Watch: Parasha Lech Lecha: Step Out in Faith!
B’reisheet (Genesis) 6:9-11:32, Yeshayahu 54-55:5, Luqa (Luke) 1:5-80
Shalom and welcome to this week’s Parasha Lech Lecha, which means to go forth. If you have ever been curious as to what it practically looks like to step out in faith, there are numerous examples of what this looks like in Scripture.
This week, we are going to learn from Abraham’s example and how he stepped out in faith or how he went forth in faith. The call for Abraham to leave his father’s house and to go to a land that Yahweh would show him. How He would make him into a great nation. How He would bless him and make his name great. And how anyone who should curse Abraham would also be cursed by Yahweh, but anyone who blesses Abraham would also be blessed by Yahweh.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 12:1-3
1 “Now Yahweh had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
We will study and learn how Abraham’s example of faith is also how we are to walk out our faith as well. We will see a lot of connections to the Renewed Covenant with Abraham, and we will also see and learn how faith comes first, and then the covenant relationship. Because without faith, it is impossible to please Elohim. Without faith, our eyes cannot even be opened to see and accept the Covenant.
We will also study and learn about who Melchizedek is and how he is compared to Yeshua.
In this parasha, there are going to be a lot of really neat connections made. So stay tuned as we study Yahweh’s word.
In our Torah portion this week, we start off with the call of Abraham. and with the call of Abraham there is a lot of material to unpack.
When Yahweh called Abraham out of his father’s house, there are two ways of looking at this. Both of which I think are correct, but just two different viewpoints of the same coin.
First, in a very general and broad spiritual sense, when Abraham left his father’s house, this is very much like us (whether we are Jew or Gentile). This is very much like us when we are called out of the world of sin and into righteous living through Yeshua. Because apart from faith, none can please Elohim.
Ivrim (Hebrews) 11:6
6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to Elohim must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Another way of saying this is, whomever comes to Elohim must believe in their heart and confess with their mouth that He is the one and only Elohim. The Creator and Giver of Life. Whoever comes to Elohim must also believe that He rewards those who truly love Him, and it is by our faith that we are rewarded.
Scripture is very clear about what faith is and what it is not. If we claim to have Yahweh and the Torah but we deny Yeshua, then we do not have true faith. If we claim to have Yeshua (or Jesus) but reject the Father’s Torah, then we do not have true faith. We cannot have one without the other.
Here are a few verses to back up what I am saying.
Yochanan (John) 5:23
23 “That all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:17-18
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
In the same way that Abraham was called out of his father’s house, we too are called out of our father’s house (the house of Satan or the house of lies). Prior to a humble repentance, we were enemies of Yahweh. It is only after that we are born again that we become a new creation in Yeshua.
Romin (Romans) 5:10
10 “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to Elohim through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
A second way of viewing the calling out of Abraham is very much like what is going on today. More and more people are responding to Yahweh’s call to come out of their father’s house of lies in Christianity.
I am sure what I just said might come as a surprise to many since Christianity is the most popular form of the faith today. I say it is the most popular form of the faith today because it is not the original faith that has elements of truth from the original faith, just as Judaism also has elements of truth from the original faith but it is not the original.
Right here in Jude 1 and verse 3, Jude writes, “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which is once for all delivered to the saints”.
Yehudah (Jude) 3
3 “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”
What Jude is implying here is that even in the first century, which is as close as you can get to the original faith, they still had problems with believers departing from the faith in mixed worship.
Jude writes to tell them that, “Hey I get it. you are saved. I am saved.” All who call in the name of Yeshua are saved. But if we are to work out our faith with fear and trembling as it is written there in Philippians 2:12, then we should all be contending earnestly for the original faith that Yeshua delivered to His disciples.
The problem with mixed worship or diluting the original is that eventually the further you get away from the original, the more corrupt it becomes. Before you know it, you will have a faith that leads many astray because of the deceit and lies that are deeply rooted in it. Then you end up with a doctrine that pleases the flesh and ears of sinners rather than to convict and lead to repentance. After all, this is the same sort of deception that Satan used in the Garden and continues to use today.
If we read verse 4 of Jude, we see that it says, “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, when righteous men who turned the grace of our Elohim into lewdness and deny the only Yahweh Elohim and our Master Yeshua Messiah”.
Yehudah (Jude) 4
4 “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our Elohim into lewdness and deny the only Yahweh Elohim and our Master Yeshua Messiah.”
