Hebrews 7:1-10 Jesus and Melchizedek

Hebrews 7:1-10

Jesus and Melchizedek: A picture of our One and Forever High Priest 

To my international friends: It is such a blessing to see these sermon notes and videos go out around the world each week.  God honors his word.  It's not my work or delivery.  It certainly isn't the polish and production.  There is none.  His word is effective and powerful.  Thank you to all of you checking in all around the globe.  I pray for you blindly, not knowing anything about you except for the electronic signature you leave behind having seen this blog.  If you'd like to leave a comment for me with some way of contacting you, I'd love to pray for you specifically. 

And now for what you came for: 

After expositing the nature of the mysterious Melchizedek, the preacher of Hebrews uses this historical figure as a scaffold to teach why Jesus’ priesthood is superior to that of the Levitical priests then serving in the temple and in the synagogues throughout the Roman world. Jesus’s priesthood is greater on many fronts. Three are mentioned here: His preeminence by virtue of his eternal nature, The evidence of Abraham's blessing, and the evidence of Abraham's Tithe. The video is below, and my notes follow.

1. Context: Gen 14:17-24
1. Melchizedek is a priest of the Most High God
1. El Elyon God Most High, God of Gods.  
1. First time this is used in the Bible
2. It is how God is described by Melchizedek
3. In contrast to YHWH, the covenant name of God given to Moses, this title sets him apart as the God of all nations, not just the Jews.
4. Abraham immediately adopts the title and uses it in vs 22.
2. Abraham acknowledges that this God of Melchizedek is His God as well.
3. There are no priests of God at this time.  About 500 years before Aaron is born.
4. Abraham is the only person alive who speaks to/worships the God of the Bible until we meet Melchizedek.
2. Melchizedek is “King of Salem.”  Two views:
1. This is a normal mortal man who is king of the (then) Jebusite city of Jerusalem, and the city’s name is shortened in the reference here (Psa 76:2) (John MacArthur, James McDonald, J. Vernon McGee).
1. Problem: Why does the king of Jerusalem worship God Most High and none of his subjects do and never will as long as they live there?
2. Problem: Jerusalem’s ancient name was Jebus, not Salem.  
1. No city of the time was called Salem.  
2. There was a Shalem, in Gen 33:18, which later was called Salim in John 3:23, but this is much farther north, in what is later Samaria.  Too far.
2. Melchizedek is a Christophany, a pre-incarnation appearance of Jesus Christ. (Chuck Smith, Greg Laurie, Bill Stonebraker)
1. Problem: Why give a pre-incarnation of Jesus a specific name?
1. Everywhere else “The Angel of the Lord”
2. Because it reveals his nature: King of Righteousness
1. Melek: King
2. Tszidek: righteousness
2. Problem: Why give this Christophany a specific political role, which he likely did not actually fulfill at that time?
1. The Jebusites were not ruled by Jesus at this time.
2. Because it is his future designation in the Millennial Kingdom.
3. John 8: Jesus: “Abraham rejoiced to see my day.”  When did Abraham rejoice and see Jesus?  Here, in Gen 14.
3. Priest and King is an unprecedented combination.
1. Saul and Uriah both were judged for trying.
2. Samuel refused to be King
3. Prophesied that Messiah will be both Zech 6:13
4. Melchizedek blesses Abraham in the name of God Most High and brings bread and wine
1. Symbols of his passion and a foreshadowing of communion.
2. This 500 years before Passover is instituted!
3. When Jesus re-packages Passover into the Lord’s Supper, he returns it to what it was here.
4. Interesting side note: There is a record of a battle involving the city states in this area in the spring of 1802 BC, although the names of the kings involved are different in their own historical records, the same cities are involved.  This is the time when Abraham was thought to have been sojourning in the area.  If this is the same event, then it happened in the Spring.  Did it happen on what would later become Passover?  We don’t know, but it would be cool!
5. Abraham gave him a tithe of all of his spoils.
1. Again, 500 years before the law.  Tithing was a pre-law part of the culture of God’s people.  
2. Even though we have been freed from the law, we are still expected to tithe as a minimum.  The NT actually asks more of us in this area, not less.
3. A Tithe is an act of worship.  Not that Abraham was necessarily worshipping Melchizedek, but he was worshipping God through Melchizedek and acknowledging that Melchizedek’s God was his God.
2. Psalm 110:4
1. The entire psalm is Messianic.  The preacher has already used verse 1 in his sermon.
2. Messiah will be a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
1. Melchizedek’s priesthood is eternal.  
1. There would be no “second” High Priest to fill the office after Melchizedek.
2. Jesus must actually be Melchizedek, not just a priest like him.
2. Priesthood an “oath” of God.  Cannot be broken (Heb 6).
3. Hebrews 7:1-3
1. Significance of his names is rehearsed. King of Righteousness and King of Peace
1. Righteousness comes before peace.  There can be no peace without righteousness (Rom 5:1)
2. Isa 9:6-7; 11:4-5; 16:5
3. Isa 32:1, 16-18
4. Jer 23:5
5. Psa 85:10
2. Without genealogy, father or mother, beginning or end of days.
1. ἀγενεαλόγητος agenealogētos Without genealogy.  Only recorded usage of this word in Koine Greek, inside or outside of scripture.  It cannot have any other context other than in reference to God.  
2. Some say that this is an “argument from silence,” that we just don’t know these things because they aren’t recorded.
3. However, when Psalm 110 is included in the exegesis, it’s clear that Melchizedek is an eternal being.
4. Dead Sea Scroll Midrash 11Q13
1. speculates that Melchizedek was in some way an eternal spiritual being: Highest angel, a manifestation of God’s glory, one guess is even a “son of the Highest”
2. This is not scripture, but it shows where Jewish thought was going at the time (approx. 400 BC).
5. This is in reference to the Eternal divine nature of Jesus as the second member of the trinity.
6. “The Levitical priesthood was entirely hereditary, through Aaron.  Melchizedek’s was personal.  From the beginning of the Aaronic priesthood, genealogy determined everything, personal qualification nothing.  If you descended from Aaron, you could serve; if you did not, you could not.  Consequently, the priests often were more concerned about their pedigrees than their holiness…  The point is that Melchizedek’s parentage and origin are irrelevant to his priesthood.  Whereas to the Aaronic priesthood, genealogy was everything, to the Melchizedek priesthood it was nothing.”  John MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Hebrews (1983: The Moody Bible Institute, Chicago)
3. Resembling the Son of God.
1. Those who don’t think that this is Jesus point to this phrase, that he is not the Son but simply resembles the Son.
2. Who else is literally without Father, Mother, etc? An angel?
3. Resembling: ἀφομοιόω aphomoioō
1. to cause a model to pass off into an image or shape like it
2. to express itself in it, to copy
3. to produce a facsimile
4. to be made like, render similar
5. Only used here in the NT.  
6. In other Koine Greek literature of the period, it can be found 8 times (that I found) and means “an exact replica.”  Similar to the usage of χαρακτήρ charaktēr in 1:3.
4. See also Daniel 3:25; 7:13 “one as a son of man” and “one as a son of God.” This is obviously Jesus, but is “as” in these verses as well.
4. He [Melchizedek] continues as a priest forever.  
1. This is clearly not an argument from silence.  
2. Levitical priests individually had discrete years of service, from 25 as assistants (30 ordination) to 50 (mandatory retirement).
3. Collectively, the entire order of priests had a definite origin (Ex 32:29) and a definite end (AD 70).  
1. Genealogical records all destroyed with the temple.  
2. Today, Jews claiming to belong to Levi or the priesthood (Kohen) claim to have kept meticulous genealogical records since the destruction of the temple, but all records from that point back were lost, so it is a matter of faith.
4. Heb 7:4-10 The greatness of Melchizedek is set as greater even than Abraham on the basis of the tithe and the blessing.  
1. Tithes:
1. Tithes are paid by the lesser to the greater as an act of worship.
2. Tithes are prescribed by the law, but the principle is older and universal.
3. The tithes paid by the children of Israel to the Levites validated their call by God and their role as priests.
4. Abraham’s Tithe to Melchizedek validates Melchizedek’s call by God and his role as a priest that is even greater than that of Levi.
1. Levi is lesser than Abraham as his descendant
2. Levi is “in” Abraham and therefore pays a Tithe to Melchizedek.
5. Vs 8: Moral men vs. “One of whom it is testified that he lives.”  Melchizedek is still alive.  His name is Jesus.
2. Blessing: Melchizedek blesses Abraham, and the greater blesses the lesser.
1. To a Jew, the Priest was the center of their spiritual life
2. To a Jew, Abraham is the most revered character in History.
3. Melchizedek was greater than both.
4. Jesus is (or is greater than, if He is only a type) Melchizedek.
5. Trust in the greater source of strength and the greater advocate.
6. Remember Hebrews 4:16.  

