From: ravmoshe@bellsouth.net
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: The Role Of Levites In Israel's 2 House Restoration

THE ROLE OF THE LEVITES
A THIRD PARTY AND WITNESS
IN ISRAEL'S TWO-HOUSE RESTORATION

By Rabbi Moshe Joseph Koniuchowsky

RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS

According to Acts 3:21, Yahweh has ordained to keep Yahshua our
Messiah in heaven at His own right hand, until the full restoration
of ALL THINGS, spoken of by the prophets. What prophets is the Ruach
referring to? Well obviously the prophets of Israel. Whatever any of
the prophets of Israel declared to come to pass must come to pass,
before the great and dreadful Day of Yahweh. Great for those who will
experience physical resurrection, dreadful for those who will be cast
into the Lake of Fire to die again, and experience the second death.

Since Jeremiah and Ezekiel along with John the Beloved, were all
prophetic Israelite writers, and since all referred to the priests
from Levi and their eschatalogical role in Israel's regathering, let
us analyze several verses. While it has been well documented that in
the latter times Yahshua our Messiah will restore both houses of
Israel, what we have not focused on at all is the restoration of the
Levitical priesthood, within that two-house restoration, and in
conjunction with that same two-house restoration.

THE LEVITES PROTECTIVE/GUARDIAN ROLE

First we go to Second Chronicles 30:25, where we are told that the
Levites fled from the northern House of Ephraim, and dwelt mainly in
Judah with the House of Judah. So right off the bat, we see Levi
affiliated with Judah and thus being heavily involved in the dispute
between the two houses of Israel. In Judah, they were called to
oversee the righteous worship of the House of Yahweh, while the glory
still abode there. We see Levi's role as a restorer of true worship,
not just as overseers of the animal sacrificial system. In
Numbers/Bamidbar 1:53, we see this same protective role over all
Israel in the positioning of the Levites around the Dwelling Place,
as opposed to joining a particular tribe or camp. The Levites GUARDED
the purity of Israelite worship, by leading worship and by refusing
to partake in any affairs in any camp, or outside pagan worship.
Levites are characterized by a hate for pagan mixture into Israelite
worship. Their dedication was and still is to the preservation and
often the restoration and healing of the true worship that Yahweh
expected from all Israel.

Levi's protective role of Israel' s seed, can be seen as far back as
Genesis/Bereshit 34:25, where with drawn sword, Levi protects his
sister Dinah from further violation upon her. The pattern of Levi
emerging is quite clear. Their role as protectors and guardians of
the people and of the worship of Israel predated the Levitical
priesthood's role in sacrificial atonement. Their current role has
survived the suspension in animal sacrifices, as we will shortly see.
(While their role or job description overseeing animal sacrifices has
been set aside, (Hebrews 7:18) their guardianship/protection role and
their IDENTIFICATION IN ISRAEL, is now being restored.) In
Exodus/Shemot 32:26-28, we see the Levites again as defenders of true
Torah worship, of the true memorial Name of Yahweh and of the
ministry of Moses. They slew 3,000 enemies of Yahweh IN ISRAEL, as
once again they performed their role as guardians/protectors over
truth, righteousness and holiness, in the camp of the 12 tribes
Israel. In Exodus 32:29 Levi gets the blessing and is ordained into
the priesthood, because of their PRIOR AND EFFECTIVE role of being
Israel's guardians, as in the case of Dinah. So the priesthood was
ordained, as a reward and a blessing that allowed the Levites to
become priests of the animal sacrificial system used before Yahshua's
first advent. This point must not be overlooked.

THE ETERNAL LEVITICAL PROMISE

Due to their faithfulness to Moses, to the true worship and to
Yahweh's set-apart Name, they were promised an eternal priesthood.
This fact is not only plain and easy to understand but is a fact that
we in Messianic Israel have yet to properly deal with, without shouts
and screams of legalism or heresy. Something cannot be defined as
legalism or heresy, if Yahweh teaches that a divine calling
(Numbers/3:13) is not a matter of legalism but rather one of
perpetuity and election. Jeremiah 33:21-22 makes a most startling
pronouncement. That pronouncement is that the priesthood of Levi, in
their guardian and protective role over all Israel WILL NOT ONLY
NEVER CEASE, but will be equally as eternal as the very Throne of
David itself, the very throne that MESSIAH HIMSELF CURRENTLY OCCUPIES
FOREVER.

