Pastor David B. Curtis
Pastor David B. Curtis
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Good morning, Bereans. We're continuing our study of 1 Peter this morning. Last week we looked at verses 4-8 of chapter 2 and talked about the fact that we believers are the temple of God. Peter calls believers a spiritual house.
you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua the Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 ESV
Peter describes the body of believers as "a spiritual house" or a temple that exists for the worship, praise, declaration, and glory of our Lord. We're "living stones" that are joined to Yeshua the Christ "the living stone."
Today we are going to talk about how believers are a holy priesthood. I'm sure that you recognize that both of these descriptions are used for Old Covenant Israel. Peter uses them for believers because we are the Israel of God.
Last week I said that the temple theme begins in Genesis 1-3 where "temple" is introduced as the meeting place between God and humanity. Now Genesis 1-3 does not explicitly state that Eden has an architectural structure, nor does it even use the word "temple" or "sanctuary" to describe it. So how do we know that it was a temple? There is evidence throughout Scripture that the biblical authors viewed Eden as a kind of temple structure. Numerous scholars have argued for this understanding of Eden based on the many parallels that exist between the garden and later Israelite sanctuaries. Here are a few of those arguments.
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:8 ESV
Just as the temple was the place of God's unique presence experienced by the priests, so Eden was the place where God walked with Adam. G.K. Beale notes, "The same Hebrew verbal form (Hithpael) used for God's "walking back and forth" in the garden (Gen. 3:8) also describes God's presence in the tabernacle (Lev. 26:12; Deut. 23:14 [23:15 MT]; 2 Sam. 7:6-7; Ezek. 28:14)." (Beale, A New Testament Biblical Theology, 59).
His tabernacle allowed God to move about in the midst of his people as it was carried from place to place. Even more, when Solomon built his temple, there was a preponderance of tree and garden imagery with flowering lilies, gourds, and pomegranates all around it.
As a river flowed out from Eden (Gen. 2:10), so a river flows from the eschatological temple (Ezek. 47:1-12; Rev. 21:1-2; cf. Ps. 36:8-9; Rev. 22:1-2).
A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. Genesis 2:10 ESV
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb Revelation 22:1 ESV
Ezekiel refers to "Eden, the garden of God… the holy mountain of God" and also alludes to its containing "sanctuaries" (28:18; cf. 7:24; Lev. 21:23; Jer. 51:51).
Beale writes: "Although Ezekiel 28 is full of exegetical debates, the garden of Eden and being placed in it was synonymous with being on the mountain of God (28:13–14). (Beale, The Temple and the Church's Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, 74–75; Andrew S. Malone, God's Mediators: A Biblical Theology of Priesthood (London: IVP Academic, 2017), 49–52; Benjamin L. Gladd, From Adam and Israel to the Church: A Biblical Theology of the People of God (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2019), 18).
Let's look at Ezekiel 28.
The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because your heart is proud, and you have said, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,' yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god— Ezekiel 28:1-2 ESV
This ruler of Tyre's pride brings Yahweh's judgment.
therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you make your heart like the heart of a god, therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor. They shall thrust you down into the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas. Ezekiel 28:6-8 ESV
Here the prince of Tyre, like king Nebuchadnezzar, is judged by Yahweh because of his pride. Drop down to verse 12.
"Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. Ezekiel 28:12-14 ESV
Was the king of Tyre in Eden? These stones elsewhere describe the brightness of Yahweh's throne. So, whomever this is talking about it is someone or something that is in Yahweh's Temple, His throne room.
I think we learn something about the fall of Satan or some Watcher in the passages of Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:11-19. The passages in Isaiah and Ezekiel are about evil tyrant kings whose pride is described in terms of an ancient story about a divine being who fell from paradise due to rebellion against Yahweh. These accounts reference Eden directly in Ezekiel's case and indirectly in Isaiah's case.
"Anointed cherub"—anointed is the word mashach, which may mean "anointed," but it may come from a Semitic homonym, "to shine" (The shining cherub). Cherub and Seraphim are the same. In Assyrian, it is a throne guardian. Brown-Driver-Briggs definition is: an angelic being, a guardian of Eden. The "cherub" serpent figure is in "midst of the stones of fire," which is the divine counsel. In this text, Eden is called a garden and a mountain.
