Seder 122: Numbers 25---Phinehas as a Type of Messiah

 When some Israelites were guilty of sexual immorality and idolatry at Shittim, Phinehas the priest decisively intervened to stop the rebellion and the resulting plague.  

God declared that Phinehas "was jealous with my jealousy," embodying God's desire for an exclusive relationship with his people (Num 25:11).  He represented God well, in contrast to what Moses and Aaron had done at Meribah (Num 20:12).  

God reaffirmed with Phinehas the covenant he had made with the priesthood.  Not all of the high priests would be descendants of Phinehas, but priests from his line eventually would dominate the high priesthood.  Zadok, for example, was a high priest under Solomon (1 Chr 6:1-15; 49-53).  Ezra was a priest from this line (Ezra 7:1-5).  It is Zadokite priests who serve at the Temple in Ezekiel's vision (Ezek 44:15; 48:11).  

God calls his covenant with Phinehas a "covenant of peace" (Num 25:12).  Phinehas' zealous actions had brought peace between God and his people, making atonement for Israel's breach of the covenant (verse 13).  

Christians see Phinehas as a type of Jesus the Messiah.  The prophesied new covenant, under which Israel is ruled by the Messiah, is also called a covenant of peace (Ezek 34:23-25; 37:24-28), and Paul refers to Jesus as "our peace" (Eph 2:14).  While Phinehas the priest made atonement with a spear, Jesus was pierced to make atonement for us and serves now as the High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb 7:25). 

 In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on July 11, 2026, Kyle Kettering carried out a detailed comparison between Phinehas and Jesus, thinking in particular of Jesus' cleansing of the Temple in John 2:13-22.  

There are a number of parallels between the details of Numbers 25 and John 2.  In both cases 

• there is immorality in the sanctuary precincts.
• a public act of zeal is carried out.
• a weapon is used.
• the protagonist receives a priesthood.  
• the zealous action is criticized. 

The last point is not as obvious as the others.  We know that Jesus received criticism (Jn 2:18-22), but Phinehas is not criticized in the Bible.  However, a tradition recorded in Numbers Rabbah pictures Phinehas being attacked by Simeonites for his actions, with an angel intervening to protect Phinehas.  

There are also parallels in the outcomes of their zealous actions.  Both carried out atonement and acted self-sacrificially.  Their actions send the message that immorality associated with God's Name requires action.  The righteous must stand as lions before the wicked.  In this connection, Kyle quoted Proverbs 25:26:  "Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked."

Seder 116: Psalm 110 and Hebrews 7---Who Was Melchizedek?

 A major image in Seder 116 is the rod or scepter, a symbol of leadership and rulership (Num 17; Ps 125:3; Isa 10:10, 24).  This symbol appears in prophecies of the rule of the Messiah (Ps 2:9; 110:2).  

In Psalm 110, seen by New Testament authors as a key messianic prophecy, there is a cryptic reference to the Messiah being "a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek" (verse 4).  I have discussed this reference in a previous post.  In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on Sept 10, 2022, Kyle Kettering presented more on Melchizedek.   

Kyle explained that because of Psalm 110:4, there was widespread speculation about the identity of Melchizedek during the Second Temple period, as seen in texts like 11QMelch and 2 Enoch.  The latter presents Melchizedek as the product of a miraculous birth to Sopanim, wife of Methuselah's grandson Nir.  Melchizedek was often seen as a supernatural, exalted figure.  Kyle mentioned a third-century Christian sect called the Melchizedekians that saw Melchizedek as a heavenly power superior to Jesus! 

Some Christians have held Melchizedek to be a Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of the Messiah.  Others argue against this view.  James Borland, who believed that a number of appearances of the angel of the Lord were Christophanies, argued that Melchizedek did not fit the pattern of these other appearances. Rather, Genesis seems to present Melchizedek as a Jebusite priest-king.

Some confusion can result from misunderstanding the argument of Hebrews 7.  The author of Hebrews is not saying that Melchizedek is an eternal being.  Rather, he is saying that Melchizedek is a fitting type and forerunner of the Messiah (who is an eternal being) because there is no record of his birth or death.  Kyle pointed out that a major thrust of the book of Hebrews is the superiority of the Messiah to all people and angels.

Seder 81: Lev 9--Worship at the Tabernacle Begins

 Months of work on the tabernacle culminated on the eighth day of the ordination of Aaron and his sons.  "The eighth day" is often a time of new beginnings and of dedicating things to God---e.g., newborn boys are circumcised on the eighth day. 

