The Day of New Beginnings

A Zealous Priesthood

 

Psalm 69:9
9 For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
 
John 2:14-17
14* And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.
 15 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables;
 16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business."
 17* His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME."
 
Driving the moneychangers, etc., from the temple was a priestly function of the Lord Jesus' ministry. He is our high priest after the order of Melchizedec. Through our inheritance in Christ we have an open door to participate with Him in His priesthood. "But you are a Chosen Race, A Royal Priesthood, A Holy Nation, A People For God's Own Possession (1st Pet. 2:9)." We may share in His priesthood. As participators we find the same zeal is to be upon us as was on Him. Zeal for the Father's house consumed Him! 
 
God brings forth His priesthood that it might be the instrument for His glory. He creates a people who are jealous for His name. Their motivation is to see the Lord glorified in the earth. The cry, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done" becomes more than a religious litany, it becomes a driving force in their lives. As the self life dies it is replaced by the Lord’s motivations. A pure zeal is the result.  
 
Mal. 1:6-11
 
6 ¶ "'A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?' says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, 'How have we despised Your name?'
 7 "You are presenting defiled food upon My altar. But you say, 'How have we defiled You?' In that you say, 'The table of the LORD is to be despised.'
 8 "But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?" says the LORD of hosts.
 9 "But now will you not entreat God's favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive any of you kindly?" says the LORD of hosts
10 "Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD of hosts, "nor will I accept an offering from you.
 11 "For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations," says the LORD of hosts.
 
These passages speak of a polluted priesthood. The entire book of Malachi deals with the priesthood. The Lord's anger was against them, but there are foreshadows in Malachi pointing to the day when a spiritual priesthood would come forth to honor and glorify His name. Verse 10 is one such reference. The Lord cries out, "Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar!" There is to be a zealous priesthood that will rise up to "shut the gates". This priesthood moves in the Lord's authority to bring judgment on the things that have brought reproach upon His name.  Back in John when Jesus cleansed the temple, the scribes questioned Him: "What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?" The authority of the Kingdom rests upon His priesthood. 
 
Through a zealous priesthood the Lord's name will be made great among the nations (vs.11). His name will be made great because of the fire in the spirits of the priesthood. Verse 11 also states incense is going to be offered in every place in His name, and a grain offering that is pure. This indicates a pure worship that is established. It’s a worship that will honor Him and make His name great among the nations. 


 
Numbers 25:1-13
 
1* ¶ While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab.                   
 2 For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
 3* So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the LORD was angry against Israel.
 4* The LORD said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel."
 5* So Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Each of you slay his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor."
 6* ¶ Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting.
 7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand,
 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked.
 9 Those who died by the plague were 24,000.
 10 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
 11 "Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy.
12 "Therefore say, 'Behold, I give him My covenant of peace;
 13 and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.'"
 
Phinehas is an expression of the Lord's zeal in His priesthood. Israel had been seduced into playing the harlot with the daughters of Moab. Israel also bowed down to their gods. Right in the middle of God's judgment of this abomination, a man brings a Midianite woman into the camp, doing it right in the faces of Moses and the congregation. This also is a type of the spiritual abominations that go on in the name of Christianity. In the name of Christ abominations of every kind take place openly without shame. On "Christian" television the moneychangers shamelessly fleece the flock by "selling" a message of instant prosperity. And that is only the tip of the iceberg. Through position and hierarchy God's sheep are manipulated in every way imaginable. 
 
The book of Ezekiel deals much with the exposure of the abominations of the priesthood. The Lord is continually showing Ezekiel through vision the corrupt things taking place in His name. It's interesting that Ezekiel was both prophet and priest. It is through Ezekiel that the vision of the true priesthood is given, as well as the temple to come, which is a type of the Body of Christ (Ezk. 44-48). 
 
It is through the spiritual ministry of Phinehas that all the abominations done in the name of the Lord cease. Phinehas took a spear and ran through the ones committing the abomination. The Scriptures say Phinehas was "jealous with My jealousy". A spiritual priesthood comes forth jealous for the name of the Lord and His people. The Scriptures speak much of God raising up shepherds after His own heart who will feed His sheep on knowledge and understanding (Jer. 3:15). It's interesting that Ezekiel also has much to say on this subject (Ezk. 34 and 37). The spiritual priesthood of this hour will be zealous for the Lord's name and for the welfare of His sheep.
 
God promised Phinehas a covenant of peace. It was to be a covenant of a perpetual priesthood. This means it never ends and is valid and in operation right down to the present hour. In Christ this priesthood is manifested right now. And why was this covenant given? "Because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel."
 
As stated earlier, the entire book of Malachi deals with the priesthood. It's very interesting that it ends with:
 
5 "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.
 6 "He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse."
 
What has Elijah got to do with the priesthood? Actually, Elijah is mentioned twice in Malachi. The first is in Mal. 3:1: "Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts.
 
We know this also refers to Elijah because Jesus said so (Mat. 11:1-14). Jesus also said in Mat. 17:10-12 that Elijah would come and restore all things and that Elijah had come, indicating a two-fold manifestation. The first was in the person of John the Baptist. This is plainly indicated in the above passages. It's noteworthy that John the Baptist was of the priestly order. His father, Zacharias, was a priest (Luke 1:5). The second manifestation of Elijah is not in one person, but in the priesthood as a whole. The spirit of Elijah rests upon a spiritual priesthood. The spirit of Elijah is manifested through the priesthood as a zeal and jealousy for the Lord. 
 
1st Kings 19
 
 9* ¶ Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
 10* He said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." 
 
Elijah was driven in his ministry by a zeal for the Lord. When he destroyed the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, it was though his zeal and jealousy for God. The spirit of Elijah is already resting upon a spiritual priesthood. It remains for each of us to pick up our crosses and follow on to know the Lord that we might participate in Christ’s priesthood.