Template:National Priests

---

Levites replaced

Some people have tried to support alternate or the Modern Church scheme as more scriptural based on assumption concerning no need for the Levites in the early Church.

The Modern Church see no need for a National Priesthood but this is the result of numerous conclusions based on false and erroneous interpretations of history, the scriptures, human nature and especially the nature of the Kingdom of God and certainly the righteousness of God.

The idea that there is no need for a National Priesthood since Christ, shows little understanding of what Christ and the early Church was doing. There is a suggestion that Christ was returning to a system like that of the order of Melchizedek.

Did Jesus do away with the Leviticle preisthood or did he merely take it from those who were not bearing fruit and appoint it to those who would do the job as it was meant to be from the beginning?

National Priesthood

It should be clear that the Levites formed a Levitical Priesthood for the nation of Israel. This does not mean that every family stopped maintaining its own internal priesthood and kingship. There were no Kings in Israel and every family still had the right to determine who would receive their freewill offerings. But in a world of nations the need for a National Priesthood to draw the people together as a nation is essential for survival and for practical reasons.

All nations have their priests.

Understand, that all nations have Priests and those Priests have a function in society and the nations. That function may remain the same but the method, nature and name of that Priesthood changes the nature of the nation.

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." Luke 6:38

In the early Church, men like Jerome believed that "Bishops, presbyters (Elder) and deacons occupy in the church the same positions as those which were occupied by Aaron, his sons, and the Levites in the temple." Jerome, Ep. 146

People often misunderstand the role of the early Church and early Levites for the same reasons. What was the job of the Levites?

There were still priests and kings in each home or each "tent", but the Levites were a national priesthood meant to bring the tents of the congregation together as a sort of social national assurance.

The Levites were called out after the people tried to bind themselves together with a golden calf. Moses did not want the people to do that but saw a need to bind the people together as a nation with love of one another. This has always been done through a what could be called a "National Priesthood".

The Kingdom of God is from "generation to generation" and not just from congregation to congregation. The Feasts made this possible as families united by marriage and friendship. The Levites helped the people meet the challenges of a peculiar people who lived by faith, hope and charity through a perfect law of liberty. The kingdom was far more than just helping people in small congregations and or those in your immediate path, without an effective National Priesthood to provide the services of a national government.

Most charity is exercised in and between families within the local communities and tribes of the people who seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. But a national system of charity required a National Priesthood to serve as a uniting force to overcome the tribalism or denominational tendencies of people.

By becoming a separate institutional body united by unique customs, limitations and privileges the Levites set a pattern of sacrifice not just for local congregations, communities and tribes but for the whole nation.

In God's government on earth the people are not bound by contracts, covenants nor constitutions but by faith in the charity and love of God. That faith is realized and manifested in their charitable offerings of love not just for their local congregations and denominations but for people far away.

Christ did not just preach of home churches and isolated congregations nor denominational divisions but He preached of one kingdom at hand for the living. From the beginning He sent His disciples, who would become His nation of priests, not only to those of Judea but to the lost sheep all over the world. They would serve a broad network of people in every nation during calamity and catastrophe that put stretches on their internal resources.

This should be obvious to those who have an objective view toward nationhood of God and those who practice kingdom thinking.

The appointment of the Levites as a body of national servants belonging to God allowed for a political body to represent the people in the law of nations with no power to contract away the rights of the people nor their own through treaties. The Levites served as a Faith Emergency Ministry Auxiliary for the whole nation.

In the early Church Galatia sent resources to Corinth by way of Paul. In Antioch every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea and even to Christians through all the world by the hands of Barnabas and Saul instead of praying to Claudius Caesar.

They even appointed Seven men like they did in the Old Testament in order to efficiently provide for widows and orphans and the needy of society in good times and in times of evil and catastrophe.

The Church was clearly serving as a National Priesthood for the Kingdom of God just as the Levites before them. This was possible because people were truly repenting of their sectarian spirit that would have had them focusing on their local congregations or ideological denominations.

It was not just persecution that cured them of the spirit of abandonment that often produces the factionalism of societies but Christ's spirit of forgiveness and love that kept them united as a peculiar people.

---

But people are often sectarian and factional dividing themselves through self righteousness from one another over ideologies and private interpretations. They are often blind to the simplicity of God's love.There is one denominator in the kingdom and that is Christ who preached one kingdom to Jew, Roman and Samaritan, with love for all.

Love does not just require but is humility and patience and service, which is sacrifice, for those who love you and those who do not even know you. That is the heart of Christ.

