A Yom Kippurim Lecture

[Rebbe]

Lectures on "The Apocalypse" [33]
"The things which you have witnessed" (Rev 1.10-20).
[FOUR]   

The Restoration of the Levitical Priesthood

We are informed by an ancient Jewish tradition that Ezra the priest was known as Malachi the prophet of God. In one of his prophetic utterances he predicted that the Messiah would again purify the Levites for the proper function of their Office in God's Temple in Jerusalem (Mal 3.3). And, not only was the Levitical priesthood corrupt in his own day and age, and in need of a purity in repentant restoration, it got much worse in the Second Temple Period and the priesthood became even more compromised under the Herods. The Temple fell, and with that horrendous event the Levitical system came to an end. For 2000 long drawn out years, a curse has been upon the inoperative Levitical bloodline. Yes, the Levites certainly still need purifying.

It is intriguing that Christianity today is exemplified on the one hand by people who refuse to believe that Israel continues to be God's chosen people -- that through the negative exercise of their free will they have jettisoned any place in God's prophetic plan and timetable, and on the other hand by people who believe that God will again choose Jerusalem over Athens, and yet deny the Levitical priesthood any place in God's theological economy. In other words, while in great daily need of continued repentance themselves, they seek to deny the Levites any place in that same need for repentance and forgiveness. I have personally met countless numbers of Christians in modern churches (both historic and Pentecostal) who feel this way. But the biblical revelation tells me that the Levites will again be granted a repentance by God, and be restored to their rightful place in God's spiritual economy, to be engaged in full time ministry in the service of the coming Third Temple.

"The Eternal, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple... he shall come, says the Eternal of legions. But who may abide the day of his coming? Who shall stand when he appears? He is like a refiner's fire, and like a laundryman's soap! He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: AND HE SHALL PURIFY THE SONS OF LEVI AND SHALL PURGE THEM AS SILVER AND GOLD, that they may [again] offer unto the Eternal an offering in righteousness. THEN shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Eternal, as in the days of old, as in the former years" (Mal 3.1-4).

Please note that this prophecy is directed entirely to the Jewish people! It is primarily leveled at (and addressed to) Levi. And, in this remarkable oracle, the Levites are again engaged in representing Judah and Jerusalem before Yahweh [in the person of Yeshua the Messiah].

This is decidedly not a prophecy being fulfilled by the High Anglican church (Episcopalian in the USA), or the Baptists, or the old SDA church, or the new SDA church (calling itself "Good News Unlimited")! This prophecy is not about Martin Luther, the Jew Calvin, Huss, Herbert Armstrong, Benny Hinn, Ellen G. White or Des Ford. It is a prediction entirely based on the precious shed blood of Mashiach and directed by His Spirit to the end of Days Levites. Please let that sink in once and for all. The Temple will be rebuilt and the Levites will again function within its sacred perimeters.

It is not only Malachi (Ezra the Scribe, who edited the Hebrew Scriptures after the Exile) but Ezekiel who additionally foretold that in the days of the Messiah a new Temple was going to be built and the Levites would once more occupy a prime place in this new economy having been restored completely and now faithful to God because of the indwelling of the Ruach HaKodesh.

Consequently, in Ezekiel 40.45-46, we are given two companies or selections of priests.

The first company is identified as keepers of the charge of the Temple, called "the House" by the prophet while the second company is the keepers of the charge of the altar.

They are certainly to be differentiated one from the other. This second group is referred to as the "Sons of Zadok, among the sons of Levi, who are allowed to come near to the Eternal [in the person of Yeshua the Messiah] to minister unto him."

There can be no argument about the fact that it is quite apparent that Ezekiel is here describing two different sets of priests, and since he mentions in Eze 40.46 that the "Sons of Zadok, among the sons of Levi, are allowed to draw near unto him" this would indicate that one group is superior to the other! As I said there is no argument about the matter. We may not like to use the term "superior" but whether or not we use the word, or choose another phrase like "not as qualified as" or "not as intimate as" the other grouping it amounts to the exact same thing.

Again, to reiterate, one set of priests will be in charge of the Temple of God (called "the house" by the prophet) and the other priests are in charge of the altar. The latter have a close proximity to the Mashiach.

Moreover, we are told, "Thus says the Lord GOD; No stranger [Gentile], uncircumcised in heart, nor uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any stranger [Gentile] that is [dwelling] among the children of Israel. And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity [as they have for the past 2000 years!]. Yet they shall be servants in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house [Temple], and ministering to the house [Temple]: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them" (Ezekiel 44.9-11).

