Topical Bible: Priests: During Patriarchal Age Heads of Families Acted As

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In the patriarchal age, the role of priest was not confined to a specific class or tribe, as it later became with the establishment of the Levitical priesthood. Instead, the head of each family acted as the priest, performing religious duties and sacrifices on behalf of their household. This practice is evident in the lives of the patriarchs, who served as intermediaries between God and their families, offering sacrifices and leading in worship.

Adam and His Descendants

The concept of the family head acting as a priest can be traced back to Adam and his descendants. Although the Bible does not explicitly describe Adam performing priestly duties, his role as the first man and the head of the human family implies a priestly function. His descendants, such as Abel, are noted for offering sacrifices to God. Genesis 4:4 states, "And Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock, and the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering."

Noah

Noah, as the head of his family, also acted in a priestly capacity. After the flood, Noah built an altar and offered sacrifices to God. Genesis 8:20 records, "Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. Taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar." This act of worship and thanksgiving highlights Noah's role as a priest for his family, mediating between them and God.

Abraham

Abraham, the father of the Israelite nation, frequently acted as a priest. He built altars and offered sacrifices to God at various significant moments in his life. Genesis 12:7 notes, "The LORD appeared to Abram and said, 'To your offspring I will give this land.' So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him." Abraham's priestly actions were integral to his covenant relationship with God, serving as a model of faith and obedience.

Job

Job, a patriarchal figure outside the direct line of Abraham, also exemplified the role of the family head as priest. He regularly offered sacrifices on behalf of his children, interceding for them in case they had sinned. Job 1:5 states, "And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children and purify them. Rising early in the morning, he would offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said, 'Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' This was Job’s regular practice."

Jacob

Jacob, like his forefathers, acted as a priest for his family. He built altars and made vows to God, seeking divine guidance and blessing. In Genesis 35:1-3 , God instructs Jacob to build an altar: "Then God said to Jacob, 'Arise, go up to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.' So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, 'Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.'"

Significance

The patriarchal practice of family heads serving as priests underscores the personal and familial nature of worship during this era. It highlights the responsibility of the family leader to guide their household in spiritual matters, ensuring that worship and reverence for God were central to family life. This practice laid the groundwork for the more formalized priesthood that would develop later in Israel's history, as God established a specific tribe to serve in this sacred role.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Genesis 8:20
And Noah built an altar to the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Genesis 12:8
And he removed from there to a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he built an altar to the LORD, and called on the name of the LORD.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Genesis 35:7
And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

The Synagogue at Nazareth - Synagogue-Worship and Arrangements.
... Rabbinic attempts to trace them even to patriarchal times [2060 ... we have to add those
who officiated during the service ... After this the priests, if any were in the ...
/.../the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter x the synagogue at.htm

Justinian.
... which deposed men who had occupied patriarchal sees. ... up by Vigilius, who had persisted
during almost six ... to the service of the cathedral 60 priests, 100 deacons ...
/.../allies/the formation of christendom volume vi/chapter iv justinian.htm

The Political Constitution of Egypt
... employed as interpreters of their wishes the priests and the ... to me to have been called
during the Ancient ... of servants proportionate to their rank, age, and the ...
/.../chapter ithe political constitution of.htm

St. Gregory the Great.
... found them fathers from age to age rejoiced to ... fact that all the three patriarchal
sees were ... the powerful Visigoth monarchy, seated during three generations at ...
/.../allies/the formation of christendom volume vi/chapter v st gregory the.htm

From the Close of the General Conference of 1832 to the Beginning ...
... had he lived to a mature age, of future ... having been very general and powerful during
the past year ... of Montreal, then elder the charge of Roman Catholic priests. ...
/.../chapter 12 from the close.htm

Tiglath-Pileser iii. And the Organisation of the Assyrian Empire ...
... by the fashionable women of Jerusalem during the last ... it with the unction received
by the priests on their ... of the Judges;** and when that patriarchal form of ...
/.../chapter iitiglath-pileser iii and the.htm

Period I: the Imperial State Church of the Undivided Empire, or ...
... Haruspices and priests and those accustomed to serve this rite we ... and with those
who have lapsed during the persecution ... or that there was a time or age when He ...
/.../ayer/a source book for ancient church history/period i the imperial state.htm

The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
... XXIst Egyptian dynasty: the Theban high priests and the ... occupation of Canaan constituted
the heroic age of the ... in strongholds on the mountains.1 During one of ...
/.../chapter iiithe hebrews and the.htm

An Essay on the Scriptural Doctrine of Immortality.
... But in the patriarchal times the only surety for the ... mention is made of the mediation
of priests till the ... But what the spirit is thus made during its passage ...
/.../an essay on the scriptural.htm

Period iii. The Dissolution of the Imperial State Church and the ...
... the fourth century and in the fifth during the Pelagian ... in 511, at less than fifty
years of age, cut short ... the most glorious king, all the priests(223) whom ...
/.../ayer/a source book for ancient church history/period iii the dissolution of.htm