And ye
shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words
which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 19:6)
In the
Bible, some things carry over from the Old Testament into the New. Some things don’t. Certain laws were specifically for the Old
Testament Jews and for a specific limited time in history. For example, grain and animal sacrifices…
certain ceremonial, clothing and dietary laws… and the tabernacle and its
furnishings are all only types and shadows of Jesus Christ (Colossians
2:16-17; Hebrews 10:1). Those things
were just for the Old Testament Jews to follow and they don’t carry over into the New Testament. They were fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Matthew
5:17; Romans 10:4). Another practice
that is not intended for the New Testament is the “ministerial” priesthood, where
only certain “ordained” men using certain ceremonies and rituals could mediate
between man and God.
But the
Catholic Church will insist that there is indeed a New Testament ministerial priesthood
(like in the Old Testament) and one Catholic argument that they use to try and
prove this is the “three-fold priesthood.”
This brief article is to specifically address this (and only this) three-fold
argument. The Catholic reasoning goes
something like this:
1) In the Old Testament, the Jews had a
high priest (Leviticus 21:10).
2) In the Old Testament, the Jews had
ministerial priests (Exodus 19:22).
3) In the Old Testament, the Jews also
had a universal priesthood [one that makes every believer a priest] (Exodus
19:6).
4) Conclusion: Therefore, since the New Testament also has a
High Priest like the Old Testament does, and it also has universal priests like
the Old Testament does, it would make sense if all three of these same positions would carry over into the New
Testament. If the Old Testament has
three types of priest, so should the New Testament.
We could
possibly agree with our Catholic friends if, AND ONLY IF, the premises were all
correct. Now, we agree with the first
two premises, but not the third. Therefore,
we don’t reach the same conclusion, either.
Many who
read Exodus
19:6 still don’t realize that the Old Testament did NOT have a
universal priesthood. Why would we say
this after reading that verse? Well, a universal
priesthood was indeed promised by God to the Jews, but it was a CONDITIONAL
promise (i.e., it was dependent on the Jews’ obedience). Read it in context. Just one verse before, God said:
Exodus 19:5
- “Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then
ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is
Mine:”
Please
notice the “IF ye will obey My voice” part.
Catholics seem to always miss this point - that the Jews first needed to
be fully obedient to God’s covenant in order to obtain such a special
priesthood. But we all know of Israel’s
failure (as a nation) to obey God’s voice in the Old Testament. They were clearly and willfully disobedient
over and over again. Therefore, the Jews
never got to enjoy this status of being a universal priesthood.
For
the Old Testament Jews, the promise of a universal priesthood was dependent on
THEIR obedience to the Law. For New
Testament believers (both Jew and Gentile), the promise of a universal
priesthood is dependent on our faith in JESUS’ obedience to the Law, and on HIS work on the cross.
Exodus 19:6 is still a valid promise to the Jews and they will indeed enjoy that
privilege one day (Isaiah chapter 61). There are many, many promises to the
Jews not yet fulfilled, and Exodus 19:6 is only one of them.
So, the
bottom line in this priesthood debate is this:
There were only two functioning
priesthoods in the Old Testament – a high priesthood (Leviticus 21:10) and a ministerial
one (Exodus
19:22). And there are only two in the New Testament, as well - the
High Priesthood of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:17; 3:1), and a universal
priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:5, 9; Revelation 1:6). No other Christian office of priest is
mentioned in the New Testament. Since
there are only two in each Testament, and since the high priesthood is common
to both, it follows that our New Testament universal
priesthood has taken the place of the
Old Testament ministerial-type priesthood.
Therefore,
Catholics can’t use this “three-fold argument” to support the Catholic priesthood. Not only does this apply to Catholics, but this also applies to the Orthodox
Church and certain Protestant groups, as well.
It affects any group who claims to have such a “sacramental” or ministerial-type
priesthood for today.
As stated
earlier, this article was written specifically to address this one Catholic
argument. For a fuller treatment of the
priesthood issue, see here:
