The Zadok Priesthood -- Past, Present and Future

How will these Priests affect your life?

 

Zadok, or Tsadoq, means “righteous”, “just”.

Here is Zadok’s genealogy, from Smith’s Bible Dictionary, Nashville, Tennessee, page 331:

 

The Genealogy of Zadok

I Chronicles 6:3-14                       9:11                            Ezra 7:1-5

                       Aaron                                                                                Aaron

                       Eleazar                                                                              Eleazar

                       Phinehas                                                                            Phinehas

                       Abishua                                                                              Abishua

                       Bukki                                                                                  Bukki

                       Uzzi                                                                                   Uzzi

                       Zerahiah                                                                             Zerahiah

                       Meraioth                                                                             Meraioth

                       Amariah                                                                             

                       Ahitub

                       Zadok

                       Ahimaaz

                       Azariah                                                                              

                       Johanan

                       Azariah                                                                               Azariah

                       Amariah                                                                              Amariah

                       Ahitub                                      

                                                                             Meraioth

                       Zadok                                                                                 Zadok

                       Shallum (Meshullum)                                                           Shallum

                       Hilkiah                                                                                 Hilkiah                                                                                  

                       Azariah                                                                               Azariah

                       Seraiah                                                                                Seraiah

                       Jehozadak                                       

                                                                                                                        Ezra

 

The lineage from Jacob to Phinehas:  Scriptures:  Genesis 46:11; Exodus 6:18,20,23,25

Jacob

Levi

Kohath

Amram

Aaron

Eleazer

Phinehas

 

Etc. as above, from I Chronicles 6:1-4

Levi had 3 sons, who attended to the work of the Temple—Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 

The Zadok Priesthood is an eternal Priesthood.  It came from Levi through Kohath, to Aaron, to Zadok.  The eternal Zadok Priesthood was first promised to Phinehas, grandson of Aaron through Eleazer.  Numbers 25:11-13

Who were the Kohathites, and what were their duties?  Aaron was the first High Priest. The three sons of Levi each had different responsibilities in the service of Yahuweh in the tabernacle and later in the Temple.  What made Kohath so special?  Who are the men surnamed Cohen today? 

Scripture Bank for the study of Kohath:

Genesis 46:11

Exodus 6:18, 20 Amram marries Jochebed—parents of Moses and Aaron

Exodus 6:23, 25

Numbers 3 (repeat of genealogy)

Numbers 3:29-31 Kohathite duties 

Numbers 4:1-20 Kohathite duties: Responsible for the most set-apart things

Numbers 7:19 Duties

 

Scripture Bank for the study of Zadok:

Genealogy Scriptures (above: in Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, I Chronicles and Ezra)

II Samuel 8:17

II Samuel 15:24-37; 17:16-21, 18:19-27; 19:11; 20:25

I Kings 1:8; 2:35 and 4:2, 4

II Kings 15:33

II Chronicles 6:8-13, 53; 9:11; 12:28; 15:11; 16:39; 18:16; 24:3, 6, 31; 27:17; 29:22

II Chronicles 27:1; 31:10

 

Ezekiel 40:46; 43:19; 44:15-31; 48:11-20

Passages on the Sadducees from Messianic writings: Matthew 3:7; 16:1, 6, 11, 12; 22:23, 34; Mark 12:18; Luke 20:27; Acts 4:1; 5:17; 23:6-8

 

Before going any further, I want to quote Smith’s Bible Dictionary page 331-332, which gives an overview of the genealogy of Zadok, explains the differences in the two chronologies above, and talks about Zadok and his priesthood in general (some extra Scriptures are listed) that are not in the Scripture Bank:

“Zadok (righteous): Son of Ahitub, and one of the two chief priests in the time of David, Abiathar being the other.  Zadok was of the house of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, and the eleventh in descent from Aaron.  The first mention of him is in I Chronicles 12:28, where we are told he joined David at Hebron after Saul’s death with 22 captains of his father’s house, and apparently, with 900 men (3700-4000 people, verses 26-27).  Up to this time, it may be concluded, he had adhered to the house of Saul.  But, henceforth his fidelity to David was inviolable.  When Absalom revolted, and David fled from Jerusalem, Zadok and all the Levites bearing the Ark accompanied him, and it was only at the King’s express command that they returned to Jerusalem, and became the means of communication between the King and Hushai the Archite (II Samuel 15:17).  When Absalom was dead, Zadok and Abiathar were the persons who persuaded the elders of Judah to invite David to return (II Samuel 19:11).  When Adonijah, in David’s old age, set up for King, and had persuaded Joab and Abiathar the priest, to join his party, Zadok was unmoved, and was employed by David to anoint Solomon to be King in his stead (I Kings 1).  And for his fidelity he was rewarded by Solomon, who `thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the Lord’ and `put in Zadok the priest’ in his stead (I Kings 2:27,35).  From this time, however, we hear little of him.  It is said in general terms, in the enumeration of Solomon’s officers of state, that Zadok was the priest (I Kings 4:4; I Chronicles 29:22), but no single act of his is mentioned.   Zadok and Abiathar were of nearly equal dignity (II Samuel 15:35-36; 19:11).  The duties of the office were divided.  Zadok ministered before the Tabernacle at Gibeon (I Chronicle 26:39); Abiathar had the care of the Ark in Jerusalem--not, however, exclusively, as appears from I Chronicles 15:11; II Samuel 15:24, 25, 29.  Hence, perhaps, it may be concluded that from the first, there was a tendency to consider the office of priesthood as somewhat of the nature of a corporate office, although some of its functions were necessarily confined to the chief member of that corporation. 

 

According to the genealogy of the high priests in II Chronicles 6:12, there was a second Zadok, son of a second Ahitub, son of Amariah, about, the time of King Ahaziah.  It is probably that no such persons as this second Zadok ever existed, but that the insertion of the two names is a copyist’s error.  In Nehemiah 9:11, and I Chronicles 19:11 mention is made in a genealogy of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub.  But it can hardly be doubtful that Meraioth is inserted by the error of a copyist, and that Zadok the son of Ahitub is meant.”   

