The Eternal Covenant With Levi (4)

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 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 fulfillment of this prophecy insofar as it pertains to the priests of the tribe of Levi.

I remind our readers that we noticed that the fulfillment 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 fulfillment 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 fulfillment 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 fulfillment 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 fulfillment 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 (1-3) and as a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (4).

Hebrews 10, after describing Christ’s fulfillment 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 fulfillment 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.