Chapter I
The Principles and Concepts of the Old Testament, and the Relationship of the Gospels Authors with them
The relying of the Gospel authors and the various churches on the Old Testament, and considering themselves as an extension to it, whether by quoting the texts, or its history, requires us a pause for a comparison between the principles and concepts of the Old Testament and the principles and concepts of the Gospels to find out the truth of this reliance and this extension, and to discover the real sources that were relied upon by the Gospel authors, as well as, it requires us to show the relationship between the Old Testament and the Gospel authors, and their position on the Law in general.
For this, I will review the most important principles and concepts of the Old Testament, and compare them with the principles and concepts of the Gospels, to determine if they agree with each other or not; and if not, we should study and search to discover the sources that have been relied upon by the Gospel authors to write their accounts.
Principle VIII: The Covenant with the Children of Israel
The covenant with the children of Israel is one of the most important principles and concepts in the Old Testament, which is the commitment by the children of Israel to worship the Lord the Creator of the heavens and the earth alone, and not worship other gods beside Him or with Him, and keep and do the commandments of the Law; in return, they will be chosen and gives them the Holy Land which the Lord promised to give to Abraham and his descendants and blesses them in their lives.
And through detailed and thorough reading in the texts of the Old Testament can be divided the Covenant into three sections, the first is the covenant of chosenness, which is with the children of Israel in general, the second is the covenant of priesthood, which is with the Levites generally and with the descendants of Aaron specifically, the third is the covenant of governance, which is with David and later with Solomon the son of David and his descendants, in the following pages I will review these sections, and the position of the Gospels authors, the rest of the New Testament authors and the churches on them.
Part II: The Covenant of Priesthood with the Levites
The Levites are one of the tribes of the children of Israel, who had been chosen for priesthood by the Lord to keep the Torah and teaching and do the rituals and offerings of all kinds, and to atone for the children of Israel which Moses and Aaron and their descendants belong to, as in the following text:
Exodus 28:1 "Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron’s sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
And they had been taken instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, as in the following text:
Numbers 8:14 "Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine.
Numbers 8:15 "After that the Levites shall go in to service the tabernacle of meeting. So you shall cleanse them and offer them, like a wave offering.
Numbers 8:16 "For they are wholly given to Me from among the children of Israel; I have taken them for Myself instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the children of Israel.
Numbers 8:17 "For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast; on the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them to Myself.
Numbers 8:18 "I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel.
Numbers 8:19 "And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the work for the children of Israel in the tabernacle of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary."
Before the entry of the children of Israel into the Holy Land; the covenant and the presidency of the priesthood was given to Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron and his descendants, and this covenant will be forever, as in the following text:
Numbers 25:10 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
Numbers 25:11 "Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal.
Numbers 25:12 "Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace;
Numbers 25:13 ‘and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel’."
And they remained priests after the entry into the Holy Land, although they strayed away from the LORD for long periods of time, and worshiped the idols as it is written in the Old Testament, including the following text:
Ezekiel 44:10 "And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.
Ezekiel 44:11 "Yet they shall be ministers in My sanctuary, as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.
Ezekiel 44:12 "Because they ministered to them before their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have raised My hand in an oath against them," says the Lord GOD, "that they shall bear their iniquity.
Ezekiel 44:13 "And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.
However, they were priests of the children of Israel during the periods of their faith, and no one said or claimed that the covenant with them has been ended.
So, what is the position of the Gospels authors and the rest of the New Testament authors on the covenant of priesthood?
There is no one of them have talked about ending the Covenant with the Levites, except Paul, especially in the letter to the Hebrews; who said that the Covenant has been set aside with them and became with the tribe of Judah, represented by Jesus, as the new high priest, as a one of this tribe, and wrote many theoretical arguments to prove that the covenant with the Levites has been set aside and ended, the following is a review of what he has written.
Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
In this text Paul declares that Jesus is a high priest, which means that the covenant with the Levites has been set aside and ended, because Jesus, as it is written in the Gospels is from the tribe of Judah, and the son of David; and this declaration raises a lot of doubts about his divine attributes which the churches have developed for him; that he is a god and one of the three gods who are one and have the same essence and nature, so how a god turns to become a priest?!
Hebrews 5:1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Hebrews 5:2 He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.
Hebrews 5:3 Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins.
