This is John Collins at Bible Project.

We are in the middle of a conversation examining the role of priests in the Bible.

Now, if you're just joining us, I'd recommend that you stop this episode and just go back

and listen from the beginning, episode one.

But if you're like, hey, no, I could hang.

Great.

Thanks for joining us.

Here's a quick overview.

In episode one, we looked at how the first priests in the Bible are Adam and Eve in the

cosmic temple.

They're not explicitly called priests, but the entire narrative paints them in that role,

showing us that the call of humanity is to be God's priests in creation.

The second episode looks at the first character explicitly called a priest, a man named

Melchizedek.

He's both a priest and a king of Shalom, the city that will eventually become Jerusalem.

The third episode were introduced to Aaron, the first priest of Israel, and the beginning

of Israel's priestly line.

And now you might expect the narratives about the origin of Israel's priesthood to paint

this rosy picture.

But instead, what we get is a bumpy ride, ending with Aaron's two sons losing their own

lives because they misused the role of the priesthood.

Today, we jump forward in the story.

...