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In order to read the Bible properly, we need to understand the meaning of the words, but we also need to touch the feeling conveyed through the words. This can be likened to writing an essay. A good essay expresses the inner feeling of a writer through words. Consequently, when others read the essay, they should touch the feeling behind the words. Similarly, when we read the Bible, we must understand the words and the context, but we also must touch the feeling behind the words. If we do this, we will be able to touch the meaning behind the inspired writing of the Scriptures by touching the Spirit in that particular portion. As we consider the matter of the priesthood in the Bible, the light is becoming much clearer and brighter, and we are touching God’s feeling in this matter. Nevertheless, we need to speak further in order to help the saints comprehend this matter more thoroughly.
God’s desire in this universe is to enter into man to be man’s life and to be mingled with man as one so that man may have His image to express Him and His authority to represent Him. Moreover, God desires that those who receive Him as life would be built up together as one entity to be His dwelling place, which is the Body of Christ. This is the focus of the entire Bible.
In order to accomplish His desire, God is in the Son, and the first step in accomplishing His purpose involves His coming as the Son to man (John 1:1, 14). In this process the Son is the center. The second step involves His coming as the Spirit of reality to man (14:17; 15:26; 16:13). If God did not come in the Son to be the Spirit, He could not be mingled with man, and man would not have His image to express Him and His authority to represent Him. Furthermore, without this process man could not be blended together and built up as a corporate entity. Therefore, in order to accomplish His heart’s desire, God came to man first in the Son and then as the Spirit. God comes to us in the Son, and the Son is received by us as the Spirit, who comes into us as life and upon us as power. This enables us to express God’s image and represent God’s authority. Furthermore, in this one Spirit we are one Body.
The Body being one is related to the Spirit in two aspects. On one hand, we need to be filled with the Spirit inwardly as life, and on the other hand, we need to be baptized with the Spirit outwardly as power. Romans 8:2 says that we have received the Spirit of life inwardly; this enables us to be members of the Body of Christ (12:5). This relates to the inward filling of the Spirit. First Corinthians 12:13 then says, “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body.” This relates to the pouring out of the Spirit upon us, because the water of baptism does not enter into us; instead, we are immersed into the water.
Both inwardly and outwardly, the Spirit is the ultimate manifestation of God reaching us. God the Father comes to us in the Son, and the Son with the Father enters into us as the Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit work as one to attain God’s goal. This is confirmed by the Lord Jesus’ charge that we baptize people into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). Through this process, God enters into man and comes upon man. God can enter into man and come upon man because the Father is in the Son, and the Son is now the life-giving Spirit. The Triune God accomplishes His eternal purpose as the Father, Son, and Spirit. This is on God’s side.
On our side it is not enough to merely be human beings; we must also be priests so that God can accomplish His purpose. A priest draws near to God, fellowships with God, lives before God, and allows God to flow through him so that God can saturate him and be lived out of him. We can see this matter clearly with the patriarchs and with the Israelites in the Old Testament.
In Adam we see God’s desire for man to have His image and to exercise His dominion, His authority (Gen. 1:26). With Adam we also see that in order for man to bear God’s image and represent His authority, man needs to receive God as life (2:9, 16). A person who receives God as life, lives before God, and lets God live in him will spontaneously bear God’s image and represent God’s authority. God’s original thought concerning the priesthood is illustrated through Adam.
Following Adam, a further aspect of the priestly service can be seen in the lives of Abel, Enoch, and Noah. In addition to walking with God, their lives speak of the need for a redemptive sacrifice (4:4; 5:22; 6:9; 8:20). Redemption is a requirement related to the priesthood. After Adam’s fall there was the need for a lamb to be killed in order to accomplish redemption on man’s behalf. Although man needs to live before God and walk with God, man also needs to be joined to God through the death of Christ the Lamb. After Adam’s sin man was separated from God and driven out of the garden of Eden (3:24). As a consequence, he could no longer contact God in the way that Adam could prior to the fall. Man was alienated from God and far off from God (Eph. 2:12-13). Every man is far off from God even before he is born. Hence, there is a need for a redemptive sacrifice, the shedding of blood, so that man can be brought back to God and contact God. This is a matter of the priesthood.
