Central Truth: The Levitical priesthood foreshowed the priesthood of all believers in Christ.
Memory Verse: You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. - 1 Peter 2:5
LESSON TEXT
Exodus 28:1, 29-30; 29:44-46; 1Peter 2:4-5, 9-10
Exodus 28;
1. “Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests.
29 “Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before the Lord.
30 Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece, so they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.
Exodus 29:
44 “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests.
45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.
46 They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.
1 Peter 2:
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—
5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
INTRODUCTION
Unlike in the Old Testament where access to the presence of God, was restricted, today, by His death on the cross, Jesus has opened the way for every believer to have access to God.
In this lesson we will learn about the Old Testament priesthood and the privilege of the believer’s priesthood which we have due to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.
LESSON
In the Old Testament God called Aaron and his sons and consecrated them to serve in the ministry of the priesthood to provide spiritual leadership. He also gave some people the skill to prepare special garments for the Priest (Exe. 28:1-4; 29:44). God calls His people to serve in a variety of roles. Some are prominent, others are behind the scenes. Whatever role we are called into requires that instead of focusing on the role, we must rather focus on the one who is directing the course of our lives – God.
The priests’ consecration meant that they were set apart for the Lord. As Christians we are also called as priests of God (1Peter 2:5) and consecrated to pursue holiness and walk in obedience to Him in all areas of our lives. Also, as the priests of the Old Testament offered sacrifices, the believer as a priests must also offer sacrifices but that would now be spiritual, consisting of worship and service (Rom 12:1; Heb. 13:15). As priest of God, we go directly to God in prayer and also on behalf of one another.
Again as priests of God, we are being built into spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5). This portrays our relationship with Jesus Christ. Christ is the foundation and we serve as the ministers within that house. We must therefore have a singular focus – to proclaim that Jesus is the only Saviour of the world.
LIFE APPLICATION
God has made Christians to be a kingdom of priests and equipped us and anointed us to serve as ministers to bring the lost souls to Him. Just as the Old Testament priesthood required preparations, we also are called to prepare ourselves for service to the Lord. This involves knowing God’s Word and spending time in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
DAILY BIBLE READING
- Monday – Phinehas: Zealous for the Lord (Numbers 25:6 – 13)
- Tuesday – Hellish: Restores the Holy Book (2 Kings 22:8 – 20)
- Wednesday – Joshua: Rebuilds the Altar (Ezra 3:1 – 7)
- Thursday – Access made Possible (Romans 5: 1 - 5)
- Friday – Jesus Our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14 – 16)
- Saturday – The New and Living Way. (Hebrews 10;19 – 23)