Before the giving of the Mosaic Law, priestly functions were carried out by family heads who served as mediators between God and their households. These patriarchal priests offered sacrifices and interceded on behalf of their families. Noah, for example, built an altar and offered burnt offerings after the Flood (Gen 8:20). Merrill F. Unger states, “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob built altars, offered sacrifices, purified and consecrated themselves and their households (Gen 12:7; 13:18; 26:25; 33:20; 35:1–3).”[1] Melchizedek, the king of Salem, was described as “a priest of God Most High” (Gen 14:18), and Job offered burnt offerings for his children (Job 1:5). Before Sinai, priesthood was thus familial rather than institutional, and worship was based on a direct, personal relationship with God through sacrifice and prayer rather than through a formal priestly tribe or sanctuary system.
Transitioning to the covenant at Sinai, God’s original intention was for the entire nation of Israel to function as a kingdom of priests, representing Him to the nations and mediating His truth and blessing to the world. At Sinai, the Lord declared, “you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:6), revealing His desire that Israel live in covenant fellowship with Him and reflect His holiness among the Gentiles. Each Israelite was to know and serve the Lord directly, demonstrating through obedience and worship what it meant to live under divine authority.
However, following Israel’s failure at Sinai and the golden calf incident (Ex 32:1–35), the priesthood became restricted to one tribe. The Aaronic priesthood was established when God formally appointed Aaron and his sons to serve as priests on behalf of the nation of Israel (Ex 28:1; Lev 8:1–2). According to Donald K. Campbell, “The main task of the high priest was to officiate at the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement (Lev 16). The ordinary priests were assigned to officiate at the specified Levitical sacrifices and offerings (Lev 1–6) and to declare clean those who had been made ceremonially unclean by certain infectious diseases (Lev 13–14).”[2] The Levites were chosen in place of Israel’s firstborn males to assist the priests in the service of the tabernacle (Num 3:5–13). The priests were responsible to maintain ritual purity, offer sacrifices, and teach the people the Law of God (Lev 10:8–11; Deut 33:10). Only those from the tribe of Levi could serve in tabernacle duties, and only male descendants of Aaron could function as priests (Ex 28:1). Levites began serving at age twenty-five and retired at fifty (Num 8:24–25), while priests began their sacrificial duties at age thirty (Num 4:3). Furthermore, priests had to be free from physical defect or deformity, for those with blemishes were disqualified from offering sacrifices, though they could still partake of the holy food (Lev 21:16–23).
At the heart of Israel’s worship stood the Mosaic sacrificial system, which provided a means for maintaining fellowship with God and covering sin until the coming of Christ (Heb 10:1–4). The five major offerings described in Leviticus 1–7 include the burnt offering (Lev 1), symbolizing complete devotion to God; the grain offering (Lev 2), expressing thanksgiving and dedication; the peace offering (Lev 3), celebrating fellowship with God; the sin offering (Lev 4), providing atonement for unintentional sin; and the guilt offering (Lev 5:14–6:7), which required restitution for specific offenses. Each sacrifice taught Israel essential truths about holiness, substitutionary atonement, and reconciliation to God.
In contrast, believers in the present Church Age are all priests before God through Jesus Christ, who is Himself our great High Priest (Heb 4:14–16; 7:23–28).[3] Through faith in Christ, every believer has direct access to the Father without the need for a human mediator, for “there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). Walter A. Elwell notes, “It is remarkable that the term ‘priest’ is never used in the NT of a minister or order in the church.”[4] The New Testament identifies all believers as a “holy priesthood” and a “royal priesthood” (1 Pet 2:5, 9), declaring that Christ “has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father” (Rev 1:6; cf. Rev 5:10; 20:6). This universal priesthood is unrestricted by tribe, gender, or physical condition, but embraces all who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ (Gal 3:28; Eph 2:13–18; Heb 10:19–22). According to Robert L. Thomas, “The priestly office established by the OT law was hereditary, and only members of Aaron’s family were eligible. Jesus Christ has provided a new family relationship by which all believers have a priestly ministry to God.”[5]
The New Testament teaches that Christians are called to offer “spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:5). These sacrifices express the believer’s priestly service in the Church Age and arise from gratitude rather than obligation. Paul urged believers to “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Rom 12:1), indicating that consecration of the whole person (mind, body, and will) is a central act of priestly devotion. Moreover, believers are called to continual worship and thanksgiving, to “continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” (Heb 13:15). Likewise, acts of goodness and generosity are viewed as sacred offerings, as we’re directed, “do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Heb 13:16). Evangelism and discipleship are also presented as priestly functions. Paul described his ministry “as a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God” (Rom 15:16a). In addition, financial giving is regarded as a fragrant act of worship, for Paul commended the Philippians’ generosity, saying, “I have received everything in full… having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God” (Phil 4:18). These offerings are not performed to gain or retain salvation but flow from hearts already justified by grace through faith, seeking to glorify the Lord in all things. As Scripture commands, “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31).
In summary, before the Law, patriarchal priests represented their families before God through personal sacrifice and prayer. Under the Mosaic covenant, the Aaronic priesthood mediated between God and Israel through prescribed sacrifices that foreshadowed the redemptive work of Christ. Now, in the Church Age, all believers serve as priests, offering not the blood of animals but spiritual sacrifices of praise, service, generosity, and devotion through Jesus Christ, our eternal High Priest.
Steven R. Cook, D.Min., M.Div.
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[1] Merrill Frederick Unger et al., The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988).
[2] Don K. Campbell, “Priesthood,” in The Theological Wordbook, ed. Charles R. Swindoll and Roy B. Zuck, Swindoll Leadership Library (Nashville, TN: Word Publishing, Inc., 2000), 278.
[3] The book of Hebrews portrays Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament priesthood, combining in Himself both the Aaronic and Melchizedekian types. Like Aaron, He offered a sacrifice for sin—Himself (Heb 7:27)—and entered heaven, the true Holy of Holies, “by His own blood… having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb 9:12; cf. 9:7, 24), granting believers direct access to God (Heb 4:16). Yet His priesthood is patterned after Melchizedek’s, being eternal, non-hereditary, and superior to the Levitical order: Levitical priests died but Christ lives forever (7:23–28), and He mediates a “better covenant” through His once-for-all sacrifice (8:6–10:18). Thus, Jesus Christ is both High Priest and atoning Sacrifice, completing all that the Old Testament priesthood foreshadowed.
[4] Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale Reference Library (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 1073.
[5] Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1-7: An Exegetical Commentary (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1992), 71.