Melchisedek Order Priesthood

King David of ancient Israel was given a messianic prophecy in Ps.110:1-4.  v.4 “The Lord has sworn, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.”  The Lord (Jesus) would be ruling King and priest in the order of Melchisedek!  This topic discusses Melchisedek and priesthood.

True religion and the Judeo-Christian ethic includes the entire Bible.  Both the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT) speak of priesthood.

What is a priest?  A priest performs religious rites, and mediates between God and humans.

Ancient nations and heathen cultures had priesthoods (ref Ge.41:45, Ex.3:1).  Wayne Jackson Exploring the Concept of Priesthood “The ancient Assyrians had priests, as did the Babylonians.”  OT Israel’s priests were of the Levitical order, from the tribe of Jacob’s son Levi.

Moses was a priest and a mediator (Ps.99:6; Ex.24:6, 29:26; Nu.7:1; Ga.3:19).  Then Moses’ brother Aaron and Aaron’s male descendants from the tribe of Levi were Israel’s priests (Ex.28:1).  Prior to the Levitical (Lev) Aaronic order of priests, in ancient Israel families/clans performed priestly functions (Ex.24:5).  The Aaronic priesthood was established in the wilderness (Ex.40:13-15), after the Israelites left Egypt.  But this Levitical priesthood didn’t exist in the books of Genesis or Job.

Jesus and His NT believers are of the order of Melchisedek, which both predates and postdates the Levitical order.  The person of Melchisedek (Mel) goes back to Genesis.  What does the Bible tell us about Melchisedek, and how does the order of Melchisedek compare to the Levitical order?

The mysterious Melchisedek/Melchizedek is thought by many to be a theophany or Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ the Son of God Most High (Lk.1:32).  The name “Melchisedek” means ‘king of righteousness’ (He.7:2).  And in Je.23:5, the Messiah/Branch (Jesus) is the prophesied righteous king.  Ge.18:1-33 the Lord as a Christophany appeared to Abraham.  Melchisedek appeared to Abrám in Ge.14.  Previously, in Ge.12:1-2 the Lord had said that He would bless Abram…“I will bless you.”  And then in Ge.14:18-21 Melchisedek said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High”.  It is Mel who blessed Abram!  It appears that Mel was divine, as the pre-existent Word of God, the Lord Christ.  Jn.1:1, 14 identifies Jesus as “the Word” (the Lógos in Greek).

The Dead Sea Scrolls Melchizedek document 11Q13, dated circa 100 BC, indicates Melchisedek is divine.  Wikipedia: 11Q13 “11Q13 states that….Melchizedek is ‘Your Elohim [God]’ who will deliver the sons of righteousness from Belíal.”  In the 1st century AD, Philo said Melchisedek represented the Word/Logos and is a priest (Allegorical Interpretation 3:26:82, p.59).  Again, Jesus is the Word/Logos.

Melchisedek is the first priest mentioned in the OT.  In Ge.14:18, Mel served Abram (the father of the faithful, Ga.3:7) bread & wine.  Sharing bread & wine will become the sacred communion or eucharist for the NT church in the order of Melchisedek!  (also see the topic “Bread and Wine in the Church”.)

Ge.14:18 “Melchisedek, king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now He was priest of God Most High.”  Mel was both king and priest of God.  In ancient kingdoms there was no separation of church and state.  Their politics involved pleasing their deity, so the deity would protect them.  But Israel’s priestly Aaronites among Levites weren’t kings.  Judah, not Levi, became a kingly tribe (Ge.49:10).

The Lord changed Abram’s name to Abraham in Ge.17:5.  Was Abraham himself a priest, serving under Melchisedek?  Abraham knew the king of Sodom (Ge.14:21).  In Ge.18:23-24, it is plausible that Abraham was interceding to the Lord Christ as a priest on Sodom’s behalf.

The order of (King) Melchisedek includes the laws of the King.  e.g. in Ge.14 Abram tithed or paid 10% to the priest-king/church-state.  (see the topic “Tithe to Church and State”.)  Abraham obeyed God’s regulations.  The Lord said of Abraham in Ge.26:5, “Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws”.  Abraham had the faith to obey all that, without a codified Law of Moses!  (see “Abraham Obeyed Which Commandments?”.)

What are the laws taught by, or pertaining to, the order of Melchisedek?

Throughout Genesis, we read of gentiles (such as Abraham) obeying…or disobeying…God’s principles & instructions.  Also Job.22:22, God’s guidelines weren’t unknown to gentiles living prior to the Law of Moses.  (see “Genesis Principles Predate Moses” and “Ten Commandments in Genesis & Job”.)

1Enoch 99:2 “Woe to them who pervert the words of uprightness, and transgress the eternal law.”  1Eno.106:14 “Some of the angels of heaven…commit sin and transgress the law.” (ref 2Pe.2:4 & Jude 1:6.)  This indicates an eternal law existed even for the residents of heaven to obey, in order to dwell with God in harmony.  (Jude considered 1Eno.1:9 a prophecy, and quoted it in Jude 1:14.  1Enoch is included in a few Christian canons.)

Genesis reflects many similarities to the laws Christ later told Moses to codify & enact during the Levitical dispensation.  For example, in Genesis: 39:9 adultery is a great sin.  31:32 stealing is wrong.  2:2-3 God sanctified the 7^th day sabbath for mankind at Creation.  28:22 Abraham’s grandson Jacob also paid 10% to God.  7:2 only clean creatures are food.  Some try to claim the extra pairs of clean animals taken on Noah’s ark were for sacrifice.  But only domestic clean animals were sacrifices, not wild!  Yet Noah took seven pairs of wild clean animals too (there’d be plenty to eat)!  9:4 blood isn’t authorized as food (prohibited in the Ac.15:29 decree for the church.  see “Acts 15 – Four Prohibitions”.)

The Lord later commanded that the above laws (and other laws too), seen in Genesis for gentiles, be part of the Levitical code and Old Covenant for Moses/Israel.  (see “Added in the Old Covenant”.)

Albertus Pieters Notes On Genesis “Whoever has learned the Genesis stories has learned all the chief things that can be known about God (apart from the incarnation of God in Christ)…of permanent institutions for the well-being of mankind, we have here the institution of the sabbath, marriage, government, and worship.”  Yes, there’s much for the church found between the lines of Genesis!

The above examples from Genesis reflect some of the similarities between the order of Melchisedek and the Levitical order.  But there are also noticeable differences between them!  Such as…

In the order of Melchisedek, there’s no scriptural evidence of any physical tabernacle/temple ceremonial rituals (ref He.9:1, 10).  There’s no animal sin/trespass offerings.  There’s no Passover (before God ‘passed-over’ Moses’ Israel in Ex.12:23); there’s no other pilgrim feasts.  (Genesis does show voluntary non-temple burnt offerings.)  Also, we read of lesser incest…so they can obey God’s commands to reproduce (Ge.1:28, 9:1)…when the only humans available to marry there are relatives.

In the order of Melchisedek, there’s no lunar calendar (for determining pilgrim feast dates, e.g.).  Examining Ge.7:11 with Ge.8:3-4 indicates 30-day months of a solar calendar.  Also Re.11:2-3 reflects 30-day months of a prophetic solar calendar.  This calendar projects to add a 30-day leap-month seven times in each 40-year cycle…in years #6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 40.  Its variance from 365.2422 days per year is said to be only 4 hours 2 min over a span of 11,560 years!  Also a form of solar calendar is used in 1Enoch.  But the lunar aspect of the Levitical dispensation had 29 or 30 day months (for feasts)…and it’s less accurate.  (As another comparison, the estimated variance of the Gregorian calendar over 11,560 years may be around 80 hours, or 3 ⅓ days.  It too is less accurate than the ‘prophetic calendar’.)

Various lunar calendar and new moon reckoning dogmas for Levitical festivals can cause unnecessary division within the order of Melchisedek!  In 1Co.14:33, Paul says God is not of confusion/disorder!  Attempting to use a Levitical calendar in the Melchisedek order has resulted in a measure of confusion.

There’s a significant prophecy in Zechariah.  Again, Je.23:5-6 referred to the Lord/Messiah as the Branch.  Zec.3:8-9 the then Levitical high priest, named Yehoshúa/Yeshúa (Iesous or Jesus in the Greek LXX), was a symbol.  Zec.6:11-13 is about that ancient Yeshua. “Behold, a man whose name is the Branch. He will be a priest on his throne [kingly], and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”  That Yeshua had the same name as the future Branch; and back in 500 BC was a symbol of the Melchisedek priest/king!  A full 500 years prior to the Messiah’s human birth, God knew the Savior’s Name would be…Yeshua (in Hebrew & Aramaic)!

Let’s now read through Hebrews 5–7.  It’s about priesthood and Jesus in the order of Melchisedek.  The Levitical and Melchisedek priesthoods are further contrasted in these chapters.

He.5:1-11 there was much to say regarding the order of Melchisedek.  He.6:13-20 Jesus is high priest in the order of Mel.  6:18 the two immutable things God swore with an oath are found in 6:13-14 and 7:21.  That is, the Lord surely would bless Abraham and multiply his descendants, and Jesus is priest in the order of Mel forever.  (also ref 1Eno.69 regarding oaths.)

He.7:1-8 the priest-king Melchisedek had no genealogy, no beginning of days or end of life, and was made like the Son of God.  v.8 “He [Melchisedek] lives on.”  In Hebrews, Melchisedek isn’t portrayed as a mortal man!  Abraham was a mortal man.  Aaronite priests were mortal men with genealogy.

Wikipedia: Priesthood of Melchizedek “The basis of the Aaronic priesthood was ancestry; the basis of the priesthood of Melchizedek is everlasting life. That is, there’s no interruption due to a priest’s death (Heb.7:8,15-16, 23-25).”  The Levitical priesthood was hereditary.  ISBE “Melchizedek, a priest of highest rank, had neither predecessor nor successor in his great office.”

He.7:17 “You [Jesus] are a priest forever in the order of Melchisedek.”  Got Questions – Who Was Melchizedek? “This term ‘order’ would ordinarily indicate a succession of priests holding the office. None are ever mentioned, however, in the long interval from Melchizedek to Christ, an anomaly that can be solved by assuming that Melchizedek and Christ are really the same person.”

He.6:20 “Jesus…having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.”  Poole Commentary Ps.110:4 “Forever’, not to be interrupted or translated to another person.”  Jesus is high priest forever.  Yet He.7:3, speaking of Melchisedek, “…Being made like to the Son of God, does remain a priest continually [g1336].” (Youngs Literal Translation.)  According to the writer to the Hebrews, Melchisedek is priest on into perpetuity.  Vincent Word Studies He.7:3 “The tenure of his [Melchisedek’s] office is uninterrupted.”  Are we to believe there are two high priests serving continuously and uninterrupted?!  Taken literally…if Melchisedek isn’t Jesus, then there are presently two high priests simultaneously!

Hebrews 7 also compares Melchisedek to Abraham.  He.7:4 “Consider how great this [Being] was!”  (The term for ‘man’ isn’t in the Greek text of v.4.)  The Being Melchisedek is even called great!

Abraham was highly honored and eminent, the spiritual father of the faithful, according to Paul (Ga.3:7, 29).  The Lord had told Abram in Ge.12:2-3, “I will make you a great nation, and will magnify your name….In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  God would change Abram’s name to Abraham, magnify it, and his posterity would be renowned on earth!

Yet He.7:4 indicates Melchisedek is greater than Abraham!  He blessed Abram.  He.7:7 ESV “It is beyond dispute that the inferior [Abram] is blessed by the superior [Melchisedek].” (Other translations render the Greek term kreítton, Strongs g2909, as “better” or “greater”.)  Barnes Notes “Melchizedek was thus superior to Abraham.”  Cambridge Bible “The inferior is blessed by one who is the Superior.”

{Sidelight: Some think Melchisedek was a title (like Caesar or Czar), not a personal name.  A Jewish tradition says Melchisedek was Noah’s son Shem.  But according to Ge.5:32 & Ge.10:22, Shem did have a literal genealogy (unlike Melchisedek).  Shem had a beginning and an end, a mortal man.  Furthermore, in scripture Shem is of lesser status than Abraham (or Noah), not greater.  Shem’s name is seen less than 20 times in the Bible, whereas Abram/Abraham appears over 300 times!  Also, in the LXX and Samaritan Pentateuch chronologies, Shem was dead long before Mel met Abram in Ge.14.}

He.7:9-12 “The priesthood being changed, there takes place a change in the law also.”  A change has occurred in some written law/toráh; in the sacrificial & ceremonial aspects.  There’s no Levitical priesthood or temple; they’re now obsolete as far as the church is concerned.

It’s changed because…Jesus fulfilled all things written about Him (but not everything written in the OT).  Let’s first notice, in Mt.5:17-18 Jesus said, “I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill [g4137]”.  Then after His resurrection, Jesus’ words in Lk.24:44 refer back to the earlier Mt.5:17-18, with added detail. “My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled [g4137].”  Jesus came to fulfill all things written about Him in the Law, etc.  Furthermore, Luke noted in Ac.13:29, “They carried out all that was written concerning Him”.  Jesus didn’t abolish or “fulfill” in our place the Lord’s moral principles (seen way back in Genesis for gentiles/non-Jews even)!

Just because Jesus obeyed God’s principles doesn’t imply that He did so in our stead, and we may act like the devil!  In 2Co.5:10, Paul said that each of us must appear before the judgment seat…Ro.14:12 to “give an account of himself to God”.

He.7:13-28 Jesus wasn’t a Levite; He was from the tribe of Judah.  v.14 “Our Lord descended from Judah.”  Jesus didn’t have to qualify genealogically in the sense of the Levitical priesthood.  The fact that He was from Judah (was Jewish) through Mary didn’t disqualify Him in the order of Melchisedek, though He wasn’t qualified for the Levitical order.  The Levitical priesthood was based on genealogy…it consisted of only one clan (Aaron’s) within the tribe of Levi.

Continuing into Hebrews 8…the Old Covenant is of the Levitical order, the New Covenant is the order of Melchisedek.  He.8:6-13 the Lev dispensation principles, those which aren’t also part of the order of Mel, were vanishing.  v.13 “Whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.”

He.9–10 the Levitical order’s weaker animal sacrifices were continually repeated.  All their priests were sinning humans and were temporary (they kept dying, He.7:23).  The Lev order couldn’t transform hearts nor give ancient Israelites the Holy Spirit power to obey God.  (So they’d gone into captivity.)  Whereas the order of Mel transforms hearts via the Spirit, with the sinless Jesus high priest forever!

Fire from God fell to burn Levitical order animal sacrifices on the altar (Le.6:12-13, 9:24).  Tongues of fire fell on the heads of human “living sacrifices” of the Melchisedek order (Ac.2:1-3, Ro.12:1)!

He.10:9-14 Jesus’ one-time sacrifice ends the prior Levitical dispensation, with its ceremonial temple rites.  It establishes the succeeding order of Mel.  v.9 “He takes away the first, to establish the second.”

In Jn.6:4 & 7:2, John calls God’s OT Passover and Feast of Booths the “feast of the Jews” (not “feast of God”)…because the old Levitical dispensation, with its pilgrim feasts at the temple, is ending.  They don’t exist in the order of Melchisedek.

Mt.26:26-28 Jesus restored the order of Melchisedek with the symbolic sacred bread & wine of the New Covenant as its communion (from Ge.14:19 Melchisedek).  Jewish Christian historian Alfred Edersheim The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah 5:10:826-827 “With this celebration and new institution, the Jewish Passover forever ceased!”  The temple would soon be destroyed, and the pilgrim feasts at Jerusalem (their one authorized feast site then, never two simultaneously) would cease.

