The End Time Church: From the Cathedrals to the Catacombs

By Dan L. White

Copyright ©2017 by Dan L. White, all rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB) which is in the public domain.

Chapter 27

High Priests, Low Men

Hey, Moses was a great guy but God did not make Moses the high priest.

Moses was a prophet, a very special prophet.

Deu 18
18)  I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you [Moses]. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.

That prophet like Moses was to be the Messiah. So Moses was a very special prophet.

What is a prophet?

A prophet is someone, either male or female, that God communicates with directly. He certainly did that with Moses.

Num 12
6)  He said, Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream.
7)  My servant Moses is not so. He is faithful in all my house.
8)  With him, I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see Yahweh’s form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses? (Yahweh said that to Aaron and Miriam.)

Normally God speaks to a prophet by a vision or dream, as he did with Samuel, but Yahweh spoke to Moses —

Face to face!

Exo 33
7)  Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp, and he called it “The Tent of Meeting.” Everyone who sought Yahweh went out to the Tent of Meeting, which was outside the camp.
8)  When Moses went out to the Tent, all the people rose up, and stood, everyone at their tent door, and watched Moses, until he had gone into the Tent.
9)  When Moses entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended, stood at the door of the Tent, and spoke with Moses.
10)  All the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the Tent, and all the people rose up and worshiped, everyone at their tent door.
11)  Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend…

In spite of that, Yahweh did not make his friend Moses the high priest. Instead Moses’ brother Aaron was appointed high priest.

Exo 28
1)  “Bring Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, near to you from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

But Aaron was not without his problems, you know.

He made the golden calf:

Exo 32
24)  I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let them take it off: so they gave it to me; and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.

He and Miriam spoke against Moses.

Num 12
1)  Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman.
2)  They said, Has Yahweh indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn’t he spoken also with us? And Yahweh heard it.

In spite of his shortcomings, slightly arrogant Aaron and not meek Moses was made high priest.

At that time, God did not combine the office of prophet and high priest.

Yahweh was king.

Moses was prophet.

Aaron was high priest.

The positions of high priest and prophet were purposely split. One person did not hold both positions.

Only Aaron’s children and descendants were to be priests. ISBE discusses how the position of priest was to serve and not to be served.

ISBE, Priest, High
Their duties were strictly religious. They had no political power conferred upon them. Their services, their dependent position, and the way in which they were sustained, i.e. by the free gifts of the people, precluded them from exercising any undue influence in the affairs of the nation… as originally appointed the priesthood in Israel was not a caste, nor a hierarchy, nor a political factor, but a divinely-appointed medium of communication between God and the people.

The priests served the people in their worship of God, but they did not get between the people and God.

ISBE, Priest, High cont.
The Hebrew priests in no wise interfered with the conscience of men. The Hebrew worshipper of his own free will laid his hand on the head of his sacrifice, and confessed his sins to God alone. His conscience was quite free and untrammeled.

Note that the people did not confess their sins to the priest nor was their sacrifice offered to the priest. The sacrifice was offered to Yahweh and the sins were confessed to Yahweh. The priest was not between the people and God. The priests only helped the people worship God.

The high priest was picked only by God, not by the people or by any political ruler.

Heb 5
4) Nobody takes this honor on himself, but he is called by God, just like Aaron was.

Gill Commentary on Hebrews 5:4
Now no man might take this honourable office upon himself, or intrude himself into it, or obtain it by any unjust method, or in any other way than by a call from God; nor did any man dare to do it, until of late, when some got into it of themselves, and were put in by the Roman governors, and even purchased it of them:

Aaron was picked by Yahweh God to be high priest. After him, his family was to fill that position. No one else was.

Aaron and the priests were Levites, but not all Levites were priests. The tribe of Levi was picked to specially serve God, but different families within that tribe each had certain jobs. Korah’s family, from Kohath, had extremely important jobs.

Num 3
31)  Their duty shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all its service.

They took care of the Ark of the Covenant and the vessels in the Holy of Holies. Very special position! Moses pointed that out to Korah, when Korah and his Komrades demanded the priesthood also.

Num 16
1)  Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took some men.
2)  They rose up before Moses, with some of the children of Israel, two hundred fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown.
3)  They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and Yahweh is among them! Why do you lift yourselves up above Yahweh’s assembly?”
4)  When Moses heard it, he fell on his face.
5)  He said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning, Yahweh will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him. Even him whom he shall choose, he will cause to come near to him.
6)  Do this: take censers, Korah, and all his company;
7)  and put fire in them, and put incense on them before Yahweh tomorrow. It shall be that the man whom Yahweh chooses, he shall be holy. You have gone too far, you sons of Levi!”
8)  Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi
9)  Is it a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of Yahweh’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;
10)  and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? Do you seek the priesthood also?

To answer Moses question — Korah did seek the priesthood also.

He didn’t get it.

