Shadows to Substance: The Priesthood - DJ Dickerson

This morning, we continue in our series of lessons entitled Shadows to Substances.

I was mentioning last Sunday morning, I was trying to figure out how I was going

to close this series out.

We've been actually in the series for, I haven't been doing part numbers or

anything, but I think we're up to 12 or 13 lessons so far since the end of September

on our Sunday mornings that we've been looking at this series.

So I figured after a few conversations with others that might have a few more left. We'll see.

All right. So one of the things that we've noted throughout this series of lessons

is that the central problem the Bible addresses is not political.

It's not social. It's not economic. It's spiritual.

Right. How can sinful people dwell in fellowship with a holy God?

Well, from the beginning, God made it clear that sin creates separation and

that reconciliation requires mediation.

And we're going to look at that this morning because even the concept of priesthood,

that's where we see it enter the biblical narrative.

Now, a priest, as we know from our studies, and we'll see again this morning,

a priest stands between God and man.

And the priest represents the people before God and God before the people.

As we see, the priest offers sacrifice, makes intercession, and provides access.

But Scripture also teaches us that every priesthood prior to Christ was temporary and incomplete.

They were never meant to be the final solution.

They were exactly as we have noted in this series, and yet again this morning,

they were simply shadows.

They were shadows preparing the way for the substance that is Jesus Christ.

So this morning, we're going to look carefully at the priesthoods of Aaron and Melchizedek.

As we'll note that they are a type and shadow of Jesus Christ.

So as we kind of go through this, there's a few things I want us to kind of just note right off.

And that is the priesthood of Aaron.

When you really get down to it, the priesthood of Aaron was showing the problem.

And when you look at the priesthood of Melchizedek, that priesthood revealed the pattern.

And then you get to the priesthood of Jesus who provides the solution.

And we're going to walk through that. So the priesthood of Aaron,

as we'll start off here, is that shadow, as I mentioned, that revealed the problem.

Now, notice that even when you go in, and again, if you've taken time and you've

studied the priesthood of Aaron, There's a lot to cover.

And again, I'm not able to cover every single thing about Aaron or Melchizedek

because that's a whole other topic in and of itself.

But what I'm going to try to give you is just some of what we can kind of summarize in a sense.

But even in Exodus 28 and 29, for reference,

Aaron's priesthood, again, was not a human invention because in Exodus 28 and 29,

it is commanded by God that God instituted Aaron's priesthood for a specific purpose.

Aaron and his sons were chosen from the tribe of Levi, and they were consecrated

to serve in the tabernacle and later, what else? The temple.

Now, their duties were extensive, And so you'll find when you read through,

you'll find that they were to offer daily sacrifices.

They were teaching God's law. They were making intercession for the people.

They were blessing the nation. They were guarding the holiness of worship.

So they had a lot of responsibilities, a lot of duties, okay?

And what all of that tells us and what the priesthood was teaching,

that of Israel, was a very crucial truth. And what was that crucial truth?

God is holy, and sinful people cannot approach him casually.

That's really when you get down to it. That's what they're showing them.

Think about what they wore. There's very specifics into what they wore.

Their garments, for that matter.

They were elaborate. Their rituals,

the blood, the washing, the restricted access, all communicated what?

The seriousness of sin. That's what it communicated.

Now, there is something else that we know, though, about Aaron's priesthood.

Aaron's priesthood was limited by human weakness, wasn't it?

So though the priesthood there of Aaron was divinely appointed,

Aaron's priesthood carried built-in limitation. I put it that way.

Because, yes, hereditary, temporary, thinking about this tribe that they were

of, but also consider Hebrews.

There's a lot of passages that we'll notice from Hebrews, a lot that's covered

in Hebrews, but I'm taking the Hebrews chapter 7 verse 23 first here.

Hebrews 7:23

Understanding what's being stated in verse 23 is this truth that we see in the

Old Testament about the priesthood of Aaron.

Also, there were many priests because they were prevented by death from what?

Continuing. Now, what's that tell us is very simple, that a priest served until

death and then another took his place, okay?

The revolving door of priests silently testified that none of them could permanently

solve the sin problem. Could not do it.

Another thing we'll notice is that the priests themselves were sinners.

Right? Look at Leviticus chapter 16 and verse 6.