The OT Levites had no tribal land inheritance and were restricted in business (De.10:9; Nu.3:9, 18:20-21).  But leaders in the order of Melchisedek may work a common job, e.g. Ac.18:2-3.

The only Levitical injunctions and practices remaining…are those which are also present in the order of Melchisedek.  There are many.  Again, a detailed examination of Genesis shows that such injunctions (applicable for gentiles) existed prior to Moses and the Old Covenant.

He.13:10-14 “We have an altar which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.”  Disbelieving Levitical priests, at temple feasts of the Jews, had no right to partake of the bread & wine of the Lord in the order of Melchisedek.  Yet New Covenant believers partake.  And we needn’t be physically circumcised to take that communion!  Father Abraham (Abram) wasn’t circumcised when Melchisedek shared bread & wine with him as Abram in Ge.14!  (Whereas physical circumcision is commanded to keep a Passover, e.g. Ex.12:48-49.  see the topic “Circumcision in the Bible”.)

Few of us today have knowledge of/proof of family ancestry in the tribe of Levi or its priesthood.  1Pe.2:9 “You [Christians, 4:16] are a royal priesthood.”  Yet even us non-Levites/non-Aaronites are adopted (Ro.8:14-16) into royalty…and are become the royal priesthood in the order of Melchisedek!  Re.5:9-10 of saints from all nations, “You have made them a kingdom, and priests to our God”.

To conclude, the OT verse most often quoted in the NT is Le.19:18b. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  But the OT (short) passage most often referred to in the NT is Ps.110:1-4 (which began this topic). “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet….You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.”  David Seilaff Who Was Melchizedek? “In fact, Psalm 110 is referred to in the New Testament more than any Old Testament section of Scripture.”  The order of Melchisedek is of such significance for Christ’s church!

Jesus is both our high Priest (He.6:20), and “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Re.19:16)…in the order of Melchisedek and the Kingdom of God!  Praise the Lord!

Tent/Tabernacle of David (2)

This is the continuation and conclusion to “Tent/Tabernacle of David (1)”.  Part 1 should be read first.

The ark of God was the most important object in God’s tabernacle which Moses erected.  Christ, the God and good Shepherd of Israel, ‘dwelt’ above the ark between the cherubim (cf. Ex.25:22, Ps.80:1, Jn.10:11).  The ark resided in the Holy of Holies innermost room (Ex.26:34) of Moses’ tabernacle for 500 years.  From approximately 1611 BC – 1102 BC (except when it was taken into battle or in transport).

The Philistines captured the ark from Shilóh (1Sm.4:17), c 1102 BC.  Later, after King David subdued the Philistines, he wanted God’s ark brought up to Jerusalem (c 1030 BC).  1Ch.15:1 “In the city of David [on Mt Zion] he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.”  That Hebrew term for “tent” is óhel, Strongs h168.  The Greek Septúagint/LXX term is skené g4633.

The tent enclosure David pitched in Jerusalem provided a home for the ark of God for nearly 40 years.  Until his son Solomon completed the temple (c 991 BC), and the ark was moved into it (1Ki.7:51–8:1).

King David brought only the ark into the tent.  The ark still contained God’s law of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments (even during Solomon’s reign, 2Ch.5:1-2, 10).  But absent from Moses’ Holy of Holies (then at Gibeón) was Aaron’s rod that budded, signifying priestly Aaronide authority in the Levitical order of ancient Israel.  Absent was the memorial jar of manna from their wilderness journeys.  (Perhaps Aaron’s rod and the jar of manna were lost when the Philistines captured the ark, c 1102 BC?)

In Part 1, we identified 8 or 9 possible reasons why David set up the “tent of David” at his palace.

It was in David’s heart to eventually build a permanent structure in Jerusalem for the ark (1Ch.17:1-ff).  However, the Lord said King Solomon would build the Jerusalem temple (on Mt Moriah, 2Ch.3:1).

Yet it was God’s will for David to first pitch a tent for the ark on Mt Zion!  see “Tent/Tabernacle of David (1)”.  (also see the topics about “Zion in the Bible” and “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys”.)

The physical tent David pitched disappeared from history after 991 BC.  Approximately 240 years after Solomon moved the ark from David’s tent into the finished temple of Solomon (c 991 BC, and stored Moses’ tabernacle from Gibeon, 2Ch.5:5)…the Lord gave Amos a remarkable prophecy:

Am.9:11-12 LXX “In that day I [the Lord] will raise up the tent [skene g4633] of David that is fallen, and will rebuild it.”  (Here the Hebrew term is sukkáh h5521, ‘booth’.  A booth was a temporary dwelling, not intended for reuse in other locations.)  The kingdom of Israel had divided; the northern sector became corrupt, and God would soon scatter it (v.8-10).  Yet the Lord said the day would come when He will again raise-up a “tent of David” (or “tabernacle of David”), which David’s physical tent foreshadowed as a type!  The tent David pitched for the ark…the Lord related it to the future.

Soon after Amos wrote, Isaiah also prophesied about the tent of David in Is.16:5 LXX.  “A throne will be established in mercy. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent [skene g4633] of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.”  (The Hebrew Masoretic Text here has ohel h168 for “tent”.)

This verse too applied to the future…to Christ and His church!  Benson Commentary Is.16:5 “He [Isaiah] was carried forward to a contemplation of the kingdom of Christ.”  JFB Commentary Is.16:5 “Language so divinely framed as to apply to ‘the latter days’ under King Messiah.”  Gill Exposition “This was typical of the church of God, where Christ sits and reigns as King, see Amos 9:11.”

The New Testament (NT) reflects the realization of the Old Testament (OT) prototype “tent of David”.

At the Jerusalem council, around 49 AD, in Ac.15:12-17 the apostle James quoted Amos’ prophecy of God. “After these things I [God] will return, and I will rebuild the tent [skene g4633] of David, which is fallen…That the rest of men may seek the Lord, all the Gentiles [g1484 nations] who are called by My name.”  James understood the tent of David also prefigured gentiles coming to the Lord!

The ancient tent of David, called the tabernacle of David in many English translations…prefigured the growing NT church, consisting of Israelites & Jews with gentiles grafted-in (ref Ro.11:11-17, 25-27).  Let’s see in what ways the tent/tabernacle of David typed the church:

The ark of God resided in the tent at David’s sanctuary on Zion for 40 years (though he died c 1002 BC).  The only item in the ark then was God’s eternal law (later seen in heavenly Mt Zion, Re.11:19 & 14:1)!  God’s laws are figuratively written on the hearts of New Covenant Israelites (He.8:8-12) and gentiles.

After David brought the ark to Mt Zion, he composed many Psalms at the tent and instituted courses for praise & worship before it.  (In the Pentateuch we don’t read of that worship style at Moses’ tabernacle.)

Asáph and other Levites ministered and gave thanks before the ark with song and musical instruments, 1Ch.16:4-7, 37-38.  Ellicott Commentary 1Ch.16:4 “These Levites were to minister before the Ark in the sacred tent of Mt Zion.”  1Ch.16:6 “Beniaiah and Jahaziel the priests blew trumpets continually before the ark.”  Ps.50 was written by Asaph as he ministered praise & thanks at David’s tent (Ps.50:2).

Following are three Psalms (with Bible commentary notes) which tie to David and the tent on Mt Zion: David wrote in Ps.15:1, “O Lord, who may abide in Thy tent? Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill?”  Cambridge Bible Ps.15:1 “The tent’, which David pitched for the Ark on Mt Zion.”  Barnes Notes Ps.15:1 “Zion, regarded as the dwelling place of God.”  Benson Commentary “The psalmist alludes to the hill of Zion.”  Ps.24:3 “Who may ascend to the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place?”  Pulpit Commentary Ps.24:3 “At this time, the Mt Zion.”  Barnes Notes Ps.24:3 “Mount Zion; called the hill of the Lord, because it was the place designated for His worship, or the place of His abode.”  David also wrote in Ps.27:6, “I will offer in His tent sacrifices of shouts of joy”.  (Not animal sacrifices there.)  Cambridge Bible Ps.27:6 “The tent which David pitched for the Ark on Mt Zion must be meant.”

David himself actually sat before the ark!  1Ch.17:16 “David the king went and sat before the Lord.”  David enjoyed God’s Presence at the sacred tent on Zion.  (cf. Ps.21:6 “Thy countenance”.)  David could commune with Christ above the cherubim atop the ark (1Ch.13:6), as Moses had (Ex.25:22)!

But at Moses’ tabernacle, only the high priest was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies chamber where the ark/Christ had sat.  No one else!  And he only on the annual Day of Atonement, ref Le.16:2, 29, 34.

Dr. Ralph Wilson David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem “David is the great architect of worship before the Lord in Jerusalem.”  Worship there was unlike that at Moses’ tabernacle.  Ps.69:30-35 David wrote, “I will praise the Name of God with song, and magnify Him with thanksgiving…God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah.”  v.31 David’s praise to God in Zion was more pleasing than animal sacrifices.

I find no verses that say recurring animal sacrifices were done on Mt Zion!  (Regular animal offerings were done at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon.)  Recurring sacrifices at David’s tent were…praise & thanksgiving.  And praise & giving of thanks was typical of the NT church…no animal sacrifices.

David’s enclosure for the ark was a makeshift stationary tent, open and with an altar out front (1Ki.3:15 LXX).  There was no veil.  No items from Moses’ tabernacle used for ceremonial rituals were on Zion.

wildolive.co.uk The Tabernacle of David “David, who was obviously in the will of God, erected a tent in which people worshiped joyfully without being separated from the Ark by the Veil [cf. Ex.26:30-36]. Remember that the Veil in the Temple was torn in two when Yeshua [Jesus] died on the cross [Mt.27:51].”  The tent of David foreshadowed Christ and His church…there’s no veil of separation.

WicWiki Tabernacle of David “David’s tabernacle represented the grace of God and a way open into the very Holiest of All (see Heb.6:19, 8:1-2). As David’s tabernacle contained the Ark in open access, so the church, through Christ, has open access to the presence of God.”  The writer of the book of Hebrews said, He.10:19 “We have confidence to enter the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus”.

The Davidic style of worship was later done by Jewish returnees from captivity in Ezra & Nehemiah.  Ne.12:24 LXX “The heads of the Levites…were to sing hymns of praise, according to the commandment of David the man of God, course by course.”  Gill Exposition Ne.12:24 “They performed by turns…as David under divine direction ordered, see 1Ch.23:5.”  also ref Ezr.2:65, 3:10-11; Ne.12:27, 36, 45-47.

Davidic worship and Psalms was the forerunner of praise in the NT church.  R. Wilson op. cit. “The Psalms are designed to help us experience praise, to enter into it ourselves.”  The apostle Paul exhorted the church to worship God with song.  Col.3:16 “Teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thanksgiving in your hearts to God.”  Ep.5:19 “Singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.”  Praise music is an integral part of Christian worship.

2Sm.6:14 as King David was bringing the ark to Zion, he “danced before the Lord with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephód.”  Although David was king, royalty, he wore the linen ephod of ordinary priests…even though he wasn’t a descendant of the Aaronide priestly line.  (Samuel had worn one as a boy, 1Sm.2:18.  cf. 1Ch.15:27; 1Sm.22:18.)  David was a type of Christ, who is the “son of David” (Mt.1:1, Lk.18:38).  David wrote Ps.110.  Some think Ps.110:4 “order of Melchisedek” refers to David too, as both king and a type of priest.  (Peter also called David a prophet, Ac.2:29-30).

tlchrist.info/tabernacle_david “David did an amazing thing in his time. The housing of the ark of God in the Tabernacle of David was an event of unusual importance, for it was celebrated by ‘all Israel’ with demonstrations of the most impressive character: ‘With shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets and with cymbals’, while King David himself danced before the ark with all his might in the exuberance of his joy. It constituted a decided break with the Levitical ordinances given through Moses. The Old Testament way of reaching God was through the means of animal sacrifices. There were no [recurring] animal sacrifices there [David’s tent]. Chiefly, it is to be observed that this sojourn of the ark on Mt Zion is the foundation of the many references in the Psalms and the Prophets to Zion, as the dwelling place of Jehovah, and is what gives to the terms ‘Zion’ and ‘Mount Zion’ their high spiritual meaning. Never thereafter was Mount Moriah, where Solomon’s magnificent temple stood, referred to as Jehovah’s dwelling place, but always Mount Zion.”

Much later, animal sacrifices were done at the 1^st century temple of Herod.  Judaizers wanted to bring circumcised gentile proselytes into Herod’s temple.  But it was the tent of David, which had no regular animal sacrifices, that actually foreshadowed the gentiles coming in to the worship of the true God.

As Amos prophesied and James confirmed, God would rebuild the tabernacle/tent of David.  God isn’t rebuilding the obsolete temples of Solomon, Zerubbabél/Ezra (built 520-516 BC), or Herod!

Solomon’s temple (the 1^st temple) took 7 years to build on nearby Mt Moriah (using 30,000 workmen).  The 2^nd temple was Zerubbabel’s (also known as Ezra’s temple).  Herod’s structure was a 3^rd temple.

Herod’s Temple Is Really the Third Temple “Herod [the Great] decided that Zerubbabel’s Temple was too insignificant. So he presented a plan to the people to take down Zerubbabel’s temple and erect a newer, bigger and better one in its place. John 2:20 indicates that construction/renovation of this temple still wasn’t completed 46 years after it was begun.”  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 15:11:1-3, wrote that the foundation of Zerubbabel’s temple (the 2^nd) was completely destroyed.  Herod’s sanctuary was finished in 1 1/2 years (without halting temple services), the courts in 8 years.  But it wasn’t finally all completed until 64 AD!  18,000 workmen were used!  This was much more than a renovation.  The Four Fold Gospel Jn.2:20 “Herod tore down the 2^nd temple and rebuilt it with a 3^rd structure in that site.”  It took 80 years to complete!  (All that remains today is a 1,600 foot section of the Western Wall, a retaining wall Herod built to expand the temple mount.)   William Whiston footnote to Antiq.15:11:1, “The fancy of the modern Jews, in calling this temple, which was really the 3^rd of their temples, the 2^nd temple, followed so long by later Christians, seems to be without any solid foundation”.

Biblical Archaeology Review Mar/Apr 2002: Herod’s Roman Temple “Actually, it was an entirely new structure, but it is still known in Jewish tradition and in the scholarly literature as the Second Temple.”

judaism.stackexchange “Herod removed Ezra’s Temple, stone by stone, right down to the ground, and then removed the foundations and built an entirely new Temple of his own….Herod didn’t rebuild a temple. He in fact completely reformed the temple mount.”  Herod’s new temple was the 3^rd temple.

The temples of Herod, Zerubbabel/Ezra, Solomon were built on Mt Moriah (2Ch.3:1).  The Hebrew term “Moriah” (h4179) occurs only twice in the entire OT!  (In 2Ch.3:1 and Ge.22:2; also in Je.26:18 the “mountain of the house” of the Lord refers to Mt Moriah.)  And “Moriah” never occurs in the NT.

Whereas the Hebrew term “Zion” (h6726 tsee-yóne) occurs 153 times in the OT!  (80 of those occurrences are in Psalms and Isaiah.)  The Greek LXX and NT term for Zion is Sion (g4622 see-ówn).  It occurs 7 times in the NT (Mt.21:5; Jn.12:15; Ro.9:33, 11:26; He.12:22; 1Pe.2:6; Re.14:1).

Comparing…based on the total Bible occurrences of “Zion” and “Moriah”, the tent/tabernacle of David pitched on Mt Zion has more enduring relevance than the 3 obsolete temples erected on Mt Moriah!

tlchrist.info/tabernacle_david “When God speaks by His prophets concerning things to come in the Kingdom of Christ, He never says, ‘I will build again the Temple of Solomon which I destroyed’, but ‘I will build again the Tabernacle of David which is fallen down’.”