In Abraham’s life we can see more concerning the priesthood. Abraham built an altar, pitched a tent, and lived a practical priestly life (Gen. 12:7-8; 13:4, 18). Furthermore, he enjoyed God’s appearing, he received revelation from God, and he experienced wonderful fellowship with God. All these experiences are aspects of the priestly service. Hence, his experience of the priesthood was evident in his life even more than in the experiences of Abel, Enoch, and Noah. Abraham even received God’s blessing through the high priest Melchizedek, a proper type of Christ as the eternal One, who is our perpetual High Priest (Heb. 7:1-3; Gen. 14:18-20). Abraham even became a person who blessed others (20:17). Wherever Abraham went, he was able to bless others. Hence, his service as a priest before God was more advanced than the service of Abel, Enoch, and Noah.
When the children of Israel left Egypt, God’s desire for the priesthood was fully revealed. In the living of Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham, we can see the principles of a priestly living, but the priesthood was not fully revealed or developed. After the children of Israel left Egypt, however, God clearly spoke of His desire for them to be a kingdom of priests (Exo. 19:6). Even when the children of Israel fell, God still chose the house of Aaron out of the tribe of Levi to be priests (32:25-29). The priests of Aaron’s house had the presence of God, a living before God that was based on redemption, fellowship with God, and even God as their blessing. The priests of the house of Aaron had everything that Adam, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob enjoyed, and they enjoyed even more aspects of the priesthood.
First, the Aaronic priests drew near to God and lived before God. They did not draw near to God occasionally; they lived before God continually, and in type they were able to enjoy Christ fully. Those who served as priests enjoyed Christ richly and fully. Whereas the children of Israel ate Christ as the Lamb prior to their exodus from Egypt and ate Christ as their daily manna in the wilderness, the priests enjoyed Christ in a rich and multifaceted way as the sacrifices.
With the exception of the burnt offering, the priests enjoyed all the sacrificial offerings together with God. The priests enjoyed the meal offering of fine flour and oil (Num. 18:9; Lev. 2:1-2, 14); the priests enjoyed the breast and the right thigh of the wave offering (Num. 18:18); and the priests enjoyed a portion of the firstfruits that the Israelites offered to God, such as the new wine and the grain (v. 12). All these offerings are types of Christ. These examples show that a priest fully enjoys Christ.
Today many Christians pay attention to enjoying Christ as manna. However, in typology, Christ was manna to those who were wandering in the wilderness. In contrast, the priests were those who enjoyed Christ fully in the Holy Place. In the wilderness Christ was manna to the people; in the Holy Place Christ was the offerings enjoyed by God. These offerings to God were also food to the priests. In order to enjoy Christ fully, richly, and abundantly, we must be priests. Priests not only draw near to God and live before God; they also enjoy Christ fully.
We often speak of enjoying Christ, but I am afraid that most of the saints are not able to speak of many instances of their practical enjoyment of Christ. When we see how the priests enjoyed the offerings, we should realize that there are many rich items of Christ for us to enjoy. I hope that we will spend some time considering the offerings. We need to study the different offerings and the details of each offering in order to understand their spiritual significance. This will help us greatly.
Only priests can enjoy the offerings. We do not have to be priests in order to enjoy Christ as our redemptive Lamb or as our daily manna. However, in order to enjoy Christ as the offerings to God and as our rich food, we must be priests. Priests draw near to God and live before God, and they enjoy Christ in many aspects. In fact, priests live before God because they enjoy Christ in such a multifaceted way. Drawing near to God and enjoying the rich Christ are matters related to the priesthood.
According to the types in the Bible, the priests also put on Christ, just as we put on Christ as our righteousness (Jer. 23:6; 33:16; 1 Cor. 1:30; Gal. 3:27). In typology the priests put on Christ completely. The priestly garments were unique among God’s children. All the items of the priestly garments are types of Christ. Christ was the inward content of the priests, that is, their food and inward life supply, and Christ was the glory and beauty of the priests, that is, their outward expression (Exo. 28:2).
Many of the materials used in the tabernacle were also used in the garments of the priests. For example, the fine twined linen, the gold thread, and the blue, purple, and scarlet strands used in the tabernacle were also used in the garments worn by the priests (v. 6). The priests not only put on Christ, but they also put on the tabernacle. From the viewpoint of the New Testament, the priests are the tabernacle. In principle and in nature, the priests are the tabernacle because the priests and the tabernacle are one. God’s thought in this regard is very rich, and we should spend time to consider these matters. Christ is the inward supply of the priesthood, and Christ is the outward expression of the priesthood.
