Hebrews 5:1-4
Among Men
For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: (Hebrews 5:1)
Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. (Hebrews 5:2)
And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. (Hebrews 5:3)　
And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. (Hebrews 5:4)
  We have such a great cloud of witnesses before us: in the day of Christ, and in the early Church, the Jewish priesthood had been corrupted by man. In fact, it was the priesthood and the rulers of the Jews who condemned the Lord Jesus, and through stealth brought about His crucifixion. The high priest, Caiaphas, the ring leader, called for the death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The world had beheld a corruption of the entire Jewish system. The Holy Spirit made sure to tell us of the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ in both Matthew’s gospel, and in the gospel according to Luke. We are quite aware that Mark’s gospel, which is the gospel of the servant, would not have a genealogy for the servant is not qualified by genealogy. In John’s gospel we have a divine genealogy that God Himself proclaimed His right to both earth and heaven, and that the genealogy is not of the earth, but the Father sent the Son into the world. This clarifies the origin and the reason that Christ was sent into the world as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. We saw the whole world both religious and political united in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ when Caiaphas and the host of the Jews cried out, Crucify him, crucify him.
Priests: Yet Still Men
  Today, we have a world of many religions, all these religions are tied to man and not to God. These giant religions have their own political systems within their religious professions. As the Jews were united to the politics of Rome in the Herodians, so today, the religious world is united to the political structure of the nations of this world. They seek favor from men, and not from God.
Failure
  In the Levitical priesthood of Aaron and his descendants we have an extreme flaw, the flaw was that they were taken from among men, and although they were divinely appointed they were still men, and were not the impeccable Christ who is our great high priest. In the history of the Jews, whether it be priest, prophet or king man has failed most miserably. The Holy Spirit gives us three examples of failure under Jewish rule. These three representations in the Old Testament are for our learning in our modern age of the corrupt church.
Failure: Blind Priest
T  he first in the list of three was Eli the blind priest. Blindness was a direct judgment from God for the failure of Eli to conduct and manage the articles of the priesthood; for in his sons we see the complete corruption that began in the heart of Eli, and came to it’s fullness in his sons, Ichabod, the glory has departed.
Failure: Blind Prophet
  The second example was the blind prophet Ahijah. Although the Holy Spirit does not record a particular corruption of this prophet the Holy Spirit uses his blindness to show us the condition of all of Israel. We should remember that there was never a divine office of the prophet given of God. God chose individual men out of the entire society of Israel, and put His mark upon them to deliver His message to the people of Israel both in present time, and in future judgment, because of their sin; therefore the blindness of Ahijah spoke of the blindness of all of Israel.
Failure: Blind King
The last office of divine choosing was the office of king, the king of Israel. God chose each   and every king in respect to his genealogy. This excluded the first king, that was a king after the flesh, and was an answer to the call of the flesh when the people of Israel cried out, Give us a king like the other nations. And this king failed most miserably, so that God called a king after His own heart in His servant David. Through the history of the kings we have beheld the complete failure of the office of king in the conclusion of the blind king, Zedekiah. He had failed in every respect before Jehovah; his last earthly vision was of his children dying at the end of the sword; then the king of Babylon put out Zedekiah’s eyes.
  Through the failure of a blind priest, a blind prophet and a blind king we see the divine end to a corrupt priesthood, a corruption of the people of the prophetic office, and the end to a corrupt line of the kings of Judah. Only one king would be of heavenly origin and divine calling, and that would be the Lord of lords, and the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. (See the addendum for further study on blindness).
Brief Summary
  As we have traveled through the Book of Hebrews, the Holy Spirit introduced and magnified the Son of God in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2, we are introduced to the son of man and the seed of Abraham, that Christ was the fulfillment of the promises given by God. This theme continued on through His death on the cross to a divine priesthood that is presented in the end of Chapter 2, and continued in Chapter 3, and completely fulfilled at the throne of grace in Chapter 4. In Chapter 5, the Holy Spirit leads us back to the Levitical Aaronic priesthood of man. In the next three chapters, the Holy Spirit gives us the frailties of man in Aaron, and the glories of Christ in Melchisedec: Chapters 5, 6 and 7.
