The Secrets of the High Priest

The bible in the book of Exodus revealed to us the first ever high priest for Israel as the Lord took them from the land of Egypt to Canaan. Also there was a prophet whose name was Moses, and his purpose as a prophet coexisted with the one of the high priest whose name was Aaron. In this message, you are going to learn the work and purpose of high priest and the role they played in the Old Testament. There is also the priesthood of the New Testament that I would like to reveal to you as we continue learning about this. 

The priest during the Old Covenant times, and that is the Old Testament times would enter the Holy of holies once a year to sacrifice for the nation. The twist is, this high priest may not come out alive, so they would tie him with a robe on his ankle so that if he dies inside they would pull him out. This would happen if he entered the Holy of holies and he was unclean. The bible says, “If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer to the Lord for his sin which he has sinned a young bull without blemish as a sin offering” (Leviticus 4:3).

God says that if the high priest sins, he brings guilt on the people, the nations is guilty of the sin they did not do. This shows that these priests were also human beings just like the rest of us, they were subject to sinning and they also needed the blood of animals to have their sins covered. So this is before Jesus came to wash all sin of mankind with His precious blood on Mount Calvary once for all. This priest would do before entering what was called then the sanctuary (now known as the Holy of holies). The bible continues to say, “He shall bring the bull to the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, lay his hand on the bull’s head, and kill the bull before the Lord” (Leviticus 4:4).

The priest has to lay his hands on the bull before he could kill it. Let me explain something to you, for the priest or anyone for that matter in those days, to lay hands on the sacrifices meant that you are transferring all your uncleanness to it and you are taking from it its blamelessness unto yourself. Therefore, you don’t deserve to die anymore but the animal deserves for it is unclean lest it contaminates others. So the animal atoned for man’s sin, this is, the animal dies and the man lives.

The bible says, “Then the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it to the tabernacle of meeting. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil of the sanctuary. And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour the remaining blood of the bull at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting” (Leviticus 4:5-7).

So now, does this mean that people during the law could live a week without sinning or they were bringing sacrifices everyday? It is impossible that one can finish even an hour without sinning, and again it is impossible that they could bring sacrifices everyday. Even us today when we sin, we don’t usually ask for forgiveness for every sin we commit. By the way, Christ has already become a sacrifice for sin once and for all. Whether a believer confesses or not, He has already forgiven us.

So, concerning the sin to be worthy of being sacrificed for, the Lord said to Moses, “When the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for sin, and bring it before the tabernacle of meeting” (Leviticus 4:14). So, they sinned everyday but that does not mean they brought sacrifices everyday. They could only bring it if it is known or they have a condition in their bodies that classified as uncleanness, like the bleeding.

The Lord then, however, judged the standing of the children of Israel on their high priest. If the high priest has no good standing with God, then God would reject the whole nation regardless if the nation is known to be meticulous. By the way, the word meticulous doesn’t exist in terms of human behaviour before God because no one is Infallible, but when one is not always found doing bad things, then is regarded as being meticulous.

The high priest purpose was like this, “For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins” (Hebrews 5:1-3). In Leviticus 4:2-7, it is explained how the priest would give his sacrifice for his sin.

So I hope that it is clear that, as you read from verse 1 that the priest stands for man to God, and Moses as a prophet stood for God to man. So, it is almost like this that, Moses was a messenger of God to the people while Aaron was the messenger of people to God. Today, hallelujah, we have the High Priest who is not according to the high priests of the Law. The bible says, “And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest; who has come, not according to the law of fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. For He testifies: ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’” (Hebrews 7:15-17).

This is talking about Jesus Christ our Lord; hey He is the Priest forever not according to the Levitical priesthood which its priests died. John says, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2). This is our High Priest, sitting as our Advocate with the Judge who is also our Father. We are blessed, hallelujah.

The above verses do not imply that we should purposely sin because we have an Advocate who is with the Father, but it rather implies that if it happens, we should not feel condemned for Christ is the propitiation of our sins. So this High Priest lives forever according to the power of an endless life. He will never die, unlike the high priests of the Old Covenant who died and had to be replaced. Christ is the Priest that can forgive sins, wash sins and stand for sinners before the Judge and tell the Judge that He must not look at the sinner but to Him.

