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There are five kinds of people with special statuses in the Old Testament—priests, Nazarites, kings, prophets, and shepherds. Each of these typify Christ and the New Testament believers.
According to the Bible there are three main ministries in God’s eternal economy and governmental arrangement: the priesthood, the kingship, and the prophethood. The priesthood is the leading ministry of the three and brings the kingship and prophethood into function. The ministry of the priests is engaged especially in the service of God; their responsibility is to serve God.
Since a priest serves God, his main function is not to work but to draw near to God and to wait and remain in His presence. He can contact and receive God and be saturated and permeated with God so that he is possessed by God, and he can be one with God to become God’s living expression.
In their daily responsibilities the priests took care of the offerings and presented offerings to God. According to Leviticus 1 through 7, there are five main offerings: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. All the offerings are types of Christ. Christ, as the offerings presented to God, solves man’s problem of sin and man’s other problems before God. He becomes food to God and to those who are separated unto God for His service so that both God and man may be satisfied. In order to participate in the priesthood, believers must experience Christ as the offerings and offer Christ to God.
After taking care of the offerings, the priests spread the bread of the Presence in the Holy Place (24:5-9). This signifies that Christ is not only life within us but also our life supply. When we experience Christ as the life supply within us, we will be able to spread the Christ whom we have experienced before God as the life supply to God and man.
The high priest tended the lamps on the lampstand, which was next to the table of the bread of the Presence, from evening to morning before God (vv. 2-4; Exo. 27:20-21). This signifies that Christ as our High Priest continually takes care of the divine light, causing it to shine for God continually. By spreading the bread of the Presence and tending the lampstand, the priests who serve God receive divine food and divine light in order to have sufficient strength to walk and serve in the divine light.
The priests also burned the incense at the golden altar in the Holy Place (30:6-8). As the incense ascended through burning at the altar, the intercession offered by the high priest was accepted by God, and the high priest was led into the Holy of Holies to meet with God. The incense altar typifies the resurrected Christ as a sweet and fragrant incense. When we pray by such a Christ to contact God, turning Christ and the effectiveness of His death and resurrection into prayer, we are accepted by God so that we are brought into His sweet presence to fellowship with Him.
In Moses’ blessing of the children of Israel, he said, concerning the Levites who had the priesthood, “They shall show Jacob Your judgments, / And Israel Your law” (Deut. 33:10a). The priests who served God brought offerings to God, spread the bread of the Presence, tended the lamps, burned the incense, and taught God’s people the law.
Since a priest serves God and draws near to God, he knows God’s intention and enjoys God’s riches. Hence, he can bring the people of God, including their condition, difficulties, problems, and needs, to the presence of God so that they may turn to God, gain God, and be joined to God. Exodus 28:6-30 speaks of two onyx stones on the shoulder pieces and twelve precious stones on the breastplate of judgment of the ephod worn by the high priest on which were engraved the twelve names of the sons of Israel. In serving God, the high priest held and bore the people of God to God’s presence.
God’s original intention was that all His people would fulfill the priestly ministry. However, because of the rebellion of the children of Israel and their fall by worshipping the golden calf, they lost the priesthood. Only the tribe of Levi guarded God’s covenant and separated themselves from their brothers. This qualified the Levites for the priesthood of God. From that time onward the tribe of Levi was chosen by God to replace all the people of Israel (Exo. 32; Deut. 33:8-10). However, not even the whole tribe of Levi was chosen by God; only those of the house of Aaron were chosen to be priests.
Leviticus 8 describes how the high priest, Aaron, and his sons were anointed and ordained by God. Aaron was anointed by God through Moses, who poured the anointing oil upon Aaron’s head and then sprinkled it on his sons and on their garments for their sanctification (vv. 12, 30), thereby ushering in the priestly service.
Christ went from us to God through crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to be our High Priest to bear us into the presence of God and to care for all our needs (Heb. 2:17-18; 4:14-15). On the one hand, as our High Priest according to the order of Aaron, Christ was tempted in all respects like us and is able to be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses, and He affords us forgiveness of sins through His work on the cross. On the other hand, as the High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (5:6), Christ has become the source of eternal salvation to us (v. 9), and now He is on the throne in heaven ministering to us with His divine life.
