If you have any questions about this article or require spiritual guidance or counselling, please send an email to info@wingsoffaithinternational.org. Your email will be forwarded to a pastor or spiritual counsellor, who will provide guidance to your concerns.The priests(levities) were responsible for temple worship and sacrifices(Numbers 3:5-10). It was also their responsibility to teach the Israelites the Law(Leviticus 10:11). They were also responsible for daily sacrifices(Leviticus 1:4-5, Leviticus 4:15).
In addition to daily sacrifices, God appointed an annual day of national cleansing, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) which was performed by the High Priest who was the chief among priests. Only the High Priest performed this rite. He entered the Holy of Holies with blood to atone for himself and the nation.(Leviticus 16: 21-30). Unlike daily sacrifices where the sinner laid his hand, on this day the High Priest laid both hands upon the goat as the representative of the entire nation.
What is also important to note about the High Priest was that it was by succession. Aaron was the first High Priest(Exodus 28:1), and after he died his son Eleazar became a High Priest(Numbers 20:28) and after Eleazor, his son Phinehas became the High Priest( Judges 20:28.). Therefore, it is evident from the Scriptures that it not any Levite who could become a High Priest. Each generation had one High Priest, whose death marked the close of his ministry and the succession of another.
The role of John the Baptist was to prepare the way for the Lord. His role was prophesied in the Old Testament.
• Malachi 3:1 (KJV): “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me…”
• Malachi 4:5–6 (KJV): “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers…”
John came from a priestly family on both his mother and father’s side(Luke 1:5), he was a prophet( Luke 1:76).
There is a difference between a prophet and a priest. A prophet preaches/announces the word of the Lord(Amos 3:7, Ezekiel 3:17, Jeremiah 1:9, Deuteronomy 18:22).
John came from a priestly family on both his mother and father’s side(Luke 1:5), he was a prophet( Luke 1:76). His father was a priest but not a High Priest. How do we know this?
John father’s role was to burn incense in the temple of the Lord( Luke 1:9 ). His father was a priest of the course of Abia(Luke 1:8). The order of Abia was created during the time of King David (1 Chronicle 24). David organised them into 24 rotating divisions so that each group would serve in the Temple at appointed times. Abijah (Abia) was the eighth priestly course among the twenty-four divisions.(1 Chronicle 24:10).
Therefore since his father was not a High Priest, John could not have been a High Priest. John was not a High Priest performing sacrificial rituals. Instead, he was the Messenger foretold by Malachi, sent to prepare Israel for the coming of Christ.
In the New Testament identifies John as this messenger: Matthew 11:10, Luke 1:16–17 and Matthew 17:12–13
The entire sacrificial system pointed forward to Christ, who is both the High Priest and the Sacrifice.( Hebrews 4:14, Hebrews 7:27).
Earthly high priests died and were replaced, but Christ “continueth ever” and has an “unchangeable priesthood” (Hebrews 7:24).
Thus, Jesus uniquely fulfills both roles: He is the High Priest who offers, and the Lamb of God who is offered( John 1:29 (KJV): “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”). Hebrews 9:12 (KJV): “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
Unlike animal sacrifices repeated daily and yearly, His one sacrifice is eternal and complete.
With the animal sacrifice the priest land his hands on the animal sacrifice, but with the sacrifice of Jesus, God laid on him the iniquity of us all( Isaiah 53:6, 1 Peter 2:24). Everything was done entirely by God.
In other words, this was accomplished by God alone, without the assistance of any prophet or priest, contrary to what some proclaim. Christ was both the High Priest and the Lamb offered for our redemption. John played no role in this sacrifice; he was merely a witness to this divine truth.
What does this ultimate sacrifice mean?
The penalty for sin is destruction in hell, but this has been averted. Christ died for the sins of the entire world (1 John 2:2). Believing in the sacrifice of Christ is enough to have one justified (Romans 4:5). Having been justified by faith we have peace with God (Romans 5:1). God has granted us eternal life and we shall never perish (John 10:28-29).
If you have any questions about this article or require spiritual guidance or counselling, please send an email to info@wingsoffaithinternational.org. Your email will be forwarded to a pastor or spiritual counsellor, who will provide guidance to your concerns.