When Priesthoods Change

When Priesthoods Change

“When Priesthoods Change” explains that when the priesthood changes, the way we celebrate the feasts also changes. That is why we keep the Passover differently today (under the Melchizedekian order) than when we are in the land of Israel (under the Levitical order), or when we first left Egypt (and there was no priesthood).

Written Version: When Priesthoods Change

In this chapter, I want to share with you some things that I have learned over the past 20 plus years of studying Scripture full-time. The father called me to the Hebrew Roots movement on June 6th, 1999. Some would call it the Ephraimite movement, the Two-House movement, or the Messianic movement, but whatever you want to call it, I have been very blessed to be able to study Scripture full-time ever since. And I am trying to share with people the things that I have learned.

A lot of people do not know how to celebrate the feasts or why to celebrate them. And it is a problem because there are all these different voices out there. There are a whole lot of people teaching things that are either passed down through certain sects of Christianity or simply through gentile misunderstandings of the feasts. And then you have other things that are taught from the rabbinic aspect. There is a lot of bad scholarship and a lot of confusing voices out there, and a lot of people trying to drink from every fountain. And people do not understand that if you are going to drink from polluted waters then you are going to get sick.

So, here in Nazarene Israel, we are trying to explain to people what to do with the feasts. We are trying to explain how to keep the Torah, how to please Yahweh, and how to please Yeshua.

In this study, we have what is called the Melchizedekian Pesach, the Passover that we are supposed to keep when we are in the dispersion, under Yeshua’s renewed Melchizedekian Order. That is distinct from the Passover feast that you would keep if you were in Jerusalem going up to the feast three times a year under Levitical Order. And it is also distinct from what they did for the very first Pesach in Egypt when there was not any priesthood. And we are going to see that the reason it is different is that the priesthood changed each time. And whenever the priesthood changes the feasts also change because the priesthoods are all different. So, we want to talk about what happens when the priesthoods change, how that affects the Passover, and how you as a believer in Messiah Yeshua should celebrate the Passover under Yeshua’s renewed Melchizedekian priesthood if you want to please Him.

As mentioned, I have been with the Messianic, Hebrew Roots-Ephraimite-Two-House movements since 1999 and I have had the blessing and the privilege to be able to work full-time at studying and propagating the Word. And not just sharing what the Word says but helping people to do what it says. That is our goal here in Nazarene Israel. I have watched things develop and grow since 1999 and I have seen a lot of things. It just seems like the majority of people are going the wrong way and that they do not understand what it is that we are supposed to be doing or why it is that we are doing these things.

There is a lot of blind leading the blind happening. A lot of preachers and teachers have a bible and a camera, and they are in ministry. They are preaching a broad, easy road with a corrupted doctrine or they are preaching something rabbinic. And people like rabbinic because it is a known fact, and people do not like to think for themselves. We want to challenge you to think for yourselves in this study. Because we are going to talk about some things that are really very serious. These are things that I wish someone had shared with me 20 some years ago when I was first called to the Hebrew Roots movement.

One thing is that most people have a misunderstanding of what the word Torah means, what it is, and how it is actually applied. We are going to talk about a lot of things. Particularly, in this second chapter of The Melchizedekian Pesach, we are going to talk about what the Torah is and how the Torah differs from most people’s conceptions.

So, when we suggest that the priesthood has changed some people freak out. They call you a heretic or all sorts of names because they do not understand what the Torah is. They say “Well, no. Hold on Norman. Remember Matthew five, verses 17 and 18.”

Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:17-18
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill [part of the prophecies in them].
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 Torah till all is fulfilled.

Yeshua came to fulfill some of the prophecies contained in the Torah and in the prophets. Yeshua said that nothing at all, not even the least, smallest thing, can fall from the Torah until everything is already fulfilled. And there are still a lot of prophecies to yet be fulfilled. Meaning, the Torah cannot be done away with yet.

So, some people say, “Norman, you are suggesting that the priesthood can change away from the Levitical Order that Yahweh established?” And what I tell them is that they do not understand what the Torah is teaching, unless, Father forbid, we deny the Renewed Covenant.

Let us take a look at Hebrews chapter seven, verse eleven. This is something that the Rabbinical Order and also the Messianic movement really needs to deal with.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 7:11-12
11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the Torah), 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 Aharon?
12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the Torah.