Kevin Conner The Temple of Solomon, p. 206 “In 70 AD God allowed the whole Temple system to be totally destroyed, never to be restored again either in this age or any age to come.”

Religious Jews may attempt to build another temple like Solomon’s or Herod’s on Mt Moriah.  But God isn’t doing that.  The Lord God is building the tabernacle of David!  Not that it will be a literal tent erected by God.  Rather, James said the tent of David represents salvation for all races of men!

{Sidelight: The New Jerusalem temple vision of Ezekiel 40–48 has puzzled Bible readers.  It’s been described as a mix of idealism and allegory, having a figurative spiritual (non-literal) interpretation.  The Lord Christ, very God, sacrificed Himself in the 1^st century AD (not a literal Ezk.45:17, 22!).  There is nothing in the NT to indicate that the Lord will literally reinstitute inferior animal sin offerings as atonement for Himself or others in the future.  And there were no regular animal sacrifices at the tabernacle of David (that God is rebuilding).  Michael Battle What About Ezekiel’s Temple? “Those things which Ezekiel saw [includes animal sacrifices] were based solely on the pattern given to Moses, and was only a figure or foreshadowing of something much greater. With His own blood He [Christ] entered once for all into the holy place of the greater and more perfect tabernacle (in the heavens) [He.9:11-12], and has obtained eternal redemption for us!”}

In his book The Tabernacle of David, p.231, Kevin Conner lists other theological truths represented by the tabernacle of David.  The throne of David pointed to the throne of Christ (the “son of David”).  Earthly Mt Zion & Jerusalem pointed to the heavenly Mt Zion & Jerusalem above (Re.14:1, Ga.4:26).  David was king and a type of priest; Christ is king and priest in the order of Melchisedek (Ge.14:18, Ps.110:4).  After David did animal sacrifices once at the tent (2Sm.6:17), the cessation of any further animal sacrifices there by him pointed to Christ’s one-time sacrifice and the 70 AD end of sacrifices at Herod’s (obsolete) temple.  Instead, sacrifices of praise became the order of worship at David’s tent, as is done in the NT church; He.13:15 “Let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise.”

The transfer of the ark (containing the 10 Commandments, so-called) from Moses’ tabernacle at Gibeon to David’s tent at Zion represented the transfer of the Lord’s righteous moral law from the Old Covenant to the minds & hearts of New Covenant Christians (He.8:10).

The tent of David types both…the Davidic kingdom culminating in Jesus with the Kingdom of God, and the Davidic style of worship.  The church with Gentiles enters into both.  James confirmed in Ac.15:14 that God was “taking from among the gentiles a people for His name”.  Gentiles weren’t to come in to the worship of God under the Old Covenant ritualistic system of the Levitical order.  Christians are now God’s priesthood in the order of Melchisedek.  Jesus is High Priest (He.4:14, 7:17).  Levitical Aaronide priests are obsolete.  The tent of David foreshadowed the at-large community of Christian believers.

As the Lord is gradually rebuilding the tabernacle of David, the Lord is gradually building His church.  Jesus said in Mt.16:18, “I will build My church”.  And the gates of Hades, the realm of the dead, will not prevail against God’s church!  Glory to God!

Chronology: Samuel to Rehoboam

In this topic, Bible chronology is traced from the judgeship of Samuel to the kingship of Solomon’s son Rehoboam.  Previous chronology is addressed in “Chronology: the Exodus to Samuel”, “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus”, “Chronology: Septuagint versus Masoretic Text”.  My basic position is the so-called maximalist view, that Bible history is correct unless archaeology clearly proves it wrong.

Exact dating cannot be done for the time of Samuel’s judgeship in ancient Israel.  And there’s no consensus among Bible historians as to the dates when Saul, David, Solomon, Rehoboám were kings.  Their years cannot be pinpointed by dates from ancient histories.  (There’s no ‘BC’ or ‘BCE’ dates written in scripture.)  The dates in this topic are approximate.

Following is the timing detail from the birth of the prophet-judge Samuel until King Rehoboam.  All scriptures referenced are from the book of 1Samuel, unless otherwise specified.

Elí the high priest preceded Samuel as judge in Israel.  Eli was born around (circa or c) 1200 BC, and he lived for 98 years (1Sm.4:15).  His judgeship began c 1142 BC.

1Sm.1:9-11, 17 Hannáh was childless, and prayed at the tabernacle in Shilóh for a son.  v.20 God heard her prayer, and she birthed Samuel c 1140 BC.  Samuel means ‘heard of God’.  v.21-28 when Samuel was weaned, she dedicated him to God as a Nazarite, and gave him to serve Eli c 1137 BC.  Samuel was fostered or adopted by Eli.  (2:20-21 later Hannah also gave birth to 2 sons and 3 daughters.)

2:22-26 Eli is too old for priestly service (Nu.8:25), near age 72 (cf. 2Sm.19:32), c 1128 BC.  1Sm.2:26 Samuel is near age 12.  Eli’s natural sons were promiscuous and disrespected the Lord’s offerings.

3:1-18 God calls the boy Samuel, age 12.  At 72, Eli’s eyes are starting to dim.  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 5:10:4 “When Samuel was 12 years old he began to prophesy; and once when he was asleep God called to him by his name.”  v.19-21 Samuel grew, and the Lord confirmed him as a prophet.

4:1 Samuel is now around age 38, c 1102 BC.  v.10-14 Eli’s 2 sons, Hophní & Phineás, die during the battle at Ebenezer when the ark of God is taken by the Philistines.

4:15-18 Eli is blind.  Eli dies then too at age 98, having judged 40 years, c 1142 BC – c 1102 BC.  4:19-22 Phineas’ son Ichabód (Eli’s grandson) is born prematurely at the death of Phineas & Eli.

Samuel, near age 38, begins his judgeship c 1102 BC, after Eli died.  Adam Clarke Commentary 1Sm.7:15 “Samuel is supposed to have lived 100 years; he did not begin to judge Israel till he was about 40 years of age.”

5:1–6:21 the Philistines kept the ark of God for 7 months (6:1).  Then it was carted back to Israel.

1Sm.7:1 the ark was brought to Kiriáth-jearím (to Abinadáb’s house).  There it will remain for close to 70 years …from c 1102 BC – 1031 BC, when David is ruling in Jerusalem (ref 2Sm.6:2-ff, 1Ch.13:3-7).  Leslie McFall The Chronology of Saul and David “The actual time from the death of Eli to the deposition of the ark in Jerusalem by David was 68 years.”

1Sm.7:2 HCSB “Time went by until 20 years had passed since the ark had been taken to Kiriath-jearim. Then the whole house of Israel began to seek the LORD.”  JFB Commentary 1Sm.7:2 “20 years….that length of time had passed when the Israelites began to revive from their sad state of religious decline.”  Cambridge Bible “20 years was not…the whole duration of the Ark’s sojourn at Kirjath-jearim, but the time that elapsed before the reformation now to be recorded….they were vassals of the Philistines.”

After the 20 years…1Sm.7:3 “Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, ‘If you will return to the Lord with all your heart…and serve Him alone, then He will deliver you from the Philistines.”  Samuel is now around age 58.  He’s been judge for all the elapsed time.  Barnes Notes 1Sm.7:3 “20 years of Samuel’s life had passed away since the last mention of him in 1Sm.4:1. Now he appears in the threefold character of prophet, Judge, and the acknowledged leader of the whole people.”

7:4-14 Israel repents.  The Lord helps them defeat the Philistines at Mizpáh, c 1083 or 1082 BC.  A tenuous peace ensues.

7:13-15 “Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.”  Scripture doesn’t clearly say how many years Samuel judged…he later also advised/instructed King Saul for years.  Philip Mauro The Wonders of Bible Chronology, p.50 “20 years Samuel’s judgeship (1Sm.7:2).”  Ellicott Commentary 1Sm.7:15 “Probably for at least 20 years after the decisive battle of Ebenezer [1Sm.4:1].”  Martin Anstey The Romance of Bible Chronology, v.2, p.20 “Samuel judgeship 20 years.”  Benson Commentary 1Sm.7:15 “For though Saul was king in Samuel’s last days, yet Samuel did not cease to be a judge.”  Institute For Creation Research “Samuel must have judged Israel almost 60 years.”  Haydock’s Catholic Bible Commentary 1Sm.7:15 “As sole judge for 20 years, and conjointly with Saul till he died, almost 100 years old, a year or two before the unfortunate king. Saul put him on a level with himself (1Sm.11:7); and he continued to be regarded as the oracle of Israel ever since he was about 40 years old.”

1Sm.8:1-3 Samuel is getting old at age 58, and appointed his sons to assist him.  Pulpit Commentary 1Sm.8:1 “He was probably not more than 60.”  Samuel had judged solely for 20 years, c 1102 BC – c 1082 BC.  But his sons took bribes and perverted justice.  v.4-5 “The elders said to him, ‘Your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”

Israel doesn’t want Samuel’s dishonest sons to judge…Israel wants a king.  1Sm.9:1-2 Saul appears on the scene.  Speaker’s Commentary 1Sm.9:1 “The sacred historian now tracks another stream of events which were to concur in working out God’s providential purpose of giving a king to Israel.”

10:1–12:1-2 Saul is around age 36 when Samuel anoints him as king, c 1082 BC.  Saul’s eldest son Jonathán is 18 or so.  Abinadab (Ishví?) and Malchishúa are 2 other sons (1Sm.31:2).  Saul’s 4^th son Ishbósheth/Eshbáal is born this year (cf. 2Sm.2:10).  Saul will rule 40 years, c 1082 BC – c 1042 BC.

Paul later wrote in Ac.13:2, “God gave them Saul…a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years”.  Gill Exposition 1Sm.13:1 “There were no less than 3 high priests in his [Saul’s] reign.” (Ahitúb, Ahijáh, Abiathár 1Sm.22:20.)

1Sm.13:1 translations of this verse differ.  The verse isn’t in the Septúagint/LXX.  Saul is around age 36 (some translations say age 30, NASB and ASV say age 40).  James B. Jordan The Problem of Saul’s Reign “Saul was anointed king by Samuel, led the people in a victory over the Ammonites, and was crowned king of Israel…his first year of reign….Saul was probably around 40, since he had a grown son.”  Pulpit Commentary 1Sm.13:1 “He [Saul] must have been at least 35, and perhaps even more.”  Samuel is around age 58.  Eli has been dead for 20 years (so Eli’s grandson Ichabod is age 20).

13:2-3 Saul has reigned 2 years when Jonathan attacks the Philistine garrison.  Saul is 38, Jonathan is 20 (Nu.1:3, 26:2 Israelites must be at least age 20 to go to war).  Saul’s son Ishbosheth is 2.  Samuel is 60.

1Sm.14:3 Ichabod’s nephew Ahijah is priest at this time.  Gill Exposition 1Sm.14:3 “He [Ichabod], it seems, had an elder brother called Ahitub, who died young, and Ahijah was the son of him.”  (Another son of Ahitub was Ahimélech the priest.  Later, Saul had Doég kill Ahimelech and the priests, 1Sm.22.)

David is born c 1072 BC.  Samuel was then 68, Saul was 46, Jonathan 28, Ishbosheth 10, Ichabod 30.

1Sm.14:46-52 many years pass during these verses.  v.49 Meráb is Saul’s older daughter, Michál his younger.  Saul was perhaps 47 at Merab’s birth, and 49 when Michal is born?  Again, Ishbosheth/Eshbaal is Saul’s youngest son, 1Ch.9:39.  (He will later become king of Israel, 2Sm.2:8-10.)

1Sm.15:1-35 after Saul ruled 28 years (he’s now 64) he fails in the Amalekites ordeal and is rejected by God, c 1054 BC.  Samuel will never see Saul again (v.35).  Samuel, age 86, will live 10 more years.

1Sm.16:11-13, 18 Samuel anoints David, “a mighty man of valor” (v.18), to be king, c 1052 BC.  David is around age 20.  Gill Exposition 1Sm.16:11 “He hardly exceeded more than 20.”  Samuel is 88, Saul is 66, Jonathan is 48, Ishbosheth is 30.  Eli has been dead for 50 years (Ichabod would be 50).

17:33-ff David, a youth of 20, kills Goliath.  John Wesley’s Notes 1Sm.17:33 “Not above 20 years old.”    Matthew Poole Commentary “[David] being now not much above 20 years old, as is supposed.”

18:5 “Saul set him [David] over the men of war.”  v.13-16 David at age 21 is a national hero.  v.17-30 he marries Saul’s younger daughter Michal, perhaps age 19.  But father-in-law Saul becomes his enemy.

19:18-ff David (age 22) flees to Samuel (age 90), c 1050 BC.  David will run from Saul for 7–8 years.

25:1 after 6 years, Samuel dies at age 96, c 1044 BC.  Tradition says Samuel died at a very advanced age.  bible.ca/archaeology/ “Samuel died at 90.”  Orthodox Church in America “The prophet Samuel died in extreme old age.” (as did Eli.)  Saul is now around age 74, Jonathan is 56, Ishbosheth is 38.  David, age 28, flees to the wilderness.

27:7-ff David went from the wilderness to the land of the Philistines for 2 years… until age 30.

28:1-25 Samuel has been dead around 2 years.  Saul visits the medium at Endór, wanting her to consult Samuel’s spirit.  Saul hears of his fate.  He and his sons will battle the Philistines…they die the next day.

31:1-2, 6 Saul is killed at age 76, after a 40-year reign (Ac.13:21)…c 1082 BC – c 1042 BC.  His sons Jonathan (age 58), Abinadab, Malchishua die with him at Mt. Gilboa.  J.B. Jordan op. cit. “Saul…died at about 80.”  Greg Hamm How Long Did Saul Reign? “That would make him 78 when he is killed.” bible.ca/archaeology/ “Saul died at 72, Jonathan dies at 57.”  Jonathan’s son Mephibósheth is age 5 (cf. 2Sm.4:4), born when Jonathan was about 53.  Ishbosheth is 40.  David is 30.

2Sm.2:1-7 Saul is dead.  David, age 30, is made king of Judah in Hebrón, c 1042 BC.  v.8-10 Saul’s son Isbosheth/Eshbaal (age 40?) is made king in Israel by Saul’s cousin, general Abnér (1Sm.14:50-51).  v.11 David will reign 7 ½ years at Hebron in Judah, c 1042 BC – c 1035 BC, from age 30 to 37-38.

2Sm.3:1 “Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David.”  5 years.  JFB Commentary 2Sm.3:1 “For 5 years longer; it is probable Ishbosheth was made king upon Saul’s death.”

2Sm.3:26-ff Joáb murders Abner.  2Sm.4:1-12 also King Ishbosheth, Saul’s youngest son, is murdered.

2Sm.5:3-5 “They anointed David king over Israel. David was 30 years old when he became king and he reigned 40 years. At Hebron he reigned over Judah 7 ½ years and in Jerusalem he reigned 33 years over all Israel and Judah.”  David ruled 40 years total, from age 30 to 70, c 1042 BC – c 1002 BC.  He moved from Hebron to Jerusalem c 1035 BC, at age 37.  1Ki.2:10-11 David later dies at age 70.

1Ki.2:12 Solomon (age not specified in scripture) succeeds his father David as king.  1Ki.11:42-43 Solomon also reigned 40 years, c 1002 BC – c 962 BC.  1Ki.4:29-31 God gave Solomon great wisdom.

