Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

John The Baptist, The Last Aaronic High Priest
The Reason For My Faith ^ | 3/20/21 | Chuck Ness

Posted on 03/20/2021 9:06:36 AM PDT by OneVike

web counter

Many may be baffled by this, and some may even disagree, but if you allow yourself to step away from what secular history has told you about the religion of Judaism, you will realize that their is truth in what I am about to share.

Let me begin by stating, there is absolutely nothing “Jewish” about God's revelations to Moses at Mt. Sinai. Everything Moses wrote that God instructed him to write, was distinctly Hebraic. NOT Jewish.

The Jewish religious tradition was born in the late second temple period, by the Pharisees. There are 613 laws that God handed down to Moses, called the Torah. These laws were to guide the nation of Israel and, as Paul told the Galatians, to be a tutor and disciplinarian to guide God's people to their Messiah, Christ Jesus. However, the Pharisees added what is known as the Mishnah, which is an oral tradition of commentaries on the Mosaic Law.

These commentaries include hundreds of man-made rules and traditions that were elevated to the same level of Scripture. Thus, if you broke one of the man made rules, then you were considered guilty of violating the Mosaic Law. Jesus confronted them on this by pointing out their hypocrisy in Matthew Chapter 5 & 23.

Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
For God commanded, saying,
"Honor your father and your mother". and, "He who
curses father or mother, let him be put to death." But you say, "Whoever says
to his father or mother, Whatever profit you might have received from me is a
gift to God - then he need not honor his father or mother." Thus you have made
the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah
prophesy about you, saying: These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And
honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they
worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
"
Matthew 15:3-9

The Pharisees were supposed to be the keepers and interpreters of the Mosaic Law. Yet the many rules and traditions they added turned it into a man made legal document, that allowed them to scam God's people. I tend to believe that most of the lower class common folk in the Jewish communities must have thought God and His Priests were crazy, as they probably shook their heads over some of the silly rules, and how they were interpreted and applied? I can see them asking,

"What sort of dummy would ever dream up some of these silly, restricting rules?”

However, as bad as that was, there was another problem with the religion put in place by God through Moses.  This one had to do with the way the Pharisees and Sadducees had thumbed their proverbial finger into God's proverbial eye, by destroying the succession of the High Priesthood. A succession which God Himself ordained. 

We read in Chapter 8 of Leviticus, that God ordained only the descendants of Aaron to be the rightful heirs to the High Priesthood. Sometime after the return from captivity, it was not your genealogy that helped you become the High Priest. Nope, instead it became a position won by bribery, or by having a close relationship with whom ever the power was controlling the region. The last High Priest from Aaron's lineage was probably Jashua.

By the time Jesus walked with the Disciples, the high priesthood fluctuated between Annas and Caiaphas. The decision of who would be High Priest was decided by whomever the Roman governor wanted. By this time Aaron's descendants were just attendants of the building. It is doubtful that the political appointees, who were in and out of office with every whim of the Rome, were ever God’s High Priests.

So the removal of Aaron's descendants from the High Priesthood, put an end to the true Hebrew religious order which God Himself had set in place.

“You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they
may minister to Me as priests; for their anointing shall surely
be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.”
Exodus 40:15

Now I get to how John the Baptist would become the last High Priest. We read in Luke 1:9  that John's father, Zacharias, was chosen by lot to perform the act of offering at the altar of incense.

"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD." Proverbs 16:33

So it was God's decision, that Zacharias was chosen to burn the incense before the LORD. This job was specifically given to Aaron the High Priest, and only the High Priset. Thus even in future generations, the only one allowed by GOD to burn incense was a the High Priest who was a direct descendant of Aaron. No on else was allowed.

“And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony, before
the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you. Aaron shall
burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn
“And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it,
a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
Exodus 30:6-8

It must be pointed out, that God was so serious about this, that twice He punished those who violated the commandment. The first time was when Aaron son's, Nadab and Abihu offered unauthorized profane fire.

"Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and
put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before
the LORD, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from
the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
Leviticus 10:1-2

The second time was when king Uzziah tried to burn incense and GOD struck him with leposy for life. Mind you, we are told that "Ussiah did what was right in the sight of the LORD." So he was one of the good Kings of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Yet he violated God's command on who has the right to offer incense.

"for he transgressed against the LORD his God by entering the
temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.

Then Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his
hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the
priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead.
2 Chronicles 26:16 & 26:19

This is why God chose Zacharias to be in the Temple offering incense. Zacharias was a descendant of Aaron, thus God wanted him in the Temple offering incense when His Angel visited and told him that his elderly wife Elizabeth would be with child, and the child's name would be John. Now John's wife, Elizabeth, was also a descendant of Aaron. Another interesting aspect of this is, the name of Aaron's wife was Elisheba, which is the same as Elizabeth.

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain
priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife
was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
Luke 1:5

This is huge, because when you put all the facts on the table, you can clearly see that John the baptist was uniquely qualified to be a High Priest. He was a child of pure Aaronic Priestly stock, who was specifically sent by God, via a miracle pregnancy to parents who were childless and in their advanced years. Luke 1:7. John would also become a pure Nazarite, because he never cut his hair, never touched dead bodies, nor did he ever drink wine, and he would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. Luke 1:15 John would become be a priest-prophet that would minister in the spirit and power of Elijah. Luke 1:17

John was the most qualified man in history to not only minister to God, but to also mediate things of men before God. Just compare John the Baptist's credentials to the credentials of the imposters who were High Priests of those days. From the womb, John was a Spirit-filled Hebrew, Levite, Nazarite, Aaronic priest-prophet. While the others were pretenders propped up by their father the devil.

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you
want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he
speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
"
John 8:44

Consider this, Christ came to not only die for our sins, but first He had to restore the priesthood for the symbolic prophecy to be filled. Thus after John the Baptist was gone, He could properly assume the position as the last true High Priest. In this case, in the order of Melchizedek.

Think about it. It makes perfect sense that John the Baptist was the true High Priest who was the rightful heir after his father Zacharias. As such, the true High Priest of God would baptize Jesus. The scene of Jesus baptism would be what Aaron did to his sons to sanctify them so they could minister to the Lord in His house. You can also see this as the transition ordained by God.

"And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, and wash them with water. And
thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments, and anoint him, and
sanctify him; that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office."
Exodus 40:12-13

When you consider the facts. This puts a new perspective on John’s statement

"He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30

John's priesthood was decreasing while the priesthood in the order of Melchizedek was increasing.  John was not a Jew, he was a Levite. A descendant of the father of the Hebrews, Abraham, and a member of the twelves tribes of Israel chosen to be a blessing to the whole world. It seems obvious why God would bypass the religious leaders in everything His Son did. Beginning from the day He was born, God ignored those tending His Temple, and instead notified the shepherds in the fields that His Son has arrived. Instead of going to the Satan's High Priest of the Temple to be washed and anointed, He sent His Son to the High Priest in the field to be washed and anointed. The very High Priest God chose to be born from the Aaronic line as He commanded at Mt Saini. Instead of having Jesus join the Priesthood to be ordained so He could preach in the Temple to His sheep, Jesus went straight to the fields to tend His sheep.

Thanks to John's High Priesthood, Christ was able to fulfill God's command on the proper transfer of the High Priesthood. Eventually Christ would ascend into heaven where he now sits at the right hand of God as our forever High Priest. Then in 70 A.D., God allowed the false priesthood of the Pharisees to end forever. Something Jesus predicted when he told the disciples about the coming destruction of Herod's Great Temple.

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His
disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.

And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things?
Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left
here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
"
Matthew 24:1-2

Jesus knew the Temple and the sacrificial ceremonies had to be stopped, because He would forever satisfy the need to atone for man's sins. The destruction of the Temple ended any chance of there ever being a descendant of Aaron from ever assuming the High Priesthood again. Thus John the Baptist was the last Aaronic High Priest there would ever be.