 

Note:  Also, this genealogy is of the High Priests.  Thus Jeremiah is not listed as son of Hilkiah, in Jeremiah 1:1.  Yet, he is indeed son of the High Priest Hilkiah who found the Torah in the ruined Temple, and reinstated it under King Josiah.  Jeremiah was called as a Prophet, and had to relinquish his duties in the priesthood. 

 

Levi had 3 sons:  Gershon, Kohath and Merari.  Each of these family groups had specific duties in the Tabernacle, and later on, had specific duties in the Temples.  The duties of the sons of Gershon are in Numbers 3:25-26 and 4:21-28.  The duties of the sons of Merari are found in Numbers 3:32-37 and 4:29-33.

 

Moses and Aaron registered these Levites by family clans, and assigned them their duties.  The Kohathites were also registered by their clans and given their duties.  But, this family group had honors that no other family clan had. They had the privilege of handing the “most set-apart” things, even the care of the “Ark of the Covenant”. 

 

Aaron and Moses were from the family of Kohath.  Aaron, being the first High Priest, established the role of High Priest in the Kohath lineage.  From him, the lineage passed to his 4 sons.  Two of Aaron’s sons--Nadab and Abihu--were burned up alive by Yahuweh (Numbers 10:1-3), for their presumption in upstaging Yahuweh in front of His people.

 

Aaron then had 2 sons left: Eleazar and Ithimar.  When Aaron died, after climbing to the top of Mt. Hor at 123 years old age, it was Eleazar who then became the High Priest.  (See Numbers 20:22-29)  Eleazar’s son, Phinehas, was given the promise of the eternal priesthood for his zeal for the honor of Yahuweh (Numbers 25:1-13).

 

In Numbers 25:11-13 Yahuweh says to Phinehas:  “Phinehas, son of Eleazer, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous (literally: Jealous with My jealousy) for My sake among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My jealousy.  Therefore, say, `see I am giving him My covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his seed after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood because he was zealous for his Elohim, and made an atonement for the children of Israel’”. (italics mine)

 

Psalm106:29-31: “They provoked Him with their deeds, and the plague broke out among them.  Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stopped.  And that was reckoned to him for righteousness to all generations forever”. 

 

In chapters 16 and 17 of Numbers, Korah, a Kohathite, gathered a band of people around him and challenged Aaron’s right to be the High Priest.  They challenged Moses’ right to be the Leader of the tribes.  They said: All the congregation is set apart to Yahuweh, so who makes Aaron and Moses so special?  This rebellion angered Yahuweh.  Yahuweh opened up the earth and the earth swallowed all those who challenged the authority of Moses and Aaron.  In chapter 17, by a special test, Yahuweh establishes Aaron and his lineage as the approved priestly lineage, which passed on through Eleazar, Phinehas, to Zadok and his sons.  It is the story of “Aaron’s rod, that budded”.  That Priesthood is just waiting to again be revealed in our day. 

 

The duties of the Kohathites are as follows:  Numbers 3:31-32: “And their duty was the Ark, and the table, and the lamp stand, and the altars, and the utensils of the set-apart place used in the service, and the coverings, and all its service.  And Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, with oversight of those who guard the duty of the set-apart

Place.”  The duties also are described in Numbers 4:1-20.  Eleazar had special duties over all three groups of the sons of Levi.

Numbers 4:16-20:   “And the oversight of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, is the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the Dwelling Place and all that is in it, with the set-apart place and its furnishings.  And Yahuweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, `DO NOT CUT OFF THE TRIBE OF THE CLANS OF THE KOHATHITES FROM AMONG THE LEVITES, BUT DO THIS TO THEM, AND THEY SHALL LIVE AND NOT DIE WHEN THEY APPROACH THE MOST SET-APART OBJECTS:  Aaron and his sons shall go I and appoint each of them to his service and his burden.  They are not, however, to go in to watch while the set-apart objects are being covered, lest they die’”.  

 

No other tribe of people has this warning given to them in order to secure their protection.  It is the clan that will be the everlasting priesthood in the Kingdom of Messiah--FOREVER.

 

Why is this Priesthood so special?  First of all, it is because of the zeal and jealousy for the honor of Yahuweh exhibited by Phinehas.  Aaron still had the “Egyptian golden calf” syndrome--Exodus 32:1-7.  He mixed golden calf worship (idolatry) with the worship of Yahuweh.  Later on, he understood that he could not have a mixture in the worship of Yahuweh.  He was set-apart by the Commandments of Yahuweh and humbly understood what it meant to be set-apart. In Exodus chapters 28 and 29, we find the procedure of setting apart Aaron as the High Priest, before Yahuweh, and before the people.   Being set-apart is what we are all called to do, but Aaron had to be set apart ceremonially before the people.

 

Aaron suffered greatly at the fiery deaths of his two sons by Yahuweh’s judgment.  He was not allowed to mourn for them, even to shed a tear.   He suffered when he challenged Moses over his marriage to the Ethiopian woman.  Aaron was a good man--he just had to get Egypt and its ways out of his life.  Moses, on the other hand, was trained in the wilderness of Mt. Sinai/also called Mt. Horeb, in the Midian Mountains of modern Saudi Arabia.  He got Egypt out of his system those 40 years in the wilderness.  But, Aaron had to learn as he went along as High Priest.  Eleazar was a good son to Aaron.  He humbly carried the priesthood of Kohath, and trained well his son Phinehas. 

Elijah also had this zeal and jealousy for Yahuweh, and in the cave of Sinai he confessed his jealousy and zeal for the honor of Yahuweh, and his grief that the children of Israel had forsaken His Covenant, and torn down His altars, for the altars of Baal.   (I Kings 19)  Nehemiah and Ezra both had this jealous zeal for Yahuweh’s Word and honor.  These are marvelous traits.