• Rabbi Elazar said: "Doing righteous deeds of charity is greater than offering all of the sacrifices, as it is written: "Doing charity and justice is more desirable to the Lord than sacrifice" (Proverbs 21:3)." Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 49

All nations have some sort of systems of national welfare but the manner in which the funds for that welfare are obtained vary.

Jesus rebuked some of the Pharisees for their position on Corban in Mark Chapter 7 and also Matthew Chapter 15. By neglecting their filial duty to the parents because they contributed to the treasury of Corban is thinking that relieves people of their natural responsibility to support their parents.

Modern Christians are ignorant of how that system of Corban was perverted by the Baptism of Herod into a system f Social Security run by the state and its exercising authority.

The phrase al-Qurbaan al-Muqaddas (القربان المقدس; The Holy Korban) is the usual term used to translate the term "Eucharist" into Arabic among Arab Christians. The Eucharist and serving the tents of the congregation was always about charity and thanksgiving in Pure Religion. The idea of tithing was always a part of that process before and after Israel.

There is probably no more important message in the Bible than to love one another. In the book Thy Kingdom Comes and in the article Sophistry we see that all the Allegories and metaphors of the Bible are not about Stones and altars and the keeping of days. They are about how to love those who are near and far within society.

Love is of God.

Love is the fulfilling of the law.

Love is perfected in you if we love one another.

While the word charity is not mentioned in the the Torah, freewill offerings and 'tithing', which is sacrifice, is found throughout the Allegories and metaphors of that early Bible. Sacrifice has never been about form but about the heart. The sacrifice without love is dead.

• "Many books of the Nevi'im section [prophets] in the Hebrew Bible, such as the Book of Isaiah and Book of Jeremiah, spoke out against those Israelites who brought forth sacrifices but did not act in accord with the precepts of the Law. The Prophets disparaged sacrifices that were offered without a regeneration of the heart, i.e., a determined turning from sin and returning to God by striving after righteousness (Hosea 14:1-2, Joel 2:13, Micah 6:6-8). At the same time, prophets stressed the importance of offerings combined with justice and good even as they taught that offerings were unacceptable unless combined with heartfelt repentance and good deeds. Malachi, the last prophet in the Hebrew Bible, emphasized that the goal of repentance is not to end sacrifices, but to make the offerings fit for acceptance once again (Malachi 3:3-4). Similarly, the Book of Isaiah despite disparagement of sacrifices without justice, portrays sacrifice as having a role complementary with prayer in a universalistic eschatology (Isaiah 56:1; 6-7)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korban#In_the_Nevi.27im

People are always unmooring the symbols from their precepts and turning the message of God into an exercise in apostasy.

Taxes in governments were often based in coins of the realm to bring equity to tax collection in support of the governments, but any government that is supported by a compelled tax is not a free government, like the one appointed by Christ.

The government of Israel was supported by tithes. Like the explanation of the altars of sacrifice this principle the tithe is explained in the metaphor of the language.

Most of Leviticus 27 is about the consecration, sanctification, dedication of things, property and people to the service of the service of the LORD in the form of a votive offering.

This also includes the first mention of a tithe in Leviticus 27:30 - And all the tithe of the land, [whether] of the seed of the land, [or] of the fruit of the tree, [is] the LORD’S: [it is] holy unto the LORD.

The interpretation of these instruction are often made by the same bible students who imagine that the ritual burning of sheep on altars of dead stone was what made God happy. Once we understand the sophistry of the Pharisees and other religionists we know that God is only pleased if we put on the mind of Christ which produces service through sacrifice.

Sacrifice is so praised by Jesus that the widow and her two mites was held up over the rich man and his great contribution to the treasury.

With the admonition of Christ emphasizing the important of sacrifice, charity and love, I still find people making excuses that there is no need for tithing. They even go so far as to interpret Leviticus 27:30 as limiting the tithe to only what you grow. Moses' intent was that people were to tithe not only what they produced from selling the product of their labor but to tithe of every thing you produced.

Those who want to say tithe is only from the livestock of the field and the fruit of the trees write themselves an exemption from giving. All miners, potters, carpenters, stone masons and brick makers, fishermen, trades men, store keepers and laborers have no burden of the tithe. How convenient. The very instruction by Moses to prevent the storage of wealth in herds and granaries are turned around by the tradesmen to keep their personal purse full.