Hebrews 5:4 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.
Hebrews 5:5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You."
Hebrews 5:6 As He also says in another place: "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek";
Hebrews 5:7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,
Hebrews 5:8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
Hebrews 5:9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
Hebrews 5:10 called by God as High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek,"
Hebrews 5:11 of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
In this text Paul talks on the high priest, saying, that is no one takes this honor to himself, but he must be called by the God, just as Aaron was, then begins to talk about Jesus as a high priest and cited two texts from the Psalms, the first is mentioned in Psalm II, which is as follows:
Psalm 2:7 "I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
Psalm 2:8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
Psalm 2:9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel’."
Psalm 2:10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Psalm 2:11 Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling.
Psalm 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
This Psalm talks about the son of the LORD, subsequently we will see how many people has been called the son of the LORD or God in the Old Testament, although we are not far off from the text, which called Solomon as a "son of God", (2 Samuel 7:14)! Yet, what is important here is the attributes of the son of God which were stated in this Psalm; to make sure whether they apply to Jesus or not; we read that this son will be given the nations for his inheritance, and the ends of the earth for his possession, and this attribute was not one of the attributes of Jesus as I have pointed out earlier, because he refused to be king when some Jews tried to make him king over them as in the following text:
John 6:15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.
Moreover, he said that His kingdom is not of this world, as in the following text:
John 18:33 Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"
John 18:34 Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?"
John 18:35 Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?"
John 18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."
Furthermore, he was not a king in one day throughout his life!
With regard to that he will break the nations with a rod of iron; the Gospels authors did not mention that Jesus participated in any battle, if so, how he will break the nations?!
With regard to that the Lord asks the Kings and judges to be wise and serve Him with fear, and kiss the son; this was not the case of the governors and judges with Jesus during his trial, because they flogged him and beat him and mocked him, and sentenced him to death on the cross! So, if the Psalm was a prophecy about Jesus; the decree of the LORD, which is mentioned in the first verse, should be fulfilled in Jesus! Thus, the failure to fulfill it; is a proof that it was not a prophecy about Jesus, and this is the problem with the authors of the New Testament, as will appear to us in the coming chapters, because when they were quoting from the texts and narrations of the Old Testament; they said that they were talking or prophesying about Jesus, regardless of the true meaning of the texts, or the life of Jesus and his characteristics, as it is written in the Gospels themselves, which have made all discrepancies, contradictions and errors in the Gospels, because, in fact, quoting the texts or events of a story and say that it talks about someone; does not make this allegation true! This Psalm talks about David, and if it is not of David, for sure it was talking about him, for this we find that it has been fulfilled in him, except the paragraph "son of God", which I will explain its meaning later. And here some of the good people of the followers of the churches might think that this will take place at the second coming of Jesus; but this needs evidences more than words or hopes, because it's written in the Gospels that Jesus will come back before the death of his contemporary generation as well as before the death of all his disciples, however, did not come as he said, as in the following texts:
Matthew 16:28 "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."
Mark 9:1 And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."
Luke 9:27 "But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."
Matthew 24:34 "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
Matthew 24:36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
Mark 13:30 "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
Mark 13:31 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
Mark 13:32 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Luke 21:32 "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.
Luke 21:33 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
The second text that cited by Paul to prove that Jesus is the high priest; is the saying that Jesus is the high priest of the order of Melchizedek, whom I will talk on him below, and he ignored and omitted all the texts of the Old Testament that said that the priests are from the Levites, and the high priest will be from the descendants of Aaron, and this implies that he has considered that the covenant of priesthood has ended with them.
And then he talked again about Jesus as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, as in the following text:
Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,
Hebrews 6:20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
And finally, he has shown why Jesus has been chosen as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, and therefore the covenant of priesthood with the Levites was broken and ended, as in the following text:
Hebrews 7:1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
Hebrews 7:2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated "king of righteousness," and then also king of Salem, meaning "king of peace,"
Hebrews 7:3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
Hebrews 7:4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.
Hebrews 7:5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham;
Hebrews 7:6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
Hebrews 7:7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.
Heb 7:8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.
Hebrews 7:9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak,
Hebrews 7:10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
Hebrews 7:11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?
Hebrews 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.
Hebrews 7:13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.
Hebrews 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
Hebrews 7:15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest
Hebrews 7:16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.
