Daily Meditations

Hebrews  7:25 He lives to intercede for us The priestly role of Jesus Christ is described brilliantly by John in his first epistle.  “ My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”  1 John 2:1-2. John obviously understood all this as well as anyone, for he devotes a whole chapter of his Gospel to the High Priestly prayers of Jesus for His disciples and then for the church. Reading John 17 gives us an insight into the ways that Jesus views His role, to protect us from the world, to develop unity amongst His followers and for them to be sanctified by the Word of truth. His mission is to see His people filled with His joy and with His glory and love, so that the world may believe.  This High Priest offers salvation by His sacrifice tha...

Hebrews 7:23-24 A permanent priesthood Presumably some of the priests of Israel were popular with the people and well loved. They would begin their active ministry at the age of 30 and it was a job for life; there was no retirement age! Levites who were assistants, however, could commence their work at age 25 and retire from the hard physical jobs at 50.  It follows that, after years of active service amongst their contemporaries, the death of the priests was a huge shock and a cause of grief amongst the people. As is usual in the ways of men, the priestly conveyor belt passed through many generations, and no one knows exactly how many of these men has served at the altar and in the Temple of the Lord. Death obviously brought about the termination of their office and someone younger would step into their shoes. None of the above applies to Jesus, by conquering death He established a permanent priesthood and His position is unshakeable, we will never grieve for Him or miss His ...

Hebrews 7:22 Jesus guarantees a better covenant We need to explore the ways in which Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant. Firstly, it is because His appointment is eternal, as we saw from the previous verse. He is indestructible, for the only thing that could hinder His ascent to power was death, and He defeated death! Hallelujah!  Then, His  influence and authority are not confined to just the earth, He is King and Priest over all things, “ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  Philippians 2:9-11. There will be no more changing sides in the heavenly realms, the adversary has had his day, his rule extends only over the earth, once Yeshua was crowned, every knee must bow down to Him.  As we know, demons fear the name of Jesu...

Hebrews 7:20-21 Appointed with an oath! When the Levitical priesthood was established under Moses and Aaron, through the exacting demands of the Law, there was no oath to accompany the Covenant promises. God did not swear that He would uphold this system forever. However, we saw in chapter 6:13-19 that when the Lord God established His covenant relationship with Abraham and promised him many descendants, He did so by swearing by His own name. The same assurances are given in relation to the appointment of Jesus Christ as High Priest. God has decreed, He will never change His mind, the guarantee of the authenticity of this appointment is in the name of the guarantor. This is meant to impress the world of humanity, and it means that whenever our Lord and Saviour’s directions are sworn by an oath they should never be questioned.  However, there is another side to this, for the rise to power of Yeshua sent shock waves around the spiritual realms. The Satan and his cohorts know who...

Hebrews 7:18-19 The Law cannot make us perfect Unsurprisingly, the apostle Paul wrestled with the complexities of the Law, for he was a Jew who was intent on keeping its rules and regulation as accurately as was possible. He found that “ the very commandment that was intended to bring life, actually brought death.”  Paul blames sin for deceiving him and for using the commandments to put him to death! He writes, in Romans 7:12, “ So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good .” The system of the Law, put in place by the Lord God was brilliant, it had no defects, but it could not keep men and women perfect, instead it served only to point out our imperfections. No ordinary human being can keep God’s Law because we are all sinful people, however, we needed the Law to show us our sinfulness and our weaknesses. The Law, as given to Moses, is a black and white set of regulations, it shows us what is good and the standard that God expects and what we have to do...

Hebrews 7:17 A Priest forever Let’s just remind ourselves of the quotation from the Psalm that is repeated here . “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.””  Psalm 110:4. Notice that this heavenly pronouncement is not like any earthly ordination. Firstly, it is an appointment by God Himself, secondly, He makes it with an oath and thirdly, it is an eternal role. In other words, this assignment is not only meant for earth but also for heaven and it will never, ever be rescinded. There is no redundancy clause in the contract that has been offered to Yeshua, He has more than a job for life, it is a role that He will fulfil for all time - and beyond. We studied Psalm 110 nearly 2 years ago and this was what was written then, “ The primary role of Yeshua was to be a High Priest before God for Israel and for every Gentile who was ever born. He came to be a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” David and his descendant...

Hebrews 7:16 Regulation v resurrection! Once again, the author of this epistle draws out attention to the contrast between human values and those that are spiritual. We must be careful to not look down on the regulations that exercised the priesthood in Israel, after all, the whole system was put in place by the Lord God to ensure that the Israelites had mediators that could bridge the gap between heaven and earth. These men followed the rules and then added some! The strict regulations about ancestral and genealogical qualifications for the priesthood were meticulously upheld and are still revered today. If you are Jewish and your surname is Cohen then tradition indicates that you have patrilineal descent from Aaron, the first High Priest. Thus, this is a common surname amongst Jews today, as are its variations such as, Cohn, Kahn, Kahan, Kagan, Kogan and Cohan. There are rumours that men with this surname have already been appointed to be priests in Israel once the Temple is rebuilt ...

Hebrews 7:15 A priest like Melchizedek We have established by now that, under the Law of God, Melchizedek was not a Levite and therefore not qualified to be a priest. In the same way, Jesus Christ was born to the line of Judah and He doesn’t qualify either! Bear in mind that none of these ancestral roles had been put in place at the time of Abraham; Jacob  had not been born, for he was Abraham’s grandson so, obviously, the 12 sons of Jacob and their place in God’s plans for Israel were not even contemplated. To make matters worse, when Abraham and Melchizedek met, they were strangers from completely different backgrounds. Abraham could trace his ancestry back to Noah through Terah, but he was a nomad who had reached Canaan after a torturous journey from Chaldea. Melchizedek’s ancestry is, of course, unknown but he was King of Salem, a Jebusite city. The meeting between these two men is unlikely and, at first sight, apparently random, except that Yahweh was involved and everything w...

