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    There are three things that never change in any covenant relationship from scripture. They are, the people being Israelites, the land being the physical land of Israel, and the Torah or law of Yahweh. These three elements remain the same in any covenant relationship.

It is also clear from Scripture though that there was an Old Covenant and that there is a New Covenant.

Heb 8:7 For if that first was faultless, there would have been no need for a second.

Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, He said to them, “Behold, days are coming, says YAHWEH, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah;

Heb 8:9 not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day of My taking hold of their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I rejected them, says YAHWEH.

Heb 8:10 Because this is the covenant which I will covenant with the house of Israel after those days, says YAHWEH, I will put My Torah into their mind, and I will inscribe it on their hearts, and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.”

What was the problem, with the Old Covenant?

Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, He said,

The problem was not with the Torah or the law of Yahweh, as the law of Yahweh is perfect, but the problem was with the inability of the people to keep the Torah, because the Torah can teach you right from wrong, but can’t change your heart to want to make the right decision. This was actually the problem from the Garden of Eden. In the Garden of Eden everything was perfect. There were no weeds in the garden, there were no wild animals, there was no sickness or disease, and there was no sin, or breaking of the Torah. The only perfect eternal state that mankind can achieve, is to strive to go back to the conditions of Eden. Eden is a real physical place that was situated in Jerusalem in the land of Israel, but Eden is also an environment; and that environment is to be in the perfect will of Yahweh, which means in faith obeying the letter and the intent of every law that He gave for our good.

In this perfect environment of Eden there was also no killing and no death. Eden was a literal place, but it was also an eternal state. If there was no killing or death, it stands to reason that there were also no animal sacrifices. In the English, when we hear the word sacrifice it gives the connotation of giving something up, but in Hebrew it
actually means “to draw closer to through relationship”.

Who was the first priest to do a sacrifice and kill an animal?

Gen 3:21 And YAHWEH Elohim made coats of skin for the man and his wife, and clothed them.

Gen 3:22 And YAHWEH Elohim said, Behold! The man has become as one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand and also take from the Tree of Life, and eat, and live forever,

Clearly from verse 22, we see that there are two Yahweh’s, Yahshua Yahweh, the Son of Yahweh the Father, and Yahweh, the Father, Himself. It was Yahshua Yahweh, the Son, who became the High priest to do this sacrifice. He also set down, at creation here, the precedent that there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood.

Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar, to atone for your souls; for it is the blood which makes atonement for the soul.

COMMENT: The Levitical Priesthood with its sacrificial system and all the ceremonial laws that went along with it were added to the Torah at Mount Sinai later, due to sin, clearly it was not present in the Garden of Eden, and not part of the Heavenly Father’s will in the perfect environment of Eden. It was added as a temporary measure to keep the people in Covenant relationship each year, until the sins could be completely paid for and removed by the sacrifice of the Messiah.

Gal 3:19 Why then the (Levitical) Law? It was placed beside (The Torah) for the sake of transgressions, until the Seed should come, to whom it had been promised, being given by promise in a mediator’s hand. (The mediator was the Levitical priesthood after the golden calf incident)

Some believe this scripture is speaking about the whole Torah that it was only in force until the Messiah should appear, but this cannot be talking about the Torah, as the Torah was not added at Mount Sinai, as we have already shown, but was there at creation in the Garden of Eden. Also look at the following scripture.

Gal 3:17 And this I say, that the covenant which was previously confirmed by Elohim in Messiah cannot be rejected and the promise nullified by the (Levitical) Law that came four hundred and thirty years later.

COMMENT: So from the above scripture we see that whatever law was added, it was added 430 years after the Covenant was ratified with Abraham. Was the Torah added 430 years after Abraham at Mount Sinai or did Abraham have the Torah in his day?

Gen 26:5 because Abraham listened to My voice and heeded My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My Torah.

Also, we see that after the fall of Adam and Eve in the Eden, it was prophesied from Genesis 3:15, that a Messiah from Yahweh would come and redeem mankind back to Him.

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.

So, we see in Galatians 3:17 that it is saying that the Levitical law, that was added as a temporary measure, cannot disannul the promise from Yahweh to mankind in Genesis 3:15 of a promised Messiah to redeem them back to Him.

COMMENT: Clearly, we see that Abraham kept the Torah and it was not added at Mount Sinai, 430 years after Yahweh made the covenant with him. The Hebrew word for “kept” is actually to guard and protect, so Abraham would have had to have the Torah, to be able to guard and protect it, and then Abraham gave the Torah to his son Isaac, and Isaac gave it to his son Jacob, who in turn gave it to his 12 sons, who are the 12 tribes of Israel. However, when they were in Egypt they lost the Torah of Yahweh and He had to re-institute it at Mount Sinai. (Gen 18:17-19)

If the Torah was not the law added in Galatians 3:19, then what law was added to the Torah, 430 years after at Mount Sinai?

