High priest

High priest of light

According to some interpretations the high priest had to be a literal descendant of Aaron, the brother of Moses, specifically from the line of Aaron’s son, Eleazar.

But the word Aaron has a meaning. The word Aaron represents numerous ideas and should include anyone who is an illuminator. These priests are supposed to be a vessel of light. You will not choose men who bring light as a vessel of light if you you do not love the light.

If you do not love the light and are not born again and will continue to sit in darkness.

So why are we to give to priests?

How does giving to a priest make an atonement?

Why are there often three priests?

Who was the first high priests in the Bible?

First Temple of light

The high priest according to biblical law, was a life-long, hereditary position,

Numbers 35:25, which uses the high priest's death as the definitive term for a prisoner's release. It outlines the hereditary succession from father to son in Exodus 29:29–30 and Leviticus 16:32, declaring the office an everlasting family ordinance.

Numbers 35:25, 28: Mandates that an accidental killer must stay in a city of refuge "until the death of the high priest," suggest the establishing the high priest's lifespan as the natural boundary.

Hebrews 7:23 seems to reflects on this legal reality under the Torah, noting that the earthly Levitical priests were "prevented by death from continuing in office" but "put to death" does not always mean a physical death.

While Exodus 29:29–30: Seems to suggest the specifies that the holy garments of Aaron "shall be for his sons after him," to be anointed and ordained in them, and worn by the succeeding son who enters the tent of meeting.

But garments are not just clothes and there are obedient sons who are the true sons of the father and there are the disobedient sons who have abandoned their father's house for another.

Leviticus 16:32 does seem to direct that the ritual atonement is to be performed by "the priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest" but is he "is anointed and ordained" by the light?

Exodus 40:15 does seem to confirm the dynastic nature of the office of high priest, stating that their anointing "shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations" but only as true sons of light.

Politics and power

Following the construction of the First Temple by King Solomon, which was departure from the way, the high priesthood was restricted to the lineage of Zadok, a high priest who proved loyal to David's dynasty.

When the Romans conquered Judea, they recognized the immense wealth, power, and political influence of the high priesthood and stripped away its traditional, hereditary nature.

Under Roman rule, it became a political appointment controlled by foreign authorities and local kings.The clash between these two systems fundamentally altered Judean society in the first century.

Deposed

Abiathar was removed from the high priesthood by King Solomon in the Old Testament (1 Kings 2:27) for political opposition and backing a rival claim to the throne.

Onias III was deposed in the 2nd century BCE by the Seleucid (Syrian) king Antiochus IV Epiphanes due to political machinations and the Hellenizing ambitions of Onias' own brother, Jason.

Also, Annas (Ananus) was appointed by the Roman-backed governor Quirinius in 6 CE, Annas served for roughly nine years before being officially deposed by the Roman procurator Valerius Gratus in 15 CE.

Annas’s son-in-law served an unusually long 18-year term before being stripped of his office by the Roman legate Vitellius in 36 CE.

The Roman foot

Annas’s son-in-law served an unusually long 18-year term before being stripped of his office by the Roman legate Vitellius in 36 CE.

The high priest was no longer determined by birthright. Instead, Roman governors (like Pontius Pilate) or Roman-appointed client kings (like King Herod the Great and his descendants) appointed whoever would best serve Roman interests.

To prevent any single high priest from gaining enough popular power to spark a rebellion, the Romans broke the "lifelong rule." They frequently deposed high priests after only a few years, or even a single year, in office.

The office effectively went to the highest bidder. Wealthy aristocratic families, such as the house of Annas or the house of Boethus, paid immense bribes to the Roman governors to secure the position for their family members.

To maintain absolute control, the Romans locked the high priest’s sacred golden garments inside the Antonia Fortress. The high priest was only allowed to wear them during major religious festivals (Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, and Yom Kippur) and had to return them immediately afterward.

This clash created a hybrid system where power was concentrated in a small circle of wealthy elites known as the chief priests. Because biblical law dictated that a high priest remained a high priest until death, deposed high priests like Annas still held massive religious and legal authority over the Jewish people, even after the Romans officially stripped them of their title and appointed someone else.

The devolution of power

The right to rule over oneself came long before the first city State.

Rights were not created by man but were the byproduct of responsibilities imposed by the Law of Nature and the Will of the Divine Designer from which there is no escape without consequences.

With the invention of the City-state came the concept of civil law which resulted from the law of contract.

The creation of the city-state was the institution of the imperium which was the moving of the natural division of power in society to its centralizatioin.

From the family to a civil patriarchy, the Abimelechs of the world.

The Roman Comitia Curiata or Curiate Assembly was the oldest people's assembly of ancient Rome which handled core political, legislative, judicial, and religious/family matters.