The calling and duties of the Nephite Disciples were similar in some respects to those of the Apostles in Palestine (Moroni 3:3, the exact words which the Disciples used in ordaining Priests and Teachers are recorded.
In common, everyday parlance, a "priest" is an ordained preacher, one who teaches religion from the pulpit; he may be the spiritual guide of an ecclesiastical denomination or congregation. The word is an abbreviated form of "presbyter," which has been translated "elder" in the New Testament, (Alma 26-31; 13:1-2) The calling of these priests was to teach the people the commandments of God. They were teachers or prophets, and not only priests. They held the Melchizedek Priesthood, or Priesthood, as Alma said, after the Order of His Son.
"Priests and Teachers" in our text (Moroni 3) must, in our opinion, be understood to be of callings different from either of the two just explained. This conclusion may be drawn from the fact that they are mentioned separately as two distinct classes. Some of the novices were ordained Priests, others Teachers. We are, therefore, inclined to the view that those so ordained, were two divisions of what the Latter-day Saints, according to modern revelations, know as the Aaronic Priesthood.
Some would tell us that the Priesthood of Aaron ended with the advent of Christ in the Meridian of Time, and that, consequently, the Nephites could not have received that Priesthood through the Disciples of our Lord; and that the Latter-day Saints could not have gotten it in our day through the instrumentality of John the Baptist. But the idea that the Priesthood of Aaron was abolished by Christ is not correct. Some of the outward ordinances which were the essential features of worship during the Old Covenant ended with the coming of the New Dispensation. They were but morning twilight preceding the glorious dawn. They were types fulfilled in the life and death of Christ. Thus, many of the functions of the Aaronic Priests ceased with the Messiah's advent, but the Priesthood itself remained.
Our Lord Himself held the Aaronic Priesthood as well as the Melchizedek Priesthood, if we understand correctly what the Apostle Paul says on that subject. His argument is that every High Priest-he is speaking of Aaron, the Chief Priest of the Mosaic Covenant-is "taken from among men," and appointed for men in things pertaining to God, but that he must be called by God even "as was Aaron." "So," he says, "Christ also glorified not Himself to be made an High Priest,"-He is still speaking of the office of Aaron-but He that said unto Him, THOU ART MY SON, TO DAY HAVE I BEGOTTEN THEE." (Hebrews 5:1-5)
That is, Christ's calling to the Aaronic as well as the Melchizedek Priesthood came from God. As an Aaronic High Priest He presided, and does still preside, over the Aaronic Priesthood, as did Aaron in the Mosaic religious services, and Aaron's successors after him. Our Lord, in mortality, offered His prayers and supplications (70)1
Aaron and his consecration. Aaron was the brother of Moses and Miriam and the son of Amron, of the Tribe of Levi. According to some calculations he was born about 1725 B.C., the year before the Egyptian tyrant ordered the destruction of all Hebrew male infants in the country, and three years before the birth of Moses. (Exodus 4:27) They proceeded together to their destination. On their arrival there, they began their mission by summoning the Elders of Israel, and announcing to them that they had come by divine command to lead the people out of bondage. Then they appeared before Pharaoh and proved their commission by a series of terrifying miracles. The consent of the rulers to the demand of the two Hebrews was obtained only when it appeared as if the entire Egyptian population was about to perish.
Aaron receives the Priesthood. In due time after the Exodus from Egypt, the Children of Israel arrived at Mt. Sinai. Here, on the Mount, the Lord graciously revealed Himself to Moses, after the Covenant between Him and Israel had been ratified by the people. Moses ascended the lofty heights. Aaron, his sons, and seventy of the Elders who represented the Twelve Tribes, accompanied Moses at a distance, but near enough to be witnesses to the divine manifestation. (Leviticus 8:12) The entire Tribe of Levi was at the same time called to devote themselves exclusively to the Divine Service.