COMMENT: The only law which was added was the Levitical priesthood, with all of its sacrifices and ceremonial laws of being ritually unclean. This is the law that was added because of transgressions. Just like the Garden of Eden which was perfect and had no sacrificial system until Adam and Eve sinned and Yahshua covered them by shedding the blood of an animal, Yahweh did not intend to have Levi as a mediator for themselves and the other 11 tribes, but had intended that all twelve tribes would be a Kingdom of Priests to Him. The golden calf incident changed this intention.

Exo 19:5 And now if listening you will listen to My voice, and will keep My covenant, you shall become a special treasure to Me above all the nations, for all the earth is Mine.

Exo 19:6 And you shall become a kingdom of priests for Me, a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the sons of Israel.

There is only one true mediator who can take away sins and that is Yahshua, the eternal Son of Yahweh. But the Levitical priesthood was meant as a temporary mediator, under the Old Covenant, to make atonement for the sins of Israel, so that the sins could be covered year to year and the covenant agreement could continue, until Yahshua would come and actually pay the penalty for the sins of Israel and remove them, by His shed blood (Numbers 3:5-13).

Num 3:11 And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying,

Num 3:12 And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel in the place of every first-born opening a womb from the sons of Israel; and the Levites have become Mine.

Num 8:14 And you shall separate the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel, and the Levites shall become Mine.

Num 8:16 For they are wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel; instead of the one who opens any womb, the first-born of all, from the sons of Israel. I have taken them to Myself.

Num 8:17 For every first-born among the sons of Israel among man and among animal, is Mine. I set them apart for Myself in the day I smote every first-born in the land of Egypt.

Num 8:18 And I take the Levites instead of every first-born among the sons of Israel.

Num 8:19 And I have given the Levites as given to Aaron and to his sons from the midst of the sons of Israel to serve in the service of the sons of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to atone for the sons of Israel, and there shall not be a plague among the sons of Israel to the sons of Israel by coming near to the sanctuary.

COMMENT: Clearly, from these scriptures we see that Levi was a mediator between the children of Israel and Yahweh, but as shown before this was not His original intent. Originally as outlined in Exodus 19:5-6, Yahweh had ordained that each family head would be a priest of his own family, and only Yahshua the Messiah, His Eternal Son could truly pay the penalty for Israel’s sins.

Also, very clearly according to Galatians 3:17-20, The Levitical priesthood with all its sacrifices and ceremonial laws, which were added because of transgressions, were only implemented until Yahshua would fulfill the agreement for the penalty of sins committed under the first Covenant and set up the New Covenant, which would allow His blood sacrifice to completely pay for, and remove, the sins committed under the first Covenant. Then in the New Covenant agreement all believers in the New Covenant would be considered first fruits and there would be no need any longer for a mediator like Levi from one tribe to represent the other tribes. It would be as Yahweh originally intended that all would be a Kingdom of Priests with the only mediator being Yahshua, not Levitical priests.

Rev 5:10 and made them kings and priests to our Elohim; and they shall reign on the earth.

1st Pet 2:9a But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood; a holy people, and a people for possession,

What else was wrong with the Old Covenant agreement made at Mount Sinai with the Children of Israel?

Jos 24:19 And Joshua said to the people, You cannot serve YAHWEH, for They are a holy Elohim; He is a jealous El. He will not lift up from you your transgressions or your sins.

Jos 24:20 When you forsake YAHWEH, and shall serve strange gods then He will turn away and do evil to you, and consume you, after He has done good to you.

Jos 24:21 And the people said to Joshua, No, but we will serve YAHWEH.

Jos 24:22 And Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves, that you have chosen YAHWEH for yourselves, to serve Him (for they said, We are witnesses).

Jos 24:23 And now turn away from the strange gods among you, and incline your heart to YAHWEH the Elohim of Israel.

Jos 24:24 And the people said to Joshua, We will serve YAHWEH our Elohim, and we will listen to His voice.

Jos 24:25 And Joshua cut a covenant with the people on that day, and laid on them a law and a statute in Shechem.

Jos 24:26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the Torah of Elohim, and took a great stone and raised it up there under the oak by the sanctuary of YAHWEH.

Jos 24:27 And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the sayings of YAHWEH which He has spoken with us. And it shall be against you for a witness that you not lie against your Elohim.

Deut 27:26 Cursed is he who does not carry out to do all the Words of this Torah, to do them! And all the people shall say, Amen!