Hebrews 7:14 A priest from Judah? As we have seen, Jesus is the greatest of all the King / Priests that have ever walked this earth and there’s no question about His ancestry. He was not a Levite and He did not descend from the priestly tribe of Israel. He was from Judah and in that sense, we can follow His succession as a King from the family of David. But a priest? No priests could trace their ancestry through the genealogies of Judah. Many believed, and still believe, that Yeshua was an interloper, an imposter who had no ancestral rights to His title. How do we resolve this enigma?  Yeshua never claimed to be an earthly priest or king, what He did claim, again and again, was that He represented the Kingdom of Heaven and that He did not come to offer daily, repetitive sacrifices, He was both the celebrant, and He was the ultimate sacrifice. His role as our High Priest was not gained by birthright but by His actions, and He proved Himself a worthy Priest, after the order of Melchi...

Hebrews 7:13 Jesus belonged to a different tribe! It sounds like it’s “goodbye” to the Levites, doesn’t it? Let’s just unpack what we’ve been learning thus far, shall we? Melchizedek, the priest of Salem, is of a higher class than the Aaronic priesthood, for His kingdom is eternal. Abraham tithed to Him and He in turn blessed the patriarch. In making his offering to Melchizedek, Abraham was representing all members of the priesthood who were yet to come, in fact it could be said that he made that tithe on behalf of us all, for we are all children of the promise. Melchizedek undoubtedly represents Christ Himself, hence today’s verse that says He “belonged to a different tribe and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar.”  The tribe of Yeshua was Judah of course.  Some Christians have regarded all of this as further ammunition for their argument that the church has replaced Israel, and the Jews are no longer part of God’s plans. All the blessings, all the promises, a...

Hebrews 7:12 A royal and holy priesthood Let’s make sure that we have grasped exactly what these profound verses are telling us. There is no place for a priesthood in the church, for Christ Jesus has taken the role of Melchizedek and He alone acts on behalf of His people, by His Holy Spirit. The apostles believed this and made no attempt to resurrect the old ways, for them the days of robed mediators, altars, annual feasts and ritualistic religion were over, now every believer was a priest, and at the head of us all is Yeshua, the one authentic mediator between man and God.  “ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.”  1 Timothy 2:5.  Not only that, but the priesthood is now comprised of all believers in Jesus Christ, we are all priests together in His church!  “ But you are a chosen people,   a royal priesthood,   a holy nation,   God’s special possession,   that you may declare the praises of him who c...

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 ...

Hebrews 7:4 All about tithing This is a simple statement but there are implications. As we have already determined, the one who receives a tithe is greater than the one who pays it! In fact, the only records of tithing in Scripture appear to be those of men making an offering in obedience to the Lord God. In these cases, and the same applies to us, we sacrifice our time, money, assets etc because we realise that the God whom we worship is the One who provides us with everything we own in the first place! In effect we are giving back to Him what is already His, that has been loaned to us!  A tithe is also an act of gratitude, we recognise that we have been given so much and we want to show appreciation and to demonstrate that we are not wholly selfish or greedy about what we have, there is One who has made all of this possible. Thank You Lord!  The practise of tithing originates in the Mosaic Law and is described in Deuteronomy 14 and Numbers 18:21. The offerings made by the pe...

Hebrews 7:3 Who is Melchizedek? This enigmatic verse explains that there is a reason why we know so little about Melchizedek. We all know how important genealogies were to the Israelites, they were a fundamental part of their culture. Originally, every man, woman and child knew their family tree, from what tribe they originated and the tract of land that belonged to them. In the Book of Genesis each character that is mentioned is accompanied at some point by their genealogy so that there might be no doubt as to where they fitted into the history of Israel. Thus, it is intriguing to meet someone whose father and mother are not named, we know nothing about the ancestors of Melchizedek, we do not know when or where he was born, whether he was married and had children or when and where he died. There is absolutely no information available about this man. However, the veracity of his existence is never in doubt, if Abraham, the father of Israel, said he met him and conversed with him, then ...

Hebrews 7:2 Abraham gave a tenth of everything So far as we are aware, Abraham was the first human being to make a tithe to someone he believed to be greater than himself. The ritual of tithing reoccurs often in Scripture, particularly in the context of our offering one tenth of our money or assets to the Lord. Leviticus 27:30 reminded the Israelites, “ A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it.”  The instruction here goes on to set out that every tenth animal of the herd or flock will also be holy to the Lord. The rules about tithes are expanded upon throughout the Old Testament and are more complex than many might think. The point here is, that Abraham was the first, he set the pattern that his descendants would follow, and the surprise is that he tithed the spoils of his military conquests to a man he barely knew...

Hebrews 7:1 This chapter is holy ground! We previously met Melchizedek in chapter 5:6, I make no apologies for repeating the introduction given there. Melchizedek was a King Priest of God Most High at Salem in the days of Abraham. As such, this man was appointed to a higher order than even Aaron and his sons and all the 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 very little. However, Abram (yet to be named Abraham) saw and believed enough to honour the man and make tithes to him. (See Genesis 14:18-20)  It is remarkable that when the two men met, outside the walls of ancient Jerusalem, the priest king brought out bread and wine. We read, “ He was priest of God Most High and he blessed Abram”.  We need to emphasise the extraordinary status held by this man for the offices of king and priest have been held by none other than Christ Himself. Zechariah had a vision of Christ who h...