THE
FIRST PRIEST
TO BE CALLED "FATHER"
The first priest to be called
"Father" is found right in the Bible: Judges
17:1 And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
2 And
he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken
from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold,
the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the
LORD, my son.
3 And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels
of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto
the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now
therefore I will restore it unto thee.
4 Yet he restored the money unto
his mother; and his mother took two hundred shekels of silver, and gave them to
the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and they were
in the house of Micah.
5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and
made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest.
Now, here is a Hebrew who
had gone natural-- pagan that is. He had broken the first commandment and
made a sacred image to worship Jehovah. This is exactly what the Roman Catholic
Church tells us about their idols. Their people have more regard for them
than for the Bible itself. Don't give me any slack on this. I have
listened to lonely priests groan about the idol worship in their assemblies.
Now, did this idol worshipping
flake stop at this? No lately-- here comes Father: 6
In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right
in his own eyes.
7 And there was a young man out of Bethlehemjudah of
the family of Judah, who was a Levite, (priest) and he sojourned there.
8 And the man departed out of the city from Bethlehemjudah to sojourn
where he could find a place: and he came to mount Ephraim to the house of Micah,
as he journeyed.
9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And
he said unto him, I am a Levite of Bethlehemjudah, and I go to sojourn where I
may find a place.
10 And Micah said unto him,
Dwell with
me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and
I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and
thy victuals. So the Levite went in.
11 And the Levite was content to
dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons.
12
And Micah consecrated the Levite
(holy orders) ; and the young man became his priest,
and was in the house of Micah.
13 Then said Micah, Now know I that the
LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.
So, you can see that the
first priest who was also a "Father" was a Levite who took the job for the highest
bid. Now, did Jesus have anything to say about this? Would you find
one Roman Catholic in a million who would obey the next verse I shall quote? I
doubt it, but her goes: Matthew
23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which
is in heaven. Do
you suppose the Pope can understand that verse. I guess not, it must just
be too profound for his twisted brain. After all, a man who also believes
that he is "Alter Christos" or "another Christ" can hardly be blamed if he also
thinks he is your "Father". Let's
look at the rest of the career of the Levite called "Father." He really
worked his way up the ladder of success: Judges
18:1 In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of
the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their
inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.
2 And the
children of Dan sent of their family five men from their coasts, men of valour,
from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land, and to search it; and they
said unto them, Go, search the land: who when they came to mount Ephraim, to the
house of Micah, they lodged there.
3 When they were by the house of Micah,
they knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and
said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and
what hast thou here?
4 And he said unto them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah
with me, and hath hired me, and I am his priest.
5 And they said unto him,
Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go
shall be prosperous.
6 And the priest said unto them, Go in peace: before
the LORD is your way wherein ye go.
7 Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were
therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and
secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame
in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any
man.
8 And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren
said unto them, What say ye?
9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against
them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still?
be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land.
10 When ye go, ye
shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for God hath given it into
your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.
11 And there went from thence of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and
out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.
12 And they
went up, and pitched in Kirjathjearim, in Judah: wherefore they called that place
Mahanehdan unto this day: behold, it is behind Kirjathjearim.
13 And they
passed thence unto mount Ephraim, and came unto the house of Micah.
14
Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said
unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim,
and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to
do.
15 And they turned thitherward, and came to the house of the young man
the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and saluted him.
16 And the
six hundred men appointed with their weapons of war, which were of the children
of Dan, stood by the entering of the gate.
17 And the five men that
went to spy out the land went up, and came in thither, and took the graven image,
and the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image: and the priest stood in
the entering of the gate with the six hundred men that were appointed with weapons
of war.
18 And these went into Micah's house, and fetched the carved
image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest
unto them, What do ye?
19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay
thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest:
is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be
a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel?
20
And the priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod, and the teraphim, and
the graven image, and went in the midst of the people.
21 So they turned
and departed, and put the little ones and the cattle and the carriage before them.
22 And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that
were in the houses near to Micah's house were gathered together, and overtook
the children of Dan.
23 And they cried unto the children of Dan. And
they turned their faces, and said unto Micah, What aileth thee, that thou comest
with such a company?
24 And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which
I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is
this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
25 And the children of Dan
said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows run upon
thee, and thou lose thy life, with the lives of thy household.
26 And
the children of Dan went their way: and when Micah saw that they were too strong
for him, he turned and went back unto his house.
27 And they took the
things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish,
unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge
of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
28 And there was no deliverer,
because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was
in the valley that lieth by Bethrehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.
29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their
father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the
first.
30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan,
the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe
of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.
31 And they set them
up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was
in Shiloh.
So, now you know that the first "Father" and "Priest" combination was very long
ago. Also, you know that the greed for wealth, job security, and power over
people was always there, just as it is in the Priesthood of the modern Roman Catholic
Church. As Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun." Same
old rodeo, same old hoochie kooch today. BACK
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