COMMENT: Clearly, the major obstacle in the Old Covenant was that only unintentional sins were forgiven. Even on Yom Kippur, which means covering, not removal, the sins were merely covered from year to year, but not paid for or removed. And due to Deuteronomy 27:26, the people confirmed to the fact that if they even broke one law of the Torah, then they were cursed, which is impossible for man. Again remember it was the agreement which made the Old Covenant a covenant of death, not the Torah, which is Holy, just and perfect.

Lev 4:13 If all the company of Israel shall sin through ignorance, and the thing has been hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they do that which is not to be done to any of all the commands of YAHWEH, and are guilty;

Lev 4:14 when the sin shall be known, that which they have sinned against it, then the congregation shall bring near a bull, a son of the herd, for a sin offering. And they shall bring it in front of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Lev 4:15 And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the face of YAHWEH. And they shall slaughter the bull before the face of YAHWEH

COMMENT: Clearly if you read all of Leviticus and the sacrificial system, you will see that the offerings that were made were only made for sins of ignorance, not for willful sinning. Also, nowhere in the Torah is there forgiveness for idolatry, adultery, murder, or blaspheming; it is simply the death penalty to perform any of these sins.

When Yahshua came to magnify the Torah, not nullify it, what did He say about the sin of murder?

Mat 5:21 You have heard that it was said to the ancients: “Do not commit murder!” And, whoever commits murder shall be condemned to the Judgment.

Mat 5:22a But I say to you that anyone who provokes to anger his brother without cause, is condemned to judgment

What about adultery?

Mat 5:27 You have heard that it was said to the ancients: “Do not commit adultery.”

Mat 5:28 But I say to you, everyone looking at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

COMMENT: Yahshua did not come to nullify the Torah of Yahweh, but to magnify it, and by doing so He showed us that sin starts in the mind, and with the intent, and that every one of us is indeed a sinner with penalties for our sins punishable by death. That when Yahweh looks on our hearts and minds that every human ever born has committed the sins of murder, adultery, idolatry and blaspheming; sins that could not be forgiven under the Old Covenant, but simply had a death penalty.

Rom 3:9 What then? Have we the superiority, when we have before decided as to both Jews and Gentiles, that all of them are under sin?

Rom 3:10 According as it has been written, “There is none righteous, not even one!”

Rom 3:11 “There is not one understanding; there is not one seeking YAHWEH.”

Rom 3:12 All turned away, they became worthless together, not one is doing goodness, not so much as one!”

Rom 3:13 “Their throat is a tomb being opened;” they used deceit with their tongues; the poison of asps is under their lips;

Rom 3:14 whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

Rom 3:15 Their feet are swift to shed blood;

Rom 3:16 ruin and misery are in their way;

Rom 3:18 there is no fear of ELOHIM before their eyes.

Rom 3:23 for all sinned and fall short of the glory of YAHWEH,

Num 15:30 And the soul that does anything with a high hand in defiance, whether of a native or of the alien, the same blasphemes YAHWEH. And that person shall be cut off from the midst of his people.

Num 15:31 For he has despised the Word of YAHWEH and has broken His command; that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be on him.

COMMENT: In the Old Covenant there was only an avenue to have unintentional sins forgiven, but not intentional sins, and certainly there was no avenue to have murder or adultery or idolatry forgiven, but the Israelites did not realize that sin starts in the hearts and minds and that Yahweh looks to the intent of mankind, so they did not realize that the Old Covenant turned out to be a Covenant of Death, because they entered into an agreement that Joshua warned them not to enter, because their sins would not be forgiven under the first Covenant, and they would all die having this death penalty hanging over their heads. Because the people were not actually murdering other people or committing the actual act of adultery, many had built a righteousness of the Torah itself, not realizing that all of us in the flesh, and in the mind, are law breakers. That is why many self-righteous Pharisees did not gravitate to Yahshua’s message, because you must humble yourself and admit your fallen nature and need for redemption that can only come through Yahweh. This is also the reason that Yahshua went to the tax collectors and prostitutes because they realized they were indeed sinners and were willing to repent.

Can the blood of Bulls and goats take away sin?

Heb 10:1 For the (Levitical) Law had in it a shadow of the good things to come, but not the substance of those things themselves. Appearing year by year with the same sacrifices, which they offer continually, they never are able to perfect those who offered them.

Heb 10:2 Otherwise, if they had once been perfected they would have ceased to be offered? For from henceforth, their minds would not have driven them into the sins from which they had once been cleansed.

Heb 10:3 But in those sacrifices they remembered their sins year by year,

Heb 10:4 for it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away (the penalty of) sins.

The Torah also says an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, which literally means let the punishment equal the crime. Now, if we are all murderers and adulterers by intent, can the blood of a bull or goat or a lamb equal our life? Of course it is not equal, as Yahweh gave mankind dominion over the animal kingdom and a human life is worth much more than an animal life, they are certainly not equal and they cannot take away sin. The point of the Levitical priesthood was not to take away sins, but to remind the people daily that they were sinners.

