LESSON TWENTY-TWO

AARON AND HIS SONS

OUTLINE

1. Aaron—typifying Christ chosen by God to be the believers’ High Priest according to the order of man:
   1. Being taken from among men.
   2. Being able to be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses.
2. The sons of Aaron:
   1. Typifying the believers in Christ being priests to God with Christ:
      1. Becoming a priesthood.
      2. The New Testament priestly service being universal.
   2. The New Testament believers being priests of the gospel of God:
      1. No longer offering bulls and goats but offering sinners in Christ.
      2. Leading the believers under their care to offer themselves as living sacrifices.
      3. Presenting the perfected saints full-grown in Christ to God.
      4. Offering other spiritual sacrifices.

TEXT

In the preceding lessons we saw how the tabernacle typifies Christ and the church and how the altar typifies the cross of Christ. We also saw how the different offerings are types of Christ in revealing the riches of Christ in His various aspects to meet the need of God and man. Now we come to see how the priesthood of Aaron and his sons typifies Christ and His believers as the New Testament priesthood.

Under the old covenant, God’s original intention was that all the children of Israel would be His priests to become a kingdom of priests to Him (Exo. 19:6). Later the children of Israel fully forsook God by worshipping the golden calf (32:1-7); therefore, God rejected them and chose only Aaron and his descendants to be His priests throughout the generations.

I. AARON

In the Scriptures there are two orders of the priesthood: the order of Melchizedek and the order of Aaron. Melchizedek, as the one having neither beginning of days nor end of life (Heb. 7:3), was sent from God to be a priest according to God’s eternal order. The details of what Melchizedek typifies are explained in lesson 5 of the first volume of Level Three. Aaron, as one who was taken from among men to be the priest to the children of Israel according to the order of man, typifies Christ as the High Priest chosen from among men to be the High Priest to the believers according to the order of man.

A. Being Taken from among Men

Christ, as God’s High Priest according to Aaron, was taken from among men (5:1). Hence, He possesses humanity. Furthermore, He entered with His humanity into resurrection so that He has not only honor but also glory (vv. 4-5), not only the preciousness of His position, but also the splendor of His person. In this way He is qualified to be our High Priest.

B. Being Able to Be Touched with
the Feeling of Our Weaknesses

Christ, as our High Priest, was taken from among men. Possessing humanity, though not encompassed with weakness as other high priests, He was tempted in all respects like us; hence, He is able to be touched with the feeling of our weaknesses and to exercise compassion toward us who are ignorant and erring (4:15; 5:2).