Num 16
25)  Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
26)  He spoke to the congregation, saying, Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins!
27)  So they went away from the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side. Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.
28)  Moses said, Hereby you shall know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my own mind.
29)  If these men die the common death of all men, or if they experience what all men experience, then Yahweh hasn’t sent me.
30)  But if Yahweh makes a new thing, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up, with all that belong to them, and they go down alive into Sheol; then you shall understand that these men have despised Yahweh.
31)  As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split apart.
32)  The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, all of Korah’s men, and all their goods.
33)  So they, and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly.
34)  All Israel that were around them fled at their cry; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up!
35)  Fire came out from Yahweh, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.

So not just anybody could be a priest. You recall that during the time of the judges, Micah, a descendant of Moses, hired himself out as a priest, but he was not a real priest, because he was not from Aaron.

We have already cited in a previous chapter how Uzziah forgot that priests were Yahweh appointed, not self appointed. When Uzziah went into the temple to do the priests’ job of offering the incense —

2Ch 26
18)  They resisted Uzziah the king, and said to him, It isn’t for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but for the priests the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed. It will not be for your honor from Yahweh God.

That definitely was not to Uzziah’s honor. His attempt to politicize the priesthood left him a lifelong leper.

Aaron was the first high priest and his descendants were to succeed him in that office, as his son Eleazar did.

Num 20
24)  Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah.
25)  Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor;
26)  and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron shall be gathered, and shall die there.
27)  Moses did as Yahweh commanded. They went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.
28)  Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

Then Eleazar’s son Phineas followed him.

Jdg 20
27)  The children of Israel asked Yahweh (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
28)  and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days)…

Aaron’s progeny continued to be high priests, even after they returned from captivity in Babylon, when Joshua was the first high priest back in the Holy Land after the exile. However, after the Hasmoneans successfully rebelled against the Greeks, they were not only the political leaders but also claimed the office of high priest.

The Hasmoneans claimed not only the throne of Judah, but also the post of High Priest. This assertion of religious authority conflicted with the tradition of the priests coming from the descendants of Moses’ brother Aaron and the tribe of Levi. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/history-and-overview-of-the-maccabees

The Hasmoneans, though Kohanim of the tribe of Levi, were not in line for the high priesthood or for political leadership, which they usurped. http://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-hasmonean-dynasty/

So it seems as if the Hasmoneans pulled a Korah, as when Moses asked the sons of Levi, “Do you seek the priesthood also?” The Hasmoneans did seek it and got it.

The Hasmoneans did what Yahweh did not do. They combined the office of political ruler and high priest. They had the heritage for neither. They were not descended from King David and so were imposter kings; they were not descended from the high priest line from Aaron, and so were imposter high priests.

They consolidated their power by centralizing authority in Jerusalem and combining the office of king and High Priest. This attracted criticism from some because the Hasmonean’s were not descended from Moses’ brother, Aaron the first High Priest and from others, especially the Pharisees because they exercised both religious and political authority. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/MaccabeesNew World Encyclopedia, Maccabees

After that, the office of high priest got lower and lower, because of the men who got it.

ISBE, Priest, High
It is true that in process of time the high office degenerated, and became a thing of barter and sale in the hands of unscrupulous and corrupt men,…

When Rome conquered Judea in 63 BCE, the positions of king and high priest of the Jews were politically set. Herod, the king of the Jews, removed the Hasmonean descendants from the office of high priest because he thought they might be a threat to him.

Encyclopedia Judaica, High Priest:

With the Roman conquest of Judea and subsequent Herodean rule, the office of high priest became a political tool in the hands of the administration, and until the destruction of the Temple was never to return to its earlier prominence. Herod, in an attempt to base his regime on new elements within Jewish society, completely disassociated himself from the Hasmonean dynasty… Although the high priests continued to serve as presidents of the Sanhedrin, both their actual powers and measure of esteem among the people gradually deteriorated, and derision of the high priests during the late Second Temple period is commonly quoted in rabbinic literature… By the end of the Second Temple period the high priest was considered no more than a religious functionary of the Roman administration, and thus even the garments of the high priest were entrusted at times to the hands of the local Roman procurator and handed over to the priests just prior to the various festivals.

Note that last statement. By the time the temple fell, the high priest was a Roman vassal. In order to serve at the festivals, he had to go to the Roman official just to put his clothes on.

The office of high priest, which should have been a lifetime position, became so politicized that between 5 BCE and the fall of the temple in 70 CE, there were 26 different high priests. Those high priests averaged only about 3 years in the position.

Banana priests!

The longest serving high priest during that time was perhaps the worst. That was Caiaphas, who condemned Yeshua to death. Annas served as high priest from 6-15 CE, and Caiaphas, married to Annas’ daughter, served from 18-36 CE. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/high-priests-of-the-second-temple-period

By the time of Christ, the position of high priest had become just another political tool of the Roman emperor or his vassal. High priests were appointed whose first loyalty was to Rome, not God, and the prime interest of those men was in protecting their position. High priests suffered from the same malady as Israel’s kings — low human nature.

When Israel went to the Holy Land, Yahweh was king, Moses was prophet, and Aaron was high priest. By the time the Messiah was born, the Roman emperor was Israel’s overall king, Rome or their vassal Herod appointed the high priest, and there were no prophets. Israel desperately needed a king, a prophet, and a high priest.

No wonder the shepherds shouted for joy when Yeshua was born.