We continue in our study after being off last Sunday evening for Easter. And we pick back up in chapter 7 at verse 4, verses 4 through 10 this evening in a study of the Melchizedekian priesthood. That is, the writer here is teaching us that Christ is a high priest after the order of this mysterious figure called Melchizedek. And this is such an important topic to the author before we read the passage.
Let me just remind you of this. He mentions the writer of Hebrews mentions Christ being a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Many times in chapter 5 verse 6 he quotes God speaking in Psalm 110. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
In chapter 5 verse 10 he mentions Christ being designated by God, a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Then he interrupts himself in the flow of his thought in the latter part of chapter 5 and chapter 6 to do some pastoral work on the immaturity of God's people. They need to grow. They also need to persevere.
But they also need to be reassured and he does that and to give them hope. And he does that. But then having mentioned the hope that we have in Jesus, he mentions Jesus in chapter 6 verse 20 being again a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. And so that gets him started then on this long explanation in chapter 7 about how Melchizedek resembles Jesus.
And he will continue this theme through chapter 7. So let me just say one more thing before we read the passage. It's so obviously important to the writer of Hebrews and to the Holy Spirit who inspired the writer of the book of Hebrews. It may not be so obviously important to us as we live our lives these many thousands of years after the coming of Christ.
It may not be that important to us as we read the Old Testament and we discover Melchizedek in Genesis 14 and then we never hear about him again until Psalm 110. And then we never hear about him again. And we may not in ourselves think, well this is a really important character. He's going to play an important role in redemption and in understanding our Redeemer.
It may be that even as we read the book of Hebrews we haven't really stopped to contemplate how important Melchizedek is. Sometimes things that are important to God that haven't been important to us, well we need to learn their importance. And sometimes when we come to the study of God's word we simply need to know. We need to be taught.
We need to be better informed. And here of course we need to be to better understand Melchizedek and because he helps us better understand Jesus who is our great high priest. And so let's open God's word to Hebrews chapter 7 verses that I'll read verses 1 through 10 and pick up the context. And before we read let's pray.
Father we ask that you would richly bless us. That you would lighten the eyes of our hearts in the knowledge of Christ. Grant that we would know what is your incomparable great power for us who believe, what is the hope to which you have called us, what is the inheritance you have in your people, and what is the free access we have to you and to your throne as needy weak sinners because of our priests Jesus. So may he be lifted up may we be encouraged in his name I ask it.
Amen. Hebrews chapter 7 let me invite you to hear now the word of God beginning at verse 1. For this Melchizedek king of Salem priest of the most high God met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. And to him Abraham apportioned a 10th part of everything.
He is first by translation of his name king of righteousness. And then he is also king of Salem that is king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy having neither beginning of days nor end of life. But resembling the son of God he continues a priest forever.
See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a 10th of the spoils and those descendants of Levi who received the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people that is from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case by one of whom it is testified that he lives.
One might even say that Levi himself who receives tithes paid tithes through Abraham, where he was still in the loins of his ancestor. When Melchizedek met him, amen. This is God's word. May he write it on our hearts.
So here's this mysterious figure Melchizedek. And as we said last week, he is a type or two weeks ago, a type of Christ. What is a type when I say that word? A type is an Old Testament person place or thing that prefigures or foreshadows a New Testament person place or thing.
In example, the type actually we read on Good Friday evening if you were here about that bronze serpent in the wilderness in Numbers chapter 21. When the people had grumbled and complained against Moses and against God and God sent fiery serpents among them and then the people repented and cried out to Moses. And Moses prayed to God on their behalf for mercy. And God said to what?
He said, make yourself a bronze serpent lifted up on a pole and anyone who has been bitten may look to it and live. How strange and mysterious. And Moses did that and the people were healed. Now this was a type of Christ.
And we know that from Jesus' own words in John chapter 3, as we read again on Good Friday in chapter 3 verses 14 and 15, Jesus said this, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. So the bronze serpent was a type of prefiguring, a foreshadowing of the lifting up of our redeemer up on the cross that all who look to him may be healed. He's hurtly healed. So this is how it functions.
And here in Hebrew 7, Melchizedek is a type of Christ. And so Christ is the anti-type that corresponds to him. Melchizedek resembles him. Now why does the writer bring this up?
Well, because he wants us to see that Jesus is greater than the Levitical priesthood. That is, and if you were a Jew in the time of Jesus and have newly believed in Jesus as the true Messiah, or you hadn't yet believed, but you're thinking about it. Your friends and your family have come to believe in him and to receive him. And you want to know what does this mean in terms of going to the temple and offering animals through the Levitical priesthood in sacrifice?
And you would want to know, and the author here wants them to know, wants us to know, that the priesthood of Jesus is better and greater than the priesthood of Aaron and the Old Testament Levitical priesthood. And so when Melchizedek is argument, the author wants us to see that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham and greater than Abraham's physical descendants among whom is the tribe of Levi out of whom come the priests. And so establishing Melchizedek is greater proves that Jesus is greater, because Melchizedek resembles Jesus, a prefiguring of him. So he tells us that Levi was in the loitens of Abraham's ancestor.
He even says that Abraham acknowledged that Melchizedek was greater than himself, but Melchizedek is but a shadow of the even greater Jesus. So Jesus is greater than the Levites and the priesthood and greater than their priesthood, so then don't put your hopes in the past. Don't put your hopes in what has been. All of that was leading you forward to the coming of Christ as our true prophet, priest and king.
So let's then look again at our outline of these verses 10 verses. Now last time we looked at our first major point, which is that Melchizedek resembles Jesus. We saw that in verses 1 to 3. Then we see in verses 4 to 7 that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham, therefore so is Jesus, and verses 8 to 10 that Melchizedek is greater than Levi, and therefore so is Jesus.
By way of a quick review, let me remind you of that first point. The ways that Melchizedek resembles Jesus from verses 1 to 3. Now this was the whole sermon last time, so very briefly. First five ways.
First Melchizedek is like Jesus as both a king and a priest of God. Verse 1, for this Melchizedek king of the most by God. He combines kingship with priesthood in one person. He's a royal priest.
Now that was never done in Israel, but it was done. The writer says pre-Israel, when Israel didn't even exist as a people, as a nation, as a state, as a religious community. In the days of Abraham, when it was just Father Abraham, and he alone. There was a priest king, and so he resembles Jesus in that way.
And then like Jesus, Melchizedek is king of righteousness. That's the second thing, middle verse 2. He is first by translation of his name, king of righteousness. That's a translation actually of the name, Melchizedek.
That's what his name actually means, this is what the author says, because Melchizedek means king and cedic means righteous. So the name means king of righteousness, and yet of course, there's no king who has ever been more righteous than Jesus. Melchizedek may have the name, the title, even in his own name. But Melchizedek, like anybody else, is a sinner, anybody other than Jesus.
So that there's only one who has in himself actually been perfectly righteous in all his ways, all the time. And that's Jesus, the king of righteousness. And then there's a third way Melchizedek resembles Jesus. He is the king of peace, middle verse 2.
He's first by translation of his name, king of righteousness. And then he's also king of Salem. That is king of peace. Because he's the king of a place called Salem, which means peace, king in fact of Jerusalem, which means city of peace.
Melchizedek is king of peace. And Jesus, as perhaps you know or ought to know by now, is the prince of peace, who made peace by the blood of his cross. And in whom we can have peace with God, standing in grace at peace with God and God at peace with us. And in whom in which the circumstances of life or by whom we can have that peace which passes all understanding to guard our hearts and minds as we trust in Christ.
So then fourthly Melchizedek is priest and wasn't hereditary. This is another likeness to Jesus. Verse 3, he is without, that is Melchizedek is without father or mother or genealogy. And what he's doing is he's contrasting that with the Levites, who were only priests if they were part of the right family in the right tribe called Levi.
They got their priestly role as part of that we might say family business if they descended from Aaron. But Melchizedek in the Bible, according to scripture, has no genealogy. And his parents aren't mentioned anywhere. He's without father or mother.
The writer here isn't saying that he's some mysterious supernatural figure other than a true human being born like true human beings are. His point is that in the Bible we're not told who his parents are. But if you were going to be a priest in the line of Aaron, I mean, you'd better know who your daddy was. Or nobody would accept you as a priest.
And this is really unusual then because usually as you encounter characters in the Old Testament, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, all the tribes. You get a long recitation of where they come from, who are their people, who's their family. There's nothing said about Melchizedek. His priesthood wasn't hereditary.
And the author's point is likewise the priesthood of Jesus. He doesn't actually descend from the line of Aaron, the family of Aaron, the tribe of Levi. He's from the tribe of Judah. He's the lion of the tribe of Judah, the kingly tribe.
And you could be from both. But he's a priest. Like after the order of Melchizedek. And then finally we saw that Melchizedek is a priest forever.
Verse 3 is without father or mother or genealogy. Having not at the beginning of days nor end of life. But resembling the son of God, he continues a priest forever. His point is we weren't told when he was born.
Nor were we told when he died. He suddenly appears seemingly out of nowhere on the pages of scripture. And just as suddenly disappears off the pages of scripture. And nothing more said of him until a thousand years later in Psalm 110 there's one verse about him.
So he's again unlike the Levinical priest who were mere men who came and went each one giving way to another. And you could track who's your priest. And now you might say well my priest is getting old. He's almost 50.
He's near the retirement. What a gig. And at 50 the head of the retire. And the next guy in line took his place.
There was a clear transition among the Old Testament priests. But in the pages of scripture Melchizedek just sort of disappears off the pages of scripture. And it appears off the storyline. And so it appears like his priesthood just continues.
There's no successor until the writer of Hebrews tells you his successor is Jesus who is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So wonderful things here. We noted Jesus is the fulfillment of what Melchizedek as it were promised. We said Jesus is a royal priest.
He's righteous and will never do you wrong. And he perfectly represents you before God because he is righteous. And he can perfectly account you righteous as he clothes you in his righteous robes. He's a righteous king.
He's also the king of peace who made peace with God by the blood of the cross. He's also a priest not based on hereditary rights but on God's decree. We'll hear about that later. And he's a priest who's priesthood goes on forever which means of course that there's no transition from one generation to another.
In every generation even now 2,000 years later. Just like Peter and Matthew and James in the earliest disciples could put our trust in Jesus come to God safely through Jesus. Because he always lives and lives forever. So Melchizedek resembles Jesus that point.
That's the intro and rehearsal of the last sermon. Now onto two more main points and this is where he takes us in verses 4 to 10. First that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham. Therefore so is Jesus.
We see that in verses 4 to 7. There are two ways Melchizedek is shown to be greater. And this is actually this is amazing because Abraham is the patriarch. I mean he is the ancestral founder of the Hebrew people one to whom the covenant promises were made.
He's the one about whom in Jesus today the Israelites the Jews were always saying our father is Abraham. Our father is Abraham. We have the right father. We're in the right family line.
Abraham is great. And it's great to be in Abraham's family. And yet the writer says yeah I've got someone you need to think about. Melchizedek he's greater than Abraham.
In two ways, tithes and blessings. Notice first the tithes verse four see how great this man was to who Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils. Abraham here the patriarch head of the family fount'n head of Israel, tithed. So Melchizedek.
These were the tithes that were the spoils of war when Abraham rescued Lot from, you know, some foreign kings that had taken him and his people captive. Abraham went out, gathered his men, won the victory, took in the spoils rescued Lot and his family, and then gave a tenth. and gave a tenth of all the soils to this mysterious figure. Let's just reflect on that for a moment.
I think was obviously a normal part of Abraham's life, of an Israelites life. Later it's commanded in the law, of course, a portion of a person's wealth was to be returned to God. How did you give it to God? Well, you gave it to support the ministry of God, through the ministry of the priests, verse five.
Those descendants of Levi who received the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take times from the people, that is, from their brothers and sisters, not just the men who give. And though he says these also are descended from Abraham. Verse six, but this man, Melchizedek, who does not have his descent from them, received tithes from Abraham. So Abraham tithing the spoils of law was a natural thing for him to do.
That is, he wanted to offer back to God a portion of what God had enabled him to have in giving him victory. It was an act of gratitude, a thank you to the Lord for protecting him and enabling him. And it's, of course, we might say normal and natural. That is, normal and natural for a genuine believer who knows the grace of God to want to give back to God, a portion of what he has given to them.
I had to just pause and ask you, has it become, well, let's say normal and natural for you. Sometimes it's not without its pain. It's not without its searching. Lord, do I have something to give here?
Or do I need to pay the bills that are coming? I understand the pressures of life. But if Christianity hasn't hit your pocketbook, then it hasn't hit your heart. This is the point that Jesus makes.
I mean, if you want to know where your heart is, look at your checkbook, right? For where your money is, there will your heart be also. What you invested, what you count important. You give to, you spend money on.
And it shows where your heart is. And so Abraham returns thanks to God as a tithe. And that went to God's priest of the mysterious Melchizedep. Just as later in the Law of Moses, it was commanded that tithes go to the Levites, the special tribe among the other tribes, that God set apart for religious purposes and activity within the community.
And so they were debarred from participating in territorial inheritance. The Levites didn't get a chunk of land, like all the other tribes did. No, the Levites instead were scattered among the people, and they were supported by the tithes of all the other tribes. And then we also read in scripture that all the priests within the Levite tribe, that is all priests were Levites, but not all Levites were priests.
Some of them had other duties. But in this case, the members of the tribe of Levite passed on a tithe of their tithe to the Aaronic priests for their support. And the point of the author is, the great patriarch Abraham acknowledged that Melchizedek was greater than himself. That's why he tithes to God through him.
But notice also Melchizedek blessed Abraham. This is the second way in which Melchizedek is greater. Verse six, but this man who does not have his descent from them from the Levites, received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And this too is amazing.
I mean, think of who Abraham is as the recipient of the promises of God. God had blessed him and told him, Abraham, I will bless you and I will make you a blessing to all the nations of the earth. We read about God's blessing on his enemies. Well, this is what God does.
God's blessing on the Egyptians and on the Assyrians and on the Israelites. Nobody deserves this blessing. It's a gracious blessing. And here Abraham is given the great blessing of being a blessing to every nation.
So you would think that therefore Abraham would be blessing Melchizedek, right? You'd think that the Hebrew who has the blessing of God would come up to the Gentile king that I king from Salem and say a blessing over him, but it's just the reverse. Melchizedek had a blessing from God to give Abraham that even Abraham needed to receive. And the writer draws a lesson from this.
Verse seven, it is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. So generally speaking, we might think of it this way. Generally speaking, parents bless their children. Usually not the other way around.
Not the other way I'm describing. When your child is six months older, a year old or two year old, and you put them to bed and you pray for them and you bless them. And as they get older, you tell them the blessings of God to them, it's usually not the other way around. I mean, not when they're young, because the superior, as a parent is to their child, I don't mean morally superior or you know, uppity, but the scripture means they're in a position, they have a status.
I mean, don't misunderstand. Children are a blessing to their parents. Children are a blessing from the Lord, a gift from the Lord. Sometimes because of our children's character and attitude and disposition and God's grace in working their life, children are a fantastic blessing from the Lord.
And do bless us. We long for that, of course, for our children's own good. And well, we all like to enjoy that as well as parents. But it is still, his point is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior, so Melchizedek is superior to Abraham.
And because Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek, the writer is saying, well, he's superior to Abraham, so don't turn away. Don't turn away, don't think, dear Jewish Christians that you have somehow betrayed Abraham when you embraced Jesus. You have it belittled Abraham or shrunk Abraham or denied Abraham. The scripture tells you that Abraham is inferior to Melchizedek.
Jesus is great in the Melchizedek. You're actually fulfilling the plan of God for Abraham when you embrace Jesus. He's the heir, the offspring of Abraham, through whom all the nations will be blessed. And here, the writer connects his point.
Melchizedek is greater than Abraham, so is Jesus. And so that he continues his argument with one last point in verses eight to 10. Melchizedek is greater also than Levi, and therefore so is Jesus. And he returns to the issue of ties.
He comes back to that because the Levites received them from their fellow Israelites. And in verse eight, he says, in the one case, ties are received by mortal men. That is those who are Levites. But in the other case, in the case of Melchizedek, by one of whom it is testified that he lives.
Again, contrasting the fact that the Levites were dying men, but on the pages of scripture, Melchizedek's death isn't recorded, and it appears as though he goes on and on and on, as such, he's a figure of Christ, who continues forever. So that verse nine, one might even say that Levi himself, who receives ties, paid ties, three Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. Now this is an argument that you and I wouldn't have probably have thought to make. But here, under the inspirational Holy Spirit, it's a proper argument because Abraham paid ties, because Levi is his descendant, it could be argued, that Levi paid ties through Abraham.
I mean, at one level, very simply, we can say, well, Abraham had some stuff, some spoils of war, and he gave some of it away. And so his children and grandchildren didn't inherit any of that. They likewise, as it were, gave it away when their grandfather, when Abraham did. But we make special heads and say, there were no Levites around when Melchizedek was given money by Abraham.
I mean, and that's because of course, there was no Isaac, there was no Jacob, there were no 12 tribes of Israel, so there were no Levites. So what principle is the writer appealing to you to say that we might even say that the Levites paid ties through Abraham to Melchizedek. He's appealing to the covenant principle, or the principle of covenantal headship, that we are represented by another in certain relations, because of our relation to that other. So even though Levi wasn't born, he was still in the loins, so to speak, of his ancestor.
And this covenant principle of representation by another is a principle at work, for example, if you wanna see this elsewhere, in the famous story of David and Goliath. I mean, with Goliath, when the armies of Israel and the Philistines are on opposite sides of a valley, and Goliath, the giant, walks out and challenges them, and says, send me your best man. Let's go one on one, mono on mono, right? And whoever wins, hey, whoever wins, all of us wins.
And whoever loses, well, all y'all lose. And you'll be our servants. You ready for this? You got a man?
And little David, you know, in the confidence of God and by the decree of God goes out and he slays to the giant, then he wins the battle. And you know, in the just world, you'd expect the Philistines to all lay down their weapons and say, yeah, we said our best guy, we lost covenant representation at all. We'll be your servants, but instead they all run away and have to be chasing hunted. They weren't faithful to the terms of the covenant principle that Goliath was actually articulating.
But the principle is someone can represent you and represent you on your behalf. And here it was, this is likewise the covenant principle at work in the doctrine of salvation. For we were all in Adam, the covenantally represented by Adam in the garden and in the rebellion. And we are offered a new covenant representative, a new head, Jesus, who wonderfully represents us in covenant relationship with God.
And either Adam stands for you or Christ stands for you. I mean, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, for as in Adam all die. So also in Christ shall all be made alive. That is those who are in Christ shall have everlasting life.
Paul puts it this way in Romans 5 and 19, for as by the one man's disobedience, that one man is Adam, the many were made sinners. So by the one man's obedience, that man is Christ, the many will be made righteous. So either you suffer condemnation in Adam because you're united to him in covenantal union with him, or you are blessed with righteousness in Christ and enjoy peace and life with God because you're united to Christ through faith as you're covenant head. Well, this is the principle of covenantal representation upon which the writer is making his argument.
The descendants of Abraham, the Levites, the priests are in union with Abraham. And therefore Abraham's ties to Melchizedek were their ties, so to speak, which means they're inferior to Melchizedek. And therefore the order of the priesthood of Melchizedek is greater than the order of the Levitical priesthood. And therefore Christ's priesthood is better.
So now turn it away. Don't go back to being merely Jewish. There is no better priest than Jesus. There is no higher priest than Jesus.
He is our great high priest. So that there is nobody else besides Jesus appointed by God. Now that he has come, the apex of the priesthood, there is nobody else besides him appointed to bring you safely to God, appointed to represent you before God, appointed to represent you to God, appointed to give you the blessings of God. Just trust in him to be your priest, and God welcomes you.
God blesses you. Now in our own day, and we'll close with this again, in our own day, I would just assume most of us aren't struggling with whether we should have some Jewish descendant of Levi be our priest. And that is most of us anyway, who don't have any kind of Jewish family or religious history. But all around the world, we do have to say, and even among Christians who are mistaken about these things, people do say things like, well, Jesus isn't really sufficient to bring you to God.
Not all in his own. I mean, you need Jesus, of course, but you need something else, someone else too, to safely bring you to God. Maybe you need Jesus plus, some say Mary, or maybe you need Jesus plus, some other human priest patterned after the Levitical priesthood, which should show you that that kind of priesthood, isn't the kind you need? No, you need the Melchizedekian kind of priesthood.
But others would say things like, and you know, well, let me just say it this way, without naming names or even pointing you in certain directions, but some people would say, you need Jesus plus, you need to be in the right geography. I mean, you will, they might say, be closer to God, if you visit Jerusalem. You might be closer to God if you wear a cross. You can be closer to God if the mood lighting in the sanctuary was better, or if there were candles, some would say, and others would say, no, no, no, if there was a fog machine, right?
I mean, you can be closer to God, others would say, when you feel like it, but when you don't feel like it, you obviously can't be close, and you have no access to God, because really your feelings are your mediator. We don't put it that starkly, but sometimes that's how we think. We're tempted to put our trust in other words, in all manner of man-made things, instead of simply coming boldly to the throne of grace, through Jesus, our great high priest. God says you need a priest, and God has given you just exactly the priest that you need.
Let's go to God now, through Him. Father, we bless you and thank you for Jesus. We would come boldly to the throne of grace, in His name, and would seek mercy and help in our time of need. Lord, you know what we need, you know the burdens that we carry, the temptations we've experienced, you know the ways that we've stumbled and fallen, and the way we need to be put back up on our feet.
You know all things about us, we do cast ourselves upon you, and seek mercy and grace and help in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen, let's stay together and sing.