The
Aaronic Priesthood
By
Connie Raddon
Color Key:
Quotes from the Mormon
Teachings in blue.
Quotes from the
Bible in red.
As with so many
other Biblical terms, LDS leadership has taken “Aaronic Priesthood”, and
created a completely different meaning for it.
They have twisted it and added to it so much that it’s not even
recognizable as the Biblical priesthood it truthfully is.
Let’s take a
look at what the Aaronic Priesthood meant in the Bible…
First, the Aaronic
Priesthood was hereditary and was non-transferable to anyone outside the
descendants of Levi.
In his book,
“Where Mormonism Meets Biblical Christianity Face to Face”, Shawn McCraney
explains this.
“When Moses led the children of
Israel out of Egypt, the ancient manner of “head-of-household” priests was
still being observed by them. But on
Mount Sinai, a change in this ancient practice was made. Exodus 28 teaches us that God had a
hereditary priesthood take over. The
heritage assigned to the priesthood line was the tribe of Levi.
There are two important things to
remember; first,
there were priests in this hereditary
priesthood; and second, there were high
priests. A man’s Levitical lineage
determined the two. You see, Levi had
three sons whose names were Gershon, Merari, and Kohath (Genesis 46:11). Kohath had a son named Amram (Exodus 6:18);
and Amram had sons named Aaron and Moses (Numbers 26:59).
Got
that? ONLY those men who came from the
Levi/Kohath/Amram/Aaron line could be high
priests while the rest of the sons of Levi – the offspring of Gershon and
Merari – acted as priests, subordinated
to Aaron’s line in their temple duties.
How
important were these hereditary lines in this priesthood? Well, let me blow your mind a bit here. Not even JESUS himself, being from the tribe
of Judah, could officiate in the Levitical priesthood duties as either a high
priest or a priest. Don’t believe
me? Hebrews 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah; of which
tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.”1
During the
rebuilding of Solomon’s temple, some Aaronic priests returned from exile. They could not find their family records to prove that they were in Aaron’s line, so
they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. (Nehemiah 7:63-64)
So being in the
correct line, and proving that lineage was absolutely essential for anyone to
participate in the Aaronic priesthood.
Second, in the Bible,
everything the Aaronic priests did was for the
one and only purpose to point forward to the finished work of Jesus Christ.
“This
leads us perhaps [to] the most important point relative to the misapplication
of the Aaronic priesthood today by the LDS.
The Aaronic priests represented the people before God, and offered the
various blood sacrifices which were all shadows
of the coming Messiah!
Once
a year, on the day of atonement, the high priest
·
Who
came from the Kohath line of Levi,
·
Who
had to be between 30 and 50 years of age,
·
Who
had been purified ritualistically like no other,
·
Who
had to be dressed in severely restricted and detailed ways,
·
And
who would perform rites and rituals exactly
as God commanded him…
…would enter the
Holy of Holies alone and once a year offer sacrifice to God for the sins of the
people as a type of the Messiah who was
to come! This was the reason it was
on earth! It pointed to the finished work of Jesus.”2
Now, what do the
LDS say about the Aaronic Priesthood?
In the LDS
publication, “True to the Faith” says, “Joseph Smith… and his scribe Oliver Cowdery went into the woods to
inquire of the Lord concerning baptism.
As they prayed, ‘a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of
light.’ This messenger was John the
Baptist, the prophet who had baptized Jesus Christ centuries earlier. John the Baptist, now a resurrected being,
laid his hands on Joseph and on Oliver and conferred upon each of them the
Aaronic Priesthood, which had been taken from the earth during the Great
Apostasy. With this authority, Joseph
and Oliver were able to baptize one another. (See Joseph Smith – History
1:68-72)3
The LDS Church
wants its members to believe that John the Baptist gave the Aaronic Priesthood
to Joseph and Oliver without the slightest consideration as to whether or not
they are descendants of Aaron. In fact,
the LDS Church doesn’t even pretend that Joseph and Oliver were in the lineage
of Aaron, or even in the general tribe of Levi.
The Church acts like heredity doesn’t even matter anymore.
Not only that,
but the Aaronic Priesthood had nothing to do with baptism, or any authority to
baptize. But according to Mormonism, it
suddenly does?!?
“In the Church today, worthy male members may receive
the Aaronic Priesthood beginning at age 12.”4
So any 12 year
old boy who is considered “worthy” by his bishop can receive the Aaronic
Priesthood. (In Mormonism being worthy
means you are keeping all the laws and ordinances of the Mormon Church – these
include the 10 commandments, paying a full tithing, obeying the Mormon dietary
laws called the “Word of Wisdom”, and supporting and sustaining all the LDS
leaders, to name a few).
