`As ye have spoken in Mine ears, so will I do to you: your carcases shall fall in this wilderness ... which have murmured

against Me'.

The very sending of the spies into the land of promise was an act of provocation to the Lord. `We will send men

before us' (Deut. 1:22). He allowed them their own way in the matter, but the result was that `they brought up an

evil report'. Ezekiel 20:6 definitely tells us that the Lord Himself had `espied' the land for them, but Israel did not

believe Him.

It is comforting to know that while `Some, when they had heard, did provoke; howbeit not all that came out of

Egypt by Moses' (Heb. 3:16), for Caleb and Joshua wholly followed the Lord and are blessed examples of those

who by patience and continuance inherit the promises. We should give earnest heed to these things, so that we may

in our turn `press according to a mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus' (Phi]. 3:14).

When we quote a passage of Scripture we are not at liberty to alter its wording, lest we appear to hold its

teaching lightly or have unworthy views of its inspiration. We therefore have quoted Hebrews 3:1 as it is written.

But is the Lord Jesus Christ the High Priest of OUR profession? Yes, surely if we are Hebrews, but does this apply

to Gentiles, and particularly Gentiles saved under the dispensation of the Mystery? We can only answer such a

question if the Scriptures, either by some positive statement, or as a result of comparing one epistle with another,

provide sufficient material.

In the calling and sphere of Hebrews, the outstanding office associated with Christ as He sits on the right hand of

God, is that of High Priest. In the calling and sphere of Ephesians, His outstanding office as He sits on the right

hand of God, is that of Head. Are these but two names for the same thing, or do they differ? No epistle, apart from

Hebrews, uses the title `High Priest' or `Priest' as a title of Christ, yet without the doctrine that revolves around

these words, how could the teaching of Hebrews proceed? The exhortation `to draw near' is based upon the fact that

those thus exhorted have `an High Priest over the house of God' (Heb. 10:21).

References to the necessity of a sacrifice for sin are not limited to any one epistle. Paul's epistles, both before

Acts 28 and after, contain many such references, yet never throughout the course of his ministry as God's appointed

Preacher, Teacher and apostle of the Gentiles, does he ever use the word `Priest' or `High Priest', either of the

believer or of his Lord! But, when he comes to write the epistle to the Hebrews, he breaks entirely new ground,

using the word `Priest' fourteen times, a number that we have already noticed earlier in this series, `Great Priest'

(megan), once (Heb. 10:21); and `High Priest' seventeen times, and so interwoven with the theme of Hebrews is this

thought of `Priesthood' that the teaching of chapters 5 and 7 to 10 demand continual reference to `priests', while

chapters 2 to 9 and 13 necessitate continual reference to the `High Priest'.

Words are counters, they are index fingers; their inclusion or exclusion from any reasonable piece of writing

indicates its general trend. Any treatise, letter or book dealing with such matters as war, finance, religion or logic

would of necessity include certain specific terms and exclude others, and if the treatise, letter or book were of the

length of either Hebrews or Ephesians, the subject matter of the title could be deduced from a collation of the

distinctive words employed. If the theme of Hebrews necessitated the constant use of the words `Priest' and `High

Priest', that fact would go a long way to indicate the character of its teaching. If to this it is added that Ephesians

contains neither of these words, that additional fact would go a long way to indicate that the essential theme of

Ephesians differed from Hebrews. Further, if it is observed that in the whole of Paul's other writings (thirteen

epistles) there is not one occurrence of the word `Priest' or `High Priest', the evidence for the difference between his

apostolic ministry as covered by the thirteen epistles and this letter to the Hebrews is still further increased, and

when we remember that the same writer, Paul, is responsible for the use, or non-use, of these words, and that the

use, or non-use, is controlled not only by Paul's reasonableness, and faithfulness, but by inspiration of God

(2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21), then the evidence for the difference in calling and sphere of Hebrews and Ephesians

becomes overwhelming.

Before we can appreciate the use or non-use of the word `Priest' in these epistles, it will be necessary to consider

the testimony of Scripture concerning the office of the Priest and its relation to Israel and the nations. The epistle to

the Hebrews itself provides evidence that long before Israel's time, the idea of priesthood was entertained by the