The Transfer of the Levitical Priesthood of Aaron to the Priesthood of Melchizedek
(and other Mysteries of the Priesthood, the Blood of Jesus Christ, and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ)
1. Introduction | 2. Previews of the Atonement | 3. Limiting Lucifer | 4. Redemption Plan Begins | 5. The Royal Blood Line | 6. Transfer of the Priesthood | 7. The Caiaphas Factor | 8. The Passover Lamb | 9. Mystery of the Graveclothes | 10. Purifying Heaven, Defeating Hell
Royal Blood Line Of Jesus Christ
According to Old Testament Hebrew prophets, the Messiah must come out the lineage of King David, and Joseph earthly father was of the lineage of David:
Psa 132:11 The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.
Luk 2:4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; because (he was of the house and lineage of David:)
Recall earlier that we established God put blood in the first man Adam, and the life of our flesh is in the blood. The word "life" is "nephesh" and it actually means "soul", and is translated as such in the verse below. So, the real meaning is the soul or lifeforce of our flesh is in our blood (Hebrew words in brackets):
Lev 17:11 For the life [nephesh] of the flesh [basar] is in the blood [dam]: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls [nephesh]: for it is the blood [dam] that maketh an atonement for the soul [nephesh].
This may be THE most important verse in the Old Testament, because it explains the importance of blood - that mystery substance that Lucifer and the angels do not have. That mystery substance that Satan now does not have but DESPERATELY wants. He wants a soul, and the soul of the flesh is in our blood, therefore he can't have a soul without blood!
There is something about blood, not just the DNA or white and red cells, that brings life to the human body. It's a medical fact that oxygen is carried in our blood, and remember God breathed into Adam the breath of life, and man became a living soul, or nephesh - lifeforce:
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man [adam] of the dust [aphar] of the ground [adamah], and breathed [naphach] into his nostrils the breath [neshamah] of life [chay]; and man [adam] became a living soul [nephesh].
But we must also understand that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins:
Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Animal sacrifices were therefore introduced under the first covenant to cover the sins of the people. To temporarily cover the sins, NOT to redeem them:
Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Heb 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
Heb 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Heb 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
So, in order to do two things:
God had to have pure, sinless blood. This required Jesus Christ to be born of a virgin. Why? Because the blood type of a child comes from the FATHER, not the mother. Therefore, God, through the Holy Spirit, supplied the blood TYPE for Jesus Christ in the conception with Mary, not the earthly father Joseph. NOT THE BLOOD, but the blood type, because God is a spirit and has no blood. Since sin is passed from father to son, Jesus had no sin due to his Father being God himself. This is why the virgin birth was necessary: the seed of any other man on earth would have been tainted with the sin curse of Adam. God put his seed of the Word through the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary to bring forth Jesus Christ, one born of royal, sinless blood. The virgin birth was a necessity, since every man's blood would have been born into the sin curse, and the perfect blood type that was in Jesus Christ was from God the Father through the Holy Spirit. The secret is in the blood!
The Bible tells us that the Word, which WAS God, dwelt among us:
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The word "dwelt" in John 1:14 means "tabernacled" or "built his tent", and means that the Word, which WAS God, came down to earth and made a tabernacle among us: his body. Just as in the tabernacle of Moses, David and Solomon, God came down and dwelt among us:
Mat 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Birth Of The Lamb Of God
The Bible tells us Jesus was born very similar to an animal. How so? First, because he was born in a stable where animals feed and sleep. Second, because his body was placed in a manger, or feeding trough for animals. Third, he was wrapped in swaddling clothes, which are used to wrap up animals just after they are born to keep them warm:
Luk 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
This shouldn't surprise us, because Jesus is described as a Lamb many times throughout the Bible:
Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Rev 5:12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
Yes, Jesus is the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrificial lamb. The changing of the priesthood was underway, and in order for Jesus to be the high priest of the priesthood of Melchizedek, he first had to suffer according to God's plan.