 

Second, this Priesthood is so special to Yahuweh because Zadok, High Priest under King Saul,  King David and King Solomon, was honored to continue the everlasting priesthood because of his faithfulness.  Ezekiel 48 speaks of the time of the 1,000-year Kingdom of Messiah, when the tribes (all of them) will be secure in their own inheritance.  The tithe for the provision of the Zadok priests will be re-instituted, as well as Temple-oriented worship.

 

Ezekiel 48:10b-11: (speaking of the future Temple in Jerusalem)  “And the set-apart place of Yahuweh shall be in its midst--for the priests of the sons of Zadok, who are set-apart, who did guard My Charge, who did not go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.”  

 

Excerpts from Ezekiel 44:15-28: “`And the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who guarded the duty of My set-apart place, when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall draw near to Me to serve Me, and shall stand before Me to bring to Me the fat and the blood’, declares the Master Yahuweh.  `They shall enter My set-apart place, and they shall draw near to My table to serve Me, and they shall guard My charge.  And it shall be, when they enter the gates of the inner courtyard that they put on linen garments, and no wool shall come upon them while they attend within the gates of the inner courtyard or within the house.  They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies, they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat.  And when they go out to the outer courtyard, to the outer courtyard to the people, they shall take off their garments in which they have attended, ad shall leave them in the set-apart rooms, and shall put on other garments.  And they shall set apart the people in their set-apart garments.  And their heads they shall not shave, nor shall they let their hair grow long--they shall keep their hair well trimmed.  And they are to teach My people the difference between the set-apart and the profane, and make them know what is unclean and clean.  They are to stand as judges in a dispute, and judge it according to My right-ruling.  And they are to guard My Torot (plural of Torah) and My laws in all My appointed Festivals and set-apart Sabbaths.  And they shall not defile themselves.  And I shall be to them for an inheritance--I am their inheritance.  And you shall give them no possession in Israel.  I am their possession”.  (italics mine)  There is great reward for faithfulness and zeal for His honor!

 

Revelation 19:8 tells us that the linen garments represent “the righteousness of the set-apart ones”.  The Zadok priesthood in its character represent the pure, set-apart, Bride of Messiah!!!.

 

The “man in the linen garment” (Ezekiel 9:1-11) who has the right to “mark” the set-apart ones for deliverance in the day of His wrath, is clearly from the priesthood of Zadok.   He wears “linen”--the clothing of the Bride of Messiah (Revelation 19:8), picturing righteousness, and the clothing of the Zadok priests (Ezekiel 44:171-8). 

 

Those who carried “battleaxes” are also of the Zadok priesthood, because according to Ezekiel 44:24, they have the right of judgment from Yahwueh.  Part of the job of this priesthood is to drop a very straight plumb-line, so that there is a clear distinction between the straight and the crooked. 

 

Ezra was most likely born in Babylon--he is of the Zadok lineage--the pure priesthood of the lineage from Zadok that came back after 70 years in Babylon still pure, and still faithful and loyal to the Torah--to the signs of the covenant--the Shabbat, the Festivals, the sacrifices, the dietary laws--and who remained faithful to Yahuweh their Elohim!  This is exciting.  No matter what the Devil has tried to do to destroy this priesthood--it has continued, and will continue--forever!!!! 

 

II Timothy 2:13:  “If we believe not, still, He abides faithful, for He cannot deny Himself”.  He made a promise to Phinehas, and into eternity He will keep His promise.  He made a promise to Abraham, and into eternity, his seed will remain forever.  He made a promise to David, and into eternity, His promise will be fulfilled.  He is faithful, and those who are faithful to Him, have great reward!!! 

 

What did Zadok, and his son, Ahimaaz, do that caught the attention of Yahuweh to such an extent?  Zadok was faithful to Yahuweh, and he was faithful to King David.  So impressed was King Solomon of Zadok, that he established him as High Priest during his Reign.  Ahimaaz continued on his father’s faithful nature toward the King.

 

In II Samuel 17 and 18, is the tragic story of how King David’s son, Absolam, rebelled against him, and about his tragic death.  It tells the story of how Ahimaaz was a part of the information relay to King David, which protected his life.

 

In Chapter 18, when Absolam is so viciously killed by Joab, it is Ahimaaz that begs Absolam’s murderer, the Captain of King David’s troops, Joab, to let him run to tell the King David that it is safe to come home, because his enemies are dead.  Joab said, “It is no reward to you, why do you want to run”?  Ahimaaz said, “Let me run”, and Joab said OK.  He outran the Kushite servant who was also running officially with the news to King David.  But, Ahimaaz loved King David, and had a loyal relationship with him.  He didn’t want a messenger with no heart for the King, to tell him of his son’s death.  In other words, Ahimaaz cared how King David felt.  The true Bride of Messiah always cares how her Bridegroom feels.  She stands for his honor.

 

It is a bitter-sweet story, because in David finding out that his son was dead, he goes into a most bitter grieving, and loud crying, “Oh my son Absolam!  My son, my son Absolam, if only I had died instead of you!  O Absolam my son, my son!”   Of this young son of Zadok, David said in verse 27: “This is a good man”.   Ahimaaz did not know that the news he ran to bring would have such a devastating effect on his friend David.  But, one thing he did know was that the Zadok priesthood was to be a mediator between the people and the King.  It was the Kushite, with no tact, who told David the news--just blurting it out without any feelings. The son of Zadok had a tender heart.  

In this account, David is a picture of the Father.  He has to judge the wicked.  The evil one cannot run Yahuweh out of His Kingdom, as Absolam wanted to run David out of his Kingdom.  So, the agents of Satan have to die.  When the vials of His wrath are being poured out, just before, and at the coming of Messiah, Yahuweh goes into His chamber over the Ark in the Most Set-Apart Place in heaven.  He sends out all of the angels.  He is in there alone. He shuts the door.  He stays in there alone until the vials of wrath are finished.  He has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked”.  He is tenderhearted, full of compassion and love. Yahuweh says of King David:  “he is a man after My own heart”.  But, truly Zadok and Ahimaaz also had Yahuweh’s heart. 

