The Theology of the Levitical Priesthood<\/a>), it has only a small role in \u201cthe majority of Old Testament theologies\u201d (xii). This neglect is partly due to the influence of Wellhausen\u2019s documentary thesis, which treated the priestly literature as late, legalistic, and inferior. Wellhausen\u2019s thesis has been proven false on a number of central counts, and in this new setting Haydock has been inspired by Brevard Childs\u2019s call \u201cto revisit the Levitical priesthood from a canonical perspective\u201d (xv).<\/p>\nHe strikingly links the priesthood to mission. That is a rare combination. Drawing on Christopher Wright, he suggests that \u201cjust as the priests taught the law to Israel, so Israel was to teach the law to the nations and just as the priests led Israelites into worship so the nation was to do for the Gentiles\u201d (xvi-xvii). The Levites embodied the mission of Israel, the priestly nation. Thus throughout the book, Haydock stresses the links between priestly ministry and the mission of Israel (and the church). He sees it, for instance, in the vision of Ezekiel 47, where a stream flows from the temple to refresh the world: This shows \u201cthat God\u2019s presence will be mediated through priesthood and a restored Israel to bless the nations\u201d (8). The priesthood is an \u201coutward sign of Israel\u2019s spiritual reality\u201d (7).<\/p>\n
Haydock outlines the theology of the priesthood under several headings. Priests who blessed the people with the Aaronic blessing were to demonstrate the \u201ccostly obedience\u201d that is the source of blessing (17). Priests led Israel in worship, including the singing of Psalms; worship had a pedagogical role not only for Israel but for the nations. The Psalms demonstrate that the law and worship of Israel were themselves \u201cmissional\u201d (21). As a sanctified order within Israel, the priests were \u201cspiritual lightning conductors\u201d to whom \u201cGod\u2019s wrath is transferred from the people,\u201d since the priests were qualified to be acceptable sacrifice (40). The fact that the Levites were landless \u201cplaced them in a position to offer God\u2019s provision and blessing to the other landless groups: the poor, the foreigner, the widow and the orphan\u201d (63).\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a chapter on priesthood in the new covenant, he disputes the notion that the Levitical ministry \u201cfailed\u201d or was \u201cineffective,\u201d and raises questions about the vagueness of saying that the Levitical ministry is \u201cfulfilled\u201d in the church. But he says that \u201cGod\u2019s covenant with Levi is continued in the person of Chirst,\u201d and that means that \u201cthe relationship with Jesus and the people of God\u201d resembles \u201cthat held by the Levites and the ancient Israelites.\u201d Jesus does what priests did: teaching, offers Himself as sacrifice, is a servant, submits to landlessness \u201call for the sake of God\u2019s mission\u201d (71).<\/p>\n
Haydock\u2019s brief book is, as I\u2019m sure he would admit, only a beginning. A fuller theology of priesthood would have to pay much more detailed attention to the sanctuary setting for priestly ministry, the specifics of priestly work, the various forms of sacrifice, the system of \u201cgraded holiness\u201d that governed Israel\u2019s religious life, etc. Because Haydock doesn\u2019t give attention to these things, his portrait of priesthood is distorted. One would not realize reading his book, for instance, that a priest might spend the bulk of his day killing things and splattering blood about. One could read this book without realizing that priests had much attachment to sanctuaries at all. Perhaps in his salutary efforts to show the relevance of priesthood to the church\u2019s mission, he minimizes the drastic difference <\/em>between old and new.<\/p>\nOne fundamental unclarity damages the book as a whole: Haydock nowhere distinguishes clearly between the tribe of Levi, the Levites, and the Aaronic priesthood. Haydock writes of the consecration of Levites (Numbers 8) without reference to the very different ordination \u00a0ceremony in Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8-10. One is the ordination rite for \u00a0priests, the other for Levites (assistants to the priests).\u00a0\u201cLevitical priesthood\u201d is a biblical phrase, especially found in Deuteronomy. But that phrase is a generalization; in practice, the priesthood was not just part of Israel\u2019s hierarchy but was itself a hierarchy.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cDespite the central role which the priesthood played in Israel\u2019s life and worship,\u201d writes Nicholas Haydock (The Theology of the Levitical Priesthood), it has only a small role in \u201cthe majority of Old Testament theologies\u201d (xii). This neglect is partly due to the influence of Wellhausen\u2019s documentary thesis, which treated the priestly literature as late, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1163],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-priesthood"],"yoast_head":"\n
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