First Nations Version

by Terry M. Wildman

  HOW A CHIEF HOLY MAN IS CHOSEN

  1Among the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) every chief holy man is chosen from among the men of his tribe. He is given the sacred task of representing the people to the Great Spirit by offering ceremonial gifts and sacrifices for the people’s bad hearts and broken ways. 2Since the chief holy man is also a weak human being, he can take pity on those whose understanding is weak and have lost their way. 3And because he is a weak human being, he must first offer sacrifices for his own broken ways and then for the broken ways of the people. 4No one chooses this honor for himself. It is the Great Spirit who chooses a chief holy man, just as he chose the first chief holy man Light Bearer (Aaron).

  CHOSEN TO BE A HOLY MAN

  5In the same way, the Chosen One did not take for himself the honor of being the chief holy man. It was the Great Spirit who chose him by saying to him, “You are my Son. Today I make it known that I am your Father.”15 6And in another place Creator says to him, “You are a holy man whose days will never end. The same kind of holy man as Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek).”16

  7In the days when Creator Sets Free (Jesus) walked among us as a human being, he sent his voice to the Great Spirit with tears and loud cries to the only one who could rescue him from death. His prayers were heard because of the honor and respect he showed to the One Above Us All. 8Even though he was Creator’s Son, he still had to learn, through suffering, what it means to stay true to the ways of the Great Spirit. 9When he was fully prepared, he became the one through whom all people who listen and do what he says will be set free and made whole, to the time beyond the end of all days. 10This is because the Great Spirit chose him to be a chief holy man just like Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek).

  SPIRITUAL MILK OR SOLID FOOD

  11I have much more I would like to say about this, but it is hard to make the meaning clear because your ears have become slow to hear. 12By now you should be able to teach others, but instead you need someone to teach you the simple spiritual truths of Creator’s message all over again. You are like children who need milk and are not ready for solid food. 13For all those who drink only milk are still like nursing babies who have not yet learned how to walk in right ways. 14But solid food is for those who are mature. For the ones who have walked the road many times have learned the difference between what is right and what is wrong.

  WALKING TOWARD MATURITY

  1It is time for us to move beyond the beginning spiritual truths of the teachings that prepared the way of the Chosen One and start to see things through more mature eyes. There is no need to go back to the beginning of the trail to learn things all over again. You have already been taught to turn away from meaningless efforts to please the Great Spirit and to simply trust him. 2You have been given instructions about different kinds of ceremonies for purification and for laying on of hands. You have also been taught about the rising of the dead and the final judgment. 3So then, as the Great Spirit permits, we will now walk forward toward more mature teachings.

  WALKING AWAY FROM THE GOOD PATH

  4For there are some who once walked in the light. They tasted the gift that comes from the spirit-world above. They shared together with us in the Holy Spirit. 5They tasted Creator’s good word and the powers of the world to come. 6If people like this walk away from the path, it is not possible to bring them back. For to their own harm they are nailing the Son of the Great Spirit to the cross again and shaming him before others.

  7The ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and grows many plants that are useful for those who work the ground shares in the blessings of the Great Spirit. 8But if the ground grows only thorns and thistles, it has failed in its purpose, and will soon be seen as cursed and its crops burned.

  BETTER THINGS FOR YOU

  9My much-loved relatives, even though we are speaking in this way, we are sure of much better things about you, the things that come from being set free and made whole. 10The Great Spirit will not fail to do what is right. He will not forget how hard you have worked and how much love you have shown in representing him. He sees how you have served his holy ones, in the past and even now.

  11It is our desire that you walk with firm steps, keeping your eyes straight, as you travel this sure path of hope to its end. 12Do not limp along, dragging your feet, but follow firmly in the footsteps of those who through trust and patience share in the promises.

  13When the Great Spirit made his promise to Father of Many Nations (Abraham), it was a solemn promise. And since there was no one greater to hold him to his promise, he held himself to it. 14He said, “I give you my word of honor that I will greatly bless you and give you many descendants.”17 15So by staying true to the path and never giving up, Father of Many Nations (Abraham) received what had been promised.

  A SOLEMN PROMISE FROM THE GREAT SPIRIT

  16When people give their word of honor and make a solemn promise, they make it before someone who is greater than themselves. This kind of promise brings an end to all disagreements. 17The Great Spirit wanted to prove to his people that his promise would remain true and never change, so he made this kind of solemn promise. 18The Great Spirit cannot speak with a forked tongue! So his word of honor and his solemn promise are two things that can never be changed. This gives us, the ones who have taken shelter under his wings, brave hearts to take a firm hold on the hope he has set before us.

  19This hope is like a tent-stake, holding our lives firmly and safely in place. This hope goes behind the blanket that hangs in the sacred lodge and reaches into the Most Holy Place in the spirit-world above.