We have talked in other videos about the difference between Yahweh’s precepts which never change and the specifics of the commandments which can change. But people have a really hard time with this passage. I know some people who have denied the book of Hebrews or denied the Apostle Shaul, who we believe wrote Hebrews, over this passage. Because they say Shaul is suggesting that the Torah can be done away with.

Well, that is a complete misunderstanding of what the apostle Shaul is saying here. We are going to see that there are several priesthoods contained in the Torah of Moshe (the first five books of Scripture, some people include the book of Joshua). Predominately, we get the impression that it is the Levitical Torah. But it is not really a Levitical Torah because you have more than one priesthood contained inside. We are going to talk about that.

What we need to know is that the specifics of the Passover and how we hold Passover have changed. We are going to see several examples. From the times of the first Passover in Exodus chapter twelve, when they had no priesthood. And then also when Israel had a tabernacle and a Levitical priesthood. When the tribes went to wherever the Levitical altar was that was a separate way to keep Torah. We are also going to see that the way to keep Passover changed ever since Yeshua’s renewed Melchizedekian Order took hold. Because we no longer have a temple and the sacrificial law. It is not done away with, only presently dormant. We are going to see that when the priesthood changes, so do the specifics of how we keep the feasts. Because each priesthood has its own Torah, each priesthood has its own instructions, each priesthood has its own way to keep the specifics of the commandments. That is something not often taught in the Messianic world. And I think it confuses a lot of people because what they do not understand is what the Torah is. If you want to know what the Torah really is, stick around to the end of this chapter. In the meantime, we are going to lay the groundwork so that people can understand why there is a difference.

Now, there is an old saying that if you do not know where you are and you do not know where you have come from then you are for all practical purposes lost. So, if you really want to know where we are now, where we have come from, and where we are going then I would encourage you to get a copy of the study The Torah Government. This book will help you see the trends. But some of the things that we saw in The Torah Government is that there have been several priesthoods and several changes of priesthoods contained in the Torah of Moshe. There are plenty of instructions for the Levites from Exodus onward, specifically Leviticus onward, but it is more than just that because we also have other priesthoods contained in the Torah.

Concerning Passover, we see that there was a time when you had patriarchs serving as the priests of their houses. We are going to take a look at that. Then there is a time of transition to what we might call the Firstborn priesthood. That was the imposition of a national priesthood that did not last. Whether it was supposed to last or not supposed to last is all a separate issue. But it was the first formation of a national-level priesthood. We will take a look at that, also. After that was the imposition of the Levitical priesthood, after the sin of the golden calf. That is when Israel was given ceremonial law, (tabernacle, temple, altar laws). A Levitical Order, a cleansed altar, and several other cleansed things are needed in order to put that into effect.

We have seen in several places that the apostles continued to offer sacrifices as long as the temple still stood. But when the temple no longer stood then the ceremonial law goes into hibernation. It basically gets put on hold because there are not the correct conditions. It is kind of like having a driver’s license. Your driver’s license does not go invalid if you have no car or no place to go. You simply do not use your license because you do not have the conditions to use a license.

Then, as we saw in Hebrews, there is also a change to a renewed Melchizedekian priesthood. Yeshua’s renewed Melchizedekian priesthood does not have an altar and it does not need one until it is merged with Levitical Order. There is no ceremonial law per se under the Melchizedekian priesthood. It is sort of a ‘new skins (bottles) for new wine’ situation.

Let us take a look. We saw in the earliest times that Qayin (Cain) and Hevel (Abel) themselves offered sacrifices. And there are others who are recorded as offering sacrifices. But then in Genesis chapter eight, verse twenty, we see that Noach (a patriarch) was effectively offering sacrifices for his house which could be seen as offering sacrifices for the nation of Israel. He is in our lineage. But let us notice that he did not serve as a priest for any other household, meaning that Noach did not serve as a priest for any other nation.

B’reisheet (Genesis) 8:20
20 Then Noach built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Then we come to Genesis chapter twelve starting in verse seven where we meet Avram our leader. Avram is a pivotal character. We notice something starts to change just slightly under Avram. Avram built an altar to Yahweh, but it does not say that he burnt any offerings.

