The second of the four main offices in Scripture is that of the Priest. He has the duty of offering up the tithes, gifts and offerings of the people to YHWH in a manner pleasing to Him. There are five orders in Scripture:

 

1. The Order of Melchizedek;

2. The Order of the Firstborn (Exodus 13);

3. The Order of Levi;

4. The ‘Rabbinical Order’ (which was not commanded);

5. The ‘Order of Yeshua’ (which is Melchizedekian).

 

The Melchizedekian Order long predated the Levitical Order. Before there was ever a Tabernacle or Temple, and before the Torah was handed down, Avram gave a tenth of the spoils of war to YHWH through a priest named Melchizedek. He was both the King of Shalem (Salem), and also the Priest of Elohim Most High.

 

 

In Psalms 110:4, King David tells us that Yeshua would one day be a (High) Priest forever, according to this very same Order of Melchizedek.

 

 

Shaul (Paul) also tells us that Yeshua has become our High Priest forever, according to this very same Order of Melchizedek.

 

 

Since Yeshua was not born into the Tribe of Levi He could never become a Levite Priest. However, YHWH purposed Yeshua to become a priest after the Order of Melchizedek. Since the Melchizedekian Order existed long before the Tabernacle ever existed it can function even when there is no Tabernacle or Temple. Therefore, when the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE Yeshua’s priesthood was still valid. In contrast, the Rabbinical Order (which follows the Levitical pattern) was no longer valid (assuming it ever was valid, seeing as it was never commanded).

 

Before we go further, let us understand the difference between anointing and commissioning. An anointing means YHWH has chosen one to do a certain job in Israel, whereas an active commissioning means one is supposed to be holding that position at that time.

 

First Samuel 16:12-13 shows us how Shemuel anointed David as the future king of Israel, even while King Shaul still had the active commission as king.

 

 

Even though David was already selected and anointed as the future king of Israel, King Shaul was holding down the job; and so it was only after King Shaul had died that David was ‘put onto active commission’ as the current King of Israel.

 

 

If we understand this concept of active commissioning, then we can have a better understanding of Acts Chapter Twenty-One, which shows us that the apostles continued to offer up sacrifices in the Temple according to the Levitical Law even many years after Yeshua’s death, burial and resurrection. (For more details, please see ‘Understanding Acts Chapter Twenty-One, as part of the Nazarene Israel study.)

 

 

Yeshua was commissioned according to the Order of Melchizedek (rather than the Order of Levi) so that when the Temple was destroyed, He and the apostles would still be able to serve as priests. Yet as long as the Temple stood, the apostles continued to keep the Levitical sacrifices in the Temple according to the Levitical Law. This is because the Rabbinical (i.e., Levitical) Order was still on active commission.

 

Even though Yeshua became our Melchizedekian High Priest in the Heavenlies, Ezekiel tells us that there will yet be another earthly Temple in which a man called the Nasi (“Nah-see”, or ‘Prince’) offers up sin sacrifices for himself, and for the people (and since Yeshua was without sin, we know this Nasi cannot be Yeshua).

 

 

There have already been several changes in the active commission. The first active priesthood in Scripture is the Order of Melchizedek, which we saw at Genesis 14:18-20 (above). Then after Israel left Egypt, YHWH actively commissioned every firstborn son among Israel to stand before Him and minister.

 

 

Then after the incident with the Golden Calf, YHWH transferred the active commission to the sons of Levi, since they had shown a willingness to oppose their brothers (and even their own sons) at YHWH’s word.

 

 

It was Levi’s loyalty to YHWH, rather than to flesh and blood that earned them the priesthood; but then when they were not loyal to YHWH’s Son (Yeshua) He took the active commissioning away from the Rabbinical (Levitical) Order, and gave it back to the Order of Melchizedek, since they could function without a Temple or Tabernacle. Shaul (Paul) speaks about this much-misunderstood change in the priesthoods back to the Order of Melchizedek. Let’s read it carefully:

 

 

Let us focus for a moment on Verse Twelve, which tells us that there was a change in the Torah, because the priesthoods were ‘changed.’

