The Levites are ministering priests, they assist the high
priest in his duties. They are set aside
as a tithe to the Lord as a people and receive their income from the
temple. The duties of the high priest
were quite specific and all the other work of the tabernacle while in the
wilderness and the temple in Jerusalem were carried out by these men. They cared for the holy place, changing out
the bread of the presence, the twelve loaves perpetually before the Lord,
re-supplying the oil in the lamps, they accepted the sacrifices of the people
and kept the fire on the altar of sacrifice lit, did all the maintenance work,
sang in the choir, and all the professional ministry. These, along with the high priest, born of
the line of Aaron, formed the cohort who were privileged to do the work of
ministry.
Here on the mountain Jesus is transfigured, the three
disciples get a glimpse of His glory. The
two men, Moses and Elijah, represent the ideals of the law and the prophets. Moses promised that there would be a prophet
like him arise as a messianic figure, one who like Moses would speak God's word
to the people and make plain His will.
(Deuteronomy 18.15-19) Elijah, recall, didn't die but was taken up in
the whirlwind (2 Kings 2) and Malachi's prophecy, the last Old Testament
prophet, closed with a call to remember Moses and the statutes and rules
commanded at Horeb and then says "I will send you Elijah the prophet before
the great and awesome day of the Lord comes." For this reason, the Jewish people today
continue to look for Elijah's return. That
Jesus is here with these two harbingers of Messiah and then the voice of God
says to listen to Him implies that their work is now complete and fulfilled in
Him.
All the prior things are done away with because they have
been fulfilled in Jesus. The demands of
the Law are fulfilled in His perfect obedience.
At the ceremony between Abram and God when the smoking pot went between the
pieces of the sacrifices (Genesis 15), that was a sign that the covenant
depended only on the faithfulness of God not Abram or his descendants. God swore on His own life that the covenant
would be everlasting. Abram, two
chapters and who knows how many years later, had only to practice circumcision
and command it for his descendants in perpetuity, to be in covenant with
God. That act was the dedication of the
seed of Abraham and his descendants to God, the fruit of his body were in
covenant with the Lord. In Jesus, God
has given His life in the willing sacrifice of Jesus, the incarnate God, the
perfect man, living and dying for mankind, to fulfill the covenant and seal it
between God and man. We all, like the Levites,
are set aside as priests of the New Covenant, to render service to our
savior. We are the tithe of humanity and
our job is to make clear the Good News of the Gospel that others may come without
obstacle to the throne of grace. Our
participation in the covenant is contingent on nothing but faith alone, in
Christ alone through grace alone. Let us
live to the glory of God alone!
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