8. Messiah Is Both King And Priest, Sitting At God's Right Hand Forever
(Psalm 110:1-4, Jeremiah 30:21-22, Zechariah 6:9-13)
Isaiah had to prophesy that Messiah would be “high and lifted up and greatly exalted” after his suffering and atoning death (Isaiah 52:13).
David prophesied the same about Messiah:
A psalm of David.
HASHEM* has said to my lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Messiah will be in this exalted position not only as a king but also as a priest. Just like Melchizedek who was king and priest of Salem at the same time. (Genesis 14:18)
HASHEM has sworn
And will not change his mind,
You are a priest forever
After the order of Melchizedek
This is what Zechariah had to prophesy about Messiah:
he shall bear the glory,
And shall sit and rule on His throne
So he shall be priest on His throne
And the counsel of peace shall be between Them both
In the context of Zechariah 6 this throne is HASHEM’s throne, he is sharing in G-d’s authority.
As Messiah is sitting at G-d’s right hand the counsel of peace, the divine and sovereign plan to give real peace is made between him and G-d.
The high priest approached G-d and drew near to him on Yom Kippur once a year with the blood of a sacrifice. That way he could come into the tabernacle’s Holy of Holies, G-d’s throne room on earth. The high priest came there to make atonement on behalf of the people.
Messiah entered heaven itself. He even took his place next to G-d on his heavenly throne. There he presents the perfect sacrifice of his own righteous life. A better intercessor on behalf of Israel does not exist.
This is how Jeremiah bears witness to this same mystery.
Jeremiah prophesies about the new David (Jeremiah 30:9), Israel’s leader, the Messiah and says
Their leader shall be one of them,
And their ruler shall come forth from their midst;
And I will bring him near and he shall approach Me;
For who is he that gives his heart in pledge to approach Me?’ declares HASHEM…
What will be the result of this priestly intercession of the Messiah? The result will be a restored, a new covenant between G-d and Israel:
You shall be my people and I will be your G-d
Jeremiah 30:22 NASB, compare Jeremiah 31:31-34
Zechariah’s prophesy about the sword waking up against G-d’s shepherd and about the difficult time that would follow first (Zechariah 13:7-9) ends the same way:
They will call on my name and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘they are my people’
And they will say, ‘HASHEM is our G-d’
This is what the merit of Messiah’s sacrifice and priestly intercession in heaven on behalf of his people brings about: a restoration of HASHEM’s relationship with Israel.
*HASHEM means “The Name” in Hebrew and is used by some Jewish people as a way of respectfully referring to G-d.