Daily Meditations

Hebrews 7:11 Our High Priest Here is another verse that reveals some divine truths that leave us with a lot to think about. Firstly, we need to understand how important the priests were in the development of the Israelites. God had given the Law at Sinai, and the people therefore had a series of rules and rituals that needed to be obeyed, and that revealed the heart of the Lord God. However, they could not proceed on their journey without a priesthood. These men and women were sinners just like you and me, they broke God’s laws and were condemned by their failure, they needed a priestly system that would mediate for them between the earth and heaven. The problem was that the earthly priests were no better than the people they served, they too were guilty of sin and consistently broke the laws of God, they too had to offer sacrifices and make reparation for their sins. Aaron’s descendants, the Levites, were human, weak and just as guilty as the people they served.  Abraham’s meeting...

Hbrews 7:9-10 Abraham's DNA These enigmatic verses make a curious and profound argument, let’s try and follow what is being said here. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born. We don’t know exactly the age of Jacob when Levi came into the world but let’s say his father was 40, and let’s say that Levi was 30 before He was appointed a priest. Add this all up and we find that at least 230 years must have passed between when Abraham was making a tithe to Melchizedek and the Levites started to collect the tithes of the Israelites.  The author of Hebrews may not have done the maths, but he clearly believed that the blood of the descendants of Abraham was present in the old patriarch when he encountered the King/ Priest of Salem. Today we would say that it is our genes that are passed on down the generations, in fact modern science has proved the point, there is something of you and me that gets passed down the line to our children and...

As we have seen, there were complex arrangements in place amongst the Israelites to ensure that the Levitical priesthood was properly looked after and provided for. So, each town had its storehouse and all members of the community who traded or owned land and flocks were obliged to set aside one tenth of their produce. This was the result of hard work and making good use of the resources that the Lord God had provided. Obviously, a man could only keep giving whilst he was alive, the responsibility then passed on to his successors. That was the role model for the mortal Aaronic priests and the people they lived amongst. A different scenario unfolds when it comes to Melchizedek who, it is claimed, is  declared to be living ! This again adds fuel to the argument that Melchizedek was in fact Yeshua in His pre-incarnate state. No human being fits the criteria of being  declared to be living , only Christ possesses this honour. Take that a step further and we deduce that Abraham was...

Hebrews 7:7 Roots and shoots There is an old saying that declares that the Old Testament of the Bible is the “roots” and the New Testament is the “shoots” of God’s Word!  Everything we need to know about our faith is already planted in the Old Testament Scriptures. They present to us, before He even came, a profound and detailed description of the Messiah and His role on earth. The Gospels then relate the unfolding story of His birth, His life, His death and His resurrection. None of this would make sense if we did not have the “roots.”  The above logic can be applied to our understanding of the meeting of Melchizedek and Abraham. One represents the Lord and the heavenly realms, the other represents man and what it takes to live a godly life on earth. It is inevitable therefore that the godly figure is the greater in this encounter and He is able to bless the human being who acknowledges His superiority.  A blessing is far more than just a quick prayer for safety and...

Hebrews 7:6 Heaven meets earth         This verse points out that there was an exchange happening on the day that Abraham met Melchizedek. Both men recognised something in the other that made them special and significant. What they each saw was the hand of God or the Spirit of God present in another being. Abraham acknowledged that he was in the company of a representative of the Lord, a Godly man who was both king and priest and who was greater than himself. The Levites had not yet been born, and the Law had not been given but Abraham knew that this was a special moment, that the one before him was sent by God and occupied a role that was superior and worthy of his obeisance.  Melchizedek, on the other hand, saw that Abraham was a recipient of God’s covenant promises, that here was a man who was truly blessed and who would have a significant role in the future of the whole world. These two characters were giants of their time, both represented the Lord God and ...

Hebrews 7:5 A tenth for the priesthood It’s time to have a look at exactly what the law does say about tithing. In Deuteronomy 14 we read that the Israelites were commanded to set aside a tenth of all that their fields produced, this tithe was to be taken to the cities and towns where it could be distributed to the Levites. At the end of every 3 years the tithes that were stored would be distributed amongst Levites, foreigners, the fatherless and widows. How this was all logistically arranged is not clear but there was no excuse for not taking part, your neighbours would all know how well you had done anyway! The Lord had instructed Moses,  “I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting. ”  In other words, the tithes were the wages of the priesthood.  The point being made by the author of Hebrews is that this obligation to tithe fell on all Israelites. Whilst the members of the ...