Prof. Herman C. Hanko
[The following was
originally published in the Covenant
Reformed News, vol. X, nos. 5-8]
For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the
throne of the house of Israel; Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man
before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do
sacrifice continually. And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying,
Thus saith the Lord; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of
the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; then may
also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son
to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers (Jer.
33:17-21).
*
* * * * * *
The question that was submitted with this text is,
“How has the promise regarding the Levites been fulfilled?”
Jeremiah prophesied during very dark days in Judah.
Because of the terrible apostasy of the nation, manifested especially in
idolatry, God had sent the Babylonian armies against Judah. These Babylonian
armies would soon break into the city, destroy the temple and fortress of Zion,
and lead the people of Judah into captivity far from the promised land. God’s
anger would be poured out upon His people who had forsaken his law and
committed all the sins of the heathen.
It must be remembered that within the nation of Judah
was a remnant according to the election of grace. Although the nation had
become apostate, nevertheless, God preserved unto Himself a small number.
Isaiah calls this remnant, a hut in a garden of cucumbers, a very small
remnant, and a besieged city (1:8-9).
When Judah was taken into captivity, the whole
nation went, both elect and reprobate. All went because the nation could only
be purged and the elect saved through the judgment of the captivity: “Zion
shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness” (Isa.
1:27). The elect remnant, while in captivity, penned the words of Psalm 137: “By
the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered
Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows ...”
The captivity was an unparalleled tragedy, not
simply because the glorious nation of Israel now existed no longer, but also
because Israel was the nation from whom Christ would come, a coming impossible
when the nation was destroyed. That is why, in Psalm 137, Judah could not sing
the songs of Zion in a strange land, for all the songs of Zion spoke of Christ.
With the captivity, the two pillars on which the
nation had been built were broken down. These two pillars were the monarchy of
David and his descendants and the Levitical priesthood. Israel was a theocracy.
It was a nation whose God was the Lord. That theocracy was established on the
pillar of the throne of David and the worship of God in the temple. A son of
David on the throne and continual sacrifices in the temple were essential.
Without those two institutions, the nation could not exist as God’s people.
Hence the despair of the captives.
But now, during the dreadful time of the siege of
Jerusalem, when defeat was inevitable, Jeremiah must bring a word of comfort to
God’s people within that apostate nation. That word of comfort is found in the
text.
As is true of many prophecies in the Old Testament,
this prophecy also has a twofold
fulfilment: the first is the historical
fulfilment in Israel itself, and the second is a future fulfilment in the new dispensation. For example, the
prophecy of Hosea 1:10 had a fulfilment for Israel in the history of the nation
when, from that nation, God saved a remnant according to His eternal election.
But Paul, in Romans 9:25-26 calls attention to the fact that Hosea’s prophecy
is fulfilled in the gathering of the Gentiles into the church of Christ:
Even us, whom he
hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also
in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved,
which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it
was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children
of the living God.
This prophecy of Jeremiah 33:17-21 was historically fulfilled when the nation
of Judah was brought back from captivity. As Jeremiah spoke the Word of God to
Judah that God’s wrath was to destroy the nation by bringing the nation under
the yoke of Babylon, so he was also given the word of the gospel to the remnant
according to God’s election. That word was that God would not forget His
promises made to their fathers, but would restore the nation. Isaiah was so
explicit as to name the king who would give the command for Judah to return
(Isa. 45:1-4). Jeremiah even prophesied the exact number of years that Judah
would be in captivity (Jer. 29:10).
God would, in fulfilment of Jeremiah’s prophecy,
restore the throne of David and the worship of the nation in the temple. What a
comfort that was to the remnant of God’s people who, apart from that promise,
saw only black despair. And, as the Scriptures tell us, this was also done.
However, it is obvious that this was not the
complete fulfilment of the prophecy. It is obvious for the simple reason that
the nation of Judah, though the line of David was preserved, never did have a
king on David’s throne again. Except for a short time under the Maccabees,
Judah was ruled by foreign nations,
and the sons in the line of David, though rulers in Judah, ruled only under
foreign kings.
The complete fulfilment had to wait.
*
* * * * * *
The
question that was submitted with this text is: “How has the promise regarding
the Levites been fulfilled?”
So
far, we have pointed out that this prophecy of Jeremiah, made during the siege
of Jerusalem by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had its
historical Old Testament fulfilment in the return of the nation. But we
concluded with the words that this could not possibly be the complete
fulfilment of this prophecy.
There
are several reasons for saying this.
First,
although David’s line was preserved, David’s son never sat on David’s throne
again. The prophecy was: “David shall not want a man to sit upon the throne of
the house of Israel” (v. 17).
Second,
if the prophecy referred only to the nation of Israel, it was never fulfilled, for the nation ceased
to exist in any form in AD 70, when the Roman armies under Titus utterly
destroyed the city of Jerusalem. Nor does Scripture look for some future
fulfilment of the prophecy in the earthly establishment of David’s throne and a
restoration of the service of God in the temple.
