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Hebrews 1-6: New Testament with Lynne Wilson (Come, Follow Me) · Scripture Central

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Hello, I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson, part of the Scripture Central
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team to talk today about the book of Hebrews.
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It's my favorite epistle in the second-half of the New
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Testament. I love this book because it
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talks about the temple. The whole book of Hebrews is,
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generally speaking, the promise of the temple and the price of
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the temple. Now we'll divide it into many
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different sorts and and look at it in different ways, but this
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book is very unique amongst the Epistles.
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It's not the same as the others, chronologically.
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You can see on my chart here that Paul probably wrote it when
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he was in prison in Caesarea after his third mission.
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Before he is in prison in Rome, he spends 2 years in Caesarea.
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But we aren't positive. People often debate the
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authorship of this book, But Eusebius, our church historian
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who's writing from 260 AD to 339 AD, Eusebius said that the
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Epistle the Hebrews was written for Hebrews Meaning for Jews
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Jewish Conference in their own language, translated by Luke and
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published for Greek readers. Hence in the Greek version of
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this epistle, we find the same stylistic color as an Axe.
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Because remember, Luke wrote Axe and then he's Paul's companion
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and he supposedly translated this from Hebrew into Greek.
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Now it says his own tongue. Most Jews were not speaking
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Hebrew at this time, but because Paul was a scholar, he probably
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knew it. Most Jews were speaking Aramaic,
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the language of the Babylonians that they still have as their
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mother tongue. Here's another interesting
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statement on the book of Hebrews by my favorite Catholic scholar,
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Raymond Brown, in his introduction to the New
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Testament. By all standards, this is one of
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the most impressive works in the New Testament.
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It is written in quality Greek and passionately appreciative of
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Christ. Christ is the center of this
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Jesus as the Messiah and the whole book takes all these
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things about the Judaic traditions and the Law of Moses
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and says shows how the Savior is better than any of them.
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There's three or four reasons why I believe this book was
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written by Paul, or at least in some form of it was written by
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Paul because it may have been edited, it may have been
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changed, it may have been dictated and or given an
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outline. But the reason why I do is
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because he mentions Timothy. He mentions he's in bonds.
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He quotes the same LXX translations that the other
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letters of Paul does. And interestingly, he also
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quotes Habakkuk chapter 2 verse four, as he does in two other
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epistles. Most people don't have the book
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of Habakkuk memorized. They don't even have that
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scroll. Very few synagogues had scrolls
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beyond the Torah and the Psalms. And if you were a large city,
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you may have had the scroll of Isaiah, but the minor prophets
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were very hard to come by. And so if you had those
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memorized, you had probably been taught by one of the great
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masters in one of the great synagogues in Jerusalem.
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Another reason why I think Paul wrote this because he repeats
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this beloved scripture that he has memorized, and he's
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repeating it overward. You know, it's one of his
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favorite scriptures. We see it repeatedly.
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Another thing that's interesting about the book of Hebrews is
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that it fulfills the Law of Moses, just as Leviticus
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announced the Mosaic system. Remember, the Leviticus is the
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priesthood manual of the Old Testament.
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Hebrews explains it. I love this, and it's quite
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consistent actually with what Nephi also explains about the
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law of Moses in the book of Hebrews.
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It describes how the gospel is growing out of the context of
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the Levitical order, out of the temple ordinances and the
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Levitical soil. One of the our past BYU
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professors, Joseph F Mcconkey stated among the New Testament
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books, Romans is the most abused, Revelations is the most
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minister understood and Hebrews is the most neglected.
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So I hope to overcome that. I'm thrilled.
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We have two whole weeks on the book of Hebrews.
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It is the most Christ centered book among all of the Pauline
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epistles and I'm excited to dive into it with you.
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There's one more reason why I think this was written by Paul,
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and that has to do with statistical analysis of
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authorship. Do you remember The Federalist
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Papers were trying to be analyzed?
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Who actually wrote them? And when people try to say who
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wrote Shakespeare, And now when we go to courts of law, they're
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trying to determine is this text accurate or is it plagiarized?
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All of these now are done statistically through
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computerized studies A few decades ago.
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They used to call it word prints.
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But this whole idea of stylometry, this idea that the
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textual words are fit into contextual analysis, all of this
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very, very esoteric studies have been able to be shown even
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through translated works. And the stilometry of the book
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of Hebrews shows it to be Pauline.
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Let's dive in now with chapters one to three.
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They talk about the superiority of God's Son.
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The author is constantly comparing the Old Testament law
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with God's Son. The book of Hebrews does not
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start like Paul's other letters. Instead, chapter One, verse one
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through 4 is this beautiful resume of our Savior.
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He talks out with being an heir of all things.
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He made the world's He's the brightness of God's glory.
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He's the express image of God. He upholds all things.
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By the word of His power. He purged our sins, and he is so
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much better than the angels. So this beautiful resume sort of
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summarizes the Gospels. He's taking all the things we
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know about the resurrected Lord and putting them together in
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these first four verses. One other thing that is
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fascinating about the book of Hebrews is if he is writing to
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his own people, he's writing to people that understand the books
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that we refer to as the Old Testament.
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But they had more. It was not a small Canon like we
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have now for the Old Testament. It was much larger.
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We find so many citations from the Old Testament in Hebrews
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chapter one. Look at this, we have in verse
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5, verse 6, verse 7, verse 9, verse 12, verse 13, He's quoting
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the Psalms and Samuel and Deuteronomy.
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And then in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 8, verse 12, verse 13, two
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times he quotes Isaiah and so Psalms.
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Hebrews chapter 3, we're quoting numbers in the Psalms.
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You know this book is saturated. This author really knew the law.
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He really knew the Old Testament writings.
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And I think Paul was one of the most educated and academically
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trained writers in the New Testament we had, and I think he
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knew them better than all the others.
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And hence we get a outpouring of scriptural connotations here.
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But let's start back in Hebrews chapter one, verse one through 2
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in the NIV. In the past God spoke to our
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ancestors through the prophets. But in these last days, meaning
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now meaning Paul's day, you know he's writing in the present
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tense. He has spoken to us by his Son.
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Verse 3. The sun is the radiance of the
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Father, the glory, the exact representation of his being.
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And this is an interesting word that was the NIV translation.
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But as we look into this in Greek, it says he is properly
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and the word first meant that he was engraving.
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You know, it's an image made by engraving tools, but
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figuratively it means he has the likeness, his inner character.
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Now if you look at other translations, this express image
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is translated as he is stamped, you know, as a photo, a
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photocopy. But I like the RSV.
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His nature is the exact same or in the CSV is like him in every
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way. So it's not necessarily saying
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they have to be a a photocopy, but they share the same things
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The Son and the Father share much.
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In verse six we have a Joseph Smith translation.
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So I'd like to read it to you that way Let all the angels of
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God worship him who maketh his ministerings as the flame of
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fire. And the angels, he said, Angels
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are ministering spirits. This is exactly what we believe
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in our dispensation, thanks to the JST changes.
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There verse 8:00 and 9:00 in the Neb translation read, But unto
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the sun he said, Thy throne, O God, is forever.
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And skipping down a little bit, it reads, Thou hast loved
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righteousness. And therefore God, even thy God,
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hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness.
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And skipping down to verse 9 above fellows by anointing with
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the oil of exaltation. And do you remember that the
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word Messiah, Mashiah is anointed, the anointed?
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1 And that's also the word for Christ.
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And so he's saying above the angels, above the prophets.
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We have one who is anointed by God, and we believe that he is
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above the angels. He is above the prophets.
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And he's trying to show that in these beautiful verses that this
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anointing is of gladness. It's also significant, I think,
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as we think about the anointing, that Christ became the anointed
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1 by going through His atoning sacrifice in Gethsemane and on
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the cross. And the word Gethsemane means
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the olive press, the place where they make that crushing heavy,
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heavy weights to make the oil, that first drop that comes out
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with the first pressing taken to the temple to use to anoint
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others to become holy. And all of them are just types
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of our Savior and we can become holy as we come unto Christ and
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are anointed to share His anointing.
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But He is the anointed. 1 Chapter 2 in Hebrews verse 1 to
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9 all talks about the role of Christ in salvation.
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Now remember we talked about this in the Old Testament a
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couple years ago. The early children of Israel
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used the Temple and the focus on the sacrifice.
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The atoning sacrifice was their whole focus of their writing and
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their thoughts, and everything was focused on the Temple.
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But later Israelites, especially as they come back from the
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Babylonian exile, they are focused on the Law.
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The Law can save us, and if we can add to our law and live it
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entirely, we will not lose God's favor.
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So they added the Oral Laws, and they diminish the influence of
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the written 613 and emphasize the 10,000 extra traditions of
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the Jews. And so he's now trying to show
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that we're going back to the original, It's back to the
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Temple. And the Temple was only a sign,
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a pattern of our Savior. I'll read in verse one from the
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NIV of chapter two. We must pay the most careful
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attention, therefore, to what we have heard so that we do not
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drift away. And then he goes into verse 2 by
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saying, if you're not going to heed the don't go back to the
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Old Testament angels. You know you shouldn't give more
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attention to the Angel than you do to Christ.
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Christ is the Anointed One, and yet he's using that word for
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word play. Moving on to verse four, he says
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God hath also bearing them witnesses, both with signs and
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wonders and diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost
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according to his own will. Now I have to ask, what
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witnesses and wonders do you see of him?
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Paul asks the early Christians, Are you seeing God in your
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world? We read about him in the Old
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Testament. Do you see him now?
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And I think that's a wonderful question to ask ourselves as
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well. Chapter 2, verse eight and nine
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also refer to Christ's role. Quote.
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Thou has to put all things in subjection under thy feet.
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Remember, the word subjection is voluntary cooperation for the
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suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that he by the
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grace of God, should taste death for every man.
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So our Savior's role is to taste death for every man He has died
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for all, so that as Isaiah said, O death, where is thy sting?
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There will be no end of life immortality.
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All will be able to receive the tree of life.
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All will be able to go back to the Garden of Eden and partake
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of the tree of life without our sins and live forever.
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And those who want to be exalted need to repent and come unto
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Christ. But every human will be able to
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live again. Chapter 2, verse 15 relieves
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that he will deliver them who through fear of death were
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subject to bondage. Now sometimes bondage is a fear.
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It can entrap us. We become paralyzed by fear.
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But he's asking us to remember that Christ, just step back,
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take a galactic view. All things are going to be made
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right and whole through our Savior. 1st 10 goes back to the
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suffering servant mentality of our Savior, it reads.
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For it became Him skipping down a little bit to make the captain
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of their salvation perfect through suffering.
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Now this is so fascinating. We don't ever seek suffering.
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We don't ask God for trials. He gives them to us.
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He tailor makes them and part of them are just part of life.
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But this is so significant that he had to suffer in order to
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become perfect. He had to bear the sins of all.
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He had to receive the the thrashings and the crucifixion.
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He had to go through this suffering in order to be
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perfected. He also became the great High
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Priest. This is chapter 2, verse 17.
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In all things it behaved him to be made like unto his brethren,
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that he might be merciful and faithful high priest to make
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reconciliation for the people of God.
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Now that word reconciliation is sometimes translated as
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propitiation, and it's for the sins of the people in the new
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King James version. But the high priest, remember
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once a year would offer the the day of atonement in the early
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fall the heifer and have the scapegoats and have the blood
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sprinkled on the altar and on the veil.
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And finally, after all the ritual that was involved in
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Leviticus chapter 16 would be allowed to enter into the Holy
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of Holies, enter into the throne of God and enter into the mercy
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seat. He's saying it wasn't the High
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priest. Christ is the great High priest.
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It was Christ blood that was represented this.
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It. It wasn't this one man doing
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things, it was representing our Savior.
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Verse 18 continues on with the suffering servant mentality and
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that he himself has suffered. Being tempted, he is able to
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succor them that are tempted. I am so grateful that we believe
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in a God who has descended before lo all things that he can
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always understand me. And then in chapter three he
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talks about Christ as an apostle as well as a high priest.
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This is interesting. We usually don't use the word
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apostle for our Savior, but he says in verse one of chapter 3,
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consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ
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Jesus. And so we look at what does this
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mean by an apostle. Well, in Greek, which we
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mentioned before, Apostolos is 1 sent.
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It's a messenger, it's an envoy, A delegate 1 commissioned by
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another to represent him in some way.
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It's especially a man sent out by Jesus Christ to preach the
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gospel. All this comes from the strong's
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concordance. So Paul is using these beautiful
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temple imageries and these beautiful imageries from the
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gospel to say Christ. He is the high priest.
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Christ is the greatest apostle. But his Apostolic calling came
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from the Father and the others came from the Son.
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In verse three he talks about Jesus and Moses.
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He says chapter 3, verse three, this man he's referring to Jesus
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was counted worthy of more glory than Moses in as much as he who
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hath builded the house hath the more honor than the house.
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You know in the ancient world Moses was their greatest of all
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the prophets and he's saying no. Moses was directed by Jehovah
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and Jesus was Jehovah. It's beautiful image here.
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He that buildeth all things is God.
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That is Jehovah. That is Jesus in the flesh.
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That's verse four. In verse five he goes on and
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talks about this role of the apostle being a servant.
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And I want to remind you that the word servant is that we are
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waiting on God, and Moses was a servant.
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And as we wait on God we are not passive.
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We are actively meeting all of his needs.
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We're asking what would you like next, what would you like next,
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and what would you like for dessert?
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This is our role as servants of God.
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Verse six then goes on to the House of God, Christ as the Son
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over his own house. Whose house are we?
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So he's using the church as the house, as disciples.
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If we hold fast to the confidence and the rejoicing of
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the hope firm unto the faith, this is so important.
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We cannot serve God unless we honor Him with our faith.
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We have got to be receiving forgiveness in order to be
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cleansed by Him, and we can't work for Him unless we're
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cleansed. It's so important that we
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receive His atoning sacrifice in order to work for Him.
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But all can come unto Him and receive that grace.
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Continuing on in chapter 3, clear down to verse 12, and
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actually I'm going to do 12 all the way down to 17.
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He says take heed. And then skipping ahead, harden
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not your hearts and he goes back to this beautiful imagery as in
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the day of provocation with them that have sinned.
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OK, the day of provocation goes back to Moses when the children
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of Israel were brought out of Egypt to Mount Sinai.
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Remember, this is just a month or so out.
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It's 50 days out from Passover. They get back to Sinai and Moses
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says let's go back. Jesus has Jehovah asked them to
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bring the children visual back and have them ascend them out
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and enter into his presence. And he says they say no, Moses,
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you know, they built the golden calf.
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They they weren't ready for the higher law.
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Those were the days of provocation.
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They provoked God, and Paul is saying, we are back to this holy
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mountain. We are back to the days when
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Christ is asking us to enter again in His presence.
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He wants us to have the higher ordinances, the higher law, to
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once again receive of his greatest loves and his greatest
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gifts and let us not provoke him again.
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He continues on in the same verses of 17 to 19 with whom he
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was grieved 40 years because of unbelief.
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The clear statement here in Hebrews is that it was not
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necessary to walk in the wilderness 40 years.
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They had to walk for 40 years because they had provoked God.
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It was their punishment. It was to kill off that entire
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generation. So only the children were
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allowed to go into the promised land.
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Let us not spend years and years wandering in the wilderness.
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Let's come unto Christ and let's let's receive His higher law and
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honor our temple covenants, Chapter 4 says in the NIV verse
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one Since the promise of entering into His rest still
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stands, let us be careful that none of us have you be found to
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have fallen short of it. Well, what does entering into
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His rest mean? We are so blessed in the
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Restoration to have Joseph speak on this in many, many sections
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of the Doctrine Covenants. Actually, I shouldn't say Joseph
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speak on this. Joseph recorded divine
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revelation. One of those is section 84,
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verse 24, where it says the Lord's rest is the fullness of
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his glory. So he sang back in chapter 4,
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verse one, the promise of having God's full glory still stands.
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You know he's he's saying it's time to climb the mountain.
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It's time to enter into the higher law.
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The next three chapters are also filled with a lot of Old
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Testament citations. I gave you that huge list from
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the first three chapters. They're a little bit less here.
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He's got 3 Old Testament sections in chapter 4, two in
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chapter 5, and one in chapter 6, but they're again from Psalms
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and Genesis and Proverbs and verse 3-4 and seven and in
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chapter 4. Anyway, I've got them all in my
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hand on my notes. It's it's fascinating to see how
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well he knows his scriptures. Let's move on now to verses two
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and three. In chapter 4 there's a small
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Joseph Smith translation where he changes it.
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He says for unto us was the gospel preached.
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Joseph changes that he says for unto us was rest preached.
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Now this is very interesting to see Joseph already using this
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definition for the rest of the Lord in 1832 when he's making
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these changes. But he has received a section 84
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shortly after this and he's and he's already understanding what
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the rest of the Lord meant. So he's saying God is trying to
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have you enter into His presence.
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That's what the Joseph Smith translation change means, And
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continuing on in verse 3 for we who have believed to enter into
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rest, that is a powerful verse. Then in verse four we have
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another Joseph Smith translation.
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He says in this place again and he's quoting Psalms 95, verse 11
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and seven and eight. He says in this place again is
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the book of Psalms. If they and then Joe Smith adds
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in the Joseph Smith translation harden not their hearts, they
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shall enter into my rest. Joseph is always clear to say.
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It's not a passive gift. It's not.
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You're either elect or you're damned as Augustine and Calvin
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taught and which was part of the Puritan translation of the King
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James Version of the Bible. It is only those who have soft
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and meek and humble hearts who come unto Christ.
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Continuing on in chapter 4 verse eight in the NIV.
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And the reason why I want to use the NIV is because the King
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James says Jesus. But remember Jesus is Joshua
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Joshua in Greek. So the NIV translation says for
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if Joshua had given them rest, God would have spoken later
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about another day. So he's going through the Old
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Testament scripture saying we know there's another one because
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it was promised. Paul's also using the Jewish
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argument the way that they disgusting the way that they
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would go and debate their scriptures.
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He's using the same techniques that he had learned as a
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Pharisee in the synagogue here in this letter.
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Moving on now to verse 10 of chapter 4 and the BSB at C
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reads, whoever enters God's rest also rests from his own work,
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just as God did. This is so powerful we have to
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completely submit our will to God's will.
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But I also want to add a different dimension to this
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verse. We are told that the Sabbath is
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to be a day of rest, but once you start getting a church
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calling, it's hardly a day of rest, especially if you're
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you're the primary president or something.
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You know it's going to take a full day of preparation and
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service if you're the Bishop or something.
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It is not a day of quiet nap time.
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So what we can do to add this definition of rest.
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Rest is entering into the presence of the Lord.
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It's receiving of the Lord's fullness, it's doing His will.
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So if our Sabbaths are a day of rest, our Sabbaths are entering
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into God's presence, our Sabbaths are doing His will, our
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Sabbaths are serving him. So instead of saying is this
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something I should be doing on the Sabbath or not, ask is this
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God's work? And if it's not God's work,
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don't do it. The Sabbath is a day where we
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don't do our own will. It's a day we do the Lord's will
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according to the Restorations definition of this verse here in
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chapter 4, verse 10, Verse 11 continues on.
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Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, you know,
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whether you're a missionary, whether you're a child learning
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to pray, whether you're going to the temple, whether you're
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serving someone else. Let us serve God at all times in
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all places. No matter if we're having to
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earn our money another way or get our education another way,
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we can serve God with everything we say and do.
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He goes back to the idea of Jesus as the great High Priest
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in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14 all the way to Hebrews chapter
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5, verse 10. And he goes on with the idea of
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this great sacrifice because it was the high Priest who took the
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sins of the children of Israel upon him, offers them on the
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altar, sprinkles the blood, and is allowed to then represent the
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the promised Messiah in the future.
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He's a type of that, a precursor.
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It says in the NIV verse 14. Since we have a great high
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priest who has ascended into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God,
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let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
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And then skipping down to verse 16 again in the NIV.
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Let us then approach God's throne, the of grace and
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confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to
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help us in our time of need. This is such a powerful message,
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you know, Come to Christ, return to him.
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Repent not just every day, but every time we need to turn
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around, every time we get self-centered or selfish return
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to Christ. He has made a sacrifice for us.
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He has already done it. Please apply his atoning
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sacrifice in your life through repentance, Verse 15 in the NIV
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reads. For we do not have a high priest
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who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one
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who has been tempted in every way just as we are.
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Yet he did not sin. That is powerful.
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And chapter 5 continues on with this High priest theme.
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I'll read verse one from the BSB.
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Every high priest is appointed from among men to represent them
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in matters relating to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for
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sins. This is powerful.
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And this early Christian artwork that I have on my slide shows
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God's hand coming down through the heavens to an altar where
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Melchizedek and Abel are offering sacrifice.
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It's all temple, temple, Temple. This is a temple text.
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How do we enter the temple and what is required?
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Read the book of Hebrews with that in mind.
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Chapter 5, verse four. No one takes this honor upon
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himself unless he must be called by God, as Aaron was.
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You know, this is used often in the Restoration, that when we
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receive God's power and authority in our lives, it's not
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because we've gone to school. It's not because we get
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authority from the Bible. It's not even because we get
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authority from Peter. It is because we get authority
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from Christ. The keys are passed down through
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God's anointed ones. Continuing on in verse four it
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reads, Christ did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a
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high priest, but he was called by the one who said.
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And then in verse 7 through 9 I'll read in the BSB.
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During the days of Jesus earthly life he offered up prayers and
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petitions with loud cries and tears to one who could save him
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from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.
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He was a son and he learned obedience from what he suffered
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having been made perfect, and he's repeating this from his
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earlier times. This message is consistent
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throughout the Pauline epistles. That's another reason why I see
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this is Paul. We see the same themes there
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that we saw back in the pastoral epistles.
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Continuing on to chapter 5, verse nine, in the NIV, he
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became the source of eternal salvation and all who obey him.
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He not only died for us, but He lives for us and he was
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resurrected for us. Verse 12.
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By this time you ought to be teachers and you need someone to
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teach you. I'm reading from the NIV this
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Elementary truths of the gospel. This word again.
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You need milk, not solid food. I love this analogy, he says.
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I want to teach you with meat. And yet you are still back, like
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a babe needing milk from your mother.
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You should be the ones who are teaching the gospel.
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You're the ones who had the law of Moses before.
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You're the Jewish converts. Why aren't you ready for the
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meat of the gospel? But it's the real word is solid
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food. You know, he's just using this
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analogy of a nursing baby and a child who grows up.
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He's saying Saints come, I I want you to receive more.
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Chapter 6, verse one has an important Joseph Smith
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translation change. It says therefore not leaving
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the principles of the doctrine in Christ.
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Let us go on to perfection. So without it, he's saying, I've
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already talked about faith and who Christ is.
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Now I want to talk about how you can receive, how you can receive
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His perfecting grace. And he's saying, I would now
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want you to give give you the temple promises, the promises of
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living with God again, of being like the High Priest, being
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washed and anointed and clothed, and then going into the holy
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place and and partaking of these sacred ordinances so that you
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can go to the veil which represents Christ.
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We'll learn about that in Chapter 9 next week and enter
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into His presence, moving on now to Chapter 6, verse four in the
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JST, he adds. For he hath made it impossible,
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and then going back to King James, for those who were once
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enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made
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partakers of the Holy Ghost. Moving on to verse six.
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If they should fall away, Joseph Smith adds here to be renewed
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again unto repentance. They're unable to repent.
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They've fallen. The King James again says,
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seeing that they crucify unto themselves the Son of God afresh
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and put him to an open shame, then finishing up with verse
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nine in the KJV. But beloved, we are persuaded
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better things of you, the things that accompany salvation.
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He is referring in these few verses to those who have who are
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sons of perdition. Very few people fall into that
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category. He's saying I think more of you,
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you are going to survive. But that verse 6 area, you know
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the King James sounds as if once you've fallen you can't repent.
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And the Joseph Smith translation trains to change that.
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And then Joseph spoke on this as we discussed earlier that there
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are very few who have actually had their ordinances and and do
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this I'll just cite again from the discourse of April 7th,
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1844. So general conference, we
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usually refer to this as the King fall.
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It's discourse. Joseph said All sins shall be
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forgiven except the sin against the Holy Ghost.
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And after a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is
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no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun
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does not shine while he sees it. He has got to deny Jesus Christ
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when the heavens were open to him, meaning he has seen the
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Lord. He has received higher
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ordinances that would seal his calling election permanently.
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That's who Joseph defines there. Moving now to chapter 6, verse
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19, in the NIV we have this hope as an anchor of our soul, firm
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and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary
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behind the curtain. So what's the inner sanctuary
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behind the curtain? He's talking about the temple.
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Go back to the Old Testament temple.
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The curtain is the veil. It's between the holy place and
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the holiest place or the Holy of holies.
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That curtain is the veil now. It was a curtain during called
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Day and Age, but in Solomon's temple it was made out of wood.
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It separated the two with a sliding, sliding wood doors.
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But he's saying, I want you to enter into that sanctuary.
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I want you to go through the veil and enter into the presence
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of the Lord. And he's begging the Saints, he
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said. I want this to be your anchor.
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I want this to be a firm assurance.
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Go through the veil and see the Lord and continue to live and
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hold on to your covenants, because your covenants are to
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bring you to Christ. It's the covenant path, is the
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path to Christ. It's the way back to entering
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into His presence. Verse 20, continuing on in the
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NIV, our forerunner Jesus has entered on our behalf.
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He's entered through the veil. He has become a high priest
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forever in the order of Melchizedek.
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Now remember back in the Old Testament we only have a couple
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of verses on Melchizedek. We have a lot more in the Joseph
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Smith translation of Genesis chapter 14.
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I think it is. But in the book of Hebrews we
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have even more the place you want to learn about Melchizedek.
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And remember as I talked about in the Old Testament,
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Melchizedek is 2 Hebrew words together King of righteousness.
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It may be a title. And remember he was the king of
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Salem, the King of Peace. So he has these titles that we
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use. Remember there's no vowels.
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It's MLK Malek. It's all over the Old Testament.
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MLK means king in Hebrew and in English if you know who MLK is.
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And so you have to wait till next week when we got to talk
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more about Melchizedek and who he is and how that typifies of
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Christ. But remember, at Christ passing
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the veil of the temple was rent. And as we go back to the Gospels
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and look at that, many people have seen that symbolically, as
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the entrance from the Holy Place into the Holy of Holies is now
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open, the ability now to enter into the presence of God is
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actually there. But you can also look at it
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according to the book of Hebrews, that our forerunner has
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entered into our behalf. It is Jesus who has gone back to
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the Father without sins. He has made the way.
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The way is the way back to the tree of life, the way back to
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enter into the presence of God, the way through the ancient
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temple with our washings and our anointings and our clothing.
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The High Priest, then offering sacrifices and praying at the
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altar, is able to partake of the fruit and enter it.
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It's just a beautiful, archaeological, symbolic,
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symbolic walk back to the presence of the Lord as we look
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at the ancient world. And this letter is written to
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those who understood that priestly walk, that walk of the
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priesthood to go back into the presence of the Lord.
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And I tie it to the Lord's death as well.
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I hope that you'll continue on in your book study of Hebrews
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and if you can, go to the temple this week and see how the book
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of Hebrews ties in to our teachings on the promise of the
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temple and the price of the temple in the name of Jesus
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Christ, Amen.