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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Ministry by the Spirit, #10
And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God. (II Chronicles 26:18)
Israel was warned by the Lord that the priesthood and the Levites had rights concerning the Tabernacle of the Congregation that were their exclusive privilege. An individual, including an elder, who presumed to minister in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, was to be put to death.
When Israel began to sin after the death of King David, the Lord used prophets—never elders—to declare His will to the people. The prophet always was subject to the Lord, never to the elders.
The elders feared the prophets—and with reason, because the prophets bore the holy anointing of the Lord.
And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? (I Samuel 16:4)
"The elders of the town trembled"!
The elders learned of God's mind from the prophets.
Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them? (Ezekiel 14:1-3)
The prophet did not sit before the elders, the elders sat before the prophet. The prophet was the voice of God to the elders.
God recognized the role of elder in the old covenant, and in the new as well. However, the role of elder was never set apart as holy by the Lord to the extent that was true of the priesthood. Under the new covenant, the apostles and prophets are set apart by Divine calling. Elders are to be ordained by the apostles.
And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed. (Acts 14:23)
The elders of today claim that the ministry of the apostle and the prophet ceased to exist at the close of the first century. By this reasoning the evangelists and pastor-teachers ceased to exist also. There is no basis in Scripture for the termination of part of the ministry given by the ascended Lord.
It is true rather that the established religious bodies fear the ministry of the apostle and the prophet because the presiding elders perceive these two foundational ministries as a threat to their position of rulership, as was true of the chief priests and elders of Jesus's day.
The apostles and prophets are no threat to Divinely ordained government. Their purpose is to announce the current will of God. The church governments that refuse to receive what God is sending will be part of Babylon the Great, the worldwide Christian organization of the last days.
The ministry of apostles and prophets is essential to the proper operation of the churches. Apart from apostles and prophets there is no foundation on which the present work of the Spirit can be established.
To be continued.