Principles of living a set apart, godly life [28] – Divine Law, Priesthood and the Millennium Reign [4]

 There is only one formal order of priests on earth and they are selected from the tribe of Levi within God’s chosen ethnic group – the house of Israel. This is quite consistent with what Ezekiel describes in the last chapters of his book. His description of the use of daily sacrifices demonstrates that Jews will not, as a nation, suddenly convert to Christianity in the sense of dismissing ceremonies and sacrifices. Rather, they will remain under a form of a neo-Levitical priestly order under the New Covenant that God will make with the house of Israel. Within the heavenly realm, the priesthood is being transferred from out of necessity, from out of compelling need, and a transfer of law is coming into being, (Hebrews 7 v 12). As a result, under the New Covenant, the house of Israel will be softened and made responsive to God’s Law, which He will write on their deep inner core. They will become a set-apart godly nation. They will begin to turn back to God and His Messiah, as King of kings, will overthrow of the tyranny of the ‘man of lawlessness’ and his regime with the furious outpouring of passionate anger. This will occur in the last generation of this present gospel age.   

By this time, all those brought forth by God will be roused up again to enter into the heavenly realm. What will be established will be the ‘New Jerusalem’ – the new infrastructure of delegated governance, of delegated rulers, judges and authorities, made up in part of a Kingdom of priests resembling the order of Melchizedek, serving in the heavenly temple. In addition, heaven and earth will draw closer together, with human delegated rulers and judges in Israel, its priests of a neo-Levitical order. This whole new order, including God as the Ultimate Authority and Jesus as King of kings seems to be what is referred to as ‘Zion’, with completed Christians constituting part of the ‘New Jerusalem’. Thus we read, ‘I clearly discerned the city set apart, the fresh, new, unused Jerusalem, coming down from out of heaven away from God, made ready in the manner of a bride very appealingly ordered and adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from out of the throne saying, “Look! The dwelling place of God in company with men - He will be encamping in company with them and they will be His peoples. God Himself, their God, will be in company with them’, (Revelation 21 v 2, 3).

The important thing for us to note in all of this, before we get too distracted by other themes and details, is that all of this is established in company with, in parallel with divine Law. As Jesus said in the gospels, he had not come to abolish divine Law but to complete it. Divine law is not going to be abolished or dissolved, but it is going to be transferred. It constitutes the foundation of God’s justice and righteousness and at no point will God introduce an arrangement of lawlessness, anarchy or permissiveness. 

I have taken a little time to establish this context so that we can better understand what the Apostle Paul has to say about the day-by-day life of Christians and the written codes of Sinai Covenant Law. It also helps us to avoid falling into the trap of excessive freedom or permissiveness. I am certainly not taking an ‘antinomian’ stance – a perspective that stands opposed to, or against, divine law. But neither am I supporting Christian legalism.

Principles of living a set apart, godly life [27] – Divine Law, Priesthood and the Millennium Reign [3]

 There are a number of different perspectives that propose what Israel will be like in the Millennium Reign. This is not surprising because Scripture only presents glimpses here and there as to what this age will be like, and different scholars have drawn out and speculated on different facets of this coming age. 

One of the most comprehensive descriptions is to be found in chapters 40 – 48 of Ezekiel. There we find an account of how Israel will be governed in this new season of the reconciliation and restoration of the household of Israel. We see the division of the Promised Land between Israel’s tribes, and the building of a new Temple. We also see the establishment of a neo-Levitical priesthood, the consecration of the altar and the establishment of daily sacrifices on earth as part of the New Jerusalem. 

Now this creates a problem for many Protestant Christians. Because the Protestant Reformers and their successors divide Sinai Covenant Law into ‘Moral Law’ and ‘Ceremonial Law’. I consider this to be a mistake, a false division. Instead, I consider that Sinai Covenant Law is an integrated whole. But many Protestant Christians then go further. They then propose that the ‘Ceremonial Law’, such as sacrifices, has already been done away with because its purpose is to constitute an outline shadow of the person and work of the Messiah. So they then propose that because the Messiah has come and been made clear, these ‘outline shadows’ have now been done away with. But this means that they have difficulties with these chapters in Ezekiel and often feel obliged to interpret them in metaphorical or allegorical ways.

I also propose that perspectives that Jesus will return in such a way as to enter into and sit within this new Millennium Age Temple are mistaken. So also are perspectives that suggest that all Jews will come recognise or perceive Jesus and in effect become Christians. 

Principles of living a set apart, godly life [17] – Jews and Divine Law

 The written codes of divine Law were given to the Jews through Moses at Sinai and form an essential part of the Sinai Covenant that YHVH made with the Israelites, a Covenant that they accepted to be placed under. These written codes present an integrated set of spiritual/moral injunctions. They are not simply a set of moral codes, nor are they a set of prescribed independent religious ceremonies. The morality or ethics that these codes present arise from spiritual considerations and realities. Thus Jews quite rightly saw the collection of laws as an integrated whole. It is not possible to separate these injunctions into two distinct and separate sets of injunctions. But this is what many Christians do – they divide these injunctions into ‘ceremonial’ laws, and ‘moral’ laws. 

I propose that this is a false dichotomy. Rather, what was established was a Levitical priestly order and for Jews, divine Law defined both moral and spiritual boundaries. These injunctions prescribed what was to be done about transgressions of these boundaries. The prescriptions were sometimes like ‘civil law’, involving compensation payments or substitute payments to the offended individual, and they were related to the severity of the transgression. Transgressions were also atoned for in ceremonies performed by the priests, and these usually involved sacrifices of birds and animals. Sometimes compensation payments and sacrifices were prescribed. There were also regular sacrifices of animals and birds to which Jews contributed. These provided a more general atonement for self-forfeiture. Such sacrifices were based on the concept of life-blood and life-breath. Thus I am proposing that divine Law provided an integrated, holistic system of injunctions, prescriptions and priestly sacrifices. 

As the book of Ezekiel outlines in overview, Jews and their leaders were often wayward and negligent with regard to the Covenant and to divine Law. The priesthood and Israel’s leadership were often corrupt, and the people engaged in idolatry. Eventually YHVH stopped being patient with them and His honour and praiseworthiness departed. The infrastructure of - its monarchy, temple, priestly order and sacrifices was rendered ineffective by the Assyrian and Babylonian Conquests. YHVH withdrew Himself to leave Jews to their own mistaken, empty thinking and desires. Even after Jewish captives were allowed to return to their land decades later, the previous orderly system was never fully restored. Jews lived in ‘occupied territory’ and were governed as a province of various Gentile empires. Eventually, in 70 AD, the rebuilt temple was destroyed and Jews were thrown out of their historical homeland. God’s withdrawal away from Jews continues down to this present day, but as well as presenting God’s judgements in advance, the Hebrew Prophets also present the promise of future restoration, prosperity, security and godliness for Jews.