Lesson 01 · Sinai
A kingdom of priests
“Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.”
Exodus 19:5–6
Before Aaron is ever ordained, God says this about the entire nation. All of them. Priesthood was the original job description for the whole people of God.
The specialized Levitical priesthood came after, as a concession to a people who were terrified to come near God themselves. They begged Moses to go up the mountain for them.
So the professional priesthood was never the ideal. It was scaffolding around a promise that everyone would eventually be able to come close.
Which is why Peter, writing to ordinary Christians, reaches back and hands them the same line.
Put plainly
God's original plan was that everybody would have access. The priesthood was a temporary workaround, not the goal.
Sit with this
- Do you think of access to God as something you need someone else to mediate?
- If you're a priest, who are you standing in the gap for?
If you're giving the message
- 01'Kingdom of priests' is said about the whole nation before any priest is ordained.
- 02Israel asked for a mediator because they were afraid.
- 03Peter applies the same words to ordinary believers.