Hebrews 7:13

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, all the Old Testament Scriptures were fulfilled in Christ and therefore have no relevance to the new spiritual kingdom that He came to establish. This argument might have had some justification during the centuries that the Jews were scattered throughout the world, and the land was desolate and uninhabited, but those criteria are long gone and the evidence that the Lord is once again blessing the ancient land and its people is overwhelming. The Apostle Paul was a great advocate for the church and for the inclusion of Gentiles in God’s plans but “replacement theology?” - he was having none of it! Talking of Israel he says, “Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. Romans 9:4-5. In the succeeding chapters of Romans, the Apostle points out that all of God’s blessings are available still to Israel just as they are to the Gentiles, but these must be pursued by faith not by works. In the beautiful chapter 11 of Romans Paul then goes on to explain that Israel will be saved, their stumbling is not terminal. Gentiles are the wild olive shoots that have been grafted into the ancient Jewish olive tree that provides the roots of all true faith, and one day, all Israel will be saved! You see, God’s covenant promises are eternal, and He will never renege on them, to reject Israel is to effectively say that God has lied, not just to us, but to Abraham and all his descendants! 

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