Priesthood
Typological treatment in the corpus
The Levitical/Aaronic priesthood of the Old Testament, as an institution of mediation between God and the people, is identified by Jones, Warnock, and Noordzij as a type of the royal priesthood in Christ. The Levitical system is bound to earthly lineage and ritual; the antitypical priesthood is heavenly in origin, based on an indestructible life, and accessible to all who are in Christ.
Biblical anchoring
| Reference | Context |
|---|---|
| Ex. 19:6 | Israel destined to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” |
| Lev. 8:1-36 | Consecration of Aaron and his sons: anointing, blood, seven days of priestly ordination |
| Heb. 6:20; 7:15-17 | Christ as high priest after the order of Melchizedek, by the power of an indestructible life |
| 1Pet. 2:9 | ”A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession” |
| Rev. 20:6 | Firstfruits of the resurrection: “they will be priests of God and of Christ” |
Typological interpretation by author
Warnock
Warnock treats the priesthood in The Feast of Tabernacles as the distinguishing mark of the sons of God who will fulfill the antitypical Feast of Tabernacles. The Aaronic priesthood — calibrated to earthly lineage — gives way to a priesthood of the Spirit:
“‘But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people…’ (1 Pet. 2:9). A royal priesthood! A priesthood of kings, and a kingdom of priests! A company of overcomers, who have power with God and with men!”1
The nature of this priesthood:
“As priests they have power with God, and as kings they have power with men… in fact he reigns by interceding.”2
The essential distinction from the Levitical system:
“This priesthood knows nothing of father, mother, genealogy, beginning of days nor end of life. It is the sphere and realm of the Spirit of God, a priesthood and a Kingdom which the sons of God shall enter into as they grow up into Christ.”3
Noordzij
Noordzij describes the royal priesthood in Taking Hold of the Plow as the anthropological destiny of the one who is called — not an office but a way of life formed through sanctification and anointing:
“Everyone who knows themselves called to the royal priesthood should take hold of the plow and ask the Father to consecrate, sanctify, and anoint them with His Spirit.”4
Priestly service begins with encountering God before serving people:
“Then he, when he clothes himself in ‘linen’ (=rest), may stand before Him to serve Him (Deut. 10:8).”5
The result of the spiritual life is priestly identity:
“Thus we become a living sacrifice, a true priest, a spiritual temple and much more (1 Cor. 3:16, Rom. 12:1).”6
The linen garment (rest) as a priestly symbol contrasts with the fleshly activism that characterizes the institutional religious system. For Noordzij, the priesthood is not institutional but pneumatic.
Jones
Jones connects the priesthood in The Laws of the Second Coming to the first resurrection and the millennial reign:
“Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”7
This priesthood of the firstfruits is for Jones the fulfillment of what the Levitical priesthood typologically depicted: the mediation of God’s authority and grace for the whole of creation, but now in Christ and on the basis of the resurrection.
Related types
- Connected: melchizedek (the antitypical priesthood bears the order of Melchizedek, not of Aaron)
- Connected: feast-of-tabernacles (the priesthood as the qualification of the overcomers who fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles)
- Via number symbolism: 24 (24 priestly divisions as type of governmental perfection)
Footnotes
Footnotes
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Warnock, b1 (The Feast of Tabernacles, 1951), ch. 9 (on 1 Pet. 2:9). ↩
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Warnock, b1 (The Feast of Tabernacles, 1951), ch. 9. ↩
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Warnock, b1 (The Feast of Tabernacles, 1951), ch. 9. ↩
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Noordzij, b5 (Taking Hold of the Plow), section “Calling to royal priesthood”. ↩
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Noordzij, b5 (Taking Hold of the Plow), section “Calling to royal priesthood”. ↩
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Noordzij, b5 (Taking Hold of the Plow), section “Calling to royal priesthood”. ↩
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Jones, b4 (The Laws of the Second Coming), ch. 8 (on Rev. 20:6). ↩