80- Confession to a priest as a scriptural principal in the Old Testament

The Old Testament Evidence

[4] Confession To Priests Was An Established Fact From The Time Of The Written Commandment An The Offering Of The Sacrifice

(Lev 5:5-6) 'And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing;

{6} 'and he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.

Here we see that the sinner would go to the priest and confess, as we have discussed this issue before here on st-takla.org in other sections. The priest in turn instructs the repentant of the proper sacrifice fitting to the circumstances. The sinner would then bring the sacrifice, place his hand on it, so that the sin may be transferred to the sacrifice, before it is offered to God.

(Num 5:6-7) "Speak to the children of Israel: 'When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit in unfaithfulness against the LORD, and that person is guilty, {7} 'then he shall confess the sin which he has committed. He shall make restitution for his trespass in full, plus one-fifth of it, and give it to the one he has wronged.

[5] David Confesses To Nathan

(2 Sam 12:13) So David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

As we see king David confessed his sin, and Nathan absolves him.

So confession to a priest was a perpetual practice and was strictly adhered to for every sin requiring a sacrifice.

[6] The Period Between The Old Testament And The New.

Saint John the Baptist (the son of Zacharias) received the confessions of the people’s before baptising them.

(Mat 3:6) and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

Hence confession is not a restricted practice to a certain era, but it is a natural extension of the Old Testament.