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The Tabernacle Christ Fulfilled the Qualifications and Duties of a Priest in Israel Heb. 5: 1-4 gives us both the qualifications and the functions of a Levitical priest: ( 1) he had to be a man, "taken from among men"-not an angel, for example, but a man; and (2) he had to be "called of God, as was Aaron." These, in brief were his qualifications. His duties were three-fold: ( 1) he had to "offer both gifts and sac- rifices for sins"; (2) he had to "have compassion on the ignorant" and the erring, remembering that he himself was "compassed with infirmity"; and ( 3) as we read throughout the Jewish Law, he had to pray for the people before the golden altar of incense. Heb. 5: 5-10 explains in no uncertain terms that the Lord Jesus fulfilled the qualifications of the high priest; for He was a Man, "taken from among men"; and He "glorified not himself to be made an high priest," but was "called of God an high priest after the order of Melchi- sedec." His humanity is graphically portrayed in verses 7 and 8, where we read of His agony in Gethsemane's Garden, when, "in the days of his flesh," He "offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears"; when as the Son, "obedient unto death," He "learned obe- dience by the things which he suffered." What a picture of the suffering Saviour! It brings before our mind's eye the "cup of suffering" which caused Him to "sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." So intense was His agony at the thought of becoming the Sin-Bearer for a guilty world that "there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him." (See Luke 22:43, 44.) His sinless soul shrank from becoming a curse for us! Yes, our Lord Jesus was a Man, "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4: 15).
29 The Tabernacle God can not die; and in order to die for our sins, He had to become a Man-He did not become an angel (Heb. 2: 16) ; He was "taken from among men." As the Man, Christ Jesus, He was "called of God ... a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." We shall come back to this wonderful truth a bit later; but just here let us note in passing that in these words the Holy Spirit was quoting a prophecy written by David a thou- sand years before Christ was born in Bethlehem, and re- corded in Psalm 110:4. "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world!" (Acts 15:18). That our Lord Jesus fulfilled the duties of the high priest in Israel-and is yet fulfilling them-is the message of the very heart of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Over and over again we read that He offered Himself "once for all," as the perfect Sacrifice for sin; that He "ever liveth to make intercession for them" who "come unto God by him"; and that He is seated "on the right hand of the Majesty on high" to deal gently, patiently with His blood- bought children. What a picture! What a Priest! And the whole body of New Testament teaching supports and verifies these eternal truths! Not only so, but New Testament teaching bears out the truth that Aaron's sons were typical of Christians, in this church age, believer-priests in the household of faith. Of this, too, we shall have more to say later in this lesson. Before we return to the Exodus description of the high priest and his sons, their dress, consecration, and ministry, let us pause longer just here to consider two fundamental and often neglected truths concerning the High Priestly Person and work of Christ. In His Person, or Being, He was "called of God," "a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." In His ministry in "the true tabernacle,
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