The Levitical Priesthood of Tennessee
A preacher approached me in Swanee, Tennessee, some years ago and asked me if it was true that I practiced the Law of Moses. I replied that it was true. His next question was if I practiced the sacrificial laws. Perceiving his craftiness by asking this forked question, I asked him if he practiced the Levitical Priesthood in Tennessee. He emphatically denied that he did any such thing, and proceeded to preach me a true fire and brimstone sermon about Christ Crucified and how Jesus did away with the Law of Moses in general, and the sacrificial laws in particular.
Seeing that the man was a Christian in distress over doctrine, I apologized for my outrageous suggestion that HE, of all people, might be a practitioner of the sacrificial system of Tennessee, explaining that I was a stranger from a far, far land called Missouri, and that I had heard the people of Tennessee practiced the Levitical Priesthood, complete with sacrifices and heave offerings, but they called it another name, the 'Judicial System.' As he stared at me for a few minutes, like I'd just announced that I'd taken a ride in a UFO, I asked if they had a Highway Patrol in Tennessee. He said they did, and after a few more questions, it came out that they also had police, lawyers, judges, courts, courthouses, courtrooms complete with bars and benches and, even, fines for criminal activities; the sum total of which constituted the judicial system of the State of Tennessee. Looking at him, I said that the stories I'd heard were true, that the people of Tennessee were indeed a religious lot, which lead him to ask how having police and all the rest was religious. So I told him a story.
Let's say that one day you decide to take a drive, and an ever vigilant policeman sees you tooling along at 80 MPH in a 55 MPH zone, so he takes off after you, and pulls you over. Asking for your driver's license, he notes that it doesn't give you permission to drive 80 MPH in a 55 MPH zone, so he arrests you and hauls you off to the nearest jail. From there, you're brought to the courthouse and into a courtroom, where you face a judge sitting on a bench behind a bar. You stand beside your lawyer, who enters a plea of guilty, which makes you a criminal. The judge levies a fine and court costs. If you don't like the decision, you can appeal, if necessary all the way to the Supreme Court. So what you have are the civil servants of the State of Tennessee performing their jobs, which constitute the judicial system of the State of Tennessee.
In olden days, this system wasn't called the judicial system, it was called the Levtical Priesthood, and it worked the same way.
Todays policemen are known as the High Priest's servants. As such, he was constantly on the lookout for sin, which is the transgression of the Law (1John 3:4). When he uncovered a sin, he hauled the sinner off to the temple ward, which is today's courthouse/jail combination. Modern courthouses are designed like temples, even to the point of sitting in the town square, so that everything in town revolves around them. The temple is where the High Priest conducted the sacrifices in the Holy Place. It was easy to recognize the High Priest going about his duties because of his long, flowing, often black, robes. When he had to sit in judgment on a sinner, he would go to the Holy Place and go behind the altar, which was behind the veil to the Holy Place. Sound anything like a judge entering a courtroom, and sitting on his bench, which is behind the bar? In order for a sinner to pass through the veil and approach the High Priest required an intercessor, who helped in your prayer to the High Priest concerning your sin. Sound like a lawyer entering a plea? When the accused admitted his guilt, he became a sinner. The High Priest then commanded him to perform penance, oftimes in the form of sacrifices, which he called a sin offering. He would also impose a heave offering, to reimburse him for his time. Sounds more and more like a modern court, with you entering a plea of guilty, and having fines and court costs levied. If the sinner thought the High Priest was not acting properly, he could go before the Aaronic Priesthood, if necessary all the way to Moses, which is essentially the same as going through the court of appeals to the Supreme Court. So, what you had were the Levites of Israel performing their jobs which constituted the Levitical Priesthood of Israel. What's the phrase, 'a rose by any other name...?'
So, I closed by chiding this Christian preacher a little, reminding him that he practices the sacrificial system of the State of Tennessee every time he goes into court. Remember, Tennessee is a sovereign, sovereigns make laws, lawmakers are gods, violating laws is sin, sins require sacrifice as a matter of law, either Civil or Common, and people who practice the religion of the United States make sacrifices to their god, voluntarily or involuntarily.
The Levitical Priesthood Of Tennessee