Third,
while the worship of God in the temple was restored under Zerubbabel, the ruler
of the people, and Joshua the high priest, it never was the glorious worship of
God that characterized Israel’s worship in the days of Solomon. The ark of the
covenant was not in the Most Holy Place; a rock stood there. The cloud of glory
that filled the temple, which signified the presence of God among His people,
never returned.
Israel
knew, when Jeremiah made this prophecy, that they had to look for a fuller, a
more blessed, a more spiritual
fulfilment than the mere return to the land of Canaan.
Before
we take a look at that more spiritual fulfilment, there are a couple of points
in the text quoted above which are sufficiently important to discuss briefly.
Our
readers will recall that we spoke of the fact that Israel as a theocracy was
built on the twin pillars of Israel’s monarchy and Israel’s priesthood. The
former was occupied by David and his sons; the latter by the priests of the
tribe of Levi. Both are referred to in the text. God ruled through David, and
Israel worshipped through the sacrifices of the Levites.
Many
people make the error of assuming that the monarchy has a New Testament
fulfilment in a particular nation which God chooses to be a special object of
His favour. Thus the covenanters attempted to establish a theocracy in Scotland; the Dutch attempted to do the same in the
Netherlands; and some in America think that the same can be accomplished in
that land.
The
theocracy of Israel in the Old Testament was a part of the dispensation of
types and shadows. It was, therefore, only a type of a reality to come with the
coming of Christ. That Old Testament monarchy, therefore, had its fulfilment in
the church of Christ gathered throughout the entire dispensation by the gospel
and from every nation in the earth. The monarchy of Israel has its complete fulfilment,
not here on earth, but in the new heavens and the new earth which shall be
realized at the end of the age when Christ comes again.
This
is the reason why the text speaks of God’s covenant of the day and of the
night. The reference is to the covenant which God established with the whole
creation after the flood:
And I, behold, I establish my covenant with
you, and with your seed after you; and with every living creature that is with
you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from
all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth ... And God said, This
is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living
creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud,
and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth (Gen.
9:9-13).
God
promises not only to establish His covenant with His people, but also with the
whole creation. That God will certainly fulfil His promise is guaranteed in the
ceaseless cycle of day and night in our present world. As surely as God causes
day to follow night and night to follow day, so also will God guide the entire
creation to its determined end: redemption through Christ in the new heavens
and the new earth.
Here
in the text this promise of the redemption of the creation sealed in the
unending cycle of day and night is the guarantee of God’s promise to restore
His people from their captivity.
But
one additional point deserves notice. The text says, “Thus saith the Lord; If
ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that
there should not be day and night in their season ...” The emphasis falls on
the little word “Ye.” God is saying: “If you are able to break My covenant with
creation, then you are able to break also My covenant with My people. But you
cannot do that. I maintain the cycle of day and night in the creation. The
progression of days and nights is not in your hands. So also My covenant with
you is not in your hands, but in Mine. That is the certainty of my
unconditional covenant! It is all of My sovereign grace!”
*
* * * * * *
The
question that was submitted with this text is: “How has the promise to the
Levites been fulfilled?”
So
far, we have pointed out that the promise of God is really a promise of the
full realization of His covenant of grace; that, indeed, the text itself speaks
of God’s covenant, though it refers to God’s covenant with the creation. We
also noticed that God reveals to Judah that the covenant rests upon His
faithfulness and His work. Just as man is unable to break God’s covenant of the
day and of the night, so man is unable to break God’s covenant with His people.
Hence, His promise to restore the monarchy of David and the priesthood of Levi
will surely be fulfilled.
What
a great comfort that was to Judah and is to us! Judah was unfaithful. The
nation broke God’s covenant and worshiped idols. The nation brought upon itself
the fierce wrath of God resulting in the captivity. From every human point of
view, that was the end of the nation. But God is faithful. He will not forget
His covenant. He maintains it as surely as He maintains the cycle of day and
night in the creation!
So
also for us the same is true. Many want to make God’s covenant with His people
a conditional covenant. In that case, the realization of God’s covenant rests
upon our fulfilment of the conditions attached to the covenant. How utterly
hopeless! How hopeless for Judah about to go to captivity as the just reward of
their terrible sins. How hopeless for us who always transgress God’s covenant
and make ourselves unworthy of His blessing! But God maintains His covenant!
That is the great theme of this text.
What
is that final fulfilment of the prophecy of Jeremiah—of which we have spoken so
frequently? The prophecy is specifically said to be “David shall never want a
man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel” (v. 17); and, “Neither shall
the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to
kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually” (v. 18). In other
words, there will be an everlasting establishment of the throne of David and an
everlasting restoration of the Levitical priesthood.
It
is clear that this fulfilment takes place in the coming and work of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Is this so strange? Was this so strange to the elect in Judah?
That remnant who looked with longing to the day when the seed of the woman
would crush the head of the serpent? Was it strange to that small number of
elect who knew that their full salvation had to come from God alone?