Christ was appointed High Priest not according to the powerless letters of the law but according to the power of an indestructible life (7:16). By this life Christ ministers as our High Priest. Hence, He is able to save us to the uttermost; He lives always to intercede for us (v. 25). He brings us to God and prays that we may be saved and brought fully into God’s eternal purpose.
In the New Testament Christ is the High Priest of God, and the believers are a royal priesthood engaged in serving God (1 Pet. 2:5, 9). Every regenerated believer should grow by being nourished with Christ (v. 2) and be built together into a priesthood to serve God corporately, offering up Christ as a spiritual sacrifice for God’s satisfaction.
Colossians 1:28 says, “Whom we announce, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man full-grown in Christ.” This presenting, which is the work of a priest, brings man to God. This is a duty that must be fulfilled by every believer. Whether in announcing Christ or in teaching others and interceding for them, we minister Christ to people that they may become mature with Christ as the element of the divine life unto full growth.
As New Testament priests of the gospel, believers do not offer material sacrifices such as goats and bulls. Rather, they offer spiritual sacrifices, including Christ as the reality of the types of the Old Testament sacrifices. They also offer sinners who are saved by gospel preaching (Rom. 15:16); that is, they save sinners to offer them to God as sacrifices. Furthermore, they help believers, who have received God’s compassions, to present themselves as a living sacrifice to God (12:1-2), and they exercise all wisdom to present every believer full-grown in Christ (Col. 1:28).
Numbers 6 is on the vow of the Nazarite. A Nazarite is a voluntarily consecrated one. Whereas a priest is chosen by God, a Nazarite voluntarily consecrates himself. Although not every Israelite was blessed with being chosen by God, everyone could voluntarily consecrate himself to be a Nazarite and receive the blessing of God’s choosing. This is like Samuel (1 Sam. 1:11-28), who complemented the priestly ministry of God’s ordination by his human cooperation.
The Nazarites also separated themselves from worldliness. They separated themselves to God by making a special vow. They were separated to Jehovah in not drinking wine and strong drink and in not eating anything of grapes (Num. 6:3-4). This signifies that they did not care for earthly enjoyment or pleasure and that they rejected the blessings of the world. They were altogether separated from worldliness and were absolutely for God.
The Nazarites also submitted themselves to God. During the days of a vow of separation, no razor could pass over the head of the Nazarite; he was to let the locks of the hair of his head grow long (v. 5). Not shaving the head signifies not rejecting the headship of the Lord (cf. 1 Cor. 11:3, 6). A Nazarite must remain under the Lord’s headship to absolutely belong to God and be in subjection to Him.
According to typology, among the human race the unique Nazarite is the Lord Jesus. He voluntarily consecrated Himself to God in living for God in His humanity. He was always carrying out God’s work, doing God’s will, speaking God’s word, seeking God’s glory, and expressing God.
Throughout His life the Lord Jesus was absolutely separated unto God, was for God, and was one with God. Hence, He is called the Holy One (cf. Acts 3:14). He is not of the world (John 17:14), and in Him the ruler of the world has nothing (14:30). He is absolutely holy in Himself; however, He still sanctified Himself in His living to set an example of sanctification for us (17:19).
Christ submitted Himself to God in His walk and living. He took the form of a slave to serve God and man (Phil. 2:7; Acts 3:13; Mark 10:45). He humbled Himself and became obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross (Phil. 2:8), that He might give His life as a ransom for all for the accomplishment of the eternal purpose of God to whom He is in subordination.
Through redemption and regeneration, the New Testament believers have been chosen and ordained by God to be the priests who serve Him. However, we still need to be a Nazarite in consecrating ourselves to God for the fulfillment of the service of the holy priesthood.
To take up the standing of the priesthood, we must be willing to be separated, sanctified, from the world unto God and His will by leaving the earthly enjoyments and pleasures to live a sanctified life.
As Nazarites serving God, we must deal with the rebellion in our nature and live under the Lord’s headship, submitting ourselves to God. We need to have a submissive spirit, standing, atmosphere, and intention. Thus, we can be a genuine Nazarite serving God as a priest to fulfill His purpose.
In the Bible the kingship is equal in importance to the priesthood. Priests have the image of God to express God and bring man into God’s presence. Kings have the authority of God to represent God and bring God to man.
