We Believe In Jesus: The PriestSample

Priests are to be Loyal to God: Leviticus 10:1-2

Because priests often served near the special presence of God in the tabernacle and the temple, they had to demonstrate special loyalty to God by worshiping and serving him alone, and by carefully carrying out their duties. They also had to do these things in order to ensure that God’s people were loyal to God, so that they would be received into his holy presence. 

We learn from the Old Testament priests that there were very particular rules they had to follow, and there was a very particular way they had to even offer the fire of the sacrifice, and there was a certain way they had to investigate the animals brought to sacrifice to make sure that they were perfect, that they indeed were unblemished. God required that. And the priest had certain garments that he had to wear, and he had certain washings that he needed to go through, and the book of Hebrews emphasizes that the details of all of this, including the tabernacle and all the things in the tabernacle, were given because they represent what he called the “heavenly tabernacle,” where — which is the very presence of God. The priests, therefore, are representing the Lord Jesus Christ. The priests are representing the kind of holiness and the kind of satisfaction that must be given to God if we are to be forgiven. And so, everything in the priestly arrangements, in the priestly laws, is given to show us the perfection of who Christ is, and that he actually would bear the sins of his people. The garments that they wore and the names of the tribes written on them and the perfection of the sacrifices, all of these things are to show us how serious God takes this, how holy he is, and that when you come to the end of it there is really going to be only one way in which salvation can come. If there’s any compromise of that one way, then we’re done for and there is no satisfaction. So, the priestly rules are very important to establish within our minds the seriousness of God’s holiness and righteousness and the singularity of the sacrifice of Christ. – Dr. Thomas Nettles

One of the most dramatic examples of the need for priests to be holy appears in Leviticus 10:1-2. There, God killed the priests Nadab and Abihu because of their unholy offering. And in 1 Samuel 4, the priests Hophni and Phineas died because of their disregard for the Lord. 

In addition to these examples, Scriptures like Psalm 132:9 and Lamentations 4:11-13 make it clear that the priests themselves had to be faithful to God if they were to have any hope of preparing and leading his people into his special presence in order to receive his blessings. Otherwise, drawing near to God would result in severe judgment.