Christ Has a Better Priesthood
Part 1: Purpose for a Priestly Change
Hebrews 7:1-14
Introduction.
Sprinkled throughout this book up to this point have been references to Jesus as a priest.
A priest, in particular, according to the order of Melchizedek.
He hints at it in Ch. 1, wants to dig into it in Ch. 5, leads up to it at the end of Ch. 6, but now he’s really going to take the time to develop this idea.
This also fits well into our theme of Hebrews: Christ is better.
His priesthood, in the order of Melchizedek, ends up being better than the one set up according to Aaron’s order.
Recall, Moses’ brother Aaron became the first high priest in the OT system, and only his descendants had the right to succeed him.
Who is Melchizedek?
His name is only found twice in the entire OT, the second time he is only mentioned.
The writer of Hebrews, however, uses his name nine times! The majority of them he is quoting from the OT. Six of those mentions are in Ch. 7.
Let’s read all the OT has to say about Melchizedek so we can see where the Hebrews writer is coming from.
In the first mention, Abraham (called Abram at this point) had just come back from battle against several Canaanite kings to rescue his nephew Lot and his family who had been taken captive.
The king of Sodom, one of the kings Abraham fought against, came to negotiate with Abraham to get some of what he stole back (Gen. 14:18-20).
Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, came out to bless Abram in front of the king of Sodom, and Abraham pays him a tithe—that’s it, that’s all we read of Melchizedek in the narrative.
The second mention is in Psalm 110:4. Let’s read the entire psalm, only 7 verses.
It is clearly a Messianic Psalm, but the reference to Melchizedek is interesting—the Christ would be a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.
While short, there is a lot there, and the writer of Hebrews really develops the idea quite well.
Preview.
History: Who, What, Where? (7:1-3).
Implications: Blessing and Tithes (7:4-10).
Applications: Change of Priesthood (7:11-14).
Body.
History: Who, What, Where? (7:1-3).
These first two verses, the writer reiterates what we already know from Gen. 14.
Who is Melchizedek?
He reminds the reader who Melchizedek was: king of Salem, priest of God Most High.
The writer informs us what “Melchizedek” means.
Melchi means “king” while zedek means “righteousness.”
Translated, this is “my king is righteousness,” or “king of righteousness.”
This gives us some idea as to who this is, and that perhaps this is a title and not his real name as was the case with many ancient kings.
Not only is he a king of righteousness, but he is the king of the city of Salem.
Translated, this means he is the “king of peace.”
This was likely the same city later called Jerusalem.
This has Jesus written all over it, doesn’t it? But we’ll talk more about that later.
Before that, we’ll note the last title given to Melchizedek: priest of God Most High.
Is this God Most High the true God, Yahweh? The description Melchizedek gives in Gen. 14:19-20 certainly seems to be the case.
Some identify him with El Elyon, the head of the Canaanite pantheon (Hagner 101).
In any event, Melchizedek identifies El Elyon with the God of Abram, Possessor (or Creator) of heaven and earth, and that most certainly is Yahweh.
In this partriarchal age, the father of a family had the privilege of acting as a priest—both Melchizedek and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law are identified with this role.
So he is a servant of God, and Abraham recognizes him as being a priest of God.
What happened?
As we read in Genesis, after Abraham had returned after rescuing Lot and his family, he meets with the kings of Sodom and of Salem in the Valley of Shaveh.
Melchizedek brings out bread and wine and blessed Abraham.
After which, Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth/tithe of the spoils he had received in battle.
This really is quite remarkable—Abraham, the one given so many promises by God Himself, felt the need to humble himself before this man by offering him this tithe as a priest and king.
Where did Melchizedek come from?
All we know for certain is that he was from the city of Salem.
The Hebrews writer states that he is “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life.”
This, of course, cannot be taken literally.
Of course he had parents, of course he was born, and of course he died.
Some Jewish traditions suggest Melchizedek is Shem son of Noah.
If so, then Noah is his father. Shem was born about 100 years before the Flood, and died at 600. Plus we know his genealogy.
But Philo, Jewish scholar of the first century, used similar language of Sarah, Abraham’s wife (and half-sister).
Melchizedek, whether he is Shem or not, is not literally without parents or lineage, we are simply not told what it is.
This is an expression to emphasize the difference between Melchizedek and the Jewish understanding of the priesthood.
The Jewish priests had to prove their genealogy, that they are sons of Levi, sons of Aaron.
Melchizedek did not; and neither does Jesus—at least not for His priestly credentials.
Made like the Son of God.
The Son of God has no Levitical father or mother, no priestly genealogy, no real beginning and no real ending since He is eternal as God.
As a result, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, can serve as a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.
Would you describe Jesus as a king? Oh yes. That was established awhile back from Heb. 1:8-9.
Would you describe Him as a king of righteousness? Oh yes, again, established in Heb. 1:8-9.
What about a king of peace? While this is the first mention of it in Hebrews, Isaiah describes Him as the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6-7). So yes, He is a king of peace!
And, of course, the main point of this chapter is to prove His priesthood forever.
Implications: Blessings & Tithes (7:4-10).
Blessing.
The writer of Hebrews spends most of the next few verses talking about tithing, but he puts this one verse in there about the blessing (7:7).
And in the Genesis narrative, the blessing is given before the tithe is offered.
The writer comments on how great Melchizedek was, and how Abraham recognized that greatness through his tithe.
The blessing that Melchizedek offered was thus: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand” (Gen. 14:19-20).
Melchizedek blessed Abraham, and through this he showed his superiority over him.
A man like me might ask the question: in what way is someone greater than another? How can such a thing be measured?
I don’t know, but Abraham recognized it, and gave a tithe to the greater one.
Tithing.
We note here that this passage uses the terms “tenth” and “tithe” interchangeably.
That is because giving a tithe is paying one tenth—this is a concept I’m sure many of us are familiar with.
And many of us are also familiar with the idea that we do not pay tithes, per se, in the church of Christ.
We contribute what we can. It can be more than a tenth, it might be less. What you give is between you and the Lord.
But a tenth is certainly a good rule of thumb, though not required.
Tithing was an OT practice that really applied to much more than just monetary income (7:5).
And the Israelites had to pay these tithes to those in the Levitical priesthood.
In this instance between Melchizedek and Abraham, even before the OT Law came into effect, Abraham saw fit to pay a tithe to this priest of God Most High.
The writer reminds us that this priest was not a priest in the tribe of Levi, but states that Levi is still inside Abraham.
This is quite an interesting way to look at our descendants and our ancestors, that before I had children, they were all inside me, along with my children’s children, and everyone who will descend from them. What a thought!
Levi was the son of Jacob who was the son of Isaac the son of Abraham. Levi was Abraham’s great grandson, so priests would come from Abraham.
And since priesthood was passed on through lineage, then Abraham was a priest in a way.
(But then this leads some to conclude that righteous Shem may have been Melchizedek the priest since he was still alive and an ancestor of Abraham.)
In any event, it would have been passed to Levi’s tribe eventually, and specifically to Aaron’s house, Abraham’s great great great great grandson.
Application: Change of Priesthood (7:11-14).
The Need (7:11-12).
The writer then draws from application taken from Psalm 110.
He recognizes this as a prophecy of the coming Messiah, about Jesus Christ.
This would indicate that David wrote of a new priesthood, not one from the Levitical line, but one from the order of Melchizedek.
He also mentions something that will become important later and the main focus of Ch. 8, the idea of perfection through the Levitical priesthood and a need for a change of the law.
The idea of perfection here can also be understood as completion, fulfillment, or consummation.
The fulfillment of the prophecies of God, particularly found in Psalm 110, cannot be found in the order of Aaron.
Later in Ch. 10 he will develop the idea that the sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood could not truly forgive sins—such a thing was never and could never be completed without the blood of Christ.
And as a result of the change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law.
The Law of Moses required the priests be from the tribe of Levi, particularly from the house of Aaron, but we are not under that Law anymore.
We are now under the Law of Christ, and this writer really focuses on that in Ch. 8 and we see it in Ch. 9, too.
But we begin that discussion here, while it’s been hinted at earlier with the elementary principles discussed in the last chapter, it is explicitly stated here.
The law has changed, and the change of the priesthood proves it.
Another Tribe (7:13-14).
Jesus was, of course, not from the tribe of Levi, let alone a descendant of Aaron.
As we see in the genealogies of Jesus, He was of the tribe of Judah.
This was hinted at all the way back in Gen. 49:8-12 with Jacob’s blessing that he gives to his son Judah.
David is told that there would be no end to his family’s reign in 2 Sam. 7, as we also saw in Isa. 9 reigning as “Wonderful, Counselor, Might God, Everlasting Father, [and] Prince of Peace.”
While there was an interruption after King Zedekiah, a descendant of David now reigns on his throne and will forever, Jesus.
And yet, David writes about Him in Psalm 110 as a “priest forever.”
But no one in this royal tribe has ever legitimately officiated at the altar of God—Uzziah tried when he burned some incense, but God stopped him by giving him leprosy.
So, Jesus, as the Son of God, could now become a priest because there was 1) a change of the law, 2) it was prophesied as according to the order of Melchizedek, 3) Melchizedek was “made like the Son of God,” therefore the actual Son of God could follow in his footsteps as a priest forever!
This is a priest that never dies and officiates at the altar in heaven forever!
Next time we’ll see exactly what that means for us and how wonderful it is.
Conclusion.
As we discussed Jesus is a priest forever.
He cannot be a priest according to the Old Law, so there had to be a change.
There was in fact a major change in the Law, which we will talk more about when we get to Ch. 8.
But in order for Him to be a legitimate priest, He has to be in a different order, not the order of of Aaron, but the order of Melchizedek (6:20).
Because of His eternal priesthood, we can have a full assurance of hope (6:11).
This hope is an anchor of the soul, as Jesus enters the Presence of God behind the veil to atone for sins on our behalf (6:19).
So we can be assured that our sins have been forgiven!
But our sins can only be forgiven if we have become a Christian.
This hope can only be ours if we “obey Him” – recall, He has become the “author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (5:9).
This isn’t a salvation that we have earned, but an obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
How can we obey that gospel? …