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1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Though all Israel is liable to the whole Torah, not all of the Torah is incumbent upon each individual of Israel. Some rulings are solely incumbent on High-Priests, others on priests, some on Levites, Nazarites or firstborns. Some statutes solely concern men, others women or children; some also pertain singly to the stranger in the Land. The children of Moses’ brother Aaron are called Levites. They are called so because they are the descendant of the tribe of Levi, the son of Jacob. When God divided the tribes of the new born Jewish nation into the land of Canaan, God said that the Levites that they will have no land inheritance in Canaan, but that He was their inheritance (Leviticus 18:20-24). In this manner the tribe of Levi obtained the spiritual oversight and responsibility of Israel. Not all Levites automatically became priests, but all priests were to be Levites. Studying the lifestyle incumbent upon the Levite priests, it is easy to see that they were to live in a standard of purity and dedication higher than that of the rest of Israel. This standard was surpassed only by that of the High-Priest himself. Some of the particularities of the Levite priest are that he was to not own land nor busy himself with the affairs of the world. His primary job was that of a Torah teacher to the people. Wealthy folks often had their own Levite living among them teaching them and mostly their children. Most of the time though, the Levite taught in a village and people supported him with tithes and/or offerings in exchange for his services. He was the travelling living Word to the people. In His definition of the higher calling of discipleship, the Master drew from the Levitical priestly standards. He told the twelve with him that their dedication to Him was to be greater than that to their own families (Matthew 10:37), that they were in the world but not of the world (John 15:19), that they were to let go of material pursuits (Luke 12:16-35; Matthew 8:19-20) and spend their lives in the studying teaching of the Word and in prayer (Matthew 28:19-20). Yeshua did not ask for all to do that, but He left it there as an option. It seems that Peter understood the connection between a disciple of Yeshua and the Levitical priesthood when he referred to the people of the Roman congregation as a ‘royal priesthood’ (1 Peter 2:9). Many of us want to define ourselves as disciples of the Master. May we realize that this is not a title to be taken lightly. It is incumbent on whoever takes it to live like the Master did and obey His Words. A higher standard of purity is also required of us, and if we don’t fall under it, we better not call ourselves disciples at all unless a greater condemnation falls upon us (James 3:1).
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1 Peter 2:9
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Studying Leviticus we have seen that all Israel was called to live according to certain rules of holiness. We have also seen that priests and High-Priests were called to an even higher standard. The reason for this was that it was the priest’s job to process the offerings of the people and splash the blood on the altar so in a way, the priest came closer to the Presence of the Lord than any other person. It is like no one would ask me anything if I were to come to Washington D.C. or even if I stood in front of the White House perimeter, but I would need special permissions to come inside the White House and even more the closer I came to the President’s quarters. Believers have also been called to a royal priesthood and live nearer to the Master. We are therefore liable to live in higher standards of holiness. We remember also from the Texts that once Aaron and his sons were anointed for the priesthood, Aaron was not allowed to care for his deceased two sons or to mourn for them. The reason was because Aaron was on duty and High-priests are not allowed to mourn nor bear the signs of mourning while performing their duties in the presence of God (Leviticus 21:10). It makes sense when you realize that approaching God is approaching life itself, the One who swallows death in victory and prepares for us a world where death no longer will be (Isaiah 25:8; Revelations 21:3-40). This understanding od not showing sadness before high dignitaries was very common in the East in those days. It is recorded that no matter what were his personal problems, Nehemiah never showed sadness in front of his kingly master (Nehemiah 2:1). His onetime display of sorrow was so out of character for the king’s butler that it engendered a discussion that changed the fate of the Jewish nation in exile. One may suppose these practices archaic and bordering on hypocrisy, but let’s take a second look at them. Once we have given our lives to the Master; once we have yielded control of every aspect of our lives to the Mighty Creator in Whom is life and Light with no shadow of darkness or death; once we have affirmed to be called according to His purpose, how can we deny that all do things do come for good (Romans 8:28). How do we dare come to Him complaining and murmuring about our poor sorry fate in life? Isn’t that a contradiction? All things do come for good to those called according to His purpose and if things seem to go bad, it is probably because we do not live within the healthy and safe boundaries He prescribed, living a life according to the purpose he called for. Godly living may not keep us from all problems but I can affirm that it serves as a good protection against most social and health issues. We have enough to battle with the enemy, but it seems that Satan can rest at ease; we are creating our own hell though our disobediences to His commandments! May God help us to obey Him, even now even in our days! |
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