Hebrews - Chapter 7
THE PRIESTHOOD OF MELCHIDEZEK
WE HAVE SMALL VIEWS OF MELCHIZEDEK IN GENESIS 14 , PSALMS 110 AND THEN WE HAVE AN ENTIRE CHAPTER DEVOTED TO HIM IN HEBREWS.
THE WORD OF HIS NAME MEANS “KING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS” AND WE ARE TAUGHT THAT HE ALSO FILLED THE OFFICE OF “KING OF SALEM” MEANING KING OF PEACE.
HE WAS BOTH KING & PRIEST, A DOUBLE OFFICE NOT SEEN WITH ANY OTHER HEBREW EVEN THE MOST HONORED ONES SUCH AS MOSES OR AARON.
IN THIS REGARD WE SEE THE FIRST EVIDENCE THAT HE IS A TYPE OF JESUS CHRIST, HOLDING TWO OF THE THREE OFFICES THAT JESUS HOLDS. (PROPHET-PRIEST-KING)
HE ACCEPTED THE TITHES OF ABRAHAM AND BROUGHT HIM BREAD & WINE, A FORESHADOW OF THE LORD'S TABLE.
HE PROVIDED BLESSING TO ABRAHAM, JUST AS JESUS BLESSED HIS OWN FOLLOWERS AS HIS LAST ACT ON EARTH.
RABBI ISMAEL, AN EARLY JEWISH TEACHER, WROTE IN 135 BC THAT MELCHIZEDEK WAS SHEM, THE SON OF NOAH.
MARTIN LUTHER ACCEPTED THIS TEACHING.
SHEM WAS 390 YEARS OLD AT ABRAHAM'S BIRTH, AND WAS 565 YEARS OLD AT ABRAHAMS DEATH.
SHEM HIMSELF DIED AT AGE 600.
WE KNOW THAT SHEM LIVED UNTIL 2156 BC & THEREFORE IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THESE TWO MEN KNEW EACH OTHER, WITH ABRAHAM BEING OF HIS FAMILY BUT SINCE VERSE 3 TEACHES THIS PRIEST WAS WITHOUT PARENTS, IT SEEMS LIKELY THAT MELCHIZEDEK WAS NOT SHEM.
OTHER EARLY WRITERS, PHILO & ORIGEN WROTE THAT THIS MAN WAS AN ANGELIC BEING, NOT HUMAN.
HIERAKAS, A JEWISH WRITER IN 290 AD WROTE THAT HE WAS AN EARLIER INCARNATION OF JESUS HIMSELF.
IT IS LIKELY THAT NONE OF THESE EARLY THOUGHTS ARE ACCURATE.
AS WE DRAW BACK THE CURTAIN ON THIS EARLY PRIEST WE WIILL SEE THAT HE ALONE WAS A SPECIAL SHADOW OF THE MESSIAH TO COME, AND HE ALONE SHARED A SEPARATE AND HIGHER FORM OF PRIESTHOOD THAN ALL THE LEVITE PRIESTS.
REMEMBER HE WAS NOT A JEW, BUT WAS THE CHOSEN ONE OF GOD IN THE HOLY LAND BEFORE ABRAHAM, BEFORE MOSES, BEFORE AARON, BEFORE JOSHUA AND ALL OTHERS.
HIS LESSON CLEARLY SHOWS US WHY THESE HEBREWS WHO WISHED TO GO BACKWARD TO THE LAW AND LAY ANOTHER FOUNDATION WERE WRONG TO DO SO.
BACK IN HEBREWS 5:11 THE WRITER SAYS THAT “...WE HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY AND HARD TO BE UTTERED SEEING YE ARE DULL OF HEARING”.
THIS SLOWNESS WAS NOT JUST A SMALL INFIRMITY BUT RATHER WAS A SAD STATE OF THE SOUL, SHOWING A LACK OF INTEREST IN THE TRUE SPIRITUAL NATURE OF THE GOSPEL.
LET'S BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO LOOK DOWN ON THESE PEOPLE AS WE SEE EVEN TODAY PEOPLE HEAR THE BEST OF PREACHING AND THE BEST OT TEACHING BUT IF THE HEART IS NOT RECEPTIVE, NO WISDOM WILL FOLLOW.
FROM 5:11 THROUGH THE 6TH CHAPTER WE ARE PREPARED FOR CHAPTER 7 WHICH SETS FORTH FOR US THE TRUEST GLORY OF CHRIST, WHERE OUR SPIRITS SHOULD REST.
WHEN WE FIRST SEE MELCHIZEDEK IN GENESIS, HE MEETS WITH ABRAHAM WHO HAS CONDUCTED WAR AGAINST THE PAGAN KINGS TO RELEASE LOT FROM CAPTIVITY.
