The following is the draft of the latest chapter in my forthcoming book: “Priests of the Bible“.

Chapter 13: Priests that were not of the line of Aaron

While “Priests of the Bible” will likely strike only a few as a worthwhile subject for an author, now in his dotage, as warranting it being not only his likely last weighty book but maybe his last weighty end of life project, yet as has become increasingly apparent, this subject is enormously relevant to the situation we find ourselves in today. As we come and try to categorise who were the Priests of the Bible, we could come up with several categories. The intention here is to consider each one in turn:

No need for priests (Adam before the Fall)

At the very beginning of the Bible (Genesis 1 and 2) we read of God’s wonderful creation that included the idyllic Garden of Eden, in which He placed our first ancestors – Adam and Eve. There was no need for priests as Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect fellowship with God. Then came the Fall, as described in Genesis 3, with the rest of the Old Testament to be taken up with man trying to communicate with God or their chosen deity using the office of Priest in various guises, and the New Testament telling us about the promised Messiah, who among other things is the Great High Priest.  

Melchizedek

Righteous Melchizedek was the King of Salem (Jerusalem). He was both a king and a priest, laying the foundations of the city where the Messiah would appear. Since he is only being covered in just a few verses (Genesis 14:17-24) he might be thereafter ignored but for the reference in Psalm 110, where we read: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool … The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” Psalm 110:1,4 and in several places in the Book of Hebrews when referring to Jesus. Melchizedek is a hugely significant Bible character, as discussed elsewhere in this book.  

Priests of God but before the Aaronic priests

These include: Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, who exercised one of the main functions of priests, which was to offer up sacrifices to God. These and others who fitted the bill of acting as some sort intermediary between the true God and those they represented are discussed in Chapter 3.

Aaron and his descendants (and also Levites)

This is the main subject of this book, which is introduced in Chapters 6 and 7 and is discussed at length in several places after that. The Levites were known as the priestly tribe and are discussed in Chapter 12. The Aaronic priests were of the tribe of Levi. While the non-Aaronic Levites could not serve as priests, they complemented what priests did, e.g. in serving in the Tabernacle and Temple.

Priests not of YHWH and not of the Aaronic line

The Bible makes many mentions of other gods and what went on regarding their worship, what was done in order to appease and serve those gods and in order to gain their favour. What we can only find out from reading between the lines was limited concerning the priests that operated in these systems (sometimes alongside false prophets, e.g. the Prophets of Baal in Elijah’s times). We know in Israel’s case, following the dividing of the unified Kingdom (Judah under Rehoboam and Israel under Jeroboam) that king Jeroboam was faced with a dilemma in that the Temple and the priests were in Judah. He set up his own false “golden calf” system based at centres in Bethel and Dan, installing his own priests. Tragically, both Israel and Judah were to turn to other gods prior to their exiles.

This even found their way into the Temple with no doubt priests not Aaron and certainly not of YHWH to administer such false worship. Interestingly enough, while we may have had priests not of YHWH or Aaron in the Inter-testament period, two of the priests (Zacharias and Caiaphas) that can be found in New Testament times can trace their lineage back to Aaron, even though the priesthood had become compromised with Rome, and their puppet kings, e.g. Herod, deciding who can serve as priest, especially who was to become the influential High Priest. There were cases when kings tried to usurp the role of the priest, e.g. Saul and Uzziah, but both were to pay a heavy price for doing so.

Jesus, the Great High Priest

Besides Melchizedek, Jesus was the only king that could legitimately serve as priest of the Most High God (YHWH). We consider in depth Jesus our Great High Priest in Chapter 19. Unlike the Aaronic priesthood that serves a valuable lesson, when it comes to types and shadows, Jesus alone has taken on that crucial role of High Priest, thus enabling Christian believers to enter into God’s holy presence.

The Priesthood of all believers

An important aspect of New Testament teaching, although it can be traced back to Mount Sinai in Exodus 19, is that of the Priesthood of All Believers, which is discussed in Chapter 41. It is good to be reminded “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ … But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” 1 Peter 2:5,9.

Priests and ministers today

Coming from the Plymouth Brethren and after that being involved with Christian set-ups that tended to be anti-Catholic and therefore anti-priest, the author felt it appropriate that in order to gain a fair balance he should devote a chapter (42) considering the important part played by priests (and their Low Church equivalent) today. Whatever one wants to call those the moderns may refer to as “the leadership”, many of the things today’s leaders do or are meant to do are not so dissimilar to what would have been expected from the Hebrew priests and therefore warrant a deeper consideration.   

Priests of the future

The Bible is a book of prophecy. While the Tabernacle and what is commonly referred to as the First and Second Temples (discussed in chapters 5, 14 and 15), there is also a yet to be built Third Temple (discussed in chapter 18), whether the one being planned right now or Ezekiel’s Temple (the author believes happens in the millennial reign of Christ) that we read about in Ezekiel 40-48. We know that in the latter there will be priests of the line of Aaron, specifically of Zadok. The last item of Bible end times prophecy concerns the New Heaven and the New Earth, where John writes: “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” Revelation 21:22. One can picture a scene that goes back to the Garden of Eden, when priests are not required.