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
The Transfer Of The Priesthood
Continuing with the story of John the Baptist, he begins his ministry at the Jordan River, in Betharaba, in the wilderness area. If John was a priest, why wasn't he ministering in the temple in Jerusalem like the rest of the priests? Could it be that the priesthood was corrupt, according to the book of Malachi discussed earlier? The priesthood was corrupt, appointed by Rome, controlled by Rome, and illegitimate. Yet, John WAS a true priest, a member of the priesthood, over the age of thirty.
John the Baptist was called to minister in the wilderness and baptize at the Jordan River because he was to prepare the way for the transfer of the priesthood from the order of Aaron to the order of Melchizedek. He was to introduce the new high priest, Jesus Christ and symbolically transfer priesthood of Aaron to Jesus Christ after the order of Melchizedek! This is the CRITICAL point of the ministry of John the Baptist.
Jesus came to be baptized of John at the Jordan River when he was about thirty years of age, as shown above, and John was 6 months older than Jesus, so he was at least thirty years old:
Mat 3:13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
Mat 3:14 But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
Mat 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him,
Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him.So, for Jesus Christ to become a priest after the order of Melchizedek, there had to be a transfer of the priesthood. This is what happens in the story of the baptism of Jesus. John the Baptist represents the true priesthood, bestowed upon him by his father Zechariah of the house of Aaron, while the priesthood in Jerusalem was corrupted and appointed by Rome.
The area in which John the Baptist was baptizing is extremely interesting. We find this place mentioned as follows:
Joh 1:28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
In this same area many hundreds of years earlier, Joshua brought the children of Israel into the Promised Land. The Lord parted the Jordan River, just as he parted the Red Sea, and let the Israelites cross over on dry land:
Jos 4:23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:
After the people were crossed over and the priests had carried the ark of the covenant across the Jordan River, Joshua told the people to pick up twelve stones and place a memorial near the river:
Jos 4:9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bore the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.
It's very possible that in the same spot the ark of the covenant was crossed over the Jordan River by the priesthood of Aaron, John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ and the priesthood was transferred to Jesus Christ after the order of Melchizedek.
Consecration Of The New Priesthood
Now, we move to similarities between the consecration of a priest of Aaron in the Old Testament to the consecration of Jesus Christ at his baptism in the transfer of the priesthood from the order of Aaron to the order of Melchizedek. In the Torah, a priest had to undergo two things:
Lev 8:6 And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.
Lev 8:10 And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them.
Lev 8:12 And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.
We find this same thing happening to Jesus at his baptism: first, he is submerged in water by a legitimate priest, John the Baptist, and as he came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit of anointing came down in the form of a dove and landed on him:
Mat 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
At this point, Jesus Christ was set apart and anointed at the beginning of his ministry, and for the next 3.5 years, preached to, teached, and healed the people who believed in that ministry.
Incredible Miracles Cease At The Jerusalem Temple
There were some interesting things that began to happen at the temple at the EXACT same time that Jesus was baptized and began his ministry: when the priesthood was transferred to the order of Melchizedek and Jesus was made the high priest. These interesting things are recorded in a Jewish historic writing called the Talmud, in section Yoma 39b. This is not Holy Spirit inspired material, but is reliable historic information.
What began to happen is this: all the sudden, the miracles stopped happening at the temple. What miracles? The Talmud records the following:
Our Rabbis taught: During the last forty years before the destruction of the Temple the lot [‘For the Lord’] did not come up in the right hand; nor did the crimson-coloured strap become white; nor did the westernmost light shine; and the doors of the Hekal would open by themselves, until R. Johanan b. Zakkai rebuked them, saying: Hekal, Hekal, why wilt thou be the alarmer thyself? I know about thee that thou wilt be destroyed, for Zechariah ben Ido has already prophesied concerning thee: Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.