In other words, what Judah is saying is that there are unrighteous (or sinful) men who are going around perpetuating this myth or this lie that “because Yahweh has extended His hand of grace towards us, we are free to live life as we want, regardless of what the Torah says. Regardless of what Scripture says”.
This is what I call an abused or perverted grace-doctrine.
Verse 5 then goes on to say, “But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that Yahweh, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe”.
Yehudah (Jude) 5
5 “But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Master, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
What Judah is trying to say is that when our ancestors were freed from the land of Egypt, Yahweh was extending His hand of grace towards them. Because our ancestors were not perfect. They were also sinners. Just as Yahweh performed His miracles, Yeshua also performed His miracles. Just as Yeshua was crucified as our Passover lamb to save us, Yahweh also had our ancestors perform the Passover just before leaving Egypt and saving them.
So we see that Yahweh extends His hands of grace first and expects us to respond in faith. Then He goes on to issue the terms of the Covenant.
In the same way that our ancestors abused the grace of Yahweh in the wilderness by continually defying Him and not obeying Him in faith, He had all the ones who lacked faith die in the wilderness. Because of their lack of faith (or trusting) in what Yahweh had said, they too denied Yahweh Elohim and it was considered evil in the eyes of Yahweh.
Bemidbar (Numbers) 14:35
35 “I Yahweh have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.”
So if we too continue to abuse the grace of Yahweh that was gifted to us by His Son Yeshua (by doing things that the Torah says not to do), and we continue to reject the simple truth that the Torah still applies to believers today in the Renewed Covenant, then we are guilty of the same disbelief and rebellion that our ancestors displayed in the wilderness. The only ones who made it to the Promised Land out of that wicked generation were Joshua and Caleb.
In this wicked generation, will we be like Joshua and Caleb? Or will we end up as those that died for their lack of faith?
By now I am sure you may be wondering how all of this connects to Abraham and his father’s house. As we covered last week in Parasha Noah, mankind knew of Yahweh and what faith would have looked like or should have looked like. After the flood, the world was repopulated by Noah and his children. And Noah and his children were considered righteous before Yahweh.
That would mean all of mankind knew who Yahweh was (or at least they should have) and what righteous obedience would have looked like. Whether or not they actually obeyed Yahweh, had faith in Him, and were considered righteous, that is an entirely different story.
Not too long after the days of the flood, the people rebelled against Yahweh in building of the Tower of Babel. Yahweh had told them to be fruitful, multiply, and spread across the earth. Yet mankind chose to rebel by gathering in one location and build the Tower of Babel to honor and glorify themselves. Then Yahweh had to come down and confuse the language of the people so that they would do as He commanded which was to spread about the earth, be fruitful, and multiply.
After Yahweh had confused the language of the people and they spread themselves out, I would imagine that the people continued in their rebellion by creating many false elohim in the form of animals, weird combinations of man and beast hybrids, and gave them multiple different names depending on the culture they came from.
I am sure Abraham’s father’s house was no stranger to this as well. I am sure they engaged in polytheism (and these are just my thoughts), but I think they line up well with Scripture. I am sure Yahweh was one of many Elohim to Abraham’s people in the land of the Chaldeans.
I am sure there are probably other people that Yahweh spoke to, but Abraham obeyed the voice of Yahweh and had faith in Him as the One true Elohim (that is the key difference). Yahweh was calling Abraham out of his father’s house which was full of lies, paganism, and idolatry, while the rest of his family (or the rest of his father’s house) was very comfortable to remain in the lives of paganism (which is very similar to Christianity today).
When Abraham obeyed the call of Yahweh to leave his father’s house, it was a call to true faith, love, and obedience to the Creator which Yahweh desires for all of us even today. This is the faith that Yeshua came to deliver to the saints once and for all that was spoken about in Jude’s letter.
Judaism has elements of truth in it, but has picked up and retained many different lies, pagan customs and traditions, and even some idolatrous practices. And have instituted them in the faith. Moreover, they have taken man-made commandments and elevated them to the same authority as Yahweh’s commandments thus repeating the same sin that mankind has always done (which is to elevate themselves instead of remaining humble).
That was what Yeshua came to preach against. This is also why the Pharisees (or the rabbis) hate Yeshua. Their man-made practices are pleasing to their flesh and tickle their ears, but Yeshua is not about that.
In Christianity, the same sin is practiced as the Pharisees (or the rabbis) did and continue to do. Because as Jude wrote, there are unrighteous men who pervert the grace of Elohim. Teaching that over half the Scriptures can be thrown away or discarded for no further use or benefit.