 

This time-period in which Absolam was trying to overthrow his father’s reign and establish his own reign, was a time when David actually had to flee Jerusalem.  Zadok and his son stood with King David faithfully to the end.  Thus, because of this, he is honored to be the line of Kohathites, in the 1,000-year Reign of Messiah Yahushua.

 

Is it possible, that in the 3 ½ years when the remnant of the whole house of Jacob has to flee from the anti-Messiah, that the Priesthood of Zadok will again take position as a company of witnesses, to protect and shepherd His people?  It is very possible.  Father is returning the natural Priesthood of Zadok, and also a spiritual priesthood that has the heart of the natural priesthood.  He is establishing companies of Prophets like Elijah, Daniel and Jeremiah, and Priests like Moses and Phinehas and Ezra in these last days!! 

 

Without these characteristics, we cannot rule and reign with Messiah!  We must guard His Torah, guard His honor, guard His Name, or else we are not qualified to rule with Him.  A belief-system does not qualify us to rule and reign with a rod of iron, with the Torah of Yahuweh as the standard of Instruction, Teaching and Law.  If a person can not obey Him now, Yahuweh cannot trust that person to rule over others with a rod of iron by the standards that the person rejects this life.  We must be lawful now.  The lawless get no reward. 

 

Today, the utensils, the vessels, the High Priest’s garments, the altar, the laver, the menorah, the table of showbread, the altar of incense, and other necessities needed for Temple service, have been re-made!   Now the Kohanim males are in preparation for the service of the Temple of Messiah.

 

Through DNA research there has been found a special identifying addition to the Y chromosome in the DNA of the Kohanim (Cohen) males.  In DNA Traditions by Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman, from pages 108 and 22, he says: “Genetic research confirms that the Kohanim are, in fact, the most ancient unbroken male dynasty in existence in the world. The simplest most straightforward explanation is these men have the Y-Chromosome of Aaron”. 

 

Yes, DNA research has traced the modern Kohanim back over 3,000 years to their forefather Aaron, the first High Priest.  This totally shows the faithfulness of Yahuweh!

 

Exodus 40:15: “…and they shall serve as Kohanim to Me. And their anointing shall be for them an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations”.  

 

These Cohen priests are being trained, purified according to Torah, and will soon be offering the sacrifices that anti-Messiah will stop for a season.  But this priesthood will continue on through eternity. 

 

Now, please go back to page 2 and look at the Scripture bank for “Sadducees”.

 

Many Christian pastors and teachers make fun of the Sadducees, smugly saying: “they were sad, you see”, because evidently a sect of them did not believe in any resurrection from the dead nor in the supernatural concerning anything. 

 

ZADOK, OR TSADOQ, which starts with the Hebrew letter “Tsadi” (ts-aw-dee)--is a “ts” sound.  The “a” is an “ah” sound.  There is no “a” sound, as in “apple” in Hebrew.  So Zadok is actually pronounced, TSAW-DOKE. The “o” sound is a long “o” sound--not “awk”, but “oak”.   

See the Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible by James Strong, Hebrew dictionary #6659.  Tsadoq or “tsaw-doke” means “just” or “righteous”.  It is related to #6663: tsadaq, which means “to be right, make right, cleanse, clear self, justice, justify, justify self, to be righteous, righteousness, and to turn others to righteousness”. 

 

This fits the description of this priesthood--to make clear what is right, what is set-apart and what is common, what is pure, what is clean and what is unclean.  In these last days, the Father is raising up spiritual, and natural, sons of Zadok, pure of heart and set-apart, to teach these things--Ezekiel 44:23-24.  This spiritual priesthood also upholds the Torah--the Shabbat, the Festivals, the dietary laws of the Covenant, and stands as a plumb line of Truth to the whole House of Jacob!!  They do not compromise His Word, but stand straight and faithful, and with great zeal and jealousy for His honor.  Father is raising up an end-time company of Zadok-like priests.  The Descendent of King David is coming, and those faithful to Him will be honored even as Zadok was honored by King David and King Solomon.  When all others were forsaking David and Solomon, Zadok and his son stayed faithful.  When all hate us for His Name’s sake--the Name of Yahuweh/Yahushua--we must remain faithful to the Messiah ben David. 

 

The Tsadoqcees (Zadokcees) were the Sadducees of Yahushua’s day.  They were the priesthood in charge of the service of the Temple, along with the Pharisees.  But, the High Priest was a Sadducee.    

 

From the few passages on page 2, taken from the Messianic Writings (New Testament), the church has drawn a conclusion about this whole sect of Judaism.  Yes, in Yahushua’s day this sect ruled the temple, along with the Pharisees.  But, were these Sadducees really of the lineage of Zadok, or were they self-seeking usurpers of the priesthood--puppets of Rome?  Caiaphas was a puppet of Rome, so was Annas.  That is historical fact.  Annas and Caiaphas were both High Priests.  Caiaphas and Annas were High Priests the year of Yahushua’s death.  Were these Sadducees of the early 1st century representative of the whole lineage of Zadok.  I think not!!

 

In fact look at Luke 3:2: “Annas and Caiaphas, being High Priests, the Word of Elohim came into Yochanan (John the Immerser), son of Zacharias, in the wilderness”.  (Italics mine)   The High Priestly line was of the Sadducees.  Annas was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the High Priest the year of Yahushua’s death (John 18:13).  In 18:24 of John, it was Annas that had Yahushua sent bound, to Caiaphas.

 

In Acts 4:6 it says, speaking of Peter’s sermon: “But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men became about five thousand.   And it came to be, on the next day, that their rulers and elders and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, as well as Annas the High Priest, and Caiaphas, and John and Alexander--as many as were of High Priestly descent”.  The High Priestly descent was of the Zadok order.

