PRIESTHOOD

^[p. 347] PRIESTHOOD

Revelation 1:5,6; Ezekiel 44:15-18; Ezekiel 44:23,24

I have in mind to speak about priesthood, and I felt it appropriate to read from Revelation — a book that is addressed to the seven assemblies, and so to ourselves — for, whilst those seven assemblies in the province of Asia are used to symbolise the whole assembly at that time, they also symbolise the whole assembly of all time, that is, the assembly down here. The book contemplates the assembly, too, in heavenly places, coming down from God out of heaven, but it is its militant or testimonial circumstances that are in view, and John writes as a prophet, but as one known otherwise in the more exalted office of apostle, and in the more exalted place still of the bosom of Jesus.

These form the background of the book and lend peculiar glory to the writer, seen especially as he opens the book with buoyancy — I may say, with jubilance. Notwithstanding the dark things around and in the distance, he is stimulated, and shows that the pending events in no way hindered him from enjoying his own portion. That is, he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”. I suppose that is how he spent his Lord’s days as in prison. Were he free he would join with the brethren as he had opportunity, and share the privileges of the assembly with them. One often pictures these great servants in their movements, how they could take their places with their brethren and each be a brother among the brethren.

These things enter into this first chapter. John speaks of what Jesus has done for us and has made us, in relation to what was pending. He worships, showing, as often appears, how prominent the thought of worship was with the great servants at the beginning; it was always present, you might say; whenever an occasion offered, it was there, to spring up as in the power of ^[p. 348] the Spirit, a well springing up unto everlasting life. “To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood, and made us a kingdom ...” John says. You can see that word does not allude to our eternal part; it alludes to what we are today, what the saints are now.

In chapter 5 we have a like statement. According to the best authorities, the word in chapter 1 is “a kingdom”, and not “kings”, but those alluded to in chapter 5 are said to be “kings and priests”. But here, it is “a kingdom, priests to his God and Father”, but not to ours. That is, John does not rise to the level of the well-known twentieth chapter of his gospel. It is His God and Father, and that He has provided Him with a kingdom of such persons; He has made such persons as ourselves, with all the saints of the dispensation, a kingdom. It would be the saints at any given time on the earth. Moreover, He has made us “priests to his God and Father” — He has provided Him with priests. So you can see, dear brethren, that what is in mind is available to God in view of the contingencies that had arisen and would arise, especially the terrible things anticipated in the book. What a great thing it is for God to have a kingdom of such persons!

Now a kingdom involves power, and power where it is needed. It is wonderfully ramified and furnished, for it could not subsist save with certain furnishings, and these furnishings lie in the Spirit; they lie in the authority of Christ as Lord, but in the Spirit. No ordinary kingdom can exist, save in name, without power, such as an army, navy, police, courts, prisons, and so forth. The body politic is supported by all these ramifications. Well, that is what the Lord Jesus has made us — a very great matter in view of what is transpiring, that there is a kingdom here that is no mere matter of name or profession, but in power: “not in word, but in power”, says the apostle (1 Corinthians 4:20), and the more we are together in affection and ^[p. 349] intelligence, the more we realise this, and prove that there is what is impregnable here, a “kingdom which cannot be moved”, Hebrews 12:28. So that we can lift up our heads in this way with the helmet of salvation, knowing that we are possessed of and surrounded by an almighty power, the Spirit of God here ready to act wherever He has room. The more we are together in the acknowledgment of the supremacy of Christ in authority, and in subjection one to another, the more we prove the means of standing up against evil.