 

 

The idea that the priesthood was ‘changed’ seems to contradict Matthew 5:17-18, which tells us that nothing at all about the Torah can change, as long as heaven and earth still exist.

 

 

Since heaven and earth still exist, then nothing at all about the Torah can change; and therefore it is clearly impossible for the whole of the Torah to be changed. Yet if we will take this back to the source texts, we will see that the language does not suggest that the Torah was changed. Rather, what Hebrews 7:12 says is that because the active commissioning was being changed from the Rabbinical (i.e., Levitical) Order back to the Order of Melchizedek, there also had to be a temporary transposition in the instructions governing the conduct of the actively commissioned priesthood; for while the Rabbinical (Levitical) Order requires a Temple and sin sacrifices, the Order of Melchizedek is able to operate without a Temple or Tabernacle (or animal sacrifices).

Let us look at the Greek of this verse.

 

 

The word ‘changed’ in the first clause is Strong's Greek #3346, 'Metatithemenees' (μετατιθεμένης), which speaks about something that ‘transfers’, or ‘changes sides.’

 

 

This refers to how the Levitical and the Melchizedekian Orders temporarily ‘traded places when the active commissioning changed.

 

The word ‘changed’ in the second clause is the word ‘Metathesis’ (μετάθεσις), which means ‘transposed’ (or substituted).

NT:3331 metathesis (met-ath'-es-is); from NT:3346; transposition.

Plugging these meanings in, we get:

 

 

Transposition of what Instructions? Because the Order of Melchizedek does not normally operate in a Temple or Tabernacle it does not need the same regulations as the Levitical Order; yet because the Torah speaks of both orders (and the changes between them), not one jot or one tittle has to fall from the Torah in order for this transposition to take place. (Thus, the Book of Hebrews never contradicts the Torah.)

 

We can also expect the active commission to change back to the Levitical Order when the Ephraimites return to the Land, and the Levitical and the Melchizedekian Orders are merged.

 

Zechariah 10:12 tells us that the House of Judah will one day accept Yeshua as their Messiah.

 

 

When the rabbis accept Yeshua (and obey His order not to call themselves by the title ‘rabbi’) they will no longer belong only to the Levitical Order, but they will also have become part of the Melchizedekian Order. When this happens it will only be a matter of time until they open the doors for Ephraimite immigration. Isaiah 66:19-21 speaks of this time, telling us that when the Ephraimites come home, some of the Ephraimites (who are already Melchizedekian priests) will also be taken for priests and Levites (in the Levitical Order) as well.

 

Exactly how all of this will play out remains to be seen, but in essence Isaiah tells us that the Melchizedekian and Rabbinical/Levitical priesthoods will be merged into a combined Melchizedekian-Levitical Order. At some point the Temple will also be rebuilt, and the Nasi will offer sacrifices for himself and for the people.

 

 

However, if we will have a combined Melchizedekian-Levitical Priesthood for all twelve tribes of Israel, then this begs several other questions.

 

Originally there were twelve tribes (or thirteen if one counts Ephraim and Manasseh as separate tribes). The Tribe of Levi was perhaps 1/13^th of the population, or about 7.7%. During the festivals all of these Levites were needed in the Temple to handle all of the duties that take place during festival times, such as the animal sacrifices, cleaning, traffic control, the treasury, and many other duties. All of these had to be performed in an orderly way; so whenever there was a festival, all of the priests needed to come up and report for duty.

 

However, even if the priesthood goes up a week or two early and then stays a week or two late (to stand down and perform other activities), the festival season still only requires them to be in Jerusalem for a small part of the year. What should they do to serve the nation the rest of the year?

 

Obviously, some of the priests need to be on duty at the Temple at all times of year, and other priests need to serve the synagogues in other areas of the country each week. Done right, pastoring and serving is a full time job; but still we have not accounted for the bulk of the priests. What should they do during the majority of the time, when they are not on duty for the festivals?

