Hello
@charity
This can be a difficult subject to get our heads/laughing matter around.
The Priesthood operating in Israel prior to Mt Sinai, was after the pattern of Melchizedek where the princes of the respective tribes were the "High" Priests of that respective tribe. In the covenant at Mt Sinai, before Israel rebelled, God was making all of Israel a kingdom of priests, a Holy Nation and His Possession among the nations in that covenant. After the rebellion against God and Moses pleading on behalf of Israel, God relented from wanting to destroy Israel and start again with a new people derived through Moses and entered into a new covenant with Moses known as the Mosaic Covenant which drew much from the Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation and God's Possession among the nations, but with one change, all of Israel would no longer be Priests serving God, only the tribe of Levi would be priest and then only the descendants of Aaron would act as the High Priests and be responsible for the offering of sacrifices to sanctify the nation for their iniquities. It is my view that the Mosaic Covenant had a sun set clause embedded within it, such that when Christ came, and offered up His life for all the sins of the world, the instigated Mosaic priesthood would no longer have a part to play in the redemption process through the offering up of animal sacrifices for the sins of people. Christ became the new (neos G:3501) mediator for all the nations of the earth.
Now in the second commandment is imbedded the reason for the scattering of Israel to all the four corners of the earth. Israel was scattered because, although they were given 490 years prior to the first advent of Christ, they would not repent of their idolatrous worship, and the consequences of not repenting of their idolatrous worship, their iniquities of the first two ages of the fathers were visited upon their children and the children's children for a further two ages. As we read the OT we see that God keeps remining the nation of Israel that even though they had rebelled against God's statues and continually sinned against God, that at the end of the visitation of their sins against the nation of Israel, if they repented and turned once more to Him, that He would hear their cries and redeem them once more into His purposes.
Because of Israel's continuous idolatrous behaviour, they had rejected God. Because they were rejecting God, they would not nor could not accept God's offer of redemption through the acts of His Son who came at the very time that their iniquities began its visitation upon their children at the beginning of the third age of the existence of Israel. As presented in Daniel.9:24, after the period of grace of 490 years, God intended to have the redemption process changed such that the sacrifice of His son on the Cross would now suffice for the redemption of all sin from that point onwards.
Jesus during His ministry, acknowledged that some of Abraham's descendants would return to the land of Canaan, (Parables concerning the Fig tree), in their own strength during the fourth age of their existence and used that budding of new leaves of Israel as a sign and indicator of the beginning of the seventh age of the Ages. Around this time, Christ indicated that the returned descendants would attempt to build a third temple in Jerusalem, on the site where Solomon built his temple, but that they would not have the means to complete this task and that nations would come up against Israel and Jerusalem against which He would fight and Judge which would be visible from Jerusalem. Christ also warned Israel that if they did not regain their saltiness at that time that God would throw them out onto the dung heap even though God's prophetic words suggested otherwise.
In the Parable of the Pound, Christ indicated that Israel, at that time, will declare that they no longer want Satan to be king over them. That they will seek out God's/Christ's terms of peace.
The requirement of seeking out God's redemption has not been made redundant, but the process whereby we are redeemed has been changed such that animal sacrifices are no longer required nor acceptable unto the Lord. That went immediately after Christ rose from the dead.
The Salvation process/covenant has not been done away with such that there is a need for a new covenant, however the process where by redemption is gained has been refurbished/refreshed (kaineous, G:2537) through the better promises that it has gained.
After Armageddon in our near future, God will make like new again, with a few tweaks, the Kingdom of Priests, a Holy Nation and His Possession among the nations covenant and will teach Israel, where they live scattered throughout the world, about the things of the Heavenly Kingdom that at that time will be established here on the earth.
This is God's Glory being manifested in His people.
Shalom