There is a second thought, and that is the priesthood, and it is “unto God”, as you will observe in this passage, as also in chapter 5:10; but in chapter 20 it is “of God”. The saints are contemplated in chapter 20 in three classes, and it says that “they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (verse 4); that is the general statement. And then the Spirit of God refers back to this great thought, saying, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (verse 6). They are priests, not “unto”, but “of God and of Christ”. It is well to anticipate these things and rest in the immensity of the thought of those who have part in the first resurrection and what are their privileges, but it does not go beyond the thousand years; the mind of God is set for the moment on that period. He has great thoughts in regard of that period, and He needs a priesthood in it. I do not apprehend there is any need for priesthood in the eternal state of things: where there will be no unholiness, no evil to be dealt with, no enemy of God. Priesthood is in view of contingencies arising from the flesh in us or outside of us, the state of things in the world; it is in view of these things that a priesthood is necessary.

The thousand years are a period in which God is completing His testimony, showing what He can do in this world; it is not a perfect state of things, and hence ^[p. 350] there is priesthood, and thus the saints are said to be priests “of God”. They are His priesthood; the millennial reign will be marked by this class of persons known as “priests of God and of the Christ”. The second statement is not that they live with Him, but simply that they reign with Christ a thousand years. The passage says first, “they lived and reigned”, but secondly, that they “reign” with Christ; He has them; they are not only “priests of God”, but priests “of the Christ”. Christ is the One into whose hands God has put everything, and He has His priesthood, and God has His priesthood, too.

Now these great facts exist, dear brethren, and my object in this word is to bring the thought down to the present time, for the first passage contemplates the present time, that Jesus has “washed us from our sins” — precious thought — but He has made us these two things. The point here is not that we are sons — we are, as we learn elsewhere — but He has made us “a kingdom, priests to his God and Father”. Surely the tribute of praise is suitable: “to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever”; we all would say Amen to that, but the point is as to this priesthood and the need for it. It will be needed, as I have said, in the millennium, but it is needed now pre-eminently. In these last days, when conditions are so complicated and darkened by man’s innovations in christianity, how essential it is to fall back on this great fact that we are made by Jesus “priests unto God and his Father”. God, as it were, at any time, can point to us and say, They are My priests.

One might refer to many passages to fill out what I have in mind, but it does not always help to multiply passages. It honours the brethren to assume they know something about Scripture. Ezekiel has a large place in this subject; he is himself called, not simply a priest, or one of the priests, like Jeremiah, but he is called “the priest”, in the beginning of the book; and ^[p. 351] not amid the pristine glory of the metropolis of God in Jerusalem, but far away by the river Chebar among the captives. There he was among the captives, but he was the priest of God there. It is as if God would honour the thought that a man could retain his priesthood in such circumstances. Let nobody complain of circumstances and say, Were I in other circumstances I could take up these things. Look at Ezekiel by the river Chebar, far away from the beloved city, amid the captives; there he is, and he is “Ezekiel the priest”. He gives us the date of the vision. His book is marked by dates, a matter to be observed, for it points to the divine calendar.

That God should come in and think in time is very touching. He inhabits eternity, but He has been pleased to come into time; He has now come in to dwell among men, which is a greater and more blessed fact. But He was pleased to come in and work a day’s work — wonderful thought that the eternal God, the Creator, the Upholder of all things, should come into time, create a day, and then work in that day! What interest there was in heaven as the blessed God was seen operating day by day! So that He inaugurated time, but He shows us what time is for — to operate in, to do one thing at a time, and finish it. A full day’s work was completed on each day, and every day’s work was good. It is true that of the second day it is not said that it was good, but the last verse in Genesis 1 says that everything God made was “very good”; the workmanship of God in creation was completed, and very good, so that God could rest on the seventh day. It is wonderful how God comes into our way of thinking, and so Scripture says that He was refreshed after working.

Well, I have digressed to speak about time, Ezekiel giving so many dates, and every time he spoke about dates, he would be bowed in the dust and say, Why do I have to date in regard to this captivity? He would bow to the government of God — a great matter in ^[p. 352] service. But he retains his priesthood; he says, “the hand of the Lord was there” upon him — where he was. One in an isolated meeting might say, If I were in London I should get on; but Ezekiel says that the hand of God was on him there. Wherever you are, associate yourself with the state of things as under the government of God, and the hand of God will be upon you there. And what is opened up to Ezekiel? “Visions of God”.

I mention all that about Ezekiel because he is worthy as a priest, and it is becoming that he should be brought into this great subject of priesthood. He is like Ezra, who is another priest the Spirit of God dwells upon, giving us his genealogy. His line is traced back to Aaron, through Zadok, Phinehas, the famous priest of Numbers 25, and Eleazar. What a priestly line reached Ezra! And we are told that “This Ezra went up from Babylon”. You may be sure that such a man will go up from Babylon as the way out is opened to him. And he went up freighted with divine thoughts and things. He brought the precious vessels of God back, weighed and counted, and delivered them safely, in spite of enemies, at Jerusalem. That is Ezra. And, as I said, Ezekiel is correspondingly worthy of being brought into this great subject. He is brought into it by the Spirit of God, and chapter 44 speaks about Zadok.

Zadok is the priest that I intend to dwell upon, and speaking of him I wish to point out that things that are exemplified in Scripture, the great principles of God, cannot be said to be exemplified by all the people of God. What you find is that they are usually exemplified in certain ones, and what is exemplified is accredited to the whole. That is important, because I believe the Lord, in speaking to Philadelphia, for instance — a well-known assembly representing the remnant — would have us discern He is speaking, not simply to the remnant, but to the assembly. He calls her the assembly at Philadelphia, but He is speaking to the ^[p. 353] assembly through her. Those who love the Lord and love the saints like to hear the Lord speaking about what is nearest to His heart, and if He finds anything that answers to what is nearest to His heart, He will speak about it. He knows it will be valued, He knows He has intelligent listeners.

I believe that is one of the important things to the Lord at the present time, that there are intelligent listeners to what He says, and they know what He means. Were I speaking to a number of persons who were not converted, they would not understand anything I am saying, but I am speaking to persons who have ability to understand the mind of Christ. “I speak”, says the apostle, “as to intelligent persons: do ye judge what I say” (1 Corinthians 10:15) — a great matter. It is thus the truth comes out; you cannot open up the truth of God to persons who are not sympathetic, who cannot understand. But God has given us an understanding that we might know, and so the Lord, in speaking to Philadelphia, speaks about the assembly. He says, “I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth”, Revelation 3:10. Is He thinking of that assembly alone? No, He is thinking of the whole. Again, “the Spirit and the bride say, Come”, Revelation 22:17. Well, who are speaking? Is every saint on earth saying, Come? I do not believe it. Some are, and what they say is accredited to all. It is the bride, the bride’s voice, and that is enough for Christ. The Spirit is speaking, and also the bride.

So, as I was saying, this thought of priesthood is exemplified in Moses and Aaron: “Moses and Aaron among his priests”, Psalm 99:6. They were true in the main. Levi was true: he stood for God, and the Thummim and Urim were with him, according to Deuteronomy 33. The Thummim is put first there, showing that the perfection indicated in it was there, it had been effected in Levi. Perfection was there in some ^[p. 354] sense, and where that is according to God there is the Urim. This was seen in Moses and Aaron: “Moses and Aaron among his priests”. But, as to this, the Spirit of God has Phinehas specially in mind. The thought of the priesthood is exemplified in him at a critical time. It shines out in a crisis; it is what a man is in a crisis, not in the Bible reading, but when something has to be met and adjusted; that is where you get priesthood. It is strikingly seen in Phinehas.