Leviticus 16 · chapter mention

Notice that they also had to offer sacrifice, not just for the people,

but, well, look at what verse 6 says. It's the liturgy of chapter 16.

And Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself,

and make atonement for himself and for his house.

What did I just say? He had to offer sacrifice for himself.

Go to Hebrews chapter 5, verses 1 through 3. Hebrews 5 reiterates what we see

Hebrews 5:1–3

in the Old Testament here.

Hebrews chapter 5, 1 through 3, it says, for every high priest taken from among

Hebrews 5 · chapter mention

men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God that he may offer both

gifts and sacrifices for sins.

He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray since he himself

is also subject to weakness.

Because of this, he is required as for the people, so also for himself to offer sacrifices for sins.

So what does that tell us again? This meant the mediator needed mediation himself. Y'all see it?

What else do we notice? Well, the other part is the sacrifices.

They were repetitive. Go to Hebrews chapter 10, verses one through four.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Hebrews 10, one through four. And again, if you have in your Bibles,

you might have cross references. You'll be able to see how these will take you

right back to the Old Testament of what's being referred to.

In the days of Exodus and Leviticus and all that's mentioned there regarding the priesthood.

Hebrews 10, one through four. For the law, having a shadow of the good things

to come and not the very image of the things,

can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year,

make those who approach perfect.

For then would they not have ceased to be offered. for the worshipers once purified

would have had no more consciousness of sins.

But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year,

for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.

So get this in your minds, what's being stated here.

Every morning and every evening, sacrifices were offered.

And every year on the Day of Atonement, the same rituals were repeated.

It was the same. And what this explains is that these sacrifices could never fully remove sin.

They only reminded the people of it. Did y'all ever notice that?

So, yes, we have the temporary, we have the priests themselves were sinners,

the sacrifices were repetitive.

And what's something else we'll notice is that access to God was restricted.

Only the high priest could enter the most holy place.

And only once a year and only with blood.

And the veil stood as a constant reminder that sin still separated man from God.

So we might ask, what was the Arianic priesthood teaching?

Well, it taught Israel several things. I'm going to give you these four here.

Sin demands death. Blood is necessary for atonement.

Mediation is required.

And human priests are insufficient.

With every sacrifice that you'll

know To the Old Testament priesthood It always

whispered This is not enough It's not enough And every dying priest Testified

the same thing Someone greater is coming So friends,

the shadow revealed The need for something better Sure.

Again, a lot to note from the priesthood of Aaron, but I'm kind of summarizing a lot here this morning.

Well, let's go ahead and look at the priesthood of Melchizedek.

This is the shadow that revealed the pattern.

Now, Melchizedek has always been one, has always been a really good question.

Everybody's had a question mark about Melchizedek because he kind of appears,

doesn't he, just outside the law.

That long before Moses, long before Aaron, him.

Scripture introduces this mysterious

figure. Now, you'll find him in Genesis chapter 14 and verse 18.

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

And what I've highlighted here is that Melchizedek, namely king of Salem,

brought up red and wine, and he was the priest of God most high.

Now, the reason I highlight that is going to be very significant in what we're talking about,

because we're talking about the shadow just of the priesthood of Aaron and also

the priesthood of Melchizedek, is that you have Melchizedek,

who is named king of Salem, but also named priest of God, Most High.

Now, if you fast forward now, we go to Hebrews again, go to Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

7, 1 through 3, you'll find Melchizedek mentioned yet again.

Melchizedek is mentioned just as he was in verse 1 of Hebrews chapter 7,

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

as he was in Genesis 14, verse 18,

Genesis 14:18

that were this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God,

who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

to whom also Abraham gave a tenth heart of all, first being translated, y'all ready?

King of righteousness. And then also king of Salem,

leaning king of peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy,

having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God,

remains a priest continually.

Notice verses 4 through 7 as well. Now consider how great this man was,

to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils,

and indeed those who are the sons of Levi, who received the priesthood,

have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law,

that is, from their brethren,

though they have come from the loins of Abraham, but he whose genealogy is not

derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

Now, beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better.

Now, I'll submit to you that, you know, this might be one of those Q&A top lessons

here because there's a lot more.

We could probably go into Melchizedek for sure. But really, the moment is brief in what we have.

But I will say the significance of what we're reading is quite enormous.

Abraham, who, again, father of the Jewish nation, honors Melchizedek,

and as recorded, receives his blessing, gives him a tithe. It's very significant.

