What exactly did the OT priests teach?

[ktn4eg]

I've often heard preachers tell folks that the OT priests would tell those who brought offerings to be sacrificed that these offerings themselves did not take away the penalty of sin but were only "pictures" of what a future savior would do.

Of course we today would say that is true, but is there any OT scripture that actually tells us that this is what the OT priests taught?

 

[dwmoeller1]

Nope.

Maybe its derived from
- some myth spread around by some teacher
- from something passed down in Jewish tradition
- or some mix of the two

 

[RAdam]

No, and it's not likely given the book of Hebrews had to go to such efforts to explain the point of the law sacrifice system.

 

[Dr. Bob]

In the OT, "faith" was demonstrated by fidelity to the revealed Word. So the matrix of the sacrificial system was to be obeyed to show a true heart-relationship with YHWH.

This allowed, however, an "outward" obedience to rules that had no reflection at all on the inward heart relationship, and growth of perfunctory obedience for the sake of the RULE and not the sake of the LORD. This gave rise to the meticulous rule-keeping of the pharisees when their hearts were far from God.

That said, it may be that fathers taught their children about redemption and sacrifice, etc, as they killed the lamb each year for passover. I think that would be expected. It was a natural time to go from "national" salvation in the exodus events to "personal" salvation of the death angel passing each home, firstborn, with the blood.

But cannot think of any incident when the OT Priests in the temple took an offering and told its symbolism of a coming Messiah and personal repentance and faith. That seems a stretch.

 

[drfuss]

Wasn't teaching the people actually a job of the Levites?

 

[Tom Butler]

Wasn't teaching the people actually a job of the Levites?

I'm not sure.

Was it the job of the priest to teach at all?
Wasn't this the job of the scribes?

And Nicodemus, who was not a priest, was described by Jesus as The Teacher of Israel.

In the Old Testament, men such as Ezra were called scribes.

Seems as if their responsibility, in addition to copying documents, was to study the law and teach it to the people. They were also called upon to settle some disputes involving matters of the law.

Maybe in some sense, the priests were teachers, but that was not their principal job.

 

[Steven2006]

This is from the book, "The Temple Its ministry and Services" by Alfred Edersheim



The Idea Of Substitution

The question whether or not sacrifices were to cease after the coming of the Messiah is differently answered in the Jewish synagogue, some arguing that only thank- and peace-offerings would then be brought, while the majority expect a revival of the regular sacrificial worship. But on one point the authorities of all the old synagogue, previous to their controversy with Christianity, are agreed. As the Old testament and Jewish tradition taught that the object of a sacrifice was substitution for the offender, so Scripture and the Jewish fathers also teach that the substitute to whom all these types pointed was none other than the Messiah.