 

It was then that Peter made his defense for the healing of the crippled man in the name of Yahushua.  In Acts 4:10 Peter nails this group as the ones killing Messiah Yahushua of Nazareth.  These two High Priests were puppets of Rome--working for the Caesars. This new sect, called the followers of the Nazarene, or the followers of The Way, were dangerous, they thought, to their position as leaders over the people.  (See John 11:47-53)

 

The Pharisees and the Sadducees perpetuated man’s traditions over the Torah of Yahuweh.  So, Yahushua blasted them both verbally. 

Also, the question may be asked: Were they representative of all Sadducees, in their beliefs against the resurrection and anything supernatural?  Yahushua warned against both the Sadducees and the Pharisees.  But, in that day, there had been a 400-year silence--no visions, dreams, or Prophets from Yahuweh came to give any messages from Yahuweh to His people.  There were splinter groups, like the Essenes, who rejected the Temple worship and the High Priests, and moved out to what is now called Qumran.  They developed a New Age type of doctrine, and amalgamated it with the Tenach.

 

There were many sects of Judaism at that time.  His people had fallen into traditions, and superstitions.  They had “made the Word of Yahuweh of no effect”.  Therefore, this eternal priesthood, which carried the right of High Priest, after 70CE when Titus destroyed the Temple, has to be purged in order for them to, once again, offer “an offering in righteousness”. This priesthood will again produce a High Priest and carry on Temple worship under Yahushua.

 

This is why there is a distinction made in the book of Hebrews, regarding the Priesthood of Messiah Yahushua.  Yahushua is of the “Order of Melchisedec”.  He is the High Priest over all human priests. His lineage is eternal, with no beginning and no end--Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:28; chapter 7.  The eternal Zadok Priesthood had a beginning, but will have no end.  (It is included in the same promises to “the House of David” in Jeremiah 33:17-22).

 

Here are some excerpts from at Malachi 3:1-6, speaking of our near future:  “`Behold, I am sending My Messenger, and He shall prepare the way before Me.  Then suddenly the Master you are seeking comes to His Temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant, in whom you delight.  Behold He is coming’, says Yahuweh of Hosts.  `And who is able to bear the day of His coming, and who is able to stand when He appears?  He shall be like the fire of a refiner and like the soap of a launderer.  And He shall sit as a refiner and a cleanser of silver.  And He shall cleanse the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver, and they shall belong to Yahuweh, bringing near an offering in righteousness…For I am Yahuweh; I shall not change…’”

 

Silver is a picture of redemption throughout the Tenach.

 

The word in Hebrew for “righteousness” is #6666, Tsed-aw-kaw, from 6663 Tsaw-dak, meaning “righteous, justice, virtue, prosperity, righteously, and righteousness”.  “Tsadaq” is the root word for Tsaw-doke.  He will purify the sons of Levi--to offer a righteous offering.  This is talking about Temple worship under Yahushua for 1,000 years, which prepares the world to receive Yahuweh.      

If Yahushua was a Rabbi, and He was, then He most likely was of the sect of the Pharisees, because He certainly upheld a resurrection (John 5:24-29, John 6, and John 11:24-26, as examples).

 

Evidently the Sadducees were the “thorn in the flesh” of the Apostles who taught the resurrection. 

 

Acts 5:17 establishes their position:  “But the High Priest rose up, and all those with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with jealousy, and seized the Apostles and put them in the public jail”.

 

In Acts 24:14-15, 21, and 26:4-8 we see that the reason why Paul was on trial before the High Priest (Sadducee) was because he preached the resurrection, not necessarily because he was slandered as not being Torah-observant.  He was Torah-observant.  (Acts 21:24)

 

These Sadducees certainly did not reflect the Zadok priesthood of their past or their future. 

 

In II Samuel 15:2, King David called Zadok a “seer”.  He was also a prophet, a watchman--one who saw the truth and stood firm in it.  He saw into the ways of Yahuweh. 

 

The Pharisees and Sadducees of Yahushua’s day did not see.  They were blinded by their power and position that Rome had given them over the people. They knew Yahushua was of the lineage of King David.  They knew that lawfully He had the right to the throne.  But, they were not faithful to Yahuweh.  They were faithful to Rome, and thus to themselves.  They compromised to suit their purposes.  No, they did not reflect the lineage of Zadok.

 

Ezra was of the lineage of Zadok.  It says of Ezra, in Ezra 7:9-12: “For on the first day of the first month, he (Ezra) began to go up from Babel, and on the first day of the fifth month, he came to Jerusalem according to the good hand of his Elohim upon him.  For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Torah of Yahuweh, and to do it, and to teach laws and right rulings in Israel.  And this is the copy of the letter that Sovereign Artaxerxes gave Ezra the priest, the scribe, a scribe in the words of the commands of Yahuweh, and of His laws to Israel, `Artaxerxes, sovereign of sovereigns to Ezra the priest, a perfect scribe of the law of the Elah of heaven….’”

 

Evidently Ezra was born in Babylon, and returning to re-establish Temple worship in Jerusalem, was a great honor given to him, because he was in the lineage of the High Priests of the sons of Zadok.  Jeremiah also was of this lineage.  In Jeremiah 1:1, we read that Hilkiah was his father, and in Jeremiah 32:7, we see the interaction with his family—an uncle, also mentioned in Zadok’s lineage. The story of Hilkiah is most fascinating from II Kings 22, where he finds the Torah in the destroyed Temple, and helps restore pure worship to Yahuweh. 

 

Isn’t it interesting, that the lineage in II Chronicles and the lineage in Ezra of the Zadok priesthood is the last Scriptural record we have of this family’s lineage?  Of course, the Jews kept written records also.   It ended with Ezra, as far as the Scriptural genealogy.