This was Aaron's first day on the job as high priest, and he was to begin by offering sacrifices for himself (Lev 9:2) so that he could then serve on behalf of the people.  The author of Hebrews would later point out that this was one drawback of human priests that Jesus did not share (Heb 7:27-28).  In particular, Aaron was to offer "a bull calf for a sin offering," another reminder of Aaron's role in the golden calf incident.

The offerings for the people including purification offerings, burnt offerings, fellowship offerings, and grain offerings (vv 3-4).  With them the nation could be cleansed and totally dedicated to God, then could have fellowship with God and dedicate their work to him.  

This was a dramatic moment.  Would God find Israel's work and worship acceptable?  Aaron and Moses would have prayed for this when they went into the tent (v 23), and God accepted the offerings (v 24).

Lev 9:24 is one of a number of times when God appeared in fire or sent fire.  Rob Wilson listed them in a sermon at Church of the Messiah on November 27, 2021:  Ex 3:2; 13:21; 19:18; Judges 6:21; 13:20; 1 Kings 18:38; 1 Chron 21:26; 2 Chron 7:1.   

Rob explained that God wants his people to keep the fire going--Lev 6:12.  As Paul encouraged Timothy, "fan into flame the gift of God" (2 Tim 1:6).  

Seder 12: The Mysterious Melchizedek

At Abram's triumphant return from his victory over the eastern invaders, he was met by Melchizedek, who was both king of Salem and "priest of God Most High."  Melchizedek blessed both Abram and God Most High and provided food and drink for Abram's men.  Abram expressed his thanks to God by giving to Melchizedek a tenth of the wealth that he had brought back (Gen 14:18-20).

It is generally agreed that Salem in Gen 14:18 is another name for Jerusalem.  We see this name used, for example, in Ps 76:2.  Also, there was later a ruler of Jerusalem with the name Adoni-zedek, a name very similar to Melchizedek (Joshua 10).

Despite the similarity of their names, Adoni-zedek did not have the connection with God Most High that Melchizedek had had.  In fact, Adoni-Zedek organized a coalition to oppose Israel's ally Gibeon and was later executed by Joshua. 

Adoni-zedek translates to something like "my lord is Zedek" or "my lord is righteous."  Since Adoni-zedek was a king, his lord may well have been a deity.  Scholars believe that there was a Canaanite deity named Zedek who was considered to be a champion of righteousness.  (For further discussion, check out episodes 166-167 of the Naked Bible Podcast).

Melchizedek translates to "my king is Zedek" or "my king is righteous."  In Melchizedek's case, his king was apparently God Most High, and he may have known God as "the righteous one."

Gen 14:18-20 tells us just enough to arouse our curiosity.  Here was an early Canaanite king of Jerusalem who was also acknowledged by Abram as a priest of the true God.  Josephus (at the end of War 6) would later write that Melchizedek was the founder of Jerusalem and served at a temple there.

Melchizedek is mentioned once more in the Old Testament, in Ps 110:4.  In Psalm 110 David records words spoken by God to someone he refers to as "my lord".  Jesus would later identify David's lord as the promised Messiah (Matt 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44) and used Psalm 110 to explain to the sages of his day that the Messiah was much more than just a human descendant of David.  Hebrews 1:13 cites Ps 110:1 as one of a number of instances in the Psalms in which God is addressing Jesus the Messiah.

In Ps 110:4, the LORD, still addressing David's lord, says, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

It is interesting to consider how David might have thought about Ps 110:4.  It may be that after David took Jerusalem from the Jebusites, he thought of himself as following in the footsteps of Melchizedek.  For example, during the celebration that accompanied the bringing the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, David king of Salem  took on a kind of priestly role and "blessed the people in the name of the Lord and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins (1 Chron 16:2-3).

The author of the book of Hebrews builds on Ps 110:4 in Heb 5,7 to bring out what it means for the Messiah to be a priest "according to the order of Melchizedek".  He argues that Melchizedek's priesthood didn't depend on Melchizedek's ancestry. Melchizedek was a priest of God because God said that he was.  The Bible says nothing about his ancestry, or about anyone succeeding him in his priesthood.  So Jesus, even though he was from the tribe of Judah rather than the priestly tribe of Levi, could be this type of priest---again, because God proclaimed him to be in Ps 110:4.

Furthermore, the author of Hebrews argues that Melchizedek comes before Levi, so his priesthood is in fact superior to the Levitical priesthood.  This kind of priesthood is therefore appropriate for the Messiah.

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on June 6, 2020, David Waddle reflected further on this subject.