We are Now the Priests, Higher than any priests of the old testament. Priests after and under like our LORD LORD JESUS.
1Pe_2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Keep in mind, Peter was the apostle to the Jews. However in this case I agree with you. So just like the OT, there are priests, and a high priest in the NT.
So what exactly was the reason for this? What did a priest do? What did a high priest do? (Yet another reason to read the OT) but some of is explained in
Heb 7:27-28; and Heb 8:3-4; I'll give you a hint, it had to do with sin.
Heb 8:10; But this is the new covenant
I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the LORD:
I will put My laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.
As for the Gentiles of the OT.
Exod 12:37; That night the people of Israel left Rameses and started for Succoth. There were about 600,000 men, plus all the women and children.
Exod 12:38; A rabble of
non-Israelites went with them, along with great flocks and herds of livestock.
So when the Israelites left Egypt, some non-Israelites went with them.
Exod 12:39; For bread they baked flat cakes from the dough without yeast they had brought from Egypt. It was made without yeast because the people were driven out of Egypt in such a hurry that they had no time to prepare the bread or other food.
Exod 12:40; The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years.
Exod 12:41; In fact, it was on the last day of the 430th year that all the LORD's forces left the land.
Exod 12:42; On this night the LORD kept His promise to bring His people out of the land of Egypt. So this night belongs to Him, and it must be commemorated every year by all the Israelites, from generation to generation.
Exod 12:43; Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "These are the instructions for the festival of Passover.
No outsiders are allowed to eat the Passover meal.
NO non-Jews were allowed to eat the Passover meal, unless...
Exod 12:44; But
any slave who has been purchased may eat it
if he has been circumcised.
Exod 12:45; Temporary residents and hired servants may not eat it.
Exod 12:46; Each Passover lamb must be eaten in one house. Do not carry any of its meat outside, and do not break any of its bones.
Exod 12:47; The whole community of Israel must celebrate this Passover festival.
Exod 12:48; "
If there are foreigners living among you who want to celebrate the LORD's Passover, let all their males be circumcised. Only then may they celebrate the Passover with you
like any native-born Israelite. But no uncircumcised male may ever eat the Passover meal.
Exod 12:49;
This instruction applies to everyone, whether a native-born Israelite or a foreigner living among you."
We see the law (circumcision in this case) applied to everyone who wanted to partake of the passover. Gentiles and Jews had to be circumcised.
Exod 12:50; So all the people of Israel followed all the LORD's commands to Moses and Aaron.
Exod 12:51; On that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt like an army.
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Even before these people went into the promised land (Canaan which is Israel) the law applied to the Gentiles.
Jos 8:32; And as the Israelites watched, Joshua copied onto the stones of the altar the instructions Moses had given them.
Jos 8:33; Then
all the Israelites—foreigners and native-born alike—along with the elders, officers, and judges, were divided into two groups. One group stood in front of Mount Gerizim, the other in front of Mount Ebal. Each group faced the other, and between them stood the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the LORD's Covenant.
This was all done according to the commands that Moses, the servant of the LORD, had previously given for blessing the people of Israel.
Jos 8:34; Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of Instruction.
Jos 8:35; Every word of
every command that Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children
and the foreigners who lived among them.
...hmmmm.. EVERY command....
We see in the NT, that the Jewish religious leaders (Pharisee's) still expected Gentiles to become circumcised under the old testament law, and "follow the laws of Moses".
Acts 15:5; But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of
the Pharisees stood up and insisted,
"The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the
law of Moses."
Even though physical circumcision is no longer required, Paul recognized this law of the old Testament.
Acts 16:3; so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey.
In deference to the Jews of the area, he arranged for
Timothy to be circumcised before they left, for everyone knew that
his father was a Greek.
So Timothy was a Gentile, Paul had him circumcised (not because Jesus requires it) but because it kept peace with the Jews who expected Gentiles to be circumcised.
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Gal 2:16; nevertheless knowing that
a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since
by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
Gal 3:11; Now that
no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."
In order to be justified under the law, you have to follow it 100%.
Gal 5:3; And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that
he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.
Jas 2:10; For whoever keeps
the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
99.9999% isn't good enough. It has to be 100%. But who has never lied in their life? Who has never thought a lustful thought?
Who has never thought someone they know "was good for nothing"? Who has never committed sin besides Jesus?
None of us will be able to stand before God and say we kept the WHOLE law 100%. None of us will be justified by the law.
Even if 99% was good enough, who would be able to say they kept it 99% of the time? Sometimes we sin 30% of the time, some people 40% of the time,
maybe on a really bad day we sin 70 or 80 percent. This is where Jesus and grace comes in. Jesus covers that 50% for us, or the 60%, or whatever we need today.
We are no longer under the law (IF we are lead of the Spirit) we are under grace. Grace doesn't mean sin all you want. Grace means if we do sin, Jesus has us covered.
Rom 6:1; What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin
so that grace may increase?
Rom 6:15; What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!
The more we sin, the more grace Jesus has to give us. Jesus didn't abolish the law, he came to fulfill it.
Matt 5:17; "
Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
Luke 16:17; "
But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.