 

Shortly after the time that some returned (most did not return because Babylon treated them too well) from Babylon to rebuild the Temple and restore the walls of Jerusalem (the City of David), the Persians ceased to rule. The Babylonians, Medes and Persians were kind to the Jews in exile, and the later Kings of Persia actually helped with the rebuilding of Jerusalem.  But, when the Greeks ruled, the Jews fell into all sorts of mental confusion, because they were being persecuted, and being forced to adopt Greek culture. The Greeks tried to Hellenize them--to force Greek culture, including democracy, on them, pagan worship, and calendar. The Jews fought as much as they could against this Hellenizing.  Sometimes, the Hellenizing became brutal, as it did under the Syrian Seleucid General Antiochus Epiphanies. The Greeks, and later the Romans, were trying to destroy their whole culture, which was centered in the Torah and traditions.  Rome succeeded to a great extent in 325CE with the creation of the Roman Catholic Church, whereas, political force only served to make the Jews more resolute to keeping the Torah.

 

That’s what the Maccabee rebellion of approximately 166 BCE was all about--keeping the Greeks out of Jewish worship to Yahuweh.  They succeeded, thus we have Hanukkah to celebrate each December in remembrance of that victory and the miracle of the lights in the Temple. 

 

It was easier to just give in to the Hellenizing process.  A few held out, but only a few.  Many of those who refused to give up the Torah, even to the death, became believers in Messiah Yahushua.  But, most of them could not handle the persecution that was happening to them.  They wanted peace at any cost, so they compromised.  This process of the believers compromising with the pagans began around the last part of the 1st century CE.

 

Later on, in 133CE, the Jewish people fell under the control of Rabbinical Judaism, started by Rabbi Akiva, which got more and more into mysticism and paganism through the centuries, to our day.  They were so devastated by persecution that they gathered around rabbis for their comfort and teaching, and security.  These rabbis led them into all sorts of demonic teachings, and away from the pure Word of Yahuweh.  Today, they have relegated Yahuweh to such an exalted state that He cannot be reached by human beings, so they conjure up “spirit guides” to contact Him.  His Name is considered unmentionable.  His Word can only be translated by the rabbis, and its meaning only taught through Rabbinical Tradition.  Thus, because they substituted the pure Word of Yahuweh, as taught by the Ruach ha Kodesh, for the teachings of sinful rabbis, they now channel demons as “spirit guides”, believe in astrology, reincarnation, and all sorts of occult things.   

 

The purging of the sons of Levi, the Zadok priesthood, by Yahushua, as per Malachi 3:1-4, is most necessary in order to set His people once again on a firm foundation of the Torah of Yahuweh--the right-rulings and Instructions that govern the Kingdom of Heaven.  Yahushua will once again, as the “son of David”, re-establish the Levitical Priesthood of Aaron, in the Zadok Priesthood.  They will teach His people His ways.  (Ezekiel 43:10-11)

 

Without a Temple, this priesthood cannot function.   Excerpts from Zechariah 6:12-15:  “Thus says Yahuweh of Hosts, `Behold, the Man whose name is the Branch!  And from His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the Temple of Yahuweh.  It is He who is going to build the Temple of Yahuweh.  It is He who is going to bear the splendor. And He shall sit and rule on His Throne, and shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between Them both, while the crown is for a remembrance in the Temple of Yahuweh…and those who are far away shall come and build the Temple of Yahuweh.”

 

Messiah Yahushua will have the Temple built and the Torah enacted when He arrives.  Ezekiel 40-46 tells about the worship and practices in the Temple of Yahushua.  But, to begin the morning and evening sacrifices again, “that which is continual”, all they need to set up is the altar (see Ezra 3).  The altar has been built already, and is in Jerusalem now.  

 

To the modern-day Jews, the term “Torah” means anything about their religion--including the rabbinical writings—Talmud--Mishna and the mystic Kabalah.  To us, Torah is the foundation teaching of the first five books of the Scriptures.  The whole of the Scriptures are encapsulated in the Torah.  The Torah teaches us the whole plan of salvation through Messiah Yahushua, in the seven Festivals. 

What we must do is to be Zakok-like, and pure of heart, jealous for His honor, jealous and zealous for the purity of His Word, and for our obedience to it. 

 

Back to the life of the original Zadok:  Read I Kings 2:26-35:  The other priest who served with Zadok, Abiather, was of the line of Eli.  He became unfaithful to David at his death, and unfaithful to the new King Solomon.  Verses 26-27:  “Solomon said, `…you are worthy of death, but I will not at this time put you to death, because you carried the Ark of Yahuweh Elohim before my father David, and because you have been afflicted in all that my father afflicted you with’.   So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto Yahuweh that he might fulfill the word of Yahuweh which he spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh”.

 

Abiathar was of the house of Eli.  The house of Eli, which was from Ithamar, not Eleazar, as a priestly family ended when the Ark was captured by the Philistines, and Eli the High Priest died.  Then Shiloh was totally destroyed by Yahuweh. 

 

Up until that time, Shiloh was where the tabernacle of Moses sat (minus the Ark, which was by the house of David, in the City of David in Jerusalem for 40 years).

 

What exactly did Yahuweh speak concerning the house of the High Priest Eli?  In I Samuel 2:27-35 we read that because of Eli’s unfaithfulness, and for allowing his sons to go unchecked in their great sins (yet they were allowed to keep acting as priests), Eli’s house was cursed to be removed, forever. (Faithfulness is a highly respected virtue by Yahuweh.)  The sign that this was a sure word was that both his sons would die in one day--and they did.  In verse 35, Yahuweh promises to raise up faithful priesthood who would have Yahuweh’s heart and soul.  This priesthood would serve the King forever.  This is the Zadok priesthood, who will serve Messiah Yahushua/Yahuweh in the eternal Kingdom.