 

In the secular West it is considered the government’s job to teach and to judge the people: yet in Scripture we are told that these jobs will belong to the renewed priesthood.

 

 

Most western schools are secular, and do not teach on Creation, the Torah, or anything Hebraic. Likewise, the judges are also secular, and are not allowed to rule according to YHWH’s laws. Is it really any wonder, therefore, that the West is in decline?

 

Scripture is clear that if we obey YHWH and walk in His ways, then we and our nation will be blessed; but that if we walk contrary to Him He will walk contrary to us, and we and our children will be under a curse. Isn’t that really what is happening in the West today?

 

There is much talk about how the Founding Fathers in America consulted Leviticus and Deuteronomy when drafting the U.S. Constitution, and some people believe that the problem with America is that we have gotten too far away from the U.S. Constitution: but is the U.S. Constitution the Torah? And if we go back to the U.S. Constitution, will that be the same as keeping Torah?

 

There are some critical differences between the way the United States Government is structured under the U.S. Constitution, and the Torah. In America, secular taxes pay for schools that do not teach the children to believe on YHWH. As a result, a high percentage of the children grow up to behave in unrighteous ways. As a result of this, more taxes pay for secular police; but they are not allowed to enforce the Torah. Then even more taxes pay to support secular courts that do not take YHWH’s laws into account in making their decisions. All of this is provided for under the United States Constitution. 

 

The prisoners generated by this kind of a society are then sent to secular prisons at an average cost of some sixty thousand dollars per inmate per year, where they are still not taught about Yeshua or YHWH. They get to listen to whatever kind of music they want, and they get to watch whatever kind of television they want, which is usually the same kind of unrighteous media that got them into prison in the first place. All of this is provided for under the U.S. Constitution.

 

As a result of the U.S. Constitution, we now have over two million prisoners in this country, each costing the people an average of some sixty thousand dollars per year. Then when these people get out of prison they bear more children, who are raised in relationships that do not teach them to obey YHWH; and so the cycle continues. Is this the blessing that YHWH bestows when we obey the Torah? Or is this the curse that befalls us when we walk in some manner other than Torah?

 

What would happen if the Renewed Priesthood were to teach in the schools during that part of the year that they were not in Jerusalem for the festivals? What if children were required to read the Hebrew Scriptures once by the time they graduated Junior High, and once a year for every grade level they completed after that? What kind of society would it create if YHWH’s morality were taught in the schools, rather than mans?

 

And what if law enforcement and the courts were staffed by this Renewed Priesthood? And what if the Torah was the Constitution of the nation, and also formed the basis of the legal code, and YHWH’s laws were required by law to be carried out? How long would it be before society was peaceful and orderly? And how much money would it save the average tax-paying citizen, not to have to support an army of law enforcement, courts and prisons?

 

And what if this Renewed Priesthood was to provide news and media similar to www.carolineglick.com, and http://www.israelnationalnews.com? What if this ‘Order of Yeshua’ provided the real truth for the people to read and to watch on television, and also provided fun and exciting interactive videos for children?

 

The way the West was lost was by constitutionally allowing the forces of darkness to infiltrate the schools, the courts, and the news media. Once Satan had his people emplaced in these offices, little by little YHWH’s truths were eroded; and like a small tugboat pushing on the bow of a giant supertanker, America was turned off course. What better way, then, to make sure that the children of a renewed Twelve Tribe Israel do not stray off course, than to make the priesthood responsible for the education and law enforcement of the people, as YHWH commands?

 

 

And since the priesthood’s salaries are paid by a flat ten-percent tithe on the increase of the people, the priesthood would have every incentive to teach the children well, so that they could go and succeed in the modern, competitive electronic world. Compare that to the bloated inefficiency of secular government, which just simply raises taxes whenever it wants to institute more socially-damaging secular programs, whether they are commanded in Torah or not.