Well, Hebrews 7 explains that the lesser is blessed by the greater.

And what does that mean?

Well, it means that Melchizedek outranks Abraham, basically, is the idea.

So we might ask, well, why does Melchizedek matter? He just comes on the scene here.

Because Melchizedek's priesthood differs dramatically from Aaron's.

Y'all notice we noticed several things about Aaron's priesthood.

But some of the things that we'll note about Melchizedek is that,

first of all, it predates the law.

That means the priesthood is not dependent on Moses, for one.

Second of all, as we noted from the scripture there, he is both king and priest.

And under the law, those roles were strictly separated, weren't they?

But Melchizedek combines them, and what that does is it foreshadows a royal priesthood.

Third, he's not tied to genealogy. That's also something interesting that you

go because Scripture records that no beginning or end, which Hebrews uses to

emphasize the eternal nature of his priesthood pattern. That's what you're seeing foreshadowed here.

And also his name and the city are symbolic.

Hebrews lays that out for us. We don't really see that in Genesis 14 and verse

18 explained, but the Hebrew writer

takes that and helps us have some understanding about what that means.

Because Melchizedek means what? King of righteousness. Does that sound familiar?

And then Salem is a peace is what that means. So when you take righteousness

and peace, it's a preview of Christ.

Now, it's easy to miss this when you're reading through all of this,

but you will see this throughout the scriptures. And I'll give you another one

real quickly, and it's Psalm 110.

Psalm 110 is where you find God promising a new priesthood.

And this is what's so interesting and so amazing about this.

Because psalm 110 and verse 4 the lord has sworn and will not relent you are

a priest forever according to the order of whom.

Melchizedek, not Aaron. No, because we saw some things about Aaron,

didn't we? We saw some things about that priesthood.

Melchizedek is different, as mentioned, in understanding that this psalm written

after the law, and what it does, it clearly announces something.

There's a new priest. There's going to be a different order.

There's going to be an eternal duration, and there's a divine oath.

All of that is outlined as you go through these scriptures.

And all of this is saying to us, when you're studying the priesthood of Aaron,

and you're looking at the priesthood of even Melchizedek, that even Aaron's

priesthood was never intended to last forever.

Never.

And God used this wonderful example here, this wonderful accounts that we read,

and we get such a glimpse of the shadows.

It's easy to miss, but you start putting all of this together and you're seeing

how all of these are shadows that are simply pointing forward to the substance that is Jesus Christ.

Because Jesus is the substance and the final high priest.

Let me share that with you.

Here's a realization about Jesus is that Jesus could not be a priest under Aaron's

order could not be you look at Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 14 I believe it makes it clear,

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

it says for it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah of which tribe Moses

spoke nothing concerning priesthood,

see Jesus came from the tribe of Judah not Levi right And under the Mosaic law,

he had no right to serve as priest.

So the fact alone proves that a change was necessary.

Back up to verse 12 of Hebrews 7. Look at it for yourself. Prove all things

according to God's word, not DJs.

For the priesthood being changed of necessity, there is also a change of,

uh-oh, here it is, of the law.

The fact alone proves that a change of law was of a necessity.

Here's the thing. God was not patching the old system.

He was replacing it. That's what he was doing.

And Jesus is the perfect priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Now, how do we know this?

Well, Hebrews 7, verse 24. Look at that.

Hebrews 7:24

But he, because he continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.

The idea we find in this is his priesthood is eternal.

Death does not end his service And verse 24, Hebrews 7, as we just read Says

he holds his priesthood permanently Permanently,

Go on to verse 26, Hebrews 7 For such a high priest was fitting for us Who is

holy, harmless, undefiled Separate from sinners And has become higher than the heavens,

Says Jesus, who is the substance and the final high priest He's sinless.

He does not need to offer sacrifices for himself as we saw with the priesthood of Aaron.

You can go read all of Hebrews chapter 9 and all of Hebrews chapter 10,

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

and you know what you're going to find common in both of those chapters is that

he, Jesus Christ, offered one perfect sacrifice, himself,

repeatedly emphasizing over and over again in both those chapters,

once for all, once for all.

And that with such, as Hebrews 9, verse 24 even points out, for Christ hath

Hebrews 9:24

not entered the holy places made with hand, which are copies of the true,

but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us.

He entered the true sanctuary, heaven itself.

