P3. Regarding God's Priests as Holy. [Make a Comment]
We are to regard all of God's priests to be set apart as holy.
This precept is derived from His Word (blessed be He):
Key Scriptures
Exodus 19:5-6
'... Now if you will pay careful attention to what I say and keep my
covenant, then you will be my own treasure from among all the peoples, for
all the earth is mine; and you will be a kingdom of cohanim for me, a nation
set apart.' These are the words you are to speak to the people of
Isra'el.
Exodus 28:1-3
You are to summon your brother Aharon and his sons to come from among the
people of Isra'el to you, so that they can serve me as cohanim - Aharon
and his sons Nadav, Avihu, El'azar and Itamar. You are to make for your
brother Aharon garments set apart for serving God, expressing dignity and
splendor. Speak to all the craftsmen to whom I have given the spirit of
wisdom, and have them make Aharon's garments to set him apart for me,
so that he can serve me in the office of cohen.
Leviticus 21:8
(Maimonides RP32; Meir MP50; Chinuch C269)
Rather, you are to set him apart as holy, because he offers the bread of
your God; he is to be holy for you, because I, ADONAI, who makes you holy,
am holy.
1 Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen people, the King's cohanim, a holy nation, a
people for God to possess! Why? In order for you to declare the praises of
the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you
were not a people, but now you are God's people; before, you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Supportive Scriptures
Genesis 22:17-18
I will most certainly bless you; and I will most certainly increase your
descendants to as many as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand on
the seashore. Your descendants will possess the cities of their enemies, and
by your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed - because
you obeyed my order.
Hebrews 5:4-6
And no one takes this honor upon himself, rather, he is called by God, just
as Aharon was. So neither did the Messiah glorify himself to become cohen
gadol; rather, it was the One who said to him, "You are my Son; today I have
become your Father." Also, as he says in another place, "You are a cohen
forever, to be compared with Malki-Tzedek."
Hebrews 9:11-12
But when the Messiah appeared as cohen gadol of the good things that are
happening already, then, through the greater and more perfect Tent which is
not man-made (that is, it is not of this created world), he entered the
Holiest Place once and for all. And he entered not by means of the blood of
goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus setting people free
forever.
Revelation 1:4-6
From: Yochanan To: The seven Messianic communities in the province of Asia:
Grace and shalom to you from the One who is, who was and who is coming; from
the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; and from Yeshua the Messiah, the
faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the
earth's kings. To him, the one who loves us, who has freed us from our
sins at the cost of his blood, who has caused us to be a kingdom, that is,
cohanim for God, his Father - to him be the glory and the rulership forever
and ever. Amen.
Commentary
The history of God choosing certain men to set apart as His priests, holy unto Himself, begins with God's promise to Abraham that through him, all the Nations of the earth will be blessed" (Genesis 22:18). We see this continuing in the Mosaic Covenant where Israel is made by God to be a "kingdom of priests (cohanim), a nation set apart" (Exodus 19:5-6), and Aaron and his sons are installed as priests (Exodus 28:1-3), also "set apart" (Leviticus 21:8). Then, later, in the New Covenant, Yeshua is made a High Priest (Cohen Gadol) in the order of Malki-Tzedek (Hebrews 5:4-6), and all disciples of Yeshua are made cohanim under Him (2 Peter 2:9-10).
Notwithstanding the change in the covenant (Hebrews 8:13) and our loss of the Jerusalem Temple, the Judaism that survives today retains a few functions for those believed to be descended (patrilinearly) from the early Levitical cohanim.1 Among these functions are making aliyot to the bima (going up to read from the Torah during services), the privilege of redeeming firstborn Jewish sons (the ceremony of Pidyon HaBen), and imparting the Birkat Cohanim (Priestly Blessing or Aaronic Benediction) over synagogue congregants. In Messianic Jewish congregations, the Birkat Cohanim is generally ministered by the presiding leader of a service in recognition of the New Covenant's expansion of priestly holiness to all believers.
1. Historically, cohanim were only men; today, however, there is a movement within Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism to extend the status of cohanim to women; this is not generally accepted within Messianic Judaism.
Classical Commentators
Maimonides, Meir, and HaChinuch are unified in stating that a cohen should be treated with honor befitting his inherited identity. He should be made to be first in all matters of holiness, the first to be called to Torah, the first to say the blessing at meals, and the first to be served. This deference to the cohen's holiness should be made regardless of the cohen's willingness to accept it.
NCLA: JMm JFm KMm KFm GMm GFm