We Believe In Jesus: The PriestSample

Priestly Intercession: Job 1:5

We may define intercession as mediation; or petitioning for favor on another’s behalf. An intercessor is someone who takes your side and pleads your case when you are in trouble, or who tries to reconcile disputes between you and another party. 

Old Testament priests often interceded by means of their leadership and guidance, as well as through the ceremonies that God had assigned to them. For instance, they interceded between individuals when they settled legal disputes, and between the people and God when they presented offerings for atonement. But priests also performed other types of intercession.

One common form of intercession was petition for help. Priests often offered prayers that God would heal, rescue or otherwise aid his people. We find examples of this in 1 Samuel 1:17 and 1 Chronicles 16:4. As just one example, consider the record of Job’s intercession for his children in Job 1:5:

When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have [his sons and daughters] purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts" (Job 1:5).

As the priest over his household, Job interceded for his children to protect them from the consequences of their sin.

Another common form of intercession was the pronouncement of blessing. When priests blessed people they asked God to show favor to the people. We see this in the way Melchizedek blessed Abraham in Genesis 14:19-20, and in the blessing that the priests were taught to pronounce on the people in Numbers 6:22-27. For instance, consider this account from 2 Chronicles 30:27:

The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place (2 Chronicles 30:27).

When the text says that God heard them, it means that he honored the priestly intercession by favoring the people they blessed. This aspect of priestly ministry is often echoed in our day during the benedictions offered by ministers at the conclusion of gathered worship. Many churches even repeat the same blessing first given to Aaron in Numbers 6.