He's not a copy as stated, not a copies of the true.

He entered the true sanctuaries.

And what does he do? What does he do?

He reigns as both king and priest. Sound familiar, doesn't it?

Because what Jesus did is he brought righteousness and peace together perfectly.

That's what makes Christ's priesthood superior.

And all of this is foreshadowing to Jesus. that Aaron stood daily,

offering sacrifices repeatedly.

And Jesus sat down, having finished the work, sitting at the right end of the

throne of God. Look at Hebrews 10, verses 11 and 12.

Hebrews 10:11

And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices,

which can never take away sins.

But this man, referring to Jesus, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins

forever, sat down at the right hand of God.

You see, Aaron, he entered the most holy place once a year, and Jesus entered heaven once for all.

Aaron's sacrifice, all those sacrifices, what did those do?

It covered sins temporarily, but Jesus removed sin completely.

Aaron, he pointed forward, Jesus fulfilled.

There is so much depth into the priesthood, Aaron and Melchizedek.

It'll make your mind spin, especially if you spend some time in the book of Hebrews.

We saw a lot of scriptures, and I'm giving you just a little bit this morning.

But there are some practical implications that we take from this today.

And the shadows to what we see in the substance, what it all pointed to,

is that we have a living mediator.

You see, Jesus is not a distant historical priest.

He is alive, he's reigning, and he's interceding. What do we see in Hebrews 7, verse 25?

Hebrews 7:25

Therefore, he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through

him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

When you consider every prayer passes through him, every act of worship rests

on him, every hope depends on

him, all of that, because it's just as Jesus said in John 14 in verse 6,

I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father but through me. That's John 14 in verse 6.

That Jesus said of himself.

And because of that, we have full access to God.

Y'all remember in Matthew 27 Quite impressive moment Of what took place there in the temple,

Matthew 27 verse 51 records that Behold the veil of the temple was torn in two

Matthew 27:51

from top to bottom And the earthquake and the rocks were split,

Now when we understand that veil That separation as we talked about before,

There's a lot of significance to all of that The tabernacle and the temple There's

a lot of studies even on that one about the significance of those things.

Well, the torn veil means no barriers remain. That's what that means.

And even the Hebrew writer speaks of that in Hebrews 10, verses 19 through 22.

Hebrews 10:19–22

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is

his flesh, And having a high priest over the house of God Let us draw near with

a true heart And full assurance of faith,

Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience And our bodies washed with pure water,

What the Hebrew writer is emphasizing even there Is that we can approach God

directly Not arrogantly But confidently late.

Because we have become a priesthood through Christ. We've become a priesthood. Wait, what? Right?

Y'all remember 1 Peter 2 and verse 9? Peter is talking about Christians.

And he says, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,

a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praise of him

who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Peter says believers We are a royal priesthood And you know what we can do We

now offer Spiritual sacrifices We now offer Obedient lives And we offer praise

and thanksgiving That's what we do.

It is quite amazing how all of this interconnects.

I tell you, I get so, I mean, it's just astonishing.

And I get, yet again, y'all get another chart today, okay?

I don't know how many handouts this makes so far, but I've had to buy another

big old box of paper just recently. But we're making a bunch of these.

And I'm glad that y'all are taking them Because there's a lot of information

that you'll find in these charts.

Take this home and study this.

Like I said, I'm only giving you a little bit. There's a lot that I've mentioned

in here, but the foreshadowing just is mind-boggling.

When you look from the Old Testament all the way to the New,

how perfectly, again, divinely orchestrated all of this is and what it points

to. It is absolutely beautiful.

And so as we have noted Just several of the passages From the book of Hebrews

The Hebrew writer provides I say again One of the clearest places in scripture

Where God pulls back the curtain And helps us see how the Old Testament Was

preparing us for something far greater.

Hebrews does not leave us And we noted several passages A lot of passages from

Hebrews this morning And I can tell you just from the ones that we have seen,

The Hebrew writer does not leave us wondering about the relationship between the old law and the new.

We don't have a big question mark there.

It plainly shows that the law of Moses was never meant to be the final destination. Never.

It was a shadow designed to point forward to the substance that would be found in Jesus Christ.

And as we have noted, one of the most striking examples of this is the comparison

between the priesthoods.

The Arianic priesthood served an important purpose in its time. It certainly did.