The kingship is mainly to reign for God, to rule over God’s people for God. To reign for God, we need to know God’s sovereign authority and submit ourselves under God’s authority. David and the Lord Jesus knew God’s authority from their heart and always submitted themselves under God’s authority so that eventually they could reign for God. Only those who obey authority can represent God as authority to reign for God.
The kings established by God, such as David and Solomon, brought God to man in God’s authority. Acts 13:36 says, “David, having served his own generation by the counsel of God.” This indicates that David’s reigning as king brought God to man.
The kingship is brought in by God’s anointing. This can be illustrated by David, who, as the first generation in the age of the kingship, was chosen and anointed by God (1 Sam. 16:10-13) to bring in the kingdom of God. Solomon was anointed by God to be the legal successor to the throne of David (1 Kings 1:32-40). David typifies Christ in His sufferings until His crucifixion; Solomon typifies Christ in His resurrection reigning as the King in resurrection.
When Jesus was baptized, He was anointed by the Spirit of God (Matt. 3:16) to carry out the kingship in His humanity. This was the fulfillment of the word of the prophet Isaiah concerning the anointing of the new King and His introduction to His people (61:1; 42:1). In His ascension He was made Christ (Acts 2:36), God’s Anointed, to carry out God’s economy and accomplish God’s commission.
Micah 5:2 prophesied that Christ would be born in Bethlehem to be Ruler in Israel. This was fulfilled in Matthew 2:4-6. Christ as the King reigns for God to shepherd God’s people.
When Christ comes again to possess the earth, He will be the King in the kingdom, governing the earth and ruling over the nations with His overcoming believers (Rev. 20:4, 6; 2:26-27). As the coming King, He will be the Head and the center in the coming kingdom. In His coming reign, God’s authority and glory will be fully manifested, and the whole earth with man will be brought into the righteousness, peace, joy, and full blessing of God’s creation.
In the divine administration Christ is the Ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5; Acts 5:31) to rule over the whole world. Today the whole world is under the ruling of Christ. He rules sovereignly over all men, all affairs, and all things for the execution of God’s authority to bring God to man for the establishing of the kingdom of God.
The believers have been firmly attached by God to Christ, the anointed One; thus, when Christ was anointed to be the King, we were spontaneously anointed with Him by God (2 Cor. 1:21).
The overcomers will be priests, drawing near to God and Christ, and kings, reigning over the nations with Christ in the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6; 2:26-27; 12:5). As priests, they satisfy God and Christ by enjoying their service, and as kings, they reign for God and represent God, shepherding man for man’s enjoyment and satisfaction.
Since the believers reign with Christ, they minister with Christ to bring God to others. Today, in a normal situation, proper believers bring others and their need before God and also minister God to others. By exercising the priestly ministry and the kingship, the believers meet the need of both God and man, bringing man to God and bringing God to man that both God and man may have the enjoyment and satisfaction.
Prophets speak for God by God’s revelation. Our God, who is a speaking God, spoke in the Old Testament to the people in many portions and in many ways through the prophets (Heb. 1:1 and footnote 2, Recovery Version).
Prophets receive God’s revelation directly and are borne by the Spirit of God to speak for God and speak forth God (2 Pet. 1:21). God is hidden, but through the speaking of the prophets, God Himself and His intention are explained.
Many times when prophets speak for God and speak forth God, they also prophesy, predict, for God. In the Old Testament, especially in the books of the major and minor prophets, many of the speakings of the prophets were in the nature of predictions, conveying beforehand things which God would do or things which would happen, so that they might lead God’s people to walk in God’s will. No prophecy of Scripture is of the prophet’s or writer’s own interpretation, because no prophecy was ever borne by the will of man, but men spoke from God while being borne by the Holy Spirit (vv. 20-21).
Since the prophets were able to receive God’s word directly, they could rebuke, instruct, and teach the kings, thereby assisting them in establishing God’s kingdom. In the history of the nation of Israel, whenever the priesthood was weakened and the kingship erred, the prophetic ministry was needed for correction and strengthening. For instance, when the Aaronic priesthood waned, Samuel was raised up by God to speak for Him as a prophet (1 Sam. 3:19-21) and to bring in the kingship for God’s authority (16:1-13). The kingship among all the kings of Israel was regulated by the prophets, such as David by Nathan (2 Sam. 12), Ahab by Elijah (1 Kings 18), and Jehoram by Elisha (2 Kings 3), and strengthened by the prophets, such as Hezekiah by Isaiah (chs. 18—20) and the other kings by Jeremiah (Jer. 1:1-3). After the captivity of Israel because of the kings’ failures, those in captivity returned through the prayer of Daniel as a prophet (Dan. 6:10; 9:15-27).