The
Scriptures are clear that Christ is
the fulfilment of this promise. Christ is the fulfilment of the promise made to
David:
Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy
one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one
chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant ... Also I will make
him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for
him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will
I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven (Ps. 89:19-20,
27-29).
And
then we read these glorious words of God’s faithfulness in contrast to our
unfaithfulness:
If his children forsake my law, and walk
not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with
stripes. [This threat, for Judah, was the captivity—HH] Nevertheless my
lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to
fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my
lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed
shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be
established for ever as the moon [cf. God’s covenant with the day and with the
night, in Jeremiah 33:20—HH], and as a faithful witness in heaven (Ps.
89:30-37).
No
wonder the angel Gabriel, in informing Mary that she was to be the mother of
Christ, said to her,
Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour
with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son,
and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son
of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father
David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom
there shall be no end (Luke 1:30-33).
The
prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled in the coming of Christ! In Him God
establishes the heavenly kingdom of which Judah was but a dim picture.
When
one of the elders came to John to tell him that One who was worthy was found to
open the book of God’s counsel, he tells John, “Weep not: behold, the Lion of the
tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose
the seven seals thereof” (Rev. 5:5). When Christ Himself closes the book of
Revelation and promises the church that He will come to bring her to glory, he
says, “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the
churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning
star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come ...” (22:16-17).
* * * * * * *
The
question that was submitted with this text is: “How has the promise to the
Levites been fulfilled?”
Previously
we discussed various aspects of the text quoted above. We noticed that it has
important implications for the faithful remnant in Judah and for the church of
all ages, for it deals with God’s covenant promises. But the specific question
has not yet been answered. That question deals with the fulfilment of this
prophecy insofar as it pertains to the priests
of the tribe of Levi.
I
remind our readers that we noticed that the fulfilment of the promise to David,
of which the text speaks, came with the coming of Christ. The same is true
concerning the promise of the restoration of the priesthood of the tribe of
Levi. There are several texts in Scripture and several teachings of Scripture
to consider in this respect.
First,
as well as Malachi 2:4-5 there is another place in Scripture where God’s choice
of the priesthood of Levi is called a covenant which He establishes. I refer to
the heroic and godly deed of slaying the fornicators who publicly and brazenly
committed their act of fornication in the sight of the nation. This was at the
time when the daughters of Moab, at the suggestion of Balaam, tempted the men
of Israel to join in the sacrifices and fornications of Moab’s idolatry.
Phinehas slew a prince of Simeon named Zimri and the Moabite woman he took into
his tent.
God’s
word was:
Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of
Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while
he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of
Israel in my jealousy. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of
peace: and he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting
priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the
children of Israel (Num. 25:11-13).
Notice
that the covenant with Phinehas is described as everlasting, something not
possible with Phinehas himself; and thus a reference to Christ.
Second,
Christ is the fulfilment of all the priests of the tribe of Levi as the great
High Priest sent from God to make perfect atonement for sin. He is the
realization of God’s covenant with Phinehas. Christ is the perfect fulfilment
because He offers the perfect sacrifice for sin and thus fulfils all the
sacrifices specifically mentioned in this prophecy of Jeremiah. Although this
is one of the great themes in the book of Hebrews, it is specifically taught in
chapter 10:1-14—which passage our readers are urged to look up and read. In
Christ, therefore, the promise of God concerning the Levites is fulfilled.
The
beautiful part of this prophecy and its fulfilment is that Christ, in
fulfilling both parts of the promise of God through Jeremiah, united in Himself
the two offices of king and priest. Both the promises of the restoration of the
monarchy and the restoration of the sacrifices have their historical fulfilment
in the return from captivity, but both also have their perfect fulfilment in Christ.
Thus
Hebrews tells us some important things about Christ. He is not a priest after
the order of Aaron and the Levites, but He is a priest after the order of
Melchizedek (Hebrews 7—which chapter our readers are also urged to consult).
Melchizedek was a unique type of Christ, for He was the only man in the Old
Testament who united the office of priest and king in his own person (Gen.
14:18; Heb. 7:1). Psalm 110 portrays Christ as a “king” (vv. 1-3) and as “a
priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (v. 4).
Hebrews
10, after describing Christ’s fulfilment of the Levitical priesthood, goes on
to say, “But this man [Christ], after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for
ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his
enemies be made his footstool” (10:12-13). This is a very clear reference to
the fact that Christ, in His exaltation, becomes priest and king forever, for
the right hand of God is heaven’s position of total authority to rule in the
name of God.
And
so God’s covenant with His people, typically administered in the Old Testament,
is fulfilled in Christ. Thus the whole of chapter 10 in the epistle to the
Hebrews follows upon that glorious description of the covenant which is
established through the Mediator of the new covenant and which endures forever.
Judah
was called by Jeremiah to look to the coming of Christ for the fulfilment of
God’s promise—even in the dark days of the captivity. We are called to look
likewise to the unfailing promises of God in Christ as we live in our own
captivity in the Babylon of this present world.
No comments:
Post a Comment