Hebrews 6:9-20: A Double-Barrel of Warning and a Boatload of Hope, Part 3

A Double-Barrel of Warning and a Boatload of Hope, Part 3

Hebrews 6:9-20

To my international friends: It is such a blessing to see these sermon notes and videos go out around the world each week.  God honors his word.  It's not my work or delivery.  It certainly isn't the polish and production.  There is none.  His word is effective and powerful.  Thank you to all of you checking in all around the globe.  I pray for you blindly, not knowing anything about you except for the electronic signature you leave behind having seen this blog.  If you'd like to leave a comment for me with some way of contacting you, I'd love to pray for you specifically. 

After warning those inside and those outside the church that only in persevering in the faith and bearing fruit can you find salvation, he now turns his intention from warning to encouraging.  This, most tender section of Hebrews, follows arguably the strongest section of warning.  It’s the “I love you” after the spanking. The reassurance after discipline. The video is below, and my notes follow.

1. 6:9
1. Although we speak in this way, yet in your case… persuaded.
1. Persuaded (Πεπείσμεθα) implies that a prior objection has been overcome, and now they are firmly attached to this conclusion.  
2. The speaker has been convinced by many proofs to the validity of what he says.
2. Beloved.  ἀγαπητός agapētos The most tender of addresses, lit “those upon whom the love of God has been set.”   Used 60 times in NT. First 9 times by Father of Christ. Only here in Hebrews.
3. Better things, things belonging to salvation.  This serves as the head to all that follows through verse 12.  
1. Belonging to… lit to attach oneself to.  
2. These things have become who you are since your salvation.
2. 6:10-12 The characteristics of a saved life.
1. God will not overlook the evidence of a saved life.  
1. The only assurance you have that you are being saved is the fruit in your life.  
2. This is also what God looks for as an external sign of what He is accomplishing internally.
2. Work and service
1. Works don’t save, but saved people work.
2. This is a very common word that can mean any accomplished work or action, but here, as many other places, it refers to good deeds done in accordance with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
1. Matt 5:16
2. Matt 11:2
3. Eph 2:10
3. Similar useage by Paul in Eph 4:12ff
4. Ongoing.  They were working before, and they still on.  The life of service never stops.
3. Love for his name
1. Love is the principal characteristic of a Christian’s life
1. 1 Cor 13:13
2. Gal 5:22
3. John 13:1; 15:13
2. “In his name” ἐνδείκνυμι endeiknymi This verb, awkward in English, means literally to show as part of yourself, to demonstrate a characteristic of oneself.  
1. Love is a fundamental aspect of God’s nature.
2. We show that we belong to him when we also show that characteristic as part of our nature (Jn 13:35)
4. Assurance of hope
1. Hope, not in a worldly sense.  For a Christian, hope is the expectation that what God has declared over our lives will come to be, since, from His perspective, it is already accomplished (Rom 4:21; 8:29-30)
2. However, even with this perspective, it is hard, in our own minds, to be confident in what we cannot yet see (Heb 11:1; Rom 8:24)
3. So it is the desire of the preacher that we don’t begin to doubt our salvation.  
4. πληροφορία plērophoria  
1. Col 2:2
2. 1 Thes 1:5
3. Heb 10:22 ← significant that the only other use of this word in Hebrews is also associated with a strong warning section of this sermon.  The preacher gives strong assurance both times he shakes us up.  The believer is not meant to be shaken.  The unconverted are meant to be given a clear picture of their condition before a Holy God.
5. This confidence is not only for some super-Christians but for “each one of you” who believe.
5. Not be sluggish
1. Same verb as in vs 11 “lazy hearers.”
2. Lit “might become not lazy.”  You have become lazy (5:11).  Now become not lazy!
3. Again, saved Christians work.
6. Imitators of those…
1. Christians are in community and under authority.
2. Not self-styled, setting our own standards and expectations.  The scriptures give us our standards in Christ (Phil 3:12-14) and examples to follow (Ch 11).
3. Danger of the emergent church. There needs to be leadership, discipline, accountability, and solid teaching.
7. Faith is the main ingredient in the formula for salvation
1. Required to begin the journey of the Christian life (Rom 10:9-10; Eph 2:8-9; John 3:16)
2. Required to continue in a life that pleases the Father (Heb 11:6)
3. This will be the main focus of the last portion of this sermon.