The chart below details the four miracles mentioned above in the Talmud, as well as the statements of Jesus Christ, after the priesthood had been transferred:
|
Miracle |
Explanation |
Jesus Christ Fulfilled by Stating... |
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The lot for the Lord’s goat did not come up in the right hand of the High Priest. |
The first of these miracles concerns a random choosing of the ''lot'' which was cast on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). The lot chosen determined which of two goats would be "for the Lord" and which goat would be the ''Azazel'' or ''scapegoat.'' During the two hundred years before 30 CE, when the High Priest picked one of two stones, again this selection was governed by chance, and each year the priest would select a black stone as often as a white stone. But for forty years in a row, beginning in 30 CE, the High Priest always picked the black stone. |
Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. |
|
The scarlet cord tied to the door of the Temple on the Day of Atonement stopped turning white after the scapegoat had been cast over the precipice. |
The second miracle concerns the crimson strip or cloth tied to the Azazel goat. A portion of this red cloth was also removed from the goat and tied to the Temple door. Each year the red cloth on the Temple door turned white as if to signify the atonement of another Yom Kippur was acceptable to the Lord. This annual event happened until 30 CE when the cloth then remained crimson each year up to the time of the Temple's destruction. |
Mat 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. |
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The Temple doors would open by themselves. The rabbis saw this as an ominous fulfillment of Zechariah 11:1, ‘Open your doors, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars.’ |
The next miracle, which the Jewish authorities acknowledged, was that the Temple doors swung open every night of their own accord. This too occurred for forty years, beginning in 30 CE The leading Jewish authority of that time, Yohanan ben Zakkai, declared that this was a sign of impending doom, that the Temple itself would be destroyed. |
Joh 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. |
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The westernmost light on the Temple candelabra would not burn. |
The fourth miracle was that the most important lamp of the seven candle-stick Menorah in the Temple went out, and would not shine. Every night for 40 years (over 12,500 nights in a row) the main lamp of the Temple lampstand (menorah) went out of its own accord — no matter what attempts and precautions the priests took to safeguard against this event! |
Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. |
What was happening here? God was removing his glory from the Aaronic priesthood, and transferring it to Jesus Christ, and all these things began to happen in 30 AD as Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River and began his public ministry after 40 days of fasting and the temptation in the wilderness.
The Power To Both Heal And Forgive Sins
Now, Peter in Acts chapter two told the people to both repent and be baptized for the remission of sins:
Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
But Jesus had no sin and therefore did not need to be baptized. He told John the Baptist he needed to be baptized of him in order to fulfill all righteousness, NOT BECAUSE HE HAD SIN. This was part of the process of transferring the priesthood by the washing of water and by the anointing of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.
Under the Aaronic priesthood, the high priest had the power to remit sins by the offering of a sacrifice. If you committed a sin, you could bring a lamb or a ram, or a turtledove or pigeon, and the priest could offer the sacrifice and then declare you to be free of your sins.
Jesus Christ, after his ministry began, started to do and says things that got the priests that were appointed by Rome extremely upset. They were upset because they had no idea that their priesthood was no longer valid, and had been replaced by the Melchizedekian priesthood. What did Jesus begin to do that upset them so much? He began to declare lepers clean, and they were instantly made whole. He looks at a man with cerebral palsy and tells him his sins are forgiven. He tells a prostitute her sins are forgiven.
What was going on here? Jesus was showing the Pharisees and priests that their priesthood had become corrupt and was no longer valid, and that the priesthood had been transferred to him. As the high priest after the order of Melchizedek, JESUS had the power to forgive sins AND heal:
Mat 9:2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy;
Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.Mat 9:3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
Mat 9:4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said,
Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?Mat 9:5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
Mat 9:6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins
, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.Jesus had power both to heal and to forgive sins, and the ritual that was going on at the temple was not amounting to anything. Jesus Christ was becoming the high priest of the new covenant.
If you grasp this, you are going to be so happy! Those who say Jesus Christ was breaking God's laws under the Aaronic priesthood by touching a leper, by healing on the sabbath day, etc., fail to understand that Jesus was not under the Aaronic priesthood and was therefore not subject to those traditions. He was under the Melchizedekian priesthood, which had the power to heal and to forgive sins.
The Mystery Of The Priestly Garments
The transfer of the priesthood to Jesus Christ can also be seen in the priestly garments as commanded and prescribed by God in the Torah. In Exodus, we read the following:
Exo 28:4 And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and an embroidered coat, a miter, and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.
All the priests, including the high priest, wore a linen coat, a linen miter, linen pants and a linen girdle. The high priest, though, had two extra garments: a blue garment and an outer garment. The neckline on these robes were very strong and double reinforced so they would not tear. The garment was to be completely seamless and there was a single hole in the garment with a band around it so it would not be able to be torn easily:
Exo 39:23 And there was a hole in the midst of the robe, as the hole of a habergeon, with a band round about the hole, that it should not rend.
This robe was not to be torn, because if it was, the high priest could die and God's wrath could come on the people, as the passage below indicates:
Lev 10:6 And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled.
Lev 21:10 And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;
We can see from these three verses that it was very important for the priest to never have his robe torn. Why is this important? Because in the Old Testament, it is recorded several times that men would reach up and tear their clothes and put on sackcloth when they were very upset and they knew God was unhappy with them. Here is one example:
Jos 7:6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.
Jos 7:7 And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!
The priestly robe was double reinforced because if it was torn, it was a sign that he had lost his priestly authority.