Christ as the fulfillment of the covenant

The promise of God in Malachi 2:4 (that the Lord’s covenant with Levi may stand) finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest. Although God would put an end to the priestly service of the unfaithful descendants of Levi, God’s covenant with Levi could not be annulled. In Jeremiah 33:20–22 God emphatically says that no one can stop him from fulfilling his covenant promise to David any more than they can stop him from causing the sun to shine in the morning. No one can stop the Lord from fulfilling his promise to Levi any more than they can stop him from causing the sun to set in the evening. He will never allow his people to be without a king to rule and protect them. Neither will God ever allow his people to be without the intercession and blessing of a priest.

God brings an end to the Levitical priesthood, and brings the promise of his covenant with Levi to a more glorious fulfilment in Jesus Christ. All that is said about the faithful descendants of Levi in Malachi 2:5–7 applies even more to Christ. The lips of Jesus guarded knowledge, and many sought the law from his mouth. He was the faithful, the true messenger of the Lord of hosts. He feared the Lord. The law of truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked before the Lord in peace and equity. Jesus, the faithful priest, turns many away from iniquity!

Christ is far greater than even Levi or Phinehas or any other priest in the old dispensation. For Christ has received the power to do something that no priest in the old dispensation could do. Christ has received the power to write God’s law on the hearts of God’s people. Christ has received the power not only to teach the people but to powerfully renew their hearts, minds, and will, so that God’s people not only know God’s commandments but delight to keep them. He exercises this great power through his Spirit and through the preaching and teaching of his Word.