The Birth Of John The Baptist
Under the Aaronic priesthood, a Levite had to be thirty years of age before he could become a priest:
Num 4:3 From thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all that enter into the host, to do the work in the tabernacle of the congregation.
In Luke, we read that John the Baptist was 6 months older than Jesus Christ, as he was born to Elizabeth and Zechariah just before Jesus was born. Speaking to Mary, the angel Gabriel said the following:
Luk 1:36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
Later, we read that Jesus was about 30 years of age when he went to the Jordan River to be baptized by John, so that would make John over the age of thirty as well:
Luk 3:23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
Therefore, Jesus began his public ministry at the age of thirty, the same age that is required in the Torah for a Levite to become a priest. But that priesthood had to be passed on from father to son, and that is where John the Baptist comes into the story.
John the Baptist was born to parents Elizabeth and Zechariah, and the book of Luke tells us that Zechariah was a priest at the temple, and his mother Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron:
Luk 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
So there's no question that Elizabeth was in the lineage of Aaron, but what about Zechariah? We are told he is of "the course of Abijah", and this man was also a Levite and son of Aaron:
1Ch 24:6 And Shemaiah the son of Nethaneel the scribe, one of the Levites, wrote them before the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and before the chief of the fathers of the priests and Levites: one principal household being taken for Eleazar, and one taken for Ithamar.
1Ch 24:10 The seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,
1Ch 24:19 These were the orderings of them in their service to come into the house of the LORD, according to their manner, under Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him.
This proves that both Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist, were of the house and lineage of Aaron. Therefore, John the Baptist, supernaturally brought forth from the barren womb of Elizabeth, was a true priest of the lineage of his forefather Aaron.
As Zechariah is burning incense on the golden altar in Herod's temple, the angel Gabriel appears to him on the right side of the altar. Being on the right side of the altar is significant, because according to Jewish tradition, the right side of the altar was reserved for God, and since the angel Gabriel was there, he thought it was God that he was going to die:
Luk 1:11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
Luk 1:12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
But the angel comforted Zechariah, told him he was going to have a son and to name him John, and that he would come in the spirit and power of Elijah:
Luk 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Compare this verse to the verse in Malachi, and it is almost a direct quotation, except that John would come in the SPIRIT and POWER of Elijah, not the man Elijah himself:
Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Mal 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
John the Baptist was primary fulfillment of the prophecy of Malachi, but not the total fulfillment. As we read later in Luke, John the Baptist said he was NOT Elijah. There will be a coming of Elijah at the beginning of Daniel's 70th week, to again prepare the way for the coming of the Lord: his second coming. Next, we read that Zechariah, because he doubted the message of the angel, was made so that he couldn't speak during the entire nine month pregnancy of Elizabeth.
As John the Baptist preached and taught, probably in the area of Qumran, the people wondered if he was actually Elijah, but John said he was not. Instead, he said he fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, quoted earlier, that he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Joh 1:21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that Prophet? And he answered, No.
Joh 1:22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
Joh 1:23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.
It has long been a question why these people thought John was the prophet Elijah. John did no miracles like Elijah did, and he was eccentric, living in the wilderness and eating locusts and wild honey, unlike Elijah. An interesting idea has emerged that may explain why the people thought John the Baptist may have been Elijah. Mark chapter one reveals John was wearing a girdle:
Mar 1:6 And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;
Elijah had a mantle that he wore, and Elisha picked up the mantle after Elijah was taken to heaven in a chariot. It is believed that the mantle was eventually placed inside the altar of incense to be saved for Elijah when he returned:
2Ki 2:14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
The idea is that Zechariah, who ministered at the altar of incense, when John was born, took the mantle out of the altar of incense and gave it to his son John. This legend may have been the reason the people, who saw John wearing a girdle, may have thought this girdle WAS the mantle of Elijah.