seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Hebrews 7:1 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
4 Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5 Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. 6 This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8 In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. 9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10 because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.
11 If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12 For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. 13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is declared:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”[a]
in the order of Melchizedek.”[a]
18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
20 And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:
22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.
23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely[c] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
a. Hebrews 7:17 Psalm 110:4
b. Hebrews 7:21 Psalm 110:4
c. Hebrews 7:25 Or forever
This commentary is from bible-studys.org.
We have discussed this Melchizedek at length in a previous lesson. King of Salem, means King of Peace. Notice here also, that this High Priest comes from God and not through bloodline into the Levitical tribe.
The main element in all of this is that the only one He appeared to was the father of the believers, Abraham. He also, had some heavenly authority, because He blessed Abraham. He is called “the” High Priest of God. Notice also, that He gave Abraham the communion elements of bread and wine.
Even Abraham, the great patriarch of the Jewish people; considered Melchizedek enough superior that he tithed to him willingly and humbly of his spoils. So, Levi and the entire Levitical priesthood which proceeded from Abraham are inferior to Melchizedek and his priesthood.
Even though Abraham was the recipient of the covenant (and later, his descendant Moses, of the Law), he is the receiver, rather than the bestower, of the blessing. Thus, Melchizedek is his better, and is certainly superior to Abraham’s offspring.
By the authority invested in them after the establishment of the Mosaic Law, the Levitical priests collected tithes from their fellow Israelites. The submission of the Israelites was not to honor the priest but to honor the law of God.
The difference in the sons of Levi and Melchizedec is that they are priest, because of their blood line and they are priest just for a short time. This Melchizedec is a Priest forever, and has no bloodline, He is divinely appointed of God for this service. The Scripture above is clearly making a difference in the type of priesthood.
I want to break from the detailed explanation for a moment here and say; The Tabernacle in the wilderness was patterned after the real Tabernacle in heaven. The holy place and the most holy place that Moses had built in the wilderness was just a model of the real Holy of Holies in heaven. Moses was warned to make it in detail as the one in heaven.
The Tabernacle in the wilderness had a high priest. This leaves no doubt, that the Holy place in Heaven has a great High Priest also. We are told over and over that The High Priest forever is the One we call Jesus Christ.
“Many priests”: It is claimed that there were 84 High-Priests who served from Aaron until the destruction of the temple by the Romans (in A.D. 70). The lesser priests’ numbers were much larger.
The blood of an animal could not do away with sin, it just covered it up. There is absolutely no way that anyone could even remember all the ordinances of the law, much less keep them. The blood of animals did not clear a person's conscience of sin.
This might help... it's from the easy English site.It was from the sons of Levi that the priests came. Levi was a son of Jacob. Jacob was a son of Isaac. Isaac was the son of Abraham. So Levi came from Abraham. When Abraham gave Melchizedek the tenth part, Levi had not been born. The idea is that Levi was still in his parents, and that they were still in their parents. In this way one can say that the priests in the family of Levi already paid the tenth part through Abraham. This again shows that Melchizedek is greater than Levi. And because Jesus is a priest like Melchizedek, he too is greater than the priests of the Jews.
Jesus has come as a priest after the type of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was a king and a priest. He was not a priest by the law that came by Moses. He was a priest before God gave the law to Moses. This is also true about Jesus, for he was God before the law came. The Jews did not know where Melchizedek came from and had no record of his death. So they saw a life which had no beginning and no end. Jesus was with God in the beginning and he will have no end. He is the priest who has made the perfect sacrifice. He lives forever as the priest before God on our behalf.
Under the old law of Moses there were many priests. They all died in the end, for they were only men like us. They could not be priests after they had died. There had to be new priests to take their place. With Jesus all has changed. He is alive and will never die again. He is our one and only priest. We have no need of other priests. There will be no more priests, for Jesus will always be alive. God has made him to be the one priest for all time and for all people.
Jesus is the one priest who will be with God forever. He has made the one sacrifice that is perfect and God accepts that sacrifice for all time. He alone has the power to make us whole. By it Jesus makes us clean and takes away all our sins. It is Jesus who can make us right with God. It is only by Jesus that we can come to God. As he lives with God, he is the agent of all who believe in him. God accepts all who trust in Jesus, because of what he has done for us.
I remember there is a living example of the temple Moses built. A Bible Study group I was in was going to go see it. The plan never quite came together but I know the place exists. So... I'm going to use it as an example.
Way before the guy who built this example temple.... there was a real temple out in the desert... that Moses built according to the plans given to him by God. In this tent there was a "Holy of Holies"... where only to top priest would go once a year. When the priest went into the Holy of Holies... the priest would tie a rope around his waste. While the priest was in the Holy of Holies, he would have to do exactly what God laid out in the plans.... or God would kill him. That simple... the priest would die and the other priests would have to drag him out using that rope. It was a perilous job... appointed to the family of Levi. These men were related to Moses... men.....
Back to the example temple.... to make things real... an actor is employed by the example temple. That actor is not a descendant of Levi.... he's just an actor.... so the priests from the family of Levi... were better priests.... they had responsibilities, rules, regulations, policies and procedures to follow or they would die and someone would have to drag them out of the temple... while the priest in the example temple only had a script.
Likewise the priest Melchizedek..... was employed at the original Temple in Heaven. The priests in the Temple in Heaven.... well they never die.... it is after all Heaven... and no one dies in Heaven... it is after all Heaven... the place to live. Melchizedek was different that the guys who got their job through being one of the family that has always worked at the temple. They were appointed because they were born into the family of Levi... Melchizedek was appointed directly by God.... he was employed at the Temple in Heaven... so God would have run the interviews.
So... Jesus... being the Son of God.... and being eternal... Jesus was like Melchizedek.... He was appointed to be chief priest by God Himself... and He would live forever.... no one had to be in training to take His place....
Now back to the story..... The author of Hebrews is on the third page of describing how Jesus is the guy! Those stupid ignorant humans were waiting for a king to rescue them from Rome. Jesus told them He was going to come back. They were sure Jesus meant any day now... Jesus was coming back with a huge army and they were going to all join up and run Rome out of town.... but then Jesus didn't come back in their time table. [Like I said yesterday... I bet that makes God giggle when humans think God is going to work in their time table.] But when Jesus didn't come back right away.... those ignorant humans decided to go back to the temple.... and back to making blood sacrifices.... even though Jesus ended all that....
So... There was a Temple in the desert and then there was a brick and mortar Temple in Jerusalem. The family of Levi was appointed to be the priests in the Temple... but being human... they would die and the next guy up would take their place.
There is a Temple in Heaven.... Melchizedek is the chief priest.... appointed by God.... Melchizedek has eternal life... He's in Heaven.
Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus was there when God came up with Temples.... and Jesus was there when God designed the original.... Jesus was there when God sculpted Melchizedek. Jesus was there when God sent Melchizedek to take the tithe from Abram [Abraham] before Abraham offered his son Isaac to God showing his faith. Jesus had a hand in everything. Jesus knew the intricacies of the Temple. Jesus was the Sacrifice.
So... the secret of Melchizedek.... well it's in the eternal life. I wonder...when I get to Heaven... will I worship at the Temple? Will I see Melchizedek? He's still doing his thing... because he's a priest in Heaven.... so he must really love being a priest... right?
Hey.... that means Jesus must love His job as the top dog Chief Priest even more.... after all Jesus chose to give that ultimate sacrifice and be the top dog....
Jesus is Melchizedek's boss.....