8. Patience, μακροθυμία makrothymia lit “Large-souled.” You have the ability in your character to endure for a long time without giving into violent emotions, despair, anger, or wrath.  
1. Used in only one work outside of scripture before the LXX to describe victims of a siege turning over all the stones in their city to look for every edible thing (roots, bugs, etc) in order to survive long enough to break the siege.  Also, in the same work, it describes sailors on a ship that sank a long-distance offshore swimming for days to get to land.  
2. Used in LXX many times to reflect the attribute of God that he puts up with much sin before he brings his final judgement (Ex. 34:6-7).  Long-suffering.
3. Used in the NT in the same way (Rom 9:22)
4. Usually an attribute of God.  Only attributed to men rarely. Here only in Hebrews.
9. Inherit the promises,
1. Present participle.  Rather, “Are inheriting the promises.”
2. We are all in process.  The promises will not be fulfilled in their fullness for us until we are in glory and the heavens and earth are recreated.
3. 6:13-18 Oaths of Men and God
1. Vs 16: Oaths of men
1. Less confident than the oaths of men, yet even these are sufficient for settling disputes.
2. Examples in scripture: Ex 22:10-11; Rom 1:9
2. The Promises of God:
1. Example of the oath to Abraham
1. First promise: Gen 12:1-3
2. Formal oath ceremony Gen 15.
1. The covenant is unilateral.  Abraham is put to sleep and only witnesses God make the covenant with him.  
2. Nothing about Abraham affects the efficacy of this covenant.
3. God swears by Himself in Gen 22:15-18.
1. Man swear by something greater (The temple, the altar, etc)
2. Told to swear by the name of the Lord (Deut 6:13; 10:20; Isa 19:18)
3. There is nothing higher by which to swear, so God swears by himself in Gen 22:16 (and Psalm 110:4).
2. Two things by which the promise is sure:
1. His original purpose/promise in Gen 12:1-3.  God cannot lie.
2. The self-witnessed oath in Gen 22:16
3. Connection to us and our salvation?
1. Not replacement theology.
2. The preacher is saying that if the Old covenant were that secure, surely the new covenant by His Son is more so.
4. Summation (6:18-20)
1. We who have fled for refuge καταφεύγω katapheugō
1. An intensified version of the verb “to flee.”
2. “For refuge” is implied from context and other usages in ancient literature.
2. God sacrificed bulls and goats to enact the old covenant.  He slew his Son to enact ours.  How much more confident can we be?
3. To where do we flee?  To the Holy of Holies!
1. Jesus has gone behind the veil as a forerunner.
1. Without precedent in scripture.
2. Never any expectation that “normal” people would enter the Holy of Holies
3. God is intimate with His people in being:
1. Initially, in their midst physically (Gen 3:8-9)
2. Among them in his temple/tabernacle (Ps63:1-11; Zeph 3:17; John 1:9)
3. Able to hear them (Isa 65:24; Jer 33:3)
4. Constantly thinking of them (Isa 49:15)
5. Aware of their troubles (Ps 23; 139)
6. Concerned with their future (Jer 29:11; Isa 55:1-6)
7. Yet far off (Jer 31:3; Ps 42:1-2; Isa 6:5)
2. High priest once a year with fear and trepidation (Lev 16).
3. We go continuously with courage and peace (4:16).
4. Even greater than if he had gone to intercede in the Earthly Holy of Holies, Jesus has gone into the real Holy of Holies and is seated at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33; 7:55-56; Rom 8:34; Eph 1:20; Col 3:1; Heb 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1Pe 3:22; Rev 3:21)
4. Key verse (19).  Hope as an anchor for the soul.
1. Need for an anchor.  Life is full of storms:
1. James 1:6
2. Disciples in the boat Matt 8:23-27
3. Maturity in Christ brings stability. Eph 4:11-16
2. Sure: ἀσφαλής asphalēs a-negating sphales-to fail.
1. Unfailing.
2. In the NT 5 times.  Translations:
1. Facts (Acts 21:34)
2. Real, actual (Acts 22:30)
3. Definite (Acts 25:26)
4. Safeguard (Phil 3:1)
5. Here in Hebrews, Sure.
3. Is there any time when you feel that your actions have failed God and you, therefore, have no reason to hope?  You’re wrong.
4. Have there been times when you feel that God has forsaken you and you, therefore, have no reason to hope?  You’re wrong.
5. Jesus will never fail you. Neither should your hope in Him.
3. Stedfast: βέβαιος bebaios Bedrock, foundational, at the bottom of things.
1. Used 9 times in the NT
1. Guarantee (Rom 4:16)
2. Unshaken (2 Cor 1:7)
3. Reliable (Heb 2:2)
4. Firm (Heb 3:6, 14)
5. Certain (2Pe 1:10)
6. Confirmed (2Pe 1:19)
2. This is the “at bottom” thing in our life.  It, above all else, is worth of our unreserved trust.  Jesus loves you, has done everything to merit your salvation, and WILL follow through on what He has promised you. On this, you can rest, set your anchor, build your life, and return to when the storms of life try to toss you around.