Now please pay attention to verse 13, "And they shall not come near to me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed."

These Levites are the priests in charge of the Temple.

Notice in verses 15-16 that we are told that "the priests the Levites, the Sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when Israel went astray, they shall come near unto me to minister unto me; they shall stand before me to offer the fat and the blood, they shall enter into my sanctuary."

This has reference to the second set of priests.

I know I am repeating myself but that is what a good teacher will do. Tell people what you are going to tell them, then tell them, and then tell them what you told them. We now know that two sets of priests will serve in the Jerusalem Temple.

The inferior set, the Levites, will be in charge of the Temple precincts; However, the superior set, the Sons of Zadok, will be in charge of the altar.
 
The inferior set will act as teachers by instructing the people in the ways of God. They will slay the sacrifices and they will ensure peace in the Temple and be in charge of the gates. These are very important duties; but under no circumstances will they will be allowed to come near unto Yahweh, in the resident person of Yeshua, in the most holy. Only the superior QUALIFIED priests will be allowed to approach the intimate sphere of the Lord, eat the most holy things, and personally serve the Lord in the INNER Temple precincts.

Now let me say this. These two sets of priests may be Levites, however they cannot in any way be said to be of the same nature.

The inferior priests are mortal, while the superior priests are immortal.

Set aside some time to examine Ezekiel 44.9-31. When we study this section of Scripture we are left with the distinct impression that the ordinary Levites -- the inferior priests -- are mortal. Consider also that Eze 44.15,16 is a parenthesis. If we fail to see that this is the case it can lead to a messy assessment. Parenthesis is not uncommon in Scripture (Num 30.9). Those two verses are found in Eze 44.15,16. They are inserted by the Ruach HaKodesh in order to show the limitations of the Levitical order of priests. We must clearly understand this!

There are many passages of sacred Scripture in which similar parenthetical expressions occur as in Eze 44.14-15. These must be discerningly divided from the context if they are to be properly understood. Again, Eze 44.9-13,17-31 is speaking of mortal priests.

Eze 44.15,16 is speaking of immortal priests.

God in Eze 44.9-13 is speaking of the limitations of the Levitical order, pointing out that the Levites went astray and will not be allowed to minister to God in His near vicinity. God is really "rubbing it in."

The prophet then speaks of their burden of changing garments, not wearing garments that will cause sweat, instruction regarding marriage and rules as to the care of their hair (Eze 44.17-26). In verse 25, they shall not touch any dead person to defile themselves; if so defiled they shall reckon seven days. Now please, my students, does any of this revelation sound like immortal priests? Certainly not. Well, at least not to me!

Speaking of immortality, when we look at Eze 44.15,16 we have a far different picture. In the parenthesis of these two verses, we are told that "the priests, the Levites, the Sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God. They shall enter into my sanctuary (sanctuary in the most holy) and they come near to my table, to minister unto me and they shall keep my charge."

Have you noticed that here there is no mention of limitations?

For emphasis again note that he speaks of the "Sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when Israel went astray" (Ezekiel 44.15). He is speaking of a certain line of priests (Zadokites) who remained faithful to God when Israel "went astray" into apostasy -- PAST tense.

No matter how you look at it, the sons of Zadok who kept the charge when Israel went astray are now dead! For the text tells us that these Zadokites remained faithful "WHEN Israel went astray." Ancient "Israel went astray" after the death of Solomon and finally were sent into captivity by the Lord at the hands of the Assyrians in 721/718 BCE. Then the Zadokites remained faithful "WHEN Israel went astray" in the form of the Jewish rebellion against God which landed them in Babylonian captivity in the days of Nebuchadnezzar in 586/585 BCE. Seventy years later some returned to Judaea, and the Zadokites again remained faithful right up to the destruction of the Temple and the Jewish Commonwealth in 70 CE. These Zadokites serving God intimately in the Temple in the Millennial reign of Mashiach had to have been resurrected from the dead in order to fulfil this specific prophecy. They must be immortal priests.

A question may be raised concerning the changing of the garments. Let us think of the slaying of the sacrifices for a moment (Ezekiel 44.17-19). We are told in verse 17 that the priests shall be clothed with linen garments (as James the brother of the Lord is recorded as wearing); and no wool shall come upon them while they minister in the gates of the inner court and within (notice Ezekiel says the inner court, not the most holy), they shall have linen coverings on their heads and linen trousers upon their loins, they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat (I think we would all agree that here is a strong proof of mortality).

