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Commentary on "The Priestly Garments of Grace"
Day 3: Monday, April 25, 2011 - The Priesthood
Overview
“However difficult some of these concepts are for us to grasp today, the idea nevertheless should be clear: the priesthood was to be something different, sacred, and special. Priests were symbols of Jesus, and their work was to symbolize, in shadows and types, what Jesus would do [on] our behalf.” (Teacher’s Quarterly, Page 56)
Problems
Monday is one of the places where this lesson makes some good starts at explaining Jesus’ ministry in the context of Aaron’s. Reading the passages from Exodus and Leviticus really should impress us as to the sacred responsibility Aaron and his sons had and how completely Jesus fulfilled these shadows.
There are two issues, one implicit and one explicit.
Implicit: “Aaron, as a fallen human being, easily could relate to the fallen human beings whom he was to represent. Who would he be to judge others in their sin when he was hardly innocent himself?” [Teacher’s Quarterly, Page 56]
You must be very careful here not to equate Jesus too closely with Aaron. Aaron truly was a sinful human. Jesus most definitely was not a sinful human. Jesus was the second Adam, not the second Aaron.
Explicit: “Should we be different from the world around us? If so, why, and in what ways?” [Teacher’s Quarterly, Page 56]
Adventism just cannot resist the temptation to teach legalism. Instead of pointing us to Jesus like Aaron did, Adventist teaching points us to ourselves, our behavior, our “difference”, and the like.
Summary
- Only God could have invented the Mosaic Covenant with all its types and shadows. Only God could so perfectly have pointed this entire covenant at the coming Messiah. Only Jesus could so perfectly have fulfilled every type and shadow.
- Let’s not water down God’s accomplishments with our meager attempts at self-righteousness.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised April 20, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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