Hebrews (Session 8) Chapter 7

well we're continuing our survey or expiration of the epistle to the hebrews and we're in the eighth sanction in chapter seven and most of you recall that the first part of this epistle is really uh christology uh jesus christ the new and better deliverer in it and the writer contrasts our messiah with all of jude the traditional pillars of judaism the angels moses aaron and so forth last time we entered this area how how jesus is a priest better than the levitical priest the aaronic priesthood and but chapter five had a problem because it really bridges to chapter six which includes the third of five warnings in fact it's the most troublesome of the five warnings to many and i won't try to recap all of that here but we got that introduced with our study of chapter five and then we really dealt with it in chapter six basically highlighting the fact that the issue at stake is not uh eternal security as it may look to the naive viewer but rather the gaining of inheritance all this keying off of course numbers 13 and 14 and psalm 95 both of which are quoted in depth and dealt with that time but now but uh having finished last time the whole issue of chapter six we are now entering chapter seven and the focus in chapter 7 is going to be a lot easier to deal with the uh than the ones we've dealt with so far you know we've really in the last several chapters let me just acknowledge that we've really been dealing with some very difficult complex heavy material and hopefully it's been stimulating you to do serious study in those areas but we're actually going to move now into an area that i think at least is clearer in its description and that's this whole issue of who is this character called melchizedek because uh back in chapter six as it was finishing one of the final verses whether the forerunner is for us entered even jesus he was made a high priest forever after the order of melchizedek now this is a character that shows up in a couple of verses in genesis 14. and if it wasn't for a single reference to this in psalm 110 it would probably disappear into oblivion except we're to discover there's several full chapters in this epistle dealing with this strange character melchizedek and so by mentioning melchizedek when we closed chapter six that was actually an echo of an earlier mention in chapter 5. he was he's been hinted at now twice we're going to jump in now and get into this and i want to remind you though when we were in chapter 5 chapter before last the writer spent a lot of time saying to his readers you're not ready for this we talked about the milk and the meat of the word and and and and chastised them for just not for being babes in the word and not ready for the material that's coming and the material he was talking about is what we're now going to get into and so we should be ready for that but he again all the way through this epistle from front to back the primary theme is to encourage the listeners the readers to press on to maturity the issue is not salvation and not in the in the sense of justification again and again and again he puts himself in the same kin let us let us let us the the readers are in the same spiritual condition he's in the sense of being justified by jesus christ 100 by what he's done but what he's arguing for them to do is go from there on to maturity and that's what the real theme is here so now we we we've had melchizedek alluded to rather cryptically twice now we're going to get into it and that's what this chapter is all about chapter 7 is really about melchizedek so here the writer continues for this melchizedek king of salem priest of the most high god who met abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him well if you are familiar with your bible you stumble at that first sentence because here's a character who's king of salem and he's also a priest now the jewish mind isn't used to that because he's been conditioned from the beginning that the kings came from judah and the priests came from levi two different tribes and not to cross and there's all kinds of anecdotal examples where a king tried to give offerings or vice versa and it was havoc it was having so but it makes an illusion here this character shows up when abraham was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him so that is an illusion from genesis 14. let's go back to genesis 14 just read a few verses to get a perspective here and in the fourteenth year came sherida and the kings that were with him there's a group of kings and they smote the rephaims and astaroth the karnaem and the zimzumi's and ham and the ememes which shave kiriyathim and the horites and their mount seer i'll give you a chart in a minute that'll lay this out don't worry about it i can't pronounce it properly anyway unto el puran which is by the wilderness and they returned and came to end mishpat which is kadesh and smote all the country of the malachites and also the amorites that dwelt in hazel tomorrow and there went out the king of sodom and the king of gomorrah and the king of admira and the king of zeboem and the king of bala the same as there and they joined battle with them in the veil of sidom you've got five kings and four kings about to go into battle here with char de la mer the king of alam and with title the king of nations and amraphel king of shinar that's the babylonian thing it might be hammurabi in the minds of sonic scholars and ariak the king alice are four kings with five so they got their little battle going on okay and the veil of sydney was full of slime pits and the kings of sodom and gomorrah fled and fell there and they that remained fled to the mountain and they took all the goods in other words the winners took all the goods of sodom and gomorrah and their vettels and went their way so okay it's a battle there are some winners and some losers all right but here's the key line and they took lot abraham's brother son who dwelt in sodom and his goods and departed it happened that lot was living in sodom these warring tribes in conquering sodom made a mistake with retrospect they kidnapped lot and his family and whatever big mistake big mistake the battle of the nine kings you've got shemites hammerfell ariak charlemare king of islam elam is a predecessor to the persians okay uh and tidal king of the nations all these are shemites it happens the other kings who are better and king of baylor these are hamitz think when you think of ham think of egypt or that part of the geography shemites so they they have an ethnic difference here but sherrod alamera is the the big cheese in all of this the hamitz served him for 12 years they were subservient to them but by the thirteenth year they had enough of all this so they rebel against certain lemire and he then puts the ball down and uh he defeated