Our right standing with God is not in us according to our works but in Christ. The bible says of us, “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgement; because as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). My dear reader, never look to yourself, but look to Jesus and God will never judge you according to your works but according to the finished works of Christ. Remember this, God loves you more than you can ever imagine.

The book of Leviticus 4 as it explains about the sin of the priest, the priest has to make an offering for himself lest he doesn’t die in the sanctuary. But of our High Priest the bible says, “For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when offered up Himself” (Hebrews 7:26-27).

This is our High Priest! Aren’t you glad that our High Priest doesn’t need to sacrifice daily for His own sins? I like what the bible says of Him, “By so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But He, because He continues forever, has unchangeable priesthood” (Hebrews 7:22-24). Our priesthood under grace is unchangeable, we cannot have a priest today and tomorrow he is dead and has to be replaced.

Now the Holy Spirit says by this writer of the book of Hebrews that He is a surety of a better covenant with this covenant of grace. What is a surety? It is a promise to pay a sum of money in the event that another person fails to fulfil an obligation; or One who undertakes to pay or perform other acts in the event that his principal fails therein. Now Jesus came in the picture when the Israelites failed to cope with God’s holiness for 1 500 years, so they needed a surety someone who would pay their debt.

Now the question, who can be a surety? A surety cannot be someone who does not have enough money and/or property pay up what is owed by the debtor. It’s like this, I borrow $4 000 000 from Mr Bill Gates and I produce not so adequate documents that I have what it takes to pay him back, but I have a surety which is Mr Jeff Bezos who is $113 billion rich and he is $15 000 000 000 richer than Mr Bill Gates. Now, if Mr Jeff Bezos signs that he will be my surety, then Mr Bill Gates will be able to give me $4 000 000.

He is only giving me because he sees the ability to recover his money looking at Mr Jeff Bezos account. Even if Mr Bezos had $10 000 000, he would be able to pay the $4 000 000. When Jesus paid for our sins it is almost like we owed God $100 000 000 000 and as we could not pay this debt, He came as a surety to make a payment first of $100 000 000 000 and gave us another $100 000 000 000 into our bank accounts. This is to say, we cannot be in debt with God anymore. This is the power and the revelation of the new covenant which Jesus came to make for us with God through His blood.

Now by the blood of Jesus we are part of that covenant as we have accepted Him because He said to His disciples that they should go to all the 4 corners of the world. We are part of this covenant by His grace and we are under this priesthood by grace through faith. This is the priesthood that is not under the law. The bible says, “Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? (Hebrews 7:11).

When Abraham came from war after defeating 4 kings with only 318 men, he went to the place of worship and met a man by the name of Melchizedek who was a priest. The bible affirms, “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.’ And he gave him a tithe of all” (Genesis 14:18-20).

What we find first from this priest is that the he blessed Abraham and blessed God. This priest which the bible doesn’t say much of him, he is the picture of Jesus. This shows that our priesthood is a blessing priesthood not the cursing one just like the priesthood of Aaron. The Bible says, “For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest” (Hebrews 7:14-15).

So Jesus is the priest not according to the law that even Moses spoke nothing of concerning priesthood. Jesus’ priesthood has nothing to do with the law, so let us tap into the new covenant with our High Priest who stands for us to ensure that we are reconciled with God to pay for us the highest price of sin.

If you haven’t made Jesus Christ your Lord and Saviour, this is the moment that I would like you to take, follow through this prayer and say; “Father I thank You, for Jesus Christ Your Son, the High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek, who lives forever, I thank You Father, that through Him, all my sins, have been forgiven, both past, present and future, and I am highly favoured, I am truly blessed, because of the blood of Jesus, and today I am saved, today I am reconciled with God, and I have a shalom peace, because Jesus Christ is my Lord, and my Saviour, forever and ever, Amen.”

My friend, this prayer has enabled you to be a new creation in Christ. Prayer transcends time and space, even location. It doesn’t matter when and where you are reading this prayer, you will be still saved and receive the favour of God.

Stay in health through grace and favour...!!!