The First Earthly Priesthood
  The first priesthood, although ordained of God, was an earthly priesthood, and was subject to the frailties of man. The priesthood under our great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, is a heavenly priesthood without the corruption of sin in Adam. Under the Aaronic priesthood God would come down to meet with man. Under the priesthood of Christ, a priest forever after the oath of Melchisedec, we ascend to meet Him where He is in His glory above. God no longer meets with man at the mercy-seat of earth, but meets with man at the mercy-seat in heaven. In Aaron (the Levitical priesthood) man could never rise above the earth, as the tabernacle was only to be a type or picture — or even deeper — a portrait of that which was above. All the articles (of the tabernacle) that were shown to Moses were only representatives of those things which stood in heaven itself. And as the tabernacle of earth had need of a priesthood, and an organization of priests so too in heaven on high we have a High Priest after the oath of Melchisedec, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the environment of Aaron, and the Levitical priesthood, we have types of the many glories that are enlarged and expanded in our eternal priest, our great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, the earthly priesthood was established and given of God. It had divine authority over the priests. The only x factor was that it relied on man, and man would be the frail part because of his own frailties in that man in Aaron was a child and a descendant of Adam. And Aaron (like all men) was under the law of sin and death.
 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: .(Romans 5:12)
 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.(Romans 5:13)
 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.(Romans 5:14)
 The First Law: The Law of Sin and Death
  The law of sin and death is the prevailing law from the garden. The law of Moses was given to reveal unto man his desperate state, and his failure before God, and the tremendous gulf between God and God’s righteousness that sin in Adam had brought into the world. The law of Moses only magnifies the law of sin and death; the law of sin and death has been magnified, and exposed in the dreadful sin of man. The law of sin and death stands on the weakness of man, for man has the DNA of sin within him. According to the Spirit of God, this possession of sin within man is passed down to every man who is born into the world; that sin is in the loins of our fathers, and we receive this sin at conception. The Spirit of God through the psalmist declares that he was conceived and created in sin and iniquity. (Psalm 51:5) Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. We have a conclusion of man in his condition in Isaiah 64:6, and in Romans 3:10. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (Romans 3:10)
  These verses show the inherent sin, and the failure from that inherent sin. God makes sure that there is no path to self justification. Justification for sin is completely out of man’s reach, and the inherent sin in the loins of our fathers is passed from one generation to the next. Seeing that sin can only be broken by death it was, therefore, for this cause that God sent forth His Son into the world to break the shackles of sin and death; and replaced them with life and liberty in the very Person of our Liberator, Christ Jesus. Following the determinate counsels of God we see a map of God preparing His way, and fulfilling that in the history of man; preparing Himself before the foundations of the world to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin in the lamb of God, Jesus Christ. God has watched the transgressions of mankind (which are innumerable) and through his history mankind has been swift and quick to shed blood.
The Cover of Blood
  In mount Sinai, the law, and the ordinances of God we have both God’s truth and His mercy. The tables of stone and their firmness condemned man in every way for the law is righteous. God, however, gave more in mercy than in His divine judgment against their sin. The tabernacle, the surrounding court, the articles without, and the articles within the holy place, and the holy of holies were but a shadow of the divine mercies of God that would be fulfilled on the cross of Calvary. The tabernacle and the priesthood were to form a bond between God and man so that the divine God from heaven above could dwell among them. God had brought Israel as His chosen nation out of Egypt under the cover of blood. He established that He could deal and dwell with men under the cover of blood. He would continue with them based on a blood covenant. Even the law was ratified by blood as the tabernacle was a type or similitude of the divine tabernacle in heaven.
 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.(Hebrews 9:23)
 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (Hebrews 9:24)
 The Divine Design of the Levitical Priesthood
  The priesthood of Aaron was by divine design. All the articles of clothing, the mitre, the garment, the breastplate, the Urim and Thummim, and the divine anointing of Aaron and his sons was to show us the complete priesthood that was in heaven under the oath of Melchisedec. The glories that man saw on earth in the appointed high priest (Aaron) was to reveal in the spirit and heart all the divine glories that was in the Person of the Son of God, a high priest forever, after the order of Melchisedec.
The Divine Design of the Eternal Priesthood
 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. (Psalm 110:3)
 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. (Psalm 110:4)
  Many think Psalm 110 only as a future fulfillment of prophecy. They fail to see the One who is revealed through the entire psalm. It is the priest forever after the order of Melchisedec. The Lord will not repent of this eternal priesthood that was in full existence before the foundations of the world. This psalm, upon mediation, transcends the time of man. It is the eye of God into His eternal glories which can only be seen and known from above. Consider Zechariah 6:12-13:
 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:(Zechariah 6:12)
 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. (Zechariah 6:13)
 The Divine King
  We behold the divine kingship of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. One of the most remarkable titles that we see in the Son of God is the King eternal, and this title is given in the New Testament in 1st Timothy 1:17. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. This wonderful title given by the Spirit of God clarifies the complete fullness of the kingship of Christ over the very eternity that He resides over. There is no higher kingship, then the King who holds eternity. Before He declares His immortality, He declares His kingship in verse 17. The subject matter of this Chapter, and the concern of the divine mind is all of Christ; and so, the Spirit of God declares His eternal kingship, and then reinforces it with His immortality and the invisible character of His Spirit. He proclaims Christ’s eternal crown, then the immortality of that crown, and then the invisible Being (for God is Spirit). In the Book of Daniel, Daniel enters into the creation when the Spirit of God states of Christ that He is the King of heaven.
 Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. (Daniel 4:37)
 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: (Daniel 4:34)
 The Divine King and The Divine Priest
  Why do I bring both King and priest together in the Person of Christ? Because this was always God’s desire from, and in, the garden. He is to be both King and priest, He desires Adam to be in obedience to both King and priest, although not specifically announcing or bearing those titles in the garden. Adam did not respond to the desires of his Creator, instead, Adam disobeyed and brought sin into the world. The last verse of Chapter 5 of Hebrews, verse 14 closes with the scene observed by the Spirit in the garden with what was found in the tree: the knowledge of good and evil. This should give us spiritual insight of what is to come in the following Chapters of 6 and 7.
  We are dealing with the priesthood that was appointed by God to man. Aaron was chosen by God from among men. Israel had no vote, in fact, their approval or disapproval was not considered. Aaron was to represent God and God alone. Aaron was a figure or a representative of the true priest in heaven. Even though Aaron was taken from among man, he was taken under divine authority, and he, himself, had to be purged with blood. And he slew [it]; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put [it] upon the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.(Leviticus 8:23) His right ear was anointed with blood, this spoke of the dominion of his own thoughts and actions, his own imagination, and the things that are without, and within, the heart and soul of man. Next, his right thumb was anointed with blood. In it’s simplicity this would be over all of the works that he would do in the divine offering, and the glorification of God in his own being. Then, the great toe of his right foot was anointed with blood. The toe was his only connection to the earth. The earth was not only man’s dwelling place, but was also part of the corruption of man; for Adam brought sin into the world. The symbol of the toe was a symbol of man’s contact with earth, and the blood was applied to hopefully separate the mind, the heart, the spirit and soul of Aaron out of the world. But man was a weak vessel at best, he was the weakness of the priesthood. For Aaron was also a sinner, therefore, he would have to offer for his own sin, and his own frailties, and only then could he offer up a sacrifice for the sins of the people. Remember, this priesthood was ordained by the eternal God and not by man. At the time of Aaron’s anointing there were other religious priests in existence organized in various forms of worship, but they were not chosen, authorized nor ordained by God. In the days of Moses, his father in law was a priest of Midian, and in the days of Joseph, his father in law was a priest of On.
 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, [even] to Horeb. (Exodus 3:1)
 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him. (Genesis 41:50
  We are also aware of the extensive priesthood of Pharaoh in the land of Egypt with both priests and magicians as Jannes and Jambres. We are aware also of the extensive priesthood of Babylon or Mesopotamia. None of these priests were given or appointed by God.
  There has only been one earthly priesthood in both the Old Testament and in the New Testament, and that priesthood could only come through the line and genealogy of Aaron. The only one in the New Testament to fulfill these qualifications was Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. (Luke 1:5) Both Zacharias and his wife, Elisabeth, were of the children and lineage of Aaron. Although not recognized as the high priest, God revealed him in the conception of Zechariah’s son, to be the voice of Jehovah to Israel, and to announce their Messiah, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. (John the Baptist was the true earthly high priest after the order of the Levitical priesthood although not recognized nor accepted as high priest by the Jewish nation or by the Jewish religious system. He was the voice of God and introduced God’s sacrifice for sin, the Lamb of God. In this action John the Baptist performed one of the duties of high priest).
The Blood Removed the Distance of Sin
  In the anointing of Aaron, God wanted to be part of their lives. It was the distance that sin had created that God had to overcome, He could not dwell among them, nor commune with them unless His righteousness was upheld. He could only dwell among and with them on the basis of blood sacrifice. On the basis of blood sacrifice the immortal God would dwell among them, and at the same time putting man under a conditional relationship based on the law, judgment, and the ordinances of mercy. The distance of sin was never closed or shortened for man still bore the sin of the garden; which the law and commandments could not remove. Nor could the law remove the distance that had been created by sin between man’s Creator, and the man in the garden. God could come no closer than the mercy-seat. The mercy-seat allowed God to commune with man. God would uphold His righteousness and holiness at the mercy-seat. And this is as close as He could come because of sin and the rebellious heart of man. Under the law, man proved the gap or distance between himself and God for man continually failed under the tremendous shadow of the law that was against him. The law proved that there was nothing in man that could approach God. The law magnified man’s failure in every way, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. This distance could not be taken away by the law, nor could it be removed by man’s actions. Man proved his own unworthiness by his own sin, and every man could see his own failure in the righteousness that was the law. Every fiber of man has rebelled and been disobedient to God; concerning Israel, they tempted God and disobeyed God, and only the blood of the sacrifice that God had provided preserved them. Although the sacrifices were only a type, and this by a conditional covenant, the covenant relied on the obedience of man. For blessing came with obedience, and judgment came with disobedience. Man in his sinful state could not rectify himself before God by any natural force on the earth. The earthly presence of sin would always overthrow man before a holy and righteous God. Even though the sin of the people could be atoned for every year on the day of atonement, the offerings could bring mercy from God, however, the inherent sin that was in man could not, and would not, change. And before Aaron could offer for the nation, he had to first offer for his own sin. This was an imperfect priesthood: for it depended on man.
The Journey of the Priest
  God systematically showed Moses the pattern of the tabernacle, and it’s furniture, also the wall of curtains that surrounded the tabernacle, the brazen altar at the east gate (this was the way of approach), and redemption would begin at the gate.
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep (John 10:11)
  The high priest, Aaron, would begin his journey from the brazen altar to the mercy-seat. This journey would not be without blood. The longest journey or distance that Aaron walked was from the brazen alter to the laver. It represented the great gulf of suffering: the suffering of Christ on the cross. Only the high priest could walk this distance on the day of atonement. He walked on the desert floor reminding us that Christ was as a root out of dry ground, this great gulf or distance could only be breeched by blood, and in the eternal sense, in the fullness of time it could only be breeched by the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Only Christ could take the sin of the world upon Himself and nail it to the cross in His own body on the tree. Both the flesh and man in Adam had to be removed in the finality of death. There would be a new man come out of death. He would be born out of the darkness of an evil world to be manifested in the highest heavens full of glory. Death would not hold the immortal, and sin would not contain His grave; for He had the power of an endless life.
The Priest at the Laver
  The laver was before the tabernacle, there at the laver the high priest would wash his feet, and search the mirrors for any defilement. From this point of purification, the priest could not be touched, nor could he touch anything that could defile him; for if he was defiled the gift that he was carrying would be defiled as well. The echo of this found in the gospel according to John when the Lord Jesus told Mary (as the resurrected man) that she may not touch Him, for He was ascending to His Father and His God. He, the great high priest after the order of Melchisedec, would enter into heaven itself with a better sacrifice than the blood of the bulls and the goats and the ashes of a heifer. After the laver all that was visible became invisible.
The Priest Within
  The unseen work of the high priest continued within the tabernacle. The laver was on the outside, and it was the last visible connection to the high priest. As he proceeded into the tabernacle, his work was only visible to the invisible God who had called him. As the children of Israel watched from the east gate, they looked on the back of the high priest who faded into the tabernacle. He walked into the holy place to show himself in the presence of God.
The Shewbread
  Here he beheld the table of shewbread which represented what was of the earth, and the sustenance of mankind. It also represented the bread of life, a wondrous type of the true bread who came down from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ. All Israel was represented in the twelve loaves, all of Israel (at that time) had been fed by the manna that came down from heaven. They partook of angels food.
The Candlestick
  To illuminate all this was the candlestick. The candlestick represented heaven: the lamps and the light testified both of Christ and the Spirit of Christ. There was no other light, for the candlestick was the only light thereof. This candlestick was beaten (not forged) out of one piece of gold. Every line, every cup, every flower, and every knop was beaten into shape; and after all the hammering, and twisting, there stood beauty and holiness, mercy and truth, life and light, and the oil of gladness above His fellows.
The Altar of Incense
  Aaron, the high priest, would now approach the golden altar. It was the alter of incense before the holy of holies. It showed forth the sweetness and the excellence, and the wonder of the life of Christ. Here the incense was offered to God as a sweet savor, and the incense ascended up to the Almighty God; for Christ was once offered a sweet incense to God to appear for us in the marvelous glories of heaven itself.
The Veil
  The veil covered with the images of the cherubims of glory was now before Aaron. Not only did they present the glories of heaven, but they were the sentinels to protect the way of the holy of holies; as they protected the tree of life in the garden, they now protected the holy of holies. As Aaron approached the veil he was well aware of their presence, for God had instilled the work of the cherubims in the heart of man from the garden. Beyond that veil was the holiest of all where only this high priest could enter, and even then, he could not enter without blood. The cherubims looked from the veil protecting the way of righteousness, for within was the mercy-seat, and only here on the mercy-seat could divine authority meet with divine atonement.
The Mercy Seat
  The mercy-seat rested upon the ark of the covenant. The entire ark was a symbol of the covenant that God had made with mankind. The ark itself was covered with pure gold, a dominant figure of God’s righteousness which man could not attain; however, within the ark were the tables of stone. The tables of stone showed forth the righteousness that was in the divine Being, and the penalty and judgment that the law demanded of man.
An Article of Mercy: Manna
  God in His mercy had place three articles of mercy within the ark: (Hebrews 9:4) wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; first, the pot of manna. As manna was considered by the Jews, the bread from heaven, the Lord Jesus proclaimed of Himself that He, and He alone, was that bread from heaven.
 I am that bread of life.(John 6:48)
 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. (John 6:49)
 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.(John 6:50)
 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:51)
 An Article of Mercy: Aaron’s Budding Rod
  The next article was Aaron’s rod that budded, it also flowered and it also brought forth fruit. This was a marvelous representation of the power and the glory of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This, he also declared of Himself in the gospel of John.
 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: (John 11:25)
 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 11:42)
 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. (John 11:43)
 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. (John 11:44)
 Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. (John 11:45)
 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. (Numbers 17:6)
 And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. (Numbers 17:7)
 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. (Numbers 17:8)
 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. (Numbers 17:9)
 And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. (Numbers 17:10)
 And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he. (Numbers 17:11)　
 There was one more article within the holy of holies. Many forget this article, and yet, God in His divine wisdom wanted to remind us of the sufferings of Christ by this censer. (Hebrews 9:3) And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;(Hebrews 9:4) Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; The spices had to be beaten before they were put on the hot coals, speaking of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus. As this sweet incense ascended up to heaven they were a sweet savor unto God. Christ as the offering had become a sweet savor unto God the Father. This savor has ascended up to God who declared in His Son, Jesus Christ that He is satisfied. And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17) In the entire gospel of John we see the visage of the great high priest walking through the tabernacle carrying His own blood as a sacrifice to God. In the completion of His work, in the glory of His resurrection, He would place His blood on the eternal mercy seat in heaven.
 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.(Hebrews 9:23)
 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (Hebrews 9:24)
 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; (Hebrews 9:25)
 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26)
 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;(Hebrews 9:11)
 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12)
 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:(Hebrews 9:13)
 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)
 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17)
  In the death, burial, and resurrection the scepter of all creation was laid up before the Lord. He was the rod out of Jesse, He was the chosen one, chosen over His brethren as Aaron’s rod had the divine hand upon it, so Christ subjected Himself to the will of God the Father to fulfill all righteousness so that He, the Son of God, would be the possessor of the scepter of righteousness.
 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:(Isaiah 11:1)
 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; (Isaiah 11:2)
 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: (Isaiah 11:3)
 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. (Isaiah 11:4)
 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. (Isaiah 11:5)
 The Promise Fulfilled in Christ
  The Lord Jesus has been sent by the Father into the world. The great Promiser had come to fulfill His promise to Abraham. The son of David had come to deliver Israel, and to sit upon His throne as the King of Judah. (Matthew 1) He had come to deliver His people, and they received Him not. (John 1) Yet, all was laid up before the Lord, for it would be the Eternal One who would carry the smitten body from the cross to the tomb. Man could only be the instrument in the Father’s hands. There on the altar of stone the King of the Jews laid in silence. The dark winds of death lay over Him, the immortal in divine wonder became mortal so that He might swallow up death in eternal victory, and magnify His own immortality. The invisible ministered to the visible, the manifestation of the immortal that had become man, so that He might suffer the pains of death for every man. In the darkness of His tomb the Spirit hovered and brooded over the waters of death.
 <<To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, A Psalm of David.>> Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. (Psalm 69:1)
 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. (Psalm 69:2)
 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. (Psalm 69:14)
  This wonderful psalm opens a divine window for us. We are looking in the invisible, we hear the cry of the Sovereign out of the darkness as He is in the process of both defeating and swallowing up death for us. He is fulfilling the whole counsels of God. When Aaron prepared the sacrifice for the brazen altar, the victim lay still in death. Death had taken the life and only a still form remained, this was at the hand of man. The realm of death was not silent, from this point Aaron (the high priest) would be dealing with death for sin brings forth death. Aaron as the high priest would prepare the sacrifice, the perfect lamb had been slain, and Aaron would watch the fires of judgment consume the flesh until all had ascended to God. The burnt offering was a sweet savor to God. In the day of atonement this sweet savor ascended up into the presence of God, and all of Israel would come under the eyes of God in this atonement, the altar was anointed on the four horns with blood, and as I said previously, in type Aaron began his journey into the holy of holies.
  In our great high priest after the order of Melchisedec, the Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself upon the cross of Calvary. It is from the cross that He began His journey through the dry place where there was no water. He reached the laver of water where the last of the dust of the earth must be removed, then Christ entered into the door of the holy place on the authority and atonement of His own blood for without blood there is no remission of sin. Death could not cover His blood, it might take His life, but could not cover His blood. In His supernatural realm, He walked by the table of shewbread as the bread of life for all men. He was also the light of life as well as the light of the world. The brightness of the light comes from the oil of the Spirit of Christ burning brightly within the darkness.
 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) (Romans 1:2)
 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; (Romans 1:3)
 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: (Romans 1:4)
 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: (Hebrews 9:13)
 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)
  The Lord Jesus stands before God as the very sacrifice and as the sweet incense to God. Christ, Himself, became the altar. Christ, Himself became the incense. And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. (Ephesians 5:2) Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. (2 Corinthians 2:14) The sweet savor of Christ ascended to God, now the results of this wonder is completely fulfilled in Revelation 5:7-10.
 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. (Revelation 5:7)
 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. (Revelation 5:8)
 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; (Revelation 5:9)
 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:10)
 As we are transformed from image to image, so our prayers (the prayers of the saints) are sweet incense to God.
 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. (Revelation 8:3)
 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. (Revelation 8:4)
  In the mystery of the ascended Church, and all those who will still labor on earth; as a whole we are seen together in God’s presence. The prayers of all the saints are directed to the Lamb who has given His life and His blood for He has redeemed us out of every nation, and out of every tongue. We, as they in heaven, are offering up our prayers as incense to Him for truly, we can say in our hearts and souls, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof. In the ascension of Christ, the first ascension that He announced to Mary, He must enter into the holy place to show Himself to God the Father before He enters into the holy of holies with His blood. Here the Cherubims watch in all amazement of the One who had laid down His life and taken it again. The righteousness of God was now fulfilled in every way, the divine holy of holies was completely satisfied in the sinless victim who had glorified God and brought forth a new man in the total righteousness of God. Only the divine could enter in with His own blood into the holy of holies in eternity. It was the divine Man who was approved of God, a high priest after the order of Melchisedec (which Aaron was only a distant type) for the divine Melchisedec was the complete and eternal high priest of God forever.