1Ki.6:1 “In the 480^th [LXX 440^th] year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the 4^th year of Solomon’s reign over Israel…he began to build the house of the Lord.”  Solomon began to build the temple of God in his 4^th year as king, c 999 BC.

However, the Biblical timeline from the exodus to Solomon reflects more than 480 (LXX 440) elapsed years.  Barnes Notes 1Ki.6:1 “The interval between the exodus and Solomon, a period considerably exceeding 480 years.”  Some think that 1Ki.6:1 isn’t counting the approximately 111 years of oppressions during the period of the judges…480 + 111 = 591 years…is closer to the record in Joshua–Judges.  (ref “Chronology: the Exodus to Samuel”.)  And some commentaries view the 480 years (LXX 440) of 1Ki.6:1 as being at variance with Paul in Ac.13:18-20.  But the 480 years of 1Ki.6:1 may not be literal.

ESV Study Bible 1Ki.6:1 “In understanding the 480-year figure (e.g. supposing it to result from 12 generations, with a generation taken symbolically to be 40 years…).”  Wikipedia: Biblical Literalist Chronology “Many numbers in the Bible are figurative, especially ’40’ and its multiples – thus, 480 years before the 4th year of the reign of Solomon (12 × 40 years = 480 years) is not necessarily regarded by them as a literal number having historical value.”

Earlier periods and reigns from Israel’s history may be close approximations, not exact…such as: the wilderness 40 years, Joshua and the elders 40 years, Othniél 40, Ehúd 80, Barák/Deboráh 40, Gideon 40, Eli 40, Saul 40, David 40, then Solomon 40.  In scripture, the number ‘40’ occurs often or typically.  So the 480 (or 440 LXX) years may well be symbolic.

1Ki.11:43 after Solomon, his son Rehoboam reigned as king, but only in Judah.  Rehoboam, age 41, ruled for 17 years (1Ki.14:21) until age 58, c 962 BC – c 945 BC.  He burdened the people (1Ki.12:11).

1Ki.12:16-24 in the 1^st year of Rehoboam, God divided the united monarchy of Israel, c 962 BC.  Thereafter the northern kingdom (ruled by Jeroboám, v.20), consisting of 10 tribes, retained the name Israel.  The southern kingdom of Judah (ruled by Rehoboam), consisting of the other 2–3 tribes, became known as the Jews.  The tribal territory of Benjamin (and most of the Levites) was given to Judah.  Israel and the Jews/Judah became separate nations.  (see “Israelites Identification”.)

To conclude with a digression or overview which spans approximately 1,300 years of Bible history….

Josephus wrote in the latter 1^st century AD.  Antiquities of the Jews 8:3:1 “Solomon began to build the Temple in the 4^th year of his reign, 592 years after the exodus out of Egypt, but 1,020 years from Abraham’s coming out of Mesopotámia into Canáan.”  However, Josephus’ dating isn’t all correct.

In Antiquities chapter 20, Josephus revised/corrected his time period – op. cit. 20:10:1 “The number of years…from the days when our fathers departed out of Egypt… until the building of that temple which king Solomon erected at Jerusalem, was 612.”  The elapsed time was revised from 592 to 612 years.  Later, Josephus again has the revised years in Against Apion 2:2. “Solomon himself built that temple 612 years after the Jews came out of Egypt.”  Calculating from the scriptures, 612 years fits better.

Meyer’s NT Commentary Ac.13:20 “In Antt. xx. 10, c. Ap. ii. 2, he [Josephus] reckons 612 years for the same period, this 20 years more [than 592], which comes still nearer to the statement of time in our passage.”  This commentary indicates that Paul’s timeline (Ac.13:17-ff) may generally agree with Josephus’.

If Solomon began to build the temple c 999 BC, an exodus which occurred 612 years (592 + 20) earlier would have been c 1611 BC.  If we likewise add 20 years to Josephus’ 1,020 years of Antiq. 8:3:1 to arrive at the date Abraham came to Canaan at age 75…that’s 1,040 years prior to c 999 BC…c 2039 BC.

The topic “Chronology: Abraham to the Exodus” used Dr. Martin Anstey’s chart date of 1612 BC for the exodus and 2042 BC for Abraham’s move to Canaan (Anstey op. cit., p. 8).  Those dates match almost exactly Josephus’ (revised) time period of years!

The northern kingdom of Israel was eventually removed by Assyria.  (see “Israelite Deportations by Assyria”.)  2Ki.17:19-24 “Israel was carried away into exile from their own Land to Assyria until this day.”  v.6 “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria settled them in Haláh and Habór, on the river of Gozán, and in cities of the Medes.”  The date accepted by historians is 722-721 BC.

The destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 587-586 BC is a historically confirmed date.  So is the date when Ashurbánipal the Assyrian king sacked Thebes in Egypt, 664-663 BC.

V.C. Lewis The Mystery of Old Testament Chronology Revealed, p. ix (2005) “Nearly all scholars are in agreement today, we have three dates which can be considered accurate both scripturally and historically. These are the dates of 722-721 BC for the captivity of the northern kingdom of Israel, the date of 587 BC for the captivity of Judah, and the date of 606 BC for when Nebuchadnézzar began to reign in Babylon.”  So a date of 721 BC for the exile of Israel’s 10 tribes is also considered reliable.

Josephus Antiquities 9:14:1 “The 10 tribes of the Israelites were removed…800 years after Joshua had been their leader, and…240 years, 7 months, 7 days after they had revolted from Rehoboam.”  Josephus’ time period rounds to 241 years.

The 10 tribes of Israel under Jeroboam revolted from King Rehoboam (of Judah) c 962 BC.  According to Josephus, it was 241 years later when the northern Israel was removed into captivity.  That was…962 BC – 241 = 721 BC…the date confirmed by historians today!  (Also, Joshua and the elders had died by c 1547 BC – c 1532 BC.  That was approximately 800 years before Israel was removed to Assyria in 721 BC.)

The Bible record is the word of God!  Again, exact dates for Abraham and Israel’s most ancient history cannot be confirmed (prior to 721 BC).  The dates in this chronology are approximate, based upon the Old Testament timeline.

Zechariah Son of Berechiah, Mt.23:35

Zechariah is a very common name in the Old Testament (OT).  There are 25–30 men named Zechariah.  The name means ‘Yah Remembers’.  In Mt.23:31-38, Jesus connected Jewish leaders of His day to the murderers of God’s prophets of old.  He said they will kill His prophets and servants.  Jesus referred to a Zechariah among those prophets.  Which Zechariah (Zech) was Jesus referring to specifically?

Mt.23:31-38 is the passage in question.  Jesus accused the scribes & Pharisees. “You’re the descendants of those which killed the prophets. You brood of vipers. I am sending you prophets; some of them you will kill and crucify. That upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on the earth [or Land]; from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariáh [Zacharías in Greek], the son of Berechiáh [Barachías in Greek], who you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. O Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets.”  Also Lk.11:46-51 is a parallel passage. “Woe to you lawyers. That the blood of all the prophets may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who was killed between the altar and the house of God.”

It seems that Jesus’ words were no idiom.  The Jewish nation put to death God’s prophets, innocent victims.  For example 2Ki.24:3-4, wicked King Manasséh of Judah shed much innocent blood.

Why would Jesus link those Jewish leaders to Abel?  The first recorded murder in the Bible is well-known.  Ge.4:8-10 “Cain rose up and killed Abel his brother. The Lord said to Cain, ‘The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.”  Jerusalem Targum Ge.4:10 paraphrase reads, “The voice of the bloods [plural] of the multitude of the righteous that shall spring from Abel thy brother”.  Targum Ónkelos “The voice of the blood of the seed that shall rise from thy brother.”  The scribes & Pharisees didn’t kill Abel.  But Jewish traditional belief held that innocent bloods (which defiled the land, Nu.35:33) collectively continued to beseech God for justice against their murderers (Abot. R Nathan, c. 31).  Also He.11:4 & 12:24, “The sprinkling of [Jesus’] blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel”.  (Mercy is better than vengeance.)  So Jesus too traditionally connected them to Abel.

Four criteria are apparent in the accusation or implication of guilt made by Jesus in Mt.23:

1 Jesus said Zech is the son of Berechiah/Barachias.  This common name meant ‘Blessed of Yah’.

2 Jesus indicated Zech was the last one slain.  Jesus could mean last by order of: the Greek OT (Malachi is the end book), or the Jewish/Tanakh OT (2Chr is now the end book), or the latest murder before Jesus spoke Mt.23, or Jesus prophesied of a final slaying before the temple destruction in 70 AD.

3 The Zech Jesus had in mind is killed between the sanctuary and altar (of burnt offering).  That holy area was located in the inner court/court of the priests (2Ki.21:5, 2Ch.4:9), where only priests (and assisting Levites) were permitted.  So it’s very unlikely Zech was a layman; most likely he was a priest.

4 There’s strong indication that the Zech Jesus meant was a prophet.  Four identifying criteria.

Also we’ll reference secondary texts…Biblical/religious and historical accounts, which corroborate or may serve as confirmation to Matthew’s (and Luke’s) New Testament account.

Of the many men named Zechariah/Zacharias in scripture (and Jewish history), only four seem feasible possibilities or candidates for the Zech/(Zach) Jesus had in mind in Mt.23:35.

The four are: #1 Zech the son of Barúch.  #2 Zech the son of Jehoiadá.  #3 Zech the father of John the Baptizer.  #4 Zech the son of Berechiah or Iddó.  Let’s examine the likelihood of these four, one-by-one.

#1 Zech the son of Baruch.  Josephus wrote of this Zech in Wars of the Jews 4:5:4. “Zealots and Iduméans intended to have Zacharias the son of Baruch, one of the most eminent citizens, slain. Hatred of wickedness was in him. He was a rich man, who had great power to destroy them. He turned his speech to his accusers and went over all their transgressions and made heavy lamentation. Two of the boldest Zealots fell upon Zacharias in the middle of the temple and slew him.”

This #1 Zech/Zach is the son of a Baruch (not Barachias).  He was a prominent citizen, not a priest.  Josephus recorded this man’s final testimony, which may have been viewed in part as prophetic.  This account is a historical witness.  If Jesus was prophesying (Mt.23:35) of the last one to be slain, perhaps this eminent citizen was the last of note before Jerusalem was destroyed?  In 68 AD he was slain by Jewish Zealots in the middle of the temple, not between the sanctuary and altar (off-limits to laymen).  But Jesus probably was referring to a past event.  #1 Zech seems the least likely of the four candidates.

#2 Zech the son of Jehoiada.  His death is recorded in 2Ch.24:17-22. “The officials of Judah bowed to the king. They served idols. The Spirit of God came on Zechariah (LXX Azarías), son of Jehoiada the priest; he stood above the people and said, ‘God has said, ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord? Because you have forsaken the Lord, He has forsaken you.’ So they conspired against him; and at the command of the king [Joásh] stoned him to death in the court of the house of the Lord. As he died he said, ‘May the Lord look upon it and require it.”  He was a priest, stoned circa (ca) 800 BC.

This #2 Zech was the son of Jehoiada, not Berechiah.  Perhaps Jehoiada was Zech’s famous long-lived grandfather (not father) who died at age 130 (2Ch.24:15), or Jehoiada had two names?  That’s conjecture.  Yet many scholars think this #2 Zech is the one Jesus had in mind.  In support of him as Jesus’ Zech is the Pulpit Commentary. “When he died, it is added, he said, ‘The Lord look upon it, and require it.’ This makes his case correspond to that of Abel, the voice of whose blood cried to God from the ground.”  Also Meyer’s NT notes from Jerome’s Commentary on Matthew. “In the Gospel of the Hebrews the wrong name (Berechiah) was carefully avoided, and the correct one, viz. Jehoiada, inserted instead.”  Jerome (400 AD) disputed the father name associated by Jesus in Mt.23:35 (ca 30 AD).

Since 2Ch is the final book in the present order of the Tanakh (Jewish OT), he’s the last Zech slain in today’s Tanakh (but dying in 800 BC, not the last chronologically).  However, there’s evidence that Chronicles wasn’t always the last book in the Tanakh.  For example, in both the Aléppo and Leningrad Codex (the oldest complete Masoretic text of scripture, 1000 AD), Chronicles begins the section of the Hebrew scriptures called the Writings/Ketúvim.  ref Encyclopedia Judaica.  Furthermore, Chronicles wasn’t the last book in Josephus’ 1^st century AD order of books.  Against Apion 1:8 “The remaining four books contain hymns to God and precepts for conduct.”  The last four were Psal, Prov, Eccl, SSol.

Even in the present order of the Tanakh, the last slain chronologically is governor Gedaliáh, in the 580s BC (Je.41:1-2).  That’s more than 200 years later than this Zech #2, son of Jehoiada.  (Zec.8:19 the fast of the 7^th month honored Gedaliah.)  Although scripture doesn’t call the son of Jehoiada (Zech #2) a prophet, he did speak the inspired judgment of God in 2Ch.24:20.  But a prophet slain 200 years later, ca 605 BC, is Uriáh (Je.26:20-24 below).  The #2 Zech was killed by the Jewish people or officials in the “court of the house of the Lord”.  Possibly that occurred in the great court of the first temple (Solomon’s) where the people were allowed (ref Je.26:2, 2Ch.4:9), not in the restricted inner court.  But Jesus said the Zech of Mt.23:35 was killed near the sanctuary and altar…in the priests’ inner court!

2Ch.24 is OT witness to the murder of a Zechariah/Azarias.  Yet if this #2 Zech is who Jesus had in mind in Mt.23:35, He could have said “son of Jehoiada” instead of “son of Berechiah”…but He didn’t!  This Zech #2 fits two or possibly three of the criteria.  He was a priest, and he prophesied by the Spirit of God.  He being the last slain according to a 1^st century AD Tanakh order of books may be a stretch.

#3 Zech/Zach the father of John the Baptizer.  Lk.1:5 “In the days of Herod, there was a certain priest named Zacharias.”  This Zach/Zech was a priest.  v.13 “Zacharias, your wife Elizabeth will bear a son who you will name John.”  He’s the father of John the Baptizer (and is Jesus’ kin via Mary’s family).  v.67 “Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and he prophesied.”  v.68-79 reflects Zach’s prophecy.

The Protevangélion of James (an Infancy gospel, so-called) says Herod’s men murdered him in the temple courtyard.  Prot Jas.16:14-25 “Zacharias replied to them, ‘I am a martyr for God, and if he [Herod] shed my blood, the Lord will receive my soul. Besides, know that you shed innocent blood.’ Zacharias was murdered about daybreak in the entrance of the temple and altar, and about the partition. The priests went into the temple. One of them saw congealed blood next to the altar of the Lord.”  It seems the soldiers of King Herod trespassed by entering the court of the priests.

Orthodox Church in America “The Holy Prophet Zachariah and the Righteous Elizabeth were the parents of the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John. They were descended from the lineage of Aaron: St Zachariah, son of Barach. In these tragic days St Zachariah was taking his turn at the services in the Temple. Soldiers sent by Herod tried in vain to learn from him the whereabouts of his son. Then, by command of Herod, they murdered this holy prophet, having stabbed him between the temple and the altar (MT.23:35).”  And Orthodox Wiki “The holy prophet Zachariah, a priest in the Jerusalem Temple, was the son of Baruch, from the lineage of Aaron.”

The early theologian Origén (185–254 AD) thought Jesus had in mind this Zech #3.  So did Orthodox patriarch Peter I of Alexandria (300 AD).  Also Bishop Serápion The Life of John the Baptist “O pious Zacharias! In the time when the soldiers of Herod came….they killed him inside the Temple, the priests shrouded his body and placed it near that of his father Barechiah in a hidden cemetery, from fear of the wicked [king]. Titus, the Emperor of the Romans, came and destroyed Jerusalem and killed the Jewish priests for the blood of Zacharias, as the Lord ordered him.” (from A. Mingana Woodbrooke Studies: Christian Documents in Syriac, Arabic, and Garshuni, vol 1, Cambridge 1927, pp. 138-287.  Woodbrooke dates Serapion’s text to 385–395 AD, probably composed in Greek.)