But Hebrews shows us that it was incomplete and temporary.

And as we were seeing how it helps us grasp that truth, what did the writer

do? What did we see in this lesson?

The writer introduced that mysterious figure, that mysterious individual named

Melchizedek, who appears briefly in the Old Testament yet carries that profound significance.

His priesthood, unconnected to lineage, limited time, or repeated sacrifice,

stands as a shadow pointing forward to the greater and eternal priesthood that's found in Jesus.

Because until Christ came, Melchizedek served as a divinely placed preview of what was still to come.

When Hebrews describes the old law as shadow, or we saw the word copy a little

bit ago, it reinforces the very theme of this series.

A shadow is real, but it's not the substance.

Remember that. A shadow is real, but it's not the substance.

And I think we've noted that throughout this series over and over again,

that yes, the copy has value, doesn't it?

The copy has value, but it lacks the fullness of the original.

God intentionally used these patterns so that his people could recognize the

fulfillment when it arrived.

What existed under Moses, Aaron, and the nation of Israel was never intended

to be the end of the story.

It was the framework God used to repair hearts for Christ.

And those who lived under the old covenant experienced these events in their

immediate settings, often without seeing their ultimate purpose.

But we living under the fully revealed gospel, We are blessed to see the larger picture.

It's just we have all these puzzle

pieces, and we just have to put it together, and it's all right here.

And it connects perfectly, as we have seen in this series of lessons,

that now we can look back and recognize that God was carefully orchestrating

every single detail, not only for their time but for ours today.

And what they lived in shadow, we now experience in substance through Christ, our great high priest.

Aaron showed the seriousness of sin. Melchizedek revealed the pattern of a greater

priesthood, and Jesus fulfilled both perfectly, eternally, and completely.

Aaron showed us the reason why a priest was needed.

Melchizedek showed us what kind of priest was coming. And Jesus Christ is that priest.

Friends, the shadow has passed and the substance has come.

We no longer look to earthly priest.

We look to Jesus. As we've noted in all this lesson,

what all of this comes down to, The substance of one eternal high priest Permanent

intercession Christ's blood Bold access to God In a heavenly sanctuary.

Without Christ, there is no mediator.

But with Christ, there's forgiveness, there's access, and there's hope.

Friends, I certainly appreciate you, your kind attention in studying the Word

of God yet again in this another lesson, whatever part number it is, together.

I hope that we have, even as, no matter what we say, I've been a Christian for

however many years. I hope that we are still amazed at the wonderful power of the Word of God.

And look at what has been revealed for us and how we can put all of these,

as I said, the pieces of that puzzle together. It's all right there.

We just sometimes miss the forest for the trees.

But look at all these instances All these scriptures All these shadows And what

it all pointed to Is Jesus Christ,

Friends, the invitation Is being extended.

And the question that we're about to ask, and even in this song that's been

selected for our song of encouragement, is, is thy heart right with God?

We do a self-examination, not thinking about other people in the building or

anybody else. We think about ourselves.

Where am I at in my relationship with God?

I'm asking, do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?

Do you believe, as we have studied this morning, that he is truly the substance

of all that we have noted from all these scriptures, that he is the eternal

priesthood, the great high priest who sits at the right hand of God.

You believe that he is. And if you say, yes, I do, then you act upon that.

You repent of your sins. You confess Jesus to be the Son of God,

and you are baptized for the remission of your sins, even as we see in Acts 2 and verse 38.

And you also see in Romans 6, verse 3 and 4, being buried with Christ in baptism

Romans 6:3

to rise and walk in newness of life so you can live out the priesthood that

you have been called to be.

What's Romans 12, 1 and 2 say? I beseech you, therefore, brethren,

by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,

whole and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Verse 2, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing

of your mind, that you may prove that which is good and acceptable to the perfect will of God.

Is that what you are doing? If you're not, you can do that and follow after

the great high priest who sits to make intercession for you today.

We'd love to assist you and help you and begin that relationship with God through

Jesus Christ to be brought near to God through the perfect high priest that

we've talked about this morning.

Or as a disciple of Christ, maybe there's something amiss in your life.

Maybe there's some things that you need, prayers on your behalf.

Let's get our hearts, let's check them.

And friends, if you're subject to invitation call, whatever your spiritual need

is, won't you come as we stand and we sing the song that's been selected for this? Thank you.