The Covenant of Peace – the Melchizedek/Levitical Priesthood

What we were called to be

When Adam and Eve were created and placed in Eden, God covenentally commissioned humanity to be a people who were a royal priesthood. They were to rule through their relationship with God, spreading God’s glory throughout the world. There is something significant to this relationship, for it is in this relationship that the rule of God was to spread past Eden to the rest of the world as Adam and Eve were commanded “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion” ( Geneses 1:28). God spreads his glory through his relationship with us.

However, the covenant was broken with the fall. Though there were priests after the fall, they could not fully restore humanity to the relationship that they had with God before the fall. But God promised that one day, “the seed of the woman” would come and conquer the serpent, and in doing so conquer sin and death. The Bible tells us a story about how this was accomplished in Jesus. And for those who put their faith in Jesus, they are once again restored into this royal priesthood and God’s glory is spread throughout the world through the preaching of the Gospel.

Who is Melchizedek?

The author of Hebrews is eager to tell us about an enigmatic character called Melchizedek. It is from this priestly line that Jesus has the authority to conquer sin and make the law of Moses obsolete. We must remember that the author of Hebrews deals with the Hebrew context of the Gospel. In the Old Testament, there is a clear intimate and covenantal nature in God’s relationship with mankind. Just as a husband and wife promise to love one another through a covenant, so God establishes his promises with his people. For hundreds of years, those receiving this letter, along with their fathers and their fathers’ fathers, had pursued God legitimately under the Mosaic Covenant. For them, it was a well-worn path, comfortable, and felt secure. And now the author of Hebrews is telling them this is no longer the case. All the practices, rituals, sacrifices, and laws that had become innately a part of who they were were now obsolete and dead works. The law of Moses was no longer a means of repentance and entering God’s presence. What authority and covenant did Jesus have to overturn hundreds of years of covenant practice? The author of Hebrews argues that there is a covenant that both precedes and is greater than the Mosaic covenant, a covenant that the law of Moses itself calls us to. In the words of C.S. Lewis, “there is magic deeper still”.

The Covenant of Peace

While many are familiar with the Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, and Davidic covenants in the Old Testament, one covenant relationship is often neglected in these discussions – the Priestly Covenant or the Covenant of Peace. This covenant is given to the Levites during the Exodus, and in the scripture, we find the Levitical Covenant running parallel with the Davidic Covenant. We see glimpses of the Davidic covenant in Judah as he is told, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” From Judah we can follow its progression down through to David and through to its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. And it is the same with the Levitical Covenant.

For this is what the LORD says: David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, nor will the priests who are Levites ever fail to have a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to present sacrifices.”

And the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “This is what the LORD says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night cease to occupy their appointed time, then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant and with My ministers the Levites who are priests, so that David will not have a son to reign on his throne. As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.”

Moreover, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Have you not noticed what these people are saying: ‘The LORD has rejected the two families He had chosen’? So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation. This is what the LORD says: If I have not established My covenant with the day and the night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth, then I would also reject the seed of Jacob and of My servant David, so as not to take from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from captivity and have compassion on them.” (Jeremiah 33:14-26)

God’s covenant with Levi was a covenant of peace. Malachi 2:4-7, says,

“So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.”

We see similar language when God proclaimed a blessing on Phinehas,

“And the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to this descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’” (Numbers 25:10-13)

Covenantal focus: Judah to David and Levi to Zadok

Just as we see glimpses of the Davidic covenant with Judah, when Jacob was pronouncing blessings on his sons, his blessing for Levi, though it had the sounds of a curse rather than a blessing, foreshadowed the Levitical priesthood.

Simeon and Levi are brothers;

weapons of violence are their swords.

Let my soul come not into their council;

O my glory, be not joined to their company.

For in their anger they killed men,

and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen.

Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,

and their wrath, for it is cruel!

I will divide them in Jacob

and scatter them in Israel. (Genesis 49:5-7)

This was meant to be a curse, yet in a profound action of grace, God took this curse, and it became a blessing for Levi. Yes, Levi was divided and scattered among Israel, and they were not allowed to have an inheritance in the land, fulfilling Jacob’s words, but the Levites gained something far greater –

And the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel. (Numbers 18:20)

God set Levi apart from the rest of Israel to serve the Lord.