Christ is the Word of God (John 1:1; Rev. 19:13) and the speaking of God (Heb. 1:2a). When He was on earth speaking for God and teaching people, His teaching was not His own but was according to what the Father had taught Him (John 7:16; 8:28b). He did not speak from Himself; as the Father spoke to Him, so He spoke (12:49-50). Today He is in us still speaking for God to reveal God and speaking God into people.
Christ ministers God to people in God’s word by speaking God’s word. In John 6:63 the Lord said, “The words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” This shows that the words which He spoke ministered spirit and life, that is, ministered God, to people. He is now the life-giving Spirit in resurrection, and the Spirit is embodied in His words. When we receive His words by exercising our spirit, we get the Spirit, who is life, and enjoy God’s supply.
Christ also prophesied, predicted, by declaring “many things” and “the things that are coming” (16:12-13). Many of the things which He spoke were in the nature of predictions, such as the things concerning the redemption of Christ, the church, the kingdom of God, the believers’ rapture, the great tribulation, Christ’s coming again, the judgment, the kingdom, and the New Jerusalem.
Christ reveals the word of God for the purpose of building up the Body of Christ (Matt. 16:18). Christ is building His Body, the church, on Christ and on the revelation concerning Christ.
The New Testament believers are saved by God to be kings, priests, and prophets who prophesy for God (Rev. 1:5-6; 20:4b; 1 Cor. 14:31). God desires that each of the believers prophesy, that is, speak for and speak forth Him.
Since prophesying is to speak for and speak forth God, it is ministering God and Christ to people for the edification of the believers in life and in truth. First Corinthians 14:3 says, “He who prophesies speaks building up and encouragement and consolation to men.” When we practice prophesying, ministering God and Christ to people, we build up people and give them encouragement and consolation.
In prophesying, sometimes there is also predicting. This is one of the manifestations of the believers’ being filled by the Holy Spirit outwardly (Acts 2:17-18; 19:6; 21:9), causing them to speak beforehand the things that God will do and the things that will happen later.
Prophesying, speaking forth the Lord, to minister God and Christ builds up not only the individual saints but also the Body of Christ, the church (1 Cor. 14). For this reason, the apostle Paul charged us to desire earnestly the most profitable gift, the gift of prophecy (v. 1), and to seek that we may excel for the building up of the church (v. 12). Among all the gifts, prophesying is the highest and most excellent because it is for the building up of the Body of Christ.
In the Old Testament, in addition to the ministries of the priests, kings, and prophets, there was another ministry related to God’s people, the ministry of the shepherds (Jer. 23:3-4; Ezek. 34:11-31).
In the Bible God likens His people to a flock, and those who pasture God’s people are called shepherds. Shepherds are commissioned by God to feed God’s flock so that they may receive the supply of life with full enjoyment and satisfaction.
Besides feeding God’s people, shepherds take care of God’s people so that they may lie down and have rest. Sometimes shepherds seek out, heal, and rescue.
As a shepherd, one also should teach God’s people and open their understanding with the holy Word of God so that they may know God and obey God.
The most crucial responsibility of a shepherd is to lead God’s people so that they are not scattered and led astray but obey and keep God’s word and are one flock under God’s name.
Christ is our Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4), and He is the Head of all the shepherds. He leads us to feed, look after, teach, and guide the flock of God according to God’s intention and to become patterns of the flock (vv. 2-3).
Psalm 23 reveals how Christ as the Shepherd in resurrection feeds, looks after, and leads the believers in five stages: (1) in the enjoyment in green pastures and beside waters of rest (vv. 1-2); (2) in revival and transformation on the paths of righteousness (v. 3); (3) in the presence of the resurrected, pneumatic Christ in the valley of the shadow of death (v. 4); (4) in the deeper and higher enjoyment of the resurrected Christ (v. 5); (5) and in the lifelong enjoyment of the divine goodness and lovingkindness in the house of God (v. 6).