  Creator’s sacred lodge on earth had a blanket that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. This earthly lodge was a symbol of the true sacred lodge in the spirit-world above spoken of here.

  20Creator Sets Free (Jesus) is the one who was first to enter into this Most Holy Place in the spirit-world above to open the way for us to follow. For he has been made chief holy man whose days will never end, the same kind of holy man as Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek).

  A DIFFERENT KIND OF HOLY MAN

  1Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek) was both the chief of a village named Peace (Salem) and a holy man of Creator Most High. When Father of Many Nations (Abraham) was returning from the battle where he defeated many warring chiefs, Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek) met with him and blessed him.18 2Then Father of Many Nations (Abraham) gave him a tenth of all the spoils of war. The meaning of the name of Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek) comes first from his being a chief who stands for what is right, and then also from being chief of Salem, which means chief of peace. 3There is no record of his father or mother or a family ancestry of any kind. No one knows when his life began or when it ended. In this way, he is like the Son of the Great Spirit, whose place as a holy man continues without end.

  4Can you see how great this man was? Our ancestor, Father of Many Nations (Abraham), gave him a tenth of the best of the spoils of war! 5Our tribal law instructs the descendants of He Brings Together (Levi), who are the holy men of our tribes, to receive a tenth from their own tribal family—even though our tribal family is also descended from Father of Many Nations (Abraham).

  6But this man, Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek), received a tenth from Father of Many Nations (Abraham), even though he is not descended from He Brings Together (Levi), and he blessed the one to whom the Great Spirit gave the promises. 7Everyone knows that the one with the power to bless is greater than the one to whom the blessing is given.

  8There is another way to see what I am saying. Our tribes pay a tenth to holy men who die, but here a tenth is paid to a holy man who, we are told, continues to live. 9It could be said that He Brings Together (Levi), the ancestor of the tribe of holy men who receive a tenth, also paid a tenth through Father of Many Nations (Abraham), 10because he was still in the body of his ancestor when Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melc
hizedek) met Father of Many Nations (Abraham).

  A NEW KIND OF HOLY MAN AND A NEW LAW

  11So then, if Creator’s full purpose was to come through the holy men who are descended from He Brings Together (Levi), for our tribal law was given in harmony with these holy men, why would there be a need for another holy man to appear, one like Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek), instead of one who is descended from Light Bearer (Aaron)? 12For if the way to become a holy man has changed, then it means our tribal law must also change.

  13Now Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the one spoken of here, is not from the tribe that holy men come from. He is from another tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the ceremonial altar. 14We all know that our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) is descended from Give Him Praise (Judah), and Drawn from the Water (Moses) never said anything about holy men coming from that tribe.

  15So if another holy man appears, one who is like Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek), it becomes even more clear 16that it is the power of a life that can never end that makes him a holy man, not a law about physical ancestry. 17For it says in our Sacred Teachings, “You are a holy man whose days will never end, the same kind of holy man as Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek).”

  18Because it was weak and useless, the former instruction had to be done away with. 19For our tribal law could not bring anyone or anything to full meaning and purpose. But the Chosen One has brought to us an even greater hope, and it is this hope that moves us to draw near to the Great Spirit.

  20-21Under our tribal law no one was ever made a holy man by a solemn promise. But it was by a solemn promise that the Chosen One was made a holy man, when it was said to him, “The Great Spirit has made a solemn promise and will never change his mind, ‘You are a holy man whose days will never end.’”19 22In this way, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) has become the promise keeper of a better peace treaty.

  A CHIEF HOLY MAN WHO WILL NEVER DIE

  23The holy men who came before were many in number, because death kept them from continuing. 24But since Creator Sets Free (Jesus) will never die, his place as a holy man will never come to an end. 25This means he is able to fully set free and make whole all who draw near to the Great Spirit through him, since he always lives to pray and represent them in a good way.

  26This kind of chief holy man is just what we weak human beings need. One who remains holy, blameless and pure. One who differs from weak human beings because he has a good heart with no broken ways. One who has been lifted up to the highest place in the spirit-world above. 27He has no need to make offerings every day like other chief holy men. They make offerings first for their own broken ways, and then for the broken ways of the people. But when Creator Sets Free (Jesus) offered himself on the cross, he performed a ceremony—once for all time—to set people free from their bad hearts and broken ways.

  28So you can see that our tribal law chooses weak human beings with broken ways to be chief holy men. But it was a solemn promise, given many winters after our tribal law, that chose the Son of the Great Spirit. His suffering has fully prepared him to be a chief holy man whose days will never end.

  THE NEW CHIEF HOLY MAN

  1The heart of what I am saying is that we now have this kind of chief holy man, one who has taken his place in the spirit-world above at the right hand of the seat of honor held by the Great Honored One. 2He serves as a holy man in the true sacred tent, the one pitched by our Honored Chief and not by human beings.