and spoiled the rebels so the hamitz were rebelling they got clobbered and in that getting a clobbered lot gets kidnapped and uh so yeah that's that's a quick snapshot of what we just read okay so far all right and there came one that escaped and told abraham the hebrew for he dwelt in the plain of mohammed the amorite the brother ereshkal and the brother in her and they were they and these were confederate with abraham and when abraham heard that his brother was taken captive he armed his trained servants born in his own house 318 of them now let's stop right there abraham some scholars suspect may have been one of the richest men on the planet earth at that time he had among his servants 318 trained warriors these aren't just guys that usually had a plow that were recruited to go fight these were trained the context implies they were trained militarily anyway these 318 are going to succeed where the five kings couldn't see the four that won and clobbered them and i go taking goods they're going to fall to these 318. so these guys you don't mess with them right so they pursue them to dan that's way up in the north okay and he divided himself against them he and his servants by night smote them and pursue them to hobart which is on the left hand of damascus and he brought back all the goods and also brought again his brother lot and his goods and the women also and the people so abraham's gang made it they clobbered the bad guys they got all the stuff back they got us so that's that's the background for a very strange incident that's the reason we're getting into this is what happens after verse 16. king of sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of cher de la mer and the kings that were with him at the valley of chavez which is in the kings dale in other words king of sodom he was one of the losers that has been helped by abraham beating off his enemies and bringing his stuff back and he's went out to meet him but then we get to this strange verse and melchizedek the king of salem brought forth bread and wine and and he was the priest of the most high god each piece of that is a mystery we're going to get into a little bit what do you mean he's a king of salem where is that not all scholars agree but most of them regard that as the site that is today jerusalem jerusalem and uh but he introduces bread and wine in this story and one of the things i'm leaving as an exercise for you to do is go through your bible and study bread and wine from the beginning joseph in prison the baker the wine steward bread and wine introduced there through melchizedek all the way through to what holy communion and the act of redemption of her messiah but we'll move on here see who's the subject here melchizedek was the priest the most high god and he blessed him and said blessed be abraham of the most high god possessor of heaven and earth very strange title by the way but i won't spend time on that one and blessed be the most high god which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand and he gave him tithes of all abraham gave melchizedek tithes right away what's going on here who is a melchizedek why is abraham giving him tithes there's no aaronic priesthood yet right because after abraham comes isaac and jacob and 12 tribes and you know levi and that's later right the melchizedek priesthood very very strange stuff we're going to have this in three chapters here in hebrews 3. many people regard chapters 7 through 10 of the epistle of hebrews as the heart of the epistle and it's there is no other parallels to this section of scripture anywhere else in the new testament the very special place it's going to compare two covenants and the mediators of two covenants and that's why it's going to get very interesting here as we go well the slaughter of kings abraham's army of 318 rescues lot and so forth melchizedek who's a king and a priest receives abraham's tithes administers bread and wine do you see what the writer is doing here do you see a parallel being drawn between melchizedek and some other guy what's the other guy huh jesus exactly exactly because there are only well there's only two primary kings and priests melchizedek and jesus and that's going to be highlighted as we look at psalm 110 which is going to make that point as we go through this and hebrews 5 6 and 7 to do with this so he's a king of righteousness which that's what the king of salem you know the king of righteousness king of salem is jerusalem and the priest of the most high god he received tithes the only mentions of him in the old testament is genesis passage we just read in psalm 110 verse 4 which we'll read in a minute and this is going to contrast with the priesthood as it is in the mind of the in of of a jew in judaism his readers the readers of this epistle are jews sometime between a.d uh 32 christ ministry and the fall of jerusalem 70 a.d it's in that 38-year period that these jews are really upset not sure what to do that this epistle is aimed at but see a jewish mind separates the priesthood of levi and the kingship of judah so that makes melchizedek a strange paradox to the jewish mind and there are these two elements by melchizedek bread and wine which to a new testament reader immediately suggests the lord separate but let's move on here down to verse two we're making progress to whom abraham gave a tenth part of all first being interpretation the king of righteousness and after that king of salem which is king of peace see here now in verse 2 the writer has actually interpreted those two titles as what they suggest peace righteousness and peace always in that order by the way righteous has to come before peace and abraham gave him tithes that's very strange if you understand how a jew venerates abraham i mean he's up there but abraham is subordinate to melchizedek somehow and the king of righteousness and then king of peace that righteousness always comes first peace let the next now we get a clue here by the way that's going to be important when you get to joshua he is going to have he's going to be conquering the land and his adversary is a king that unites a group against him that's the king of jerusalem called adonai zedek lord of righteousness but it's a false title he's the adversary of joshua and he gets eventually beat down but so zedek means king the assuming means righteousness and it's a false title but it's also clearly a jebusite dynastic name and we'll come to that in a minute but the hebrew the writer epistle goes on says speaking of melchizedek without father without mother without descent that is without a genealogy having neither beginning of days nor end of life but made like the son of god abideth the priest continually this is a verse that many people get confused by they assume that what this is saying is that melchizedek is a supernatural person having no beginning and no end no that's not he's drawing a parallel a type an analogy i'll get to that a little bit there's no father or mother recorded that doesn't mean he didn't have one but in the text there is no father and mother and he doesn't have any genealogy there's no marking of his beginning nor his end so idiomatically it fits a purpose of regarding him as a type of christ anticipatory model if you will and this primary model doesn't mean it's the same thing it's just suggestive of in other words and uh made like the son of god he abideth and melchizedek it would seem is a king forever because there's never it's never mentioned where he ends is the point so there's no genealogy record is basically i mean it doesn't mean you didn't have parents it just means it's not they're not recorded they're not relevant to the the perspective of the writer here and uh he had no predecessor i have no successor is the idea there are six similarities at least between melchizedek and the messiah melchizedek was both a priest and a king he was king of salem and then the last part is named zedek is a jebusite dynastic name and then joshua encounters that without an isaac or the lord of righteousness but he's also a priest he's a king and a priest and that makes him distinctive the only other one you find in the bible like that is jesus christ one can argue that we are or we have the opportunity to be rule with him and be a king and priest as we as the 24 elders announced themselves as being in revelation 5 but that's a whole nother thing his name entitled he mentions the two things about his reign righteousness and peace and these two characteristics are also mentioned of the reign of the messiah and you all remember this from your christmas cards isaiah 9 6 for unto us a child is born unto us the son is god given and the government shall be on his shoulder and he shall be called wonderful counselor and so forth so okay a second similarity the melchizedekian priesthood issued in blessing in that melchizedek blessed abraham so the fact that it both are a source of blessing now how the messiah's priesthood will be a source of blessings is going to be discussed later in this chapter so spend time on it now third thing the giving of tithes is a recognition of superiority you don't give tithes to someone junior he gives ties to someone senior spiritually okay so abraham by tithing to melchizedek was acknowledging or recognizing melchizedek's positional superiority are we together so far and it and it's this it's at this point in verse two that he also the writer explains the meaning of the names but see the fact that jesus functions as a melchized melchizedekian kind of priest shows his superiority over any other priesthood he's going to develop this here with levit with levi in a minute melchizedek was an independent high priest as is jesus his priesthood was individual and that he appeared on the scene and this all we know about him is that he was a priest of the most high god there's no mention of mother or father a genealogy genealogy was not relevant to melchizedek it's very relevant to the aaronic priesthood because the way you became a priest under in under the levitical system is you had to be a descendant of aaron okay and so ancestry was not important from mexico and that's part of what's going on here the appointment to melchizedek's priesthood was independent of human relations no genealogical requirement that's not true of being a priest in the levitical system because unless you could prove that you were a descendant of aaron you were disqualified from the priesthood and there were several times when they returned from babylon the babylon captivity many claimed to be the office of priesthood but some could not prove that they had direct descendants of aaron and were thus disqualified you had to be a cohen a konanim which is a descendant of aaron okay the fourth one of the genealogy is not important for the melchizedek priesthood and by the way there's no record this is interesting there's no record of birth or death of melchizedek that doesn't mean he didn't he wasn't born didn't die it's not recorded and that means as a type if that's significant because we're dealing with a model here an anticipatory type see both events occurred he obviously was born he died but the fact there's no record of him allows the holy spirit to use this as an exemplar as an illuminating example of what he's really getting at the melchizedek melchizedekian priesthood was timeless we don't know when it began when it ended a levitical priest served very definitively from the age of 25 to the age of 50 and had to be replaced and had it had a different beginning and definite end there's no mention of the beginning or end of the mel melchizedek uh priesthood and uh so in that sense the holy spirit saying melchizedek was like a model or a type of the son of god and because as far as the record of the word of god is melchizedek and priesthood was timeless and there's no record of it ending now the mel gizadekian priesthood was all-inclusive that administered apparently to everyone within that region it wasn't just jewish the levitical priesthood was limited to had a limited mystery just to israel that's another difference what's jesus christ ministry just to israel no universally and uh uh mel kazakh priesthood was universal so it was christ jesus also has a universal priesthood now because of this background the whole the writer is using this to make a rhetorical example communicate that's led to speculations that because there's no recorded birth or death some think if melchizedek washes him hashem was still alive then in abram's time so is it possible that he was shem no i don't think so because we know shem's genealogy that would puncture the model if you will was melchizedek an old testament appearance of jesus christ there are many speculators say well that was christ in the old testament making appearance because they get confused they're confusing the type with the antitype was he a theophany that is a pre-incarnate appearance of christ don't think so for a lot of reasons his priesthood the what hebrews points out his priesthood was after the similitude of melchizedek christ was well was melchizedek a celestial being no he's described as a man in hebrews 7 4. so those popular speculations are punctured if you stick with the text what about this business the most popular ones that somehow it's a pre incarnate christ the text does not use the adjective that would describe melchizedek in his being in essence to be like the son of god instead it uses a participle meaning that jesus was similar to melchizedek only in the likeness of the the biblical statement in other words the grammar would suggest otherwise the word for being made in the greek is to cause a model to pass off an image or shape like it to express itself in it to copy to produce a facsimile we shouldn't confuse the facsimile from the real thing is is what the grammar is indicating and this term is found only here in the new testament second reason it states that melchizedek was like the son of god it does not say that he was the son of god in the old testament a third reason the second passage where he is mentioned that's in psalm 110 verse 4 distinguishes melchizedek from the messiah that also argues against them being the same one of the prerequisites for the priesthood was that the priest had to be human a priest had to be a representative of humanity so it had to be human so at this point back there in just 14 christ wasn't qualified because it wasn't born of the virgin yet to be human you with me so he may appear occasionally old testament in what they call a theophany but that's not melchizedek was not one of those jesus did not become a man until incarnation where he was conceived by the holy spirit in the womb of mary so before that time he appeared in the form of a man but was not an actual man it's important point just as it's important to understand that christ was god you also need to understand christ was man in the early church one of the gnostic heresies was that he well he wasn't really a man no no both attributes of christ are essential god and man together it's gonna be very important to us especially as we get further in this chapter the fifth reason that the melchizedek could not have been the theophany is that theophanies appeared and disappeared they held no long-term office all through the old testament there's an appearance like a man and they call those theophanies but they come and they go they don't hold office and assume those kinds of responsibilities the melchizedek of genesis 14 was a king of a city state of jerusalem which required a position and a permanent residency theophanies never held a position they were always short and temporary for ad hoc manifestations okay so we know that melchizedek was a living historic personage now he wasn't an origin thought that one of the great theologians in the early centuries he was not an angel some of the jews said he was shem the son of noah he was probably uh shemetic but not canaanite origin the last independent representative of the original semitic population which had been vanquished by the canaanites ham's descendants so the greatness of abraham then lay in the hopes of mecca the highest and last representative the noah noec covenant as christ was the highest never enduring representative of the abrahamic okay that's background we don't really need here i guess let's keep moving the holy spirit is using as a way of communi all this as a communication a way of communicating by jesus christ in psalm 110 verse 4. and we'll see that quoted here in a minute that jesus christ would be after the order of melchizedek not aaron and that his reign would be forever christ could not be after aaron because he wasn't of the tribe of levi one thing jesus christ supersedes the key point of this whole thing is that christ supersedes the aaronic priesthood which means that he also supersedes the law and that's an issue that to this day troubles and clouds many that are in the messianic movement because you get enamored with the whole jewishness of it all and it's fascinating but you want to be careful don't go back under the law that's what this epistle is all about beginning of days are end of life you see that politic the political priesthood had a limit melchizedek did not have and jesus will reign forever melchizedek is definitely a type a hint or a model a foreshadowing of jesus christ that's the way the holy spirit's using that piece of history and that's all derivative from hosea 12 10 where god says i have also spoken by the prophets i have multiplied visions i have used similitudes and under that you can call them allegories uh analogies there are over 200 figures of speech used in the scripture they're catalogued indexed for you and some are materials i have used similarities by the ministry of the prophet so the holy spirit in the text does indulge in similitudes and he also indulges in puns deliberate cognitive transfers and what have you there's another thing that i just thought i'd insert here that i think it's kind of fascinating all through the old testament you find brides used as a type of the church adam had eve he loved her and because he loved her so much he in effect gave himself for her that through that offspring came the redemption isaac had rebecca and eleazar goes to get a bride for isaac he takes ten camels and there's a whole parallelism that's worth studying joseph and assinath moses had zippered salmon had rahab rahab was the harlot that helped the spies at jericho she is the mother of whom anyone boaz good for you and boaz has ruth remember he takes a gentile bride here are six examples of a gentile bride as a type if you will of the church or can be considered that way what's fascinating about this observation is none of these have their death recorded i'm not saying they didn't die but their death's not recorded why isn't recorded well perhaps it's not recorded because that would puncture the type because what's the seventh one the seventh bridegroom is christ the seventh bride is the church and it doesn't face death so the model it see what i'm gonna suggest see it to the to the greek mind that's most of us prophecy is prediction and fulfillment prediction and fulfillment prediction full moon to the hebrew mind prophecy is pattern the hebrew scholars study patterns because they see in the patterns of the messiah they see the history of israel and vice versa and so on so it's interesting that in the old testament these patterns it's amazing to me how carefully the holy spirit shepherds the patterns when you have abram offering isaac it's fascinating abram offers isaac and two 2 000 years later on that very spot another father offers his son what's interesting when you study genesis 22 when you get to genesis 24 again abraham sends his servant eliezer to get a bride for isaac right and it's interesting when you go back to genesis 22 and after the offering of isaac the ram is substituted it says abraham went down the two young men and the three of them abram the two young men went back home three-day journey where's isaac he's obviously went down with him and went home but that's not what it says abraham and the two young men went home and you discover when you examine it isaac the person of isaac is edited out of the record until he's united with his bride two chapters later so the holy spirit's even superintending the subtleties of the text so it fits the model so i think that kind of thing's fascinating anyways move on now consider how great this man was unto whom even the patriarch abraham gave the tenth of the spokes you need to understand how the jewish mind venerates abraham and here's a guy that abraham the patriarch of all when when matthew does his genealogy as a jew he starts with abraham because he's the first jew in that sense right well even abraham gives as opposed to even patrick abraham and this is the this is to emphasize that there were priesthoods greater than aaron's before aaron even existed see the writer is trying to get the jewish mind to recognize that there are boundaries and limitations to judaism because the the readers of this epistle have been freed from those boundaries they don't go back to them there were other priesthoods by the way hinted at in the scriptures in genesis 28 we find jacob at bethel giving tithes doesn't say to whom who are they giving time we don't know doesn't say but there's obviously a priesthood receiving tithes from jacob this is long before you know uh you know aaron and all that when moses is in midian who's his father-in-law jethro jethro twice is mentioned as what the priesthood midian well that's interesting what priesthood is that don't know it just hangs out there right anyway let's move on and verily they that are the sons of levi who receive the office of the priesthood have a commandment to take ties with people according to the law that is of their brethren though they come out of the loins of abraham the the writer here is going to indulge in a very rabbinic kind of logic because abraham gave tithes to melchizedek levi hadn't been born yet so levi is viewed as being in the loins of abraham and thus levi is subordinate to abraham and abraham is subordinate to melchizedek that's the argument it sounds weird at first because levi ain't around yet yes he is he's in the loins of abraham you see so they came out of the loins the levites did levi was born to abram because he was still in his loins genealogically speaking it goes on but he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of abraham and blessed him that had the promises without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better so in other words melchizedek is senior to abraham and that's a tough thing for a jewish mind to accept at this point here whose descent is not counted from them abraham had promises so he that's precious but but it's melchizedek that blessed abraham that makes abraham subordinate to melchizedek as the lesser always gives ties to the greater who in turn blesses the lesser and here men that die receive tithes but there he receiveth them of whom it is witness that he liveth he that liveth means of course jesus christ men that die receive tithes means levi he died and so did his descendants who also serve that office by the way this verse also implies that melchizedek himself personally didn't die it's not recorded because that would break the model but he obviously didn't live forever that's the point okay as i may say levi also who receiveth tithes prayed paid tithes into abraham and he was yet in the loins of his father when melchizedek met him so that's basically the same thing reiterated understand in the old and new testament the word father can mean grant it doesn't mean a direct ascendant it can be grandfather it can be great grant the same term is used a grandfather would be called father a great great great great brother is a father it's a it's we use the term descendant to be ambiguous so-and-so descended from so and so you don't know if it was immediate or 10 generations later you follow me well it works the other way too the language doesn't have a word for they don't have the word like we have in english grandfather and so forth there's no exact word so the word father does not mean a direct son but simply a a a predecessor if there are four perfections were by the levitical priesthood so you're going to point out the levitica priesthood is imperfect this is the main thing the writer is going to get across very delicate subject to a jewish mind if therefore perfection were by the levitical priesthood for under it the people received the law what further need was there that another priesthood arise after the melchizedek and not be called after the order aaron in other words if the levitical priesthood was adequate why would there be another one see why should another priest rise after okay understand the link between the levitical priesthood and the law they go together they go together and here he's referring when he says the law referring to the torah the five books of moses he's saying that if perfection were possible by the levitical priesthood what further need would there be for a priest after this earlier order the order of melchizedek see psalm 110 says promising christ you're going to be a priest after the order of melchizedek why is it under aaron because aaron's imperfect this one's perfect that's the whole point the aaronic priesthood is superseded and it's a very delicate subject which runs the risk of offending jewish believers he's going to highlight and point out that the levitical priesthood was imperfect incomplete and temporary and destined to be superseded it never gave redemption and acceptance before god to the people and that's exactly what jesus christ did he not only fulfilled but he also superseded the levitical priesthood that's the that's the key point that this writer is approaching somewhat delicately because he's built and it's interesting all the way through here the writer is not arguing from any point of authority his only authority is the text itself his entire case is being built out of the old testament because he's dealing with a jewish mind yes i believe it is paul but he's not writing in this apostle authoritatively he's leading them to understand what their own scriptures that they already accept imply that's a key point for the priesthood being changed there is made of necessity a change also of the law wow the torah has changed see the mosaic law belongs to the aaronic priesthood where they offered bloody sacrifices the mosaic law and the aaronic priesthood go together they're linked we are not under the mosaic law that's a tough thing for many people to swallow for he of whom these things are spoken pertains to another tribe of which no man gave attendance at the altar and what is he done levi was the only tribe that represented the people before the altar of god kings and priests were separate under the levitical tribal system melchizedek was not of any specific tribe and from this point of view neither is christ except he's from the tribe jude of course he of whom these things are spoken refers to jesus christ he was a tribe of judah the royal line and of course the jewish mind that's a contradiction royal versus priesthood they're always supposed to be separate in the jewish mind that's what he's trying to get a crawl over here for his evidence that our lord sprang out of judah of which tribe moses spake nothing concerning the priesthood the erotic priesthood was required and in numbers 16 and 17 and it's all uh uh dealt with a uh descendant of aaron would serve from age 25 to 55 and then he's replaced and many were just disqualified for lack of proof when he got back from babylon and ezra 2 and nehemiah 7 that is a big issue where it is yet more evident that for that after the militant of melchizedek there rises another priest not melchizedek but one modeled after that if you will the model or if he's dealing by an analogy here and there arises another priest now the word another in the greek see when in the english if if somebody says give me another pencil there's something i don't know about that sentence do i want one exactly the same or one of a different kind in the greek i've got two words i've got the word heteros or alos if i ask if i use the word aloes that means i want a pencil exactly like the one i just broke if i say heteros that means i want a different kind give me a red one or a green one or something follow me in the greek when i ask for another i can tell from the language whether it's another the same or another that's different give me another one when i say when i i would when i say it that way no i don't want that one i want a different kind i don't want chicken eggs i want goose eggs or something well here the word in the greek is not ambiguous the word is heteros that it's another of a different kind not another of the same kind okay there arise another priest a priest of a different kind and so this shows that the old priesthood was temporary it was evident by what is spelled out in the preceding verses and is yet far more evident that for that after the similitude of uh mechasic arises another priest who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment but after the power of an endless life wow see the law is still carnal it's fleshly the law you can't keep it's just there to show you that you can't keep it that's what the book of romans is all about but rather we're rather after that rather than the current law of a carnal commandment we're after the power of an endless life wow and this is this is a way of pointing out that the law of god that god gave after the flesh ordained the levitical priesthood and its succession by genealogy linked together olverson the old was based on the law which was outward the new is based on inward power and his inward the old system meant that man was a priest only because his father was a priest now you know if you were born as a descendant of aaron you were eligible to be a priest and that resulted in some pretty dismal priests there some some really some really bad news and uh remember aaron aaron himself made a golden calf when pressured right and of course eli's sons they were priests but they were full of gluttony and immorality and what have you first samuel 2 and so on now this one had been made the greek perfect tense emphasized the abiding nature he's been made a priest and continues he has been and forever will be is the point is the thought in the case of jesus the basis was according to the power of an endless life jesus became a priest after his resurrection and by virtue of his resurrection he lives forever so he's never to be replaced in contrast to aaron and the writer suggesting that's all modeled in a sense from melchizedek for thou art a priest forever after the order of melchizedek that's quoting psalm 110 verse 4 emphasizing two things the eternality eternality of the priesthood you're a priest forever it never stops and also the character who preached after the order of melchizedek and so this was a prophecy given under mosaic law because it's part of the old testament it's part of the for there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and profitable and profitableness thereof this verse verse 18 is a toughy in terms of the jewish mind disannoying there is verily a disannuling of the commandment going before the word disannulling in the in the hebrew in the greek excuse me is athena thesis means to abolish the only other place it appears is in hebrews 9 verse 26 where talks about putting away sin forever abolishing sin there's a very strong term there's very a disallowing of what the commandment going before christ's death put away the law for two reasons this and all the law because the weakness the law could not impart strength to justification the law cannot impart strength nor justification that's what the book of romans is all about the second thing is the unprofitableness thereof the law could not impart life the best you could do is show you where you fail not how to succeed thus the priesthood that is after the law can only be temporary it's destined therefore to be replaced to be superseded and that superseding of it is what we have in hand with jesus christ as our high priest the law has been disannulled boy that's a heavy topic but this is a clear statement in the text that the law has been put away this was essential for jesus to function in his new priesthood if the law were still in effect he could not be a priest he could be a priest only because the law has been put away because he went from the tribe of levi he wasn't qualified he said follow me he is again making the point that the law itself didn't perfect anything it simply shows us the need for a savior and that's what romans 5 6 and 7 is all about for the law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did by the which we draw nigh unto god that's the goal the law didn't bring you to god it shows you the need for a savior the law of moses is a terrifying picture of a god that requires righteousness as you study your bible and understand god you understand he's a righteous god that's important to understand his perfection but it's scary if you really understand it it does not draw you to the holy god and by the way what drew moses was a burning bush that was not consumed the bush was a thorn bush of the desert a symptom of sin but it was burning but not consumed that fascinated him so he went up there to find out what's about it was it's a model of grace being being judged but not consumed it's always grace that attracts not righteousness you need to know the righteousness there but what attracts you is his grace it does not draw you near to or nigh to a holy god only god can fulfill the law and provide you with the righteousness which allows you to be in the presence of a holy god nothing less than the death of god himself availed to pay the price to allow you access and presence to him jesus indeed contrary to our neuronic priest he draws us near to god through his love we draw an ear and by his righteousness we can be near god okay it as much as not without an oath he was made a priest though if those priests were made without an oath but this with an oath by him that said on him the lord swear and will not repent thou art a priest forever after the order of melchizedek a levitical priest became a priest by genealogy period there was no oath involved from melchizedek as testified in psalm 110 verse 4 god swore an oath and will not repent thou art a priest forever after so he's it's done by an oath of god which means there's no repentance no changing god lord swear and will not repent will not change his mind the levitical priesthood was not set up with an oath that was genealogical the melchizedek priesthood was unique in that it was by divine oath as psalm 110 for nails it down and those things that are sworn become permanent and unchangeable that's a common thread throughout this epistle that will that explains the enigma of hebrews 6 and the impossibility of repentance there and um it continues to be a thread here by so much was jesus made a surety of a better testament okay the word surety there is a principle i think you've heard me allude to that we people call the law of first mention we discover by studying the bible the first time a concept emerges is usually very significant the word surety what does that mean it's like a bondsman a sponsor someone who gives himself as security is what a surety is here the law first mentioned this concept of surety first emerges when judah proposed that he may be made a surety for the return of his brothers remember in genesis 43 and and judah proposes that he's a surety that's where the term first comes up like a security deposit the tribe which is thus represented here is judah our security yours and mine is in the lion of the tribe of judah because he's standing in our stead and this is not a coincidence every detail the scripture i maintain is there by design the fact that surety first emerges as a concept happens to be tied to the tribe of judah because that's the way that's the critical surety for you and i the same concept of surety you can also see in paul's epistle to philemon about anessimus there are no way slave in all of that where paul offers to be a surety for him the covenant with adam did not have a surety but the covenant with israel did big difference by so much was jesus made a surety of a better testament same verse but let's focus on this word testament the athletically is a covenant sometimes rendered testament the covenant is probably the better term in some respects but testament implies it's unilateral because usually a last will the beneficiary doesn't participate it's a one-way thing but in that sense it's a testament but the word covenant captures the commitment probably a little more clearly this is the first a total of 17 times that this word is used in this epistle alone so it's an important word it's used a total of 33 times the entire new testament and of course half of them here in in this epistle the security of the new covenant we're going to talk more about that in the next session is jesus christ himself he ministers in a superior sanctuary by a better covenant and built upon better promises and that's a summary of hebrews 8 9 and 10 that we'll see coming along here and they truly were many priests because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death but this man because he contains forever hath an unchangeable priesthood see a levitical priest could only he's going to die first of all in fact he was he was out of business at 50 but even so he would die he had to be replaced this man because he lives forever will never be changed it's an unchangeable priesthood and so the other mortal and died they had to be continuous it replaced as unchangeable which uh the very specific greek word means does not pass from one to another in that sense ironic verse milk is it what's the difference between aaron and that's just this is a summary slide it's law versus power the law restrains power enables the it's a command an external commandment verse life internal carnal flesh verse endless eternal life changing versus unchanging weakness and profitableness versus being near to god one is nothing is completed or perfected versus one that gives us a better hope that's a quick contrast between the two now this is a key verse some would argue the key verse of the chapter for sure wherefore he who's the he jesus wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto god by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them one of the most exciting facts you need to be conscious of moment by moment day by day is that while we sit here jesus's full-time job is to be praying for you before the father wow that's access that's prayer power in this ultimate and when it says save to the outermost it doesn't mean he's going to save everybody no the ones he's praying for he's praying for everything for them the uttermost is to the one he's praying for the the word is completely perfectly utterly say them to the animals these words intend to exclude nothing there is no condition or situation that you may be facing that is not included in his prayer life wow i don't think we have any concept of how important that is in our day-to-day walk how often he's praying for you for needs you didn't even know you had wow uttermost that come unto god by him and this is the only condition see that uttermost isn't for everybody it's for that come to god by him that's the condition that they come unto god by jesus that's pretty narrow point of view yes it is but that is what the scripture says all through it there's no other name on given among men by which you should be saved he said i am the truth away in life no man cometh on the father but by me those are his exclamations now he's able to bring them to god by making intercession for them and that's amplified in romans 5 and first john 1 elsewhere ever liveth to making that's his purpose in life the basis of our eternal security is that he can save forever because his priesthood is forever blast breathtaking that's breathtaking for such a high priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens wow that's a mouthful spotless priest he's holy that's his personal purity he's not capable of sinning his relationship is godward could christ sin absolutely not he's incapable of it he is guileless he's without evil in his thought life he was innocent and harmless in his relationship man word the first one is god word that's the holiness second one he's guileless that's man word this one is undefiled he's unstained his relationship is sin word and refers to his moral purity in contrast to the ritual purity of the levitical priests which were rituals only no this is real substance he's separate from sinners and he's made higher than the