The Temple is Eternal
Shalom dear brothers and sisters! My name is D’vorah Calic and I am an ordained teacher of the Bible, and particularly the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and the Hebrew language. The Torah is the foundation of the rest of the Bible, including the New Testament because the teachings of Jesus and the disciples are all based on the Torah and the rest of the Hebrew Bible. It has come to my attention that most of us who have come to faith in the Church really do not understand the Temple or the sacrificial system, which is a complex matter for sure. We have been taught that we are the living Temple of God, and so no physical Temple is needed. In addition, we have been taught that building the Third Temple will cause the Anti-Messiah (Antichrist) to arrive and then he will defile it. These are certainly worthwhile questions to be addressed. But before we address questions such as these and others you, the reader, may have, my belief is that it is important to learn about the Temple, and therefore, in this study I would like to share an introduction of sorts with you. I understand that today, we are far removed from the Jewish Temple since there has not been one standing for over two millennia. We have not been taught much about it because we think it no longer applies to us. However, I would like to attempt to bring some light to these ancient paths. I think we should learn about it because the Temple was the center of Jewish life, and that would include the life of our Messiah. I hope you, the reader, will open your heart and mind to considering something which was eye-opening to me, and which has strengthened and deepened my faith and love for Yeshua (Jesus) and all He has accomplished for all of us! Let’s begin.
Sadly, it has been widely taught that because of Yeshua’s sacrificial death, the Temple was destroyed, the sacrifices were abolished and the Aaronic priesthood is now obsolete. This belief actually serves to flatten the Torah with one knock-out punch! This absolutely cannot be the case, for Yeshua Himself said in Matthew 5:17-18, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law (Torah) or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle will pass from the Torah until all is fulfilled.” It is important for us to avoid interpreting the Scriptures from our own western framework. Rather, it is wise to learn and understand everything in the Scriptures from a Jewish framework and context, including what Yeshua said. He said twice that the Torah is not destroyed or abolished. Instead, He came to teach us that we would need to acquire a fullness of understanding. He came to interpret the essence of the Torah, what it truly means, and how to properly do the commandments.
I have taught on Matthew 5:17-18 in other teachings and we may study that in the future if you are interested. Today, we will not belabor that point, except to say that Yeshua said all of the Torah is in effect until heaven and earth pass away. Heaven and earth will not pass away until they are destroyed by fire after the millennial reign of Messiah when the heavenly Jerusalem comes down to the earth in the New Heaven and New Earth (Revelation 21:1-2). The traditional Christian interpretation -- that the Temple and Levitical system is now obsolete – is due, in large part, to an errant misreading of the book of Hebrews, particularly chapters 7-9. With the help of the LORD, I hope I can shed some light on these difficult passages, promoting a better understanding of what the writer is trying to communicate. I am hesitant to divide this into two parts because it is important to get the concept as a whole, and so this might be a bit tedious and more lengthy for you. I assure that if you bear with me, the reward will come, leading to a fresh understanding and deeper love for God’s unchangeable ways!
First, we must establish what God said about the Aaronic priesthood: “They shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute” (Exodus 29:9). The word for “perpetual statute” in Hebrew is chukat olam. It means a Divine decree which will be in force forever. The priesthood belongs to Aaron and his descendants forever. Despite this declaration of a “forever decree” by the Torah, the book of Hebrews seems to contradict it where it says, “For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of Torah also” (Hebrews 7:12). This passage seems to revoke the Aaronic priesthood. Since we have learned that nothing of the Torah will “pass away” until the New Heaven and New Earth, the writer must be saying something else. The Torah cannot contradict itself. The Bible clearly and emphatically states that the Torah is eternal and unchanging. Yeshua confirmed this Himself. If the writer of Hebrews wanted to say the Aaronic priesthood was obsolete, he would have written this clearly by saying that the sons of Aaron are no longer priests and Yeshua has replaced them. He did not say that, and he did not mean for it to be interpreted this way, for our unchanging God cannot break His own laws, nor will He break a covenant promise He has made. Therefore, there must be another meaning. What could this “change” of the priesthood and a “change” of Torah refer to? Hang in with me. All will become more clear.
We can clearly see that the writer of the book of Hebrews understood that Yeshua was not from the priestly line of Aaron and his descendants. The Bible clearly states that Yeshua was from the tribe of Judah. The priests were from the tribe of Levi: “For it is evident that our Master descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests” (Hebrews 7:14) and this one: “Now if He (Messiah) were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer gifts according to the [Torah]” (Hebrews 8:4).
When the writer says, “those who offer gifts according to the Torah,” he is speaking of the Aaronic priesthood operating in the Temple service. He is saying that their claim to the priesthood is still valid and legal, and the Messiah does not override their claim to the priesthood on earth. As we have already said, it is theirs by the Torah’s assurance. It is an eternal decree from Heaven.
