The Priests

The Priests

Q: Who served as priests for the Israelites?

• a. Moses and Aaron
• b. the oldest men from each tribe
• c. Aaron and his sons

The Tabernacle was built according to certain regulations. This was to ensure it was a good place for God to meet with his people. God gave them rules we wouldn’t think about today. One of the rules was that the people were to bring pure oil for the lamps, and the lamps should be burning in the Lord’s presence at all times (see Exodus 27:20-21).

There needed to be special people in charge of the sacrifices made in the Tabernacle. God told Moses to set apart his brother, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar as priests.

The priests had rules about how they could act and what they should wear. The special chestpiece, ephod, robe, tunic, turban, and sash they wore identified them as priests.

There were two sacred rooms in the Tabernacle. One was the Holy Place, and the other one was called the Most Holy Place. The Holy Place was where the priests would talk with God and tend to the Tabernacle. Only the high priest could go into the Most Holy Place, and he could only go in once a year on the Day of Atonement (see Leviticus 16). That’s when he would offer a sacrifice for the sins of the nation.

A curtain separated the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place (see Exodus 26:33). In Jesus’ time, the Tabernacle had been replaced with the Temple, but sacrifices were still offered. When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the Temple tore from top to bottom (see Mark 15:38). That was a sign that people no longer needed the priests to offer sacrifices for sins. Jesus had just paid the full price for sin.

For You

You don’t have to have a priest offer sin sacrifices for you or talk to God on your behalf. Jesus is your priest so you can ask forgiveness for your own sins or pray anytime you want.

Answer: c

[The Lord said to Moses,] “Call for your brother, Aaron, and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Set them apart from the rest of the people of Israel so they may minister to me and be my priests.”   Exodus 28:1

(The Whole Story: Exodus 28:1-5)