B’reisheet (Genesis) 12:7-8
7 Then Yahweh appeared to Avram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to Yahweh, who had appeared to him.
8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to Yahweh and called on the name of Yahweh.

That can possibly be seen as a transitional step. He built an altar, same as Noach, but he did not offer burnt offerings, he did not offer sacrifices. And the reason why is because Yahweh wants a national-level priesthood which is what we see show up in an external sense in Genesis chapter fourteen, verse twenty.

B’reisheet (Genesis) 14:20
20 “And blessed be Elohim Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” [Melchizedek speaking]
And he [Avram] gave him a tithe of all.

We see now that Avraham was effectively tithing to an external Melchizedekian Order. So, there is a big difference as he is tithing to a priesthood that is external to the nation of Israel. But the whole nation of Israel can effectively do that.

We come to Genesis chapter twenty-eight, starting in verse twenty and we see that Avram (Avraham’s) grandson Yaakov (Jacob) effectively did the same thing.

B’reisheet (Genesis) 28:20-22
20 Then Yaakov made a vow, saying, “If Elohim will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,
21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then Yahweh shall be my Elohim.
22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be Elohim’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

How did he give a tenth to Yahweh? Well, seeing as Hebrews (Israelites) are traditional people, he probably gave the tenth to the same external Melchizedekian Order that his grandfather did. So again, there is tithing going on from Israel to an external Melchizedekian Order.

We could talk about this in great depth and great detail but notice something very important happens when we come to Exodus chapter twelve. Israel has been down in Egypt for four hundred and thirteen years, the majority of which was under Egyptian slavery. Basically, they have been covered by the Egyptian (corrupt, pagan) priesthood for most of that period.

Shemote (Exodus) 12:5
5 “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.”

A lot of times people want to replicate the Exodus twelve Pesach. But notice that there was no priesthood at the time of the Exodus twelve Pesach. So again, just like the patriarchs, each man served as the priest of his own household, and they held the Passover by houses. Even though there was a whole nation of them they were not truly a nation yet. Because they were not yet cleansed, they had not yet gone through the Reed (Red) Sea. Also notice that they were to take their Passover from the flock (sheep or goats) in comparison to taking an animal from the herd (cattle).

Now here we come to Exodus twelve, starting in verse thirteen. We are going to see some specifics of the commandment and we are going to see some principles and precepts of the commandment. And this is something that both the Rabbinical Order and the Messianic-Ephraimite-Two-House people need to sit up and pay attention to. This is a big problem; this is a big deal. Remember, the specifics of the commandment can change. Israel does not have a priesthood at this point. Because they do not yet have a national priesthood, we see some specifics where the man of each house is going to serve as the priest of his house.

We will see coverage by houses which is not what you want. If you read The Torah Government, you will understand what it is that we are going for. We will try and talk about that a little bit later on in this chapter. But what you want is a national-level priesthood. That is what Yahweh wants. Today we see all these people trying to break up and do things independently and by their own house. All the Messianic, it is like total anarchy out there. It is just like how anarchists unite. Basically, you have all these people talking about what they and their house are going to do and then they do not take responsibility for establishing the kind of global kingdom Yeshua wants. We will talk about that in other places.

But notice how that in verse thirteen we have the specifics of the commandment and in verse 14 we are going to see the principles and the precepts. And again, the specifics change depending upon the priesthood, but the principles and the precepts do not change. Those always remain the same.

Shemote (Exodus) 12:13-14
13 “Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14 ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.”

We do not have a situation like this right now. We have Yeshua’s renewed Melchizedekian Order as we read in Hebrews 7. We have a change in the priesthood. We do not have a disbanding of the priesthood. We do not have disorganization of the priesthood. Yahweh is an Elohim of order and not of disorder as in all the assemblies of the saints. And so those in the Messianic-Ephraimite-Two-House movement really need to take a close look at themselves. Are they being organized? Are they being disorganized? Is Yahweh an Elohim of order or an Elohim of disorder? People really need to integrate the things that they are learning. You need to be looking at yourself and asking whether you are doing this. We need to examine our lives and to study to show ourselves approved, to make sure that we are in the original faith. Because that is the one Yeshua is looking for upon His return. Not the Rabbinical Order. Not the Messianic. Nothing. He is looking for the original faith that He once for all delivered to the saints. That is what He wants. That is who He wants to take His Proverbs 31 bride from.