The slaying of Zach/Zech #3 may have been the last of note before Jesus spoke His words recorded in Mt.23?  However, the death of the prophet John the Baptist in Mt.14:10 precedes Mt.23, yet probably occurred later than the death of his father Zacharias.  So the murder of John was perhaps last of note.

This #3 Zech fits most all the criteria.  He’s a prophet, a priest slain between the temple and altar, and is a son of Barechiah.  That is, if traditional accounts of his place of death and father’s name are correct.

#4 Zech the son of Berechiah (and the grandson of Iddo).  Ne.12:1, 4, 7, 16 “These are the priests and Levites who returned with Zerubabbél…Iddo…these were the heads of the priests and their relatives; of Iddo, Zechariah.”  As we’ll see below, he’s actually the grandson of Iddo, a chief priest.  Iddo may have been a more notable figure than his son Berechiah, or Berechiah could have died young.  Zech #4 returned from Babylon in the 530s BC.  In 520–518 BC he wrote the first part of the Bible book that bears his name.  Seventy years after the 586 BC destruction of the first temple and captivity, the second temple was completed in 516 BC.  (see the topic “Temple of Zerubbabel”.)  Ezr.6:14-16 “Zechariah the son of Iddo.”  He’s the last Zech (died 480s BC?) in the Greek OT order (became the LXX/Septúagint), which is also the order of books in most of our Bibles today (e.g. KJV).  And Matthew often quoted the Greek OT.

Zec.1:1 KJV & LXX “The word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo [Addo].”  The same is in v.7.  Zech #4 says he’s the son of Berechiah, and the grandson of Iddo.  This Zech is also the next-to-last OT prophet-writer (chronologically too).  Malachi is the last.

Targum on Lamentations is an Aramaic rendering/commentary dating from the early centuries AD.  TgLam.2:19 “Arise, O Congregation of Israel dwelling in exile. Pour out like water the crookedness of your heart and turn in repentance. And pray in the synagogue before the face of the Lord.”  TgLam2:20 “Is it right to kill priest and prophet, as when you killed Zechariah son of Iddo, the High Priest and faithful prophet in the Temple of the Lord on the Day of Atonement because he admonished you not to do evil before the Lord?”  TgLam.2:22 “You will declare freedom to your people, Israel, by the hand of King Messiah just as you did by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”  TgLam.1:19 “Jerusalem said, when she was delivered to Nebuchadnézzar, ‘I called to my friends, the sons of the nations, with whom I had made treaties to come to my aid. But they deceived me and turned to destroy me.’ (These are the Romans who entered with Titus and the wicked Vespasian against Jerusalem.)”  TgLam.4:22 “And after this your iniquity will be finished, O Congregation of Zion, and you will be freed by the hands of the King Messiah …, and the Lord will no longer exile you. And at that time I will punish your iniquities, wicked Rome, built in Italy and filled with Edomites.”  This TgLam asserts that Jews killed Zech #4, (grand) son of Iddo (and writer of the book of Zechariah), in the temple.

Also Tátian’s Diatéssaron gospel harmony (170 AD). “That there may come on you all the blood of the righteous that has been poured on the ground from the blood of Abel the pure to the blood of Zachariah the son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.”  And Irenáeus refs Mt.23:35 in Against Heresies, Book 5:14:1 (180 AD). “All righteous blood shall be required which is shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, who you slew between the temple and the altar.”  So Mt.23:35 “son of Berechiah/Barachias” isn’t a later copyist error.

This #4 Zech fits all four criteria at face value…he’s the son of Berechiah, the last slain in the Greek OT, a priest, a prophet.  Although there’s no OT verse noting the death of Zech #4, there are traditional accounts of it.  For that matter…there’s no OT verse about Michael disputing with the devil in regards to Moses’ body either (Jude 9).  Nor are there any verses in the OT (Ex.7:11 or elsewhere) which cite Jannes & Jambres in Egypt (2Ti.3:8).  Yet Christians accept those persons as fact.  TgLam.2:20 saying Zech the descendant of Iddo was killed is significant, and thereby may further identify Jesus’ Zech.

There’s another Jewish tradition, which says the prophet Zechariah “died peacefully at a great age” (Lives of the Prophets 15:6).  Yet George Klein’s Zechariah “The Old Testament doesn’t record anything about the martyrdom of Zechariah the prophet, but rabbinic literature from the early Christian period suggests that ‘Zechariah son of Berechiah’ was murdered.”  And scholar Gleason L Archer in Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, “We can only conclude that the later Zechariah died in much the same way the earlier one (the son of Jehoiada) did, as a victim of popular resentment against his rebuke of their sins”.

In the book of Zechariah, it may be unclear whether the prophet, writing in 1^st person, means himself or Someone future.  e.g. Zec.12:10 “The inhabitants of Jerusalem…will look upon me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him.”  Gordon Churchyard Commentary “The dead man may be a prophet. Or it may mean the Lord.”  Zec.13:6 “What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then I will say, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.”  Cambridge Bible note “As given him by his parents, from whose righteous indignation he had escaped wounded, when they went about to kill him (Zec.13:3).”  Pulpit Commentary “It seems most probable the answer is intentionally false and misleading; as if he had said, ‘The wounds were not made as you suppose, but are the result of what happened to me in my friends’ house.”  In His beloved house/nation.

Did Zech #4 the prophet-priest know that he himself would be slain, and therefore his prophecy have a dual fulfillment?  Then perhaps his book reflects both himself and Jesus condemned as a false prophet.

Also consider Isaiah’s prophecy.  Is.8:1-2 “The Lord said, ‘I will take to Myself faithful [Strongs g4103 LXX, Greek] witnesses [martyr g3144 LXX] for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of JeBerekiáh.”  The LXX reads, “Zacharias, son of Barachias”.  Is.8:2 doesn’t read “son of Jehoiada”.  Gill Exposition “Read Berekiah (ref Babylonian Talmud Maccot 24.2).”  Is.8:2 names two faithful witnesses, Uriah and Zechariah.  Benson Commentary “Persons of unquestionable reputation.”  Two victims.  cf. Re.2:13 “Antipas, My faithful [g4103] witness [martyr g3144] who was killed among you.”

First, Uriah the priest.  There was a priest named Uriah in 2Ki.16:10-16, living around 720 BC.  But he wasn’t faithful to God.  Geneva Bible Is.8:2 footnote “Uriah was a flattering hypocrite, 2Ki.16:11.”  JFB Commentary Is.8:2 “Uriah, an accomplice of Aház in idolatry (2Ki.16:10).”  Barnes Notes “In 2Ki.16:10, he was a man of infamous character…corrupting the true religion.”  (also cf. 2Ch.28:21-25.)  This Uriah was unfaithful to God, dubiously having the integrity to fulfill Is.8:2.

But there’s another Uriah, the prophet found in Je.26:20-24. “Who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiáh from Kiriáth-jearím; he prophesied against this city [Jerusalem] and this Land words similar to all those of Jeremiah. King Jehoiakím slew him.”  This Uriah was a true prophet, killed ca 605 BC.  Gill Exposition Is.8:2 “The Jewish commentators Járchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Abarbinél would have Uriah the prophet meant, who prophesied in the time of Jehoiakim and was slain by him, Je.26:20-23.”  This Uriah was the son of Shemaiah.  There was Shemaiah the Levite who served King Josiah in the first temple, 2Ch.35:9.  Mark Leuchter The Prophets and the Levites in Josiah’s Covenant Ceremony “Uriah of Je.26 presents a priestly Levite image…Uriah and Jeremiah addressed their own priestly kin.”  So the prophet Uriah in Je.26:20-23 is a priest, as the Uriah in Is.8:2 is a priest.  And he became a victim, due to his prophetic witness in the name of the Lord.

The second named in Is.8:2 is Zechariah the son of JeBerechiah (Barachias, LXX).  From Difficult Sayings “The Targum on Isaiah inserts the assertion that this was the as yet unborn prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah.”  Rabbi Ákiva “Uriah was [in the time of] the First Temple, and Zechariah was [in the time of] the Second Temple! The Torah makes Zechariah’s prophecy dependent upon Uriah’s prophecy.”  Isaiah linked the (martyrs) prophets-priests Uriah and Zechariah.  Davar Akher writes, “Ecclesiastes Rabba (3:16), for example, speaks of both Zechariah and Uriah being murdered in such a fashion and the connection of the two names together is indicative of the fact that we are speaking of the Zechariah who served as a witness for Isaiah. This would mean that, along with the Rabbinic sources, Matthew’s gospel is equating Isaiah’s witness with the prophet named Zechariah – despite the fact that they lived hundreds of years apart.”  These sources are saying that Isaiah prophesied in Is.8:2 of the Zech #4 who would write the book of Zechariah 200 years later.

Conclusion: Based on the four criteria, the most likely Zechariah son of Berechiah who Jesus had in mind in Mt.23:35 is either…Zech #4 the prophet-priest who wrote the book of Zechariah, or Zech/Zach #3 the father of John the Baptizer.  And Zech #2 the son of Jehoiada is (possibly a close) third.

Also, it’s not inconceivable that Jesus used the very common name/character Zechariah as a composite representation in Mt.23:35, melded to exemplify the murders historically done by the Jewish nation to some of God’s prophets.

Female Roles in the Early Church

Gender roles determine how males and females should think, speak and interact in society.  Over 60% of adult churchgoers in the USA are women.  This topic surveys God’s word as we consider female roles & functions in the apostolic church.

To begin, let’s consider a few women in the Old Testament (OT).  First, Ge.1:26-27 “God created man in His own image [and likeness], in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”  It takes both male and female, both genders, to complete the image and likeness of God!

In the Bible, the books of Ruth and Esther are named for women.  Also Judith, Susanna and additions to Esther are in the apocryphal books.  Esther was a queen in the Persian Empire.

However, we read of no females in the OT holding positions in the priesthood, tabernacle/temple, or synagogue!  The priesthood or religious authority in ancient Israel consisted of only the male descendants of Moses’ brother Aaron (Ex.28:1), within the tribe of Levi.  There were no female priests.

Besides Ruth and Esther, we see other notable women in the OT.  In Ex.15:1, 20-21 Moses’ older sister Miriam led the women in dancing. (cf. 1Sm.18:6-7)  After the men sang, she followed the men with a refrain to honor God.  She was a “prophetess” and leader of women, here doing public dance and praise.  Pulpit Commentary Ex.15:20 “Prophetesses [so-called] were common in Egypt at a much earlier date.”

Judges 4–5 is the account of the prophetess Deborah, a woman (or wife) of Lapidóth.  Deborah was a civil judge, the only female judge in scripture.  Jg.4:4-6 “She sat under the palm tree of Deborah and the sons of Israel came to her for judgment.”  Deborah’s palm tree was an ancient version of a judge’s courthouse.  She settled disputes and rendered judgments for the fledgling ‘nation’.  People came to her (this wasn’t a synagogue or a church).  Barák’s timidity led to Deborah’s action in Jg.4.  She and Jaél (Jg.4:21-23) were heroines.  Deborah wasn’t associated with God’s tabernacle or priesthood.

In 2Ki.22:12-20 and 2Ch.34:20-28 is the account of the prophetess Huldáh.  Her husband (or son, ref Septúagint/LXX 2Ki.22:14) held a royal court position.  She had a school for women in Jerusalem and was a relative of Jeremiah, according to the Talmud (Meg. 14b).  Jeremiah preached repentance to the men; she preached repentance to the women (Pesik R. 26).  While Jeremiah was away from Jerusalem, she was asked to prophesy.  In 2Ki.22:14, representatives of the king “went to Huldah; now she lived in Jerusalem, the 2^nd Quarter.”  They communed with her privately in her sector of the city.  This wasn’t in the ‘house’ of the Lord, the temple.  Nor was this in a synagogue.

2Ki.22:15-20 “She said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, I will bring evil on this place. Because they have forsaken Me. But to the king [Josiah] of Judah, you shall be gathered to your grave in peace.”  (No conditional ‘if’.)  God’s judgment came upon Judah, as she said.  But King Josiah died in war, not in peace (2Ch.35:20-25)!  Some Bible scholars view her prophecy as false in that regard (cf. De.18:22).  However, Josiah ignored God’s words (2Ch.35:21-22).  It ended badly for both king and nation.  Whatever her accuracy, Huldah wasn’t associated with the temple or priesthood.

Noadiáh was a so-called prophetess who tried to intimidate Nehemiah.  Nehemiah said in Ne.6:14, “Remember Tobiáh and Sanballát, and Noadiah the prophetess who were trying to frighten me”.  Nehemiah speaks of this (false?) prophetess among those his enemies.

Bible historians say a prophet’s wife was also called a ‘prophetess’ (as a mayor’s wife may be called a ‘mayoress’).  The prophet Isaiah wrote in Is.8:3, “I approached the prophetess and she conceived”.  Pulpit Commentary “Titles were given in the East to the wives, daughters, etc., of officials, which merely reflected the dignity of their husbands, fathers, etc. Even Miriam seems to be called a prophetess (Ex.15:20) from her close relationship to Moses, rather than from any supernatural power that she had.”  However, scripture indicated the judge Deborah heard from God (Jg.4:6).

In the 900s BC, God’s temple grounds had a court for priests (no women), and a great court for all to worship (2Ch.4:9).  In Herod’s temple, females gathered in the Court of the Women.  They weren’t allowed in the Court of Israel (accessible only to circumcised men), the Court of the Priests, or the sanctuary proper.

Let’s see what the New Testament (NT) reveals about women in the synagogue or church assembly.  We read of the prophetess Anna in Lk.2:36-38.  This elderly Israelite widow spoke of the infant Jesus in the Court of the Women.  There was a separation of the sexes, etc. in Herod’s temple courts.  Alfred Edersheim & Phillip Schaaf attest to a separation of sexes in the synagogue.  A women’s gallery was at the north end of synagogues.  Several years ago my wife & I visited an orthodox synagogue in our city.  Even as visitors, we weren’t allowed to sit together…females are required to sit in a separate section.

A literate, competent female was allowed to do scripture readings in some early synagogues.  Many synagogue practices were carried over into the church, made up of Jewish Christians and gentiles.  The church is even called by the Greek term synagogue in Ja.2:2. “If any man comes into your synagogue [Strongs  g4864] dressed in fine clothes….”  (also see the topic, “Synagogue Influence on the Church“.)

Continuing with prophesying…Ac.2:17-18 (quoted from Joel 2:28-29), “Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, My servants and handmaidens [g1399]”.  In Lk.1:38, 46-48 the betrothed virgin Mary exulted the Lord to Elizabeth, calling herself His handmaiden.  Ac.21:8-9 “Philip the evangelist had four virgin daughters who did prophesy [g4395].”  Where at?  Probably Luke’s mentioning their prophesying meant more than them reflecting the dignity of their father the evangelist.

Anna, Mary, and Phillip’s daughters are females identified as prophesying in the NT.  They were either unmarried or virgins.  1Co.7:34 KJV “There is a difference between a wife [woman, guné g1135] and a virgin.”  The status of unmarried daughters, maidens, damsels, virgins, divorcees, widows differed from that of wives.  The head of a single female living at home is her father, whereas the head of a wife is her husband (Ep.5:23).  Fathers/husbands were, in that sense, between her and God.  I would think a single female who prophesied may do so after she is married with children (Ro.11:29?).