Yahweh states in Jer. 33:20 that if His covenant with day and night
could cease, (heaven help us of that could happen) then and only then
will His covenant be broken with the Levites His priests, to attend
to Him by attending to the affairs of Israel. Within the promise of
physical multiplicity to both houses, there is a special promise of
physical multiplicity to the House of David, (David's direct lineage)
and the House of Levi. Notice in verse 22 of Jeremiah 33, Yahweh
states that not only are the Levites and their attendance to Yahweh's
people eternal, their numbers will increase exponentially along with
the rest of Israel's two houses. If Yahweh is restoring Israel and
Judah into one stick, then by definition He must be preserving the
Levites for their guardianship over both houses, so as to assure a
quiet, orderly and decent restoration process that will honor the
Father in all things. According to Second Chronicles 30, Levi is
primarily found in the House of Judah, and since the House of Judah
and some within the House of Ephraim contain huge amounts of Levites,
we must discern their rightful place among us. That place is that
they are being restored as watchmen and prophetic teachers over both
houses, in order to guard Yahweh's Renewed Covenant Dwelling Place,
(Ephesians 2:21-22) in our midst and to rebuke the devourer (s.a.tan)
when he comes into the people to sow discord and division. We see
Levi's latter-day role in Jer. 33:21-22, being directly tied in by
context to verse 24, where Yahweh is said to restore the two chosen
families or the two chosen houses of Israel, who will be attended to
by the increase in the seed of latter-day Levites. If we understand
these fascinating scriptures correctly, we may ascertain that a large
portion or even most of Judah or the House of Judah today is composed
of Levites, just like most of the nations are composed of Ephramites.
Oh the ways and the wisdom of Yahweh! Fill the nations with Ephraim
and fill the Judahites with Levi, so that Israel can be all and in
all, just as Yahweh Himself is all and in all.

LEVI'S RESTORATION MAKES BOTH HOUSES NERVOUS!

Yet there remain those in both Judah and Ephraim that are threatened
by the reality of Levi's ongoing presence. Both houses at times tend
to see themselves leading the way back to Zion. And then along comes
Levi, with his eternal stake in Israel, claiming to have a prophetic
mantle in direct relation to the affairs of Israel's two-house
restoration. What makes those in Ephraim and Judah most anxious and
nervous about Levi's mix in the two-house equation, is that Levi is
attached to neither house by inheritance, since Yahweh is said to be
their inheritance. Thus Levi is least likely to take sides in petty
disputes between the two-houses that have and do continue to plague
our people. So if those from Judah and Ephraim resist the reality of
the Levites being as perpetual as Yahshua's very throne, (David's
throne) you can understand why. Here is the scary part! Levi may not
have an agenda, as do some in both houses and Levi does not view the
two-house message as "their message" or their only calling! They see
Israel's reunion rather as an inheritance through revelation by
Yahweh Tzevaot!! Everything Levi gets is through inheritance, and
thus they view two-house restoration truth the same way. Yahweh's
revelation, on loan from Him, awaiting Levi's faithful discharge!

The grievous error that many in two-house restoration have made is
that they perceive that Levi's eternal covenant of PHYSICAL
MULTIPLICITY, HAS SOMEHOW been negated by replacement or is somehow
less literal than Ephraim's or Judah's. Yet scripture teaches that
all three groups are all eternally covenanted to Yahweh as ISRAEL and
that all three multiply like fishes in the earth and that all three
have a role to play in Israel's full latter-day two-house
restoration. Just because Yahweh stated that He divorced Ephraim as a
nation, (Hosea 1:6) does that mean Ephraim is gone forever? No!
Ephraim turns up in the last days in a different role! As Christians!
Just because the order of Melchezedek set aside the Levitical
sacrificial order, does that mean Levis sons and daughters have
disappeared, never to assume a new latter-day role? Or do they turn
up also in the last days, in a different role, as defenders of Torah
and the sacred names, within both houses?

