5In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.
So the account begins with historical fact, King Herod was king of Judea and then it goes to the lineage of Aaron and also the detail that Zechariah was in a particular division within the lineage of Aaron that of Abijah, which designated him as a priest.
In this age the priests were raised up by the Lord through a family line. Beginning with that of Levi and his sons. Moses and Aaron were great grandsons of Levi as we see here in 1Chron.6:1-3
The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
2 The descendants of Kohath included Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
3 The children of Amram were Aaron, Moses, and Miriam.
The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
In the new covenant there is a distinctive shift in this priesthood. As the gospel became open to the Gentiles and the Holy Spirit indwelled the believers, there became the doctrine of the holy priesthood of the saints.
1Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
and again here in Romans 15:14, although Paul does not refer to a priesthood he does refer to the activity of the priest which is to instruct or counsel.
I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.
application
Today I need to be mindful of the calling as a priest. I have authority and I need to be gentle yet instructive with it.
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