In the revelation of God pertaining to the first age of the world, we have no lengthy theological discussions as to the nature of God, or the basis of his requirements for acceptable homage. Rather we have a rehearsal of events, of acts and facts. From these we gain our first lessons as to the character of God and His expectations of men. We learn, about God by what He did. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." We learn about acceptable worship by observing the practice of those who engage in it. Nowhere are we given elaborate instruction concerning the introduction of sacrifice. No formal dedication, no grand presentation, marked its beginning. Had God not desired to inform us of the first murder, we would have perused the brief history of centuries without knowing that men were ministering at altars.
And we must depend for our knowledge of the priesthood of the patriarchal dispensation chiefly upon those bits of information directly connected with deeds performed. Of one thing we can be sure and that is the principles governing intercourse with God are the same in all ages. Man must believe and obey to be acceptable with God. He may not be required to believe the same things, nor do the same things in all ages, but whatever God testifies he must believe and acting upon that faith he must obey whatever God requires of him. The eye can only respond to the light that is available, but it must respond to that if in a healthy state. A good man in every age is the same. He is one who fulfills his obligations to God and his fellowmen as God requires of him. Originally every man was his own priest. Incongruous though this may seem, each was his own mediator. As he stood at the altar he represented one approaching unto God in behalf of his other self--his sinful being. Such a course was essential in the infancy of the world, for as it was once right for a man to marry his own sister to establish the race, it was right for him to act as his own priest to inaugurate the spiritual system. Abel was his own priest, and so was Noah, Abraham and Isaac.
As men multiplied and families expanded, the oldest male member approached God in behalf of the others. In this simple age of time, when the world was new and men had to learn much by experience, age was the chief qualification, for it provided opportunity for greater wisdom. When children married, and lived adjacent to the father's holdings, he still sacrificed in behalf of their increasing progeny. Of such a character was the patriarch Job, for while his sons all had houses of their own, "Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all" (Job 1:5). In this manner the patriarchs served in behalf of tribes or clans composed of their own descendants.
Upon the death of the father, by right of primogeniture, the firstborn son succeeded to his office as priestly mediator at the altar. It was on this basis that Esau was designated not only immoral, but irreligious, when he sold his birthright for a single meal (Heb. 12:16). To despise the birthright was to despise the solemn and sacred obligation toward God, which was enjoined by it. This also enjoined upon the father a responsibility of handing on to his children the sacred traditions of God, for which cause God said of Abraham, "I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice" (Gen. 18:19). Righteousness pertains to our responsibility to God; justice to our responsibility toward our fellow-men. These two constitute the basis of all "religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father."
Despite the dimness of the Starlight Age it is possible to detect the pattern for future service unto God of a more elaborate nature. The occasions of the ministrations of the patriarchs in their priestly role are very informative. Let us glance briefly at some of the types of sacrifices.
(1) Thank offerings. In this category was the sacrifice of Noah when he came forth unto a world purged from sin by baptism in water. "And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in his heart, I will never again curse the ground because of man" (Gen. 8:21).
(2) Sin offerings. That the sacrifices of Job were of this nature is evidenced by his own expression as to his reason for making the burnt offerings. "For Job said, 'It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts'" (Job 1:5).
When God became incensed at the three "friends" of Job and declared they had not told the truth about Him, he instructed them, "Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has" (Job 42:7,8). In this the role of expiatory sacrifice and mediatorship are clearly portrayed.
(3) Vow or dedication offerings. When Jacob was enroute to Haran, and slept all night at Luz, using a stone for a pillow, he was enabled to see a vision of God. The next morning "he took the stone which he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it...Then Jacob made a vow" (Gen. 28:18). Years later Jacob came to the same place and set up a pillar of stone "and poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it" (Gen. 35:14). In conjunction with this incident, it is worth observing that Jacob commanded his household and all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments" (Gen. 35:2). It is quite generally agreed among scholars that the purification was by washing. Is this the forerunner of the ceremonial ablutions which were later practiced? If so, did it stem from a belief that God had cleansed the earth by water at the time of the flood? Some celebrated scholars believe this to be the case.
No study of the patriarchal sacrifices would be complete without special reference to God's confirmation of His promise to Abram. Upon the momentous occasion when it is said that Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness, Abram asked assurance that his seed should possess the land of Canaan. God told him to bring a heifer, a goat, a ram, a turtledove and a pigeon. Abram cut the animals in two and laid each half over against the other, but he did not cut the birds in two. Through the day Abram kept the birds of prey from the carcases. After sunset, when it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between the pieces, and God made a solemn covenant to give the land to the descendants of Abram, even defining the boundaries of their inheritance (Gen. 15:7-21).
It will be noted that the animals and birds mentioned were the only ones which were later appointed for sacrifices by Abram's posterity, therefore God confirmed His covenant in the blood of every clean beast and fowl appointed for sacrifice. This very solemn method of ratification is alluded to in Jeremiah 34:18, where the Lord declares, "And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant which they made before me, I will make like the calf which they cut in two and passed between its parts." The covenanting parties shed the blood of an animal, then split its body in two, placing the parts opposite to each other with a sufficient distance between that they could walk in the space, whereupon they met and joined hands in the middle of the passageway. The significance of the symbol was that each said, in effect, "May I become like this animal if I break this covenant which we have made." That is why God said, "I will make them like the calf which they cut in two."
In the case of Abram, God was the party of the first part. He was represented by the visible symbols of a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch. Abram was the party of the second part. As the patriarchal priest representing his entire posterity, he prepared the sacrifices, and unto him God certified the covenant. By such impressive methods did God reveal his promises and wishes unto the fathers.
But priesthood in the Patriarchal Dispensation was not limited to the descendants of Abraham, nor to the blood line of the Messiah. Every ancient nation had its chosen priests long before the tribe of Levi was selected to minister in behalf of Israel. Melchizedek, who was king of Salem, was also a priest of the Most High God, among the Jebusites (Gen. 14:18). Joseph married Asenath, daughter of the priest of On (Gen. 41:46). Moses married Zipporah, daughter of the priest of Midian (Ex. 3:1). The priests of Egypt were a recognized group supported from the king's treasury, for when Joseph was buying up the land of the famine-stricken inhabitants, "the land of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh, and lived on the allowance which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land" (Gen. 47:22).
Many of the nations, even as idolatry crept in among them, retained a fear of God as a heritage from the period before the days of Peleg, in whose generation the earth was divided (Gen. 10:25). Abram was surprised to find a reverence for God in the heart of Abimelech, the Philistine king (Gen. 20:11). Pharaoh said of Joseph, "Can we find such a man as this, in whom is the Spirit of God?" (Gen. 41:37). Jethro, the Midianite priest offered a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and engaged in fellowship with Aaron and all of the elders of Israel (Exodus 18:12). But when God separated and segregated the nation which he brought from the loins of Abram, and committed his oracles unto them, the rest of the world without this advantage (Rom. 3:1,2) became dependent upon tradition and conscience.
Summarizing what we have learned about the Patriarchal Dispensation, we mention the following facts: (1) God revealed a system of religion with sacrifice, altar and priest, which was family wide in its inception; (2) Burnt offerings, sin offerings, thank offerings, drink offerings, and offerings in conjunction with vows and dedication of memorable places gave hint of the type of service acceptable unto God; (3) An intimation of the need of ceremonial purification by the offerer of sacrifice is seen; (4) The selection of priestly mediators was universal among the nations; (5) The principle of atonement by blood was firmly established; (6) The death of an innocent victim for guilty sinners was clearly recognized. Such lessons aptly pointed forward to the time when the nations universally would acknowledge the need of a perfect mediator, a perfect priest and a perfect sacrifice for sins. They gave portent of an event in which the blood of an innocent being would be shed for the sins of the world. Thus did God in the Patriarchal Dispensation lay a groundwork for future revelation, and the simple lessons in the primary department of the world became a shadow of good things to come.
There remains, before we close our investigation of the priesthood in the first age of humanity, an investigation of a being of special significance, who combined within himself the offices of king and priest. We shall turn our attention briefly to this unique character in the history of religion and mankind.
"And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said, 'Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!' And Abram gave him a tenth of everything" (Gen. 14:18-20).
These three small verses of Scripture give us virtually all of the information we have in the Old Testament relating to this patriarch. He is mentioned but once more, by David in Psalm 110:4, where God decrees that His Son shall be made a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. If it were not for the pointed allusions to him by the author of the New Testament book of Hebrews, we would be left to wonder at this Canaanite priest who pronounced a blessing upon the father of the Israelites, and to whom tithes were so respectfully paid.
Another prevalent conjecture is that Melchizedek was actually the Son of God. Those who dislike to make "the father of the faithful" subservient to any tribal king of his day, advance this idea. But this would make the Son of God a type of himself, for the apostle says, "Resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever" (Heb. 7:3). It would hardly be logical to say that one resembled himself. Again we read, "Another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek" (Heb. 7:15) and "A priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." Such expressions preclude the idea that Melchizedek was the Son of God, for he would not be said to be in his own likeness, or after his own order. Moreover, the theory would make Jesus both a king and priest before His death, contrary to all Scriptural teaching on the subject.
We hold the conviction that Melchizedek was a man who was invested with both the offices of king and priest, and as such was a divinely used instrument, introduced into the sacred history of the first age that he might be re-introduced into the history of the last age, to demonstrate the superiority of an enduring priesthood over a temporary one. For this very reason, the Holy Spirit, shrouded his life in mystery, giving no clue as to his progenitors or posterity, allowing no insight into predecessors or successors. He appears on the sacred page in his full glory as monarch and mediator, he pronounces a blessing upon the father of the faithful and receives from him a tenth of the spoils he has taken. And since "it is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior" (Heb. 7:7) it is evident that the priest who is made after the order of Melchizedek will be superior in office and dignity to one who proceeds from the loins of Abraham.
In the primary age of the world God introduces us to a brief preview of a priesthood more glorious than that authorized from Sinai. Melchizedek met Abraham with bread and wine to provide physical sustenance. Our great high priest made after the same order met the children of faithful Abram with the same elements but consecrated them to a constant reminder of His sacrificial death. Abram paid tithes to Melchizedek because of his priestly relationship to God. "One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him" (Heb. 7:9, 10). But here we must bid farewell to Melchizedek and the patriarchal dispensation in which he lived, to revert to a more thorough study of his priesthood when we have completed our investigation of that of Levi, or Aaron.