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1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Though all Israel is liable to the whole Torah, not all of the Torah is incumbent upon each individual of Israel. Some rulings are solely incumbent on High-Priests, others on priests, some on Levites, Nazarites or firstborns. Some statutes solely concern men, others women or children; some also pertain singly to the stranger in the Land. The children of Moses’ brother Aaron are called Levites. They are called so because they are the descendant of the tribe of Levi, the son of Jacob. When God divided the tribes of the new born Jewish nation into the land of Canaan, God said that the Levites that they will have no land inheritance in Canaan, but that He was their inheritance (Leviticus 18:20-24). In this manner the tribe of Levi obtained the spiritual oversight and responsibility of Israel. Not all Levites automatically became priests, but all priests were to be Levites. Studying the lifestyle incumbent upon the Levite priests, it is easy to see that they were to live in a standard of purity and dedication higher than that of the rest of Israel. This standard was surpassed only by that of the High-Priest himself. Some of the particularities of the Levite priest are that he was to not own land nor busy himself with the affairs of the world. His primary job was that of a Torah teacher to the people. Wealthy folks often had their own Levite living among them teaching them and mostly their children. Most of the time though, the Levite taught in a village and people supported him with tithes and/or offerings in exchange for his services. He was the travelling living Word to the people. In His definition of the higher calling of discipleship, the Master drew from the Levitical priestly standards. He told the twelve with him that their dedication to Him was to be greater than that to their own families (Matthew 10:37), that they were in the world but not of the world (John 15:19), that they were to let go of material pursuits (Luke 12:16-35; Matthew 8:19-20) and spend their lives in the studying teaching of the Word and in prayer (Matthew 28:19-20). Yeshua did not ask for all to do that, but He left it there as an option. It seems that Peter understood the connection between a disciple of Yeshua and the Levitical priesthood when he referred to the people of the Roman congregation as a ‘royal priesthood’ (1 Peter 2:9). Many of us want to define ourselves as disciples of the Master. May we realize that this is not a title to be taken lightly. It is incumbent on whoever takes it to live like the Master did and obey His Words. A higher standard of purity is also required of us, and if we don’t fall under it, we better not call ourselves disciples at all unless a greater condemnation falls upon us (James 3:1).
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Hebrews 7:17
"You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." In the Book of Hebrews Yeshua is spoken of as ushering a new priesthood; it even seems speaks of a change of Torah. It says, For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the Torah as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe … altar (Hebrews 7:12-13). This poses a problem. The Aaronic priesthood stems from an eternal covenant (Exodus 29:9), the Torah is established through an eternal covenant (Exodus 24:8), and God Himself doesn’t change (Malachi 3:6); how then could the levitical priesthood and the Torah be terminated?. Here is more: For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (Hebrews 7:18). What? The Torah, weak and useless? Context, context, context! The Messianic Jews of Israel had just witnessed the assassination of James, Yeshua’s brother who was also their leader, by a wicked High-priest. As Yeshua had forewarned them (John 16:2), they were now being evicted from the synagogues where they had continued worshiping God until that day. These people were at a loss so the author of Hebrews tries to comfort the Israeli believers telling them to now look up to the Temple and priesthood which are upward. He tells them: ‘Don’t worry, for the Torah appoints men in their weakness (weak because they had to make yearly offerings for their own atonement) as high priests, but the word of the oath (Psalms 110:4) … appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever (Hebrews 7:28). Yeshua is not an Aaronic priest (not a Levite; He was from the tribe of Judah), and as such not fit to serve in the Temple which is below (Hebrews 8:4) but He is a priest according to the order of Melchizedec who serves in the Temple which is above. The text then explains to us that the Aaronic priesthood being efficacious solely for the ritual purifying of the flesh, the priesthood of Yeshua serves to clean the conscience (Hebrews 9:8-14). The Levitical service is not therefore to be replaced by another, simply completed. The Aaronic priesthood was weak in that it could not save (Salvation was never the goal of the Torah), Yeshua, the priest according to the order of Melchizedec, holds his priesthood permanently (He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices for Himself every year as levitical priests do), because he continues forever Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:24-25). Now the equation is solved. The problem is that whereas people do read the Word, they read it with the glasses of a theology already established for them in childhood, so they read into the text instead of letting the text instruct them. Jeremiah the prophet tells us of the Messianic age when a third Temple with the two priesthoods serving together (Jeremiah 33:21). May that time come Adonai, even in our days! In the mean time, may we like our brethren from the Book of Hebrews find comfort in lifting our eyes upwards, towards He who is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). |
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