When Israel is fully and totally united as one stick in Yahweh's hand
in the millennial reign of His Son Messiah Yahshua, we will clearly
see the increased seed of Levi ministering to Yahweh in the
millennial, as Yahweh identifies the Levites from the nations, (Judah
and Ephraim) and reappoints them to minister and to attend to all
Israel in the restored Tabernacle of David. This is found in Isaiah
66:21-22, (a crystal clear millennial passage) where Yahshua Himself
identifies and selects the Levites returning to teach Torah from all
the nations, and then promises prophetically that the ministry of
Levi, seed of Levi, and name of Levi, will stand before Him in full
millennial ministry in Yerushalayim, and then even beyond into
eternity itself!

This has nothing to do with their former or yet future millennial
role of overseeing sacrifices. It has to do with covenant
faithfulness, on behalf of our heavenly Father. Failure to see this
the way Yahweh sees this, will result in a limited understanding of
the full plan for Israel's two-house restoration, and perhaps even a
resentment or condescending attitude towards those many returning
Levites in our midst! In essence Yahweh will raise up and restore
three houses of Israel, with the Levites, actually being the glue
that holds together and attends to Ephraim and Judah's restoration,
using equal weights and measures and making sure that everyone plays
fair. Now remember! Levi is found today in both houses as Ephraimites
and Judahites, even though originally they were part of neither,
(even called a third house of Israel in Exodus 2:1 and Psalms
135:20). So they are in a most unique position to play fair and in a
most unique position to use equal weights and measures.

MESSIAH YAHSHUA'S CALLING TO RESTORE THE LEVITES

In Malachi 3:1 we see a clear Messianic prophecy concerning Yahweh-
Yahshua's coming to His own Temple, which He did in circa 33 CE. Yet
we have been by and large blinded to what follows in Malachi 3:2-3,
where He (Messiah) is said to arrive on earth to "cleanse the sons of
Levi", (by His blood) and refine them like gold and silver, so as "to
purify them", so that Israel's offerings will be pleasant to Yahweh
once again. Thus we see that Yahshua came for three scattered houses,
to clean all three houses, by His own precious blood. Furthermore He
came to re-consecrate or re-ordain Levi, to be pure in their role as
Israel's protective guardian, from Renewed Covenant times right
through and until eternity itself! If Judah and Ephraim are renewed
in the Brit Chadashah, so must Israel's third house be as well! For
if Yahweh had left Levi's numerous offspring, unwashed and
unrestored, Yahweh could be accused of being a respecter of persons
(Romans 2:11) within the Israel of Yahweh (Galatians 6:16)! What
specific ministry, has Messiah Yahshua's coming given back to Levi?
The answer is found in Malachi 2:7, where Yahshua is said to restore
to Levi, the ministry of teaching Israel Torah and the knowledge of
Yahweh, including His real name! Levi was removed from oversight of
the blood atonement system by the higher Melchezedekian order, only
to be reassigned to Torah instruction, in this day and hour. Then why
do so many believers believe that the Levites have disappeared and
been done away with, as a viable house of Israel, when they do not
believe that about Ephraim or Judah?

That is Levi's role in the glorious two-house restoration of Israel.
Levites are to make sure that they are Yahweh's cleansed mouthpiece,
to call both houses to Torah and the knowledge of Yahweh, including
the knowledge of His Name. We see then that currently Levi functions
in a teaching role. It would be safe to say that according to these
scriptures, many if not most of the messianic teachers of Torah and
two-house truth are Levites, whether they recognize that or even if
they are blind to that.

By now you may be asking, "well then how can I tell I am a Levite?"
Well, how can you tell if you are a Jew or an Ephraimite? You can't!
So if Ephraim and Judah desire to have their stake in Israel taken at
face value, going strictly by the covenant promises of Yahweh, then
those of Levitical stock must not be ridiculed or called legalists,
as they stake their own claim in restored Israel. Levi's claim to be
Israel's Torah teachers and two-house guardians can only be defined
as fully glatt kosher. We then must apply equal weights and measures
to those who claim a Levite descent, as well as those who claim two-
house descent. In Zechariah 12:13, when all (Ephraim and Judah)
Israel recognizes Yahshua as Messiah, the sons of Levi are said to be
an identifiable and a separate house in their weeping and lamentation
over much of Israel's past blindness to the messiahship of Yahshua
and the Israelite identity of many Ephraim-Israelites. If the role of
Levi in Israel has disappeared when the sacrifices were suspended in
70 CE, then these scriptures in an eschatological setting make no
sense.