Second, the writer of Hebrews seems to be quite aware of this eternal decree in the Torah (Exodus 29:9) because he writes, “For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness, for the Torah made nothing perfect” (Hebrews 7:18-19). Admittedly, this sounds confusing to most of us. What in the world does he mean by this? It is clarified in verse 22: “This makes Yeshua the guarantor (mediator) of a superior covenant.” Why? Because the Messiah of Israel, Yeshua, is the mediator of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Before Yeshua, only the Jewish people could be partakers of this covenant. Yeshua makes it possible for this covenant to also include the Gentiles! The Aaronic priesthood could not do this! Let’s turn to the writing of Daniel Lancaster of First Fruits of Zion (FFOZ), who clarifies this idea:
“When read out of context and through the lens of traditional theology, this passage sounds as if the writer of Hebrews calls the Torah ‘weak and useless.’ On the contrary, these words describe the Aaronic priesthood as ‘weak and useless.’ Perhaps a better description would be ‘ineffective.’ The Levitical priesthood is weak and ineffective with regard to procuring lasting forgiveness of sins and passage to the world to come: ‘For the [Torah] appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath [i.e., Psalm 110], which came after the [Torah], appoints a Son, made perfect forever’ (Hebrews 7:28). The writer of the book of Hebrews teaches that the Aaronic priesthood is insufficient for the task of attaining forgiveness for sins and eternal life because the priests themselves are merely mortal men, guilty of their own sins, and doomed to die a mortal death” (Torah Club vol. 5, Parashat Tetzaveh, Daniel Lancaster, First Fruits of Zion, pp. 592-593).
When understood within the context of the Torah being unchangeable, and that the eternal statute of the Aaronic priesthood continues to be in effect and immutable, the argument becomes perfectly clear. The writer took great care to present a clear argument for the legitimacy of the Temple and the Aaronic priesthood. And yet, those very same words are used to form an interpretation that is opposite of the very point the writer was trying to make! Traditional understanding of this passage seeks to delegitimize the Temple, the priesthood and the Torah all at once by declaring that the Aaronic priesthood is abolished and has been replaced by Yeshua. Nothing could be further from the truth! Instead, the “change of the priesthood” and “change of Torah” is that Yeshua is not serving in the Aaronic priesthood in the Temple on earth because Yeshua does not qualify. He is not a Levite! Rather, he is serving in the mysterious priesthood of the order of Melchizedek in the heavenly Temple, as it is written: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4).
Third, the LORD God “set aside” a former commandment, i.e. the eternal statute which certifies that Aaron and his descendants will be priests, when He swore to Messiah “You are a priest forever…” However, it is very important to understand that this does not mean the Aaronic priesthood is abolished, but rather there are two legitimate priesthoods which serve in two different venues. This is so important that I can’t express it enough. So I am saying it again: The Aaronic priesthood serves in the earthly Temple in Jerusalem, and Yeshua, a priest forever of the order of Melchizedek, serves in the heavenly Temple in heavenly Jerusalem. While Aaron and his sons were given the priesthood “on the basis of a law of physical requirement,” meaning by Aaronic descent, Messiah attained His priesthood “according to the power of an indestructible life” (Hebrews 7:16). Yeshua is the only person qualified to be a “priest forever” because only He conquered mortal death by being raised from the dead! As a result, our Messiah is our Great High Priest, who entered the heavenly tabernacle, “the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with human hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once and for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11-12).
Yeshua offered the sacrifice of His life, or His life blood, and He takes His place as our High Priest, ministering in the heavenly tabernacle above, not on the earth. Unlike the blood of goats and calves, which cannot take away sin permanently (see Hebrews 10:4), His blood is “once and for all” for the remission of sins! His blood is reminiscent of the covenant of blood executed on Mount Sinai. This explains why He had to die, accomplishing the completion of our personal redemption. The Torah and the book of Hebrews teach us that the earthly tabernacle is but a shadow and copy of the heavenly one, and therefore, the Aaronic priests “serve as a copy and shadow of heavenly things” (Hebrews 8:5). So, we can conclude that the priesthood of Messiah does not replace the priesthood of Aaron, just as the earthly Temple does not replace the heavenly one. If that were true, why on earth would Messiah rebuild the Temple in the Messianic Age? Why would He allow the offerings of sacrifices? In fact, many of our beloved Jewish sages, including the great Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzaki), believe the Messiah is the Nasi (Prince) of Ezekiel 44 and 45, and He Himself offers sacrifices!!! This is radical and serves to completely flatten Christian theology on this matter! Certainly, if His death and resurrection were meant to abolish the need for a Temple on earth, there would be no need for a Temple, or the sacrifices, or the Aaronic priesthood while Messiah is ruling on the earth, which Ezekiel 41-45 clearly describes. Having said that, there is a change in the type of sacrifices offered. These are things Messiah Yeshua will teach us.
In addition, Messiah’s self-sacrifice did NOT put an end to the Temple sacrifices. Messiah was not a literal Temple sacrifice. If that were true, we would have God the Father sanctioning human sacrifice, Heaven forbid! Rather, Yeshua’s death illustrated metaphorically the purpose for the entire Temple system on earth. In one fell swoop, His death satisfied the purposes for all five categories of the earthly sacrifices. That is, He removed the contamination of human decay and death, making it possible for us to become immortal once again, the way Adam and Eve were in the garden before sin. In addition, through His blood, He served metaphorically as an eternal Korban (Hebrew for sacrifice), bringing us near to God. He is our eternal Peace Offering, which is what the literal Korban Pesach (Passover lamb) was. He brought peace and eternal fellowship between us and God. Not only did He accomplish these things! He conquered death itself, and He opened the way for human beings to be clothed in immortality just as He is, forever to be able to remain in the presence of our God! The Temple has much to teach us. I would imagine that there are volumes which could be written. God willing, we will all come to understand more, and I will be able to bring future teachings about this and why there will be a need for a Millennial Temple.
Image Used with Permission; Painting by Alex Levin – https://artlevin.com