 

In II Samuel 7:8-17 we read that through the prophet Nathan, Yahuweh establishes the throne of David and Solomon forever.  He says that if his lineage does wrong, that He will punish them, “But My kindness does not turn aside from him, as I turned it aside from Saul whom I removed from before you.  And your house and your reign are to be steadfast forever before you--your throne is established forever.”  This is reiterated in Jeremiah 33:20-26. 

 

David’s throne is established forever and the priesthood who was faithful to him was established forever.  Phinehas was faithful to Yahuweh and Aaron and Moses and Zadok was faithful to Yahuweh and to King David and King Solomon.  Who will rule and reign with Yahushua in the Kingdom? -- Only those who are faithful to the throne of David--the reigning Messiah Yahushua--and faithful to carry out the duties of Yahuweh (His Covenant Commandments).

 

Exodus 6:18-26: The lineage that came from Levi, to Kohath, to Amram, to Aaron to Eleazer to Phinehas, through Zadok, will once again start the “morning and evening sacrifices”.  Right now, they are already doing “symbolic sacrifices” on the Mt. of Olives, for example, at Pesach.  Look in Exodus 29:37-46 and Daniel 12:11, and Ezra 3:2-3, regarding the “morning and evening sacrifices”--“that which is continual”.  These have to be done on the Temple Mount.  The Cohens do not need a Temple to start the sacrifices.  Look at Ezra 3.  They built an altar--that’s all.  With the altar, the sacrifices in our day can begin without a Temple!  At this point, Pesach 2005, the Kohanim say they are ready to start the Pesach sacrifices on the Temple Mount--if the government will let them. 

 

In my study of the Zadok priesthood, and studying about their characteristics—their uncompromising stand for the Torah, and for what is righteous and just—I realize that this nature stands totally 100% diametrically opposed to the nature of Lucifer and his agents who run the world system.  The remnant, in all 12 tribes, in these last days, will have the nature of Phinehas and Zadok.  They will be uncompromising in their jealous zeal for His honor, and His Word.  They will drop the Amos 7:7-8 plumb-line.  The “two witnesses” have the Zadok nature.

John the Baptist (Yochanan the Immerser) was full-blooded Levite.  His father served in the Temple.  It is most likely that he was of the line of Zadok.  John’s nature was that of Phinehas.  What did he get his head cut off for?  Was it for baptizing?  Was it for offending the religious people?  No, it was for telling Herod that he couldn’t marry his brother’s wife.

 

Excerpts from Mark 6:17-24:  “For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her.  For John had said unto Herod `It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife’. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against John…”.   Later she sent her daughter to dance before a drunken Herod, and pulled off her scheme, which got John beheaded.   “Those who forsake the Torah praise the wicked; those who guard the Torah strive with them”.  

 

Not all people with this personality are of the Zadok priesthood.  However, the spirit of this priesthood is in many of the prophets, and many of His end-time remnant today!!  

 

Phinehas stopped the plague that Yahuweh sent because the people were not only worshipping Baal but were engaging in sexual orgies as part of that worship.  One Israelite, in order to defy Moses’ authority in the matter, came publicly with a Moabite woman before Moses and Aaron.  He proceeded to tell them he was taking her into his tent (for sex).  Phinehas was enraged for the honor of Yahuweh.  He took a sword, and ran it through both of their bellies.  In doing that, Yahuweh stopped the plague that He had started.

 

Elijah did the same thing on Mt. Carmel, slaughtering 450 priests of Baal and Ashteroth, the Queen of heaven.  The two “witnesses”--eventually martyrs--have the nature of Elijah and Moses.

 

On August 28th, 2004, as I finished the last of my study of Zadok, for now that is, I put down my pen.  It was about 9:00PM.  I decided to check my e-mails before going to bed.   I saw there was an e-mail from a friend in Ft. Worth, Texas.  I pulled that one up, and she had sent me a forward.  She simply said, “I think you might like this”.  The e-mail being from this particular lady, a precious sister in the faith, I pulled up the forward on my download manager.  There was a vision that someone had sent her, entitled, “MY VISION OF THE SONS OF ZADOK”.

 

Well, I sat there with chills for a few seconds.  Then last night, I was fighting discouragement.  When I awoke this morning, my first thought was that I must get this article edited and sent to my friend in Ft. Worth.  I got my coffee, and sat down to get my e-mails.  I saw one e-mail from a lady who doesn’t often e-mail me. She is also a precious sister (both these sisters are Torah-observant believers in Messiah Yahushua). 

 

So, I pulled that up, and she said that she had heard from my friend in Ft. Worth that I was doing an article on Zadok, and she wants that information. I was shocked.  How did she know my friend in Ft. Worth?  I never knew there was any connection between these two ladies. 

There is something that the Father is telling us, and we must listen!    He is getting ready to release the Zadok Priesthood into the earth again!!!    Father is joining the “spirit of Elijah” (that separating spirit--Matthew 10:34-39--of those who follow Yahuweh from those who follow Ba’al-- and the spirit which is returning His children to their fathers—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), with the “spirit of Zadok”, which is restoring the children to their set-apart roots and His Covenant, in purity and faithfulness.   The Spirit, Ruach, of the Father is the spirit of separation and uniting.  He is separating out, using the spirit of Elijah, and unifying in set-apartness, by the spirit of Zadok.  He is restoring the two Houses of Jacob into one, as per Ezekiel 37, and about 200 other Scriptures regarding this restoration.

 

This vision, below, was actually an experience that a man had in 1990 when the sons of Zadok visited him.  He did not know about Zadok at that point.  Yet, everything in the vision/happening actually pointed to the nature of Zadok and Scriptures of the task of the sons of Zadok in our day, and in the days to come--as in Ezekiel 44.  I had chills upon chills as I read this event that happened to this man.  It was a life-changing event for him. 

