2019-01-11
Good Morning Dear Ones,
As you already know, the family of Levi, i.e. the Levites, were the priests. From that family, Aaron, Moses’ younger brother, was the first high priest. That and all priestly tasks were passed down to the males within that tribe. From the time of Aaron, this priesthood was called the Aaronic priesthood. We still say the prayer included in NU 6: 24-26, “May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord be gracious unto you; may the Lord lift His countenance upon you and grant you peace” at the end of every weekly synagogue or church service. However, Aaronic priests are not the only priests we have. HE 8: 1-13, describes another Priest, who sits at the right of the throne of the Divine Majesty in heaven. As with the king of Salem, mentioned in GN 14: 17 -20. That was when Abram came back from victory at the battle of Chedorlaomer and agreed to pay a tithe of 10 % of the loot he had gotten to Melchizedek. The latter had just brought God’s blessing to Abram. While we don’t read more about the order of Melchizedek until the Lord Jesus is described as “a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek” in PS 110: 4, which is cited again in HE 7: 17.
If my readers are anything like me when I read Hebrews for the first time, I was curious to know more about this order of the priesthood, which is higher than the Aaronic order. HE 8: 5 tells us that the work the Aaronic priests did was only a shadow of what is done in heaven. For Jesus, our High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, heads work done in the Holiest of Holies in heaven-the one not made by human hands [HE 8: 2]. His work is superior to that done by Aaronic priests, just as is His new covenant is superior to the Covenant of the Law [HE 8: 6-7]. This is followed by a message repeated many times in the Bible. HE 8: 10-12 [the Lord speaking], “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come: ‘I will put My laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. None of them will have to teach their friends or tell their neighbors, to know the Lord. For they all know Me from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and will no longer remember their wrongs.’” By speaking this way, the Lord Jesus has made it clear that the Covenant of the Law was outdated and replaced by a better one, the Covenant of Grace [HE 8: 13].
In looking back over Israel’s history, we have seen that first, God was released by the people as their political Leader and later, as their spiritual Leader. This happened first when they were to be led by human judges, then human kings. This latter action finally resulted in the splitting of Israel into two nations-Israel in the north with its capital at Samaria and Judah in the south with its capital at Jerusalem. Such a polity was hardly welcomed by God! Later, with the disobedience of the priests and the people (as described in EZK 8: 6-18). This defilement of the temple angered God to the point where He chose to depart the temple for heaven [EZK 10: 1-5]. Oftentimes, I’ve written that God’s love for us is unconditional. Despite these events, that is still true! Our first reminder of this comes in EZK 11: 19-21 [repeated in EZK 36: 26-27] to the then exiled Jews, “I will give them a new heart and a new mind. I will take away their stubborn had of stone and will give them an obedient heart. Then they will keep My laws and faithfully obey all My commands. They will be My people, and I will be their God. But, I will punish idolaters…” The Lord didn’t give up on Israel’s former polity either. EZK 37 describes “the valley of the dry bones” in which He breathes life into spiritually dead Israel, in verses 7-8 and 13-14. An important prophecy is spoken by the Lord to Ezekiel, in EZK 37: 15-22-essentially, “the stick of Judah and the stick of Israel will one day be reunited into one nation, Israel.” Remember that in those days, instead of modern books, paper scrolls were wound around a stick, and each land that had been separate here would be reunited.
The issue of animal sacrifices must be addressed. These had stopped in 70 AD when the Romans occupied and sacked Jerusalem’s temple. This began a long period from then to 1948 when the Jews were scattered and had lost their nationhood. It is known as the second dyaspora. (Remember that the first dyaspora was the Assyrian Captivity of the northern kingdom of Israel, from 722 BC -444 BC and the Babylonian Captivity of the southern kingdom of Judah from 586-444BC). That the spiritual disobedience of the Jews would not last forever, was prophesied in JER 31: 33-34 and again in RO 11: 25. Animal sacrifices wouldn’t be acceptable to God ever again, because they would be replaced by that of His only begotten Son on the cross. This latter sacrifice is a “sufficient and once for all” [HE 7: 27]. God knew all along that such a sacrifice would be made available, because of what He said to Abraham in GN 22: 16b-17. Because you didn’t hold back your son, Isaac, I (the Lord) will bless Israel with people and the Promised Land. The ram stuck in the bushes foreshadows another “sufficient sin-Sacrifice (Jesus),” Who replaces the need to ever offer animal sacrifices again. Just as the law only told us what pleases God and what doesn’t, so Christ’s Atonement and Resurrection replaces it with salvation, justification, and eternal forgiveness, because of the Covenant of Grace.
PRAYER: O Lord, we have often thought and prayed about our need to have a dynamic and open relationship with You. To do this, it has been necessary for us to carefully study the history of all who believe and its significance to our own lives. Sadly, many people never look back, so they never learn the lessons the past has for us. We ask You to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit and to lead us to a better understanding of how we encourage others to study Your word, as we have. We are sinners, as are all humans, but we desire to better obey Your commands and bring Your love to those around us. Both our example and our words matter. We ask for Your help in recognizing opportunities to witness to our faith in You and in making the most of them. Without You, we are not able to do anything [JN 15: 5]. Your presence and intervention in our lives is crucial to our effectiveness. We offer You praise and thanks for Your patience with us, the love You already show us, and the talents You give us to use for Your work. We ask this prayer in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: Discernment is another way of describing keeping one’s heart open to the Holy Spirit. One of the courses I took as a part of my training dealt with opening one’s heart to the Holy Spirit, while at the same time, closing it off to the work and teaching of the evil one. There are many ways to do this in doing the Lord’s work, and all involve gaining His perspective on controversial subjects. We’ll look at COL 2: 18-19, which deals with using discernment when faced with false teaching. That will jump- start next week’s discussion, and we’ll see where the Lord takes us from it. In the meanwhile, let me close with encouraging us all to let the Lord lead in our lives. Let go and let God! Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2018. All Rights Reserved.
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