AT THAT TIME THE WORLD HAD FALLEN INTO GROSS IDOLATRY AND IMMORALITY. (READ ROMANS 1:19-31)
EVEN THOSE OF THE FAMILY OF ABRAHAM WERE WORSHIPPERS OF IDOLS.
JOSHUA 24:2:
“... EVEN TERAH, THE FATHER OF ABRAHAM SERVED OTHER GODS.”
IN THE MIDST OF THESE PAGANS, THE LORD HAD RAISED UP ONE TO STAND AS A TYPE OF CHRIST TO COME.
THE AREA SERVED BY MELCHIZEDEK WAS THE HOLY CITY LATER KNOWN AS JERUSALEM, AND SCRIPTURE SO TEACHES US IN PSALMS 76:2:
“IN SALEM ALSO IS HIS TABERNACLE AND HIS DWELLING PLACE IN ZION.”
SO WE SEE THAT JERUSALEM HAD A KING MANY CENTURIES BEFORE DAVID AND A HIGH PRIEST MANY CENTURIES BEFORE THE CALL GIVEN TO AARON.
REMEMBER THAT GALATIANS TEACHES US THAT THE LAW WAS GIVEN 400 YEARS AFTER THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM SO THE GOSPEL WAS ACTUALLY A RETURN TO A MORE PERFECT TIME BEFORE THE LAW.
WE ARE TOLD LATER IN HEBREWS 11:10 THAT ABRAHAM SOUGHT A CITY WHOSE BUILDER AND MAKER WAS GOD.
THIS WAS WHERE HE MET MELCHIZEDEK, SHARED THE COMMUNION OF BREAD & WINE, AND RECEIVED THE BLESSING OF GOD'S PRIEST.
SINCE WE ARE TOLD THAT MELCHIZEDEK MEANS KING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND THAT HE WAS ALSO KING OF PEACE, LET'S BE SURE WE NOTE THE ORDER TAUGHT HERE.
JEREMIAH 23:6 TEACES US THAT CHRIST IS THE MAKER OF PEACE BECAUSE HE IS THE LORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
RIGHTEOUSNESS MUST BE FIRST AND THEN PEACE WILL FOLLOW.
IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE WHERE THESE TWO ARE MENTIONED TOGETHER, PEACE NEVER COMES BEFORE RIGHTEOUSNESS.
NOW WE COME TO THE MYSTERIOUS VERSES.
“WITHOUT FATHER, WITHOUT MOTHER, WITHOUT DESCENT, HAVING NEITHER BEGINNING OF DAYS NOR END OF LIFE, BUT MADE LIKE UNTO THE SON OF GOD, ABIDETH A PRIEST CONTINUALLY.”
HAD THESE WORDS BEEN MADE IN REFERENCE TO A MAN, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE TO GRASP OR UNDERSTAND.
BUT THIS REFERENCE IS NOT TO A MAN'S LIFE BUT TO THE LIFE OF A PRIEST.
IN HEBREWS 5:1 WE ARE TOLD THAT EVERY HIGH PRIEST ORDAINED OF MEN IS TAKEN FROM MEN. IN ORDER TO HOLD THIS OFFICE, MELCHIZEDEK HAD TO HAVE BEEN A MAN.
WE SHOULD RECALL THAT JESUS WAS NOT A HIGH PRIEST UNTIL HE WAS INCARNATED INTO HUMAN FLESH AS A MAN, AS WE ARE TAUGHT THAT HE BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US.
VERSE 4 SPECIFICALLY TEACHES THAT MELCHIZEDEK WAS A MAN.
IN CONNECTION TO THE PRIESTHOOD OF AARON, PERSONAL FAMILY HISTORY (GENEALOGY) WAS OF THE HIGHEST IMPORTANCE. EACH PRIEST TOOK GREAT CARE TO PRESERVE THEIR FAMILY PEDIGREE. THOSE WITHOUT PROPER FAMILY HISTORY WERE PUT OUT FROM THE PRIESTHOOD.
EZRA 2:62
“THESE SOUGHT THEIR RECORD BY THOSE THAT WERE RECKONED BY GENEALOGY, BUT THEY WERE NOT FOUND, THEREFORE WERE THEY, AS POLLUTED, PUT FROM THE PRIESTHOOD.”
BUT THIS MAN WAS FROM AN ORDER OF PRIEST THAT DID NOT REQUIRE THE REGARD OF FAMILY ORDER OR PERFECT DESCENT, AN ORDER FREE FROM THE REQUIREMENT TO HAVE BEEN BORN OF THE BLOOD OF AARON.
THOSE OUTSIDE OF AARON WHO TRIED TO ENTER AS PRIESTS WERE PUT TO DEATH.
NUMBERS 3:10
“AND THOU SHALT APPOINT AARON AND HIS SONS , AND THEY SHALL WAIT ON THEIR PRIEST'S OFFICE, AND THE STRANGER THAT SHALL COMETH SHALL BE PUT TO DEATH”
IN THIS WAY, HE WAS AN ACCURATE TYPE FOR CHRIST, WHO WAS THE ONLY OTHER MEMBER OF THIS ORDER AND WAS ALSO NOT OF THE TRIBE OF AARON, BEING FROM JUDAH.
SO WE MUST VIEW THIS VERSE EXACTLY AS THE ONES BEFORE IN LIGHT OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MELCHIZEDEK AND THE JEWISH PRIESTS.
THE JEWISH PRIESTS BEGAN THEIR DAYS AS PRIESTS AT THE AGE OF 25 WHEN THEY COULD START TO SERVE.
NUMBERS 8:24
“THIS IS IT THAT BELONGETH UNTO THE LEVITES, FROM TWENTY AND FIVE YEARS OLD AND UPWARD THEY SHALL GO IN TO WAIT UPON THE SERVICE OF THE TABERNACLE AND THE CONGREGATION.”
AT THE AGE OF 30 THEY ENDED THEIR TRAINING AND BEGAN THEIR TRUE SERVICE.
NUMBERS 4:3
“FROM THIRTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD EVEN UNTO FIFTY YEARS OLD, ALL THAT ENTER INTO THE HOST, TO DO THE WORK OF THE TABERNACLE.”
AT THE AGE OF 50 THEIR PRIESTLY LIFE ENDED, SERVING NO MORE AFTER THAT AGE.
NUMBERS 8:25
“AND FROM THE AGE OF FIFTY YEARS, THEY SHALL CEASE WAITING UPON THE SERVICE THEREOF, AND SHALL SERVE NO MORE.”
THERE WERE NO SUCH RESTRICTIONS UPON THE PRIESTHOOD OF MELCHIZEDEK AND IN THIS HE ALSO WAS TYPE OF CHRIST.
NOTE THAT HE WAS “MADE LIKE UNTO THE SON OF GOD”.
WE SHOULD BE CAREFUL TO SEE THAT HE WAS MADE LIKE UNTO CHRIST, NOT CHRIST MADE LIKE UNTO HIM.
IN ORDER OF TIME, CHRIST WAS BEFORE MELCHIZEDEK, BUT IN THE ORDER OF PRIESTHOOD, MELCHIZEDEK WAS BEFORE CHRIST.
NOTICE THE 7 WAYS MELCHIZEDEK WAS MADE A TYPE OF CHRIST:
AS A PRIEST OF THE MOST HIGH GOD.
AS A ROYAL PRIEST, WITH MAJESTY & AUTHORITY.
AS BEING THE KING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS & PEACE.
AS GIVING BLESSING TO THOSE CHOSEN.
AS ONE WHO USED THE BREAD & WINE.
AS NOT OWING HIS PRIESTHOOD TO HIS FAMILY.
AS ABIDING A PRIEST BEYOND THE LEVITICAL BOUNDARIES OF AGE.
SO IT WAS NOT THE NATURAL LIFE OF MELCHIZEDEK THAT HAD NO END BUT RATHER HIS LIFE AS A PRIEST THAT DID NOT END.
HE ABIDETH AS PRIEST FOREVER.
THE GIVING OF THE TITHE TO MELCHIZEDEK SHOWED THE RESPECT AND RECOGNITION OF HIS HIGHER STATUS.
ABRAHAM WAS A PATRIARCH BUT WAS SUBJECT TO MELCHIZEDEK'S HIGHER POSITION.
SO WE SEE THAT EVEN IN THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS IN GENESIS, THERE WERE OFFERINGS TO GOD, OBSERVATION OF THE SABBATH, AND THE GIVING OF THE TITHE.
GOD LATER GAVE THE LEVITICAL PRIESTS THE AUTHORITY TO RECEIVE THE TITHE OF THE PEOPLE.
NUMBERS 18:21-24
“AND BEHOLD, I HAVE GIVEN THE CHILDREN OF LEVI ALL THE TENTH OF ISRAEL FOR AN INHERITANCE.”
WE SHOULD NOTICE THAT LEVI HIMSELF BEING STILL IN ABRAHAM PAID TITHE TO MELCHIZEDEK THROUGH ABRAHAM.
JUST AS LEVI COULD BE SAID TO BE “IN ABRAHAM” PAUL TEACHES US LATER THAT WE, AS ADOPTED SONS, ARE SAID TO BE “IN CHRIST”.
SO THE WHOLE FAMILY OF LEVI HAD DONE HOMAGE TO THIS PRIEST.
THINK ABOUT HOW VERY DIFFICULT THIS IDEA WAS FOR THE HEBREWS TO ACCEPT.
THEY HAD FOR MANY GENERATIONS BEEN TAUGHT THAT THE LEVITE PRIESTS WERE REPRESENTATIVES OF GOD'S PERFECTION, AND WERE SUFFICIENT AND PERMANENT.
NOW THEY WERE TOLD THAT IT WAS JESUS WHO WAS PERFECT, MEANING WITHOUT SIN AND COMPLETE.
JESUS HIMSELF HAD TAUGHT THAT HE CAME NOT TO DESTROY THE LAW BUT TO FULFILL IT.
WHAT PERFECTION DID CHRIST BRING?
RIGHTEOUSNESS – ALL THINGS BEFORE WERE IMPERFECT BY SIN.
PEACE – CHRIST MADE PEACE BETWEEN GOD & SINNERS.
ROMANS 5:10 TEACHES THAT WE WERE RECONCILED TO GOD BY THE DEATH OF HIS SON.
LIGHT – A GREATER MEASURE OF SPIRITUAL LIGHT CAME FROM JESUS ALONG WITH GREATER WISDOM. (JOHN 1:17)
ACCESS TO GOD – HIS FINISHED WORK ON THE CROSS REMOVED THE VEIL THAT HAD LONG STOOD BETWEEN MAN AND GOD. THE TEMPLE VEIL WAS SPLIT.
GLORY OF THE FUTURE – ETERNAL LIFE ONLY THROUGH THE SON.
JOY – ABRAHAM HIMSELF, THOUGH LONG DEAD, REJOICED TO SEE THE DAY OFJESUS (JOHN 8:56).
FRUIT OF THIS JOY – GLORIFYING IN THE LORD AND HIS GIFT.
REMEMBER THE STRONG RESISTANCE PLACED AGAINST THE LORD AND HIS MESSENGERS.
JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED.
ALL THE APOSTLES EXCEPT JOHN WERE MARTYRS.
PAUL WAS BEATEN, STONED, AND LEFT FOR DEAD.
NOW JUDAISM WAS SET ASIDE THROUGH THEIR WORK.
AS DIFFICULT AS IT WAS FOR THE HEBREWS TO ACCEPT IT, THE MEANS TO THEIR SALVATION WAS BASED UPON THEIR SETTING ASIDE ALL THAT THEY HELD SACRED AND EMBRACING A NEW AND BETTER WAY.
IF THEY WOULD NOT FOREGO THEIR OLD PRIESTHOOD AND WORSHIP, THEIR RUIN WAS ASSURED.
GALATIANS 5:4 TEACHES THAT CHRIST WOULD EITHER BE ACCEPTED BY THEM OR WOULD PROFIT THEM NOTHING.
LUKE 15 TEACHES US OF THE PRODIGAL SON WHO HAD TO TURN HIS BACK ON THE FAR COUNTRY, LEAVING IT BEHIND, BEFORE HE CAN APPROACH THE FATHER AND RECEIVE THE “BEST ROBE”.
VERSES 25-28 PROVIDE THE TEACHING OF THE PERFECT PRIEST.
SO LET'S CLOSE WITH THE THOUGHT THAT IT WAS HIS DEATH THAT REMOVED THE PREVIOUS OBSTACLES FROM MAN TOWARD GOD, IT IS HIS RENEWED LIFE THAT BRINGS THE ASSURANCE OF LIFE ETERNAL TO THOSE WHO ARE CHOSEN AND ACCEPT.
THOSE WHO DO SO ARE NOT REMOVED FROM MORTAL LIFE, BUT ARE LEFT HERE IN ENEMY TERRITORY TO DO HIS WORK AND TO FURTHER HIS KINGDOM.
HIS FOLLOWERS ARE NOT YET GLORIFED BUT RATHER ARE LEFT IN FLESH, WITH ALL THAT BRINGS, WEAKNESS, DOUBT, TEMPTATION & SIN.
WE THEREFORE STAND IN NEED OF A PERFECT PRIEST WHO GRANTS US LOVE, RENEWAL OF NEVER ENDING GRACE, STRENGTH, HOPE, PROTECTION FROM SATAN'S MANY ARROWS, COMMUNION WITH THE FAITH THROUGH PRAYER, AND THE FULL ASSURANCE OF ETERNAL SECURITY.
THIS IS THE PERFECTION SHOWN IN VERSE 28 DESCRIBED AS “THE SON, WHO IS CONSECRATED EVERMORE.”