The most important item worn by the priests was the breastplate with twelve precious stones set in gold (vv. 17-21). These precious stones denote God’s people. The significance of the breastplate points to the importance of the priesthood in the experience of God’s children, which makes them golden and transforms them into precious stones for the building up of God’s children into one entity. The twelve precious stones set in gold are a miniature of the New Jerusalem. As the aggregate of God’s people, the New Jerusalem is built with gold and precious stones. Thus, the use and arrangement of gold and precious stones on the breastplate is a picture of the aggregate of God’s people. Through the priesthood, God’s people are in the process of becoming gold, of being transformed into precious stones, and of being formed and built together as one entity.
For the fulfillment of the priestly ministry, the operation of the Urim and the Thummim was needed in order to reveal God’s intention (v. 30). When God’s people contact Him and enjoy the riches of Christ, His people are built together, and their expression is one of gold and precious stones. This expression reveals God’s intention.
Every person gained by God through His redemption should be a priest. God’s heart’s desire has been entrusted to the priesthood. God’s desire is to be life in His Son through the Spirit so that we may become gold and precious stones to be built up together to express His image and represent His authority. All the details related to God’s desire are realized through the priesthood. God’s desire in the universe will be accomplished only when He gains the priesthood.
We will now consider the three offices in the Bible—the priesthood, the kingship, and the prophethood. The Old Testament can be divided into three parts: the first part, the Pentateuch, concerns the priesthood; the second part, the middle section of the Old Testament, concerns the kingship; and the final part, the last section of the Old Testament, consisting of the books of the prophets, concerns the prophethood. In presenting these three offices, the Bible first speaks of the priesthood, not the kingship. This shows God’s desire to have the priesthood with the kingship. David was brought in as the king through Samuel the priest. The New Testament similarly reveals a relationship between the priesthood and the kingship among the believers. First Peter 2:9 says, “You are...a royal priesthood,” and Revelation 5:10 speaks of the believers as being “a kingdom and priests,” who will reign on the earth. Hence, the kingship accompanies the priesthood; authority is related to image. Only a person who bears God’s image can exercise God’s authority. The kingship exists because there is the priesthood, and authority can be exercised when there is image. The priesthood brings in kingship, and image brings in authority. This thought runs throughout the Bible.
However, when man becomes desolate due to weaknesses and shortcomings, God brings in the last office, the prophethood. The prophethood is supplementary and remedial; it is not something that is needed in a normal situation. If our condition is normal, there is no need for the prophethood. In fact, the New Testament clearly states that prophecies will be rendered useless but that the priesthood with the kingship will exist eternally (1 Cor. 13:8; Rev. 22:3-5).
All the books of the prophets reflect situations involving desolation, and every book is filled with words of rebuke. Even though most readers of the Bible agree that Isaiah, the first of the books of the prophets, is a book of the gospel in the Old Testament, the first chapter of Isaiah still contains a strong rebuke. The prophet Isaiah called the people of Israel a “sinful nation, / A people heavy with iniquity, / Seed of evildoers, / Children acting corruptly!” Then he said, “Unless Jehovah of hosts / Had left to us a surviving few, / We would have been like Sodom, / We would have resembled Gomorrah” (vv. 4, 9). This is the background of Isaiah’s speaking. The priesthood had been abandoned, and the kingship was deformed. Hence, there was a need for the prophethood.
Prophets were needed because the priests and the kings were not functioning normally. If the kings had been reigning in a proper way, there would have been no need for the prophets. Before David sinned, the matter of his kingship was primary, even though he had some function as a prophet (Acts 2:30). When he went astray, however, God had to raise up a strong prophet, Nathan, to correct him (2 Sam. 12:1-15). This shows that the prophethood was needed to remedy the problems of the kingship. However, when the condition of the priesthood was normal, the speaking of God through the Urim and the Thummim was sufficient, and there was no need for God to speak through the prophets.