Now, the Spirit of God gives us the genealogy of Israel in Exodus 6, and as you will all remember, He proceeds from Reuben to Levi, and stops; there is nothing about the remaining tribes. He takes up Levi, pursuing the line through Aaron until He comes to Phinehas — and no more; as much as to say, I have reached a man that exemplifies what I have in mind. What a great thing that is: God, at any time, saying, I have reached the thought for the moment, a man that knows what is in My mind! You do not want to be out of that; it is open to us to be in it, and God can count and rest on one man or on more who understand what is in His mind. That is Phinehas, and God says, I will make an everlasting covenant with that man, that he shall be a priest for ever. I believe that is what is alluded to in Malachi. Malachi is another prophet who deals with the priesthood, and he is worthy to be brought in here. The priesthood had broken down disastrously, and God charges them with this, and He calls attention to Levi: “My covenant was with him of life and peace” (Malachi 2:5); but in truth that covenant was with Phinehas. You see how God’s mind rests on the man in whom the thing stood out in a crisis.

Israel was about to be corrupted by the wicked counsel of Balaam, but Phinehas stood in the breach; he was with God in it, and he faced it with the javelin, and he secured “the covenant of an everlasting priesthood” (Numbers 25:13); and, as Jehovah says, “my covenant of peace”. Well, in Malachi, that is Levi. Phinehas belonged to ^[p. 355] Levi; he represented the idea, and then the Spirit of God tells us what Levi was, as thus portrayed in Malachi 2. I call attention to it — in connection with what is stated in Revelation 20, that what is in mind there, “priests of God”, is seen in Levi — a priesthood that God has here and that He looks to. “The law of truth was in his mouth”, and righteousness was with him; and then the passage goes on to say, “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge”. The mind of God is always there, even on his lips; there is no room for the poison of asps under the priest’s lips. How can a man who is constantly speaking about things in this world give advice about the things of God? The priest’s lips have to be kept clean; they keep knowledge; not only his mind and his bookshelf, but his lips. The mind of God can be sought at any time; he is always ready to give an answer. That is what Malachi suggests.

Where is our priesthood? Where is the ability to settle complicated matters? Why are things allowed to drag on and defile the saints? These are pertinent questions, and they are applied and addressed to every one here. “Priests of God”; God has His priesthood; He expects that they are recognised, and they come forth where the need exists. “The law of truth was in his mouth”. The word “law” particularly fits in with the priesthood, because they were the custodians of the law. Wherever a question may arise, what is the law governing it? The priests should be able to tell us; his lips should keep knowledge. We may say true things, you know, and yet be wanting of the law of truth. It is the law of truth that is so essential.

Well now, as regards Ezekiel, he is considering the priesthood. Malachi was considering a priesthood that was needed at the moment. I suppose it was found in such as Simeon in the gospel of Luke; Luke opens with the great subject of priesthood. There were two worthy persons, Zacharias and Elizabeth. Zacharias was a priest of the order of Abia, but he was wanting,

^[p. 356] he was unbelieving, but we find later that he is a true priest and he speaks as a priest. And so his wife Elizabeth and Mary are priests, and Anna is a priest, and so is Simeon, a “man in Jerusalem”. I have no doubt those dear people answered to the need expressed in Malachi. The need was met in those whom Luke presents, and no doubt there are such today. I am far from saying that there are no priests. There are, but let them come forward. They came forward in the beginning of Luke; that is what ornaments the gospel of Luke, and the service of God can only be promoted and ornamented by priestly brothers and sisters amongst us.

Now, Ezekiel is intended to bear on the current time, but he contemplates a future priesthood, and he takes up, not Phinehas, but Zadok. He is the one the Spirit of God has in mind, and like Phinehas, Zadok shone in a crisis. I believe God even allows things to happen amongst us to bring out His priests, and we do not forget them. You say, as to a certain difficulty, I remember that nobody but a certain brother had the mind of God. Zadok shone in David’s time, when Absalom rose against him. He was a true man, and David does not call him a priest only but a seer, and he said, You are the kind of man needed in Jerusalem; Absalom is to be there, to be in the palace and in sway in Jerusalem; what is needed there is a man who sees things; and David calls him a seer. He does not call Abiathar his colleague a seer; although he was also a priest and worked faithfully at that time with Zadok.