That which is being talked about in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 was in Eden; he was a member of the divine council.
G.K. Beale has put this another way: "Israel's earthly tabernacle and temple [were] reflections and recapitulations of the first temple in the Garden of Eden." (G.K. Beale, The Temple and the Church's Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God. (InterVarsity Press, 2004), 66).
So, several Scriptures give us the idea that Eden was a temple. We also see that the job description given to Adam and Eve, matches the job description of the first priests.
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. Genesis 2:15 ESV
The verbs in this passage are "work and keep" (in the Hebrew, abad and shamar, respectively). Both are active verbs. Abad means "to work (in any sense); by impaction to serve, till; to enslave." Shamar means "to safeguard, preserve, care for, and protect."
According to Wenham, Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden is only used elsewhere in the Bible to describe the Levitical priests.
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle. Numbers 3:5-7 ESV
So, I see Eden as a Temple and I see Adam as the first priest.
In our study on the Melchizedekian priesthood, I said that there are only two priesthoods mentioned in the Bible—the Melchizedekian priesthood and the Aaronic priesthood. The writer of Hebrews compares these two priesthoods. We know when the Aaronic priesthood started but when did the Melchizedekian priesthood start?
If there are in fact only two priesthoods mentioned in the Bible, I would assume that Adam would have been the first priest. Before we go further, we need to be sure that we understand what a priest is. What are the duties and responsibilities of a priest?
The priest was a go-between or an intercessor between man and God. Such a person was necessary because of the Holiness of God. A priest stands before God on behalf of man, and before man on behalf of God. The key role, the one which separates priesthood from any other role, is to offer sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people.
Some teach that the Melchizedekian Priesthood was given to Adam in the Garden, passed on to Abel and Seth, his sons, and then given to all the Patriarchs going forward—including Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and through Moses. We can't prove this, but I see it as a strong possibility.
I think the priests may have been the firstborn of the family. Look at Numbers 3.
"Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, Numbers 3:12 ESV
I think that the Melchizedekian priesthood began with Adam and continued until the Levitical priesthood was given. I think this because there are only two priesthoods mentioned in the Bible. The writer of Hebrews says:
For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. Hebrews 7:12 ESV
Because Abram is associated with the priesthood of Melchizedek, I see no indication of a change of this priesthood until the Law is given to Israel. Then when the Law was given, the priesthood changed.
I see a transition happening from Melchizedek to Aaron at the beginning of the Exodus. Fifty-three days after the first Passover, the Mosaic Law was given on Pentecost. And the priesthood went from a universal priesthood to a national priesthood. I see the people from Adam to Moses under the priesthood of Melchizedek.
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. Genesis 11:1 ESV
They were of one language and one nation under one priesthood. Then at Babel, because of their sin, the languages were divided, and the people separated into various nations.
So, the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Genesis 11:8 ESV
I don't believe that when Yahweh dispersed the people that all of them were put under other gods. I believe that Yahweh always has a remnant. And that remnant would have continued to worship Yahweh through the Melchizedekian priesthood. Melchizedek shows me that God was known to more than Abraham's family. Melchizedek gives us a glimpse of God's work in people outside of the Bible's story line.
We have further details about this disbursing in Deuteronomy.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. Deuteronomy 32:8-9 ESV
When he divided mankind"—when did he do this? At the Tower of Babel. Yahweh in effect decided that the people of the world's nations were no longer going to be in relationship with him. He would begin anew. He would enter into covenant relationship with a new people that did not yet exist—Israel.
All the nations were placed under the authority of members of Yahweh's divine council. God apportioned or handed out the nations to the seventy sons of God. We are told that God "allotted" the gods to those nations. God decreed, in the wake of Babel, that the other nations he had forsaken would have other gods besides himself to worship. The other nations were assigned these lesser gods as a judgment from, Yahweh, the Most High. At Babel, the people were divided and put under other gods. But those who didn't rebel against Yahweh may have continued to follow the priesthood of Melchizedek.
God was declaring that "If you don't want to obey me, I'm not interested in being your god—I'll match you up with some other god." Those disinherited would be in spiritual bondage to the corrupt sons of God.
