OLD TESTAMENT: ISAIAH 6-7
POETRY: PSALM 62
NEW TESTAMENT: HEBREWS 7
In Hebrews 7 the author of Hebrews (who for simplicity I’ll call “Herb”) describes Jesus’ greatness, particularly as a high priest. Herb is following a pattern we recognize, he has compared Jesus to angels, Moses, Joshua, and now Levitical high priests and says ‘that was good, but he is greater.’ The style of argument he is using was one employed by rabbis, it emphasized moving from a lesser thing (never a thing without value) to a greater thing. In the case of the priesthood connected to the Levites Herb compares it with a priesthood connected to Melchizedek, who has almost no known history (see Genesis 14:18-20, Psalm 110), and ties that to Jesus’ High Priesthood.
When Melchizedek and Abraham met it was several hundred years before the Levitical priesthood began with Aaron’s family, and before the Law which records instructions for those priests. There was no Ark of the Covenant then, and no Tabernacle to house it. It is difficult to imagine what form Melchizedek’s service toward God took, and for whose benefit it was provided. Should we suppose that Melchizedek and Abraham met often, and that the first frequently ministered to the second? We are told that Melchizedek was not only a priest but also the king of Salem (that city seems to have been at or near the site of Jerusalem, Psalm 76:2). Might Salem, under Melchizedek’s leadership, have been faithful to God?
We may find Melchizedek mysterious, rather like Balaam who operated as a prophet separately from the Hebrew people in Moses’ day (and ended up turning away from God). But Herb’s description in Hebrews 7:3 makes Melchizedek’s life sound even less clear, getting into whether we know who this priest-king’s parents were, or when he was born or died, as though Melchizedek had no birth or death. Herb’s point really is that Melchizedek was never stated to have become a priest based on inheriting the position, and that it is never mentioned that anyone took up his role as a priest after him. This is following a second style of reasoning accepted among rabbis, one in which you didn’t need to assume the reality of things which scripture left unstated. This allowed Herb to draw connections to Jesus, as one who did not inherit a priestly role from a parent, and who would never stop serving in his role as high priest. That was in contrast with the carefully kept genealogies of the Levitical system – there were tens of thousands of priests living in the New Testament period, each of whom gained their title through their father, and each of whom was to retire at age 50 (Numbers 8:25) – the order of Melchizedek was not joined based on birth records and was not temporary, but was through the permanent oath of God declaring membership (v. 21, 28; Psalm 110:4). So Herb’s statement “made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually” (3b), paired with him saying that Melchizedek “lives on,” (8) may not just involve the rabbinical argument about an unstated death being assumed not to have occurred – it may refer to Melchizedek retaining his status as priest when he is resurrected. Melchizedek will continue to serve alongside the high priest of his order.
Hebrews repeatedly points to Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s plans and calls believers to follow Jesus to gain perfection / maturity / completion (the Greek term doesn’t translate simply). We are told in 7:19 that “the Law made nothing perfect,” but 7:28 says that “the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.” Now of course when Herb tells us to join with Jesus he doesn’t mean that believers will stop sinning in this life, after all in 7:25 he describes Jesus as “able also to save forever [completely] those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (you see the point, people don’t need intercession unless they are still doing wrong; by the way, where 7:25 says “forever” and I note the Greek was more like “completely” that wasn’t the same Greek term as I was mentioning Herb used related to “perfection” and “completion.” I am sort of in the habit by now of noting with translations that say things like “forever” or “eternal” what word they should have said, though, because – say it with me – there was no New Testament word for eternal). As chapter six reminded us, a high priest never took the task on for himself, God made the choice, and when God provided us with Jesus we got the best (and only) high priest possible for the purpose of bringing us fully into contact with God.
I’m not sure if people in the church today think very often about how salvation works, but Herb felt it needed clarification and provided some in his book. We have read about Jews who were concerned over the idea of the Law continuing to be followed in the Church, a meeting was held at Jerusalem with apostles and other leaders to discuss that. At one point Paul addressed the issue by pointing to how God interacted with faithful Abraham, centuries before the Law. Paul showed that obedience to the Law was not required to please God, God was more interested in faith. Herb describes something similar with the priesthood, showing that it existed in Abraham’s time well before Aaron or Levi’s line and so the Levitical priesthood was not required for making connections to God. Herb also showed that Levi effectively tithed to Melchizedek when Abraham gave him a tenth of the spoils of battle, which Herb said meant that the earlier line of priesthood was greater than the later one.
Such interpretations as Paul and Herb wrote, or the many statements interpreting prophecies in the Bible, do not result from authors ‘putting together the pieces’ for what they wanted to support. I don’t think they could have been so fortunate in locating such details anyway. Rather we are talking about a God who shaped event, prophecy, and interpretation. Just as God chose Abram, by His own will, from whom to make a great nation, God also determined that He would use Abram as the starting point to reach the world. God’s choice involved setting up a whole imperfect system to put the Hebrew people on their path, creating a nation and a history and a culture that prepared the way for Jesus. Jesus then opened the way for people from the world; Jesus also provided for better things than the Hebrew people had been experiencing. It can be mindboggling to think about all the steps of the plan God put in place. I tend to wonder if some of those steps along the way were interchangeable, based upon whether certain people would follow through or fail in what they were called upon to do. What I am certain about is that God’s plan was never going to fail.
Thank you, Lord, for your plan, which you have been preparing for so very long. Thank you that we do not have to depend upon who gave us birth in this world to determine if we may enter your kingdom, but that you allow us to become inheritors of your kingdom through a relationship with your son Jesus. I may come into the relationship fallen, but he can lift me up. However dirty I seemed to myself, he was able to wash me clean. However useless I have felt, he can make me useful. As inheritors with him please help us each to joyfully work in your plan, caring and serving as he does for the will of his Father. And please help me be eager to serve him, let me help in ways I have not yet even been of help. Thank you, Amen.
~ Daniel Smead
Reflection Questions
- Do you find it encouraging to think that your future is not based on your past, but on your connection to Jesus?
- Hebrews 7:25 says that Jesus is able to save completely “those who draw near to God through” Jesus – do you see this more as part of the cautionary language in the book, saying salvation calls for drawing near to God, or as part of the promissory language of the book, pledging that we are able to draw near to God? How might a difference in outlook on that point affect someone’s life? How have you drawn nearer to God in the last few months?
- Perhaps it will seem to be a side issue, but we are told we will be priests in the coming age (Revelation 5:10). If the offer had existed through the Levitical order almost no Christians would be eligible – they are not Levites, they are not male, they are the wrong age, etc. But as members of the Melchizedite order alongside Jesus we are not subject to those restrictions, and we can serve with our High Priest Jesus for centuries. How can you honor God today?
Seek Grow Love 