The important thing at this juncture to remember is that the Scripture states that before they go from the inner courts to the outer they shall put off the linen garments in which they instructed the people and conducted other functions within the inner courts, lay them in the holy chambers, for they shall not sanctify the people with (in) their garments. To touch these garments will not give "sanctity." That must be obtained by separation from sinfulness, and by offering sacrifices.

Who then are these mortal Levitical priests; and who are the "sons of Zadok"?

RECONSIDERING THE ZADOKITE PRIESTHOOD
It is at this point that I wish to travel back to the first century (and even prior to that).

Bear with me now while I explain the position I have taken on this matter of the Zadokite priesthood and which conviction I have held since the early '80s.

To begin with Peter, James, John and Paul were arguably the main apostles of Yeshua! Did they really exist? The Bible tells us that they most certainly did. But where is the PROOF outside of the biblical revelation? Can they be identified as having lived, worked and walked amongst first century Jews and Galileans and Romans? The Gospels and Acts treat them as remarkable men for their spiritual achievements. Yet secular sources remain silent, not only as to their spiritual exploits but in regards their secular accomplishments as well. Or, are they silent?

That there is substantial evidence from early pagan sources that the Lord Yeshua did in fact exist, none dare question. But there has been a dearth of information relating to his chief disciples. Scholars have insisted that were evidence to appear giving credence to the existence of the main apostles, for argument's sake Peter and John, the Gospel accounts would no longer be treated by skeptics as productions of pious frauds. Of course, the testimony concerning James the Lord's brother in the extant writings of the Roman collaborator Josephus (no matter how clumsily edited that section may be) is proof enough that Yeshua himself existed. Not only is this the case, but it takes little acumen to grasp that whatever else James was in life he was certainly and unmistakably the brother of Yeshua and his heir and successor of the Messianic Nazarene Community. Acts, which is patently Pauline in orientation and thus reticent to inform future readers about James, tells us this much, and his succession to Yeshua is verified by early ecclesiastical scholars.

Surprisingly, there IS in actuality not just evidence that the apostles lived but abundant PROOF that this is the case and it has lain unnoticed for centuries -- and I will show my students in a moment where they can be sourced. The proof of their being can be found in one of the most exhaustively read and referred-to sources for the unfolding of events and the history of the political intrigue involving the Jewish people in Judaea in the first century. The trouble is, scholars have been looking for the apostles under the misapprehension that they were constructs modeled on late Catholic or Reformation Christians.

We have wrongly ADDRESSED these men of destiny. I mean "addressed" taken in its original meaning: "dressed additionally." Add+dressed. We have been looking in vain for men of cultured European modernity dressed in Roman Catholic and Protestant garb, communicating to others in theological jargon instead of in plain Hebrew and rustic Aramaic. Conditioned (or even programmed) by the internal testimony concerning the disciples, painted by the Gospel writers and the Lukan Acts (although authentic from their perspective), has given us all a somewhat pericopic (if not myopic) view of these otherwise itinerant "preachers."  The truth is that there exists a central source, apart from the biblical revelation, which relates unfamiliar material covering other aspects of the lives of these men in a social and historical context which grants us a deeper and more meaningful appreciation of them. Once encountered, this new information is guaranteed to have a far wider impact with enormous implications when considering the time element we have been studying in this series of lectures on the Apocalypse. We shall treat this anon.

"THE JUST ONE" -- TITLE OF MALCHI'ZEDEKIAN HIGH PRIEST
Criswell noted long ago that precisely what the apostle John saw in his first vision of Mashiach is indeed the grand foundation "the great starting point [in grasping the Apocalypse]. This is the key to the meaning of this vast outline of God's future" (W.A. Criswell, Expository Sermons on Revelation, 1962, 177). Yet Criswell, and other greats, while appreciating elements of the High priestly vision, have entirely missed the point John was making. Jettisoning this remarkable heavenly exposition from its foundational first century Jewish roots and genre has perpetuated ignorance, and not enlightened the biblical, theological and historical significance of what God was revealing to His people of that time period.

Yeshua was baptised by his cousin Yochanan the Immerser -- known by Herod as "The Just One" or Zaddik (Mk 6.20) -- as the heir to Yochanan's High Priestly position and Office of a "Zadokite Priesthood." He would have been known as a Zaddik (Just One, or Righteous One). And this is precisely the term used of Yeshua (by the Apostles Acts 3.14; 7.52; 22.14 and even the Roman Procurator and his wife - Mt 27.19,24) and later of his brother James (Gospel of Thomas Logion 12; cf Hegesippus and Clement of Alexandria).

Its high time to rip the lid off the events that were occurring in the first century Jewish environment and (with the backdrop of the Jewish prophets) to become attuned to the relevance of John's vision for our own looming End of Days. The State of Israel continues to have a prime significance for the entire world and this in spite of the proclivity of Augustine's Replacement Theology to still find an attraction for Gentile Christians today (many of whom claim to have a love for the people of Israel).

A WORD ABOUT REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY
Listen! Replacement Theology is a form of biblical and theological apostasy and the height of absurdity. The rabbis can tell you rightly that every form of apostasy is caused by idolatry. Indeed, the Talmud lists ten different words for idols. This specific falling away (apostasy) in doctrinal understanding concerning God's care for the Jewish people is found in the prophet Isaiah. Perhaps we ought to consider it now in this context. Isaiah noted, "Neither allow the son of the Gentile, that has joined himself to the Eternal, speak saying, The Eternal has utterly separated me from His people [Israel]" (Isa 56.3).

But this is precisely what the Methodists, and much of Christendom, believe. The Christian church (in all its horrid Constantinian distortions and fragmented sectarianism and baptised paganism) is now the "new Israel," the "new Zion." The prophecies relating to Israel and Judah at the End of Days applies now strictly to the church. All the promises of God to, and for, Israel (recall that the "Scripture cannot be broken" for "who has resisted His will?") were contingent not on Grace but on Jewish freewill. This is what other Augustinians believe as well as the Methodist clans. This is especially what the blind disciples of Mrs Ellen Gould White believe -- and what we find continually promulgated in the alternative literature of Adventism by (otherwise noble) devotees of the recently defrocked Des Ford. The latter adherents of a revived Gospel cannot break the shackles of sinister Adventist theology (if in fact they are even attempting to do so). Its too deeply ingrained. Dr Ford is a powerful evangelist of Christ delivering the Gospel with rare conviction and bold authenticity. Personally I am enthused by his writings on the Gospel. But his theology concerning Israel is bordering on total theological ineptitude. While GNU (Good News Unlimited - a sect of the SDA church) claim to be getting "back to the Bible" they indeed have their back to the Bible.

Back to the Apocalypse. We all should realise that there were three classes of Office which God reserved for a holy anointing with oil -- prophets, priests and kings. Yeshua was anointed with holy Spirit and power according to Acts 10.38. Luke recorded that this anointing was visibly obvious to all who were listening to Peter's public declaration. Yeshua's anointing enabled him to fulfill ALL these functions. The Scripture informs us that the anticipated Mashiach was to be a prophet like unto Moses (Deut 18.15). He is the promised Son of David (Mt 1.1). He is a Priest after the Order of Malchi-Zadok (Heb 5.6). One author has astutely noted,

"In this prophecy [Revelation] Christ is unveiled in these three characters in succession. First, He is presented as Prophet to the ecclesias in the synagogues. Then He is seen in the center of the throne, preparing to assert His regal claims. Then the temple is in view and His priestly prerogatives are pressed. Then comes the climax of the prophecy, when the new creation is ushered upon the scene. Thereafter He appears in the same characters again, but in reverse order. Priesthood is first. No temple, indeed, is seen, but He Himself is the Temple of the new Jerusalem. Then the throne appears and His reign extends to the limit of the eonian times. Finally He is a Prophet once again, in the midst of the ecclesias, as we saw Him at the beginning of the scroll" (A.E. Knoch, The Unveiling of Jesus Christ, 1935, 22).

I have very little time for the above writer, a late German rationalist who lived in California (the home of most cults) and who had more time for Greek than for Hebrew, but on occasion he shows some measure of enlightened brilliance. He sees not only the existence of the ekklesia of God IN the existing Jewish synagogues when John penned the Apocalypse (and all authentic first century Christian history now ought to align with this accurate assessment); he also perceives, again accurately, the reversal of the roles of Prophet, Priest and King. But Yeshua FIRSTLY and with FOREMOST designation reveals His Presence to his faithful and dedicated servant and friend, the priestly John, IN THE GARMENTS OF THE HIGH PRIEST.

"AS ABOVE, SO BELOW"
There is a biblical maxim which is found in mystical Jewish writings. It is "As Above, So Below." If Yeshua declared himself to be the heavenly High priest after the Order of Malchi-zadok, was there a parallel earthly High priesthood accepted by the Jewish believers in the Messianic Kingdom of God? And if so, who held the High priesthood of this ancient Order on Earth when John received his vision of the Messiah in High priestly attire? We have lost MUCH knowledge of historical events in Judaea under the "Pax Romana." Entire gaps exist in the flow of Jewish history for this period. This ministry of BRI/IMCF is gradually restoring that which was lost.