I pray those who have ears to hear will, hear His voice and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen


TOPICS: General Discusssion; History; Religion & Culture; Theology
KEYWORDS: aaronicpriesthood; incense; johnthebaptist; temple
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last

1 posted on 03/20/2021 9:06:36 AM PDT by OneVike
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: OneVike
There are 613 laws that God handed down...

Biden has outdone that in far less time. All hail Biden!!!/sarc

2 posted on 03/20/2021 9:45:21 AM PDT by Don Corleone (leave the gun, take the canolis)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Don Corleone

Well said. So when will the videos of children praying in the name of Biden come out? I still have the one of school children being led by teachers praying in the name of Obama to get national healthcare passed from 2010


3 posted on 03/20/2021 9:50:33 AM PDT by OneVike (Just another Christian waiting to go home)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: OneVike

Thanks, so much. This really fits well, both within the context of the old and new testaments.


4 posted on 03/20/2021 9:50:50 AM PDT by impactplayer (Wi)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: OneVike

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.


5 posted on 03/20/2021 9:54:36 AM PDT by Texas Eagle (If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: OneVike

Absolutely wonderful! I thank Our Lord for people like you who bring such honor to Him and His Word. God bless you and yours, OneVike.


6 posted on 03/20/2021 9:56:55 AM PDT by SouthernClaire (God Bless America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: impactplayer

Welcome. Doesn’t it?

I used to wonder why there was not more awareness of John’s ministry. Other than baptizing, I just felt there had to be more than many realized. God does everything for a purpose, and John’s purpose was a lot more involved than many realize.


7 posted on 03/20/2021 10:06:45 AM PDT by OneVike (Just another Christian waiting to go home)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Texas Eagle

Welcome. Glad you enjoyed reading it.


8 posted on 03/20/2021 10:07:05 AM PDT by OneVike (Just another Christian waiting to go home)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: SouthernClaire

Thank you. I share what is heavy on my heart that I know God wants me to share.

I too am blessed by the many good scholars who share their work for our LORD on FR, for us all to grow Spiritually with knowledge and to be edified through.

God bless.


9 posted on 03/20/2021 10:10:03 AM PDT by OneVike (Just another Christian waiting to go home)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: OneVike

bookmark


10 posted on 03/20/2021 10:38:24 AM PDT by GOP Poet (Super cool you can change your tag line EVERYTIME you post!! :D. (Small things make me happy))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: OneVike
Really enjoy this kind of analysis, and it's quite convincing.

I assume that in this line:

This is why God chose Zacharias to be in the Temple offering incense. Zacharias was a descendant of Aaron,

The author means that "[we can infer from the above] that Zacharias was a descendant of Aaron"

Is that correct? He's inferring from Zacharias' role of burning incense that he was a descendant, and in Elizabeth's case scripture says it directly.

I also wonder whether the author's distinction between Hebraic and Jewish has scriptural support. The author says the pharisees created "Jewish" law and Moses received "Hebraic" law. Is there some evidence of this distinction in scripture or archaeological evidence? Did the term Jewish law come into existence with the Pharisees and was not used before them to describe the Mosaic law?

11 posted on 03/20/2021 10:42:19 AM PDT by edwinland
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: OneVike

Many though John the Baptist was the Messiah. He came from the right family and walked and talked the part. The Greeks in particular thought this. They believed that whoever comes first is pre-emanate - those who follow are followers. This is why the Gospel of John spends so much time (in Chapter 1) making the point that Jesus was before John the Baptizer, not after.


12 posted on 03/20/2021 10:44:59 AM PDT by impactplayer (Wi)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: edwinland

You ask an excellent question, because just yesterday I asked the same question to a group of scholars I am in touch with.

See, in my opinion, what we recognize as Judaism, is not the same religion God handed down to Moses. What follows below is the exact query I put forth to the scholars, who ended up agreeing with me.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

To my fellow scholars on this board, I have an important question I need to put forth for discussion.

We all know that God handed down His regulations as to how Moses was to set up the Religious order, and the Priesthood. He used Aaron and the first High Priest, and all High Priests afterwards were to only come from His loins, so to speak.

