Topical Bible: Priest: Duties of Officiate in the Holy Place

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The role of the priest in the Holy Place is a significant aspect of the Levitical priesthood as outlined in the Old Testament. The Holy Place, part of the Tabernacle and later the Temple, was a sacred area where priests performed specific duties as intermediaries between God and the people of Israel. These duties were divinely ordained and meticulously detailed in the Mosaic Law.

Daily Offerings and Incense

One of the primary responsibilities of the priests was to maintain the daily offerings. Every morning and evening, a lamb was to be sacrificed as a burnt offering to the Lord. This is described in Exodus 29:38-42, where the continual burnt offering is established as a perpetual ordinance. The priests were also responsible for burning incense on the altar of incense, which stood in the Holy Place. Exodus 30:7-8 states, "And Aaron is to burn fragrant incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps. When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn the incense perpetually before the LORD for the generations to come."

Tending the Lampstand

The priests were tasked with tending the golden lampstand, or menorah, which was to burn continually before the Lord. This involved trimming the wicks and refilling the lamps with pure olive oil. Leviticus 24:2-4 instructs, "Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually. Outside the veil of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening until morning continually. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come."

Table of Showbread

Another duty was the preparation and placement of the showbread on the Table of Showbread. Every Sabbath, twelve loaves of bread were to be set before the Lord as a lasting covenant. Leviticus 24:5-8 details this practice: "You are to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves with two-tenths of an ephah in each loaf. Arrange them in two rows—six per row—on the table of pure gold before the LORD. And you are to place pure frankincense near each row, so that it may serve as a memorial portion for the bread, an offering made by fire to the LORD."

Maintaining Ritual Purity

The priests were required to maintain a state of ritual purity to perform their duties in the Holy Place. This involved various washings and abstentions from activities that would render them ceremonially unclean. Leviticus 21 outlines the standards of holiness and purity expected of the priests, emphasizing their role as holy mediators.

Teaching and Blessing

In addition to their ritual duties, priests were also responsible for teaching the Israelites the statutes of the Lord and pronouncing blessings upon the people. Deuteronomy 33:10 highlights this teaching role: "They shall teach Your ordinances to Jacob and Your law to Israel. They shall set incense before You and whole burnt offerings on Your altar."

The duties of the priests in the Holy Place were integral to the spiritual life of Israel, serving as a constant reminder of God's holiness and the need for atonement and intercession. These responsibilities underscored the sacred nature of the priestly office and the importance of obedience to God's commands.

Nave's Topical Index

Hebrews 9:6
Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
Nave's Topical Index

Library

Centenary Commemoration
... Jesus Christ, our Prophet, Priest, and King, our sufficing ... Jamaica, then vacant,
"and offered to officiate further ... confined himself closely to the duties of his ...
/.../centenary commemoration 2.htm

Christ a Complete Saviour:
... Mediator, and on the validity of his offering as priest. ... There is no place in the
souls of the godly ... time found in any or all our holy duties and performances ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/christ a complete saviour .htm

The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
... dynasty"Sheshonq I. as king and his son Auputi as high priest of Amon; the
hiding-place at Deir el-Bahari"Sheshonq's expedition against Jerusalem. ...
/.../chapter iiithe hebrews and the.htm

Centenary Commemoration of the Consecration of Bishop Seabury. ...
... and no persons were allowed to officiate as chaplains ... he ministered as a parish priest;
beside that ... which comprehends and covers all duties and responsibilities ...
/.../centenary commemoration of the consecration.htm

Measures to Promote Revivals.
... there, who are training for the priest's office, wear ... old minister would not let
him officiate in pantaloons. ... modes of performing the public duties of religion ...
/.../finney/lectures on revivals of religion/lecture xiv measures to promote.htm

Tiglath-Pileser iii. And the Organisation of the Assyrian Empire ...
... priests and prophets of Jahveh, a priest of the ... the importance of Beersheba as a
holy place resorted to ... this temple were alone qualified to officiate there in ...
/.../chapter iitiglath-pileser iii and the.htm

From the Death of Bishop Asbury to the Close of the General ...
... A Buddhist priest of considerable learning has been converted ... The preacher in charge,
among other duties, was to ... he may judge proper to officiate as exhorters ...
/.../chapter 3 from the death.htm

The First Native Converts and Christian Schools
... at once became his own and their gooroo or priest. ... Often did Carey officiate at the
burial of Europeans in ... The other pressing duties of a pioneer mission to ...
/.../smith/the life of william carey/chapter vi the first native.htm

The Medes and the Second Chaldaean Empire
... repetition of a score of similar episodes which had already taken place in the ... confines
of Assyria proper, close under the walls of Arbela, the holy city of ...
/.../chapter iiithe medes and the.htm

Period I: the Imperial State Church of the Undivided Empire, or ...
... but only those shall be called to the place of the ... who give their services to this
holy religion, and who ... be entirely exempted from all public duties, that by ...
/.../ayer/a source book for ancient church history/period i the imperial state.htm