Was Yahweh actually pleased with the fact that due to the sinful nature of mankind He had to bring the temporary sacrificial system under the Levitical priesthood?

Psa 51:9 Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim; and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Psa 51:11 Do not cast me out from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Psa 51:15 O YAHWEH, open my lips and my mouth shall declare Your praise.

Psa 51:16 For you do not desire sacrifice, or I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.

Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of Elohim are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O Elohim, You will not despise.

Heb 10:5 For this reason, coming into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You prepared a body for Me.

Heb 10:6 You did not delight in burnt offerings and sin offerings.”

Heb 10:8 Above, when He said, “You did not desire nor were pleased with sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and sacrifices concerning sins,” (which are offered according to the Levitical Law),

COMMENT: The fact of the matter is that Yahweh does not enjoy the senseless killing of innocent animals, but allowed the Levitical system to stand to show mankind that sin brings the shedding of innocent blood, but what Yahweh really wants from us is a humble and contrite spirit that will try to the best of our ability to obey His commandments.

Did Yahweh even command Israel about a sacrificial system to mediate between Him and the children of Israel before the golden calf incident?

Jer 7:22 For I did not speak to your fathers, nor command them in the day that I brought them out from the land of Egypt, concerning matters of burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Jer 7:23 But I commanded them this thing, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your Elohim, and you shall be My people. Also, Walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, so that it may be well with you.

Jer 7:24 But they did not listen nor bow their ear. But they walked in their own plans, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.

COMMENT: As previously stated, Yahweh’s intention was to have each family member to be priest of his own family and Israel would have been a Kingdom of Priests to Him, but due to sin (Galatians 3:19) Yahweh inserted the Levitical system with all the animal sacrifices and ceremonial laws as a temporary substitute until Yahshua would come and completely pay the penalty for sin and remove the death penalty that was under the first Covenant due to the sin of the people. The whole Levitical order is the only law in Galatians 3:19 that was added due to the sinful nature of the people. Therefore, when the true priesthood of Yahshua would emerge there would be no reason to go back to the substitute.

Is there actually a New Covenant or just the Old Covenant renewed?

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, says YAHWEH, that I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

Jer 31:32 not according to the covenant that I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (which covenant of Mine they broke, although I was to be a husband to them, says YAHWEH).

Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, declares YAHWEH, I will put My Torah in their inward parts, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.

Jer 31:34 And they shall no longer each man teach his neighbor, and each man his brother, saying, Know YAHWEH. For they shall all know Me, from the least of them even to the greatest of them, declares YAHWEH. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.

Heb 8:13 In the saying, New, He has made the first old. And the thing being made old and obsolete is near disappearing.

Heb 10:9 then He said, “Lo, I come to do Your will, O ELOHIM.” He takes away the first in order that He may set up the second;

COMMENT: Clearly, there was an Old Covenant that was based on cause and effect of the people reaping what they sowed, but could not forgive sins such as adultery, murder, idolatry and blaspheming, which brought the death penalty. And there is also a New Covenant, where any sin, no matter of how vile it may have been, can be forgiven and paid for through true repentance and faith in Yahshua, the Eternal Son of Yahweh. Of course even in the New Covenant you must repent of your sinful nature and not continue in a lifestyle of sin or Yahshua’s shed blood will not be applied toward your penalty (Hebrews 10:26-32). In the New Covenant, Yahshua’s sacrifice could pay for the penalty of sins that could not be covered under the Levitical order and the Old Covenant.

Acts 13:38 Then let it be known to you, men, brothers, that through this One remission of sin is announced to you.

Acts 13:39 And everyone believing in this One is justified from all things which you could not be justified by the Torah of Moses.

Is the New Covenant a better Covenant?

Heb 8:6 But now, Yahshua the Messiah hath received a ministry which is greater than that: also by so much more, He is a Mediator of a better covenant, and so are the promises greater than the first covenant.

What makes the New Covenant a better Covenant than the Old Covenant?

Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and I will not at all remember their sins and their lawless deeds.

Jer 50:20 In those days, and at that time, states YAHWEH, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and it is not; and the sins of Judah, and they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant

COMMENT: As previously stated, The New Covenant is a better covenant because it has a better priesthood (Melchizedek) that can forgive sin through the shed blood of Yahshua our Messiah, this was not offered under the Levitical priesthood and the Old Covenant, but now through the eternal sacrifice of Yahshua, not only do we have our sins forgiven and paid for, but we are also cleansed from all unrighteousness, as long as we continue in faith to be obedient to Yahweh. Also, after baptism and the laying on of hands, we  receive Yahweh’s Holy Spirit that actually changes our fleshly human nature toward His nature of love and obedience, and we literally enter His family as children.