The Zohar tells us that the continued existence of the Earth is entirely predicated upon the prayerful intercessory concern of the suffering Righteous Ones (See Zohar 59b cf Zohar 218a-b). Our Lord Yeshua said as much in his discussion of his students as the preserving "salt of the earth" (Mt 5.13). The Hebrew of Prov 10.25 informs us that "the Zaddik [Righteous One] is the Foundation [Pillar] of the World" (cf "pillar" terminology in Gal 2.9). These concepts of the world's preservation because of the suffering intervention of the Righteous are found scattered throughout the Dead Sea writings of the Zadokite priests at Qumran. Certainly, of James the brother of the Lord, it is noted in another record,

"The disciples said to Yeshua, We know that you will depart from us. Who is to be our leader? Yeshua replied, Wherever you are, you are to go to James the Just [Zaddik/Righteous] for whose sake Heaven and Earth came into existence" (Gospel of Thomas Logion 12).

In previous lectures I have mentioned the fact that James was not just the Apostle of the Nazarene Movement, but its High priest. Even by his enemies he was considered "Righteous" -- hence his title, James the Just -- and the degree of authenticity by which he drove himself in his intercession for the Jewish nation in the Jerusalem Temple was seen to be apparent in his knees which were "callused like that of a camel's" (Hegesippus, Memoirs, 1, and in Eusebius, Ecc. Hist., 2.23.6). James, according to Eusebius, Epiphanius, and Jerome, all claimed that he wore the mitre of the High priest and it is Hegesippus transmitted through Eusebius who proclaims that James "alone was allowed to enter into the Place of Holiness -- asking forgiveness for the [Jewish] people" (Ecc. Hist., 2.23,5-6).

Now this is indeed astonishing! James, head of the Nazarene-Zealot priestly caste entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple of God in Jerusalem to perform the sacred rite of the High priest on behalf of the Nazarene Yeshua-centred Community! That rite occurred on YOM KIPPUR -- the great FAST DAY. I am sure that rabbis would choke on such information as this! So indeed will some Christians. Here is testimony to the effect that long after the so-called conclusion of the Levitical priestly service in the Temple of God -- long after the tearing of the Temple curtain by the hand of God Himself (in the form of the collapse of the huge lintel from which the curtain hung suspended) -- James the brother of the Lord wore the vestments of the High priest and officiated not just in the Temple but in the sacred Holy of Holies itself on the very sacred fast day of the Jewish people -- THE DAY OF ATONEMENT!!! James, the brother of the Lord is observing Yom Kippur long AFTER the cross. And so, obviously, did the entire Nazarene Messianic Community of Faith along with the entire Jewish nation.

Epiphanius adds,

"But we find further that he also exercised the Priesthood according to the Ancient Priesthood. For this reason he was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies once a year, as Scripture says the Law ordered the High Priests." In his revision he becomes more specific: "To James alone it was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies ONCE A YEAR; because he was a Nazarite and connected to the priesthood... James was a distinguished member of the priesthood... James also wore a diadem [the Sacerdotal Plate] on his head" (Haer., 29.4.1-3 cf 78.13.5-8).

Please note again what it is that Epiphanius is telling his readers: "I find further that he also exercised the priesthood according to the Ancient Priesthood [i.e., "after the Order of Malchi-Zadok"]. For this reason he was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies once a year [this is Yom Kippur], as the Bible lays down in the Law [Torah] commanding the High Priests. He was also allowed to wear the High Priestly diadem [crown] on his head as the.... trustworthy men" -- Eusebius, Clement [of Alexandria], and others --  "have related in their accounts" (Epiphanius, Haeres. 29.4.1).

James was the alternative Melchizedekian High Priest of the Ancient Order that had survived for centuries! As shocking as it sounds to modern ears "drilled" in the teachings and traditions of Talmudic Judaism (the modern inheritors of the Pharisaic schools) JAMES THE BROTHER OF OUR LORD YESHUA WAS PERMITTED TO PERFORM THE CELEBRATION OF YOM KIPPUR ON A UNIQUE DAY APPOINTED ON THE UNIQUE CALENDAR USED BY HIS BROTHER and hinted at throughout the Gospels. It is this same calendar used today by the BRI/IMCF.

