In addition, a third tithe for the poor occurs every three years (Deuteronomy 14:28-29).
This means that each year God’s people give between 20 and 30 percent to him in support of the tabernacle/temple, all the people who work there, and those in need. This averages out to 23.3%, approaching one quarter.
Take a moment to imagine giving one fourth.
In addition to the mandated tithes are various required offerings and sacrifices that relate to annual events (such as Exodus 12 and Exodus 30:10). God commands his people to adhere to all these obligations. On top of these are voluntary offerings and gifts (such as in Leviticus 22:21). God expects a lot financially from his people.
The Old Testament religious institution is expensive to sustain. And God expects each one of his people to do their part.
This is the Old Testament model for church: a place (tabernacle and then temple), clergy (priests and Levites), and financial support (tithes and offerings). We still follow this model today.
Read more about this in Peter’s thought-provoking book, Jesus’s Broken Church, available in e-book, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Chapter 2 in the book of Ezra overflows with names. We often skim it or may face the temptation to skip it altogether. Buried among this dizzying array of names is a sidenote that’s easy to miss, but it carries an important lesson.
Many of the Israelite exiles prepare to return to God’s promised land. Among them is a group of people, but they can’t prove their heritage. They search for their family records but do not find them.
As a result, they can’t serve as priests because their inability to prove their lineage to Aaron makes them unclean for service.
Someone did not keep good records, and the price for their sloppiness is exclusion from the priesthood. They didn’t value their heritage and that makes them ineligible to serve.
The Good List
Although Santa Claus has a good list and a naughty list based on behavior, God does not—even though many people believe differently.
True, the Old Testament values genealogies and lineages to determine who is in and who was out, but Jesus did away with that.
Instead, he saves us by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). It’s open to everyone. God’s grace and our faith puts us on God’s list. Our family tree doesn’t matter to God.
The Lamb’s Book of Life
The only list God has is the book of life. David talks about it (Psalm 69:28), and so does Paul (Philippians 4:3).
But most of the references to the book of life occur in Revelation, which is fitting because Revelation concludes with us going to meet Jesus in a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1).
Usually, John calls this the book of life, but twice he refers to it as the Lamb’s book of life. That is, Jesus’s book of life.
It’s the only book we need to be in, the only list that matters. We don’t need to keep our own records to prove we’re on this list because God maintains it. He enters our names when we follow Jesus, and never crosses them off.
Thank you, Jesus for saving us and entering our names in the Lamb’s book of life.
Read more in Peter’s devotional Bible study, A New Heaven and a New Earth: 40 Practical Insights from John’s Book of Revelation.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Contrary to the Law of Moses King David Reassigns the Duties of the Levites
In the book of Numbers, Moses details the assignments and responsibilities of the tribe of Levi, mentioning them over fifty times.
Though the priests, descendants of Aaron, are from this tribe, the rest of the Levites have God-assigned responsibilities too.
Chief among them is taking down, moving, and setting up the tabernacle and related elements of worship. They must do this each time God’s people move camp as they wander about in the wilderness.
The nation of Israel spends about four decades in the desert, sometimes moving frequently and other times not so much. This keeps the Levites busy.
Then they get to the promised land, conquer it, and occupy it. No longer is there a need to disassemble, transport, and reassemble the tabernacle.
What do the Levites do now that their primary job is irrelevant? That’s a good question.
Over four hundred years later, some four centuries with the Levites having nothing to do, King David arrives on the scene. He reassigns the Levites to new tasks that relate to worshiping God.
Who does David think he is to countermand the commands of Moses, as received from God?
It seems ill-advised to ignore what’s in Scripture—God’s written word—and replace it with something that makes better sense to us. But this is precisely what David did.
Though we could concoct a principal from this and say that when Scripture—God’s past commands—no longer makes sense in the present, we are free to change them.
Just like David did. Yet, I’m not going to go there. I think it’s an overstretch, a misapplication.
Remember, after all, David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). That’s significant.
Whenever I encounter something in the Bible that doesn’t make sense, I don’t ignore it. Instead I meditate on it. I ask the Holy Spirit to supernaturally explain it to me.
Sometimes he does so right away, in other instances it takes a few days, and on occasion I wait for years.
But until God instructs me otherwise, I’ll hold to what the Bible says and apply it the best I can to my life and our culture today.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
As Followers of Jesus We Become His Priests. It’s Time to Start Acting Like It
Aside from sharing my first name, I like Peter in the Bible. His concise writing packs a lot of practical teaching into his two short letters. He writes to those who follow Jesus. He talks about us being priests.
Peter describes us in four ways: as “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,” and “God’s special possession,” (1 Peter 2:9). While all four labels pack much value, I particularly like the idea of priesthood.
