Question:

I was wondering what Exodus 40:15 means. “…that they may minister to me as priests; their anointing shall be permanent from generation to generation; all their children and children’s children shall forever be My priests.” Does it mean that we are supposed to minister to others or does it mean that we are supposed to have priests? I am really confused on that one, and if anyone could help me out on it, I’d appreciate it.

What if a woman feels she’s being called (of the Lord) to preach, etc. to a congregation?

 

Answer:
In Exodus chapter 40, the Lord established a priesthood for His people Israel, ordaining Aaron as His High Priest and Aaron’s sons as priests. This priesthood was to be successional from generation to generation through Aaron’s lineage.

The purpose of the priesthood was to bring God’s redeemed people into an ongoing relationship with Himself as they lived before the Lord from day to day. This ongoing relationship was maintained by priestly activity in bringing to God the various offerings that He had established. The blood of these animal sacrifices was brought to the Tabernacle for the atoning or covering over of their sins. The early chapters of Leviticus tell us about most of these offerings. All of this was only for the nation of Israel to practice.
Today, we have a Great High Priest over the house of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. By reason of His one sacrifice and the value of His blood shed on Calvary, the sins of those who believe in Him are put away forever. The blood of animals could never put away sins. And the only value that blood had was that it pointed to the blood of Christ. Believers today are entitled to have the full knowledge and joy of the benefits of all that He is and has done. This was not true for Israel, who only had the shadow of things pertaining to Christ. Read Hebrews 2:17 through 10:25 to see the truth of Christ as our High Priest.
Because we have been redeemed by Christ, we believers have been brought into the eternal relationship of sons of God. And God has established a priesthood so that we may continue to worship God “acceptably” (Hebrews 12:28). Christ is in heaven as our great High Priest by virtue of His one offering of Himself without spot to God, and each redeemed one is a holy priest to God in the value of that same offering. Since we are holy priests, we have the joy of approaching God and worshipping Him, knowing that our “spiritual sacrifices,” which are “sacrifices of praise,” are acceptable to Him through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Also, we are royal priests with the privilege of showing in our lives the excellencies of Christ to all around us. First Peter 2:5-10 and Hebrews 13:15 tell us about our priesthood. Ministering to others has to do with the work Christ has given us to do according to our various gifts and not so much with our priesthood.
Concerning women preaching, etc. Read 1 Corinthians 14:34-38 and 1 Timothy 2:11-15. These Scriptures show that the Lord has not called women to a place of public leadership, either in the church or in the world. Any who are doing so, therefore, are outside of God’s order. Would the Lord call a woman, or anyone else for that matter, to do what is outside of His order?

 

However, there is much a woman can do. Titus 2:4 tells us that the older women should teach the younger women and children (e.g. at home and in Sunday school).
This leads to one observation. Any priests in the religious denominations of Christendom are outside of God’s order according to His Word in the Scriptures mentioned above.