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
Jesus The Passover Lamb
In the book of Exodus, the Passover feast is ordained by God, and in it, we see Jesus Christ fulfilled as the Passover lamb. The Jews who came to Jerusalem every year brought a lamb, and marked their lamb with a nameplate of some kind. God also marked his sacrificial lamb with the inscription by Pilate. The Passover lamb was killed between the evenings, and Jesus Christ was crucified between the evenings as well:
Exo 12:6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
Exo 12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
Exo 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
Joh 19:19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Luk 23:44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
1Co 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
In the book of Exodus, the ashes of the red heifer is ordained, which is also a perfect picture of what Christ accomplished on the cross:
Num 19:6 And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
Num 19:9 And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.
Mat 27:28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.
Joh 19:29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
Joh 19:17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:
Joh 19:18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
As we read in Numbers chapter 19, the ashes of the red heifer are added to the water in the mikvah and the people who were unclean had to be washed in this mixture of water and ashes, then separate themselves. As we know, Jesus Christ's sacrifice provides for us the way to be sanctified and separated after sin.
The blood of the red heifer was to be sprinkled seven times onto the door of the tabernacle, and Jesus Christ, who said "I am the door", shed his blood seven times in seven different places on his body:
1. His face:
Luk 22:44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
2. His head:
Joh 19:2 And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
3. His back:
Joh 19:1 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
4. His left hand:
Joh 20:27 Then saith he to Thomas,
Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.5. His right hand:
Joh 20:27 Then saith he to Thomas,
Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.6. His left foot:
Luk 24:39
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.7. His right foot:
Luk 24:39
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
The Seamless Garment
Another interesting parallel from the Old Testament with the New Testament transfer of the priesthood to Jesus in the order of Melchizedek is the theme of the seamless garment. As we read earlier, the garment of the high priest was a seamless one:
Exo 39:22 And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.
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.
Jesus himself, believe it or not, was given a seamless garment by the Romans who were crucifying him. How could the Romans know they were fulfilling a type and shadow of Jesus Christ becoming the high priest of a new priesthood, providing him with a seamless robe just as the Aaronic high priest wore? They were going to tear his garment and divide it among themselves. But instead, they decided NOT to tear the garment, but instead cast lots for who would get to keep it:
Joh 19:23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
Joh 19:24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
Psa 22:18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
As the high priest of Jerusalem, Caiaphas, tore his seamless robe and lost the priesthood, yet Jesus Christ's seamless robe was not torn, we see further evidence of the transfer of the priesthood to Jesus Christ after the order of Melchizedek.
The Veil Is Torn
Another element to add into the story occurs when Jesus actually died on the cross. At the moment Jesus died and his soul and spirit left his body lifeless, something happened at the temple:
Mar 15:37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
Mar 15:38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
Many overlook the significance of the veil of the temple tearing from top to bottom. This is the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the inner court of the temple. The veil was a curtain from floor to ceiling that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The Veil represented the flesh of Christ, or, his humanity. This veil was 60 feet high, 30 feet wide and 3 feet thick. It was no ordinary feat to tear it in two. Hebrew customs tell us that the veil was actually called the "hem of God's garment".
The veil was replaced every two years, because the sun and wind would diminish it's beauty, and it was blood-stained which required it to be cleaned occasionally. According to the Talmud, 82 virgins would weave a new veil every two years, using 72 cords and 22 threads each.
That the veil is called the "hem of God's garment" is fascinating because, when Jesus died and the veil tore in two, God tore his garment at the temple, signifying the rending of the Levitical priesthood. Yes, God tore his garment, just as Caiaphas tore his robe rending the Aaronic priesthood. God was declaring that the Levitical priesthood was forever fulfilled by the death of his Son, the perfect high priest:
Heb 7:26 For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
Heb 7:27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
The veil represented the flesh of Jesus Christ, and as his body was torn and beaten for us, so the veil was torn away. This symbolized that, as children of God, we are NO LONGER separated from our Creator God and the Holy of Holies, and Jesus Christ was the forerunner into that holy place:
Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
You may wonder how the writers of the gospels knew that the veil of the temple was torn. During certain feast days, the door of the temple was left open and one was able to see inside the temple. When the veil was torn, the Aaronic priesthood was officially severed from existence, and a new covenant through the blood of our new high priest, Jesus Christ, was established.
The final words of Jesus Christ on the cross included, "It is finished":
Joh 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said,
It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.If you were to study Hebrew customs, you would discover that these same words were said by the high priest when offering a sacrifice at certain feast days, including Passover. The high priest would stretch out his arms and say "Naghid", which in Hebrew means "It is done". Jesus also had his arms stretched out, and as the perfect final sacrifice, he cried "It is finished". Yet more evidence of the transfer of the priesthood to Jesus Christ.