In the Old Testament, only select people could become priests. Priests had to come from the tribe of Levi, which ruled out everyone from the other eleven tribes.
In addition, they had to be a descendant of Aaron; this eliminated most of the rest of the tribe of Levi. Plus they had to be male, thus removing all women from consideration.
Last they couldn’t serve until they turned twenty-five, making younger men have to wait.
That was quite restrictive. Either someone was in or not. There were no exceptions. Jesus changes all of that.
Under Jesus, spiritual service is not limited to a select few born under the right conditions or possessing certain credentials. In Jesus’s church the door to priesthood is thrown wide open.
We are all eligible to be priests. In fact we are all priests by virtue of being his followers.
As priests we minister to each other and shouldn’t expect someone else to do the job for us. As priests we don’t need special clergy to serve as our liaison to God; we can approach God directly.
Under Jesus the priesthood as a special ordained position becomes obsolete.
Instead the priesthood becomes normal, something we all should embrace as our calling.
Today’s paid ministers and pastors are an extension of the Old Testament priesthood, something Jesus effectively eliminates when he fulfills the Law of Moses.
It’s time we start acting like his priests and stop expecting the clergy to do our jobs for us.
Read more about this in Peter’s thought-provoking book, Jesus’s Broken Church, available in e-book, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
God Is Still Waiting for Us to Obey Him and Minister to
Others
It’s interesting to connect the Old Testament with
the New Testament, to see what changes and what remains the same. Let’s look at
what God says about his people being a kingdom of priests.
A Kingdom of Priests in The Old Testament
In the Old Testament we see Moses on Mount Sinai, hanging out with God. They’re having a spiritual confab of the highest order. God has some words—many words, in fact—for Moses to give to the people. In one instance God says they will serve as his kingdom of priests, a holy nation (Exodus 19:6).
Really? I never
caught that before. And I’ve never seen any evidence of them as a nation
serving as priests. What happened?
It could be the people were afraid. Just one chapter later in the book of Exodus, the people see a display of God’s power. They pull back in terror. They keep their distance. They’re terrified of God and don’t want to hear what he has to say.
Instead they ask Moses to function as their intermediary between them and God. He essentially serves as their first priest (Exodus 20:18-21).
After this, God seems to switch to plan B. Instead of his people being a kingdom of priests, he sets aside some of them—descendants of Aaron—to service priests, functioning as the intermediary between God and his people.
This is something far different than what he originally wanted with everyone being a priest.
A Holy Priesthood in The New Testament
Though we do see priests throughout the Old Testament, we never see the
nation of Israel or Judah emerge as a country filled with priests. Will this
change in the New Testament?
According to Peter, in his first letter, it will—or at least it should. As followers of Jesus and through Jesus, we’re his chosen people, priests of a royal order, and a holy nation. We are God’s special envoys to tell others about him (1 Peter 2:9).
Individually we are parts of a building—living stones—used to construct a spiritual home, which we can collectively think of as his church, the church. As such we are a holy priesthood. We offer spiritual sacrifices to God through our right standing with Jesus (1 Peter 2:5; also see Ephesians 2:22).
A Kingdom of Priests Now
This is a grand vision: as followers of Jesus we
are his priests, a holy priesthood, a nation of priests. Are we doing this? No.
We hire clergy to work as our modern-day priests, serving
as our intermediary between God and us. We’re not functioning as we should, as priests.
We delegated this holy responsibility to a select few who have gone to seminary
and received their ordination.
Even today, God expects us to obey his call to serve as his holy nation of priests. What are we waiting for?
Read more about this in Peter’s thought-provoking book, Jesus’s Broken Church, available in e-book, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Miriam is the older sister of Moses; she’s also the sister of Aaron, but we don’t know which one is older.
At the time Moses is born, there’s a degree to kill all baby boys. Moses’s mom hides him as long as she can, then she puts him in a basket and places him in the Nile River. Mariam watches at a distance to see what happens.
When the pharaoh’s daughter finds him, Miriam pops up and offers to find a woman to nurse him; she picks her mom.
As an adult, Miriam is a prophet and worship leader of sorts, leading the women in song and dance to celebrate God’s rescue when they crossed the sea to escape the Egyptians.
Unfortunately, what we know most about Miriam is when she and Aaron oppose Moses over his choice for a wife and out of jealousy.
God’s judgment is quick, instantly inflicting her with leprosy (a contagious skin disease, untreatable at the time).
Though Aaron is also at fault, he is not so afflicted, suggesting that perhaps Mariam led their tiny rebellion. When Aaron sees what happens to his sister, he immediately admits his bad attitude and begs Moses to intervene.
