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Messiah as Both King and Priest
AUTHOR: McTernan, John
PUBLISHED ON: November 10, 2007
DOC SOURCE: http://www.branchofdavid.org
PUBLISHED IN: Prophecy
TAGS: king | Messiah | priest | Temple

“Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; (12) And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:” Zechariah 6:11

King Messiah will build the temple, bear the glory, and sit upon the throne as both King and Priest. Only God’s servant, the BRANCH, can sit on the throne in the temple as both King and High Priest. Under the law of Moses the king and high priest could never be united under one person. The kings were from the tribe of Judah and the line of David while the high priests were from the tribe of Levi and the line of Aaron. The two separate lines are shown in the scriptures which follow:

“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.”Jeremiah 33:17,18

The penalty was death for anyone but the high priest to enter into the most holy place of the temple and minister. It was impossible for any king of Israel to enter into the holy place and minister as a priest. In the entire course of the history of the kings of Israel and Judah in the Bible, there is not one report of the king entering into the temple and functioning as a high priest. Neither king David nor Solomon ever went into the most holy place of the temple. For anyone other than the descendants of Aaron entering, it meant certain death. The scriptures to show that entering into the most holy place outside of God’s plan meant death follow:

Numbers 4:15 “And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die…(19) “But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden: (20) But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered, lest they die.”

Thus, under the law, it was impossible for one person to be both the king of Israel and the high priest who could enter in the holy of holies in the temple. King Messiah’s throne will be in the holy place of the temple. For King Messiah to sit on the throne in the holy of holies, He also has to be a priest. He cannot be just a priest, but He has to be a high priest to be in the most holy place. This shows that God’s servant, the BRANCH, is going to sit on His throne in the temple not under the law of Moses, but He will be King and Priest under the New Covenant.

  God’s servant, the Messiah, will be both King and Priest by the decree of Almighty God and not because of human genealogy. The office of king and priest will merge in Him because of the decree of the God of Israel. By God’s decree the BRANCH is declared to be the Son of God and thus King Messiah. By God’s decree, He is declared to be the High Priest, not after the law of Moses and the genealogy of Aaron. The scriptures to show that the BRANCH is both king and priest by the decree of God follow:

Messiah is King because He is declared to be the begotten Son of God.

Psalm 2:6 “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. (7) I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

(8) Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. (9) Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Messiah is Priest because it is declared by God.

Psalm 110:4 “The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Melchizedek, a type of the Messiah

  Before the law was given to Moses, the Bible records that Melchizedek came to Abraham and blessed him. Melchizedek was both a king and priest. He was the king of Salem and at the same time a priest of the most high God. Psalm 110 states that by a decree of God, the Messiah is going to be the Priest of the most high God after the manner of Melchizedek. According to Psalm 2, the Messiah is King, so like Melchizedek, He is going to be both King and Priest. The passage that shows Melchizedek was both a king and priest follows:

Genesis 14:18 “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

(19) And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:”

  A priest is one who intercedes or mediates on behalf of man before God. This is seen in Leviticus 16, the Day of Atonement, when the high priest went into the very presence of God in the temple. He went in with the blood of a sacrificed animal that died and atoned for the sins of Israel. So, likewise, God’s Messiah will be a Priest before God. The Messiah would only go once into the holy place in heaven to make the final atonement for sin. He would go into the most holy place in heaven with His own blood for the final redemption for sin.

Hebrews 9:12 “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

  The previous temples and priesthood on earth were just a type of the final one King Messiah would bring under the New Covenant.

  The New Testament is right in line with Psalm 2:7 and 110:4 referring to the Messiah as both the High Priest and King. The New Testament scriptures follow:

Hebrews 5:5 “So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.

Hebrews 5:6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

  In summary, the Messiah is going to build the temple from which He is going to rule over the nations forever. The kingdom of King Messiah will not be for a limited period of time, but it will be forever. He will reign on into eternity when heaven and earth are merged. The temple will be built in Jerusalem after the battle of Armageddon and after the geography of Israel is radically changed.

  According to Psalm 2:6,7, King Messiah is going to sit on the throne in His magnificent temple as the Son of God. He can enter into the holy place in the temple and sit on the throne because He is God’s eternal High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. With this background, let us examine Ezekiel 40-48 which gives great detail about the temple and King Messiah.

 

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