HNTC Holman Commentary on the New Testament IDB Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible ICC International Critical Commentary JBL Journal of Biblical Literature. OTSS Old Testament Survey Series PNTC Pillar New Testament Commentary SBJT The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology.
PREFACE
More than anyone else, he has made me a better writer, researcher, and student of God's Word. I long for my sons to love Jesus with all their hearts, to be warriors for Christ's kingdom, and I pray that God will use me in some way to influence them to do so.
PRIESTHOOD, CHURCH DISCIPLINE, AND BIBLICAL THEOLOGY
An accurate conception of the New Covenant practice of church discipline flows from a thorough understanding of the priesthood. Luther helped to restore to the church a more faithful understanding of the priesthood of all believers and decided to.
Thesis
God's temple and his people as he worked to personally obey God, teach the people of God, and administer the boundaries of the temple of God. This dissertation argues that the priesthood consists of people who have been granted access by God to the presence of God, is charged with serving God by guarding the sanctity of his temple and his people by heeding the Word of God, border management , sacrifice and mediation. .
Overview
The priestly task of blood sacrifice finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.11 Jesus' atoning work on the cross stems from his priestly effort to restore, preserve, and preserve the holiness of God's temple and God's people. That is, the new covenant priesthood is appointed by God to preserve the holiness of God's temple and God's people, and they do so primarily through the practice of church discipline in both its formative and corrective aspects. .
THE PRIESTHOOD OF ADAM AND EVE
Adam's priestly and royal roles/offices are often pictured together in Scripture, blurring the distinguishing lines between the offices. If Ezekiel speaks of Adam exclusively in high-priestly terms (excluding Eve), this could indicate some kind of distinction between the priesthood of Adam and Eve.
The Garden: The Archetypal Cosmic Temple
The Garden of Eden was the first archetypal temple, and. it was the model for all subsequent temples. All this evidence weighs heavily in favor of the idea that the Garden of Eden was the first or archetypal temple.
Adam and Eve’s Priesthood
The Prototypical Priesthood
Access to the Presence of God
In Genesis 3:8, after their sin, Adam and Eve "heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day." Thus, biblical evidence would indicate that Adam and Eve were the first priests because they had unlimited access to God's presence in the garden.
Guardianship
Part of the essence of what it means to be a priest is to enjoy access to God's presence. This means that Mathews believes that Adam served or worked for God by guarding or caring for the garden.
Adam and Eve’s Priestly Tasks
33 Redford writes, "[Adam's] continued enjoyment of the blessings was contingent on his keeping God's rules. Adam is blessed with the opportunity to eat freely from every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Adam and Eve Fail as Priests
Adam's task of guarding the borders of the sanctuary meant that he was responsible for guarding against it. Lange agrees that Adam was responsible for Eve: “Adam [was] like the master of the house of the wife.
Adam and Eve’s Expulsion from the Edenic Temple
Eve was aware enough of God's instructions about the tree that she could resist the devil at first. Adam, who was placed in Paradise to guard it, is now guarded by the garden.
Adam and Eve’s Priesthood Reinstituted
Because of their sin, Adam and Eve lost their priestly privilege of enjoying direct access to God. This way of providing for Adam and Eve confirmed God's enduring good will.” Mathews, Genesis.
Summary: The Priesthood of Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve's role in obeying and teaching God's Word to their family should not be overlooked. Indeed, they should be appreciated for their role in both obeying God's word and passing it on to the generations that would follow them.
THE PATRIARCHAL PRIESTHOOD
Corresponding to the priesthood of Adam and Eve, the patriarchal priesthood continued to consist of people who enjoyed access to God's divine presence and continued to serve him as guardians.
Altar-Building and the Expanding Sanctuary of God
They worked to do this while paying attention to God's Word, border management, sacrifice and intercession. While priests continued to serve God by paying attention to God's Word and border management, they were now engaged in the priestly works of sacrifice and intercession as they erected altars to God.
