Administration
of the Old Covenant Church
Deuteronomy 18: 1-22
The Great Covenant
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Max
A Forsythe
Introduction:
We begin this morning with Merideth Kline’s comments on this chapter:
“Responsibility is laid upon Israel for the
support of the priestly ministers of God whose administrative assignments are
cited in the preceding and following contexts.
Then Moses enjoins the elimination of all false oracular claimants,
including the false prophet. In
that connection, the institution of the true prophets is set forth, rounding out
the treatment of theocratic leaders: judge, king, priest and Levite, which is
appropriately incorporated into this section of legislation dealing with the
official administration of righteousness in theocratic life.”
The chapter may be conveniently
divided into three sections. In
verses one through eight we see the foundational laws for the priests and the
Levites. In verses nine to
fourteen, in the words of Dr Craigie, “contains
prohibitive legislation against illegitimate types of religious functionaries
and practicers.”. Finally
in verses fifteen through twenty-two we find provision for the continuation of
the prophetic office from Moses through Jesus Christ.
For our purposes today, may I
outline this passage as descriptive of the Administration of the Old Covenant
Church. We have in the first
section, the establishment and clarification of the ordinary offices of the
congregation of Israel. Within the
context of the Levitical inheritance – the family of Priests descended from
Aaron is allowed, as well as all of the lesser levitical “pastors” who would
minister in the cities and rural areas of the Promised Land, wherever they were
settled. Part two, is a very strict
announcement of what we might style a regulative principle that would explain
the proper and ordinary means of knowing the will of the Lord God of Israel.
Finally, in part three we see the gracious provision for the
extraordinary office of The One Prophet as well as all the lesser ones who will
speak in the Lord’s name until that One greater than Moses appears.
We could almost get a sense here
that in seeing the One who would come in Christ, that Moses – like the early
Christian Church did not sense the time element that must pass before the Lord
of all the earth, would bring about His own anointed Son’s coming in the flesh
and finally one day again in glory!
Old
Covenant Milieu: Dr
Brown outlines the first section for us, as usual: “The priests were not simply
men who performed the various rituals in the nations’ worship.
They were Israel’s pastors, and four topics are brought to the
attention of the people concerning these important spiritual counselors:
the dependence of
the priest on God’s provision
the support of the
priest by God’s people
the responsibility
of the priest in God’s work
the protection of
the priest as God’s servant.”
In the first two verses of this
chapter, Moses reminds those gathered to hear him, that the Levitical priests
will not share in the division of the land in Palestine. Instead they are to be set aside to serve the Lord, wherever
they may be posted. That means that
the rest of the tribes must support the work of the Old Covenant Church and the
men who are identified with the ecclesiastical structure.
We understand that unlike the other tribes, the Levites would be
dispersed throughout the whole country. And
there in the different localities, they would offer up the usual sacrifices to
the Lord. Also, like all the rest
of the people, they would take the regular pilgrimage to the central sanctuary
where they would be allowed to participate in the national offerings.
We get a certain sense of equality here between most of the priestly
class, with only Aaron’s descendents deserving and claiming the office of High
Priest.
We note in verse three through
five the provisions to be allocated to the servants of the Lord.
Specific cuts of meat are specified as belonging to the priestly class as
well as first portions of grain, wine, oil and fleece.
Of course the Levitical priests could sell on the open market whatever
they could not consume. I am
reminded of the payment of the pastors in the colonial times of Pennsylvania and
Ohio. The lists as I remember included specific numbers of hinds
and quarters of beef, pork and lamb. In
addition the wheat was measured out in bushels and the corn whisky portion in
barrels. No doubt, any part of that
produce could be loaded on the ferryboats headed down river to be sold in New
Orleans, with the price returned by the merchants who made the necessary trip.
As I remember the old church records, there was very little cash laid
out.
Of course, as time passed,
markets improved and prosperity increased, the salaries changed more and more to
the common specie of the community. Differences
there were of course, according to the prosperity and number of the flock in the
assorted communities. Of course,
Israel did not have the great curse of hundreds of different religious
denominations competing for the Lord’s tithe as we do have here in America.
In most places in this country, if there were not the usual three to ten
different churches in the area, there would be more than adequate support for
pastoral work. But, I am ahead of
myself here, the Old Covenant ideal was not perfected as much as the Levites
might hope. Moses must specifically
in the last of our four topics, admonish the people to treat the Lord’s
servants with some equality of position and portion!
A third topic is addressed in
verse five. It doesn’t matter if
the phrase reads “stand to minister”
or “stand and minister”, the
implication is eventually the same. Here
is the local Levite who must stand before the congregation and minister in the
precious Name of the Lord God of heaven and earth.