Hebrews 7:17 For He testifies: "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek."
Hebrews 7:18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness,
Hebrews 7:19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
Hebrews 7:20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath
Hebrews 7:21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: "The Lord has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’ "),
Hebrews 7:22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.
Hebrews 7:23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing.
Hebrews 7:24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.
Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 7:26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;
Hebrews 7:27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
Hebrews 7:28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
Paul begins talks about Melchizedek and quoted what is written on him in the Book of Genesis, that he was the king of Salem and a priest of the Lord, and that Abraham had given him a tenth of the spoils, this is an accurate quote of what is written in Genesis (14:17-20), and then he concludes the result, which have no basis, both in logic or in the Book of Genesis, that the king of Salem means king of righteousness and king of peace, and this result; I do not know how it came to his mind!
As for the saying that Melchizedek was the king of Salem; simply means that he was a king of Salem city, which is now called Jerusalem! Melchizedek was the king of the city, like the other kings in his time, each one was a king of one city, as is mentioned in the Genesis, not only this, but he described him descriptions which no one had talked about them before Paul; saying that Melchizedek was without father, without mother, without genealogy!
Here I wonder how Paul knew that Melchizedek was born without father and mother? While this view inconsistent with the human nature.
In addition, the lack of mentioning the name of father and mother of Melchizedek does not mean that he was born without father and without mother, because there are lots of people listed in the Old Testament have not been mentioned the names of their parents, so, are all of them were born without fathers or mothers as Paul says?!
Moreover, the Gospels did not mention the name of Mary's father or the name of Mary's mother, so was she born without a father and a mother?!
Not only this, but Paul says, without any proof or logic, that Melchizedek having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the son of God!
If these attributes are true, so why Jesus was having a mother, having beginning of days and end of life, as well as why Paul and the churches do not worship Melchizedek?!
Then he says that Melchizedek will remain as a high priest forever!
Even if we agreed with Paul in this result, why the LORD has chosen the Levites as priests, and the high priest should be from a descendant of Aaron?
Then he begins to underestimated of the Levites by saying that they had received tithes from their brothers according to the Law, but whose his genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him, who has the promises, even Levi paying the tithe through Abraham!
Here I wonder what is unusual in this, if someone prays for others to be blessed by the Lord Creator of the heavens and the earth, it does not mean that the one who was blessed by others is less than them as Paul says!
Because there are dozens of texts in the Bible talking about that the better had been blessed by the lesser, and prayed for him, including two texts in the Luke's Gospel talked about Jesus and his mother Mary that they have been blessed by a man and a woman, which are as follows:
Luke 2:34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against
Luke 11:27 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"
So, does the blessed for Jesus and his mother by Simon and the woman indicate that they are better than Jesus and his mother, as Paul said about Melchizedek and Abraham because he blessed him?!
In addition, the story of Jesus baptizing by John the Baptist, as it is written in the Gospels, is greater in the meaning of better and lesser than giving Abraham a tithe of the spoils to Melchizedek!
So does this indicate that John the Baptist is better than Jesus according to Paul's understanding of the narrative of Abraham and Melchizedek; especially that the Gospels did not mention that John the Baptist was baptized by Jesus?!
And then he begins disparage of the value of the covenant of priesthood with the Levites, saying that the Levites are dying, and Melchizedek is alive and will not die!
So, even if these words are true, this was not the fault of the Levites, because the covenant of priesthood is from the Lord, and they did not become priests by themselves!
And then an increase in degrading them says that the Levites have paid tithes through Abraham to Melchizedek, and this view shows and proves that Paul did not understand the texts, because Abraham did not pay tithe of his children, but paid the tithe of the spoils that were collected during the battle with his enemies, while the Levites were receiving the tenths of the crops and the animals of the children of Israel for implement the commandments of the Lord, as it is written.
Finally, he talks about breaking the covenant with the Levites, saying that the covenant with them if it was perfection, there is no need to talk about another priest will rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and he considers this text as an evidence to change the Law, and annulling it and set aside, and described the Law as weakness, and made nothing perfect!
And he continues talking in other chapters through theoretical ways, but when we read it carefully we find many errors.
From all of the above, we conclude that Paul has set aside the covenant of priesthood with the Levites, and the churches agreed with him, which indicates that the sources of the Gospels are not from the same source of the Old Testament.
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