Word of Encouragement (10/21/2021)
“And they [the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders] sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth’” (Rev. 5:9-10).
In this praise, we see that the people Christ ransomed for God are made “a kingdom and priests to our God.” This phrase is taken from the promise God made to the people of Israel right before He entered into covenant with them at Mount Sinai: “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:5-6). Israel did not see this promise fulfilled in them because of their chronic disobedience to the Lord. But this praise shows that what God promised to the people of Israel is finally fulfilled in the redemption of Christ’s church, which is made up of God’s elect people from “every tribe and language and people and nation,” not just from the nation of Israel.
But there is another reason for this particular manner of fulfillment. Under God’s covenant with Israel (i.e., the Mosaic Covenant), Israel could not be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” It was the Mosaic Covenant, which set apart the Levites, particularly the household of Aaron, as priests. An ordinary Jew could not be a priest no matter how much he desired to be one or how godly he was. The promise, which God gave right before ratifying the Mosaic Covenant, was already hinting at the need for a better covenant—the new covenant in Jesus Christ. For the promise to be fulfilled, the old covenant would have to be replaced with the new covenant, and the Levitical priesthood with the royal priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek (who was both king of Salem and priest of God Most High, Gen. 14:18). So, the Lord spoke of a new covenant He would make (Jer. 31:31), which would be better than the old covenant, which the people of Israel broke (Jer. 31:32). Not only that, David spoke of his Lord (Ps. 110:1), regarding whom the LORD said, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Ps. 110:4).
So, Jesus came to put an end to the old covenant and establish a new covenant with a New Israel.
Many of His parables deal with this theme—how the vineyard (which was an Old Testament metaphor for Israel’s privilege as God’s chosen nation) will be taken away from the unfaithful and rebellious tenants and given to someone else, or the guests, who were originally invited but refused to come to the wedding banquet of the king’s son, will be punished and others on the street will be invited instead, etc.
He came as David’s greater Son and to be a different kind of king—not of an earthly nation but of the kingdom of heaven.
He chose the Twelve Apostles to replace the Twelve Patriarchs of Israel and begin a New Israel, whose citizens are born “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13).
He went up on the mountain to give His law to the New Israel (Matt. 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount), which would fulfill and replace the Law of Moses, which Israel received at Mount Sinai.
He came to destroy the temple and build a new one—not another earthly temple but a heavenly temple, which is His Body, of which we are members.
Born of the tribe of Judah and the household of David, Jesus came according to the order of Melchizedek as the Royal High Priest of the heavenly temple, not according to the Levitical priesthood. This priesthood is not limited to the family of Aaron. Everyone Jesus anoints with the Holy Spirit is made a royal priest to serve God in the heavenly temple.
If you believe in Jesus Christ, you are already born of, and anointed with, the Holy Spirit. You no longer have to look longingly at the curtains and veils of the sanctuary, wondering what it’s like on the other side where God dwells. You are given access to the sanctuary of God, all the way to the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant between the wings of the cherubim! It is for this reason that Christ ransomed you from the bondage of sin. This is what Christian liberty is about: you are set free from the bondage of sin so you can finally serve the Lord in His presence, in the holiness of His sanctuary. This will be fulfilled when we finally enter heaven. But even now, you are called to live Coram Deo, in the face of God, who is no longer your Judge but your loving heavenly Father! Let us serve Him with gladness and gratitude in all that we do!