Why do we associate OT priests with pastors and temple/tabernacle with church building? (HT: Alan)
I have become bored with “church.” What I mean, is I have become bored with that weekly meeting that occurs on Sunday mornings. My wife and I have not attended…
A friend of mine asked on Facebook, “What are the characteristics of a disciple? How would you know if a person is one?” which led me to search for the…
The other night I was fooling around with my laptop. My wife was in the bedroom talking to some of her family. She strolled into the kitchen (where I was)…
According to the traditional understanding the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week – otherwise known to us as Saturday. In Exodus 20 we see that God commanded Israel…
I’ve decided to start a series of some of the theological words and terms that we use in our everyday Christian lives that are not found in Scripture. The first…
If the truth be told, we Christians never seem to ask why we do what we do. Instead, we blithely carry out our relgious traditions without asking where they came…
My guess is b/c it makes for a good analogy more than anything. This would be in contrast to the idea that they really DO serve the same function. I don’t think that they do. Similar fuctions…yes…but I think that they are more dissimilar than most people realize.
Hi! I’ve followed you from Alan’s blog. I recently set up a feed reader, so I’m able to more easily keep track of many more blogs, including yours. :)
I think part of the answer is that we don’t understand that the Old Covenant is not the New Covenant, and we don’t fully understand the types and shadows in the O.C. I honestly think that many people really don’t have a clue about how the O.C. priests had been selected, what exactly it is that they did, and how their function was not a type or shadow of “church leaders,” but rather a type and shadow of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. And how the tabernacle was not a type or shadow of a “church building” but rather of our life in Christ, dwelling as one with God.
I’m being very general, but I’m looking mainly at Hebrews 8 and 9.
Rhea
Thanks for the comment. I think they are very dissimilar, in fact, I sense that my understanding of the OT system is similar to what Joel is eluding to.
Joel
Thanks for adding me to your reader. As I previously stated, I sense that our interpretations are very similar. I would continue to Hebrews 10 also.
Thanks again every Rhea and Joel.
God’s Glory,
Lew
Even though I helped develop this question, I think the answer is fairly easy. We think the OT structures and priestly hierarchy apply to the church because of our (Protestants’) common Catholic heritage. We primarily get our understanding of church leadership from our Catholic fore-fathers.
-Alan
Lew,
I’ve had you in my bookmarks for quite some time now, and I don’t know why I’ve never used a reader until now, because it’s definitely much more convenient than loading full bookmarked pages to see if anyone’s posted anything new. Anyway, that’s off the subject…
I agree that chapter 10 should be included in this. In fact the writer’s talk of the priesthood goes back to chapters 6 & 7 as well.
Really, you asked a great question because so much of how “church” is done these days revolves around a very skewed view of priests and the tabernacle. I now feel like going on a rant about the “tithes” (brought up in chapter 7) and the “storehouse” (of Deuteronomy, Malachi, etc.), but I won’t do that :D and I’ll just say that I think it goes along with all of this and I hope and pray that Christians today will wake up and smell the wonderful aroma of the New Covenant and stop eating from the old stale one!