Many Christians might even ask the question, “Why do you even bother to read the Old Testament? Do you not know we no longer have to do that?”.
This is the basic Christian doctrine which is that Jesus (Yeshua) came to do away with the Torah and the Old Testament. And now we are under the law of grace (the Torah of Grace). Therefore, due to Elohim’s grace, we are free to eat whatever we want and to do whatever we want so as long as it is done in the spirit of love. That is the myth (the lie) that has perpetuated in the church over the course of almost two thousand years.
Christianity has picked up a lot of idolatries and pagan customs and traditions that are contrary to the commandments of Yahweh. And thus they are strayed so far away from the original truth that almost all of Christianity’s doctrine is pleasing to the flesh and tickles the ears.
If Yeshua returned today, I am almost positive that many Christian leaders would reject Yeshua just as the Pharisees did.
So Abraham was called to a pure and righteous way of living, just as we are being called away from the Great Falling Away to return to a pure and righteous way of living. Yahweh is calling out to those who desire to live in love and righteousness according to Yahweh’s commandments and not our own; thus becoming the assembly of Philadelphia.
When Yahweh tells Abraham that “there is a land I will show you and I will make you a great nation”, the land He is referring to is the land of Canaan (the land of Israel).
B’reisheet (Genesis) 12:1-2
1 “Now Yahweh had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family And from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.”
And the modern state of Israel is only a fraction of what was promised to Abraham. And the great nation that came from Abraham is the united nation of Israel. So again, the modern state of Israel is only a fraction of the 12 tribes that came from Abraham. Ten of the tribes were conquered by the Assyrians never to return to the land, and were lost to history.
However, Yahweh knows where they are and that is also part of what Yeshua’s Ministry was about. Yeshua said in Matthew 15:24, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”.
Mattityahu (Matthew) 15:24
24 “But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
With this quote from Yeshua, it also ties into what Yahweh said when He said to Abraham, “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 12:3
3 “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
One way of viewing this is that through Abraham came Yitzhak and Yaakov (Isaac and Jacob). From Jacob (also known by his other name Israel) came the 12 tribes of Israel. From one of the 12 tribes of Israel came David. From David came Yeshua. Because of Yeshua’s sacrifice and the blood that atones for our sin, all the families of the earth (that profess faith on Yeshua) shall be blessed which is the spiritual side of that.
Another way of looking at this is through the genetic side. As I mentioned, 10 out of the 12 tribes of Israel were conquered by the Assyrians and never returned to the land. This means that they have assimilated into cultures all over the world over the last several thousand years.
Over the course of several thousand years, the genetics of Abraham have spread to all the four corners of the earth and likely, there is someone in every family of the earth that has a small portion of Abraham’s genetics (whether it can be traced or not).
This also lines up well when Yahweh told Abraham that his “descendants will be as numerous as the stars of the sky and the dust of the earth that if a man could number the dust of the earth then your descendants also could be numbered”.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 13:16
16 “And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.”
If you are a believer out there who loves Yahweh, loves Yeshua, has a strong love for the Jewish people in the land of Israel, and a strong love for Yahweh’s Torah, there is a chance you are genetically related to Abraham. And just to say this, genetics are really of no importance to Yahweh. Because we can be related to Abraham all we want, but if we do not belong to Yeshua, then it does not really matter. If we claim to belong to Yeshua but reject the Father’s Torah, then we are not giving the Father any honor and by default, we do not honor the Son.
When we look in part at the ten tribes of the Kingdom of Israel and their sin, it is a two-part sin. They place their value on being related to Abraham and they thought that gave them a license to sin. But they also abused the grace of Yahweh by having mixed worship practices. After years and years of prophet after prophet telling them to repent and return to worshiping Yahweh, Spirit, and truth, Yahweh eventually had enough and sent the Assyrians to conquer them and punish them for their sin and rebellion. This is what Yeshua’s ministry came to fix.
In a very broad spiritual sense, Yeshua came to proclaim salvation to the world and free the captives held down by their own sin. He also came to free the captives of the House of Israel (i.e, the ten lost tribes) from their spiritual captivity, which is us and Nazarene Israel. Which is also everyone who has a heart for Yeshua and His Torah. This is why we are calling all Messianics and Torah keepers out there to unite under one single doctrine with Nazarene Israel.
Again, this is not about promoting one ministry over another, this is about doing things correctly according to Scripture.