Is Levi still the priesthood in the New Covenant?

Heb 7:11 If, therefore, perfection had been reached by the Levitical priesthood, by which the Torah was enacted for the people; what further need was there for another priest to rise after the order of Melchizedek? Otherwise the scriptures would have said that He would be after the order of Aaron.

Heb 7:12 But as there is a change in the priesthood, of necessity a change in the instruction of Torah also occurs.

Heb 7:13 For He of whom these things were spoken, was born of another tribe, of which no one ever ministered at the altar.

Heb 7:14 For it is evident that our Master has risen out of Judah, as to which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.

Heb 7:15 And it is still more abundantly clear because He said that another priest would arise according to the order of Melchizedek,

Heb 7:16 who has not become so according to a law of a fleshly command, but according to the power of life which abides forever.

Heb 7:17 For it is testified, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Psa 110:4)

Heb 7:18 And the change which took place in the former law, was made on account of its weaknesses, and because it had fulfilled its usefulness.

Heb 7:19 For the (Levitical) Law perfected nothing, but a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to Elohim.

Heb 7:22 All these things make a better covenant because Yahshua is its surety.

COMMENT: Clearly, we see here again that Levi was only a shadow to the reality of Yahshua who is the High priest not according to the Levitical priesthood, but according to the priesthood of Melchizedek. Is the Melchizedek priesthood an eternal priesthood?

Psa 110:1 [A Psalm of David.] A declaration of YAHWEH to my Adonai: Sit at My right hand, until I place Your enemies as Your footstool.

Psa 110:4 YAHWEH has sworn and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Psa 110:5 YAHWEH at Your right hand shatters kings in the day of His anger.

Psa 110:6 He shall judge among the nations; He shall fill with dead bodies; He shall shatter heads over much land.

COMMENT: Melchizedek is not a personal name, but a title that means King of Righteousness. Yahshua who is the King of Righteousness has the title of Melchizedek and is the high priest of this eternal order. And all firstfruit believers who are faithful will be priests with Him in the Melchizedek order at His return.

Heb 7:1 For this “Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High Elohim,” the one meeting Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, “and blessing him;”

Heb 7:2 to whom also Abraham “divided a tenth from all,” first being interpreted, king of righteousness; and then also king of Salem, which is, king of peace,

Heb 7:3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, nor beginning of days, nor having end of life, but like the Son of YAHWEH, His priesthood remains forever.

Heb 7:21 For they became priests without an oath; but this man by an oath. As He said to Him by David: “YAHWEH hath sworn, and will not lie, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.” (Psa 110:4)

Heb 7:22 All these things make a better covenant because Yahshua is its surety.

Heb 7:23 And these priests were many, but being mortal they are prevented from continuing because of death;

Heb 7:24 but this one, because He is immortal, has the priesthood which remains forever.

Rev 5:10 and made us kings and priests to our Elohim; and we shall reign on the earth.

Did the Levitical priesthood actually have the authority from Yahweh to forgive sins?

Heb 10:1 For the (Levitical) Law had in it a shadow of the good things to come, but not the substance of those things themselves. Appearing year by year with the same sacrifices, which they offer continually, they never are able to perfect those who offered them.

Heb 10:2 Otherwise, if they had once been perfected they would have ceased to be offered? For from henceforth, their minds would not have driven them into the sins from which they had once been cleansed.

Heb 10:3 But in those sacrifices they remembered their sins year by year,

Heb 10:4 for it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away (the penalty of) sins.

Heb 10:11 And indeed every priest stands day by day ministering, and often offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away (the penalty of) sins.

Luke 5:21 And the scribes and Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who is able to forgive sins except Elohim alone?

COMMENT: This is a very telling scripture in Luke, which shows that even the priests themselves knew that their sacrifices could not forgive sins, but that only Elohim can forgive sins.

Does Yahshua under the Melchizedek priesthood have authority to forgive sins in the New Covenant?

Luke 5:23 Which is easier, to say, Your sins have been forgiven you, or to say, Rise up and walk?

Luke 5:24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has the authority on the earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralytic, I say to you, Rise up, and take your cot and go to your house.

How many sacrifices did Yahshua have to do to remove all sins from those that believe in Him

Heb 10:12 But He, offering but one sacrifice for sins, “sat down” in perpetuity “at the right hand” of Elohim,

Heb 10:13 from then on expecting “until His enemies are placed as a footstool” under His feet.

Heb 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected in perpetuity the ones being sanctified.

Heb 9:12 nor through the blood of goats and of calves, but through His own blood, He entered once for all into the Holy of Holies, having obtained for us everlasting salvation.

Heb 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the sprinkling of ashes of a heifer on those having been defiled, sanctifies them to the purity of the flesh,

Heb 9:14 by how much more the blood of Messiah (who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to YAHWEH), will purify your conscience from dead works, to serve the living Elohim!

