The Aaronic and the Melchizedek Priesthoods.
IN the Aaronic priesthood all that was necessary to be a priest was to have descent from Aaron, with certain necessary limitations. The priest must be a male; he must not be crippled or dwarfed or deformed; he could serve only between certain ages; and normally, he must be a good man, and the legitimate heir. Every high priest in the Aaronic priesthood was a type of Christ. Each year's service represented in its great features the entire priesthood of Christ for His sinful children, from His ascension till His glorious coming. The priests of Aaron's order served "unto the example and shadow of heavenly things." Heb. 8:5; 9:1-12. The Aaronic priesthood was an "order." Heb. 7:11. That is, they were made priests after a regular arrangement. In an order there must be more than one. One only could not constitute an order of priests. Even so the Melchizedek priesthood is an order. There is more than one priest found in it, not necessarily in succession. There are characteristics of this order of priests as follows: (1) They are called of God. Heb. 5:1-5. (2) They are sons of God. Verses 5, 6. The declaration of sonship is equivalent to an appointment to the priesthood. Verses 8-10. (3) They are king-priests. Chapter 7:1, 2. Each stands alone in his priesthood, preceded and succeeded by no one in his priestly office; his priesthood is unchangeable. Verses 17, 24. All these specifications are met in Christ Jesus. The expression in Heb. 7:3, "without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life," must not be pressed too hard. Remember it pertains to the priesthood; and in that priesthood, the priest of the order of Melchizedek serves alone. Therefore of the example given in Genesis 14 there is no record of ancestry or descent, no record as to when his priesthood began or when it closed; no record of when his life began or of any ending of that life. A little segment of a circle of unending priesthood is presented before us in that ancient record, and this segment is of the same order of priesthood as is that of our Lord. Of course, on the human side, Jesus did have birth of the tribe of Judah. He did have beginning of priesthood, when "He ascended up on high," and sat down "at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens." Of this priesthood which began with Christ's ascension, the Aaronic priesthood was a type, but the Melchizedek priesthood of Christ is everlasting. In other words, He is a priest because He is a Son. Note that the one is equivalent to the other. "So Christ also glorified not Himself to be made a high priest, but He [the Father] that spake unto Him, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee: as He saith also in another place, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Heb. 5:5, 6. A.R.V. The declaration of sonship is made equivalent to the office of priest after the order of Melchizedek. The same thought is given in verses 8 to 10: "Though He was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He suffered; and having been made perfect, He became unto all them that obey Him the Author of eternal salvation; named of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek." Sonship and priesthood are equal terms in the Melchizedek order of priesthood. He who became Jesus was and is preeminently the Son of God. He was with the Father before the world was. As the Son of the Master of the universe, He was the Priest of the universe, the great connecting, life-giving link between all creatures and the throne of the Infinite. As this earth was created "not in vain," but was "formed" "to be inhabited" (Isa. 45:18), it is reasonable to suppose that God's plan is to people His universe with inhabitable globes after the same general manner which He did the earth, at the head of each of which was one who came direct from the hand of the Creator, as did "Adam, the son of God" (Luke 3:38). Thus there came to be an order of the Sons of God, as incidentally revealed in Job 1:6; 2:1; and 38:7. Analogy would say that each of these sons was the father and priest of his world or planet, as was Adam of this world, but all under the Son of God and the Priest of the universe. The father and priest of this world was Adam, a life-giver and instructor to his children, binding them to the Son of God and to the Throne of the Infinite. But Adam sinned. He yielded himself and his dominion to Satan, the usurper; and therefore as head of this world de facto, Satan met with the sons of God, before Jehovah. Job 1:6. But this world must be won, and the Priest of the universe, the Son of God, gave Himself for this lost world, invested Himself with fallen humanity, that He might win what Adam lost, and so He also became the Melchizedek of this world; and the record in Hebrews 5 gives us mighty glimpses of this wonderful condescension of the Son of God. How His humiliation ought to stir our own hearts to devotion to such love and sacrifice! How faithfully obedient ought we to be to Him who is the Author of our eternal salvation! Truly He is One who is "able to save to the uttermost," all who will trust Him.