Synagogue practices at Corinth were brought into the Corinthian church.  Ac.18:1, 4, 8, 17 Sosthénes and Críspus were synagogue rulers in Corinth who became Jewish Christians (1Co.1:1, 14).  The letter of 1Corinthians was from Paul and Sosthenes (1:1).  1Co.11–14 has to do with the church assembly or meeting.  The Greek term for “assemble/come together” (g4905) occurs seven times here. 1Co.11:17-18, 20, 33-34, 14:23, 26.  Over 70% of today’s churches abide by the following NT guidelines:

1Co.10:1, 11:33, 12:1, 14:6, 20, 26-33, 39-40 refers only to brethren (adelphós g80), not sisters (adelphé g79)…in church.  (In contrast, see Ja.2:15 on the needs of both brethren & sisters outside church.)  1Co.14:26 “Brethren when you assemble.”  v.31 only brethren can prophesy to the church!

What about the women in church?  Paul wrote in 1Co.14:34, “Let the women keep silent in the churches; for they aren’t permitted to speak [laléo g2980]. But let them subject themselves [g5293], just as the Law also says.”  Women/wives are to be silent in regards to prophesying/preaching (or teaching) to men in church.  That was still the rule also in the orthodox synagogue I visited.  Apostolic Constitutions (latter 300s AD) compared the church to the synagogue. “And let the women sit by themselves, they also keeping silence.”  Yet in Ep.5:19 females may be “singing songs, hymns and spiritual songs”.  Singing praise to God in church isn’t prophesying to or teaching men.

Vines Expository re the Greek term for “speak” (laleo g2980). “It is used several times in 1Co.14; the command prohibiting women from speaking in a church gathering (v.34, 35) is regarded by some as an injunction against chattering, a meaning which is absent from the use of the verb everywhere else in the NT. It is to be understood the same as v.2, 3-6, 9, 11, 13, 18-19, 21, 23, 27-29, 39.”

Their silence in the Corinth church was also necessary due to the influence of heathen prophetesses at the oracle of Delphi across the bay.  Gill Exposition “They could all prophesy, except women (v.31, 34).”  Pertaining to ‘in church’, that is.

1Co.14:34 Vines Expository re the Greek word in “women subject themselves [hupotásso g5293]”. “A military term, to rank under.”  This word is also used in 1Co.15:27-28, Lk.10:17, and elsewhere.  Greek Bible scholar Spiros Zódiates says it means “to place in an orderly fashion under”.  Likewise in 1Pe.3:1, Peter says (as Paul also said), “Wives, subject yourselves [g5293] to your own husbands”.

In 1Co.14:34, Paul refers to the Law.  After the first woman in scripture (Eve) had been deceived, God commanded in Ge.3:16. “Your husband shall rule over you.”  She was to be subject.  Paul knew of that passage.  It’s not just a cultural thing (ref Adam & Eve), and not just a situation at Corinth.

Paul also said to Timothy at Ephesus.  1Ti.2:12-15 “I don’t allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. It wasn’t Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived fell into transgression.”  Paul reasons based on Ge.3:16.  We see that the principle affecting women in NT epistles long predates the 1^st century cultural context.  So women aren’t to teach adult males in church.

And it’s not because women may be less educated.  Ge.3:16 applies universally.  With Adam & Eve it wasn’t about ‘education’.  For that matter, Jesus’ original 12 disciples were mostly un-educated (men)!

In 1Co.14:34, wives are to hold their peace and not prophesy or preach to or teach men in church.  Paul goes on in v.35. “Let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful [g149] for a wife to speak in church.”  Paul writes pointedly.  This Greek term g149 aischrón, rendered disgraceful/shame, occurs only a few times in the NT.  In Ep.5:12 e.g. “Don’t participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness. It is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.”

Paul’s guidelines in 1Cor.14 weren’t just his opinion.  Continuing in v.37-38, “Recognize that the things I write to you are the Lord’s command. But if anyone doesn’t recognize this, he is not recognized.”  A sobering statement!  Robertson’s Commentary “There is no doubt at all as to Paul’s meaning here.”

Again, there were no female priests in Israel.  In the OT, there were no women sitting among the elders (h2205) of the gate in Israel.  And of Jesus’ original 12 apostles…none were females.

Paul’s instruction (the “Lord’s command”) wasn’t just a cultural issue for Corinth.  Ac.18:19 Luke wrote of a synagogue at Ephesus.  Later Paul writes to Timothy, who’s in Ephesus (1Ti.1:3).  Again, 1Ti.2…Paul writes in v.8-9, “I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands. Likewise women [g1135]….”  Men and women both prayed & praised with hands lifted up (ref Ac.1:14, 12:12, 16:13 women praying).  v.10-11 “Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness [g5292].”  Requoting 1Ti.2:12, “But I don’t allow a woman to teach [g1321 didásko] or exercise authority over a man.”  Again, this was in church (outside, some men work for a female manager).

This term didasko/g1321/teach occurs 97 times in the NT.  The only other verse where g1321 refers to a woman/wife g1135 is Jezebel in Re.2:20, “Who calls herself a prophetess [g4398]”.  And they tolerated her to teach immorality!  A false prophetess/teacher in the Thyátira church (cf. Noadiah, Ne.6).

Paul wrote authoritatively in 1Ti.2 (and 1Co.14)!  Dr. Zodiates says the term teach g1321 there means “to instruct, to influence. A wife should display a tranquil spirit in her attempt to learn.”

This topic would be too lengthy if I were to include all verses containing other koiné Greek terms closely related to g1321/didasko/teach.  Related terms are: g1317 didactikós, g1318 didaktós, and g1319, g1320, g1322.  However, in every occurrence of those terms in the NT…never was a female teaching!

Paul wrote in 1Co.11:3, “I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a wife [woman g1135], and God is the head of Christ”.  As the men don’t teach Christ, man’s Head…the wife/woman in church doesn’t teach the man, her head.

A husband in Israel even had the God-given authority to annul a vow made between his wife and the Lord Himself!  see Nu.30:3, 6-8, 10-13.  God so validated the husband’s decision & authority!  Peter noted in 1Pe.3:6, “Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord”.  Paul & Peter recognized the man-woman roles and the order God has set in motion.  Men may teach & have authority over men, but women aren’t to do so to men in church.

Who may women teach?  Ti.2:3 “Older women are to be teaching what is good (g2567).”  This is the only NT occurrence of the term g2567 kalodidáskalos.  v.4-5 “That they may train [g4994, sole occurrence] the young women [wives] to love their husbands, to love their children, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God not be dishonored.”  Women are to teach younger women and youths.  Pr.29:15 “A child left to himself brings shame to his mother.”  Women may teach or preach to other females.

The Greek verb for prophesy is g4395 propheteúo.  It can mean “to foretell events, inspired speaking”.  We already saw Paul’s instructions in 1Co.14:31-40 regarding prophesying in church.  The brethren may prophesy, but not the women to men.  Paul said this ruling was the “Lord’s command” (v.37)!  In 1Co. 11:5, Paul addressed the matter of women prophesying elsewhere, with heads covered.  This guideline was perhaps his reaction to the 1,000 priestesses/prostitutes (with hair short) at Aphrodíte’s temple in nearby AcroCórinth.  Women aren’t restricted from praying or prophesying in public.  Paul wouldn’t purposely contradict himself in the same letter!?  1Co.14 is about the church assembly.

There are other women specifically named in the NT.  Priscilla/Prisca (Latin) and her husband Aqúila are together mentioned six times.  Three times Aquila is named first, and three times Priscilla is named first.  Ac.18:24-26 “He [Apollós] began to speak out boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained [ektíthemi g1620] the way of God more accurately.”  Vines defined g1620, “To set out, expose circumstances”.  This term appears in Ac.11:4 as Peter related his vision in sequence.  Apollos came from Alexandria, Egypt.  Robertson’s Commentary “Priscilla gave Apollos the fuller story of the life & works of Jesus and of the apostolic period to fill up the gaps in Apollos’ knowledge. Privately so as to not cause an embarrassment.”  Priscilla didn’t prophesy or explain this in a synagogue/church meeting!  Ro.16:3-5 Prisca & Aquila became hosts.

Ro.16:1-2 Cenchreá was located 7-10 miles from Corinth, in the harbor.  The sister (g79) Phoebe was a patroness able to help others, a servant (diáconos g1249), and perhaps a widow.  Being “able to teach” wasn’t a qualification for a diáconos/deacon g1249, but was for an overseer, 1Ti.3:1-13.  The goodly order of elder ecclesiastical widows aged 60+ (under male eldership) were enrolled in church support, 1Ti.5:1-2, 9-10.  They gave back by ministering to widows & orphans (a precursor is Ac.6:1-3).  These presbytéral ladies supervised/taught younger women, Ti.2:3-4.  Ac.9:36-42 Dorcás may have been one.

Lk.8:3 Joanna, Susanna and other patronesses contributed support.  Ac.16:14-ff Lydia was a well-to-do businesswoman who became the first convert in Europe.  No verses show any of the above ladies teaching or preaching to men in church!

Ro.16:7 “Greet Andrónicus and Junían, my kinsmen, who are of note among the apostles.”  Were they husband & wife housechurch hosts esteemed by apostles, or was this a Junías or Junía, a male or female apostle?  Translations differ.  Some Bible historians think the Greek name referred to the male Junias, not the female Junia.  Órigen referred to this person as Junias, male.  Chrýsostom thought she was Junia, female.  Epíphanius considered this to be Junias, a man, the bishop of Apameía in Syria.  Bible scholarship on this is mixed.  However, in Ro.16 there’s nothing about them teaching or prophesying.

What other women?  In Lk.1:39-56, Mary prophesied privately to Elizabeth.  Jn.2:5 has the so-called commandment of Mary, spoken at a wedding. “Do what He [Jesus] tells you to do.”  2John is a personal epistle addressed to a lady and her children (v.1).  Some think she was Mary.  Or she was Martha (cf. Jn.11:1), and the children of Martha’s deceased sister Mary also sent greeting (2John 13).  There’s nothing about the lady herself teaching or prophesying.

In the centuries following, other females of note have appeared.  To mention a few: In the 1100s AD, Hildegard of Bíngen was a visionary Benedíctine abbess/physician in Europe.  Barbara Newman Sister Of Wisdom, p.3 “Never did she [Hildegard] suggest that, as a woman, she had any ‘right’ to teach and prophesy in the Church. Nor did she claim an equality with men.”  Hildegard spoke of the weak church leadership of her day, p.241. “Although they [the clergy] ought to submit to God’s commandments as a woman to a man, they [clergy] rebel because there is no man to rule them.”  Newman wrote on p.247, “Hildegard actively supported the exclusion of women from the clergy”.

Around 1700 AD, the contemplative Madame Guyon promoted ‘quietness’, that a person should pray continually.  Aimee Semple McPherson was an immensely popular evangelist who conducted faith healing demonstrations in Los Angeles and her tent meetings in the early 1900s.  Kathryn Kuhlman was another evangelist who held healing crusades from the 1940s–1970s.  These did much public preaching.  During the 1900s, Mother Theresa was a missionary to the poor in India, doing notable charitable works.  That’s just a few.  It’s not my place here to appraise these historical figures.

Concluding: I see no Bible verse where a female is prophesying to or teaching men in church (or synagogue), in either the New or the Old Testament!  Women weren’t overseers of men as pastors or shepherds of churches in scripture.  Within mixed groups in church, the leaders were men.  That’s understandable.  A situation where the Christian husband is being taught in church by his ‘pastor’ wife would be contrary to scripture.  And a man’s wife as the object of attention of other men sitting in the congregation possibly can lead to problems; also if she’s looked to shepherd or counsel men.

Even back in Is.3:12, the prophet regretfully wrote, “As for My people, youths are their oppressors and women rule over them. O My people, your leaders cause you to err.”  A sad state of affairs.

But in the account of the Acts 15 Jerusalem council, scripture indicates only men are present…no women as leaders there.  Again, Paul said in 1Co.14:39 for in-church, “Brethren, desire to prophesy”.

Sisters do reflect the Holy Spirit, and may evangelize and be missionaries outside the church.  Sisters minister through: prayers, music, dance, encouragement, comforting, financial aid, hospitality, charity, as deaconesses, teaching women/children, testimony, evangelism, missionaries, prophesying elsewhere.

Again, the majority of churchgoers in this country are females, not males.  And 70% of churches still do abide by most of the above scriptural guidelines.

But the more recent aberration of women pastors teaching and preaching to men in some churches of Western Christianity…doesn’t get its authority from the Bible!  Instead, it’s a modern cultural thing.

This isn’t about chauvinism or a competition of men versus women.  It’s about what the Bible reflects.

Yet…it’s a wise man who will listen to/heed his wife’s input and advice on home & family matters, prior to his making a final decision.  The virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 is a good home/property manager.  Males and females, with their respective roles, are both made in God’s image & likeness and complement each other.  Men and women are both heirs of eternal life (1Pe.3:7).

Women/wives who will personally adhere to the Bible admonitions regarding female roles in church will be respected and honored!  Scripture reflects many godly women who were admired and beloved!

Jesus Obeyed God’s Written Laws

In the Old Testament (OT), the Hebrew term which is usually translated “law” in our Bibles is toráh (Strongs h8451).  It occurs 220 times.  Torah is instructive teaching with a wide range of meaning.  The BC Jewish translators of the OT into Greek (now become the Septúagint/LXX) translated torah as nómos (g3551), which means ‘law’.  Nomos occurs 240 times in the LXX, and 200 times in the New Testament (NT) where it usually refers to a body of law or the first five books (Péntateuch) of the OT.

God’s OT written word includes: laws, the Lord’s Testimony (edúth h5715) Decalogue on Mt Sinai, commandments (mitzváh h4687), judgments/legal decisions (mishpát h4941), ceremonial statutes or ordinances & civil decrees (choq h2706 & chuqqáh h2708).  Ne.9:13 the Lord God “Came down on Mt Sinai and spoke to them from heaven; and gave them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments”.  In De.4:8, “this whole law” includes all the above. However, by NT times most of God’s precepts were generally called commandments (entoláy g1785, Greek).

According to Jewish rabbinic tradition, there are 613 laws or commandments in the Pentateuch.  Of these, 248 are positive ‘do’s’ and 365 are negative ‘don’ts’.  Rámbam (1138-1204 AD) listed 613.  That number is disputed.  Wikipedia: 613 Commandments “Some rabbis declared…that it was not logically possible to come up with a systematic count. A number of authorities denied that it was normative.”

Theologians have divided God’s laws into three broad categories: moral, civil or judicial, ceremonial.  There’s some overlap.  Did Jesus disobey any of the Lord’s written injunctions, His requirements?

God’s foundational moral code was the Testimony of Ex.20 & De.5, the ‘10 Commandments’ so-called.  Actually, the expression ‘10 Commandments/10 Mitzvót’ (h4687) never occurs in the Hebrew Masoretic text!  The Decalogue was the ‘10 Words’ (dabár h1697) or ’10 Sayings’.  ref De.4:13.

From the Decalogue the Lord gave to Israel…Jesus affirmed in Mt.19:18-19 that you shouldn’t commit murder or adultery, you shouldn’t steal or bear false witness; and honor your father & mother.

Jesus honored His heavenly Father.  Jn.8:29 “I do always those things which please Him.”  Lk.2:49-51 Jesus said He must be about His heavenly Father’s house/affairs/business.  Yet Jesus continued to be in subjection to Mary & Joseph, His earthly parents.  Jn.19:26-27 while hanging on the cross, Jesus entrusted the care of Mary to His cousin the apostle John.