And, not only is this the case, but after his assassination in 62 CE, a cousin of Yeshua -- Symeon son of Cleopas (or Clopas) -- himself took the reins of the priesthood, and after his demise the priesthood passed on to thirteen others in quick succession, several of whom were known blood relatives of Yeshua, until the line was extinguished in the Third Jewish Revolt under Bar Kosiba and Akiva in 132 CE. (All scholars refer to this final uprising against Rome as the Second Jewish Revolt but this is an unbelievably colossal error although some will argue.) Whatever the case, church tradition tells us that the ancient priesthood at one time distinguished the apostle John (the author of the Revelation and another relative of Yeshua) and it is written of him that he also WORE THE HIGH-PRIESTLY GARMENTS. This act is testified to by Eusebius the librarian of Caesarea. He notes:

"Again there is John, who leant back on the Lord's breast, and who became a [High] priest wearing the Mitre" (Ecc. Hist. 3, 31).

This record is based on the fragments of Polycrates of Ephesus. In full, Polycrates tells us, "And moreover John, who was both a witness and a teacher, who reclined on the bosom of the Lord, and, being a priest WORE THE SACERDOTAL PLATE..."

This is nothing less than an identification of a High priest of the Ancient Order of Melchizedek, and that High priest is John. And why not? His cousin was Yeshua, and his mother was Salome the sister of Miriam the Mother of Yeshua (cf Jn 19.25 with Mk 15.40). His father was Zebedee (Mt 4.21) the husband of Salome who was a disciple of the Lord (Mk 15.40,41; Mt 27.56). Being the cousin of Yeshua, John would also be a cousin to Yochanan the Immerser whose mother was Elisheva, a close relative to Miriam (Lk 1.36). John was a Levite. John was born into a family of Zadokites with links to Qumran. Certainly, blood ties aside, he was well known to Kayafa (Jn 18.15,16).

TWO LEVELS OF LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD
Allow me now to digress just a little, and for an important reason in order to place things squarely as they were in those times.

Recall that there are three essential divisions in the Apocalypse (Rev 1.19).

1. "The things which you SAW" -- the vision of Yeshua as High priest.
2. "The things which ARE" -- the seven ekklesias in Asia Minor.
3. "The things which shall be AFTERWARD" -- "after these things" : the bulk of the contents of the scroll.

John had to WRITE these things down on parchment. He was commanded to "write immediately" or "promptly" (Rev 1.11,19 Gk) for memory is prone to distort and to fade, no matter how astonishing and startling a vision. John was, like all of us, only human. In fact, the command to write is located a total of 12 times in this scroll (Rev 1.11,19; 2.1,8,12,18; 3.1,7,14; 14.13; 19.9; 21.5) but in Rev 10.4 he is told "not to write." But that is down the track somewhat and we need not get sidetracked at this stage with this particular text.

What we need to relate to is that Our Lord Yeshua presents himself as our great sinless High Priest of a new order right at the time when the Zealots were gathering sympathy for their cause from amongst the young priests in the lower ranks of the compromised Levitical priesthood. The High priesthood had become so corrupt it had taken steps to commit THEFT of God's TITHES and many of the lower priestly ranks, totally dependent on those same tithes of produce, perished as a direct consequence (Ant., 20.8.8 cf 20.9.8; 20.10.2).

This was the last straw as far as the lower priestly service was concerned. They reacted by cancelling the sacrifices for the emperor Nero (which action was both backed and fueled by the Essene Zadokite faction at Qumran) which triggered the Zealot Revolution! It was during this period that Peter and Judah wrote their letters advising restraint in relation to taking sides between the highly corrupt Roman appointed Herodian High priestly caste and the Zealot-backed lower Levitical priesthood. Josephus records the momentous upheavals that rent the country apart at the seams. Josephus himself had been involved up to his neck in the Uprising but saw it in his interests (survival) to turn traitor and the rabbis have never forgiven him.

It is singularly astonishing that while ministers of religion and Christian historians have scanned the works of Josephus they have invariably overlooked the number of occasions he made mention of the apostles. True, he never referred to them under this appellation, but he did mention a xenophobic Simon (who had an assembly of his own in Jerusalem) and who was a moderate Zealot involved in agitation against Agrippa 1 & ll -- even banning king Agrippa ll from entry into the Temple and even from Jerusalem itself. This Simon had "a very accurate knowledge of Torah." (See Wars, esp. Bks 6 & 7; Antiq., 19.7.4.)

