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Hope as an Anchor: God’s Promise, Our Assurance, and Christ Our High Priest · Wetumpka Church of Christ Online

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Everett, I didn't even say anything.
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I think there's something in
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Revelation. Yeah, we're not going to get
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that much hope. Everybody had a good week last
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week. We are at about the midway point
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of our study through the book of Hebrews.
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And so given that, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that
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we're at about the midway point of the Book of Hebrews.
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So we are, if you haven't already turned there.
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We are in Hebrews chapter 6 this morning.
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We will be making our way through the the last section of
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chapter 6 and then into Chapter 7, and hopefully we'll get
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through most of Chapter 7 today, even if we don't get through the
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entirety of it, which is fine because in my plan, chapter 8
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was next week anyway and it's a short chapter, so we can throw a
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little bit extra in there and we'll be fine.
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We've got a lot of territory to cover today.
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We've got a lot of things to discuss today in this section.
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We're going to pick up in verse 13 and go through the end of
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chapter 6. But I want to just make mention
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of one thing before we get started.
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And that is part of the reason why I wanted you to go through
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and do the weekly readings through the book of Hebrews is
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so that once we got to these sections, we weren't necessarily
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doing a lot of of backtracking to introduce things or to
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reintroduce things. Because of the fact that there
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is so much to discuss and so much to cover.
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We hopefully are at the point where those first four or five
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chapters, we're now really familiar with them and we know
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exactly where we are in our study of the book of Hebrews.
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We are going to back up and look at just a couple of things as we
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kind of lay the foundation for what we're going to discuss
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today. Chapter 5 begins this discussion
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of Jesus as the high Priest and in the 1st 11 verses of chapter
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5 you have him talking about Jesus as the High priest.
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He did not glorify himself. He what did not place himself
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there, the Father put Him there, that He is the one who is able
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to do all of these things that the high priest does, but
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without the weaknesses of the high priest.
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And that's going to be discussed again as we talk about Chapter 7
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today. But then you have the statement
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that is made in verse 11 and in verse 11, he says, of whom we
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have much to say and hard to explain since you have become
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dull of hearing that. There's two passages that I want
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you to kind of underline in your minds.
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If you write in your Bibles, you can circle them, underline them,
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star them, put bright flashy signals next to them, whatever
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it is that works for you. As we lead into our discussion
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today. The first one of these is verse
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11 of chapter 5 because he says we have much to say and hard to
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explain when most people get to the latter section of chapter 6
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and the entirety of Chapter 7. For most people, it is the most
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confusing part of the book of Hebrews.
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I wouldn't say it's the most misunderstood.
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I think that's probably chapters 9 and 10.
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But this is the most confusing to people because it's so far
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outside the bandwidth of what we commonly think about or discuss
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in our terms when it comes to the things that are discussed in
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the book of Hebrews. So he states in verse 11, there
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are things that we need to talk to you about that are hard to
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explain. Now notice the qualification
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that he puts there. He doesn't say they're hard to
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understand. He says they're hard to explain
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because of your mindset, because you're dull of hearing right
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now. You're not really listening.
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And so we've got to be even more careful about what we say and
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how we say it to say it the right way, so to speak.
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The second verse that I want you to kind of underline in our
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discussion today is down in chapter 6, as we talked about at
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the close of our class last week.
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And it is chapter 6, verse 10 where he says for God is not
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unjust to forget your work and labor of love, which you have
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shown toward his name in that you have ministered to the
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Saints and do minister. We emphasized last week the fact
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that the writer here and the speaker hears talks about the
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fact that God is not unjust to forget.
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He doesn't, He doesn't go around just forgetting all the good
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that has been done. He says for all the things that
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you've done in ministering to the Saints and the fact that you
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do minister, you've not quit. We emphasized this last week.
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They've not quit. They've not given up.
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They've not walked away. They're struggling.
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They're trying to make determinations as to what it is
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that they need to do and how they need to do it.
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The rest of chapter 6 is going to be an emphasis based on this
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point that God is not unjust, that God is going to remember,
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that God remembers the promises that he's made and he's going to
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keep them. Chapter 7 is going to hearken
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back to these areas of things that are difficult to explain
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back in chapter 5, verse 11. But I want you to have those two
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key phrases or the contextual phrases for what we're going to
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talk about this morning. Chapter 6 is going to pick up.
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Remember, we've he's talked about the fact that they can't
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quit, they can't give up. You can't turn back.
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You have to be those who leave the elementary principles and
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that you move forward toward a stronger faith and laying a
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greater foundation for faith. And so he says beginning in
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verse 13. For when God made a promise to
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Abraham, because he could swear by no one greater, he swore by
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himself, saying, surely blessing, I will bless you, and
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multiplying I will multiply you. And so after he had patiently
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endured, he obtained the promise.
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For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for
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confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.
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Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of
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promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an
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oath. That by two immutable things in
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which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong
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consolation who have fled to lay refuge or lay hold of the hope
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set before us. This hope we have as an anchor
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of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the
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presence behind the veil where the forerunner has entered for
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us, even Jesus having become high priest forever according to
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the Order of Melchizedek. When you read this section, what
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do most people get out of it? God doesn't lie, all right?
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God doesn't lie. What's the second thing that
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most people pull out of this section?
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A lot of people just get confused about the Order of
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Melchizedek. All right, Which then goes into
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the discussion of Chapter 7. There's one other phrase that
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usually people will pull out of this section of scripture.
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Hope. Hope as the anchor of the soul.
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You know we have an anchor, right?
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The old song comes from this particular passage, but I want
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you to see and and we're not going to spend 30 minutes here
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this morning, but I want you to see the emphasis of what he's
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saying. Going back to verse 10, God is
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not unjust that he is going to forget what you've done, but
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he's also not unjust to forget the promises that he made.
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And that's the emphasis of verses 13 through 20.
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God doesn't forget what He promised and God is not unjust
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that He will not fulfill His promise.
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Well, what promise is being discussed?
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Notice again verses 11 and 12. We desire or actually I'm sorry,
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back up to verse 9. But beloved, we are confident of
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better things concerning you. Yes, we things that accompany
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salvation, though we speak in this manner.
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What's he talking about? He's talking about salvation.
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He's talking about what it is that brings us to the point of
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being saved before God. Remember, they're in danger of
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walking away. They're in danger of quitting
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and giving up. The writer here says, I don't
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want you to think that God will not save you or that God doesn't
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want to save you or that the fact that you are doubting and
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that you are struggling in this particular area means that God
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is going to give up on you. He says we are confident of
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better things concerning you. You're better than this.
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But he also says that these things that accompany salvation.
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God is not unjust to forget your work and your labor.
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So verse 13, he says for when God made a promise, underline
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that word promise because that's that's the first key to this
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particular section. When God made a promise to
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Abraham. Remember, these are Jewish
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Christians. So the relationship with Abraham
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is everything as a Jew, right? It's the foundation of
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everything that you've believed in and trusted in when it comes
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to your relationship with God. When God made a promise to
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Abraham because he could swear by no one greater, he swore by
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himself saying, surely blessing I will bless you and multiplying
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I will multiply you. This statement from verse 14 is
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from Genesis chapter 22, verse 17.
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It comes on the heels of Abraham's faith being shown
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through his willingness to sacrifice Isaac.
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He could swear by no one greater, so he swore by himself,
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saying, surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I
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will multiply you. And so verse 15, after Abraham
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had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
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Did God keep his promise to Abraham?
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Yes, he did. He kept the promise that he made
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in Genesis chapter 13. He kept the promise that he made
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in Genesis chapter 15. He kept the promise that he made
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in Genesis chapter 17. You kept the promise that he
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made in Genesis chapter 22. In every instance where God made
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a promise to Abraham, he kept it.
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He says for men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for
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confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.
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There's the second word that is the key to this section, the
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oath. So you have the promise
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discussed in verse 13. You have the oath that is first
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mentioned in verse 16. Now, what is an oath?
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OK, but we've already talked about the promise.
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These are these are distinctive ideas, not necessarily parallel.
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All right, So the oath, the oath is the seal.
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It's the guarantee that whatever it is that has been promised is
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going to be delivered. As a matter of fact, he says in
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verse 16, for men indeed swear by the greater and an oath for
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confirmation is to them an end of all dispute.
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You remember how it used to be back in the good old days, in
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the days before we had to have a 40 page contract for every
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discussion that was had in order to sign it 15,000 times to give
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our agreement that we're actually going to do what we
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said we were going to do? How did it used to be sealed?
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The handshake was good enough. That was that was your oath.
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That was your ceiling of the promise that you made that I'm
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going to pay this money, I'm going to do this job.
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I'm going to be at this location at this particular time.
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That was the ceiling binding agreement between the two.
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The oath for confirmation is to them an end of all dispute.
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Both sides have agreed and the promise has been made.
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It will be kept. Now notice what he says in verse
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17. Thus God determining to show
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more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability.
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By the way, the word immutability in the new King
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James is used here a couple of different times.
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We don't usually use that word in our day-to-day vocabulary.
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Make it unchangeable in your mind that that that's what it's
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saying is, is it's not subject to change.
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It's not subject to being revised or amended or otherwise
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dissolved just at a moment's notice.
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So thus God determined to determining to show more
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abundantly to the heirs of promise the unchangeability of
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his counsel confirmed it by an oath question.
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Who are the heirs of promise? We are.
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Remember, he's talking to Christians about salvation, and
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he's reminding them through the illustration of the promise that
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he made to Abraham that God has also made promises to you.
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He made that promise of salvation.
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He gave that promise that there is eternal life waiting on the
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other side of this life. And so, being determined to show
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more abundantly to the heirs of promise the unchangeability of
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his counsel, he confirmed it by an oath.
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What was the oath? What sealed that promise?
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The blood of Christ. He's going to go in detail about
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this in Chapter 9. The oath by God to us for what
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his promises are is the blood of Jesus.
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So that verse 18 So that by two unchangeable things in which it
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is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation
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who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
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He gave us a promise of eternal salvation, and he sealed that
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promise. That oath that was given was
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bound by the blood that Jesus shed to put that promise in
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place. What stronger oath, what
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stronger promise, what stronger seal could God put in place than
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the blood of His only begotten Son?
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And if that's not strong enough of an oath of what God intends
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to do for us, there's nothing God can do to help us because
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it's not going to matter what God says or does.
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We're not going to be willing to be obedient.
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And so he says that by two unchangeable things.
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Guess what? God can't come back later and
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say, you know what? I've changed the terms of the
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contract. Faithfulness is no longer
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sufficient. You're going to have to have
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faithfulness. And this, Nope, can't go through
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and do that. Not going to go through and do
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that. But also the fact that the blood
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has already been shed means it's bound and it can't be changed
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either, and it won't be changed. Those two unchangeable things
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were laid forth by God in which it is impossible for him to lie.
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So that we who's the we Christians?
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So that Christians might have strong consolation who have fled
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for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
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You want to know what one of the most frustrating things for a
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preacher to deal with is? To have those who are Christians
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and have been Christians for a long time who act as though
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there is no certainty that God's promise is going to be fulfilled
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in their life, that God is actually going to be true to it.
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Now, they don't normally formulate it that way.
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They don't. They don't normally say, you
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know what? I don't know if God's going to
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hold up his part. Usually it comes out in a form
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of I don't know if I'm good enough.
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I don't know if God's actually going to take away all of these
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things or or if I've done enough bad things in my life.
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If I've made so many mistakes or if I keep making the same
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mistake over and over again. No matter how hard I try, God's
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just going to get tired of me. We've got to remember, God
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doesn't place everything on us. Does God know that we're not
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going to be perfect? Yes, he does.
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Does God know that even in spite of our best efforts, we're going
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to fail at times? Yes, He does.
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But the question for us is what are we going to do when that
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happens? Do we quit?
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Do we give up? Do we ignore it?
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Do we pretend we didn't do it? Do we lie about it?
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Do we make excuses for it or do we repent and do we fix it and
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do we move on? God is faithful.
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God made a promise. He sealed it with an oath
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through the blood of Christ. And the whole point of this
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section is if we stay true to Him, if we keep trying, if we
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keep working, if we keep putting forth every effort to be
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faithful to him, he has laid out this promise and this oath to
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give us a strong consolation that we're where we need to be.
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This hope, he says, verse 19, we have as an anchor of the soul,
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both sure and steadfast. What hope?
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Not the hope that maybe someday, hopefully, if I haven't done too
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much and I haven't gone too far and I haven't failed too many
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times, God might give me a just a crack of an opening to be able
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to get in. That's not hope, That's wishful
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thinking. Hope is a confident expectation.
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That's the biblical definition of hope, that as we walk through
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this life, we know what we're doing to seek to serve God.
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We know that we are making every effort to be what God wants us
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to be. And I mean this with all
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sincerity. And God help us, we're going to
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fail, but he's going to be there.
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This hope, this confident expectation we have as an anchor
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to the soul that keeps us next to God no matter what.
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Sure and steadfast. Because God made a promise, and
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he sealed it with the oath of the blood of Christ.
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When we became Christians, we made a promise, did we not?
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I made a promise that I was going to serve God for the rest
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of my life, no matter what. Did I seal that promise with an
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oath? From the biblical definition,
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you sealed it with baptism. I sealed it with baptism, by
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which I told God the old man is done away.
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I'm living a new life. I've sealed my oath to God by
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means of that same burial, death, burial and resurrection
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so that my sins might be washed away.
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You see, it's not just a promise and an oath on one side.
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It's a promise and an oath on both sides.
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They meet as that handshake in the middle.
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Everett. Well, I'm just thinking we break
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that oath so many times, but yet God's grace allows us to
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continue to maintain, you know, it just it just reseals that
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dedication to that oath back back to him again.
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I do understand what you're saying.
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I'm going to word it just a little bit differently because
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I, I want us to understand falling short of perfection is
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not breaking the oath. It's not breaking our promise to
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God. The only way we break our
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promise to God is if I quit trying to do what's right, if I
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fail, if I fall short, if I commit a sin and I realize that
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I've committed that sin. And I immediately strive to do
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what I can to change it and to make it right and, and to do my
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best to, to make amends for what I have done, whether it's in
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something that I've said or some action that I've undertaken.
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Guess what? I haven't failed in my promise.
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I, I, I have fallen short of what I need to be and what I
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want to be. But does God still see me as
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faithful? Yes, one of the beauties of all
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of the things in the Old Testament and all of the things
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that God shows us, whether it's in the life of Peter or in the
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life of the disciples and and so on and so forth.
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Or whether you're talking about the life of David in the Old
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Testament or Abraham in the Old Testament, is that God still
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considered those people faithful to be his servants, to be his
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friends, to be those that he had a close association with.
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Even when they fell short because they never turned their
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back on God and they never treated God as though he was
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just supposed to accept what they've done and be OK with it.
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That's when we fail is when we treat God like the promise we
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made to Him is not nearly as important as the promise He made
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to us, I find. It interesting that, you know,
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he goes back to Abraham, who obviously, you know, that's what
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their whole basis is on, but he doesn't mention Abraham and
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trying to help that promise along.
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And you know, they have to know this, you know, and in the back
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of my mind, it's the same with us, you know, OK, God, I believe
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your promise. But hey, where is it?
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Where where's the good life? Where's the good things?
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And I think that's where they they probably are struggling.
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Also sure, which is why the things that God promised, the
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salvation that God promises, is sealed in that way.
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What you're describing is obedience.
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Yes, Obedience is not perfection and and flawless adherence to
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the Jew. Obedience is.
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I keep trying, I keep picking up, I keep learning and take
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that particular because you're exactly right.
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Now take that thought. And this was one of the other
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things I wanted to do before we moved on.
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If you write in your Bible, I want you to take your pen and
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here at the end of chapter 6, I want you to write in Chapter 11
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Hebrews 11 because the epitome of the proof for this is going
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to be that hall of faith, right? Every single person that he
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mentions is there is is imperfect.
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They were flawed, they they failed, they fell short, but yet
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every single one of them in there is called faithful by God
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because they retained their confidence in the promises of
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God and were obedient. This hope we have as an anchor
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of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the
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presence behind the veil. In other words, the presence of
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God. Old Testament terminology behind
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the veil meaning into the very presence of God behind the
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curtain where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus
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having become high priest forever according to the order
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of Melchizedek. By the way, there is a term used
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here in verse 20 that is not used anywhere else in Scripture.
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But I find it to be a fascinating term and I know we
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don't have a lot of time to to dwell on it, but I want to point
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you to it right now. When we think of a forerunner,
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who do we think of John as the forerunner of Jesus?
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Do you recognize that every single one of us has a
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forerunner? Verse 20 says Jesus is the
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forerunner who has entered the presence of God for us, having
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become the high priest forever according to the order of
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Melchizedek. Anybody remember John chapter
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14, verses one through 3? What does he tell the disciples
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on the night that he's about to be betrayed?
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I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
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for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
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where I am, there you may be also by definition.
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What does he say? I'm going to be the forerunner.
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John came to pave the way for me.
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I'm going to pave the way for you.
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Have you ever thought of Jesus in those terms?
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That's exactly what is described here in verse 20, that Jesus has
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gone into the presence of God as our high priest to make the way
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to pave the way for us. He is our forerunner.
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He goes ahead to prepare the way.
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Now, for the third time in the last two chapters, we have this
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statement of Jesus being high priest forever according to the
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order of Melchizedek. So with 15 minutes left in class
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this morning, we're going to dive into Chapter 7 and we'll
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see how far we get. But as you come into Chapter 7,
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this is the this is considered by most people to be the most
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confusing chapter in the book of Hebrews, and there's a reason
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for that. The reason for that is you are
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not 1st century Jewish Christians, but you have to
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think like 1st century Jewish Christians for it to really make
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sense. Three times in chapters 5 and 6,
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the the speaker or writer of the book of Hebrews has said he is a
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priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek or a high
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priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
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We've talked about already that Chapter 7 is kind of the second
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rabbit chase that he's going to make.
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And this goes back to that statement in chapter 5, verse 11
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of things that are hard to explain.
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So understand it's going to be as hard for those 1st century
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Christians to grab hold and run with it as it is for us
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sometimes. But there's one key identifier
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that I want you to hold on to as we enter into Chapter 7 that I
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think helps more than anything else in understanding what it is
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that he's talking about. And that is the fact that these
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Jewish Christians run everything from the standpoint of their
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Jewish heritage. They run everything back to the
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Law of Moses and the priesthood of Aaron.
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The writer of the book of Hebrews is telling them Jesus
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priesthood doesn't reach back to the Old Testament, it reaches
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back before the Old Testament was in place.
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The comparison of who Jesus is as our High Priest goes back
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beyond the old covenant to a time in the days of Abraham
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before the law of Moses even existed.
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So what are we talking about with this Melchizedek Chapter 7
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verse one says for this Melchizedek, king of Salem,
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priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham, returning from the
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slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also
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Abraham gave a tenth part of all.
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First being translated king of righteousness, and then also
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king of Salem, meaning King of peace, without father, without
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mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days
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nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest
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continually. The introduction to Melchizedek
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is this. For the Jew, heritage is
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everything. Being able to tell what tribe
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you were from, who your daddy and your granddaddy and your
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great granddaddy was. Why do you think we have the
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genealogies of Jesus in Matthew chapter 1 and in Luke chapter 3?
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It is because to the Jew, genealogy is everything.
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Especially for Matthew's genealogy, because it's the
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genealogy of a king. You know how much we know about
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Melchizedek coming into Hebrews Chapter 7?
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There are exactly 3 verses in the Old Testament that tell you
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about Melchizedek. Those are Genesis chapter 14,
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verses 18 through 20. That's it.
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And the entirety of The thing is, as is stated here in Chapter
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7 verses one through 4, when Abraham came back from defeating
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the kings and retrieving Lot and bringing him back, he brings
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back all of those that were taken and all of the possessions
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and everything else, and he brings them back and he meets
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the king of Sodom. And at the same time that he
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meets the king of Sodom, with the king of Sodom is the king of
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Salem. Now we know Salem by a different
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name. Today it is Jerusalem.
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Melchizedek is the king of the ancient Jerusalem, but is he
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just a king? He is a king and he is the High
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Priest of the Most High God. I think one of the biggest
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mistakes that we make when looking at the Old Testament is
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we look at the Old Testament and think that it tells us about
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every righteous person that ever lived.
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It's a snapshot with a focus of the things that God finds
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important for us to know about why we came to this place and
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what God did in laying the foundation for Jesus.
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There have been unquantified millions of believers and
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faithful servants of God during the days of the Old Testament
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that were never written about in that book.
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Doesn't mean they weren't faithful.
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Doesn't mean God didn't love them and God didn't care about
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them. They weren't pertinent to the
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story. That's OK.
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They're just as equally saved and faithful in the sight of
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God. You have the statement that's
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made in verse three that this king of Salem was without
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father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither
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beginning of days nor end of life.
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Now, there are many that take this statement and they say that
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he was some kind of miraculous being who wasn't actually a man
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at all. He was like Jesus.
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Well, number one, that's not like Jesus, but #2 think about
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it from the Jewish mindset and how important heritage and being
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able to prove your heritage is. What was the name of
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Melchizedek's father? What about his mother?
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When did was he born? When did he die?
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None of those things are known. None of those things were known
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by anybody to whom the book of Hebrews was originally written
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either. And you know what?
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It didn't matter because what mattered in Genesis chapter 14
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was not who Melchizedek was from the standpoint of his heritage,
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but who he was based upon his role and his responsibilities.
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He was the king of Salem and he was the high priest of the Most
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High God. That's all that mattered.
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What matters when it comes to Jesus?
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He is head over his church and he is our high priest.
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Now he is also a Jew, and under the Old Testament, and this is
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where things are going to start to be discussed in more detail.
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Under the Old Testament, was Jesus able to be a service of
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priests? Why not from tribe of Levi?
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OK, priests come from the tribe of Levi, but even more stringent
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than that, they have to come from the family of Aaron.
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Well, what tribe did Jesus come from?
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Judah. What family?
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What lineage? David, neither of those have
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anything to do with priesthood. As a matter of fact, that's what
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we're going to read in just a moment.
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So how does Jesus get to be the high priest?
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Because according to the old law, he's not eligible.
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It would be against the law. All right, that goes back to
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chapter 5. But let's go through and see the
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argument that he gives. And you're exactly right.
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God is the one who appoints him. But here's the key as we move
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forward. He's not appointed under the old
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law. Notice what he says, verse 4.
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Now consider how great this man was, Speaking of Melchizedek, to
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whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.
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Who's held in the highest regard among the Jews?
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Abraham, he's at the pinnacle of everybody as far as men are
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concerned. Well, guess what Abraham did?
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Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek.
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You know what that means, all right?
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He treated Melchizedek as greater than him.
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And indeed, those who are the sons of Levi, verse five, who
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received the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes
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from the people, according to the law, that is, from their
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brethren, Though they have come from the loins of Abraham, but
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he whose genealogy is not derived from them received
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tithes from Abraham, and blessed him who had the promises.
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Now, beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the
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better. Here mortal men receive tithes,
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but there he receives them, of whom it is witness that he
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lives. Even Levi, who receives tithes,
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paid ties through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the
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loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
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Confusing terminology here, but let's walk through it real
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quick. What he says is the did the
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priest receive tithes from the people?
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Yes, as part of their responsibilities as the priests
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of God, That was part of what the law said they were supposed
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to do. Abraham gives tithes to
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Melchizedek, and Melchizedek does something that is done
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generally by a priest, receives bless or gives blessings to
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Abraham in return. Excuse me?
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As a matter of fact, you turn back to Genesis chapter 14 and
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the statement made by Melchizedek in verse 19 is
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Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and
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earth, and blessed be God Most High who has delivered your
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enemies into your hand. The blessing of a faithful
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servant. Not a faithful servant of
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Melchizedek, but a faithful servant of God.
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That's the blessing that Melchizedek bestows to Abraham.
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He says. But verse 6.
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But he whose genealogy is not derived from them receives
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tithes from Abraham. Melchizedek is not of the line
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of Levi. He lived 200 years before Levi
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is ever going to be born. As a matter of fact, the
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statement kind of tongue in cheek in verse 9 is that even
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Levi, who receives tithes paid ties through Abraham, so to
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speak, for he was in the loins of his father when Melchizedek
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met him. In other words, it's almost as
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though Levi himself were paying tithes through Abraham even
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though he wasn't even born yet, because he is the descendant of
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Abraham, and Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek.
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In other words, is Levi? Are the priests that come
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through Levi any greater than Melchizedek was?
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Nope, they're not because Melchizedek holds a position
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that even they did not hold. They There is no Levite that was
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ever king, and yet Melchizedek is both king and priest.
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Therefore verse 11. If perfection were through the
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Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law
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of Moses, what further need was there that another priest should
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rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called
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according to the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being
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changed, of necessity, there is also a change of the law.
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For he of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe,
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from which no man has officiated at the altar.
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For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe
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Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
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And it is yet far more evident if in the likeness of
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Melchizedek, there arises another priest who has come not
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according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but
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according to the power of an endless life.
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For he testifies, you are a priest forever according to the
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order of Melchizedek. Here's the point, the primary
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point of what it is he's trying to talk about.
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If perfection were given through the Levitical priesthood, in
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other words, if everything was perfect and nothing fell short
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under the Levitical priesthood, guess what?
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It wouldn't have needed to be changed, wouldn't have needed to
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be replaced. Was the Levitical priesthood
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perfect? Nope.
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Why? They were human, all right.
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Who were the first people that the Levites that the Levitical
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priests had to give offerings for themselves?
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Why? Because they weren't perfect.
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If perfection was through the the Levitical priesthood, what
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further need was there that another priest should arise?
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According to the order of Melchizedek, there would be
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none. The things that are stated here
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in Chapter 7, verses 11 through 17 are emphasizing the fact that
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the Old Testament has not been replaced.
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It was completed and a new covenant is in place that has a
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different priesthood that has a different law.
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What are they tempted to go back under?
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They're tempted to try to live under the dictates of the Old
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Law. What's the problem with that?
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It doesn't exist anymore. The Levitical priesthood, as God
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established it under the Old Testament, was set aside when
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the Law was completed. That's why Jesus isn't a high
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priest after the Levitical template.
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He's a high priest after the template of Melchizedek because
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he serves as our king for the body of Christ, and he also
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serves as our high priest who? Appointed.
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Melchizedek Well, if you go back to chapter 5, the emphasis that
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is made is that God appoints the Father, appoints each one.
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God appointed the Levitical high priest.
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He put Aaron in his place. He put Jesus in him, in his
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place. The emphasis then by implication
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is that Melchizedek was high priest not by proclaiming
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himself such, but because God put him in that place as well.
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And so he was appointed by God. All right, our time is up for
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this morning. We will pick up with verse 20.
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We will finish our discussions of Melchizedek and then see the
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closing argument that we have in chapter 8 of What Jesus?