To preach the kingdom is to preach a national priesthood. That job of the Levites was assumed by the Apostles who were the ambassadors of Christ. They were certainly working daily in the temple but were rightly dividing the bread from house to house. The ministers of the Church appointed by Christ were the national priesthood of the Kingdom of God at hand. If the heart of Christ is in the people they will want to give and forgive in support of the true servants of Christ.

People are free to seek the kingdom and support it or not, but padding only your own congregation without casting your bread upon the waters is not truly seeking the kingdom Christ preached and the early Church was.

If you only love your family or your local congregation then what grace have you?

Tithe or be taxed

If you choose to serve the LORD you will support those who labor in His Name. You will build congregations who seek to serve one another and all who seek the ways of Christ. You will not easily abandon those you seek to gather with.

The system from which the majority of the modern Christian seeks benefits of is the welfare State. Those systems of Benefactors is based on forcing their neighbor to pay for what they want, which is covetous and opposed to the ways of God and Christ from the beginning. If anyone's parents collected Social Security from a bankrupt system, pressing that system farther into debt, the action is the sin of Corban Jesus spoke against like did John, because it was by force rather than the charity of Pure Religion.

Jesus preached a government which provided real services to thousands and even millions of people who came out of the declining systems of Judea and Rome. Taking over that responsibility overnight could only be done by truly giving people. For the apostles to rightly divide the bread from house to house, especially in the hard times of Rome's decline, took daily sacrifice on the part of people who were ready to love people they did not even know.

That is the point. We actually encourage everyone to not merely learn to be economically independent, seek health alternatives and home teach their children but help one another do the same and do the same in meats as John the Baptist said.

There is nothing brand new about our teachings except we put it in the context of what people are actually doing in real societies both old and new.

Just as an example:

Besides the word charity we never see the word Corban appear in the Old Testament as "Corban". But we do see it and its root as "offering", "oblation", "offered" and "sacrifice" hundreds of times. Corban itself as well as other words like qarab, nathan, mattan and mattath or even ahab are all Old Testament words for what we see as charity in the New which we see over and over as offering, freewill offerings, tithing, vow (votive offering), etc..

None of this love and charity was facilitated by burning up sheep or coping out of a tithe because you do not raise sheep or cows.

Corban was the word for "sacrifice" and "offering" and the word sacrifice is spoken of in the New testament over 40 times, offering and gift over 60 times, charity and love over a hundred times.

Why?

Because they are all talking about the same thing. They are both talking about freewill offerings given so that when we love one another it takes a substantive form in the real time locally and across the kingdom and around the world.

Around 150 AD Justin the Martyr wrote his Apology to Antonius Pius the emperor to explain how Christians took care of their own free bread through charity since they did not apply to the Emperor for his free bread or wine or cheese or anything else they distributed in their welfare system...

“And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need.” Chapter LXVII

A second question might be who is that priesthood today and what are they supposed to be doing?

The Pharisees had made the “word of God to none effect” by their ordinances which forced the contributions of the people and brought them back into the bondage of Egypt. In Matthew 21 Jesus said he was going to take the “Kingdom of God”, a present reality, away from them and it would be “given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof".

The Pharisees' socialist systems of compelled offerings was set up by leaders who called themselves “benefactors”, but exercised authority one over the other, which was forbidden by Jesus in Luke 22:25, 29:

• “And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye [shall] not [be] so...” [See also Mtt. 20:25, Mk 10:42.]

Many do not want to pay into the Corban of the modern Pharisees and Caesar, but they also do not want to give to the Corban of Christ.

"Bishops, presbyters(Elder) and deacons occupy in the church the same positions as those which were occupied by Aaron, his sons, and the Levites in the temple." Jerome, Ep. 146

• Acts 7:38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and [with] our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

Here Acts 7 is drawing parallels between the institutions of Moses and even Abraham and what the Church established by Jesus Christ was doing in those early days. The Levites were called the Church in the Wilderness because they were called out of the walled-in camp of the Golden calf by Moses to restore and keep the people as a free nation under God. While each family served their congregation as the priests and king of society, the National Priesthood nurtured a kingdom element of the nation by providing for the whole nation and connecting the people in real ways based on charity and love of the heart through sacrifice and mercy and justice through their cities of refuge.

The Church in the Wilderness were the called out Levites who served the tents of the people much like the early Church appointed by Jesus who was the Christ. The people provided Breeches for these ancient ministers of a nation without rulers - no king. Those breeches of the Levites were symbolic of a covering which made them titular leaders of one of the earliest pure republics in recorded history.

How their government operated in a practical way will give you a better understanding of the Church and the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

As we have said, among the Levites there was a unique political structure with corporate elements to the formation of its society. Early Israel was classified in history as a Republic.

