Priestly Service

The Priesthood Is a Calling and a Mission

The Priesthood Is a Calling and a Mission

Choice … and Mission
A Holy Anointing … and Authority from the Spirit
Holy to the Lord … and the Lord’s Portion

The priesthood is a calling, a choice, and an anointing.

This calling is very clear in both the Old and New Testaments, according to an important principle declared by Saint Paul the Apostle in Hebrews 5:4: “And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.” As long as there is a calling, then the work is not for everyone.

Let us therefore try to trace the divine economy regarding the priesthood from the beginning, starting with the Old Testament. We will see that the divine plan is the same in both Testaments and has not changed. God is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), and “with Him there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17). Indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ criticized matters that “were not so from the beginning” (Matthew 19; Mark 10), which shows God’s love for what was from the beginning.

1. God chose the firstborn to be His, and He said concerning this: “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn… it is Mine” (Exodus 13:2). Here we notice three things:
   a) God chooses for His service whom He wills; He appoints, not we.
   b) Those whom He chooses belong to Him; they are His portion, the Lord’s portion. Therefore, they were called clergy, meaning “portion,” that is, the Lord’s portion.
   c) They were also “holy to the Lord,” consecrated to Him.
2. Then God chose Aaron and his sons to serve the priesthood instead of the firstborn. The persons changed, but the priesthood remained the same—the Lord’s portion. Therefore, they had no inheritance in the division of the land, because the Lord was their inheritance. They ate from what was offered to the Lord. They belonged to Him.
3. God was not satisfied merely with choosing Aaron and his sons, but He commanded Moses to anoint them with the holy oil before the whole congregation (Leviticus 8).
   This took place in a sacred assembly, in which a sacrifice was offered to the Lord, and they were clothed in holy garments which God commanded to be made, according to His choice in every detail: “They made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses” (Exodus 40).
   And the Lord said to Moses:
   “Bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and wash them with water. Then you shall put the holy garments on Aaron, and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest. And you shall bring his sons and clothe them with tunics. You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to Me as priests; for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations” (Exodus 40:12–15).
4. Truly, I stand here astonished before God’s honoring of His stewards. God chose Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Him, yet they could not perform the work of the priesthood unless they passed through His steward Moses—“faithful in all My house” (Numbers 12:7)—who consecrated them to the Lord and anointed them with the holy oil, so that this anointing became for them an everlasting priesthood.
   Do you think that this matter was only in the Old Testament? It is also in the New Testament, as you will see shortly.
5. We also notice that they made a plate of pure gold and engraved on it the phrase “Holy to the Lord,” and placed it on Aaron’s turban at the front: “So it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord” (Exodus 28:38).
   That is, merely seeing the one who had become “holy to the Lord” brought acceptance for the people before God. How marvelous is the Lord’s honoring of His servants.
   We also notice that it was said about the garments of Aaron and his sons that they were holy garments, and that they were for glory and beauty, as the Lord said to Moses: “And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty… and for Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics… for glory and for beauty” (Exodus 28:2–3, 40).
   Do you think that God would care so much for the servants of the Old Testament, clothing them with glory and beauty, and not care for the servants of the New Testament, which is greater?
6. This anointing that Aaron and his sons received was accompanied by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, as the Scripture says: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me” (Isaiah 61:1). Thus, the anointing was connected with the coming of the Holy Spirit.
   The anointing therefore grants the Spirit and grants authority to practice the priestly ministry.
   In the New Testament, this was replaced by the laying on of hands and the holy breath (John 20:22).
   The act of anointing corresponds to the rite of ordination in the New Testament.
7. God designated the priesthood within a specific group, namely Aaron and his sons. When Korah, Dathan, and Abiram protested and wanted the priesthood to be for the entire nation—on the grounds that it was a holy nation and a “kingdom of priests”—Moses said to them: “Tomorrow the Lord will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him” (Numbers 16:5).
   Notice here Moses’ description of the priest: he belongs to the Lord, he is holy, chosen by the Lord, brought near to Him. The Lord chose His priests, and the earth swallowed up those who protested and demanded the nationalization of the priesthood. It was a lesson for all generations.
8. The priesthood, then, is an anointing and a mission.
   The priesthood is a calling and a mission.
9. The Scripture says: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me… He has sent Me” (Isaiah 61:1). He said, “He anointed Me and sent Me.” The anointing precedes the mission.
   And whoever is not sent by the Lord, his work is of no benefit. Consider the divine revelation: “I have not sent them nor commanded them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:32).
10. In the New Testament, the same situation exists: calling, choice, anointing, and mission.
    The Scripture says about the Lord Jesus Christ: “Then He called His twelve disciples” (Matthew 10:1). This calling is explained by the Gospel with regard to each one individually. Then what? The evangelist continues, saying: “These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them” (Matthew 10:5).
    Thus, here is a calling for specific persons, and a mission for them, not for everyone.
    “He called His twelve disciples and gave them power and authority… and He sent them to preach” (Luke 9:1–2). “After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two” (Luke 10:1).
    And the Lord said concerning this mission: “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). And in His prayer to the Father He said: “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (John 17:18). And confirming that the mission is from God, He said: “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).
    And concerning choice He said: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit” (John 15:16). Choice indicates that it is not for everyone.
11. Christ not only sent them, but He also defined the place of work and the type of work, so that no one would act on his own. At first He said to them: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:5–6). Then finally He said to them: “You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). And in choosing and sending Paul, He said to him: “Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles” (Acts 22:21).
    Regarding the work, He said: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20). “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:15–16).
    Here we find a specific mission belonging to this sending: to preach, to disciple, to baptize, and to hand down what they received from the Lord.
    The priesthood is a specific mission.
12. Even in the period between the two Testaments, we read about John the Baptist, the priest, son of Zechariah the priest, that it was said of him in the Gospel: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe” (John 1:6–7).
13. The same situation applies: a mission to a specific person with a specific message. We notice here that his priesthood was for bearing witness to the Light, not focusing on offering sacrifices.
    His work was “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17), preparing the way before Him, preaching a baptism of repentance (Mark 1:2–4).
    God chose John before he was born, consecrated him while he was in his mother’s womb, filled him with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:15), sent him, and defined for him a specific mission as a priest—not the offering of sacrifices, but preaching the baptism of repentance and preparing hearts to receive the Lord.
14. Since the priesthood is therefore a calling, a choice, and a mission from God, it is not for all people, but for those whom the Lord has chosen and called.
    In the Kingdom of God, since God is the King, He is the One who chooses His servants, who calls and sends. No one does anything of himself, but everything is done “as the Lord commanded” (Exodus 39:43), “according to the pattern which the Lord showed” (Exodus 25:9).
    This is not only concerning the apostolic rank, but also concerning their successors, the bishops. For the apostle says to the bishops of Ephesus: “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28).
    Thus, the bishops are the successors of the apostles, appointed by the Holy Spirit as shepherds.
    The Holy Spirit is the One who appoints and the One who sends. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ says: “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).

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