They believe
that the Aaronic Priesthood is a “…lesser priesthood, which is a preparatory priesthood – preparing and
training its worthy possessors to receive the Melchizidek Priesthood…”5
Remember that in
the Bible, the sole purpose of the Aaronic Priesthood is to point forward to
the finished work of Jesus Christ? Well,
in Mormonism the Aaronic Priesthood points forward to….the Melchizidek
Priesthood – NOT CHRIST! (More on the
Melchizidek Priesthood coming up later this year in another article).
In the Bible,
the Aaronic Priesthood had two positions – priest, and high priest – that’s
all. But in Mormonism, “the offices in the Aaronic
Priesthood now include bishop, priest, teacher, and deacon…”6
Finally, in the
book, “LDS Beliefs”, A.C. Skinner inserts the Aaronic Priesthood into a
Biblical passage that has absolutely nothing to do with the priesthood. He says, “The lesser priesthood was a ‘schoolmaster’ to bring or
prepare Israel to understand and receive Christ (Galatians 3:24)7
Let’s take a
look at Galatians 3:24-25… “Therefore the law was
our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer
under a tutor.”
Some
translations of the Bible use the word “tutor”, and some use the word,
“schoolmaster”. But either word refers
to THE LAW – not the Aaronic Priesthood.
Even if “law” means “Aaronic Priesthood” (which it doesn’t), this verse
says that it is a tutor to lead us to Christ where we are justified (made
perfect) by FAITH. Then once we have
that faith, we no longer need the tutor!
So if the Aaronic Priesthood is this tutor, or schoolmaster, this verse says
we no longer need it! This is a perfect
example of how the LDS Church inserts their own doctrines into the Bible
without understanding what the Bible really teaches. It just doesn’t make sense.
The LDS belief
about the Aaronic Priesthood is NOT Biblical, and therefore, NOT consistent
with Christian beliefs.
On May 18, 1873 (as recorded in the
Journal of Discourses, Vol. 16 p. 46), Brigham Young issued a challenge: “Take up the Bible, compare the religion of
the Latter Day Saints with it, and see if it will stand the test.”
I have accepted that challenge from
Brigham Young.
On the subject of the Aaronic
Priesthood, the LDS religion FAILS
this test.
1“Where Mormonism Meets Biblical Christianity Face to
Face: An A to Z Doctrinal Comparative
between Mormonism and Biblical Christianity” by Shawn Aaron McCraney
(2011) pg. 460-1
2 Ibid pg 463-4
3 “True to
the Faith: A Gospel Reference” published
by the First Presidency of the LDS Church in 2004 pg. 3
4 Ibid pg. 3
5 “LDS
Beliefs: A Doctrinal Reference” by Robert L. Millet, Camille Fronk Olson,
Andrew C. Skinner, and Brent L. Top.
(2011), pg 4
6 Ibid pg 5
7 Ibid pg 5
Ezr 2:59 And these were they which went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer: but they could not shew their father's house, and their seed, whether they were of Israel:
ReplyDeleteEzr 2:60 The children of Delaiah, the children of Tobiah, the children of Nekoda, six hundred fifty and two.
Ezr 2:61 And of the children of the priests: the children of Habaiah, the children of Koz, the children of Barzillai; which took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called after their name:
Ezr 2:62 These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.
Ezra is more specific recounting the same event
Hebrews reveals so much truth about what happened to Levitical priesthood.
ReplyDeleteActually, it passes with flying colors.
ReplyDelete1. Because the lineal restrictions of the Aaronic (Levitical) Priesthood were lifted when the law of Moses was fulfilled, thereafter the offices of the priesthood were conferred upon worthy men without limitation to the tribe of Levi. This appears to be the case in the Church as recorded in the New Testament.
2. The Aaronic Priesthood was given as a result of the act of apostasy in Exodus 32. God in his wrath took away from Israel as a whole the Melchizedek Priesthood, his “holy order, and the ordinances thereof,” as well as his divine presence (JST, Exodus 34:1). He “swore that they should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fulness of his glory” (D&C 84:24). What continued with Israel was a lesser priesthood (lesser in power and authority to the Melchizedek Priesthood), to which was added a lesser law, the “law of a carnal commandment,” administered by the lesser priesthood (JST, Exodus 34:2; D&C 84:26).
3. If the Aaronic Priesthood had nothing to do with baptism, why was John the Baptist, a descendant of Levi and Aaron, baptizing?
The purpose of the Aaronic Priesthood is to prepare the beneficiaries of Aaronic Priesthood ordinances [us] to later receive Melchizedek Priesthood ordinances; this is referred to as the “preparatory gospel” (D&C 84:26-27). The purpose of the Aaronic Priesthood was a “schoolmaster” to bring or prepare Israel to understand and receive Christ (Galatians 3:24). “And the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel” (D&C 84:26). This is why the purpose of John the Baptist who presided over the Aaronic Priesthood (JS-H 1:72), was to “prepare” the way for the Savior, just as baptism is an introductory ordinance that prepares us for future sanctifying ordinances administered by the subsequent Melchizedek Priesthood holders to administer higher ordinances.