Daily Meditations

Hebrews 5:6 You are a priest forever et another quote from the Psalms, this time from Psalm 110:4,  “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind; You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”   Melchizedek was a King Priest of God Most High at Salem in the days of Abraham. (Salem means “peace” in Hebrew from which we get Shalom.) As such a King Priest he was appointed to a higher order than even Aaron and his sons and any other High Priests of Israel. The roles of priest and king were not given to any man apart from Melchizedek, a curious figure about whom we know little, but Abraham saw and believed enough to honour the man and make tithes to him. (See Genesis 14:18-20) The two men shared bread and wine just outside Salem (Later Jerusalem), I like to think they did this in the area where Jesus later shared bread and wine with His disciples!   We have already discussed the fact that Jesus was appointed both King and Priest by God His Father and now He is com...

Hebrews 5:5 You are my Son, today I have become Your Father. Having reviewed the processes by which earthly High Priests were appointed, we now turn to the appointment of Yeshua! The author is quick to point out that Jesus did not claim this role for Himself, in fact when we look at His life and His relationships, we could say that He steered well away from the earthly priesthood and had little time for their status or roles, as they did of His!    There is no evidence that Jesus was ambitious or eager to impress His fellow men – anything but. His appointment was by the Father, but the terms of engagement are mind-blowing! In selecting His Son, God the Father speaks in the language of Psalm 27:7 “ You are my Son; today I have become Your Father.”  He then goes on to describe the kingly rule of Jesus and His role in subjugating all the nations of the earth. Thus we must assume that, in God’s eyes, the roles of King and High Priest overlap, and that the position that Jesus ...

Hebrews 5:4 Called by God Aaron was chosen by God to be the first High Priest of Israel (Exodus 28:1) and the choice of family to continue this privileged role was also in God’s hands. The Lord said to Aaron,  ”But only you and your sons may serve as priests on connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you’re the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.”  Numbers 18:7. Traditionally, the role of High Priest passed from father to eldest son, and it was a “job for life!” However, by the time of Jesus these traditions had been taken over by politics, for centuries it had often been the Monarch who appointed the priest or later, government officials, the Priests were even appointed by lot and bribery was part of the process!  This does raise the question of how ministers, clergy, pastors, bishops, elders etc are all appointed today. Each denomination has its own methods but there is ...

Hebrews 5:3 Sacrifices for sins The writer is still seeking to draw our attention to the weaknesses of Jewish High Priests for he has a greater aim, that is, to show how Jesus exceeds their earthly ministry in every way. When Aaron, Zadok, Eliashib, Caiaphas and Co entered the Holiest of all, once per year, they had firstly to offer sacrifices for their own sins. In fact, they must have done this on more than just one annual occasion because these men were aware, more than anyone, of the far-reaching threat of the Law and their inability to keep it. Therefore, they would ensure their own holy state before God before interceding for their fellow Israelites.  The rituals of the Day of Atonement were especially strict and are set out in Leviticus 16. Before entering the Tabernacle / Temple the High Priest must bathe and put on special priestly robes. He must then sacrifice a bull as a sin offering for himself and his family. (Leviticus 9:7. 16:6.) The blood of that same bull must be t...

Hebrews 5:2 cont Purified from all unrighteousness We need to continue with this verse simply because its meaning can pile condemnation on all of us who are aware that we have indeed sinned intentionally and dared to defy the commands of the Lord. Let’s repeat that the ancient Israelites had no way out of this dilemma, they were scarred for life if their sins were public. But it was also the knowledge that God knew everything about them that must have filled them with dread! In fact, we have seen exactly how the Lord God reacts to defiance in the previous 2 chapters of this Epistle. Chapter 3 goes into great detail in describing the disobedience and open rebellion of a whole generation of Israelites who were excluded from the Land of God’s rest because of their behaviour. Their sin was not one of ignorance but of open defiance. Many of those Israelites must have spent their lives pondering their foolishness, wondering if they would ever find absolution and fearing the judgement tha...

Hebrews 5:2 Sins of ignorance This verse is packed with truth. The first thing we notice is the tolerant attitude of the High Priests; they were aware of their own sinfulness and thus they must deal gently with the people they represented. Some believers beat themselves up all the time because of their weaknesses and failure to live lives worthy of their calling. Others seem to carry on as if nothing had happened, they hold their relationship with Jesus Christ very lightly. Notice that it is the  ignorant who are going astray  that are treated gently by the Priest, because He understands their weakness and unawareness of their sin. It is a beautiful picture of our relationship with our High Priest – Yeshua. This verse brings into focus the Scriptural division between unintentional sins of ignorance and those of rebellious defiance. Many Christians are surprised to discover that there is a difference!  Leviticus 4 explains, in great detail, the nature of the sin offering m...