Heb 9:15 And for this reason He became the Mediator of the New Covenant, that He might by His death be redemption, to them who had transgressed the first covenant; so that they, who are called to the eternal inheritance, might receive the promise.

Heb 9:24 For Messiah did not enter into the Holy of Holies made by hands, which is a symbol of the true one, but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of YAHWEH on our behalf,

Heb 9:25 not that He should often offer Himself even as the high priest enters into the Holy of Holies year by year with blood of others;

Heb 9:26 otherwise He would have been obliged to have suffered many times from the foundation of the world. But now once for all, at the completion of the ages, He did offer Himself to abolish sin.

Heb 9:27 And as it is reserved to men once to die, and after this, Judgment;

Heb 9:28 so Messiah having been once offered “to bear the sins of many,” Messiah shall appear a second time without our sins for the salvation of those who are waiting for Him.

2nd Cor 5:21 For He who did not know sin, for your sakes made Himself sin, that we might through Him become the righteousness of YAHWEH.

Yahshua, as the eternal co-Creator of the universe only needed one sacrifice of Himself to cover sin for all time, And since Yahshua’s sacrifice is in perpetuity, meaning it is continual, then do believers in Yahshua need any other sacrifice today, except, accepting the sacrifice which Yahshua made, when He was crucified?

Heb 10:16 “This is the covenant which I will covenant to them after those days, says the YAHWEH: Giving My Torah on their hearts, and I will write them on their minds;”

Heb 10:17 also He adds, “I will not at all still remember their sins” and their lawless deeds.

Heb 10:18 But where remission of these is, there is no longer offering concerning sins.

COMMENT: Since Yahshua’s sacrifice covers all sins past, present, and future, and since He sits not in an earthly tabernacle, but on the right of the Father, in the true tabernacle in Heaven, and since His sacrifice is perpetual, we don’t need any other sacrifice than the one Yahshua made, while He was here almost 2,000 years ago. Melchizedek, NOT Levi is the priesthood in the New Covenant.

Since the Passover was instituted before leaving Egypt and before the Levitical Priesthood was set up would we sacrifice a Passover lamb still today?

COMMENT: To truly answer this question we need to review several Old Testament scriptures and some of Yahshua’s own statements made during His ministry prior to this Passover night. John the Baptist understood that Yahshua was the Passover Lamb.

John 1:29 On the morrow, John saw Yahshua coming toward him and said, Behold! The Lamb of Elohim, who takes away the sin of the world!

John 1:36 Behold, the Lamb of YAHWEH!”

Did Yahshua publicly allude to being the fulfillment of the New Testament Passover and the new symbols of bread and wine being to remember Him as the true Passover Lamb?

John 6:51 “I AM the Living Bread that came down from Heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever. And indeed, the bread which I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

John 6:53 Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves”

COMMENT: Eating this “flesh”, unlike eating merely the physical lamb, would identify the eater with the eternal life of the Lamb of Yahweh. And along with it was the blood, not in the “flesh”, but separate from it, for it had been all poured out from His body, which cleared the way for all mankind to receive eternal life by making possible the remission of sins. The new emblems were a substitution for – not an addition to – the physical lamb.

Does the Apostle Paul also confirm that the symbols representing Yahshua’s body and poured out blood are not a physical lamb and show what the New Covenant Symbols are:

1st Cor 11:20 Then you coming together, you do not eat and drink as is appropriate on the day of Our Master.

1st Cor 11:21a For each one takes his own supper first in the eating;

1st Cor 11:22 For do you not have houses in which to eat and to drink?

1st Cor 11:23 For I received from the Master what I also delivered to you, that the Master Yahshua in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;

1st Cor 11:24 and giving thanks, He broke and said, Take, eat; this is My body which is broken on behalf of you; this do in remembrance of Me.

1st Cor 11:25 In the same way the cup also, after supping, saying, This cup is the New Covenant in My blood; each time you drink it, do this in remembrance of Me.

1st Cor 11:26 For each time that you may eat this bread, and drink this cup, you solemnly commemorate the death of our Master, until His coming.

COMMENT: The supper – a full Passover meal – was no longer the manner of observing the Passover, as each person would eat his own supper first, in his own house, before gathering together with the brethren to take the emblems. Paul, then went on to clearly state, that the simple emblems of unleavened bread and wine, and not a full
meal with a sacrificed lamb would be taken on the Passover every year (verses 23 – 25).