As the good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14), Christ laid down His human life to accomplish redemption for us (vv. 15, 17-18) that we may have His divine life (v. 10b) and be formed into one flock with Himself as the one Shepherd (v. 16). Now He is our soul’s Shepherd in the resurrection life within us (1 Pet. 2:25). As such, He guides us within and supplies us with life that we may follow in His steps.
Christ is the Chief Shepherd, and the believers are shepherds. Peter entreated the elders to “shepherd the flock of God among you, overseeing...according to God” (5:2). The flock of God, which is the church of God (Acts 20:28), is God’s possession, allotted to the believers who have a greater measure of growth in life as their allotment, their portion, and entrusted to them by God for their shepherding (1 Pet. 5:3).
The believers are not only shepherded corporately in the church; they also need to be looked after individually. In John 21 the Lord appeared to Peter in His resurrection. He came to restore Peter’s love toward Him, charging him to feed His lambs (v. 15), that is, to nourish the believers with the riches of the inner life, looking after their needs. Likewise, if we love the Lord, we need to enjoy the riches of the Lord’s divine life that we may feed and look after others for the fulfillment of the shepherds’ responsibility.
Those who are shepherds also need to lead the flock of God to walk in the way ordained by God, according to God’s nature, desire, way, and glory, not according to man’s preference, interest, and purpose. They should watch diligently to be aware of the flock’s situation (1 Pet. 5:2-3) and lead them to walk in the will of God. Thus, they will be approved by God to receive the unfading crown of glory at the manifestation of the Chief Shepherd (v. 4).
Priests, Nazarites, kings, prophets, and shepherds are five kinds of people with special statuses in the Old Testament, typifying Christ and the New Testament believers in these five aspects of their status.
The ministry of the priests is engaged especially in the service of God; their responsibility is to serve God. Their main function is to draw near to God and to wait and remain in His presence. They also present offerings to God, spread the bread of the Presence, tend the lampstand, burn incense before God, teach God’s people the law, and bring people to God. This typifies Christ as our High Priest who brings us to God and prays for us so that we may be saved and brought fully into God’s eternal purpose. This also typifies that the believers are engaged especially in serving God to bring men to God and that they, as New Testament priests of the gospel, offer spiritual sacrifices to God.
Nazarites are those who have voluntarily consecrated themselves, who are separated from worldliness, and who have submitted themselves to God. This typifies Christ as One who voluntarily consecrated Himself to God, who sanctified Himself to God, and who submitted Himself to God for the accomplishment of the eternal purpose of God to whom He is in subordination. This also typifies the believers who consecrate themselves to God, are separated from the world, and submit themselves to God to fulfill His purpose.
The kingship is mainly to reign for God, to represent God, and to bring God to man. It is equal in importance to the priesthood and is brought in by God’s anointing. This typifies that Christ was anointed by God to be the Ruler among God’s people and to be the King ruling over the nations. Today He is the Ruler of the kings of the earth, ruling sovereignly over all men, all affairs, and all things for the execution of God’s authority to bring God to man for the establishing of the kingdom of God. This also typifies that the believers have been anointed with Christ by God and that the overcoming believers will reign with Christ. Today the proper believers also minister with Christ to bring God to men that they may have enjoyment and satisfaction.
Prophets are those who speak for God by God’s revelation. Their ministry is to speak for God, to speak forth God, to prophesy (predict) for God, and to assist the kings in establishing God’s kingdom. This typifies Christ speaking for God, ministering God to people in God’s word, and prophesying for the purpose of building up the Body of Christ. This also typifies the believers who prophesy for God, minister God and Christ to people, and sometimes prophesy by predicting. To prophesy by speaking forth the Lord is to minister God and Christ to build up the Body of Christ.
Shepherds are those who pasture the people of God. The shepherding ministry is to feed, take care of, teach, and lead the people of God. This typifies Christ as our Chief Shepherd, feeding, looking after, and leading the believers and, as our soul’s Shepherd in the resurrection life, guiding us within and supplying us with life that we may follow in His steps. This also typifies the believers as the shepherds who pasture the church, nourishing and looking after one another with the riches of the inner life, leading the flock to walk in the way ordained by God and in the will of God.
