Mountjoy Ministries: The Death of the Messiah (Continued)

Sacrifices and Offerings

REPRESENTATIONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS

In order to fully appreciate the Biblical concept of priesthood, we need to return to the principle of representational righteousness. Although humanity is organized in several different groups, in some respects we are all related and therefore can be considered one entity (the human race). At this level, the sin of Adam was not only imparted to those he fathered but also imputed. This is summarized in the phrase “in Adam”. As our federal head his fall was our fall. If we wish to enjoy the benefit of being “in Christ” and take the Son of God as our new federal head and appropriate His victory as our victory, then first we must accept that Adam’s failure was our failure.

Nevertheless, within this widest of groupings ‘humanity’, there are different ethnic and national groups, identified separately, and some, in the wisdom of God, treated differently. For example, there are those that are “in Isaac” (Gen. 21:12; Rom. 9:7; Heb. 11:18). In these smaller groupings also, the righteousness of a few may stave off judgment for the many. This is at the heart of the doctrine of the remnant. The godliness of the few saves the many. Thus, Abraham could plead for God to deliver the entire city of Sodom on the basis of finding there a small number of good men. High Holy Day prayers in the synagogue plead for mercy based on the sacrifice of Isaac or for the sake of the righteousness of Israel’s spiritual fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the stand that Paul takes, “… they are beloved for the sake of the fathers” (Rom. 11:28). The height of representational righteousness is accomplished in Jesus, whose individual sacrifice atones for the whole human race. Thus we can rejoice in the phrase ‘in Christ’. The issue, prior to Calvary, was that the process of salvation was gifted to the Jewish nation, and they were the conduit through which it could reach the world.

A Kingdom of Priests

The key text for the Mosaic Covenant is Exodus 19:6: “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests”. This implies more than a priestly caste, and indeed later Jewish tradition understood it as such, converting it from a promise to a responsibility (noblesse oblige), to requiring the whole population to live by the same code of holiness that the priests lived by. The whole nation participated in various ways. The principle that they all, that is, the whole nation, were subject to the priestly code was evident. They were all called to pray; to study the law of God; to obey the law of God; to witness to God; to sacrifice to God (although it was the priestly caste that physically performed the rite); and to attend on God according to the calendar provided by the Lord. This ‘kingdom of priests’ is the pre-curser of the doctrine of the universal priesthood of all believers. They were not only a kingdom of priests but also “a holy nation”; a nation that could discern between holy and unholy, between clean and unclean. Under the arrangement that Israel should be God’s ‘special treasure’ Moses was established as the main Mediator between God and Israel, and Aaron and his sons were inducted as priests, Aaron receiving the honor of being the first High Priest of Israel under the new dispensation.

The detail of the covenant, the commissioning of its officers, the requirements laid on the nation – all pointed to one thing - that the Mosaic Covenant is mainly a priestly code; even to the degree that it was consecrated by a formal sacerdotal ceremony, in which many young men of Israel acted as priests, to offer burnt and peace offerings to God. Half the blood from the animal sacrifices was used to consecrate the altar, the book of the covenant and the people. After having been consecrated by the blood of the covenant, the elders together with Aaron and his sons were taken up into the mountain to celebrate the arrangement with a sacramental meal. This event was graced by a theophany, no doubt with a view to signify the satisfaction of the Lord. The mechanics of the vision are not divulged. The plain statement of Scripture is, “they saw the God of Israel, And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity” (Exod. 24:10).

The function of a priest is to represent others. For example, the family of Aaron represented Israel. But the Exodus 19:6 text speaks of the nation being priestly, which must of necessity mean that it represents the nations. Not elected by them but elected by God. As Noah stood as priest at the head of humanity, and Abraham stood as priest at the head of the Jewish nation, Israel stands as priest at the head of the nations of the world. This is the truth at the back of so many Scriptural utterances, not least the New Testament exhortations, “to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Gentile)” (Rom.1:16; 2:10). I would contend that when God declared that Israel was to be a nation of priests, they were called to live as intercessory representatives before God for the sake of the nations of the world. Israel was to act as a conduit to channel forgiveness and blessing to corporate humanity.

As a priest is the same and yet different to the people he represents, so Israel is the same and different to the nations. While Israel as a whole is a kingdom of priests; the nation itself was organized to fulfill the priestly functions through specific tribal and family vocations. The tribe of Levi was set apart for the service of the Temple while the descendants of Aaron were called to be Cohanim (Priests) standing before God to represent Israel.