Verse fourteen then tells us the principle. Because it does not matter what priesthood we have. We can have a no-priesthood situation, a Levitical Order situation, or Yeshua’s renewed Melchizedekian Order situation. I am going to leave the rabbis out because they do not understand, they lost Acts 15. But whatever situation and whatever order we are in, Yahweh says “You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.”

That is our clue that this is the principle, and this is the precept. The specifics can change.

We are going to see the specifics change here again in Exodus chapter thirteen, starting in verse one after Israel has just left Egypt. Now Yahweh is going to establish a national Firstborn priesthood.

Shemote (Exodus) 13:1-2
1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moshe, saying,
2 “Set apart to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.”

Yahweh is saying “Okay, you all did your Passover by houses and that is good because you did not have a priesthood. But here let us get you a priesthood. Send all your firstborn”.

Of course, usually, we have a failure before we have a win. So, the Firstborn priesthood defiled itself with the incident of the golden calf in Exodus thirty-two and they were then replaced by an organized Levitical Order (an organized priesthood).

Now we come to Numbers chapter nine, starting in verse ten where we are going to see that Yahweh gives new instructions to the Levitical Order than what He gave to the Firstborn priesthood. The Firstborn priesthood, the Levitical Order, and then the Melchizedekian Order are all going to have different specifics of how to keep the principle of celebrating the Passover sacrifice to Him throughout our generations.

Bemidbar (Numbers) 9:10-11a
10 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying:
‘If anyone of you or your posterity is unclean because of a corpse, or is far away on a journey, he may still keep Yahweh’s Passover.
11a On the fourteenth day of the second month, at twilight, they may keep it’…”

What is basically happening is that we do not know when we are going to see aviv barley. We have a good indication, but we do not know. So, if somebody is traveling or away, they do not know. You do not have aviv barley until you have aviv barley. That is it. You can tell in general by looking ahead, but in ancient times communication was not that good. It is like sighting the first crescent sliver of the new moon. You just wait until you see it, then you go on certainty rather than planning in contingency.

There is an important spiritual principle in that waiting until you see something. And once you see it then you can know. But if you were away on a journey then how do you know? How can you get reports from the land of Israel back in ancient times? And if you did not have enough notice, you might not know when to keep the Passover. So Yahweh is saying that is okay if it is ancient times and you are traveling, and you honestly cannot know when to keep the Pesach. You can keep it the month following. By that time, the aviv will be known, it will be transmitted throughout the ancient world that there was aviv sighted, and you are good to go.

He does not allow a second Sukkot because by the seventh month you already know when the schedule is. You have known when the schedule is for six months, so you do not need a second Sukkot. You only need a second Pesach because the Pesach basically happens by surprise for most people, 15 to 21 days after the new moon of Rosh HaShanah (the Head of the Year) is seen.

Therefore, the Levitical Order was given provisions for a second Pesach for if you legitimately miss the first Pesach. And I have seen people abuse this, do not abuse it. Yahweh is watching. All of our actions are recorded in a book. But again, there was not a provision for this in the first Passover with the no-priesthood Passover. This is another indication that shows us that specifics of the commandment can change even though the principles and the precepts never change.

Now, in Deuteronomy chapter sixteen, starting in verse one, we have the instructions for under the Levitical Order. For those who ask “Where is the commandment to celebrate the barley?” Or “Is there a commandment to have barley?” We will see Yahweh command the month of Aviv for Passover. You have these silly websites on Facebook and all these places are like “No barley required to celebrate the Head of the New Year”. Really? Well, how do you then keep the month of the Aviv? I do not know. Some of these people get a bible, a camera, and a website and they are automatically in ministry.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:1-2
1 “Observe the month of Aviv, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your Elohim, for in the month of Aviv Yahweh your Elohim brought you out of Egypt by night.
2 Therefore you shall sacrifice the Pesach to Yahweh your Elohim, from the flock and the herd, in the place where Yahweh chooses to put His name.”

Again, we see the flock mentioned. That is sheep and goats. But now we also see the herd, that is cattle. How do we get cattle added into the mix? The principles and precepts always remain the same, but the specifics can change depending upon the priestly order that presently has the anointing. In this case, the Levitical Order has the anointing so here are the Levitical instructions.

