For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. Hebrews 8.7

In the divine economy the role of priests and Levites was never meant to be a permanent fixture. When the great High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, appeared, He satisfied all the sacrificial requirements of the Law, thus removing the need for priests to stand daily offering sacrifices to God (Heb. 10.1-14). The Lord “took away” the law of priests and Levites to establish a better Law in the Person of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 8.1-7).

Along with the offices of priests and Levites, Christ also eliminated their functions as spiritual leaders in the community of faith. The system of sacrifices was ended. The rite of circumcision, the feast days of ancient Israel, works of cleansing, and the maintenance of a single place of worship were also eliminated by Christ, Who now rules from the eternal temple of God as High Priest and King over His people. And, with the Gospel being extended also to the Gentiles, no single family or tribe would suffice to fulfill the role of shepherds as Christ defined it (Jn. 10).

The early Christians understood this, even though, as in the case of the recipients of the book of Hebrews, they may have been tempted from time to time to return to such Old Covenant practices as still existed among the members of the Jewish communities of the Roman world. But the apostles were insistent that these now-eclipsed rituals and protocols were useless to contribute to the salvation which Christ had accomplished. That great salvation could only be realized through closer and more intense fellowship with Him.

So we say, in general, that the religious laws of ancient Israel are no more in force; we do not need to follow those laws, which were always intended as a “shadow” of that which was to come in Jesus Christ. The were a means of administering God’s covenant for a certain period, but with the implementation of the New Covenant, they were superseded. The Old Testament priesthood has come to its end; the High Priest and King of Israel now reigns and serves at the right hand of God the Father.

T. M. Moore

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