And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies), then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’” And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell. And Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.” (Exodus 32:25-29)

At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord to stand before the Lord to minister to him and to bless in his name, to this day. Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God said to him. (Deuteronomy 10:8-9)

And as Judah’s promise would become more narrow in its focus and come to David, among the Levites, Aaron and his descendants were set apart as priests, and this would later be narrowed to the descendants of Zadock.

The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron was set apart to dedicate the most holy things, that he and his sons forever should make offerings before the LORD and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name forever. (1 Chronicles 23:13)

As seen earlier, it is with Aaron’s grandson, Phinehas, that we get the specific wording that the covenant of Levi is a covenant of peace. But after this promise, it is the sons of Ithamar that serve in the High Priest role, not Phinehas’s sons. But this would change. We soon find Eli, a descendant of Ithamar, whose sons have profaned the temple and God. Through Samuel, God tells Eli that his house will decline. And in Solomon’s reign, this is fulfilled, as Zadok, a descendant of Phineas, becomes high priest, and the high priesthood is taken away from the descendants of Ithamar. God fulfills the covenant of peace he made with Phinehas, and later God confirms the Levitical Covenant with Zadok, Phineas’ descendant.

“But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. (Ezekiel 44:15,16)

The King and Priest

After Solomon, Israel went into decline and turned away from the Lord and were eventually sent into Babylon, and the temple was destroyed. However, God brought his people back to Jerusalem, where the temple was rebuilt. The High Priest during this time was a man named Yeshua or Joshua. At this time, God sent the prophet Zechariah with a message concerning Joshua,

The word of the LORD also came to me, saying, “Take an offering from the exiles—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon—and go that same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak.

And you are to tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Behold, a man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build the temple of the LORD. Yes, He will build the temple of the LORD; He will be clothed in splendor and will sit on His throne and rule. There will also be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two of them.

The crown will reside in the temple of the LORD as a memorial to Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hene son of Zephaniah. Even those far away will come and build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.” (Zechariah 6:9-15)

In this prophecy, we get elements of both the Davidic and Levitical Covenants. A crown is set on Joshua’s head, and then Zechariah cries out, “Behold, a man whose name is the Branch”. Both these are symbols of the Davidic covenant.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a Righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:5-6)

But Joshua was a Levite and not a descendant of David, so what is going on? The prophesy then goes on and describes both a king and a priest being on one throne, and that “the counsel of peace will be between the two”, echoing the covenant of peace that God made with Phinehas and the Levitical covenant.

The greatest of all men

And then the New Testament opens up and Mary and Joseph are told they are going to have a baby, who is a descendant of David, and they are to name this baby Yeshua, the same name of the High Priest that Zechariah prophesied over saying that both the Levitical and Davidic covenants would come together. We also learn about Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, a descendent of Aaron, and of the miraculous birth of John the Baptist, born to a couple who, like Abraham and Sarah, were too old to have children. Though we cannot say with certainty that he was a descendant of Zadock or Joshua, it is likely. We can say with certainty that he was a descendant of Aaron and born to a priest named Zechariah, coincidently the same name as the prophet who prophesied the uniting of these two covenants.

And then in the wilderness (where the Levites were set apart in the Exodus), John the Baptist, a priest (descended from Aaron) and a prophet wearing the garments of Elijah, calls Israel to prepare the way for the Lord. In the midst of John’s ministry, Jesus comes to John to be baptized. John the Baptist at first relents, saying he is not worthy to baptize Jesus. But Jesus asks John to do this to fulfill all righteousness. On hearing this, John relents, obeys, and baptizes Jesus. This moment is significant.

For someone to become a priest, according to the law of Moses, they had to fulfill certain requirements.¹

• A Priest could not begin their ministry and service till they were 25-30 years of age. Jesus was 30 when he came to be baptized by John.
• They had to be called by God. Aaron and his descendants were called by God. God says of Jesus, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek” and “You are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased.”
• They had to be without physical defect. Jesus was without spot or blemish. He had no sin.
• They had to be male. Jesus was male.
• They had to be washed in the water of ordination and then clothed in priestly garments. Jesus was baptized, and the Holy Spirit descended on him.
• They had to be ordained by someone who was already a priest. John was a descendant of Aaron and rightly could ordain Jesus into the priesthood.
• They began ministering after the ordination. Jesus’ ministry began after his baptism.