We keep the Passover today because it is commanded by Elohim forever (Exodus 12: 17, 24). But no longer do we kill a lamb and eat it, since the “Lamb of Yahweh” – (Yahshua) – has been sacrificed once for all: Yahshua (who was foreshadowed by the literal Passover lamb) was once offered to bear the sins of many: and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation (Hebrews 9:28). Instead, we take the unleavened bread, symbolizing Yahshua’s broken body, and the wine, symbolizing His shed blood, as a memorial, looking back to our Savior’s suffering and death for our sins. Clearly, Yahshua (not a lamb) is our Passover (1st Corinthians 5:7) in Yahweh’s congregations today.

Is the killing of a physical lamb commanded forever?

Exo 12:14 And the day shall be a memorial for you. And you shall celebrate it as a feast to YAHWEH, for your generations. You shall celebrate it as a law forever.

COMMENT: Scripture tells us that the Passover day is a memorial for all generations. Notice, it is the day and not the killing of a lamb that is a memorial and to be remembered for all generations. Although the day stays the same, Yahweh as the Creator has the right to change the symbols of this ceremony, which He did on the last Passover Yahshua celebrated.

Mat 26:26 And as they ate, taking the (unleavened) bread and blessing it… said, Take, eat; this is (represents) My body.

Mat 26:27 And taking the cup, and giving thanks, He gave to them, saying, Drink all of it.

Mat 26:28 For this represents My blood of the New Covenant which concerning many is being poured out for remission of sins.

How many lambs were supposed to be sacrificed for the Passover?

Exo 12:3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month, they shall each take for themselves an animal of the flock for a father’s house, a flock animal for a house.

Exo 12:5 A flock animal, a male without blemish, a yearling, shall be to you. You shall take from the sheep or from the goats.

Exo 12:6 And it shall be for you to keep until the fourteenth day of this month. And all the assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it between the evenings.

1st Cor 5:7b For our Passover is Messiah who was sacrificed for our sake.

COMMENT: There was only supposed to be one lamb sacrificed per family, not more, and Scripture clearly says that Yahshua is our Passover sacrifice, but as we already explained, His sacrifice is in perpetuity or ongoing, so every year we symbolically take the bread to show His beaten body, and the wine to show His poured out blood and He is our living Passover sacrifice.

Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, but He did not open His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a ewe before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.

How important is the Passover to a New Covenant Believer?

1st Cor 11:26 For each time you may eat this bread, and drink this cup, you solemnly commemorate the death of the Master, until He shall come.

1st Cor 11:27 So that whoever should eat this bread, or drink the cup of the Master, unworthily, that one will be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Master.

1st Cor 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and let him drink of the cup;

1st Cor 11:29 for he eating and drinking unworthily eats and drinks to his condemnation, not discerning the body of the Master.

1st Cor 11:30 For this reason many among you are sick and weak, and many sleep.

1st Cor 11:31 For if we discerned ourselves, we would not be judged.

Num 9:13 But the man that is clean, and is not on a journey, and has failed to prepare the Passover, even that person shall be cut off from his people, because he did not bring the offering of YAHWEH in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.

COMMENT: As shown in lesson one of this correspondence course the way to enter the New Covenant and receive the Holy Spirit is by repenting of your sins and accepting the blood of Yahshua for the forgiveness of those sins and being baptized into His name. That is what puts you in covenant relationship with Yahweh and makes you a child of His (Acts 2:37-38, Romans 8:9), but this is a yearly contract that must be renewed each year until Messiah returns and the Passover is the day that you renew your contract for another year. We are supposed to truly examine our lives and see where we have fallen short that particular year and reflect on Yahshua, the true Passover sacrifice, for the great sacrifice that He did for our sins to be forgiven that could not be forgiven under the first Covenant.

Then, and only then, after this serious soul searching each year, would we partake of the Passover sacrifice, which would be by taking the piece of unleavened bread and the sip of wine that would symbolically picture Yahshua’s body and shed blood.

What does Yahweh say about people in the end time who are sacrificing lambs and animals instead of accepting the sacrifice of Yahshua for their Passover?

Isa 66:1 So says YAHWEH: Heaven is My throne, and earth the footstool of My feet. Where then is the house that you build for Me? And where then is the place of My rest?

Isa 66:3 He who slaughters an ox is as if he struck a man; he who sacrifices a lamb is as if he broke a dog’s neck; he who offers a present is as if it were swine’s blood; he making mention of incense is as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their way, and their soul delights in their abominations.

Isa 66:4 I also will choose their vexations; and I will bring their fears to them; because I called, and no one answered; I spoke, and they did not hear. But they did the evil in My eyes, and chose that in which I had no pleasure.

Who is the one that Yahweh will look to in this end time?

Isa 66:2 And My hand has made all these things, even all these things exist, declares YAHWEH. But I will look toward this one, to the humbled one, and to the contrite of spirit, even trembling at My Word.

Psa 51:16 For you do not desire sacrifice, or I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.

Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of Elohim are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O Elohim, You will not despise.

