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From: farkas@eng.sun.com (Frank Farkas)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Whose misinterpretations? (Re: Millenium?)
Message-ID: <Dec.19.04.39.23.1990.28304@athos.rutgers.edu>
Date: 19 Dec 90 09:39:25 GMT
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[In the course of a discussion among Yaakov Kayman, Frank Farkas,
and David Wagner, Yaakov asks
>In the meantime, can you give me *your* views on Ex. 19:6, "And you will
>be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation"? I know of no one who
>claims that the entire Jewish people are priests in the "levitical"
>sense. To Jews, therefore, the verse refers to those who serve G-d from
>near, rather than literal "priests."
--clh]

Thanks for your reply. Somehow I have missed your response, so I appologize
for replying late.

You have asked about Exodus 19:6. Lets look at the Old Testament and see
what we can learn about this promise (Sorry, I know that this title is 
objectional to you. Please let me know the proper way of referring to it.).

One of the things which does intrigue me is the position of Moses. He
was a Levith by birth, however, he was not "the" High Priest, his brother
was. Yet Moses appeared to be over Aaron, who was appointed to be the
spoke person for Moses. It is Moses who talks with God, as one man talks 
with another in the Tebernacle. He is the one who goes and gets the 
Ten Commandments. Moses is the one who sprinkles the sacrificial blood on 
the people. 

It appears to me that Moses was both king and priest, just like Melchizedek
was.  Aaron was only a priest, and even his priesthood was subject to the
one held by Moses. One can come to this understanding by reading the Bible 
with an open mind, and using deductions.

It is important that we understand the sequence of events which occurred.

	1. The Lord tells the people of Israel that they will be "a kingdom
	   of priests" (Exodus 19:6).

	2. He tells them to sanctify themselfs, because he will appear to
	   them (Exodus 10).

	3. Moses brings the people to meet God (Exodus 19:17).

	4. God tells Moses that the people should not be allowed to
	   come into his present (Exodus 19:20-21).

I find the events which transpired very interesting. Why would God tell 
Moses to sanctify the people so He can show himself to them, and when the 
appointed time came, He tells Moses to hold the people back?  The Bible
doesn't tell us what happened. The only conclusion I can come up with is
that they either didn't sanctified themselfs, or that they have refused the 
offer in some way.

Bottom line is that I believe that Moses held the priesthood of Mechizedek,
which is a higher priesthood then the Levithical or the Aaronic. As such,
he was both king and priest. I believe that the promise which God gave the
people of Israel that they will become a "nation of priests" was dependent on
them accepting the offer and sanctifying themselfs so that they may receive 
the higher priesthood, which is called the Melchizedek. If they would have
received it, then they would have become a nation of priest, just as it was
promised. 

I sure would like to have your comments regarding my answer to your question.
I know that I can learn a lot from someone who has the understanding of
a Jew regarding the Bible. I believe that many prophesis can't be understood
with out knowing the method which the prophets used. Also, I have a poor
understanding of history and customs.

Yaakov, thanks for your help.

With brothely love,

			Frank

[The current neutral term in scholarly circles is "Hebrew Scriptures".
--clh]