It is a high calling in both testamental periods.
The term “stand” here is one that describes the servant of royalty.
One who stands in the presence awaiting any and all orders that need to
be accomplished. One of the things
of which I am privileged by birth to claim is descent (however remotely) from a
steward to the Royal House of Scotland.
“A
Robert [Forsyth] was appointed Constable of the Royal Castle of Stirling in
1368.” And
according to the web history – members of the family continued that faithful
relationship until the Grand Union of England, Ireland and Scotland.
I can also remember serving as a
Chaplain’s assistant in the United States Army, when my official job placed me
at the beck and call of whatever Chaplain I was assigned to.
The worst thing I ever had to do was get up in the middle of a May night
and assemble a portable fuel oil heater, track down some fuel oil and make the
Chaplain who had just arrived from Southeast Asia, as comfortable as the cold,
damp, morning mist of Southern Germany would allow him to be!
If this sounds suspiciously like
the calling of Paul and the rest of the disciples, to serve as stewards,
servants and even in the Pauline language slaves to the Great King of Kings,
than you realize that there is much common linkage between the two Covenants for
those who would serve the true King of all the earth: Jesus Christ. Dr
Brown sums up these verses wisely: “’Standing’
before the Lord means discerning God’s will by spending time in his presence,
and then (like slaves) making ourselves ready to do whatever he commands.”
Dr Brown also mentions that in the New Testament context “every
believer is a priest. We all belong
to a ‘royal priesthood’ … to serve [our] God
and father.”
The last of these four topics
would remind all of those who serve the King of Kings of their equality before
the Lord. “A
passage like this is a stark warning against pride and haughtiness in the
Lord’s work. … Self-assertiveness is an ugly and inconsistent characteristic
in the life of anyone who claims to follow Christ. It is particularly obnoxious in leaders,” Dr Brown
warns us in as vivid terminology as he can muster!
This is why we only count Teaching Elders as the first among equals with
the Ruling Elders in our Presbyterian system.
The Church growth people very wrongly assume that if the right man can be
found with the proper portion of gifts, than he cannot fail in planting a
flagship church, which can impact a whole region! The truth is much more in the biblical manner – whereby the
whole of the session shares in the necessary gifts to lead Christ’s Church.
No doubt, the Old Covenant spiritual economy counted talented judges and
prophets amongst the elect called to lead – but we do not see them lord it
over the righteous even though they may have harsh words for those whose spirit
does not come from our Lord and King.
The next section in this chapter
may be understood as Dr Craigie describes it:
“a blanket prohibition of all types of
divination, magic, and consultation with the spirit world, such as would be
typical of the religion of the Canannites” and even the growing edge of
the New Age in our day. The context
of the burning a child in the fire constitutes a premise that thereby – the
one who sacrifices may by supernatural means discover the course of future
events. For now at least, the
abortion industry is somewhat religiously neutral in this respect, even as
damning as the crass destruction of human life even is for no real purpose other
than convenience!
Even other less gross means of
supernatural divination are totally banned from the sacerdotal ministry of the
Old Covenant Church. Magic as well,
is prescribed, as it is distinct from divination.
In this respect, the use of sorcery and magical spells to influence
events or persons is expressly forbidden. Now
let us be clear here that the entertainment art of illusion, which is admittedly
controlled by slight of hand and the skill of the magician in fooling his
audience, is not what we would necessarily condemn.
Only when the “magician” claims a spiritual connotation should we
begin to condemn his labors. Harry Houdini, the greatest magician of the early twentieth
century continually invested time and treasure to condemn the spiritualists who
would claim something more in their darker arts. I believe that there is still a substantial reward that has
grown from Houdini’s initial sum of $25,000 earmarked for anyone who can prove
communication with the dead. Magicians
who agree with Houdini’s assessment gladly work to expose modern day
Necromancers. So, in this context
we see the whole gamut of what is prohibited meld into the various occultic
terms being thrown around in this chapter.
Over the years whenever the subject of occultic magic would come up in
the public sector, I would always advise against even the “whitest” of pagan
magic as beyond the pale of acceptable behavior even without the church!
Unfortunately, the New Age perversions are becoming more and more popular
and in some “churches” feminists and shamans of every stripe are feverishly
re-imaging what was once the church of our God and
Our final section this morning
involves the description of the prophetic ministry, which lasted from the time
of Moses until the institution of the New Covenant in Jesus Christ.