Josephus also mentions a shadowy figure involved in intrigue named Saulus (who just happens to be contemporary with Rav Shaul) who is an agent for the Herodian Establishment; is insistent on Jews of his circle compromising with Gentiles; vigorously pursues Herodian family policy; and who is related directly to the Herodian royal house (cf Paul's admission to royal blood in Rom 16.11 where he refers to "my kinsman Herodian" -- "the Littlest Herod"). He is instrumental as an anti-Zealot in passing on intelligence to Nero relating to the forthcoming Jewish Revolt and it is upon this intelligence that Nero orders Vespasian to immediately curtail his activities in Britain and dispatches him to Judaea to circumvent the Zealot revolution. It is after his appearance before Nero in Rome in 66 CE that the Saulus of Josephus disappears from the records. Needless to say, Rav Shaul (Paulus/Saulus) disappeared off the register at this same precise time.

Simon and his associates are especially considered by Josephus as "Innovators." They belong to a Messianic alternative priesthood which was very active in promoting an anti-Herodian agitation and insistent upon the termination of sacrifices on behalf of foreigners. Remember, the first Zealot Uprising occurred in 1 BCE around the death of Herod. (Herod did not die in 4 BCE as argued now for centuries. This dating has to be adjusted according to the latest findings in biblical chronology in relation to the first appearance of the Bethlehem Star and a little known eclipse in 1 BCE.) Yeshua had been born 3/2 BCE at a time when a "star" hung above Bethlehem, firing the Zealot "final countdown" of Isaiah's mysterious 65-year prophecy which foretold the destruction of an apostate "Ephraim" (a symbol of a corrupt Herodian Judaea under Roman control). With the destruction of "Ephraim" the Davidian Messiah would appear to rule the world. The prophecy for the appearance of the "star" can be located in Numbers 24.17. Josephus describes the focus on the "star" to have been the moving force behind the Zealot Uprising. It is also mentioned in columns xi-xvi of the Qumran War Scroll.

ENTER EPAPHRODITUS, FRIEND OF RAV SHAUL, & SECRETARY OF NERO
It was a close associate of Rav Shaul by the name of Epaphroditus (Phil 2.25-30; 4.18; but see especially 4.22), the same man who edited and published the works of Josephus, and who himself was Nero's secretary (see Suetonius), who either helped the mad emperor escape from the hands of his fellow countrymen in the midst of the Zealot war, or who personally despatched Caesar in a brutal assassination -- for which charge, interestingly enough, Domitian later had him murdered. We could say, and be in complete agreement with a score of Christian scholars, that this particular Epaphroditus of "Caesar's household" was a different Epaphroditus to the Messianic covert operative in Rome (even though he was also "in Caesar's household,") and while I admit that this is entirely possible it is also highly unlikely. Certainly, the mid-sixties of our first century was filled with political chicanery and subversive intrigue.

There is little doubt that the early Christians were troubled over what they saw to be an exploited High priesthood in the pay of the Romans and the continuation of a largely redundant sacrificial system in the Temple. With the emergence of a new and radical alternative High priestly Zadokite network of priestly service centred around the resurrected Nazarene Priest-King of the Jews, the loyal Nazarene worshipers needed a timely reminder of what was really accomplished by Yeshua. Hence the Letter of Paul to the Roman Christians, and the message to the Hebrews, and the forthright introductory chapter of John's Apocalypse. We assume that the primitive believers had a strong and tempered grip on things of a theological nature. But they did not live in the Catholic or Reformation period. They did not have the hindsight benefit of centuries of well-thought out theological appraisal in relation to the bloodied tree of Golgoleth. Really, if we are honest, we must admit that the impact of what was accomplished on the cross was entirely gradual. Many believers, no doubt, were still struggling beneath the guilt incurred by sin. Paul had to write to the Roman Christians informing them that when sin's guilt is removed only then is the power of sin broken (Rom 6.14).

Sin therefore ceases to have dominion over us -- NOT when or as we keep Torah --  but when our hearts are broken by the FORGIVING GRACE of God. The immense joy that the Spirit grants to each authentic believer comes as a consequence of recognising that EACH OF US DIED in a LEGAL sense when Yeshua died and that therefore ALL the sins of a believer are ATONED for -- ALL of them: All PAST sins, PRESENT sins, and FUTURE sins. Yeshua tells John and he tells each of us: "I BECAME THE DEATH STATE" (Rev 1.18). "I became dead" (Gk).