heavens that's what's all embodied in the priest that you and i have the benefit of boy what a priest we have who neeth not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice first for their own sins and then for the peoples for he did this once when he offered up himself see the levitical priests when they were duty on duty the first thing they had to do was put up a sacrifice for themselves to get cleansed ritually then they could offer sacrifice for others that was the procedure it's a ritual not christ because he offered himself personally once and for all and for that reason he he that that ends it this he did once very important concept now the sequence you know one of the tasks of the levitical priest would offer sacrifices they first did for themselves so they were ritually cleansed and then then they could represent the people and so forth there were men sinners still in the need of sacrifice for their sins they were still sinners these priests were the writers contrasting the lyrical priest with a high priest who didn't have to offer a sacrifice for himself why because he's free from sin and in fact he offered himself that was the offering on the cross for us now he's able to provide for us this very moment because where is he right now by the way he's sitting at the right hand of the father right do you realize that in the tabernacle there were no chairs the priests never sat they were always standing okay and there were seven pieces of furniture in the tabernacle we'll study in another session or two but uh there are no chairs no place to sit down if they tried they were always working he is sitting where on his father's throne i think that's pretty good access right for the law maketh the men high priests which have infirmity but the word of the oath which was since the law maketh the son who has consecrated forevermore especially jesus above and superseded the the i think you may think he's overkilling this but if you go through leviticus 8 9 and read about priests then come to this you realize he has superseded all of that and there could be a priest they'd be born into it and even in its own way the aaronic priesthood points to jesus even though he wasn't a high person levitical system it still points to priesthood in another sense and see the concept of geniality had to be a heir to be a priest he had to be ancestral aaron but the high priests were washed anointed the concept of water the word were linked up there in a repetitive washing you and i are washed in his blood once and for all judiciously at the cross but we're washed practically daily continually by the water of the word there's two different concepts of washing here and all the details of the priests were symbolic they were clothed in white garments so is christ in revelation they were made a sin offering and took the blood to put on the right ear in other words what they heard the right thumb that is what they did and the right foot where they went that was the ritual with the levitical priests they were anointed with sacred oil the holy spirit the world which was used was incredibly expensive all that is symbolic of christ so even in its own way the literature priesthood is predict everything in the scripture in one way another is predictive of jesus christ the offerings themselves may shock you to realize that the levitical sacrifice did not start with the law of moses we always assume they did because they were ceremonialized under the law of moses in the torah remember that when abram was told to offer isaac in genesis 22 the ultimate akida that was before the book of exodus that's in genesis 22. even the story of cain and abel is really about sacrifices but it really all starts back in genesis 3 when adam and eve tried to cover themselves with coats of skin god covered them teaching them that by the shedding of innocent blood they'd be covered that concept that redemptive concept is introduced in verse 21 of chapter three and of course echoes all the way through long before the law of moses see the animal sacrifices that populate all these rituals don't really pay for sin they are a model or a foreshadowing of jesus christ the only one that could pay for sin so there are a lot of different offerings burnt offering meal offering i won't go through all those details now i encourage you to study them out there's also a sin offering and of course how do these things differ well the first three are voluntary a sweet savor their offerings to god the last two are non-sweet savers that's for us for our sin our trespasses the other ones are celebrating what god has done the last two are pointing to uh our need for redemption and the burnt offering had a special name and it points to christ which god makes his soul an offering for our sin this followed by a meat offering really it's unusual and for unfortunate old english term to call it meat it really means strong food it's really they were really grain the meat offers were grain actually and an ablation form they were a form of thanksgiving peace offering was also like a banquet or celebration kind of thing the senate trespasser rings were specific of course the most strangest one is the passover which is a non-levitical because the high priest didn't do it the head of the family did so it's it's interesting one to study for a lot of other reasons all pointing to christ by the way but in fact the passover season is all about that so the literal priests were taken from men they were publicly official they gave gifts and sacrifices before the throne they were not exempt from their own infirmities they were not self-appointed they were chosen approved but by god christ is our high priest he's one of the exceptional servants he's there's the son of god not just the son of man he's without sin unique in that aspect and his his order being after the order melchizedek is higher than that of the levitical order bar none and so he had the most solemn form of ordination possible the oath of god himself is recorded in psalm 110. so the excellency of a sacrifice he offered himself there isn't any bigger sacrifice than that every dimension of the priesthood he is the ultimate expression of the perfection of his administration he accomplished what others could just hint at his office is perpetual it isn't transferable and it will never expire praise god that's an introduction what i want you to do for next time is to review chapter eight which is going to talk about a better covenant we have a better priest let's take a look at the covenant this is where the new testament gets its name the new testament is the new covenant what's that all about it's more than just jeremiah 31 we'll get into that next time let's stand for a closing word of prayer

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Published: Thu Oct 15 2020