The First Week of Advent - begins November 30th

First Sunday, November 30

Today, we light the first Advent candle, the Prophecy candle, also the candle of Hope. This year we are celebrating God’s promise to provide us a permanent, righteous Priest. We read one of these promises in Zechariah 6:12-13, where God says, 

Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” 

Here, God promises that He will provide a Priest who would also rule over His people. This person will provide the counsel of peace between God and man, an allusion to mankind being reconciled to God.

Another prominent prophecy is found in Psalm 110:4, where David writes, 

The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

The context is like Zechariah as David says that God will send a ruler for his people who will sit at his right hand, ruling over his enemies. This ruler will also provide holy garments (v3) for his people to enter the presence of God. He is declared a priest outside of and ruling over the Levitical priesthood of the Old Testament, ordained for this purpose by God, not man.

These prophecies give us hope, not in ourselves, but in God’s grace to provide a path to be and remain in his presence. Jesus is that righteous Branch of Zechariah, who comes to us from heaven, to provide from heaven what we need. 

Today, we initiate our celebration of Jesus Christ, our High Priest, who was born to bring us to God.

Further Study:

If you’d like to do more reading on the function of a priest, spend the next few weeks reading the book of Hebrews. Here is also the Bible Project link for Hebrews.