Sacrifice, Mediation, and Border Management
Progressively, the priest-king patriarchs worked to create a land—indeed, a kingdom—where God's people could meet and worship their God. The practice of building the patriarchal altar raised the importance of respecting God's holiness and emphasized the necessity of approaching God through the right way.
Cain and Abel
Furthermore, God's reaction to Cain's offering and general sinful inclination lends weight to the notion that Cain and Abel brought their offerings to an altar. The result is that he was sent away from the place of God's holy altar and special presence. 21.
Noah
He substantiates this point when he writes: “One of the arguments for the antiquity of the man Job is that he was priest to his own family. Although this decision is very reasonable, it must be admitted that dating difficulties exist, both for the time of Job's life and for the dating of the Book of Job.
Abraham
The tree near the place where God meets his human servants reminds us of the Garden of Eden. This sign of the covenant functioned as a priestly means of "managing the boundaries" of God's people.
Isaac and Jacob
The next mention of an altar in the story comes many years later after the Lord delivered Moses and the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt; after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and escaped the wrath of the Egyptian Pharaoh, they faced the Amalekites at Rephidim and were, by the power of God,. To commemorate God's mercy, Moses erected an altar on the hill/mountain Rephidim (Exodus 17:15).
God’s Word
Cain, Abel, and Seth
Thus, when God's people are called to keep "the way of the Lord," they are called to live in accordance with the very nature of God's character as expressed in his relationship with creation. As the teacher of the covenant and as "the chosen vessel of God, Abraham had to be a spiritual teacher, instilling in his children" 77 the way of God.
Summary: The Patriarchal Priesthood
ISRAEL’S PRIESTHOOD
Moses stood at the gate of the camp and said, "Who is on the side of the LORD. YHWH's appointment of the priesthood is placed within the context of the calling of "priesthood" to all the people of God.
Permutations of the Garden-Sanctuary
In what follows, the related themes of the priesthood and God's special presence on earth are examined from the time of the founding of the nation of Israel to the end of the Old Testament. Building on the existing priesthood of the patriarchal period, Israel's priesthood on the one hand is experiencing significant developments, while on the other hand it continues to consist of people entrusted, through divine access to the presence of God, to serve God to serve by guarding the sanctity of his temple and his people by paying attention to the Word of God, border management, sacrifice and mediation.
Israel at the Mountain Sanctuary of Sinai
Each of these sanctuaries stands as a variation of the archetypal shrine-garden. . 3:5), is representative of the Edenic tree of life and the menorah in the Holy of Holies of the temple (Exodus 3:2). Aaron, his sons, and the seventy elders were allowed to go up the mountain part of the way, but not all the way (Exodus, the rest of Israel was asked to stay at the base of Sinai (Exodus) As an altar was built on the most outside the Israelite temple, an altar was also built at the base of Sinai for the people (Exodus 24:5-6).
Israel and the Tabernacle
Once again, the tabernacle represents another permutation of the Garden with its tripartite divisions and gradation of holiness
Israel and the Temple
Subsequent to the death of Saul (1 Sam 31), David is anointed as king of
God assures David that his "son" will build the house; indeed, Solomon finally builds the temple and the glory of the Lord fills the sanctuary (1 Kings 7:1-2). The theological significance of the establishment of the temple can represent a step forward in redemptive history, since God's presence is no longer present in the tabernacle.
Israel’s Priesthood
Maintaining their personal holiness and remaining committed to upholding God's word enabled them to then be able to work to achieve and maintain the holiness of the people of Israel. The sanctity of the priesthood is connected with the special status of the whole nation. 46.
Border Management
The appointment of the Levites (Num. 8) also follows that of the priests (Lev. 8), whom they are to serve” (132). The entire assembly of the people of Israel gathered in Shiloh to make war against them (Jos 22:12), and Phinehas was sent to confront them (Jos 22:13).