Were there parallels between the Church in the Wilderness and the Church called out and appointed by Christ to serve the people?

Jesus called His Church to be one form of government, so that His followers would and could be free souls under God.

Edward Gibbons in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire identified the early Church as a "viable Republic" and early American churches were called "embryonic republics" by historians.

The Corban of that early Church was not like the Corban of the Pharisees. Nor is it like the Corban of the Modern Christian who depend far more on the Benefactors who exercise authority one over the other than upon ministers an congregations who live by faith, hope and charity through the perfect law of liberty.

Baptism Old and New

"According to rabbinical teachings, which dominated even during the existence of the Temple (Pes. viii. 8), Baptism, next to circumcision and sacrifice, was an absolutely necessary condition to be fulfilled by a proselyte to Judaism (Yeb. 46b, 47b; Ker. 9a; 'Ab. Zarah 57a; Shab. 135a; Yer. Kid. iii. 14, 64d). "

"Baptism was practised in ancient (Ḥasidic or Essene) Judaism, first as a means of penitence, as is learned from the story of Adam and Eve, who, in order to atone for their sin, stood up to the neck in the water, fasting and doing penance—Adam in the Jordan for forty days, Eve in the Tigris for thirty-seven days (Vita Adæ et Evæ, i. 5-8)."

"The Baptism of the proselyte has for its purpose his cleansing from the impurity of idolatry, and the restoration to the purity of a new-born man. This may be learned from the Talmud (Soṭah 12b) in regard to Pharaoh's daughter, whose bathing in the Nile is explained by Simon b. Yoḥai to have been for that purpose. The bathing in the water is to constitute a rebirth, wherefore "the ger is like a child just born" (Yeb. 48b); and he must bathe "in the name of God"—"leshem shamayim"—that is, assume the yoke of Gcd's kingdom imposed upon him by the one who leads him to Baptism ("maṭbil"), or else he is not admitted into Judaism (Gerim. vii. 8). For this very reason the Israelites before the acceptance of the Law had, according to" 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia Philo on the Decalogue ("De Decalogo," ii., xi.), as well as according to rabbinical tradition, to undergo the rite of baptismal purification (compare I Cor. x. 2, "They were baptized unto Moses [the Law] in the clouds and in the sea").

The Jewish religion requires that male and female conversion candidates immerse themselves in a ritual bath called a mikveh. Jewish baptism by immersion in ancient times was to be performed in the presence of witnesses (Yebam. 47b). The person being baptized made special preparations including a fresh profession of his faith before the designated "fathers of the baptism" (Kethub. 11a; Erub 15a).

"Baptism did not start with John the Baptist. It was the practice of the Jews to baptise converts as much as five centuries before John the Baptist was born. John was simply building on what was already established. ... Some time between 200 to 500 years before the birth of Jesus and John, baptism became a part of the traditional procedure for conversion to Judaism." R. J. Grigaitis Jewish Baptism 2007-06-08 http://grigaitis.net/home/rjgrigaitis_resume.html

"Josephus tells us that even during the years of war (66-73 A.D.) the laws of ritual immersion were strictly adhered to (Jos. Wars, 4:205). Herod's Temple itself contained immersion baths in various places for the priests to use, even in the vaults beneath the court (Commentary to Tam. 26b; Tam. 1:1)." Mystical Mikveh Immersion, The Jewish Background of Christian Baptism by Ron Moseley, Ph. D.

Seeing Through the Eyes of Jesus: His Revolutionary View of Reality and His Transcendent Significance for Faith was written by Rev. Dr. John F. Baggett who is a graduate of Kentucky Wesleyan College and Vanderbilt Divinity School. He holds a Masters in the Anthropology of Religion and a Ph.D. in Psychiatric Anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

He writes:

“Once again, it is important to understand the intent of the law. The commandment to honor fathers and mothers was not simply intended to ensure the right relationships between parents and children while the children were growing up. It was also intended as the social welfare system of the day which assured that the aging and elderly parents received compassionate care and support.”

“In religious zeal, some Pharisees were allowed to circumvent their responsibility to provide for their parents by declaring the resources that would have gone to that purpose as “dedicated to God.” By seeking their own personal holiness at the expense of the welfare of their parents through the declaration of Corban, they in fact made the commandment meaningless for they had avoided its purpose. Social responsibility for those in need was the intent of the Law. Some Pharisees violated that intent by placing their own desires for personal righteousness above social responsibility.”

Acts 6:1 "And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration."