November
3rd Hebrews
7
Christ a Melchizedek Priest
1:
For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who
met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed
him; 2: To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by
interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of
Salem, which is, King of peace; 3: 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. 4:
Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch
Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. 5: And verily they that are of
the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a
commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that
is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
6: But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of
Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. 7: And without all
contradiction the less is blessed of the better. 8: And here men that
die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is
witnessed that he liveth. 9: And as I may so say, Levi also, who
receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. 10: For he was yet in the
loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him. 11: If therefore
perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people
received the law,) what further need was there that another priest
should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after
the order of Aaron? 12: For the priesthood being changed, there is
made of necessity a change also of the law. 13: For he of whom these
things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave
attendance at the altar. 14: For it is evident that our Lord sprang
out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning
priesthood.
The
writer now goes on to show that the priesthood of Melchisedec was
superior to the Aaronic priesthood. He says, this man, who was king
of Salem (the site of Jerusalem) and priest of the most high God met
Abraham after his battle with the five kings of Canaan. He came to
Abraham to bless him and Abraham gave to him a tenth of all he had.
Then he goes on to say that, this man has no recorded mother or
father, nor any ancestors recorded, nor is his death recorded. In
this sense he is a type of Christ - a living parable. He was like
Christ in that he had no recorded end to his priesthood. While
Melchisedec has no recorded end to his priesthood, Christ himself
will have no actual end to his priesthood. Now consider how great
this man - Melchisedec is. He was honoured by Abraham before
Abraham's children were born. The tribe of Levi take a tenth of the
income of the other tribes to enable them to continue in the work of
the priesthood. But in contrast Melchisedec whose descent is not
recorded, receive tithes from them (The Levitical priests) because
they were the sons of Abraham. And it goes without saying that 'the
less is blessed by the greater'. Therefore Melchisedec is greater
than Levi. Levi paid his tenth to Melchisedec - in Abraham. If
therefore perfection - i.e. salvation could come by the Levitical
priesthood then what need would there be for another great priesthood
to arise. In the Aaronic priesthood there was no salvation offered to
Israel. Now because the blessing of God comes only from a change in
the priesthood from Aaron to Christ there must therefore be a change
in the Law, because it was clear that Christ came from the tribe of
Judah and there was no priesthood associated with that tribe. Christ
is therefore a priest after a different order than the Aaronic
priesthood. He had a superior priesthood like that of Melchisedec.
- Who was the greater Abraham or Melchisedec?
- Which priesthood is greater Melchisedec or Levi (Aaronic)?
- Why was Christ superior to Aaron's priesthood?
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