What is wanted is a seer, a person who sees the good and the evil, but promotes the good. Zadok was of immense value in that dark day, when David had to flee from Jerusalem and leave it in the hands of the enemy. But in the seer, the priests, his friend Hushai, and the two young men, the sons of those priests, David left there a system that would overthrow Absalom and his kingdom; and they did. I am speaking of Zadok ^[p. 357] because the Spirit of God takes him up in Ezekiel. The Spirit links the things together in the Scriptures, although much time may intervene. So here, Zadok, a man that stood when Israel went astray. Let me warn the young people here not to follow a multitude to do evil. Very often we are governed by the many: this and that one sees that way, why should I not see that way? Well, Zadok was different from that; he saw things differently, and he stood by what he saw, and through him, and others like him, the great victory over Absalom was secured, and David was restored to his kingdom. So God says, This is the kind of priest: “the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok” — they are the ones.

Now I want to show you how the garments prescribed for them have a present application. It says “But the priests the Levites” — they are not here distinguished from the Levites — “the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God: they shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge”. Let all our young brothers and sisters just range themselves here and say, I would like to be like them; I would like to be amongst those priests; what privileges attached to them! It is not the brothers; it is a question of the saints; the Spirit of God has them in mind, for all are included in the “holy priesthood” of which Peter speaks. It is a question of having the Spirit of God, and what privileges are opened up to us, as it says in those verses: “they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge”. What an appeal that is to all the young people here! The need is great, and God here is holding out what is most attractive spiritually, that He would have us near to Him, a people near to ^[p. 358] Him, but near to Him in His sanctuary, having Himself in mind — to serve Him there.

Well now, the next thing is, “And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments”. Now we are dealing with the inner court, that is, where we draw near to God “in assembly”, applying it to ourselves; and the Spirit of God refers to the garments, and says, “they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within”. I want the brethren to take note of all this. It is the inner position, applied to ourselves, the assembly. The anointing is there as we begin, but inside, in the inner court, it is the kind of clothes you are to have on. No wool, nothing that causes sweat, as it says here; that is to say, no natural feelings stimulated by singing, by tunes, etc. We are to be balanced, we are to be sober, we are to be holy. And so the very bonnets they were to wear were to be of linen. I do not think that is said elsewhere. The bonnets refer to our minds. The human mind is ordinarily agile, and apt to show itself in this way in divine things; thus the need of sobriety and holiness. The cap is to be of linen — that I keep cool, as it were, balanced, in what I am saying, that my words in the presence of God are measured. Be “slow to speak” we are told, when approaching the house of God. “I had rather”, says the apostle, “speak five words with my understanding” (1 Corinthians 14:19); “I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also” (verse 15). All that refers to a cool linen bonnet that, as it were, keeps the mind steady, for God is resentful of the intrusion of the mind in His holy things.

So, just to finish, in the closing verses it says, “And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according ^[p. 359] to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies”. It is not here a mere local matter, but a question of what is general. That is to say, the priesthood of God is never contemplated as local. It may be that some priests reside in this town, for every true christian is a priest, as I said. A priest may reside in this town, but his influence is to be universal; he is one of those who keep the charge of Jehovah. So, in this verse, it is not so much “priests unto God”, but “of God”, that is, they are His priests, and they are looking after His affairs. In teaching or whatever it be, they represent God here, and everything is to be settled by them. The judgments are to be according to the mind of God, but these men are so furnished, so kept, so dependent, so prayerful, that their judgment is the judgment of God. Is it not so? Can we not arrive, dear brethren, at the present time at a judgment that will carry the consciences of God’s people? We can. From time to time this has happened, and no doubt it will happen again. In every controversy, their word is to be listened to; every stroke and controversy is to be according to the word of the priests, the sons of Levi (Deuteronomy 21: 5).

That is all I had to say, and I thought it right to bring in Ezekiel, especially as he has the future in mind. May God bless His word to us all!