  3Every chief holy man is chosen to offer ceremonial gifts and sacrifices, so our chief holy man must also have something to offer. 4Remember, if he were on earth, he would not be a holy man, seeing that there are holy men on earth who offer gifts required by our tribal law. 5But these holy men serve in a sacred tent that is only a dim shadow of the one in the spirit-world above. For Drawn from the Water (Moses) was given this counsel by the Great Spirit just before he completed making the sacred tent, “Make sure that everything you make follows the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.”20

  A NEW AND BETTER PEACE TREATY

  6So you can see that the Chosen One has been given a more honorable place as chief holy man than all the others. In the same way, the peace treaty he made for us with the Great Spirit is better than the first one, for it depends on better promises. 7For if there had been nothing wrong with the first peace treaty, then there would have been no need to look for a second one.

  8But finding something wrong, the Great Spirit said to his people, “Behold! The time is coming when I will make a new peace treaty with the northern tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) and the southern tribes of Give Him Praise (Judah). 9This peace treaty will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to walk them out of Black Land (Egypt). They did not honor that peace treaty, so I let them go their own way.

  10“But here is the new peace treaty I will make with the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) after that time. I will plant my laws in their minds and carve them into their hearts. I will be their Great Spirit, and they will be my people, my sacred family. 11There will be no need to teach others to know their Honored Chief, for all, whether small or great, will know me. 12I will take pity on wrongdoers, and their broken ways I will remember no more.”21

  13When Creator tells of a new peace treaty, this means he has done away with the first one—for it is old, worn out, and ready to fade away.

  CEREMONIES AND THE FIRST PEACE TREATY

  1Under the first peace treaty, there were instructions for ceremonies and a sacred lodge tent that is of this world. 2The first room in the sacred lodge tent was called the Holy Place. In that room, there was a lampstand and a table for the sacred bread and other ceremonial items.

  3A blanket was hung between the Holy Place and the next room, which was called the Most Holy Place. 4In this room, there was a sacred altar for the burning of sweet-smelling herbs and spices, and a cedar box22 of the peace treaty that was covered with gold on all sides.

  Inside the cedar box was a golden pot filled with the mysterious bread,23 the walking stick of Light Bearer (Aaron) that blossomed, and the stone tablets of the peace treaty. 5Above the cedar box were the bright-shining winged ones whose wings overshadowed the mercy seat. But we cannot speak at length about these things at this time.

  6When all these things had been made ready in a good way, the holy men would go into the outer room of the sacred lodge tent over and over again to perform the sacred ceremonies. 7But only the chief holy man could enter into the second room, the Most Holy Place, and then only once a year. He must also take blood from a sacrificed animal in with him to offer first for himself and then for the wrongs the people did not mean to do.

  A NEW WAY IS REVEALED

  8By all these things the Holy Spirit is showing us that the way into the Most Holy Place in the spirit-world above was not yet open as long as the first sacred lodge tent in this world was still standing. 9This has spiritual meaning for the time we live in. It shows us that the gifts and offerings made in the sacred lodge tent that now stands cannot truly set free the heart and mind of the one who brings the offerings. 10These things are only concerned with food and drink and different kinds of ceremonial washings—rules about outward things. They were needed until it was time for a new way to be revealed.

  11But now the Chosen One has appeared as the chief holy man of the good things that have now come. He entered into the true and greater sacred tent lodge, the one not made with human hands, meaning not of this creation. He entered into the Most Holy Place once for all time and for all people. 12He did not go in with the blood of goats and calves but with his own lifeblood. In doing so, he paid the highest price to set us free and make us whole for all time.

  A ONCE-FOR-ALL-TIME CEREMONY

  13If the blood of goats and young bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean can purify our bodies, 14then how much more will the lifeblood of the Chosen
One accomplish? Through the eternal Spirit he offered his life to the Great Spirit to purify our hearts and minds from the meaningless things we have done to try to please the Great Spirit. Now we can serve the living Creator with the life that comes from him!

  15This is why it must be the Chosen One who makes a new peace treaty between human beings and the Great Spirit. His death was the price he paid to release people from their failure to walk true to the first peace treaty. This new peace treaty was needed so that those who answer his call will share in all the promised blessings that will never fade away.

  DEATH AND THE NEW PEACE TREATY

  16-17This kind of peace treaty24 does not begin while the one who made it remains alive. It begins after the death of the one who made it. 18This is why even the first peace treaty required blood to be shed. 19Drawn from the Water (Moses) told the people all that our tribal law required them to do. Then he used red wool and a hyssop25 branch to sprinkle the book of the law and the people with water and the blood of bulls and goats.

  20He said to our people, “This is the blood of the peace treaty the Great Spirit has made with you. You must do all that it says.”26