That being said, sum forward to the dispersion of Judah, and thus the Levitical Priesthood. Now, up till then, the religious order was still considered Mosaic.

However, after the return, and some years later, the Religious order was changed, not by GOD, but by men. This new religious order became know as Judaism.

Under Judaism, the rules changed, the lineage of Aaron ceased to exist as to who the High Priests were. By the time Christ showed up, the Priesthood, and the Religion became but a shadow of what God put in place.

Now I know that Christ replaced the Old religion, and He fulfilled all that needed to be filled, and thus His work is finished, so He sat down on the right hand of the Father.

Yet, 2000 years later, we still consider God’s Old Testament religion as being Jewish, when it is not, and never was. Judaism is not what God put in place. God never changed it.

Should it not still be called the Hebrew Religion? After all, even Jesus stated that the disciples will sit will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. He did not say just the former Kingdom of Judah. He clearly referenced Israel as a united nation under Christ’s rule with the disciples judging the 12 tribes.

So tell me, Why do we still put all emphasis on Judaism, and none on Israel as a whole. Christian teachers, preachers always refer to Jews, and Jews only as if the whole nation does not exist. Yet to Christ it does, or else He would not reference all 12 tribes.

My big question is, when did God replace the Hebrew Mosaic Religious order with Judaism? Because Judaism is not the same religion God told Moses to set up. In fact, one thing Jesus did was to tear down the Jewish religion since they bastardized most of Moses commands. What Jesus fulfilled was the Mosaic Laws and Mosaic ceremonies, not the Jewish ones.

Am I wrong. If so please enlighten me.

Your humble brother in Christ

Chuck Ness


13 posted on 03/20/2021 11:19:43 AM PDT by OneVike (Just another Christian waiting to go home)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: edwinland
I also wonder whether the author's distinction between Hebraic and Jewish has scriptural support.

I concur. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews." John 4:22

14 posted on 03/20/2021 11:23:33 AM PDT by aimhigh (THIS is His commandment . . . . 1 John 3:23)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: impactplayer

Correct. This is what the very thing the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes asked John. His response?

Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him

“Who are you?”

He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed,

“I am not the Christ.”

And they asked him,

“What then? Are you Elijah?”

He said,

“I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

And he answered,

“No.”


15 posted on 03/20/2021 11:26:57 AM PDT by OneVike (Just another Christian waiting to go home)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: aimhigh

NO where do I deny were called Jews. After all, they are from the tribe of Judah, and it was the only one to survive.

It is them referring to their faith as Judaism which I have a problem with.

Nowhere will you find in the Scriptures the word Judaism

They were all followers of the Mosaic Law.

Judaism was the bastardized faith created during the quiet years by the Pharisees.


16 posted on 03/20/2021 11:30:35 AM PDT by OneVike (Just another Christian waiting to go home)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: aimhigh; edwinland

The followers are called Jews, because the Southern Kingdom was the only one to return, and all who were part of the Southern Kingdom became known as Jews. However, that has to do with their DNA and location, not their religion.

God gave Moses the Law, and it became known as the law of the God of Israel, and thus the Hebraic faith.

Not Judaism. Judaism is what the Pharisees set up that God had a HUGE problem with.


17 posted on 03/20/2021 11:43:12 AM PDT by OneVike (Just another Christian waiting to go home)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: OneVike

Got it.


18 posted on 03/20/2021 1:13:28 PM PDT by aimhigh (THIS is His commandment . . . . 1 John 3:23)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: OneVike

.


19 posted on 03/20/2021 1:54:16 PM PDT by sauropod (Chance favors the prepared mind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: OneVike
Would you agree though even Moses... who lived at least 1000 years prior, had a “hard” time preserving the Mosaic purity even in his time? And over time, Mosaic laws would change or vary, specifically from one tribe to anothers understanding ?

7 They say to him: Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to put away?
8 He saith to them: Because Moses by reason of the hardness of your heart permitted you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

20 posted on 03/20/2021 3:35:06 PM PDT by MurphsLaw (“But now if you have a purse, take it.. and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.“)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson