Profession
Priest
The man who stood between a holy God and a guilty people.
What the text teaches
A priest in Israel existed for one reason: sinful people cannot simply walk into the presence of a holy God. Someone has to stand in between, carrying the in and carrying the blessing out. Hebrews states the job plainly, every high priest is appointed to act for men in things relating to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins (Hebrews 5:1).
The office was not chosen. It ran through Aaron's family, so no man took the honour on himself (Hebrews 5:4). That single fact protects the whole system from becoming a career, and it becomes the argument Hebrews later uses about Christ.
What it actually was
Priests were the working staff of the tabernacle and later . Aaron's descendants served as priests, and the wider tribe of Levi carried the equipment, guarded the courts and taught the law.
They held no tribal land of their own. Their living came from the , which meant the whole household depended on the faithfulness of the people and on the God they served (Numbers 18:20-21).
How it worked
The daily work was physical and repetitive. Fires had to be kept burning, animals killed and cut up, blood collected and applied, lamps trimmed morning and evening, bread set out each Sabbath.
There was no chair in the . Hebrews notices this: every priest stands daily at his service, repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins (Hebrews 10:11). The work was never finished because the problem was never finished.
The high priest wore a breastpiece set with twelve stones, one for each tribe, and two stones on his shoulders with the tribes' names cut into them. He carried the people in on his body (Exodus 28:9-29).
Once a year, and only once, one man went behind the inner curtain with blood, on the Day of . Everyone else stayed outside. The message of the closed curtain was not subtle.
Priests also judged disputes and taught. Malachi says the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth (Malachi 2:7), so the failure of priests was a failure of teaching as much as of ritual.
Why it mattered in Israel
Israel's whole life with God ran through this office. If the priesthood was corrupt, the nation had no way to deal with its sin and no reliable teaching, which is why the sons of Eli in 1 Samuel 2 are such a catastrophe.
It also kept a truth in front of the people every single day: access to God is a gift that is arranged, not a right that is assumed.
Why God chose this picture
The office teaches by its limits. A priest is a man with sin of his own, so he offers for himself first (Leviticus 16:6). He dies, so another has to take over. He stands, because the work is never done. Every one of those limits is a signpost.
Hebrews takes each limit in turn and shows Christ passing through it: He needed no for Himself, He holds His priesthood permanently because He lives forever, and when He had offered one sacrifice for sins He sat down (Hebrews 7:26-28, 10:12).
God also chose this picture because it protects . Nobody in Israel argued their own way into the Holy of Holies. Someone went in for them, carrying their names, with blood that God Himself had appointed.
First in Scripture
Genesis 14:18. Melchizedek, priest of God Most High, appears with bread and wine before there is a tabernacle, a tribe of Levi or a law, which is exactly why Hebrews 7 reaches back to him.
Verses to carry with you
- Exodus 28:29. Aaron carries the names of the tribes over his heart whenever he goes into the Holy Place.
- Leviticus 16:30. On this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you.
- Hebrews 4:15-16. A high priest who can sympathise, so we come with confidence.
- 1 Peter 2:9. The church is a royal priesthood.
The original language
כֹּהֵן
Used of Israel's priests and also of Melchizedek and of foreign priests. The word describes the office of standing before a deity on behalf of others, and Scripture fills it with content that no surrounding religion gave it.
ἀρχιερεύς
The title Hebrews gives to Jesus more than any other. Every time it appears there, the argument is that the office has finally found a holder who does not die and does not sin.
Historical and cultural background
By the first century the high priesthood was effectively controlled by the ruling power, and holders were appointed and removed politically rather than serving for life. History
Where this comes from
Through the whole Bible
Melchizedek is priest of God Most High and blesses Abram (Genesis 14:18-20), a priesthood with no genealogy attached to it.
Aaron and his sons are consecrated, and the Day of is given (Exodus 28-29, Leviticus 16).
Priests fail and are indicted (1 Samuel 2:12-17, Malachi 2:1-9), and Zechariah 3 shows a filthy high priest re-clothed by God's own act.
Psalm 110:4 promises a who is also a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, which the Aaronic system could not produce.
The curtain is torn from top to bottom at the death of Jesus (Matthew 27:51).
Hebrews argues the whole case, and Revelation 1:6 says He has made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father.
Where this appears across the Bible
Audela traces priest through 18 chapters in 14 books, from Genesis to Revelation.
Old Testament
Melchizedek, priest of God Most High, appears with bread and wine before there is a tabernacle, a tribe of Levi or a law, which is exactly why Hebrews 7 reaches back to him.
Aaron carries the names of the tribes over his heart whenever he goes into the Holy Place.
On this day atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you.
Priests fail and are indicted (1 Samuel 2:12-17, Malachi 2:1-9), and Zechariah 3 shows a filthy high priest re-clothed by God's own act.
Psalm 110:4 promises a king who is also a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, which the Aaronic system could not produce.
Priests fail and are indicted (1 Samuel 2:12-17, Malachi 2:1-9), and Zechariah 3 shows a filthy high priest re-clothed by God's own act.
Priests fail and are indicted (1 Samuel 2:12-17, Malachi 2:1-9), and Zechariah 3 shows a filthy high priest re-clothed by God's own act.
New Testament
The curtain is torn from top to bottom at the death of Jesus (Matthew 27:51).
A high priest who can sympathise, so we come with confidence.
Many priests because death prevented them, but He continues forever.
Standing daily, against one offering and then sitting down.
The church is a royal priesthood.
Hebrews argues the whole case, and Revelation 1:6 says He has made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father.
Cross references
- Exodus 28:29. The names of the tribes carried over the heart.
- Leviticus 16. The one day, the one man, the blood and the scapegoat.
- Psalm 110:4. A priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
- Malachi 2:7. The priest's lips should guard knowledge.
- Hebrews 4:14-16. A high priest who has been tempted as we are.
- Hebrews 7:23-28. Many priests because death prevented them, but He continues forever.
- Hebrews 10:11-14. Standing daily, against one offering and then sitting down.
- 1 Peter 2:5-9. A holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices.
How it points to Christ
Psalm 110 sets a problem the Old Testament never solves. Israel's came from Judah and its priests from Levi, and the two could not be the same man. Uzziah tried and was struck with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16-21). Yet the psalm promises a who is a priest forever, and points back past Levi to Melchizedek.
Hebrews answers it: Jesus is from Judah, so His priesthood cannot rest on the law of physical descent, it rests on the power of an indestructible life (Hebrews 7:14-16). He is the and the one who offers it, and because He rose, the intercession never lapses.
Teaching on the subject
Read Exodus 28 slowly and the tenderness of the office comes through. God tells Aaron to carry the names of the sons of Israel over his heart for a memorial before the LORD continually. The priest is not a functionary keeping God at a distance. He is a man who walks into God's presence with his people's names on him.
That is the picture Hebrews assumes when it says Jesus always lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). Not that He argues with a reluctant Father, but that He is permanently there, in the presence, with His people belonging to Him.
Notice too what happens to the office after . Peter says the church is a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). The curtain torn at the (Matthew 27:51) did not abolish the priesthood, it opened it, so that ordinary believers now bring of praise and of a life poured out (Hebrews 13:15-16, Romans 12:1).
Often misunderstood
It was His way of letting a sinful people stay near without being destroyed. The tabernacle stood in the middle of the camp, and the whole point of the arrangement was that God dwelt among them (Exodus 25:8).
Hebrews argues the opposite from the : because Christ lives forever He holds His priesthood permanently, and we draw near through Him. The church's ministers are and teachers, and every believer belongs to the priesthood Peter describes.
Living this today
When you pray, you are not asking to be let in. Hebrews 10:19-22 says to draw near with a true heart in full assurance, because the way has already been opened. Pray like someone who has been given the room.
If you belong to Christ you belong to a priesthood, which means carrying other people's names before God. Choose two names this week and hold them there daily.
Related people, places, events and themes
Related chapters
Leviticus 16, Psalm 110, Hebrews 7, Hebrews 10
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Same passage
- Where was Moriah, and why does the place matter?Both pages teach Hebrews 10:11-14, so they stand on the same text.
- PrayerBoth pages teach Hebrews 4:15-16, so they stand on the same text.
- Sacrifice and offeringBoth pages teach Leviticus 16, so they stand on the same text.
- How do I resist temptation?Both pages teach Hebrews 4:15-16, so they stand on the same text.
Same chapter
- Romans 8: No Condemnation, No Defeat, No SeparationBoth stand in Hebrews 7, at different points in the chapter.
- Can anything separate a believer from the love of God, and what is Christ doing now?Both stand in Hebrews 7, at different points in the chapter.
- What does it mean that Abel's blood speaks?Both stand in Hebrews 10, at different points in the chapter.
- SanctificationBoth stand in Hebrews 10, at different points in the chapter.
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