Priesthood Not Restored

 •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 11
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- it was he who became the link between the people and their God, and the priesthood fell into quite a secondary place. This was foretold in 1 Samuel 2:3535And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. (1 Samuel 2:35). It has frequently been remarked that God never repairs a ruined order. Instead, in its place, he sets up something new—something that will yield even greater blessing to His people, and which marks also a further development in His blessed ways.
We pass over the ruinous episode of Saul, and what do we find? The king is the prime mover in everything pertaining to the worship of God. Unlike Joshua, he did not stand before the priest, going out and coming in at his word. It was the king who proposed to bring up the ark from Kirjath-Jearim to Zion, and on that memorable occasion he danced before the Lord clad in a linen ephod, and when the offerings had been offered, “he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts” (2 Sam. 6). He is a delightful type of Him who, when all the purposes of God concerning Israel are brought to completion, will bear the glory and be a priest upon His throne (Zech. 6:1313Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. (Zechariah 6:13)). It was the King, not the High Priest, who appointed Asaph and his brethren to minister before the ark continually, while the High Priest and his associated priests were appointed to serve at the tabernacle in Gibeon (1 Chron. 16:37-4337So he left there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as every day's work required: 38And Obed-edom with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be porters: 39And Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon, 40To offer burnt offerings unto the Lord upon the altar of the burnt offering continually morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the law of the Lord, which he commanded Israel; 41And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to the Lord, because his mercy endureth for ever; 42And with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those that should make a sound, and with musical instruments of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were porters. 43And all the people departed every man to his house: and David returned to bless his house. (1 Chronicles 16:37‑43)). When the plague came upon the nation as the result of the numbering, it was David, not the High Priest, who stood in the breach and offered sacrifice. Contrast 1 Chronicles 21:2626And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. (1 Chronicles 21:26) with Numbers 16:46-4846And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun. 47And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. 48And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. (Numbers 16:46‑48). When the time came for the temple to be built, it was one king who charged another king (David and Solomon—1 Chron. 22:66Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the Lord God of Israel. (1 Chronicles 22:6)), and the High Priest appears to have had no say in the matter. It was the king again who numbered the Levites and appointed to them their services (1 Chron. 23:24-2724These were the sons of Levi after the house of their fathers; even the chief of the fathers, as they were counted by number of names by their polls, that did the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from the age of twenty years and upward. 25For David said, The Lord God of Israel hath given rest unto his people, that they may dwell in Jerusalem for ever: 26And also unto the Levites; they shall no more carry the tabernacle, nor any vessels of it for the service thereof. 27For by the last words of David the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above: (1 Chronicles 23:24‑27)), and it was he also who distributed the priests with reference to their work (1 Chron. 24:33And David distributed them, both Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their offices in their service. (1 Chronicles 24:3)). The singers were separated to their service by the king and the captains of the host (1 Chron. 25:11Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of the workmen according to their service was: (1 Chronicles 25:1)). Later the chief priests are named among the chief officers of the kingdom, as if they were that only. What a transformation as compared with the days of Moses and Aaron. What a significant change in the ways of God.