Yahweh disinherited the nations, and in the very next chapter of Genesis, he called Abram out of Mesopotamia. Yahweh took a man from the heart of the rebellion and made a new nation—Israel.
So, did the Melchizedekian priesthood end when Yahweh called Abram? No! The Aaronic priesthood didn't start for another 430 years.
Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And to offsprings," referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your offspring," who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. Galatians 3:16-17 ESV
There were 430 years from Abraham's departure from Ur in Chaldea unto the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt, and there were 210 years from the calling of Abram to the entrance of the family of Jacob into Egypt. Israel was in Egypt 220 years.
I believe that they were under the Melchizedekian priesthood throughout this time because there was no change in the priesthood until the Law was given and the Aaronic priesthood was established.
Therefore, when the Law was given at Sinai, the type of the Melchizedekian Priesthood ended, and the Aaronic Priesthood was established.
This happened at the Old Covenant feast of Shavuot/Pentecost. This priesthood continued until the birth of the church on Pentecost where it shifted to the universal and everlasting priesthood of Melchizedek. If this is the case, then the Aaronic priesthood was sandwiched in between the type and antitype of the Melchizedekian Priesthood, bracketed by the feast of Shavuot/Pentecost. I guess we could say that Israel was a parenthesis.
The Temple and priesthood were a type. What is the anti-type? Yeshua is the anti-type. Yeshua replaces the Temple and the priesthood. Paul taught that believers are the temple, both corporately and individually. We are the temple of God. And Peter says that we are a holy priesthood.
With that as an introduction, let's look at our text. What I'm about to say may sound very different so as always, I ask that you not believe it or dismiss it but that you study it out for yourself. If you think I'm off base, shoot me a text and tell me why. Now that I have your attention look at what Peter says.
you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua the Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 ESV
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9 ESV
Peter is quoting here from Exodus 19.
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel." Exodus 19:5-6 ESV
I think that this verse may show God's initial plan for Israel, that is, for them to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This idea is not something you will see in the texts from anywhere else in the ancient Near East. Priesthoods were only a segment of a given nation's society. Was the nation of Israel as a whole to be one giant priesthood?
Maybe this wasn't to be taken literally because if every man was a priest, no men would have been available to do other work needed for a nation to function. Maybe God would accomplish it by making every firstborn son of every family of every tribe a priest, which is why He required Israel to consecrate (give) every firstborn son to Him (Exodus 13:2).
The LORD said to Moses, "Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine." Exodus 13:1-2 ESV
So, the priesthood would represent all of Israel because they would be from all of the 12 tribes.
Or Yahweh's intention may have been that the nation of Israel as a whole be one giant priesthood—not in a literal sense but spiritually. What would this look like?
What is a priesthood for? What does it do? Priests are mediators. They stand between the realm of the gods and the realm of humanity and they represent the one to the other and vice versa. The blessings and teachings of the gods are mediated to a people group by their priests, and the obedience of the people to the gods is accomplished in large part through the priests with their daily rituals and sacrifices. If all of Israel were to be a nation of priests, then they were intended to be mediators between Yahweh and whom?
To whom were they intended to mediate the blessings and teachings of Yahweh? The only answer to this question is the nations of the world. Israel was to be specially appointed by God to stand between God and the world, to represent the world to God and God to the world. This tells us that God's intention for the disinherited nations was to bring them back to himself. Yahweh was to save the whole world, not just Israel. This is why they were to be a holy nation, a nation unlike any other that was wholly dedicated to God's service. This stand in contrast to other nations where only a segment of society were priestly mediators.
Whether Yahweh's plan was for all of the firstborn sons of every tribe to be priests or somehow the whole nation was to be priests, the plan was disrupted when Israel worshiped the golden calf at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 32:1–6)!
When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, "Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." So Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD." And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Exodus 32:1-6 ESV
To punish this sin, Moses commanded those on the Lord's side to come to him, and the tribe of Levi responded.
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, "Who is on the LORD's side? Come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. Exodus 32:26 ESV
Then Moses told them to execute those who sinned,
And he said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.'" And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. Exodus 32:27-28 ESV
Levi obeyed by striking down 3,000 idolaters. It was this act of abstaining from idolatry and obeying God to cleanse Israel of those who did not abstain or obey that no doubt made the tribe of Levi God's choice to replace the firstborn sons as the nation's priests.