In Zechariah 13:7 we see three parts of Israel being restored. The
comeliness or beautiful original position of the House of David all
12 tribes, the inhabitants of Jerusalem (the Levites) and the House
of Judah only two tribes, (Benjamin and Levi) all will have EQUALITY,
PERPETUITY, MULTIPLICITY and comeliness. This comeliness, (Messiah's
saving grace) is seen in both houses and the House of Levi or in
essence all three houses of Israel, until the millennium when all
three houses become greater Israel restored.

THE LEVITES CURRENT CALLING

Today the Levites role is one of prophecy, teaching, instruction, and
calling both houses home to Messiah and Torah. Today and for
eternity, the Levites will function under the covering and auspices
of HaAdon Yahshua and the greater Melchezedekian order. Both the
Levitical and the Melchezedekian order are said to be eternal, (Psalm
110:4) with the lesser, the Levitical, being fully subservient or
under that of the Prince Messiah, according to Ezekiel chapters 43-
48. To understand the eternal covenant of Levi, we must understand
the Hebraic principal of stacking. That principle teaches that the
greater revelation never negates the lesser revelation but does add
or does renews it. Thus in biblical exegesis, all covenants are valid
and are stacked upon each other, for further revelation. Line upon
line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. So while
the Levitical priesthood will always be subject to Messiah and His
instructions and His Melchezedeckian order, it nonetheless will
function in its unique millennial role, (sacrificial) even as it does
today, (teaching role) ever so hidden in Israel's restoration. Clear
Scriptures such as Ezekiel 43:19, 27, 44:15-16, 44:23-31, all outline
the restored kingdom role of the Levites. In these and other
scriptures in Ezekiel chapters 45-47, we see the Prince Messiah
Yahshua, working in perfect harmony in the millennial temple
conducting daily sacrifices with the assistance of the Levites, with
the Messiah's blessings and instructions towards Levi, regarding
mixing a proper heart attitude with the blood. The Messiah will be
ruling, while the priests will be teaching the Prince's gospel,
through the visual aids of the daily sacrificial rituals. So in the
millennium, their roles work in perfect harmony with what the Prince
Messiah is doing. Proclaiming that because of the gospel, Israel is
restored and the message of the kingdom was to finally have the King
dwelling in Israel's very midst. Yahshua a High Priest after the
order of Melchezedik, reminds Israel of the beautiful reality of
having Yahweh-Shamah, in the person of Yahshua, (Ezekiel 48:35) while
the lesser yet still eternal Levitical priesthood reminds Israel of
the glorious and painful journey traveled by the Messiah and His
nation in times past, to finally have entered the kingdom. Both
priesthoods are seen working in perfect harmony. One priesthood
reminding us of the way to salvation, the other priesthood, reminding
us that the redemption of man has been accomplished. Both priesthoods
are eternal, both testify of the gospel, both working hand in hand,
yet both in different roles. The two millennial priesthoods that will
be working hand in glove, is a perfect portrait of the oneness of the
Father and His beloved Son!

In Rev 7:7 we see 12,000 of the tribe of Levi, sealed to teach and
preach during the tribulation. That is exactly what he is doing
today, and we very well may mistakenly consider him a Judahite or an
Ephraimite. They are in our midst. Make no mistake about it! They are
teaching the gospel of the kingdom to Ephraim via Torah and to Judah
via Messiah. Will, you stand up and honor and recognize your
teachers, even when they may not recognize themselves? Their old mode
or manner of ministry HAS IN FACT PASSED AWAY according to Hebrews
chapters 7-9. But their seed has not and neither has their calling to
be a voice of reason, righteousness, equity and Torah, in this
restoration hour of Israel's two-houses. They do not ask for your
ministry, your inheritance and your land or even your approval. For
Yahweh ALONE is their inheritance and their exceeding great reward.
They only ask for our ears and our hearts, as they help to direct
this two-house restoration of our people Israel, away from the golden
calf of our fathers and back to Mt. Horeb. Theirs is the cry found in
Malachi 4:4; "Remember the Torah of Mosheh, my servant, which I
commanded him in Horeb for ALL YISRAEL!"

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