David was at his best in his function as a king when he wore an ephod of a priest to receive the Ark. In this instance the offices of the priesthood and the kingship were combined in David (6:14). David was a king, but at the same time he was acting as a priest. He was a royal priest. Before these two offices were combined in the Lord Jesus as the counsel of peace, they were combined in David, who was a type of the Lord Jesus. God did not condemn David for wearing an ephod, because this was normal in His eyes. When the condition of David was normal, he was also a priest; knowing God’s will did not require a prophet, because the priests had the Urim and the Thummim. The prophethood was raised up only because there was desolation in the priesthood and the kingship.
In regard to the prophethood, however, we must be clear that there is a difference between prophets sent by God and those who proclaim themselves to be prophets, that is, those whose “prophethood” comes from man. Elijah and Elisha were prophets sent by God, but there were others who were not really prophets, who were prophets only according to man. In the early church there surely were prophets sent by God who bore God’s authority. However, the church has become so desolate today because there is a lack of service related to the priesthood and the kingship. For the most part, there are only prophets—some who have been sent by God but many who have only proclaimed themselves to be prophets. In today’s Christianity it is as if there are no priests and kings, no temple and altar; there are only prophets. Among these prophets, only a small number have been sent by God.
When the condition of the priesthood and the kingship was normal, the most prominent item among God’s people was the temple. However, when the prophets were ministering, the temple was in complete desolation. The fact that people today do not like to talk about the church is a proof that the temple, the priesthood, and the kingship have become desolate. Where can we find the temple when there is no priesthood? The priesthood and the temple cannot be separated. Today the priesthood has become fallen and desolate, and although the prophethood is functioning, the temple has been abandoned. Some “prophets” think that it is sufficient to have only the ministry of the word, because they are rendering help to others. They do not see that this speaks of a situation of desolation. Many people can see the preciousness of the prophethood but not the situation of desolation that brought forth a need for the prophethood. Consequently, many want to be prophets, and even schools have been established to mass produce prophets. We have been affected by this because some among us aspire only to be ministers of the word.
On one hand, we treasure that God has raised up ministers of the word in this age of desolation, but on the other hand, we are grieved, because ministers of the word are raised up only when there is a lack of priests. Elijah and Elisha sounded out a cry because there was a lack of the service in the temple. I believe that God’s only intention today is to recover the priesthood. God does not want to tear down those who are ministers of the word; however, a minister of the word should also be a priest. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah, the prophets who participated in the recovery of the building of the temple and who brought God’s people out of desolation, were also priests. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah were related either directly or indirectly to the recovery of God’s building. Jeremiah prophesied that the Israelites would return from the land of captivity after a period of seventy years. Ezekiel prophesied of a recovered situation when he was in the land of captivity, and Zechariah strengthened the people’s hands to recover God’s temple and God’s building. These prophets were priests. I hope that every minister of the word today would also be a priest.
We cannot be content with the situation in today’s Christianity. We cannot be content that only the prophethood is functioning in the church by giving messages. We should not uplift the ministers of the word. We must share God’s feeling. Our heart should grieve that there is a need for strong ministers of the word. Although we should be thankful that God has given us ministers of the word in these times of desolation, we should see that this is not a normal situation. If we read the Bible, we will realize that God’s people are in a desolate situation when there are many prophets. If God’s people were not in a desolate condition, there would not be much need for ministers of the word.
Some may refer to 1 Corinthians 14:4, which says, “He who prophesies builds up the church.” Paul, however, spoke this word because the church was in a childish condition, and there was a need for prophets. If the church had not been so childish, there would not have been such a strong need. Paul also spoke of prophets building up the church, because the Corinthians were paying too much attention to miraculous gifts. For this reason the apostle said that if they desired to pursue gifts, they should pursue the excelling gift of prophesying, of speaking for God, rather than the gifts of speaking in tongues or healing. The most profitable gift that God gives for the building up of the church is prophesying (v. 1), but in a normal situation the building up of the church is accomplished through the priesthood.
I hope that this light is clear among us. We need a change in our concept in order to not follow the direction that is being taken in Christianity. We should not place so much emphasis on having a small number of saints who can carry out the ministry of the word. We must see the importance of being priests. We need to be personally recovered to the priesthood, and we should help God’s children to be recovered to the priesthood. We should lead God’s children to live a life in the Holy of Holies so that we can have the reality of the building up of the church.
