Proven to be Priests
"And from among the priests: The descendants of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai . . . These searched for their family records, but they could not find them and so were excluded from the priesthood as unclean." (Ezra 2:61-63)
So it was in
the days of Ezra. The priests and Levites had been
in captivity for so many years, that family records had
been lost. Anybody could claim to be anybody, and
without family records to prove bloodlines, it would have
been very easy for people to claim to be descended from
families that they had not descended from. A minor
thing? Maybe to you and I, but it was a major thing
to the Jews, especially when it came to things like who
would serve in the temple of the Lord! And when the
group of over 42,000 people assembled themselves to make
their way back to Jerusalem, the people were extra
cautious. Blood lines had to be checked. And
when the family records of Hobaiah, Hakkoz and Barzillai
could not be found, there was a penalty. They were
excluded from the priesthood, and they were declared
unclean!
A past story,
nothing to worry about in the present day, right? Wrong.
Yes, the priesthood and sacrificial system has been done
away with, but these things were but a foreshadow of what
was to come! 1 Peter 2:9-10 calls us a "royal
priesthood" ("But you are a chosen people, A ROYAL
PRIESTHOOD, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that
you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light.") What is he
saying? He is saying that each one of us is a priest
in our own temples -- our bodies (1 Cor. 6:19) and just as
the priests of Israel were responsible for offering
sacrifices, we also continually offering sacrifices to
Him. How? By living such God-filled lives that
those round us can see our good deeds and glorify
our Father in Heaven.
So if we are all considered
priests, then we need to worry about the little problem
presented by these families who couldn't prove their
bloodlines!
Just as, in those days, men who could not prove that they
were descendants of Aaron could not officiate in the
temple in the role of priest, we are also unable to
officiate in our temples unless we can prove our family
line!
Sounds hard,
doesn't it? But in reality, it is a lot easier for
us than it was in the days of Ezra. Why?
Because Jesus is our High Priest -- Heb 4:14: "Therefore,
since we have a great high priest who has gone through the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God . . .", and when we
accept Him into our lives and our lives become led by His
Spirit, we become His sons and daughters -- Rom 8:14-15:
"because those who are led by the Spirit of God are
sons of God."!
My friends,
when your heart belongs to Jesus and you have been touched
by His Spirit, your lineage is already proven! No
question can stand! Praise God! We are sons
and daughters of God! And any privileges that go
along with this idea are ours for the taking!
Would you like to be a son or
daughter of God? Would you like to have your family
lineage already proven? If so, To answer the
Savior's Call,
Click here
(http://answers2prayer.org/saviours_call.html)
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart,
Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets (
www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries,
www.Answers2Prayer.org ,