Minister to Whom?

“I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister to Me.” Exodus 29:44

To Minister to Me (the Lord)– Wow! Aaron and his sons are not ministering to the people. They are consecrated to the Lord and ministering to Him. Their entire focus is centered around worshipping God.

Given our current view of ministry, this does seem a bit strange. Can you imagine going to church and watching the pastor worshipping God? What do you think church would be like if the role of the “clergy” were only to serve the Lord, not to provide the sermon, chair the committees, run the staff or develop the programs?

In Hebrew, the word translated “to minister” is kahan. The word kohen means “priest.” Therefore, the translation should really be, “to act and serve as priests to Me.”

The concept of ministry, so popular in our view of church, really doesn’t fit here. After all, God doesn’t need counseling, sermons, praise and worship teams, or Sunday school curriculums. If Aaron and his sons were consecrated by God to act and serve as priests to Him, what does that really mean? Most importantly, why does God need priests anyway?

In the past we thought of priests as intermediaries between us and God. Now we believe that each one of us acts as a priest and we discover from Exodus that this concept really isn’t new. It was established the day that God chose Israel to be a kingdom of priests. The priestly role that all of God’s children play is directed toward those outside the Kingdom. We act as intermediaries for those who have not yet been grafted into Israel. We are God’s hands and feet to the lost.

Okay, but what about the the role that Aaron and his sons play. After all, Israel is not lost. Israel doesn’t need to be grafted in. Israel is already elected. So, why does God establish the Levitical order?

David tells us what they do (see 1 Chronicles 15:2). Moses tells us when they do it (Exodus 32:26). And God tells us why (Deuteronomy 10:8). (Read Numbers 1:50-51 and Numbers 3:6-10 for more details).

God establishes His priests before Him because they were passionate about who He is. They are God’s official praise team. They bless God. In the process, they are living examples of active obedience and submitted worship.

So does God need priests who run the local church? Hummm! I’m not so sure that’s what He had in mind. I wonder if there really is any other kind …… Just thinking.