In First Chronicles, chapter twenty-four, verse one, deals with the organization of the priests. Their duty consisted in offering sacrifices by which the people might approach God to receive forgiveness and offer obedience to His will. That task ceased with the coming of Christ and the establishment of the new covenant through His blood. However, in the old covenant, the several branches into which that family receive their portion could not be complete accordingly due to the death of Nadab and Abihu in the following verse. Their brethren being dead and leaving no issue, they and their sons were the only persons to whom the execution of that office could be committed according to the law.
When every one has, knows, and keeps his place and work, the more there are, the better. In the mystical body of Christ, every member has its use for the good of the whole. Christ is High Priest over the house of God, to whom all believers, being made priests, are to be in subjection. In Christ there is no difference between bond and free, elder and younger. Whether young or older, if faithful and sincere, shall be no less acceptable to Christ than the fathers. May we all be children of the Lord, fitted to sing his praises for ever in his temple above.
Ironically, by the New Testament times, the priest had so departed from the truth of God’s Word that they were the ones who instigated the crucifixion of Christ, as in Matthew twenty-seven, verses one, six, and twenty, respectively. Today, all believers are to be holy priesthood.