Jesus didn’t commit murder or adultery.  Jesus didn’t steal.  Lk.19:30-35 Jesus needed a colt.  Without objecting, the colt’s owners let two of Jesus’ disciples take the colt.  It wasn’t a criminal act.

Jesus didn’t lie.  Jn.7:8-10 although Jesus delayed leaving for the Feast right then with them, He did go to it.  Gill Exposition Jn.7:10 “The Ethiopic version reads, ‘He went up that day’; which is very likely, Jn.7:14 though He didn’t go to the temple to teach till the middle of the feast.”  He is the truth, Jn.14:6.

Neither did Jesus wrongly covet/desire.  Ex.20:17 “You shall not covet.”  Jn.6:15 Jesus even withdrew from the multitude who wanted to make Him a temporal King Messiah then.

It doesn’t appear that Jesus disobeyed any of God’s Testimony, the 10 Words, the 10 Commandments!

Some may think that Jesus neglected to perform all the applicable ceremonial or sacrificial aspects of God’s written word given to Moses/Israel.  Most Christians aren’t knowledgeable about details of ancient Israel’s ritualistic practices, though we do see references & glimpses of them in the NT.

Jesus Christ wasn’t remiss in ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic Law.  Christ Himself, as the Word of God (Jn.1:1, 14) and Rock of Israel (De.32:18 & 1Co.10:4), had sanctioned it for Israel!  (see the topic “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.)  There’s no scriptural evidence which indicates that Jesus sinned or violated this aspect of His written Law or torah.

What is sin?  Scriptural ‘definitions’ of sin:  Ro.14:23 “Whatever is not of faith is sin [hamartía g266].”  Ja.4:17 “The person who knows the right thing to do, and does it not, to him it is sin.”  1Jn.5:17 “All unrighteousness is sin.”  And 1Jn.3:4, “Sin is the transgression of the Law [or lawlessness].”  That’s four NT descriptions of sin.  Also Pr.24:9 “The thought of foolishness is sin [chattáh h2403].”

Did Jesus the Christ commit any sins?  The Jewish NT writers said Jesus didn’t sin in any manner!  The apostle Peter wrote in 1Pe.2:22, “Christ did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth”.  John wrote in 1Jn.3:5, “In Him is no sin”.  He.4:15 “Jesus was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”  That’s the assertion coming down to us from three Jewish Christian writers!  Jesus didn’t transgress the Lord’s written Law/torah.

And well Jesus should have obeyed written torah.  Mary/Miriám, the young woman who bore Him, was a Jewess from the Israelite tribe of Judah.  He.7:14 “It is evident that our Lord [Jesus] sprang from Judah.”  In Jn.4:22, Jesus Himself indicated He was a Jew. “We worship that which we know, for salvation is of the Jews.”  God’s written laws were for Israelites, including the Jewish Mary and Jesus.

Jesus/Yeshúa must obey the laws for male non-Levites, that is.  Laws which applied only to females, or to the service of Levites and priests, didn’t apply to Jesus.  Jesus wasn’t a priest from the tribe of Levi.

Let’s examine the gospel narratives in some detail, and in so doing compare Jesus’ words & actions with other laws of God which were given to Moses/Israel.  The following is from the scriptural record:

Beginning with the family of the infant Jesus before His human birth, His Uncle Zacharias and Aunt Elizabeth were blameless (Lk.1:5-6).  Mary was favored by God, and she believed the amazing words of the angel Gabriel spoken to her about her Son (Lk.1:30-38)!  Her husband Joseph, Jesus’ Jewish legal father, was a just man (Mt.1:18-19).  These relatives weren’t habitual breakers of written torah.

After Jesus was born, Joseph & Mary had Him physically circumcised on the 8^th day (Lk.2:21).  This was in obedience to the command given to Moses in Le.12:3 for Israelite male newborns. “On the 8^th day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.”

Lk.2:22 after the male birth, Mary was away from the temple during her required days of purification, in obedience to Le.12:4.  Then appearing at the temple, in Lk.2:23-24 they offered a required sacrifice to obey Le.12:8. “She shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons.”  Jesus the firstborn son was presented to the Lord (Lk.2:22) in accordance with Ex.13:2. “Sanctify to Me every firstborn among the sons of Israel.”  Written torah was closely adhered to by them.

Then during Jesus’ childhood, Lk.2:41-42 “His parents used to go to Jerusalem every year for the Passover”.  This in obedience to De.16:5-6. “You are not allowed to sacrifice the Passover in any of your towns; but at the place where the Lord chooses to establish His name.”  Later as an adult, Jesus’ disciples made preparation in Mk.14:12 to eat the sacrificial Passover with Him as commanded. “When the Passover was being sacrificed.”  In Jerusalem, not in Galilee.  Another ceremonial observance was reflected in Jn.7:2, 10-14 where Jesus was attending the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkót at Jerusalem.  In obedience to De.16:16, “All your males shall appear” at the one singular place of the Lord’s choice.

Some Bible readers regard God’s dietary laws as a mixture of moral and ceremonial directives.  It’s not loving one’s neighbor to feed them unclean parasitic or carcinogenic creatures.  (see the topic “Unclean versus Clean Food”.)  Jesus said in His parable of Mt.13:47-48 that they gathered-in the good fish but cast away the bad fish.  Pulpit Commentary Mt.13:48 “This included the legally unclean.”  Obeying the Lord’s guidelines of Le.11:9-10 which defined clean & unclean, “All [sea creatures] that have fins and scales you may eat”.

In Mt.17:24-27, Jesus paid the poll/temple tax for Peter (and Himself).  Ex.30:13-14 had required this tax.  And in Mt.23:23, Jesus told Jewish Pharisees they should pay tithes stipulated by written torah, even on their garden crops…tithes holy to God (Le.27:30).

What about sacrifices?  Some OT sacrifices were voluntary options, others were commanded.  In Mk.7:11-13, Jesus reprimanded scribes & Pharisees for their having chosen to do voluntary sacrifice (korbán, Hebrew, e.g. Le.1:2) to God, instead of responsibly honoring their aging parents (Ex.20:12).  Individual burnt offerings were voluntary (Le.1).  Many grain offerings were voluntary (Le.2).  Many peace offerings were voluntary (Le.3).  Three types of peace offerings are identified in Le.7:11-ff; thank, votive, freewill.  (also see “Passover and Peace Offerings”.)

As to whether or not Jesus brought such individual offerings…is a non-issue.  Because…those offerings were voluntary, not commanded.  (That is, unless some incidental matter such as a Nazarite vow was involved, of which there’s no NT account of Jesus ever taking such a vow.)

The individual sacrifices of Le.4-6 for sin & guilt weren’t voluntary or optional in the sense other types were.  These were offered by the offending Israelite for atonement and forgiveness, e.g. Le.6:1-7!  (see “Day of Atonement”.)  Although sin & guilt offerings were expiatory for forgiveness, they too were a personal non-issue for the person who hadn’t sinned.  And the NT writers said Jesus never sinned.

In Nu.15:37-39, the Lord commanded Israelite men to wear fringe or tassels (g2899 LXX) on their garment hem.  (ref De.22:12, Zec.8:23.)  This was to help them remember His commandments/mitzvot.  Mt.23:5 scribes & Pharisees pridefully lengthened their tassels (g2899), perhaps to show their supposed ‘rank’.  In Mt.9:20-22, a woman diseased with an issue of blood touched the tassels (g2899) on Jesus’ garment.  Jesus didn’t disobey this ceremonial tassels requirement.  And He healed the woman.  (cf. Lk.8:44, Mt.14:36, Mk.6:56.)

If Jesus had close physical contact with someone He healed from an issue of blood, then perhaps He became ritually unclean…until He washed at evening (Le.15:25-27).  But such ritual uncleanness wasn’t sin.  Becoming ritually unclean could even be mandatory!  A man must properly attend to his father’s dead body, for example.  Even priests did so (Le.21:1-3).  A corpse is unclean (Nu.19:11).  Attending to a close relative’s corpse reflects compassion and honor for the deceased…which isn’t sin.

In Mk.1:40-44, Jesus healed a leper and told the healed leper to “Go show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded”.  This was to obey that which God had instructed Moses in Le.13:1-2, 17. “If the infection has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean”.

Leprosy was infectious and lepers were to be quarantined (ref Le.13:44-46, 5:3).  The priest was a type of ‘health inspector’.  However, I know of no written torah which clearly forbad touching a leper.  Again, it wasn’t always a violation to touch an unclean person.  Doing so could just make you unclean until you went through the proper ceremonial procedure and the required time elapsed.

In the OT, only two individuals are named who were healed of leprosy…Miriam the Israelitess (Nu.12:10-15) and the gentile Naamán, general of the opposing Syrian army (2Ki.5:1-14).  But not one Israelite man!  (Moses’ brief ordeal was a sign, Ex.4:5-7.)  Bible historians say 1^st century Jews therefore came to believe that only the Messiah could heal an Israelite man from leprosy.  Jesus did so!

Also 1^st century Jews believed only the Messiah could heal a man blind from birth.  In Jn.9:1-7 there was a man blind from birth.  Jesus’ disciples thought the man was born blind because he’d sinned in a prior life, or else his parents had sinned.  But Jesus said this blindness was so the works of God would be displayed in him.  Perhaps the man had blind faith…the Son of God healed him!  Praise God!

But it is understood that Jesus didn’t observe all the Jews’ oral law traditions.  And in Mk.7:7-9, Jesus castigated scribes & Pharisees for favoring the traditions of men above the written commands of God!

Returning to the account of the man born blind…out of love and compassion, Jesus gave him sight, applying clay & spittle.  But after questioning the man who now could see, Pharisees said in Jn.9:13-16, “This man [Jesus] is not from God, because He doesn’t keep the Sabbath”.  Because Jesus had “made” clay on the sabbath (v.6, 14), those Pharisees viewed His act as a breach of rabbinic sabbath laws.  T. Hieros Sabbat 14.4 “It is forbidden to put fasting spittle even on the eyelid on a sabbath day.”

Historians say the Jews had 39 categories of burdensome man-made sabbath laws (with even further detail)!  But those were merely the commandments of men.  Jesus’ action didn’t violate the written law of God.  And even the famous 1^st century rabbinic schools of Hillél and Shammái differed over points of traditional observance.  (Ti.1:14 Paul too warned about Jewish “commandments of men”.)

Jesus healed a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  Jesus asked those who would accuse Him in Mk.3:1-5, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?’ But they kept silent.”  They failed to give Jesus a good answer.  Matthew Henry Commentary Jn.9:16 “On the sabbath…works of necessity and mercy are allowed.”

Jesus customarily went to synagogue on the sabbath day.  Le.23:3 “On the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation.”  Jesus obeyed God’s Decalogue sabbath command.  And of Jesus’ commitment in Lk.4:16, “As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read”.  Jesus regularly attended synagogue on the 7^th day sabbath.

It’s not that all traditional observances are wrong.  Most every culture has some good traditions.  In Jn.10:22-23 e.g., Jesus is seen in Jerusalem at the temple during the man-made festival of Hánukkah.  This “Feast of Dedication” or ‘Festival of Lights’ was ordained by the Jews in the 160s BC to commemorate the re-dedication of the temple.  Hanukkah is a tradition which doesn’t contradict God’s written word.  So Jesus the “Light of the World” (Jn.8:12) was at the ‘Festival of Lights’.

To conclude…I find nothing in the Bible that clearly indicates Jesus ever sinned by violating God’s written word or torah/Law.  And Jesus Himself said in Jn.15:10, “I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love”.

Previously I quoted Jewish NT writers who said Jesus never sinned.  Also Paul wrote in 2Co.5:21 that God…“Made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us”.  Jesus knew no sin.  So Christ became that which He did not know…sin!  He became a sin offering.  Jesus became sin and the offering for sin…both.  For our sake.  In the OT type, the substitute animal sacrifice was regarded as sin-bearing.

OT sacrifices have ended (He.10:5).  They, and ceremonial rituals of the Mosaic law, are unnecessary for Christians!  Without a physical temple, it’s no longer possible to perform most rituals correctly.

The Bible indicates Jesus didn’t break any of God’s written laws!  Jesus affirmed them.  Jesus didn’t disobey God’s written torah or Father God.  The fact that Jesus never sinned is crucial to our salvation!  If Jesus had transgressed God’s law and sinned, we’d have no Savior.  But we have a legitimate Savior!  The sinless Christ died for the sins of the Israelites, and for the sins of all mankind.  Thanks be to God for His Son!

Fire From Heaven!

God’s Holy Spirit power is symbolized and manifested by natural phenomena such as: wind, water or rain, oil, the dove…fire.  As I was doing devotionals on the morning of 05/23/2006, I began to receive revelation about God’s holy fire!  While at work that day I began writing it down, as able.  Then on the evening of the day of Pentecost 06/03/2006, my son Timothy mentioned Holy Spirit (HS) fire.  And on 06/24/06, my 3-year-old grandson Gabriel even said, “Holy Spirit is fire”!

Fire and light are interrelated.  1Ti.6:16 God dwells in unapproachable light which physical eyes cannot see!  Ex.33:20-23 the Lord told Moses no man can see the glorious brightness of God’s face and live.

Fire was sometimes present while God interacted with the ancients.  In Ge.15:7-10, 17-18, the Lord had a flaming torch pass among the sacrificial pieces as He ‘cut a covenant’ with Abrám.  Ex.3:1-6 the Messenger of YHVH appeared to Moses in a burning bush which didn’t burn up.  Ex.13:21-22 the HS led ancient Israel in pillars of cloud and fire.  De.4:10-15, 24 Christ had spoken the Decalogue from the midst of fire atop the mountain or volcano.  He is awesome…the genuine fire-God of Light!

Remarkably, the Lord commanded Moses/Israel that the fire on the altar (for burnt offerings, etc.) in His central sanctuary complex was to never quit burning!  Le.6:8-13 “Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out.”

What made this fire so significant, that it should never be extinguished?  That very fire supernaturally came forth from God!  Le.9:23-24 “The glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Then fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offerings. The people saw it and fell on their faces.”  Fire from the Lord fell upon His altar…amazing!

The priest was to put wood to burn on the altar every morning, so that fire wouldn’t go out (Le.6:12).  That continual fire, originating from God, was to be used for their communal sacrifices.  No substitute fire was authorized!

Le.10:1-2 Nadáb & Abihú (sons of Aaron the priest, and nephews of Moses) were even supernaturally put to death for not using God’s holy fire (the flames on the altar) with their offering!

Tradition says a glowing, burning coal from God’s holy fire (Le.9:24) was carried in a special vessel all during their wilderness wanderings.  So that fire wouldn’t completely go out.  It was then rekindled on the altar, when the tabernacle was set up at the next encampment.

On the annual Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year, the high priest must take incense with coals of that fire into the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary, lest he die!  Le.16:12-13 “He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar, and bring it inside the veil.”  (see “Day of Atonement”.)

God authorized His pilgrim feasts be kept only at the central sanctuary, where God’s fire burned on the altar.  This was where Christ the Lord ‘dwelt’ above the cherubim atop the ark! (ref De.12:11-12, 14:23, 16:11; 2Sm.6:2; 2Ch.6:38; Ps.80:1.)  Those feasts were to be kept at no other location or altar; only at the sole place where God’s Name and holy fire was.  (Eventually that place was Jerusalem.)

Jsh.22:10-34 although the Israelite tribes east of the Jordan River built a large monument of witness which resembled an altar, no national or festal sacrifices were done there.  It wasn’t rebellion or an alternative site.