 

This is part of my commission, my life’s work, from Yahuweh:  Ezekiel 44:23 “And they shall teach My people the difference between the set-apart and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean”.  Along with my commission of Ezekiel 33:7 and 40:4, to watch and blow the shofar to warn the people, which I do almost daily, is my commission to teach His righteousness in the Torah--His right-rulings--His governmental Instructions for peace in His Kingdom.  So, this study of the Zadok Priesthood has really impacted my life in a powerful way! 

 

I close my end of this article about Zadok--for now.  I have printed below a vision of the Sons of Zadok--experienced by a man in 1990.  It is very applicable to our lives today! 

 

Shalom and love to you!

Yedidah

Revision: February 16, 2005 ‏ 

My Vision of the sons of Zadok

This experience, I call it a vision, that is what the Holy Spirit has told me to call it after much prayer about this experience.  It was late October or early November and it was 1990. 

It was a Saturday and Karen and Caleb had gone somewhere and weren't expected back until evening.  It was a rare time that I was left alone for the day.  Suddenly I was caught up, whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows.  The understanding of time was no longer a part of my reality.  There have been times that the presence of the Lord comes during worship or intercession and when you are done you think it has been ten minutes but it has been two or three hours.  This was kin to that but in this I felt as though I were in a different realm, not the earth realm but a heavenly realm.  Then I was sitting in my living room on the sofa with the bookcase behind me.  I saw two heavenly men sitting above me on the bookcase.  They were teaching me but teaching does not describe what was happening.  They were transferring information to me but it was direct impartation.  It did not come like someone one teaching and my processing the information and understanding it but it was as though I had a big pipe hooked to my spirit and they were just imparting understanding to me somewhat like an I.V. bottle is hooked up to a patient and he is being fed directly. 

In this next part I will try to explain what I received from them by using a question and answer type explanation.  It did not come to me this way but it is the only form of communication I know to try to share it with another.  It is woefully inadequate but the only tool I have.

After some time of this process, I asked them who they were.  One of them said, “You have found great favor with the Lord.  The Lord has heard the cry of your heart that His sheep would not be deceived nor would they walk in deception.  We are the sons of Zadok and we are here to impart deeper discernment so that you may then impart discernment to His people that they may know the holy from the profane, the clean from the unclean.  They continued the impartation!  At some point, one of them said unto me, "Come on, lets go!" and suddenly we were over this huge vineyard!  Everywhere I looked all I could see were rolling hills with grape vines filling the landscape.  I could not see the ground because of the abundance of vines, branches, grapes, and some sort of wooden trellis to hold up the branches so the grapes were not on the ground.  We observed, it seemed to me, for a long time.  It seemed like so long that I saw the vineyard actually grow and add volume.  I asked what is it that I am to see here?  He said "What do you see here?"  While it is the first one I have seen, it is a vineyard!  He said, "Does it look to be a healthy and abundant vineyard?"  Yes, I replied.  Then he said, "Do you see any of these branches jumping down off of the vine to the ground running around looking for food or water or life?"  "No they just abide and they produce much healthy fruit."

Again, suddenly we were over this huge sheep herd.  I had never seen one but I had seen one similar for cattle.  It resembled a place in the stockyards where they herded, slaughtered, and processed cattle.  This was somewhat different and they were sheep instead of cattle.  As far as my eye could see, all I could see were these pens, fences, and sheep.  The sheep talked and said: “I am hungry, when will we eat?  Where is the Great Shepherd?  I have not heard his voice to follow.  We are in these pens with no food”.  Then the under shepherd said "you need learn to hear my voice for the great Shepherd has led you to me and now I will train you.  I will feed you and after you are trained you will learn to follow me, but you must be restrained until you learn my ways.  I saw the under Shepherds, or “hirelings”, taking the sheep as if the True Shepherd was leading, and they fleeced the flock and deceived them by restraining them and then reprogramming them.  I saw them trying to Shepherd the people by dipping into their own cistern and trying to give water to them.  If they are not fed from the overflow, it is not life. They were trying to give them repackaged word with psychology mixed with it, trying to teach from the knowledge of good and evil.  This is an over simplification of what I received but it is impossible to reduce revelation knowledge to teachable truths. 

We were back in my living room.  They imparted to me understanding about the heresy of books that were on my bookshelf.  It was like they went through every book and I could see truth and heresy.  It was like I had an understanding of the Word I had never had before.  It was like I could see everything without having to filter it through my flesh.  Everything they imparted I received and had no questions about.  

Karen and Caleb came home about 7:30 p.m. that evening. The vision began about 9:30 a.m..  The first thing Karen asked me is, “what were these rows of books doing on the floor”?  They were trash, the books that the sons of Zadok had divided.  Some more subtle than others but I could clearly see and divide the holy from the profane.  A transition began and it was like I began filtering things back through my flesh and as the transition progressed I began to feel discouragement to the point I wanted to die.  It was horrible.  With all of my physical problems I had never felt this bad I had a sense of hopelessness to a degree had never known prior to that time or since that experience I wasn't sick per se but now that I had to see everything through the flesh, I just hated it.  I began to see how Elijah felt after he had maybe escaped his flesh and ran all that distance in front of the chariots but when he came back into his flesh realm he wanted to die.  It took me almost 48 hours before I was able to deal with things in the natural again.  One extremely interesting observation was that after 48 hours, it was much more difficult to understand the exact problem with the books I had divided to trash.  I was still able to discern the problems, however, it came as discernment not as detailed knowledge as it had been during the vision.   I can't explain it but it was strange.  

There is no expression that can adequately explain the vision I experienced.  I have had a number of visions but none of the visions I have had were close to this experience.  There are times in worship that have brought frustration because I had such an intensity in my being that I wanted to express to the Lord but words, feelings, music, nothing could come close to satisfy my longing inside for an expression.  That is the only experience that comes close in comparison.  There are no words that could ever come close to sharing how impartation is accomplished.  I did not know until after this vision exactly who the sons of Zadok were.  I knew that I had read the name Zadok but I did not have a specific understanding of who they were at the time of the vision.