Old Testament requirements for priesthood

Thank you, Mr Editor, for giving this space in your paper; I would like to address the subject of women preaching.

We are living in a day of compromises, democracy and human rights but I would want to stay as close as I can to what the Bible says on this subject.

The Bible is, or must be, the absolute Truth for all Christianity. God, being omniscient, knew all things from beginning to end and he set an order or a pattern in the scripture by which all generations were to live.

God cannot change, according to Hebrews 13:8, therefore if we can see what he said in the Bible we can be assured of what he expects of woman preachers today.

In this letter I shall only look at the Old Testament because my space is limited.

Melchizedek was the first priest mentioned in the Bible to Abraham and his seed. God then raised seed from Abraham through Levi to continue the earthly priesthood from this ‘mysterious heavenly priest’, Melchizedek.

What we can gather only from this verse it that Melchizedek was King of Salem and Priest of the most high God and the Bible addresses Melchizedek as ‘he’; hence he was male.

Not all of Abraham’s children qualified to be priests; it was strictly for Levi and his sons and, furthermore, upon meeting certain requirements.

It was God’s order from the start to have and maintain strict selection criteria for the office of the priesthood as they would mediate between God and Man.

God called Levi to be a priest, but on top of the calling he placed requirements that were to be met lest he would not be fit even with the calling.

The issue was not about being called but mostly meeting the requirements for your calling.

No matter how called you were; you had to meet the requirements for the office.

Should this not apply today? Below are some of the called and the main requirements:

The Called: God called the tribe of Levi only.

l Must be male (Levi and his sons).

l Must have one wife.

l Must only marry a virgin.

l Must be able to teach.

l Must not have extramarital affairs.

l Must not have children outside wedlock.

l Must be clean, faithful, blameless and undefiled.

This was God’s Original Pattern; see MALACHI 3:6; "For I am the Lord, I change not".

I wonder with this, though, how many pastors will still stand fit to preach this Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our pastors today take our wives, rape our sisters, marry anyhow and have dozens of wives, mistresses and children in every valley and hill and still claim to be Christian.

Shame on us Christians – and, again, I say shame to you minister - for continuing in that way.

Old Testament – Did God ever use woman then?

Certainly, God used women greatly in the Old Testament; but always remember God is not the author of confusion. He cannot say one thing here and then contradict himself in another place. It’s us people who fail to understand and pray for revelation to see his ways clearly.

We have great women of God in the Old Testament, like Sarah the exemplary mother figure who stayed home (or behind the tent) and called her husband ‘Lord’; Miriam, a great prophetess and singer; she was from Levi, the right tribe, but never a priest; Ruth – a great woman of virtue and Christ came through her; Deborah - a political icon or leader of Israel but not even one scripture suggests she was ever a priest; and Esther, Queen after Vashti of the Great Empire of Ahasuerus during captivity.

Many other great women of God can be added to the list but all those in the Old Testament were never at any point a woman priest. Old Testament women were used in different ways by God but never for the office of a Priest. God maintains his patterns.

However, this does not mean to say God’s word went unchallenged. Jezebel came and taught otherwise, had her own prophets and was not even a Jew, let alone a Levite, to begin with.

We all know her end; God fed her to the dogs. It’s only her daughters today who can again defile such straightforward orders; all they need is a backsliding Ahab to approve it or ordain them.

I challenge any priest/pastor/prophet/apostle or pope to produce at least a single scripture from the Holy Bible where God ever ordained a woman priest in the Old Testament.

In my next letter, I shall take a look at the New Testament to see if the unchanging God ever did change his ways. God bless you all and Amen.

Justice Makuni,

Manzini

COMMENTS:

- With due respect Man of God may I bring to your attention that now the church (both males and females) is the generation of royal priesthood, peculiar nation (1 Pet.2:9). Another thing you need to consider is that in Christ Jesus (our High priest after the order of Melchizedek – Psalm.110:4), there is neither male nor female but a new creation (Galatians.3:28 / Galatians.6:15). You are just off-side Man of God and need a thorough research on your comment. Pastors and prophets are not raised to a priesthood office, but these are gifts given by the will of the Holy Spirit to anyone, irrespective of gender (Ephesians.4:8). Even in the Old Testament there were prophetesses as well serving in temples, for instance Anna served God for 84 years (Luke.2:36-37). King Josiah sent a delegation to enquire from a prophetess by the name of Huldah and she spoke on behalf of God (2 Kings.22:14-15). Nehemiah worked with Noadiah, a prophetess in setting up the walls (Nehemiah.6:14).
January 17, 2013, 8:00 am, Study to shew thyself approved!

- Sorry to say this but I think you did not read though the article well before commenting. It does not object that God used women in various ways from prophesying, signing etc but NEVER DID GOD ORDAIN A WOMAN PRIEST AT ANYTIME IN THE BIBLE. Miriam was born a Levite, even though God had said Levi shall be Priests but notice Miriam was Never becaz she did meet the first requirement. She wasn't a man. Finally you are using the New Testament which the Author said will be in the Next Article. Please be patient.
January 17, 2013, 4:01 pm, Me

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