And Moses said, "Today you have been ordained for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day." Exodus 32:29 ESV
Only the Levites, then, were to be priests. We don't hear anything more of the "kingdom of priests" idea in the Tanakh except in Isaiah 61:6. Before we look at verse 6, let's get the context.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; Isaiah 61:1-2 ESV
This is a Messianic text. In case you doubt that, let's go to Luke 4.
And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Luke 4:17-21 ESV
Christ is the fulfillment of the text in Isaiah. Now let's look at verse 6.
but you shall be called the priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Isaiah 61:6 ESV
"You shall be called the priests of Yahweh"—this looks forward to Christ's future kingdom when all earthly priests will be abolished and all believers will be called "a holy priesthood" and "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:5, 9). The vision for the Messianic community is to be the conduit through whom God's instructions and blessings become known to the world.
From Adam to Moses, then, God's people were under the priesthood of Melchizedek. Then in the forty-year exodus period, the priesthood shifted to Aaron. This priesthood continued until the birth of the church on Pentecost where it shifted to the everlasting priesthood of Melchizedek. So, between the two priesthoods of Melchizedek, type and anti-type, we have Israel and the Aaronic priesthood. Old Covenant Israel is, therefore, bracketed by two forty-year transition periods. There is a universal priesthood, then a national priesthood, and then an everlasting universal priesthood.
The idea of our being a kingdom of priests shows up three times in Revelation.
and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Revelation 1:6 ESV
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth." Revelation 5:10 ESV
Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. Revelation 20:6 ESV
The New Testament writers clearly understood that all who believe in Yeshua are the kingdom of priests, the royal priesthood to the world.
It was at Pentecost in Acts 2 that things changed. The believers received a new priesthood. Let me show you.
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:1-4 ESV
The Scriptures declared that the annual feasts, including Pentecost, were given for the purpose of sacrifice.
"These are the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the LORD food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, Leviticus 23:37 ESV
This was a priestly act. Thus, the observance of Pentecost itself was a participation in the priestly services. But in Acts 2 we do not find any mention of presenting typical offerings or animal sacrifices or anything else which was part of the typical priestly law. What we do see at the third hour is the Spirit coming down upon them [Note that the third and ninth hours were the times of sacrifice in ancient Israel. See Josephus' Antiquities 14.65; Apostolic Tradition 41:6; 11Q19]. Fire from heaven signaled the acceptance of certain sacrifices in the Old Covenant.
And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. Leviticus 9:24 ESV
But now we see that the acceptance of the believers on the day of Pentecost was indicated by the same symbol.
Notice what Paul says to the Romans.
But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Yeshua to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:15-16 ESV
"The priestly service"—is Paul a priest? Of what order? It couldn't be the Aaronic order because he was of the tribe of Benjamin. Paul saw himself a priest after Christ's likeness and in connection with Christ. Since Christ is High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, then that is the only priesthood in which Paul could have participated by co-operating with Christ in priestly activity. If Paul had been under the Levitical order, he would have been asking the death sentence upon himself for falsely claiming to be a priest. But Paul was not under the Levitical priesthood; he was in the antitypical priesthood—the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek. Instead of offering priestly rites of grain, drink, or animals, he offered the Gentiles as living sacrifices.
Paul was not the only one to refer to these clearly non-Levitical sacrifices. Peter similarly exhorted:
you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Yeshua the Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 ESV
Believers, we are a holy priesthood in the order of Melchizedek and are to be offering spiritual sacrifices to God. What is a spiritual sacrifice?
The author of Hebrews says,
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Hebrews 13:15-16 ESV
As part of the priesthood of Melchizedek, we offer the sacrifice of praise, and we do good. These are sacrifices that are pleasing to God.
All this language is that of sacrifice and priesthood, and yet no one can deny that it is being used in a way which is clearly different from the Aaronic order. If these New Testament writers had been under the Levitical system, they would have been breaking the law. But since they were under the priesthood of Melchizedek, their priestly activity was to be done in connection with the heavenly temple and therefore was not centered around the temple in Jerusalem.
Christ is the anti-type of Melchizedek, and the priesthood of Christ is a universal priesthood. Believers as priests, and our purpose in the world is to mediate the blessings of God to our neighbors.
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