Eventually, we will go back as a united Israel of all 12 tribes. Not Christians and Israelites. Not Christians, Israelites, and Messianics. It will just be a united Israel. An Israel who has repented and put their faith and trust in Yeshua. This is something that was prophesied about the millennial Israel and the New Jerusalem, both of which were spoken about in Ezekiel 47-48 and Revelation chapter 21.
The subject of being called out and returning to Yahweh’s Torah, the blessing of Abraham and what it means to us today, and Yeshua’s ministry with salvation to the world and the ten lost tribes has much that can be said about it. We can go on and on about this subject for hours, but this is not the time or place for that. If what I have said peaked your interest, please visit our website or YouTube page to find numerous studies and video studies about this subject.
As we move on to chapter 14, we read about how Lot was kidnapped and how Abraham took his men and went to war to free his nephew Lot. We meet an interesting character who is so important in Scripture yet is mentioned very little in the entirety of Scripture. This character is Melchizedek, the king of Salem (which would later be known as Jerusalem).
The first mention of Melchizedek is in Genesis chapter 14. Let us read what it says about him.
B’reisheet (Genesis) 14:18-20
18 “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of Elohim Most High.
19 And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of Elohim Most High, possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be Elohim Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him a tithe of all.”
To get a better idea of who Melchizedek was and how he relates to Yeshua, we have to jump around to a couple of different spots in Scripture. The next mention of Melchizedek in Scripture is in a Psalm of David. Let us read what David wrote.
Tehillim (Psalm) 110:1-4
1 “Yahweh said to my Master, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
2 Yahweh shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!
3 Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power; in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, you have the dew of Your youth.
4 Yahweh has sworn and will not relent, “you are a priest forever according to the Order of Melchizedek.”
We can see that Melchizedek is a very important figure. So much so that Abraham thought it well to give him a tenth of all that he had received from his spoils of war. Melchizedek is known as a priest of Elohim Most High when he was spoken about in Genesis. He is also known as having his own priesthood in which the Messiah Himself would operate under according to the Psalm of David. These are some variable claims made by Scripture and it really gives an idea of how important he is.
Where we really begin to see the comparisons to Yeshua is in Hebrews chapter 7. Let us take a look.
Ivrim (Hebrews) 7:1-3
1 “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High Elohim, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,”
3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of Elohim, remains a priest continually.”
So Melchizedek’s name means King of Righteousness. And who is more righteous than Yeshua? Who is king of all creation if not Yeshua? He is also known as the king of Salem which means the King of Peace. Who else is known as the Prince of Peace if not Yeshua Himself?
Salem would later go on to be known as Jerusalem. So again, Melchizedek’s kingdom was there in Salem and Yahweh chose Jerusalem as His dwelling place here on earth. Yeshua’s millennial kingdom will be established on earth with Jerusalem as its capital.
So Melchizedek is a type of Yeshua meant for the reader to understand how and what the Messiah would look like.
In Verses 4 through 10, the author of Hebrews really goes on to expound the greatness of Melchizedek and how that points to Yeshua’s greatness.
Ivrim (Hebrews) 7:4-10
4 “Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.
5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham;
6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.
8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.
9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak,
10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.”
With this, we can see that the priesthood (according to the Order of Melchizedek) is greater than the Levitical priesthood for a few reasons.
The Levitical priesthood pays tithes to Melchizedek. And Scripture does not say this, but likely Yitzhak and Yaakov also paid tithes to the Order of Melchizedek as well. The tithes and gift offerings are Yahweh’s share or His inheritance. The Levites were given Yahweh’s inheritance because they set themselves apart from their brethren with the sin of the golden calf.
So now how much greater is Melchizedek if Abraham paid tithes to him even though it was through Abraham that the promises were made?
Scripture also states that Yeshua is our High Priest in the heavens interceding on our behalf. And in verse 23 an onward of Hebrews we read, “Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But He (meaning Yeshua), because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood”.
Ivrim (Hebrews) 7:23-24
23 “Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing.
24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.
Yeshua was resurrected, conquered sin and death, and He lives on today in the heavens. He is a High Priest forever with no change in office. Whereas the Levitical priesthood has a change of office whenever the natural man dies. This is also another reason why the priesthood of Melchizedek is greater than the Levitical priesthood.
It is really interesting to see how there was first Melchizedek. And how he was both the king and a high priest without a beginning and without an end. All of which points to Yeshua as the Messiah. It all points to Yeshua’s divine nature being, that He is one or united with the Father (meaning He is Elohim).