 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; (Hebrews 7:1)
 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;(Hebrews 7:2)
 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.(Hebrews 7:3)
 As we view Melchisedec, we (the children of God) have a great high priest who is passed into the heavens. (Hebrews 4:14) Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. The Lord Jesus is qualified far and above His fellows.
 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)
 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; (Hebrews 7:26)
 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. (Hebrews 7:27)
  Therefore, Christ entered once into the holy place not made by hands to place the blood of the eternal covenant on the eternal mercy seat while the Cherubims looked on in wonder. We all marvel at this, and they marveled at their Creator who laid down His life for His creation. We think of the angels that looked on in the darkened tomb; one angel at His head, and one angel at His feet; truly, this was amazing to them; and yet, was there not a responsibility to God to secure the divine image that was before them. We also see in relationship to the mercy-seat two Cherubims looking down upon the blood; also a wonder to both them and to man.
 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; (Hebrews 9:11)
 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12)
 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)
 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (Hebrews 9:24)
 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:28)
 Christ offered Himself in the end of the world once for us; therefore, there is no more condemnation to the children who are in Christ Jesus, our Lord. We have the inheritance of the sons of God, and we, ourselves, have become part of the divine and of His image.
 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)
 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
  Romans Chapter 8 is a wonderful announcement of the Spirit of God concerning the grace that we possess. For it is unmeasurable, it is unconquerable, it is unquenchable, and it is undefinably the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. We must not stop here for in resurrection glory the new man comes forth; of twain the Lord of glory made one new man. This Man now would be fit for heaven as the representative man in heaven for us. The Man, Christ Jesus, the righteousness of God, Jesus Christ has been made higher than the heavens, and He is the fullness that fills all in all. He is the complete and absolute witness of God. He is the open door of salvation. He is the great high priest who makes intercession for us. He is the path of God, and the road to eternal salvation. Oh, Lord, we worship Thee as our great Redeemer who has redeemed us to God by Thy blood. Amen.
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; (Revelation 5:9)
* Addendum:
This addendum is only given as a help for your personal study. The first blindness that we have in Scripture is in the judge, the man called Samson. (Judges 16:21-28) This was in contrast to the man Moses who judged Israel for forty years, and at the age of 120 his eyes were not dimmed, nor his strength abated. This of course was the man Moses whom God had chosen. I intentionally left Samson out of this article because we are dealing with the priesthood, so I began with the blind priest Eli. That is why I chose the descendant of Aaron who was chosen among men, Eli, the blind priest. (1 Samuel 4:15) The blind prophet, Ahijah can be found in 1 Kings 14:2-12, then we move to the blind king Zedekiah (2 Kings 25:6-7). In further study we also have a blind nation, Israel. (Deuteronomy 32:15) (Acts 28:26-27) (John 12:40) (Romans 11:25) There is also a general blindness among the Gentiles, it is the great blindness that will continue on to the end of the reign of man’s rule. The end of man’s rule will come at the fulfillment of all spiritual upheaval. (Ephesians 4:18) (2 Corinthians 3:14; 4:4) Now to our current age, our present day, in this day we are living in a blind church, the church of Laodicea. The eyes of the Laodiceans are engulfed by the things of the earth. Their eyes have become blind to the things which are above, and to the Man who is above, Christ Jesus. (Revelation 3:17) We now come to the end of the world. The end of the world is completely under man or Adam. We have both the false prophet and the man of sin, and the darkness of his kingdom. This comes before the great light descends from heaven in the kingdom of Christ, for the world will see the coming of the Lord as lightening coming out of the east, but before His coming the world will suffer it’s greatest darkness. The entire world will be initiated into the blindness of the mark of the beast. They will be alienated from all the things of God. (Zephaniah 1:17, 18) (Revelation 9:21, 22; 16:10-11)
1. Blind Judge
2. Blind Priest
3. Blind Prophet
4. Blind King
5. Blind Nation
6. Blind Gentiles
7. Blind Church
8. Blind World
This is just a brief outline, I hope with the counsel of the Spirit of Christ you might enrich your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
© Copyright 2017, Michael Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)