The Priesthood

Parasha: Tzav – Command
Torah:  VaYikra 6:8 – 8:36

8 And Avinu spoke to Moshe, saying, 9  Command Aharon and his sons, saying, This is the law (these are instructions – v’zot torat) of the Olah offering: It is the Olah offering, because of the burning on the altar all night to the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. (VaYikra 6:8-9)

“…command Aharon and his sons..”  At the time of this “command”, Aharon and his sons were the entire priesthood. By limiting the eligibility standard that only a direct descendant of Aharon could be a priest, Avinu created a very small group of top tier religious leaders. (VaYikra 6:8-9)

After the sacrifice of Yeshua, we are taught:

11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aharon?

12  For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.

13  For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. 14  For it is evident that our Master arose from Judah, of which tribe Moshe spoke nothing concerning priesthood. 15  And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 16  who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 17  For He testifies: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” 18  For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19  for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. 20  And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath 21  (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “Avinu has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’”), 22  by so much more Yeshua has become a surety of a better covenant. 23  Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. 24  But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25  Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. 26  For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27  who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28  For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever. 8:1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2  a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which Avinu erected, and not man. 3  For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. 4  For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5  who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moshe was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. 7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8  Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah —  9  “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. 10  “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11  “None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12  “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 13  In that He says, “A new covenant, ”He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” (Heb 7:11-8:13)