That is the Torah. Now let us take an interesting side turn here in Second Samuel where we have a very interesting character, King David. King David served as a Melchizedekian priest because he could not serve as a Levitical priest. He was not of the tribe of Levi; he was of the tribe of Judah. And of course, we know that Yeshua is David’s son (lineage). But notice, David offered offerings and wore a linen ephod. Those are traditionally Levitical priestly functions but here King David has a Melchizedekian anointing.

Shemuel Bet (2 Samuel) 6:13-14
13 And so it was, when those bearing the ark of Yahweh had gone six paces, that he [David] sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep.
14 Then David danced before Yahweh with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod.

Are we accusing King David of being a heretic? Are we accusing King David of doing something against the Torah? No. Because he was not of a Levitical Order, he was of a Melchizedekian Order. We have a four-part series mini-series in Nazarene Scripture Studies, Volume Four that we would love to expand someday. There is a lot more we could say about the Melchizedekian priesthood and the Melchizedekian Order. But even when you had a Levitical Order that was sanctioned and operating, at the same time you also had a Melchizedekian Order. It is a very interesting study; we could do a lot more on that.

Here we see King David prophesied in the Spirit about Yeshua.

Tehillim (Psalms) 110:4
4 Yahweh has sworn And will not relent,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”

This is the same thing that is quoted in Hebrews seven. People have such a hard time with this and they are just like “But how can the priesthood change?” It is because you already see changes in the priesthood in the Torah of Moshe. Whether it is five books or whether it is six it does not matter, you see changes in the priesthood depending upon the situation. We are going to talk about why that is in just a little bit. But let us keep going because we are going to see even more.

Here is another change in the priesthood for someone we do not even see in the Torah of Moshe. But it does not matter. What we are seeing is that the priesthood can change, and the priestly instructions can change depending upon which priesthood is in charge. So here we come to Ezekiel chapter forty-five, starting in verse twenty-one.

Yehezqel (Ezekiel) 45:21-23
21 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall observe the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.
22 And on that day the prince [Hebrew: nasi] shall prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering.
23 On the seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to Yahweh, seven bulls and seven rams without blemish, daily for seven days, and a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering.

This is a temple that has not yet been built. This is not the anti-Messiah’s temple. Anti-messiah’s temple is coming and will be here before Ezekiel’s temple. This is the temple that will come after the tribulation. After Armageddon and after the ingathering we will someday build. I am sure not in my lifetime, but we will build again a temple. And there will be a different character who does not even show up in the Torah of Moshe. And that person is called the Nasi (the Prince or President). It is basically a constitutional Prince. He will be a constitutional monarch with limited functions as long as he obeys the Torah. But notice again, the specifics of the Torah can change depending upon the situation. We talk about this in The Torah Government.

Where is Israel in its performance of the mission to establish a global kingdom for Yeshua? That is the issue.

If you are still expecting Yeshua to be this Prince, then please read the Revelation and the End Times study. You could also watch Revelation Simplified. But ask yourself a question. We know Yeshua is the Prince of Peace, we know Yeshua is the Tsar Shalom. But Tsar is a different word than Nasi. This is a different kind of a prince. Yeshua is the Tsar Shalom, and this is the Nasi. And the Nasi shall prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering. That is not Yeshua because Yeshua was this sinless spotless lamb. He does not need to prepare a sin offering for Himself. So we know that this is not Yeshua. If you need more information on that, please read Revelation and the End Times or watch Revelation Simplified on our YouTube channel. They have most of the same information but each one is a little bit distinct.

There are a lot of things that change in Ezekiel. We see changes in the priestly haircuts. There are changes in the land allotments. There are changes in who officiates at the altar. There are a lot of changes that come into play in Ezekiel that is not mentioned in the Torah of Moshe. There is a difference between the two. But what are we going to do? Are we going to throw out Ezekiel? Are we going to throw out the prophets? Cannot do that.

One of the changes we see is that we have a Nasi (Constitutional, hereditary prince) officiating at the altar, even though there is no Nasi mentioned in the Torah. The thing that people forget in this whole thing is what the Torah is and this is not taught in the Messianic movement. Because most of these independent leaders and teachers are basically book salesmen or they are peddling their own ministries, not building a unified kingdom for Yeshua. What people do not understand is that what Yeshua has always wanted.

What is the Torah, really? What is the point? For us to just have a barbecue three times a year and that is it? What is the real deal here? The real deal is that Yahweh is seeking a Proverbs 31 bride who loves Him enough to help His son build His kingdom. Those people who help His son build His kingdom will be His bride. Not those who do not. So this is really a wake-up call for everyone in the Messianic-Ephraimite-Two-House communities or the rabbinic side of the house, definitely. Yeshua wants a unified Melchizedekian kingdom. And we are all going to go stand in the judgment one day. Are we going to be found doing the things he says he wants us to do? Are we going to be found immersing disciples in all nations and teaching them to do everything that He said? Effectively, to build His kingdom? Or are we not going to be found that way? This is the difference, and we need to be aware of it and we need to work toward it. That is what the Torah really is.

Other people try to turn Torah into this legalistic concept. Bring your tithe offerings three times a year! That is great and we need to do that, but that is not the big picture perspective. We need to show justice, love, and mercy, but that is part of forming the bigger overall kingdom. So, no matter what specifics change, the principle and the precept are always going to be the same. Israel is at some phase in the greater overall spiritual war effort to help establish Yeshua His kingdom. That is the thread that ties everything all together.

The real deal is that Yahweh is a man of war. He told them right after the first Pesach, right after the exodus from Egypt.

Shemote (Exodus) 15:3
3 Yahweh is a man of war;
Yahweh is His name.

We rebelled against Him in the garden of Eden. He chose Israel and now He chose the seed of Jacob, Yeshua, basically to bring the earth into spiritual subjection to Him. And then He will be in complete and total subjection to His Father so that all will be one in all, so that the whole thing will work. But we have to do what He says to do, there is no option for that.

“Well okay, that is great. But why are there so many changes in the priesthood, Norman?” Why would you have changes? Why would you have things that are not even written in the Torah? Why would you have a different priesthood? Why would you have the Nasi and the Levites in Ezekiel when you do not see a Nasi in the Torah of Moshe? What is the point?

Without getting too far into this, let me explain. Let us say that you have a war effort, for example. You go through different phases of the campaign. First, you have to have your buildup of supplies, then you have to have the invasion, then you have further operations to carry everything out to the end.

Yahweh has used Israel effectively as His hands and His feet in many different ways to bring about this subjection to His Son. And His Son of course will be in subjection to Him because He is a good son. So there have been times when it has been beneficial to have a priesthood by houses. There have been more times when it has been beneficial to unify around a blood altar in the land of Israel. And at this time we are in a phase when the truth needs to be taken to the ends of the earth while some other things are happening back in the land. And then there will again come a time when He calls us out of all nations and the Melchizedekian Order will be merged with what little remains of the Levitical Order. Then out of that, we will grow the Nasi and the priesthood in Ezekiel. It is a several-phase operation with various steps. And an army does not follow the exact same instructions in all these various parts of the campaign. An army has to do different things at different phases of a campaign. That is what the changes in the priesthood are all about. That is why it is not a big deal. We just need to know who we are. We need to know where we come from, where we are now, and where we are going. That is one of the differences with Nazarene Israel.

The Firstborn priesthood’s mission was to help Israel transition out of Egypt. They had been in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years. We do not know how much of that was under the covering of the Egyptian priesthood. There always has to be a priesthood covering of some kind, even if it is an external Melchizedekian Order. Right now Yahweh has us under His renewed Melchizedekian Order.

In the Firstborn priesthood, you had the men of the house officiating as the priests of the household. The point was that they were transitioning to an internal priesthood within the nation. The Firstborn priesthood defiled itself at the golden calf. So it transitioned to the Levitical priesthood.

The Levitical priesthood’s mission was to unify the nation of Israel around a blood altar three times a year. Ideally inside the land of Israel, also they could be outside the land of Israel, but it has to be a cleansed Levitical priesthood with a cleansed altar. They also have to be organized in a certain way to handle large influxes of pilgrims because the population of Jerusalem would swell enormously during the feast times. This required different operating instructions, or a different priestly Torah. Because the word torah translates best in English to mean instructions. People translate it as law and it works as law, but it translates better as instructions.

This is distinct from the Melchizedekian priesthood’s mission which is to go into all nations and to immerse disciples in Yeshua’s name. And more than that, to teach them to do everything that Yeshua said, effectively to build Him a unified global kingdom. For this particular phase of the operation we do not need a blood altar because there is no need for animal sacrifices at this point in time. We saw that there will come a time for it later. Isaiah 66 talks about when the Melchizedekian Order will be brought back and merged into what remains the Levitical Order. At that point in time there will again be a blood altar just like there is in Ezekiel. But at this particular point in time the point is to go through all the world to find the true disciples (the Proverbs 31 bride) candidates that want to help Yeshua build His kingdom, and then provide a network that everyone can work together to establish Yeshua’s kingdom worldwide. We all need to find some way that we can help build Yeshua’s kingdom, both with our time and with our funds. That is just how it is.

By virtue of the fact that we are not gathering three times a year around a blood altar, and we are going into all nations, it requires a different organization and different standard operating procedures. In other words, we have a different priestly Torah. That is what it is speaking about in Hebrews chapter seven. That because the priesthood changed, there was of necessity a need for different standard operating procedures, or a change in the Torah, or a change in the law.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 7:11-12
11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the Torah), 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 Aharon?
12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the Torah.

There is a different way the priesthood is going to operate. They are going to follow different standard operating procedures. Because it is understood that when you reach a different phase of the operation, you need different instructions. Or you could look at a different analogy. If you are playing football, you need one set of rules than you need when playing soccer. And if you are going hiking then you will need a different set of rules than when you are baking a cake. You need a different set of rules for different phases of the operation. This is the reason for the priesthood changing. Of necessity, you need to change the rules. That is just how it is.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 7:13-14
13 For He of whom these things are spoken [Yeshua] belongs to another tribe [Judah], from which no man has officiated at the [Levitical] altar.
14 For it is evident that our Adon arose from Judah, of which tribe Moshe spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest
16 who has come, not according to the torah of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.
17 For He testifies: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

We are going to take a look at specific words here, just for those who still have questions.

Ivrim (Hebrews) 7:12
12 For the priesthood being changed [metatithēmi], of necessity there is also a change [metathesis] of the Torah.

The first word we want to look at, if you can pronounce it right, is methatithemi. I have no Greek fluency at all. But the first time the word ‘changed’ is used it is the Greek term methatithemi. So let us look up these terms in Strong’s. Because as you know, we like to do that.

G3346 μετατίθημι metatithēmi (met-at-ith’-ay-mee); From G3326 and G5087; to transfer, that is, (literally) transport, (by implication) exchange, (reflexively) change sides, or (figuratively) pervert: – carry over, change, remove, translate, turn.

We see that it refers to the priesthood changing sides or changing locations, or transposition in the priesthoods.

The Levitical Order had the priestly anointing, but they defiled themselves. So, there was a change inside. There was a transposition in the priesthoods. The Melchizedekian Order had been active before, it had become inactive while the priest of the Firstborn and then the Levitical priesthood took place, and now there is a changing of sides and the Melchizedekian Order is coming back up again. That is how that goes.

Now, as we said, the Rabbinical Order defiled itself and the Rabbinical Order rejected Yeshua. So Yahweh took away the active anointing from the Levitical Order and gave it to the Melchizedekian Order. The active anointing changed sides. That is what Hebrews chapter seven, verse twelve is talking about. Again, both the Levitical and the Melchizedekian Orders are contained in the Torah of Moshe. That is why it is possible to have transposition in the priesthoods without changing the Torah of Moshe. Not one jot nor one tittle has to fall from the Torah of Moshe in order for the priesthoods to have transposition in the priesthoods. It is already an understood concept incorporated in the Torah of Moshe, whether you are talking five or six books. If you want to know more on that please check The Torah Government study. I would recommend that book if you want to know where we are going and what we are doing.

Now let us look at the second time this word is used.

G3331 μετάθεσις metathesis, (met-ath’-es-is); From G3346; transposition, that is, transferral (to heaven), disestablishment (of a law): – change, removing, translation.

Again, it is a transferal of the law. Meaning, it is a disestablishment of the Levitical law because the Rabbinical Order has defiled itself. The Levitical temple is going to be destroyed. There is a disestablishment of the Levitical law and a change over to the Melchizedekian Order. You need new wineskins for new wine. That is basically what is being said here.

Now, as we talk about in a lot of places, the change takes time. The transition between the priesthoods can take time. One of the ways we know this is because the apostles, who were Melchizedekian priests, continued to offer animal sacrifices in the second temple as long as it still stood. We showed that in several different places. If you have questions on that then please read the chapter “About Animal Sacrifices for Sin” in the Nazarene Israel book. Also, if you have not read this book, I strongly recommend it. It will give you a good basis and a good understanding of what it is we are supposed to be doing.

But we see here that the specifics of the commandments can change. We have shown this several times. But the principles and the precepts always remain the same. That is why King David prophesying in the Spirit said the following in Psalms 119.

Tehillim (Psalms) 119:45
45 And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts.

The reason he could walk at liberty from the specifics of the commandment is that he was hearing and obeying Yahweh’s voice. This is why the apostle Shaul tells us that we should seek the spiritual gifts but especially that we might prophesy, which is to hear and speak according to the Spirit. Because when we are able to hear according to the Spirit and obey, it makes so many more things possible. So if you are not a person who is clear that you are hearing in the Spirit, then it is not a good idea to walk at liberty from the precepts yet. That is something for people who are mature in their spiritual hearing. Then they can know when they are violating a principle or precept, or when there has to be a loosening of the specifics because we are no longer under that priesthood or these sorts of things.

Now we need to talk about what is the definition of Torah. We have already talked about this a little bit, now we are going to dig into the specifics.

H8451 תֹּרָה תּוֹרָה tôrâh tôrâh (to-raw’, to-raw’); From H3384; a precept or statute, especially the Decalogue or Pentateuch: – law.

Torah refers to a precept or a statute, especially the decalogue (the Ten Commandments) or the Pentateuch (often translated as law). So we look at the reference to H3384, yârâh. Okay, now this is very important.

H3384 יָרָא יָרָה yârâh yârâ’ (yaw-raw’, yaw-raw’); A primitive root; properly to flow as water (that is, to rain); transitively to lay or throw (especially an arrow, that is, to shoot); figuratively to point out (as if by aiming the finger), to teach: – (+) archer, cast, direct, inform, instruct, lay, shew, shoot, teach (-er, -ing), through.

Yârâh is a primitive route, properly, to flow as water like rain. We are talking about prophecy like rain. In other words, you should be able to prophesy or follow the teaching of the Spirit just as simple and natural as the rain. Transitively, to layer or to throw, especially as an arrow. You are pointing out and indicating the way to go. You are raising up children the way they should go so that when they are older, they shall not depart from it.

That is why Yahweh is giving us His instruction. Yahweh is giving us His Torah; He is trying to raise us up as His spiritual children the way we should go so that when we are older, we shall not depart from it. That is what the Torah really is. And what Yahweh wants from Torah is a Proverbs 31 bride who is going to help His son get the kingdom that He wants. And the way we do that is to fulfill the Great Commission by going into all nations and immersing disciples in Yeshua’s name (meaning, in His character), helping people become like Yeshua. And then we are to teach them to do all that He said, which effectively is the Great Commission according to the Five-Fold ministry. That is what that really means. That is the truth. That is the Torah.

The Torah’s purpose is that Yahweh is pointing the way for us at different junctures in Israel’s history. When we reach different junctures, we sometimes need a different priesthood. Because one of the functions of the priesthood is to teach people the difference between the set-apart and the profane, but it is also to teach people the importance of becoming Yeshua’s Proverbs 31 bride and how to do so.

What we have tried to do so far in this study is to show how the feasts have changed over time. From the time when Israel had no priesthood, then through the Firstborn priesthood, then Israel coming under an organized Levitical Order, and then to now under an organized Melchizedekian Order. To prove further points, we want to make a second pass now. So in the next chapter, we are going to dig into the specifics of how the Pesach was held in Exodus chapter twelve. And for that, we want to show the specifics of how Pesach was held in Levitical times, specifically with regard to Yeshua’s sacrifice in the first century. Then, after that, we will finally be ready to talk about how Yahweh wants us to keep the Pesach today under Yeshua’s renewed Melchizedekian Order. So if you would like to know how to keep the Pesach today under Yeshua’s renewed Melchizedekian Order, so as to please Yahweh, then you will want to keep reading the upcoming chapters.