Sacrifice
The sacrifices of the patriarchs were an atonement for the sins of those in their households and not for the world as a whole. Therefore, while the priests of Israel performed the sacrificial work, their services extended only to guarding the holiness of the covenant people of God.
Mediation
God's choice to leave his temple is directly related to the failure of the priests. The failure of the priests to guard against false teaching led to the corruption of God's people (Jer 5:30-31).
Summary: Israel’s Priesthood
For now it must be sufficient to state that in the new covenant and in the priesthood of Christ "the Levitical covenant is in one sense replaced and in another sense maintained and fulfilled."102.
THE PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS CHRIST
Jesus Christ: The True Priest and Temple
Rather than a full restoration of the Levitical priesthood to its former status, and thus with its sacrificial system, it is a promise that Christ would eventually fulfill the priestly role. And yet, if Jeremiah's prophecy of the Levitical priesthood in Christ was fulfilled, one must consider the reality that the priesthood of Christ was of the order of Melchizedek and not of the Levites (Heb 7-9).
Jesus, a New and Better Priest
33 Writing about the weakness of the law and the "better hope" offered by the priesthood of Christ, says Hughes. Similarly, France roots the permanence of Christ's priesthood in "the eternity that is part of the Son's supernatural character." R.
Jesus, the Temple
Beale, The Temple and the Church's Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God, NSBT 17 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. Furthermore, it provided for the bringing in of the Gentiles and the world-wide and boundary-enhancing priestly of Adam to begin, which will ultimately result in the glory of God covering the face of the earth.
Jesus’ Priesthood
Jesus is the new and better priest, partly because of his perfect faithfulness to the Word of God. As the new and better priest, Jesus established himself as the perfect teacher of God's Word.
Border management. From Adam to the Levitical priesthood, priests were responsible for guarding the holy sanctuary of God from defilement while also guarding
Sixth, Jesus guards the sanctity of the temple of God and the people of God as he executes judgment. Emerson, Christ and the New Creation: A Canonical Approach to New Testament Theology (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2013), 61.
Summary: The Priesthood of Jesus Christ
THE NEW COVENANT PRIESTHOOD
Christ Confers His Priesthood on the Church
It is possible to conclude that the church's direct access to the Father is rooted in Christ's consecration of the church as priests to God. This strange conundrum is rooted in Malone's general view of the disconnect between the priesthood of Christ and the priesthood of the New Testament.
New Covenant Temples and the Holy Spirit
This critique of Malone serves to establish the point that the priestly office and identity is bestowed and transferred to the New Covenant Church through its covenant head Jesus Christ, not through the Old Covenant corporate priesthood of Israel. So it is in Christ that the church functions as a priesthood, and it is the perfect priestly example of Christ that the church aspires to.
Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
Scripture indicates that this indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit includes both corporate and individual indwelling. Paul therefore refers to the individual members of the church, whose respective individual bodies are indwelt by the Spirit of God.
Priesthood of All Believers
Scripture provides further evidence that God's new covenant people are all considered priests. Baptism and the Relationship between the Covenants,” in Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ, ed.
Diversity and complementarity within the priesthood. While each Christian is in every way a priest unto God, there is nevertheless diversity and complementarity
He argues that the early church affirmed a strong doctrine of the priesthood of every believer. And yet both diversity and complementarity within the body of the new covenant priesthood are also affirmed.
The Ministry of the New Covenant Priesthood
In this new covenant, every Christian is regenerated, indwelt by the Spirit, and a member of the priesthood of the new covenant.
Church Discipline
Defining Church Discipline
Furthermore, the entire congregation shares the responsibility of caring for the soul of all church members. Rather, believers should remove the person from church membership, thus preserving the sanctity of the church.
Fourth, the priests of the new covenant offer sacrifices to God when they engage in evangelism and win the lost to Christ. They offer as a sacrifice to God those who engage in evangelism and win the lost to Christ.