Fire from God fell elsewhere in the Holy Land on occasion (but not for Day of Atonement or pilgrim feast purposes).  Individual common altars were allowed for the private worship of YHVH, if they weren’t made from cut stones (ref De.16:21 & Ex.20:25).  Jg.6:19-21 supernatural fire consumed Gideon’s offering in the presence of the Messenger of the Lord.  Jg.13:18-21 the messenger of YHVH ascended in the flame of Manóah’s offering.  God’s Messenger or Name was there for the above two offerings.  (Ge.4:4-5 possibly fire had fallen on Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s.)

1Ch.21:26 fire from heaven fell upon David’s burnt & peace offerings on Mt Moriáh (2Ch.3:1)!  In 1Ki.18:36-39, fire fell from heaven and consumed Elijah’s burnt offering at Mt Carmél!  (see the topic “Mountaintop Experiences With God”.)  In 2Ki.2:11-12, Elijah himself went up to heaven by fire.

But neither Gideon, nor Samson’s father Manoah, not even Elijah, nor anyone in the Old Testament or New Testament was authorized to keep pilgrim feasts away from the city of the national sanctuary altar!  see the topic “Feasts of the Lord and the Jews”.  Israelites brought their sin & guilt offerings to the sanctuary at pilgrim feast times.  All sin & guilt offerings…and most burnt, grain and peace offerings…must be sacrificed at that one altar of holy fire!  They were most holy (ref Ex.40:10; Le.2:10, 6:17, 14:13).  see “Sacrifices and Burnt Offerings”.

However, at some point prior to King Solomon, the sacred fire from heaven on the central sanctuary altar was no longer kept burning by the priests.

So…heavenly fire fell again on the altar at Solomon’s dedication of God’s Temple (circa 990 BC)!  2Ch.7:1-3 “When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house.”  Fresh fire from God!  The glory of the Lord was so great on this occasion, the priests couldn’t stand to minister (2Ch.5:13-14)!

After Solomon’s reign, King Jeroboám of the northern kingdom of Israel disobeyed God by wrongly setting up a false feast in Bethél…apart from the altar of holy fire in Jerusalem.  As Jeroboam attempted to offer other fire, his hand withered and his Bethel altar was supernaturally split apart!  (ref 1Ki.12:32-33, 13:1-5.)  1Ki.13:4-5 “His hand dried up so he could not draw it back to himself. The altar was split apart and the ashes poured out.”  The Lord didn’t authorize His feasts at any location separate from His sanctuary holy fire!

But when the temple was destroyed in 586 BC by Nebuchadnézzar, the holy fire on the altar was again extinguished.  The Jews were sent into captivity to Babylon.

Many decades after the captivity, Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem from Persia.  Miracle fire (from naphtha) once again burned sacrifices on the altar.  ref 2Mac.1:18-35.  A wood offering was mandated for Jews returning to Jerusalem, to keep that altar fire burning (cf. Ne.10:34 & Le.6:12).

The Orthodox Study Bible comments on 2Mac.1. “This is a letter from Jews in Jerusalem to Jews in Egypt concerning Hánukkah…which celebrates fire and light.”  Hanukkah is the annual 8-day feast in December which commemorates Judas Maccabéus’ rededication of the temple ca 165 BC.  Since it isn’t one of God’s pilgrim feasts, the man-ordained Hanukkah (also called the Feast of Lights) may be celebrated away from the city of the sanctuary altar (Jerusalem).  This December festival became a simulation of sorts or a substitute for the 8-day October pilgrim Feast of Booths/Feast of Tabernacles (FOT) for Jews living too far from Jerusalem…since keeping a FOT away from the central sanctuary/altar would violate God’s written word.  see “Feast of Booths”.

Le.23:39-42 native born Israelites in the Holy Land were required to dwell in booths at the FOT.  Some Jews in Egypt went up to Jerusalem for pilgrim feasts, e.g. Ac.2:10.  But many Jews in the diáspora never could afford the long journey.

Even Philo of Alexandria (in Egypt) went to Jerusalem only once in his entire life (ref On Providence 2.64, p.755)!  Jews aren’t allowed to keep a FOT in Alexandria or Cairo!  Zec.14:16-18 keeping an (October) FOT in Egypt would violate God’s written law…it must be kept in Jerusalem only.  The 2Mac.1 letter comforted & exhorted those Jews in Egypt to just rejoice in keeping Hanukkah, instead of bemoaning there’s no (authorized) FOT in Egypt!

{Sidelight: Interestingly, from 500–400 BC a Jewish temple for offerings stood at Elephántine in Egypt.  And from 170 BC a Jewish temple for offerings stood at Leontópolis/Heliópolis in Egypt, until the Romans destroyed it in 73 AD.  It is uncertain whether Is.19:19-20 pertains to one of these temples.  Perhaps both were the substitutionary works of religious men?}

Fire also purifies, and it symbolizes the HS.  Is.6:1-8 Isaiah’s lips were purified by a burning coal from the Lord’s heavenly altar.  Mal.3:1-3 prophesied the Lord (Jesus) would purify as the refiner’s fire.  In Jn.5:33-35, Jesus referred to John the Baptizer, a type of Elijah, as a “burning lamp”.  Mt.3:11-12 John the Baptizer said that Jesus would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  The fire relates to purifying, anointing, and destroying.

Ac.2:1-4 the Holy Spirit anointing was given in Jerusalem on Pentecost as tongues of fire.  v.14-18 Spirit-filled believers would have dreams & visions and will prophesy!

Fire from heaven was also sent upon the ungodly.  e.g. Ge.19:24 fire was sent on wicked Sodom & Gomorrah.  2Ki.1:9-15 fire was sent upon the soldiers who were deployed to capture Elijah.

Ezk.22:20-31 prophesied the fire of God’s wrath upon greedy prophets & priests who are unfaithful to the Lord’s commands and who speak falsely.  He.12:29 “Our God is a consuming fire.”

I’ve seen Christian author Tommy Tenney speak a few times.  In The Godchasers, 1998, p.1-16, he related his 10/20/1996 experience of witnessing the acrylic pulpit in a Houston church be split in half by a lightning bolt from God!  (www.evanwiggs.com/revival/history/penpulp.html)   After reading Tenney’s description of the amazing incident, it brought to mind Jeroboam’s altar that split apart in ancient Bethel/Israel (1Ki.13:5)!  The split altar of Jeroboam was a powerful sign of God’s disapproval.

Was the split pulpit in that Houston church a sign of God’s disapproval of some people present?  Was God’s presence there a sign of His approval of others present?  Both?  Tommy Tenney indicated that he himself wasn’t as affected physically as some others were.  It seems the Houston manifestation caused awe & reverence in the hearts of Tenney and ones close to God…but terrified those who desperately needed to repent.  The Lord wants His people to repent of all sin, and to seek His face!

My father told the story of a big tornado which hit eastern Illinois in 1917, shortly before he was born.  Some of the cattle were even picked up by the winds and set down in Indiana across the nearby Wabash River!  The local rural church was completely demolished by the tornado, all walls blown away.  Except…only the pulpit remained intact.  It was standing there with the Bible still open to the same page where the preacher had left it the previous Sunday!  The word of the Lord endures forever.

Returning to my initial remarks…After I’d arrived to work that morning of 05/23/2006, the annual fire drill was unexpectedly sounded throughout the building a few hours later!  It seemed fitting.

May the Lord purify our hearts, and empower us with burning zeal from the Holy Spirit!  And the day will come…when we will be able to see His face and His glory in eternity!

Jesus Is the Messiah

There have been 50 false Messiahs in Jewish history.  Jesus warned in Mt.24:5, “Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many”.  None of them fulfilled more than a few prophecies.  Yet there are more than two dozen Old Testament (OT) prophecies about the real Messiah!

The Hebrew term Mashíach (Strongs h4899) is rendered “Messiah” in English (Messías g3323, Greek).  An ‘anointed one’, a ‘Chosen one’, ‘Savior’ or liberator.  A Greek counterpart term is Chrístos g5547, “Christ” in English.  In the OT…the offices of high priest, king, prophet were anointed positions.

Some Jews believed in two coming Messiahs.  Messiah ben/son David, the ruler; Messiah ben Joseph, the sufferer (Is.53).  Jewish anti-missionaries don’t believe Yeshúa/Jesus is the prophesied Messiah.  Ac.28:23 Paul tried to persuade those at Rome “concerning Jesus from both the Law and the Prophets”.  Here I’ll focus on just a few OT prophecies about the Messiah; they show that Jesus is the Christ.

#1) Jesus’ virgin birth.  Is.7:14 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive”!  A virgin conceiving would surely be something to behold, something so remarkable!  Whereas it is commonplace for young women to conceive naturally.  In the old Greek version (translated by Jews, now our Septúagint/LXX), the term rendered/meaning virgin was parthénos g3933.  In Nashville, TN there’s a replica of the Parthenon, so named because it represents the ancient temple shrine in Athens of the supposed virgin goddess Athena.  The Is.7:14 prophecy cannot be about King Hezekiah.  Hezekiah was at least 9 years old (cf. 2Ki.16:2, 20, 18:2) when Isaiah visited Hezekiah’s father King Aház (Is.7:3) and foretold the future (miraculous) birth of the Child!  Lk.1:31-35 Luke recorded Mary affirming to the angel Gabriel that she is a virgin (parthenos g3933).  Mary will give birth to Jesus/Yeshua.  (see the topic, “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.)

#2) Messiah was to be both a descendant of David…and YHVH.  Je.23:5-6 “Behold”…This is another astounding thing God would do!  God will “raise up for David a righteous Branch”, the Name/shem (Hebrew) of Whom will be “Yahweh our righteousness”!  (This wonder will be accomplished via the virgin birth.)  The Targum Jonathán says this Branch is the Messiah.  Also the Talmud Lam Rab.1:51 indicates the Branch is Messiah.  Barnes Notes Je.23:6 “Messiah is here called Yahweh.”  God said in Ps.2:7, “You are my Son, I have begotten You”.  God begat the Son.  Ps.2:7 doesn’t refer to David; Jesse (not God) begat David.  Jesus is YHVH since His Father God begat Him.  God begets God, as kind begets kind (ref Ge.1).  Yet Jesus is also a fleshly descendant of David, since Mary bore Jesus.  Lk.3:23, 31-34 shows Jesus’ genealogy as a descendant of David.  (see “Jesus’ Genealogy”.)  The Messiah Jesus didn’t come through the line of Solomonic kings.  Rather, Mary & Jesus descended from the branch of Nathan, Solomon’s brother.  Zec.12:10-12 it was prophesied that wives (e.g. Mary) and family who descended from Nathan would mourn when Jesus was pierced (Jn.19:34-37)!

#3) Messiah to be born in Bethlehem.  Mic.5:2 anciently Bethlehem of Judah was called Éphrathah.  Although there was also a Bethlehem of Zebulún in Israel (Jsh.19:15-16), more anciently the Bethlehem in Judah was called Ephrathah, Ge.48:7.  (also Ru.1:2, 4:11, 1Sm.17:12.)  The prophet Micah identified the specific Bethlehem.  Rachel’s tomb is there.  Targum Jonathan says Mi.5:2 refers to the Messiah coming from Bethlehem.  Also the Jerusalem Talmud Berakoth 5a. “The King Messiah, from whence does He come forth? From the royal city of Bethlehem in Judah.”  1Sm.20:6 Bethlehem in Judah was the city of David and his family clan.  Lk.2:4-7 & Mt.2:1 Bethlehem of Judah was also the birthplace of Jesus, the son of David!

{Sidelight: A brief aside…Bethlehem today has a population of 25,000.  Most are Muslims.  But it also has one of the largest Palestinian Christian communities.  However, before Israel became a state in 1948, Bethlehem was 85% Christian!  But Arab Christians have been departing due to growing Israeli settlements and military checkpoints, terrorism, and the proliferation of Islam.  Land that has been owned by families for generations is being confiscated.  Today Bethlehem is less than 20% Christian.}

#4) Jesus is in the order of Melchisedek.  Ge.14:18-20 Melchisedek was both king and priest.  In Ps.110:1-5, David prophesied about two Lords/YHVHs and the order of Melchisedek.  Jesus is YHVH, and He is ruler/king and priest, as Melchisedek.  He.7:1-4 Melchisedek had neither beginning of days nor end of life; no genealogy.  (Noah’s son Shem had genealogy, Ge.5:32 & 10:22.)  He.7:14-17 the Lord Jesus’ office is in the order of Melchisedek.  He.4:14 Jesus is Priest (cf. 1Ti.2:5).  Jn.18:37 Jesus is King.  Is.9:6-7 Isaiah, who prophesied of the virgin birth, also wrote that the Child will be the righteous King on the throne of David in the Kingdom government.  see “Melchisedek Order Priesthood”.

#5) The name of the Melchisedekian king Messiah would be…Yeshua.  Mt.1:20-23 the given name of Isaiah’s prophesied Emmanuél (“God with us”) is Yeshua/Jesus.  Zec.3:8 before 500 BC, a Jewish high priest named Yeshua (“Jesus” as transliterated from the LXX) was as a symbol for the Messiah/Branch (ref Je.23:5).  Zec.6:11-13 “Yeshua…Behold, a man whose name is the Branch.”  That high priest’s name, Yeshua/Jesus, would also be the name of the Branch/Messiah!  And He will occupy the two offices of priest and king in the order of Melchisedek.  How amazing this is!  More than 500 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, it was prophesied by Zechariah that the given name of the Branch/Messiah would specifically be Yeshua/Jesus!  God knows the end from the beginning.

There are many more OT Messianic prophecies which Jesus fulfilled.  He is the ‘anointed one’, the “Chosen One” (Lk.23:35, Is.42:1).  Jesus is High Priest (He.4:14), King (Jn.18:37), Prophet (De.18:18, Mt.21:11, Lk.7:16).  Simon Peter’s brother Andrew said in Jn.1:41-42, “We have found the Messiah [g3323]”.  He found Jesus the Christ.  Have you found Him, or, has He found you yet (Lk.19:10)?

1Jn.2:22 “Who is a liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ [g5547].”  The Jewish anti-missionary view is erroneous.  The above scriptures about Jesus as YHVH/God and Messiah also reveal and confirm the efficacy of our salvation.  He’s the Savior.  Jn.11:49-53 before they crucified Jesus, the Jewish high priest Caiáphas prophesied, saying one had to die for the people.  Contrary to his prophecy, Middle Ages rabbis claim (human) sacrifice isn’t needed!  2Sm.12:13-14, 18a David’s innocent infant son died, so David didn’t die in his own capital sins.  That’s a type of substitutionary human sacrifice.  Jn.8:23-24 believe Jesus is I AM/God, or else one dies in his own sins!  No longer is there a central sanctuary for sin/guilt offerings to expiate sins, as done in Le.4-6.  Besides, without the general availability of the Holy Spirit in ancient Israel, man’s proclivity to sin still remained dominant even after sacrifices for sin were offered on Yom Kíppur.  (see “Day of Atonement (1)”.)

As YHVH Lord (Je.23:6, Ac.20:28), the lifeblood Jesus shed is worth more than enough to pay the price for the sins of all mankind!  God’s justice is thus served!  Ancient Jewish thought believed the unified God included the Word/Logos/Mémra (who is Messiah, cf. Jn.1:1) in the one/echád Godhead.

1Jn.1:7-9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive our sins.”  Father God forgives our sins and views us as just/righteous in His sight.  1Co.6:9-11 such sinners were we…but now we’re justified, reconciled, and in right standing with God, due to Jesus’ sacrifice.  1Ti.2:3-6 God wants all to be saved.  High Priest Jesus, as Son of God/Son of Man, serves as mediator between the Godhead and mankind.  Our propensity to sin no longer rules us; we’re like a new person.  1Jn.5:10-13 he who believes in the Son of God and His sacrifice has eternal life.  God has done this for us through Jesus the Messiah!