YESHUA TO CLEANSE THE LEVITES
That the Levitical priesthood needed repentance and cleansing can be doubted by no one familiar with biblical and secular history. The Bible speaks of the depths of decadence to which it had plunged in the period of the Second Temple, and Josephus and Talmudic sources also bemoan the depravity that gripped the servants of the Temple. The prophets foresaw the apostasy that culminated in the planned assassinations of both Yeshua and James the Just, and they also predicted that when Mashiach came he would heal the Levitical priesthood. I have mentioned it before.

The mortal Levites under discussion in Ezekiel's prophecy are the natural descendants of the house of Levi, who have been scattered and regathered from the four corners of the earth; restored to the land of their fathers along with the rest of the nation of Israel.

What of Zadok? Recall the word "Zadok" means "just." The sons of Zadok are, therefore, the sons of "the Just One." Think of who could be qualified enough in the entire history of man to wear just such an ascription. Who among all those who have ever lived could possibly be worthy of the title, "The Just One"? Where among mortal men are there to be found those who are worthy to be called his sons? There is only one possible conclusion. Although Yochanon the Immerser, the cousin of Yeshua, was the original Qumran "Teacher of Righteousness," Yaakov (James, the brother of Yeshua) and alternative High Priest of Qumran, who was called "The Just" would heartily concur in the following assessment.

Only the resurrected son of Miriam, Yeshua our Lord, could possibly be worthy of the title, "The Just One." He is even called by this appellation in the pages of the Messianic Scriptures and early church history as we have seen.

Only those disciples Yeshua has personally delivered from the power of sin and death, typified by John's twenty-four elders -- those immortalized saints raised to glory to serve as kings and priests in his soon coming Kingdom -- those only could possibly be appropriately styled "sons of the Just One," or "the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok."

The controversy over exactly who the "sons of Zadok" actually were raged in Jewish circles and is reflected in Essene documents of the first century of the Christian era. Echoes of this fierce contentious issue are found scattered throughout the Messianic Scriptures.

The High Priest of the Temple of God was of Zadokite descent. Zadok was a just priest who lived during the Solomonic period, but there was also a strict Pharisee who was also zealous for the Torah during the Maccabean uprising. Whoever the original Zadok may have been, the sons of Zadok were priests who were Zealots for the Torah and they evolved into the Zadokites or Sadducees.

Over time there grew a massive dissension over religious politics, and the interpretation of Torah, and a large group withdrew into the Dead Sea region and set up a competing priesthood -- these Zadokites (Sadducees) were known as the Essenes.

They viewed themselves as the only legitimate priests, or sons, of Zadok. They called themselves The Way, believed in a New Covenant, viewed our present reality as a mere reflection of events and patterns in the heavenly realm, recognised the holy Spirit, spoke in tongues and acknowledged spiritual gifts, had a ritual of baptism, shared bread and wine in a communion service, and considered that when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur that he was literally taken over (in a form of merging) by the Heavenly High Priest (De Somniis, ll, 188).

There were a number of ideas circulating as to who this High priest was, but most seemed to agree that he was the angel known as Melchi-Tzadok (Melchisedec). Some Christian sects even today think he became Yeshua HaMashiach (who, of course, IS our Heavenly High priest).

BRI/IMCF students, the day is here when Jewish Messianic believers are being approached by Gentiles who have had enough of lies. They are sincere people seeking the truth of the biblical revelation and who realise the importance of getting back to the Jewish thoughtform which presented Christianity with the Holy Bible (Jer 16.19; Zech 8.23).
 
Now these Gentiles in Zech 8.23 are TEN in number. This is imperative to note. For, ten is the Perfection of the Divine Order -- the number of God's Torah, the blueprint of existence. It also may be an indication that a mere 10% of humanity will survive the years ahead and cross over into the Millennium at Messiah's advent.

Whatever the case, when the Jewish Uprising broke out in full, in 65/66 CE, the lower priesthood swung over to the Zealots who -- based largely on John's Apocalypse and believing that Yeshua was the Nazarene King of the Jews -- promised them the world and ended up giving them nothing but desolation and despair. On the eve of the insurrection against Rome Yeshua appeared to his friend and trusted disciple the priestly John the Apostle in the robes of the Melchizedekian High priest. He commanded the apostle to "Write promptly" (Rev 1.11) because the Zealot revolution was about to commence, fueled by Qumran madness and allied to the Zadokite Temple priesthood.

The priests declared war with Rome by refusing to sacrifice on behalf of foreigners which included Nero! The persecution against the Christians of Asia Minor was about to be unleashed!

They needed to be warned.