Yesterday I asked what were some of the implications of all believers being priests. Hopefully you gave that some thought. It seems to me that reality is mostly ignored in our communities. Chuck rightly observed that in the Old Testament the priests were leaders. They led in worship through the sacrificial system and taught the Law, the Word, to those in their charge.
If we are priests, as the passages referenced yesterday seem to indicate, then shouldn’t there be some correlation to what the priests that are described in the Bible did?
The priests were engaged personally in the Word of God, the scrolls that they had, the Old Testament. They did not simply listen to messages that others gave. Ezra is a good example of this. Read Ezra 7:10 (here @ Bible Gateway). Note the order of Ezra’s engagement with the Word of God, study, practice, teach.
As priests shouldn’t all of us be engaged in the Word of God like this? If not, why? If we are not, why?
If we are priests, as the passages referenced yesterday seem to indicate, then shouldn’t there be some correlation to what the priests that are described in the Bible did?
The priests were engaged personally in the Word of God, the scrolls that they had, the Old Testament. They did not simply listen to messages that others gave. Ezra is a good example of this. Read Ezra 7:10 (here @ Bible Gateway). Note the order of Ezra’s engagement with the Word of God, study, practice, teach.
As priests shouldn’t all of us be engaged in the Word of God like this? If not, why? If we are not, why?
Most importantly for Israel, when God gave them a king, Deuteronomy 17:18-20 says he was to come under priestly tutelage in the copying for himself of a personal copy of the book of the law. Why? That he might learn to fear the Lord, to read, to keep, and to do the words of the law, and that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers. I know of no reference to any king of Israel who ever actually did this. In fact, we are told that, when he became king, Jotham did what was right, but he missed the key thing. He was to follow the command of Deuteronomy 17:18-19 and obtain from the Levitical priests who occupied the temple of the Lord a copy of the Torah. He was to copy it for himself and use it to daily meditate upon it, follow its decrees, and so not to consider himself better than his fellow Israelites.
ReplyDeleteKent, that is a great observation. Now that you mention it, I do not know of any reference that indicates any of the kings wrote out their own copy of the Law either.
DeleteWhat we do see is a number of them, when confronted by the content of the Law, tearing their clothes and repenting. If they had followed the Law in the first place, that drama may have been prevented.
There may be a lesson in that for us.
What an incredible, astonishing privilege it is to be a priest of the Living God in His land that knows so little of Him!
ReplyDeleteSpot, on. Which brings up the next post...
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