The Privilege of Priesthood
If you are a genuine Christian, you are a royal priest. Through Jesus and His sacrifice, you have direct access to God. Some people take such matters for granted and treat them lightly. However, we should realize the high privilege of entering God’s presence. We approach God in a way Old Testament priests never could (Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:19; 10:1, 22). Their approach to God merely foreshadowed the reality we now enjoy through Christ. Yet that old worship, which was on its way to extinction, had to be treated with great care because it still related to God. Here is an example of God warning priests to take Him seriously.
Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Among those who are near Me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” (Leviticus 10:1-3)
Such an example becomes all the more meaningful when we realize we are the priests today. Indeed, we today should pay closer attention because we are in the greater covenant.
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? (Hebrews 2:1-3)
A Salvation Worthy of Obedience
“The message declared by angels” refers to the Old Covenant, the law of Moses. Now the New Covenant has brought “such a great salvation.” The lesser covenant was important enough to deserve obedience. How much more worthy is the greater covenant? A similar question is found in Hebrews 10:28-29.
Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
With these warnings in mind, consider our care in approaching God. How dare we act like Nadab and Abihu by offering any kind of “unauthorized fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them”? What might be today’s equivalent to “unauthorized” or “strange” fire? Could it be things from pagan worship that God never intended for His people? Could it be things chosen to please human tastes rather than God’s heart? Could it be things added by human authority, but never authorized by Christ in the New Testament? Could it be things from the Old Covenant that God never intended to bring into His New Covenant?
Questions Worth Considering
This last question deserves more thought. Here are several scenarios that take place today:
Today, some who claim to be Christians sacrifice animals. To which covenant does that type of worship belong? If it was Old Covenant worship, is it right to bring it into New Covenant worship?
Today, some claim to approach God through their special priests. To which covenant does that type of worship belong? If it was Old Covenant worship, is it right to bring it into New Covenant worship?
Today, some burn incense and offer instrumental music as worship to God. To which covenant does that type of worship belong? If it was Old Covenant worship, is it right to bring it into New Covenant worship?
Depending on your background, such questions may touch a sensitive nerve. Many who claim to be Christians use their priests as mediators to reach God. Many who claim to worship Christ do so with bird and animal sacrifices. In some cultures, incense and instruments are very popular offerings in assembled worship. Yet the fact remains that the Old Covenant had commands about each of these things. Whatever the particular sensitivity, remember that worship is not for pleasing us or our religious group or our culture. Worship is for honoring and pleasing God. He alone reveals what He wants and what pleases Him.
Consistency
More cases could be given, but we offer the examples above as a way to think about consistency. The Bible clearly commanded all of these forms of worship in a previous covenant. A person may defend his favorite practice by saying, “But the New Testament never condemns my practice.” The same, however, can be said of each other case. The New Testament never forbids the use of special priests—Levitical priests or others—in Christian worship. The New Testament never condemns the physical offerings of the Old Covenant in Christian worship.
Suppose that God had to “condemn” every old item given by Moses or David. In that case, the New Testament’s character would change altogether; it would be burdened with long lists of negatives. Instead, the New Testament speaks positively. It announces the Good News and shows the great change from Moses to Christ (John 1:17; 4:21-24). It emphasizes the living, spiritual nature of the New Covenant. If the first covenant is “obsolete” (Hebrews 8:13), then we would expect its shadowy details to be obsolete also. Their absence in the New Testament is not an excuse to keep them, but rather proof that they do not belong in the New Covenant.