It was also necessary for a prophet to anoint a king when a new line was being established. When John baptizes Jesus, he is anointed by the Holy Spirit and it is said that the Holy Spirit remained on him. This is foreshadowed when Samuel anoints David as king. “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed [David] in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13).

In his baptism, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament law and its requirements for becoming a priest and king. He fulfilled all that the law demanded. He fulfilled all righteousness. This is why he tells John, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).

John also had the right to pass on his mantle of prophet as Elijah did with Elisha. And in Jesus’ baptism he became the final word of God. As the writer of Hebrews states, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (Hebrews 1:1,2).

In this, Jesus did not presume to take these roles upon himself though it was his right to do so, but he humbled himself allowing these roles to come to him the appropriate way, “fulfilling all righteousness”. In every way, Jesus submitted himself to the law.

Jesus says of John, “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28). On person of John rested the mantals of both high priest and Elijah the prophet. There was no higher authority under the law of Moses. He had the right to declare Jesus the final prophet, priest, and king.

When John, an Aaronite priest whose name means “God is gracious”, baptized Jesus, he was transferring the Levitical covenant to Jesus. John could do this not only because he had the authority to do so, but because there was a covenant of peace before God’s promise to Phineas, through Abraham and Melchizedek.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. (Hebrews 6:13–7:10, ESV)

Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”, but he was also the king of Salem, which means “peace”, and therefore, the covenant of peace was rightly his. And so, Jesus was able to become a priest under the order of Melchizedek, who also was under the covenant of peace, whom the scripture states Levi in the loins of Abraham served. Truly there is a majic even deeper than the law of Moses.

And the priesthood rightly belongs to Jesus as Hebrews continues to argue,

Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him,

“You are a priest forever,

    after the order of Melchizedek.”

For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:

“The Lord has sworn

    and will not change his mind,

‘You are a priest forever.’”

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. (Hebrews 7:11-28)

As our high priest, Jesus has once and for all conquered sin and death. He has fully redeemed those who come to him in faith. In Jesus, the prophesy is fulfilled, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (Joel 2:32). And is now sitting at the right hand of God, the Father where “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to [Jesus]” (Matthew 28:18).

It is clear that Jesus had the authority to render the Law of Moses obsolute and to allow us to enter a new and better covenant of a royal priesthood, restoring what was lost by Adam at the fall. And He has called us once again to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion”, to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19)

Restoration of the royal priesthood and the Temple of God

In Jesus humanity is restored once again to their proper place as a royal priesthood. In Zechariah’s prophesy to Joshua, he says, “Even those far away will come and build the temple of the LORD.” Peter says, “As you come to [Jesus], the living stone, rejected by men, but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:4,5). As Jesus, when we are baptized, under Christ’s headship, Zechariah’s prophecy is fulfilled, and we are brought into the Covenant of peace under the order of Melchizedek.

[For] you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9, bold added)

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5b-6)

 Interestingly, when the Bible speaks of Levi’s name, it says,

Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. (Genesis 29:34)

Through the Gospel, we become attached to our husband. Peter goes on to say, “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy”  (1 Peter 2:10).  Hosea prophesies, “I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God’” (Hosea 2:23). We are not only a royal priesthood, we are the bride of Jesus.

After Jesus says of John the Baptist, “among those born of women there has risen no greater than John the Baptist”, he continues, “Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11). We truly are under a deeper and richer covenant that the Law of Moses, with stronger and more sure promises.

Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you
an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
(Isaiah 55:3, ESV)

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” (Exodus 19:5–6, ESV)

More on this:

Galatians argues that the law of Moses cannot save us. While Galatians was written to the Gentiles, the book of Hebrews is the Galatians’ argument for the Hebrew. Because of the Melchizedek covenant, faith alone can save us, not the works of the law. Read more on this here: There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgement

To learn how Jesus also held the role of Firstborn, read this article: The firstborn and the beginning of God’s creation

¹ adapted from “Waters of Creation” by Douglas Van Dorn pg7