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Priests in the Bible play a significant role, embodying spiritual leadership and mediation between God and His people. As the narrative progresses through the whole Bible, the concept of priesthood undergoes a transformation. This shift brings a new understanding of the priestly role, marking a key development in the relationship between God and humanity that is the firm foundation on which our faith stands today.
Priests in the Bible
Priests in the Bible differ between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, we see what is called the Levitical priesthood, which was established by God to guide His people, the Israelites, in their obedience to Him.
However, through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, humanity was entered into a new covenant where the law of the Old Testament was no longer in rule, which meant the role and concept of priests entered into a new light.
Priests in the Old Testament
In the Old Testament, priests were spiritual leaders and mediators between God and the people of Israel. They were primarily from the tribe of Levi, with Aaron, Moses’s brother, serving as the first high priest; this is where we get the term Levitical Priesthood. Their priestly functions included offering sacrifices, maintaining the Tabernacle or Temple, and teaching God’s laws.
“Then bring near to you Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the people of Israel, to serve me as priests – Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.”
Exodus 28:1 (ESV)
According to Grace Notes, “Initially, God had selected the entire nation of Israel to be his priests,” as is recorded in Exodus 19:5-6, “however, after the nation proved to be inadequate as priests… the Levites who supported Moses… were selected as God’s priests.”
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
Exodus 19:5-6 (ESV)
These priests of the tribe of Levi were held to a high standard of holiness by God, the Holy of Holies, as we see in the book of Leviticus:
“They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord’s food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.”
Leviticus 21:5-6 (ESV)
Within this Levitical priesthood ordained by God were different levels of priests, starting with the High Priest, moving down to a general priest, and then Levites. All priests were Levites, but not all Levites were priests.
The High Priest
The High Priest, alternatively translated as chief priests (though separated in Jesus’ day), is, you guessed it, the highest of honors regarding priests in the Bible. Whoever held this position was not just the leader of the Levites or the Levitical priests, but was the religious leader of all the Israelites.
The honor of high priest, or chief priest ran through the family of Aaron. As mentioned earlier, Aaron himself was the first to fulfill the role, with his sons succeeding him.
In this role, Aaron and the sons of Aaron had the responsibility of monitoring and leading the priests under them, discern truth from falsehood through the use of the Urim and Thummin (Exodus 28:30), offer a sin offering for the sins of the people of the congregation, as well as for himself, and run the service for the Day of Atonement.
“And in the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the Lord. Thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly.”
Exodus 28:30 (ESV)
The yearly Day of Atonement, which landed on the tenth day of the seventh month, was the day when the high priest was to make an atonement for all the sins of himself and the Israelites committed throughout the whole year. He would do this by entering what was called the Most Holy Place, which was the area behind the curtain, or veil, in the tabernacle. Only the high priest was allowed to enter this area as it was considered the throne room of God, and nobody could be in God’s presence with any sin on their heart of uncleanliness on their body.
The high priest wasn’t exempt from the fatality of bringing sin into God’s throne room, as he was still a human and, therefore, a sinner like the rest of the Israelites. Because of this, he had to go through extensive rituals to make himself clean before standing before the presence of the Almighty God.
This ritual, as laid out by God himself, is found in Leviticus 16.
“But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments.
Leviticus 16:3-5 (ESV)
He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.”
General Levitical Priests
The roles and responsibilities of the rest of the priests in the Levitical priesthood were to instruct the people of Israel in the Law, offer sacrifices for sins, officiate in the Holy Place, investigate and review unclean members of the congregation (figuratively unclean, not literally dirty), handle disagreements in the congregation, keep up with maintenance of the Tabernacle and Temple, and collect offerings for the church as a whole.
Sound familiar? You could approach your own pastor with this list and I’m sure he will say it sounds a lot like his job now as the leader of a modern, local church body! After all, the Levitical priesthood were priests of the first church, the church that we should model our own after today.
The main distinction between the high priest and the rest of the priests was that only the high priest went into the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement, as well as the level of authority, as the high priest was overseer of the rest of the priesthood.
The Levites
The rest of the Levites were members of the congregation, but not without responsibility. They were often times assigned jobs to help maintain the structure and furnishings of the Tabernacle and Temple, much like a ministry team in the modern-day church.
Melchizedek
We can’t talk about the Old Testament portion of priests in the bible without talking about Melchizedek.
Melchizedek is a rather mysterious character, a priest, in the Bible who shows up seemingly out of nowhere in the book of Genesis, and the book of Genesis alone.
“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”
Genesis 14:18-20 (ESV)
Prior to this passage, Abram defeated four kings that had captured Lot in their war against five other kings that they had previously served. Melchizedek’s act of bringing bread and wine to Abram and the kings that were with him (the kings he helped, not the kings he defeated), was an act of friendliness.
He then gave a blessing to Abram in God’s name as well as praised God for Abram’s victory in battle. Abram’s tithe of a tenth of everything showed that he recognized Melchizedek as higher than himself. And that is all we see of Melchizedek in the Bible, other than a few other times he is mentioned, without appearing.
The following three passages are the other times that Melchizedek is brought up in the Bible. In these passages he seems to be presented as a type of Christ; Christ meaning anointed one.
“The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Psalm 110:4 (ESV)
“And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 5:9-10 (ESV)
“He is first, be translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.”
Hebrews 7:2b-3 (ESV)
These three passages lead way to debate on who this mysterious Melchizedek really was. “Some propose that Melchizedek was actually a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ or a Christophany. This is a possible theory, especially given that Abraham received such a visit later, in Genesis 17—18, when Abraham saw and spoke with the Lord (Yahweh) in the form of a man.” Others argue that he was just a type of Christ meant to foreshadow Jesus’ ministry. Due to the lack of details in the Genesis account, we cannot fully understand one way or the other. Either way, Jesus is still Jesus, God is still God, and we are still saved by his grace.
Priests in the New Testament
The role and designation of priests in the Bible drastically changed between the Old and New Testaments, as, of course, Jesus is now in the picture. Jesus fulfilled the Law of the Old Testament, the Mosaic Law, and therefore fulfilled the Levitical priesthood as well, re-ordering it into what we follow today.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
Matthew 5:17 (ESV)
The sons of Aaron were the high priest of the Levitical priesthood, but now Jesus is the one and only high priest.
The Levite priests underneath the high priest of the Levitical priesthood is what we are all called to be as modern day followers of Jesus.
The form you have selected does not exist.
The Great High Priest
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”
1 Timothy 2:5 (ESV)
The special thing about the high priests in the Levitical priesthood was their role on the Day of Atonement. Remember, only the high priest was allowed to go behind the veil to make atonement, or sacrifice, for the sins of both themselves and the entire congregation committed each year. Before entering the Most Holy Place, they had to go through an extensive cleansing ritual, with specific instructions both to make themselves clean before the Lord and to offer an acceptable sacrifice for the sin offering.
Jesus, in His role as the Great High Priest, offers a perfect and final mediation, the ultimate atonement for all of humanity’s sin. Unlike the priests of old, He was and is completely free of sin, rendering Him the only worthy intermediary between man and God capable of reconciling humanity to God. His sacrificial offering was not of goats or bulls but of Himself – an unblemished sacrifice that sufficed once for all. Through His death and resurrection, He dismantled the barrier of sin, granting believers direct access to the Father.
“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
Hebrews 10:14 (ESV)
“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
1 John 2:2 (ESV)
Furthermore, Jesus’ priesthood is eternal. While earthly priests were subject to death and succession, Jesus “lives forever” and holds His priesthood permanently (Hebrews 7:24). This eternal intercession assures believers of a constant advocate before God, one who understands the human experience yet stands in divine righteousness.
The Call to Priesthood
You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ... But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
1 Peter 2:5, 9 (ESV)
In the same way that the Levitical priests acted underneath the high priest, so are we to be priests underneath Jesus as the Great High Priest.
Think of the congregation in the Levitical priesthood as the people around us in our daily lives – coworkers, friends, family, strangers passing by – both believers and unbelievers. As the priests of the Old Testament were to teach the Law to the Israelites, we are to preach the message of the Gospel to anyone and everyone. As the priests were to offer sacrifices for sins, we are to repent of ours, calling others to do the same.
As the priests were to investigate and review (figuratively) unclean members of the congregation, we are to practice discernment in our relationships with unbelievers and call out the sin of fellow believers. And in each responsibility, we are under the authority of Jesus Christ, tasked to reflect his image and character in all that we do.
“For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”
Romans 10:13-14 (ESV)
We will never be perfect priests, as only the Lord Jesus Christ is perfect. However, through the process of sanctification by the Holy Spirit, we are being built up into a holy, royal priesthood that is the Kingdom of God.
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)
Priests in the Church
“Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.”
1 Timothy 3:2-3 (ESV)
Even though all followers of Jesus are called to priesthood, there are those called to shepherd over the church as a whole, also under the authority of Jesus.
The office of priest of a church is not one to be taken lightly, nor, as we see in 1 Timothy, is it a job just anybody can do. There are certain qualifications for those called to fill the priestly role because it is a huge job. I know I personally would not be able to oversee an entire congregation, big or small, without losing my head quite frequently.
The role of priests in the church is the same as the Levitical priests, with a couple differences because of the new covenant in Jesus Christ:
Instruct the congregation in the Word of God, investigate and review unclean members of the congregation (figuratively unclean, not literally dirty), handle disagreements in the congregation, keep up with maintenance of the Tabernacle and Temple, and collect offerings for the church as a whole.
The difference between the pastoral role and the individual call to priesthood of each believer is simply that one was placed, by God’s hand, in authority over a group of believers to oversee them as they act out their own priestly duties in daily life.
The role of priests in the Bible is central to the spiritual life and religious practices of God’s people. In the Old Testament, priests served as vital intermediaries between God and the Israelites, performing sacrifices, maintaining the Tabernacle, and teaching God’s laws. The Levitical priesthood, established through the descendants of Aaron, was a sacred office ordained by God to guide His people in obedience and worship.
These priests, particularly the High Priest, played a crucial role in the covenantal relationship between God and ancient Israel, emphasizing the importance of holiness, sacrifice, and mediation in their faith.
However, the coming of Jesus Christ brought a transformative shift in the understanding of priesthood. With His death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled the Law and established a new covenant, redefining the role of priests. No longer confined to the sons of Levi, the priesthood was expanded to include all believers, with Jesus Himself as the Great High Priest.
This transition from the Levitical priesthood to the priesthood of all believers highlights the profound impact of Christ’s atoning work and the new relationship between God and humanity, where every believer is called to serve as a priest under the authority of Christ.
You may enjoy this brief video on the Royal Priesthood:
Or this recommended resource:
The Eternal High Priest of the Covenantal Oath: The Genealogy of High Priests in Light of God’s Administration in the History of Redemption by Abraham Park
ESV – “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”