COMMENT: Yes, Yahweh resists the proud but gives grace to the humble, and it is only through a spirit of humility and servitude that Yahweh is pleased with us, not through the killing of an animal. That is why we also do the foot washing service to show that we are humble enough to wash any brother or sister’s feet. In the Old Covenant the slaying of a lamb at Passover was a shadow of the true lamb of Yahweh who takes away the sins of the world, and had to be done only at the Temple in Jerusalem. Only the very first Passover in Egypt was done in the homes, and that was because Yahweh had planned for all Israelites to be a Kingdom of Priests (Exodus 19:6) but after the golden calf incident all sacrifices including the Passover had to be on the altar in Jerusalem. Also, we are Melchizedek priests and not Levites, and Melchizedek priests are to be living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2), not sacrificing animals. It is true (Ezekiel 40-48) that there will be a Levitical Priesthood through Zadok, sacrificing animals in the millennium, but this is because when the House of Israel is physically resurrected at Yahshua’s return (Ezekiel 37:1-14, Daniel 12:1-2) they will be physical human beings who died before Yahshua was born and who are still in the Old Covenant and must learn about and join the New Covenant. We do not know how long these sacrifices will last for, but certainly they are not for New Covenant glorified beings who will reign with Yahshua at the resurrection.

Deut 16:5 You may not sacrifice the Passover offering inside any of your gates, which YAHWEH your Elohim gives you.

Deut 16:6 But at the place which He shall choose to cause His name to dwell there (Jerusalem) you shall sacrifice the Passover offering at evening, at the going of the sun, at the time when you came out of Egypt.

Even if people were supposed to still a lamb, according to scripture it must only be done at the altar in Jerusalem. If you are part of a group that still kills a lamb at your Passover service, then you would not be following the New Covenant and the priesthood of Melchizedek, which says nothing about killing an additional sacrifice than the one that Yahshua did in perpetuity. Clearly, there was only one Passover sacrifice and it was and still remains Yahshua, the Messiah (1st Corinthians 5:7), as His sacrifice is in perpetuity. A true believer should not even be present at such a service that is denying our Messiah’s sacrifice.

Heb 10:16 “This is the covenant which I will covenant to them after those days, says YAHWEH: Giving My Torah on their hearts, and I will write them on their minds;”

Heb 10:17 also He adds, “I will not at all still remember their sins” and their lawless deeds.”

Heb 10:18 But where remission of these is, there is no longer offering concerning sins.

What responsibility do first-fruit believers in Yahshua have today in preparing to be part of the Melchizedek priesthood with Yahshua during His 1,000 year millennial reign?

Rom 12:1 Therefore, brethren, I call on you through the compassions of YAHWEH to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to YAHWEH, which is your reasonable service.

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is the good and pleasing and perfect will of YAHWEH.

Rom 6:6 for we know this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we no longer serve sin.

Rom 6:7 For he who is dead has been freed from sin.

Rom 6:8 But if we died with Messiah, we believe that also we shall live with Him,

Rom 6:9 knowing that Messiah being raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has dominion over Him.

Rom 6:10 For in that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in that He lives, He lives to YAHWEH.

Rom 6:11 So also you count yourselves to be truly dead to sin, but alive to YAHWEH in Yahshua, Messiah our Master.

1st Cor 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit in you, which you have from YAHWEH, and you are not of yourselves?

1st Cor 6:20 You were bought with a price; then glorify YAHWEH in your body, and in your spirit, which belong to YAHWEH.

1st Pet 2:9 But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood; a holy people, and a people for possession; that you should proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness to His precious light:

1st Pet 2:10 you who then were “Not a people, but now are the people of YAHWEH; who had not obtained mercy, but who now have mercies poured out upon you.”

It is the greatest honor of one’s life to be called out by Yahweh to be part of the Melchizedek priestly order, but it is also a great responsibility. Just as the shadow of the Levitical Priesthood could not own property, but they worked full time for Yahweh in His ministry in His sanctuary, so too must the New Testament believer trust in Yahweh for everything, and also work and bear fruit for His Kingdom.

Truly the Melchizedek priesthood is a better priesthood built on better promises.

Points to Remember:

1) We are under the New Covenant and Not the Old.

2) In any covenant agreement in Scripture, the people, the land and the Torah never changes.

3) We are under the order of the Melchizedek priesthood in the New Covenant and not the Levitical one.

4) The only law that was added to the Torah on Mount Sinai was the Levitical Priesthood with all of the ceremonial laws to it.

5) The Levitical priesthood was only a substitute until the true priesthood came through Yahshua and Melchizedek.

6) Under the New Covenant since Yahshua’s sacrifice is ongoing and our sins are already forgiven there is no need to do any more sacrifices including killing an additional lamb for Passover.