Again we turn to Dr Brown’s analysis to outline “three
characteristics of an authentic prophet:
an authentic
prophet obeys God’s call
an authentic
prophet welcomes God’s word
an authentic prophet imparts God’s message.”
The purpose of this section is to
carefully set apart the extraordinary calling of the prophets of our Holy Triune
God of heaven and earth. Like the
national and regional heroic judges, who appeared at every hour of extreme
crisis to lead the people of Israel, so to are the prophets to be understood as
an exceptional order of service. Unlike
the priesthood – the office of prophet does not run in families or tribes.
It is a special gift and calling of God through the work and office of
the Holy Spirit. So in this regard, we can understand the jealousy of the only
God who will not tolerate even the assumption that other spirits may reveal any
manner of truth.
Ever since the time of Moses we
are charged to understand that it is only the Lord who raises up men to lead His
true church. The service of the
Lord is not an office that mere mortal men may choose as one option among many.
It remains a calling that must be examined and evaluated by honest godly
men whose hearts sincerely aim to please the One who they serve as guardians of
the churches spiritual offices. I
can well remember the liberal presbytery where the arrogant know-it-alls
seriously doubted that the Lord would call an ignorant country bumpkin to serve
in a professional organization who would rather assign such positions according
to modern equal rights procedures.
Those who would serve must be
given an inordinate amount of stamina to find their way through the liberal and
feminist claptrap to discover denominations that still understand the spiritual
qualifications according to biblical definitions.
The second characteristic is one
that needs serious study in our day and age.
That characteristic is an understanding of the content and meaning of
God’s personal revelation in the scriptures.
I once had an argument with a liberal lady who sincerely believed that
our callings were completely equal. So
I asked her opinion of the Scriptures, the Creation process, the Virgin Birth,
the necessity of Christ’s atonement and the fact of original sin.
She failed the biblical nature of these essential understandings on every
account and couldn’t understand why old-fashioned out-of-date theologians like
me should still be allowed to practice theology in our day and age.
The last characteristic is one
that is difficult to sustain – telling people what they need to hear from the
only Triune God. The ministry of
the word is lessened whenever any pastor glosses over any part of the concept of
sin that could possibly offend his audience.
The preaching of the word of God is not a calling that allows the
practitioner to be imaginative or charismatic in and of himself. Like the Apostle Paul, we are charged to preach Christ and
Him crucified no matter if Jew or Gentiles are offended at the content of the
gospel message.
New
Covenant Continuum: All of the
issues we have mentioned are not restricted to the Old Covenant alone, with the
exception of the offices of priest and prophet.
Just like the scripture portion on kingship alluded to there being only
One who would truly qualify, so to may we understand that within the context of
the New Covenant – the old offices of priest and prophet would cease to have
their Old Covenant standing. Certainly,
there is a sense that every believer stands as a priest and prophet to point
people to the Great High Priest and Prophet Jesus Christ. But, no more do priests wield a knife to provide atonement in
the blood of animals and neither anymore does anyone speak anything new in the
Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us be absolutely certain to
maintain the unity of both the Old and New Covenant records. Dr Brown admonishes us in these words: “Christian believers maintain
that these words (about the prophet to come) found their perfect fulfillment in
the coming of Christ. He was the
prophet and those who despised his word would be accountable to God for their
disobedience. In their preaching
both Peter and Stephen referred to this passage and saw Jesus as the unique
fulfillment. He was the greatest of
all the prophets for the entire Old Testament revelation was brought to its
perfect fulfillment in his birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection.
As the letter to the Hebrews puts it, ‘God
spoke to our forefathers through the prophets … but in these last days he has
spoken to us by his Son’.”
Contemporary
Application: Strange
as it may seem, the very issue we have been highlighting is very much in the
public mind this fall. Several
strategic thinkers and advisors for the Democratic Party are encouraging the
media to begin a public crusade of linkage between the barbaric fundamentalistic
Taliban warriors and every conservative American Christian.
After all, it is only extremists who hold that there is but one-way to
heaven! And our Lord and Savior is very politically incorrect when He maintains,
“no man comes to the Father except through me.”
The very discussion of true prophecy and any limitation that our Old or
New Covenant revelations could place upon such things – is quickly becoming
the worst imaginable of hate-crimes in our new age afflicted society.
It may very well be if this
anti-Christian propaganda catches on, that within a decade – the true church
in America could be forced underground to survive?
Let us hope not, but until we see where the providence of God is
directing our contemporary culture – let us use every opportunity to speak
openly about the greatness of the One – greater than Moses.
Remember, it is He who gives both Covenants and guarantees their promises
through the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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