From: Jim Thompson
To:      heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: Priests, Levites, Rabbi's

Dear Eddie,

      Could you explain the difference between Jewish Priests,
Levites,and  Rabbis, I assume the Jewish Priests were from the tribe of Judah.
I read that the Levites were chosen to assist the Jewish Priests and were from
the tribe of Levi  Were the Rabbis ordained teachers of the Jewish law. Also
were scribes teachers of the Jewish law? Their duties seem to overlap each
other.

Sincerely

Jim Thompson


>From Eddie:
**************

        It was God's Will that ALL of Israel be priests unto Him.
This was expressed in Exodus 19:3, 5-6:

"... Thus shall thou say to the HOUSE OF JACOB (all 12 tribes), and
tell the children of Israel ... Now therefore, if ye will obey (shema) my voice indeed, and keep my
covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all
people for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a KINGDOM
OF PRIESTS."

       However, NOT all of Israel became of kingdom of priests unto
God. The reason is that some disqualified themselves. How? Because
of  the golden calf incident in Exodus 32.

       The golden calf system of worship is mixing paganism with the
true worship of the God of Israel and calling this mixture of
worship, the worship of the God of Israel. This is what the children
of Israel did with the golden calf. In Exodus 32:4-6 it is
written:

"And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving
tool, (a graven image forbidden in Exodus 20:4) after he had made it
a molten calf: and they said, These be your gods, O Israel, which
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he
built an altar before it: and Aaron made proclomation, and said,
Tomorrow is a FEAST TO THE LORD. And they rose up early on the
morning, and offered BURNT OFFERINGS and brought PEACE OFFERINGS: and
the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play."

Notice:

#1) They made a GRAVEN image so that they could worship the God of
       Israel
#2) When they did, they proclaimed a FEAST TO THE LORD and offered
       BURNT OFFERINGS and PEACE OFFERINGS (the true worship of the
       God of Israel as He had commanded his people).

      Because of this incident, ALL of Israel did NOT become a nation
of priests.  Because the tribe of Levi spoke against this event and
stood on the Lord's side, they became the priests unto God.  (Exodus
32:26-28).

      One of the main duties of the priests (Levites) was to teach
God's people His Torah.  In Deuteronomy 17:8-11 it is written:

"If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgement ... and thou
shalt come unto the PRIESTS the LEVITES ... and they shall show thee
the sentence of judgment ... according to the sentence of the TORAH
which they shall TEACH THEE ... you shall not decline from the
sentence which they shall show thee, to the right hand nor to the
left"

In Malachi 2:1,4,6-7 it is written:

"And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you .. and ye shall
know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant
might be with LEVI, saith the Lord of hosts ... the TORAH of truth
was in his mouth ... for the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and
they should seek the TORAH at his mouth: for he is the messenger of
the Lord of hosts"

Moses and Aaron were from the tribe of Levi.

In Romans 15:4 it is written:

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning ..."

These things are a shadow of things to come (Hebrews 10:1).

In the NT, believers in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah are ALL called to be
kings and priests unto God. (I Peter 2:5) and are called to rule and
reign with Messiah on the earth (Revelation 5:10).

When Messiah returns to the earth and establishes the Messianic age,
what will He do for 1,000 years? He is the GREAT HIGH PRIEST of God
(Hebrew 3:1, 4:14). So, what will Messiah be doing? He will be
teaching the TORAH to the nations (Isaiah 2:2-4).  But, will ALL
believers be teaching the TORAH to the nations WITH Messiah?

In Matthew 5:17-19, it describes those who are LEAST and those who are
the GREATEST in the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who are LEAST, BREAK the
TORAH of God and teach others to do so and those who are GREAT, KEEP
the TORAH of God and teach others to do so. In Matthew 5:19, it is
written:

"Whosoever therefore shall BREAK one of these least commandments and
shall teach others to do so, he shall be called LEAST in the kingdom
of heaven: but whosoever shall DO and TEACH them, the same shall be
called GREAT in the kingdom of heaven".

In Hosea 4:6, it tells us that those who REJECT the TORAH of God will
NOT be a priest unto God as it is written:

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: (what is knowledge?)
because you have rejected knowledge, I will also REJECT thee, that
you shall NOT be a PRIEST to me: seeing thou has forgotten the TORAH
of thy God, I will also forget thy children"

     Can we rule and reign with Messiah and be kings and priests unto
Him if we have rejected the Torah of God?

      The word TORAH is the Strong's word (8451).  It comes from the
Hebrew word, YARAH (3384) which means:

"to point out as if aiming the finger, to teach, to show"

      The Hebrew word for TEACHER is "Moreh" which is the Strong's
word (4175) which comes from the Hebrew word YARAH (3384).

      So, the words, TORAH and TEACHER are related words in Hebrew.
The word Rabbi means a teacher. In John 3:2, these words are said to
Yeshua/Jesus:

"... Rabbi, we know that you are a TEACHER come from God ...

      So, the duty of the priests of God is to teach the Torah of
God. In the OT,  the duty of the priesthood was given to the Levites.
A rabbi is a term that means a teacher. A scribe was somebody who
made a copy of the written TORAH of God.


                                     Eddie Chumney

********************************************************************

To educate, train and equip for study both the Jew and
Non-Jew in the Rich Hebraic Heritage of our Faith.

Please visit the Hebraic Roots Global Network
Web Site located at:

http://www.hebroots.org/


                          HEBRAIC ROOTS SEMINAR

Hebraic Heritage Ministries is having a Hebraic roots seminar in
Houston, Texas,  September 11-13, 1998. For more info, see the
Website:

http://www.hebroots.org/houston.html

Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int'l