This means that Yeshua has no beginning of days nor end of days. This is what makes this priesthood superior. This is what makes Him great. This is what makes Him King forever.
We also see some examples of how King David was also a type of Yeshua and how his examples would point to the coming Messiah.
For example, let us read first Chronicles 15:27.
Divre HaYamim Aleph (1 Chronicles) 15:27
27 “David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who bore the ark, the singers, and Chenaniah the music master with the singers. David also wore a linen ephod.”
With this example, we can see how David (who was king) also dressed as the Levitical priesthood did when they were bringing in the Ark of the Covenant also pointing to how the Messiah would be a king because of his lineage through David, but also through the priesthood of Melchizedek which David wrote about in Psalm 110.
There is even more evidence to support this when we see that even David’s sons were priests in the Tabernacle of David.
Second Samuel 6:17 says, “So they brought the Ark of Yahweh, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh”.
Shemuel Bet (2 Samuel) 6:17
17 “So they brought the ark of Yahweh, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh.”
In second Samuel 8:15-18 it says, “Thus David reigned over all Israel; and administered justice and righteousness for all his people. Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the
recorder; Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was the scribe; Benaiah,
son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priestly leaders”.
Shemuel Bet (2 Samuel) 8:15-18
15 “So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered judgment and justice to all his people.
16 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;
17 Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests; Seraiah was the scribe;
18 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief ministers.”
With this, we can see how even David was a type of Messiah (or how the comparisons point to who Yeshua was). Yeshua was from the tribe of Judah of which there is no priestly lineage. So then how can Yeshua be a priest to His people if there is already a priesthood through Levi? There would have to be a greater priesthood; a priesthood which first began with Melchizedek.
Our first glimpse of a priestly king is Melchizedek. Then we end up with David who was also a priestly king. Even the tabernacle of David represents how the veil was torn between Elohim and mankind. Because only the Levites could operate in the Tabernacle of Meeting, but in the Tabernacle of David, anyone from any tribe who had a heart to serve Yahweh could come and serve as a priest (which is exactly what we do today).
This is why Kepha said, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a set-apart nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous Light; who once were not a people but are now the people of Elohim, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy”.
Kepha Aleph (1 Peter) 2:9-10
9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a set-apart nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 who once were not a people but are now the people of Elohim, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
This is my personal opinion, but I believe that Yahweh always wanted to have a priesthood according to the Order of Melchizedek. This is why He started off with consecrating all the firstborn males to the priesthood after the first Pesach in Egypt. Because He had taken all the firstborn of the Egyptians, all the firstborn of Israel belonged to Him.
I also think He always planned on using the priesthood of the firstborn as a priesthood for Melchizedek. Because when the sin of the golden calf happened, the only ones who set themselves apart were the tribe of Levi. This is why they were awarded the priesthood and not the firstborn.
Because when we examine this a little further, it would seem to me like it says in Hebrews.
Ivrim (Hebrews) 7:11
11 “Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the Order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?”
It seems that the author of Hebrews was trying to say that Yahweh had always intended for us to receive the written Torah. But the priesthood would have operated differently if the priesthood of the firstborn would have been walking in the Spirit.
It seems that Yahweh has always intended for us (as His people) to first step out in faith. Which then we would receive the terms of the Covenant and we would do our best to walk out the terms of the Covenant with the leading and guiding of Yahweh’s voice. But as stubborn children, we always refused to submit and listen. Then He would be forced to extend His hand of discipline through the Levitical priesthood.
When we examine the differences in the priesthoods, they both still keep Torah. And in David’s time, they were both still able to offer up sacrifices and offerings. One key difference is the need to follow the Spirit’s guidance. It is really not a major difference because even under the Levitical priesthood, they were still expected to follow the Spirit. But under the Melchizedekian priesthood, it is impossible to even be a part of the priesthood without first submitting to the Spirit. If there is no submission to the Spirit, there is no commission to even operate in the priesthood. Whereas in the Levitical priesthood, it is one of birthright.
While Yahweh still expects all of His priests to submit to the Spirit, it is quite a stark difference when birthright has no bearing on the priesthood, but only humble obedience. This is why I believe the Melchizedekian priesthood is the form of priesthood that Yahweh always had intended for us to operate in. Because it requires absolute submission from His people.
Abraham showcased this with his example of faith. Noah showcased this with his example of faith. David showcased this with his example of faith. Yeshua (the best example) showed this with His entire life! So, please brothers and sisters, let us all humble ourselves. Let us all submit to the Spirit and walk according to the perfect example of Yeshua.