Moses does and implicitly God heals her. The whole nation then waits for her for seven days as prescribed by Jewish law.
A few years later Miriam dies; there’s no mention of the people mourning her death, a sad end to a promising life.
Though Mariam started well as a brave and obedient daughter and later as a prophet and worship leader, she let judgment and jealousy define her later life. God was not pleased.
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
While the story of Cain killing his brother may be commonly known, the rebellion of Korah is quite obscure.
Korah was from the tribe of Levi; he and the other Levites were assigned God-given tasks to serve in the temple; they were set apart for this.
However, they were not to serve as priests; that fell only to Aaron and his descendants.
Korah didn’t like these distinctions. He advocated that all people were holy, had God (the Holy Spirit) in them, and should be elevated to the level of priests.
(Interestingly, these were something that Jesus would later proclaim and that his followers would embrace, but in Korah’s time this was not the case. There were distinctions and that’s how God wanted it at that time.)
Korah stirred up some followers, insisting on equal status for all. Then he and Moses had the equivalent of a modern-day smackdown.
Moses won and was affirmed by God. Korah lost—big time. The ground beneath him opened up and he and his family fell in and died. God squashed the rebellion of Korah.
Today, we would hail Korah as a martyred reformer who pursued justice and equality, advocating that anyone can approach God.
Although Jesus would later usher in these changes, those were not the expectations God had put in place in Korah’s day. God had a different plan then, and, no matter how well intended, Korah opposed it.
He will forever be associated with a failed uprising against God: the rebellion of Korah.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
The Egyptians fear the mushrooming population of the enslaved Israelites. They command all the Israelite baby boys be thrown into the Nile River.
However, one mother sees something special in her baby and hides him for several months.
When she can conceal him no longer, she does indeed put him in the Nile River, but not before protecting him in a watertight basket. Then she strategically places the basket where he might be found by a compassionate person.
Her daughter hides nearby to see what happens.
When Pharaoh’s daughter comes to the river to bathe, she discovers the baby and wants to keep him. The girl offers to find a woman to nurse the baby; she then goes and gets her mom.
Although the boy should have been killed, the Pharaoh’s daughter saves him and even pays his biological mother to care for him.
When the baby is weaned, his mother gives him back to Pharaoh’s daughter—who names him Moses.
This mother’s name is Jochebed and she has two other children, Aaron and Miriam.
Jochebed, like many moms, sees promise in her child and takes extraordinary measures to make sure he can reach his potential.
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
The Bible Talks about Priests, Chief Priests, and the High Priest
What’s the difference between priests, chief priests, and high priests?
From Mark 14:53 we see there are several chief priests but only one high priest. This is also confirmed in Matthew 26:3. With this as our basis, let’s explore each of these three roles: priests, chief priests, and high priest.
Priest
Though many nations in the Bible have priests, for the Hebrew people, a priest is specifically a male descendent of Aaron from the tribe of Levi. This means there are a lot of priests. Using the NIV as a reference, the word priest occurs 864 times in the Bible.
(Sorry ladies. I don’t like it that only some guys can be priests in the Old Testament, but I’m just reporting how it was. Jesus changed all that, but that’s another discussion for another time.)
Chief Priests
In the Bible the phrase chief priests seems to imply a special selection of priests, namely the leading ones. Chief priests (plural) occurs sixty-six times. However, chief priest (singular) occurs seventy-five times.
While this may seem contradictory, it could be that the chief priest (singular) is a key leader who rises above the other chief priests, who are above the other priests.
High Priest
High priest (always singular, except for two times) is mentioned seventy-eight times in the Bible. We see reoccurring mentions in the Gospels: Matthew (seven times), Mark (eight), Luke (three), and John (ten). High priest also occurs in Acts (eleven times).
However, the book leading the way with mentions of high priest is Hebrews (seventeen).
The fact that high priest is singular lets us know there is only one high priest at a given time. If the chief priests are over the priests, then the high priest is likewise over the chief priests.
The Bible mentions many men who serve as the high priest. How many do you know? Here are the names of high priests in the Bible:
However, there is one more priest. He is the priest of all priests. What’s his name? His name is Jesus. The writer of the book of Hebrews talks at great length about Jesus being our high priest (Hebrews 2:17, 3:1, 4:14, 5:5, 6:20, 8:1).
One way Jesus fulfills the Old Testament is by being our high priest. Ponder the implications.
The Old Testament talks about priests to prepare us to embrace the ultimate priest, the highest of priests, Jesus. Jesus who became our once-for-all sacrifice to make us right with God and restore us back into relationship with him.
Thank you, Jesus.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.” Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.
