Priestly King

Introduction

We are in week-two of the Jesus in the Psalms sermon series. Pastor Melissa, addressed last Sunday Psalm 23 talking about Jesus being the good shepherd. His sheep know His voice.

Where are we going today?

We will be talking about the Priestly King, who is Jesus.

We will be traveling all over the bible this morning.

If you want to follow along, we are going to start in Ps. 110, move to Genesis 14, and then wrap up in Hebrews 7 and 1 Peter.

Preamble:

Lets start in the beginning…

When Adam and Eve where in the Garden, God gave them some jobs to do.

They were to be fruitful and multiply.

They were to subdue the earth.

They were to have dominion over the earth.

They were to be the original royal priests.

They were to rule and imitate God’s behavior in creating.

They are to work and keep the garden.

They are to expand the garden.

They are to bring heaven to the rest of the earth.

However, Adam and Eve disobeyed God.

They rebelled against God’s command to leave the tree of the knowledge of good and evil alone and not eat the fruit that it bore.

And as a result of their disobedience their roles were both tainted and broken.

But God is on a mission to restore and put man back into right relationship with himself.

And one of the ways that he does that is he sets up a priesthood in Ancient Israel.

But these priests aren’t Royalty, they are servants.

They hold a special relationship to God and to the people.

They served as intermediaries between the two.​

So the Role of Royal Priests or Priest King is eventually splintered into two separate roles and we will talk about that later,

But God desires to unite these two roles and in the texts we are going to look at today we are going to see just that.

Let’s Pray

Reading of Psalm 110

Psalm 110 (NLT)

A psalm of David.

The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand

until I humble your enemies,

making them a footstool under your feet.”

The Lord will extend your powerful kingdom from Jerusalem;

you will rule over your enemies.

When you go to war,

your people will serve you willingly.

You are arrayed in holy garments,

and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew.

The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow:

“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

The Lord stands at your right hand to protect you.

He will strike down many kings when his anger erupts.

He will punish the nations

and fill their lands with corpses;

he will shatter heads over the whole earth.

But he himself will be refreshed from brooks along the way.

He will be victorious.

This is an important psalm.

So much so that it is the most quoted psalm in the NT.

Psalm 110 was written as a coronation psalm.

Meaning that it was read at the inauguration of a new king.

But it holds so much more than that.

So let’s look at it.

Psalm 110:1–3 NLT “The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.” The Lord will extend your powerful kingdom from Jerusalem; you will rule over your enemies. When you go to war, your people will serve you willingly. You are arrayed in holy garments, and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew.”

A Future King

One of the most important distinction to note is that this psalm was authored by David.

This is important because David was seen as the role model and prototype to the coming King.

The Future Messiah.

And here we read that David is looking forward to the reality of this future king showing up.

This king that will come is co-equal with God Almighty.

What’s up with the two Lords?

It’s hard to notice it not in the original language and most translators try to help us out, but the two Lord’s there are completely different words.

Translators help in that with the first Lord it is usually in a different typeset or in all capital letters where the second lord is the same as the text around it.

Anytime a translator or bible publisher uses Lord in all capitals he is highlighting that this word is the name of God - Yahweh.

The second “lord” in that verse is the title Adonai.

This is a title given to God by his worshippers because they didn’t say his name Yahweh.

Adonai can also be referred to one who is superior…such as a king.

Future Messiah

So here, King David is let in on a Conversation between God and another person who is superior to David.

And as he listens to this conversation there it sounds like God has another king in mind to come and rule over his people.

Not just another king, but one who is superior to David himself.

Meaning that David is looking forward to the Messiah.

This future king is going to sit at the right hand of God.

Meaning that he is going to hold power and prestige.

That he is going to be exalted.

He is going to have honor and rank among all people b/c he sits at God’s Right hand.

And God is going to exalt this future king until all of his enemies are under his foot.

Until they are all subdued.

Till he has conquered all of them through the power of God himself.

This future King is going to be exalted and victorious.

On this Pentecost Sunday, it is important to note that when the Holy Spirit descended upon 120 believers in an upper room and they began to speak in tongues, crowds of people thought they were drunk and Peter gives his first sermon and responds using: Psalm 110 and says this in:

Acts 2:34–38 (NLT)

For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand

until I humble your enemies,

making them a footstool under your feet.” ’

“So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”

Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s continue reading…

Psalm 110:4 NLT “The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

Everlasting Priest

This is a short verse that so much can be said about.

The Anticipation of this Psalm is that God is going to restore this Priest King Office.

But at the time that it was written this isn’t the case.

They were separated offices.

The Kings had their role to rule over God’s People and the Priest’s had their role to mediate between God and man.

They were responsible for offering sacrifices.

For keeping the temple.

For making sure that the holy days and festivals were kept.

What are the three main roles within the Old Testament?

Prophets, Priests, and Kings

Prophets could be kings, as David was.  Priests could be prophets, as Samuel was. But kings could not be priests and priests could not be kings.  There will forever be only one Person who has the credentials to unite these three offices: Jesus.  He is the ultimate Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-22), the interceding Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16) and the eternal King (Revelation 19:16).

So then we get to the last half of

Psalm 110:4 “The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

Then we have to ask ourselves who is this Melchizedek guy?

Well the truth is there isn’t a lot of biblical material about him.

He is only mentioned twice in the OT and is expanded on in the NT.

But he is a key figure in understanding what the Future Priest King will look like.

The first place he shows up in the biblical story is in Genesis 14.

Abraham has acquired wealth and some land.

His nephew Lot is traveling with him.

But it gets to be too much for the land and resources, so Lot and Abraham split up.

Lot ends up in the midst of a battle between 9 kings.

Abraham goes and rescues him and chases all the kings away.

He does this is a miraculous way, because he only has 318 soldiers to fight the battle.

He returns after the battle and we read

Genesis 14:18–20 NLT “And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.”

Melchizedek

Okay so this man comes out to greet and bless Abraham.

We get a few descriptors about him.

First, He is the King of Salem.

This is the area where Jerusalem would later be.

So he is living in the Land that was promised to Abraham.

This is way before the land is given to God’s people.

In this area, like many of the other areas, we would expect that this Melchizedek would worship a pagan god.

Any other god that isn’t the God Abraham worshipped.

But the author of Genesis gives us information.

He says that Melchizedek worships “God Most High.”

Elyon which is a descriptor and one of the names of Yahweh.

But not only does he worship God, he is a priest of God.

And this is the first time that the word priest is mentioned in the Bible.

There are allusions to it in the story up til now, but this is the first time it is mentioned.

And the biblical authors were intentional.

As they are writing the first time they mention something is usually the most important.

Meaning that this idea is going to set the stage for the future.

So Melchizedek is a Priest King.

He is one who rightly occupies both offices.

And then Melchizedek blesses Abraham.

Genesis 14:19–20 NLT “Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.”

Melchizedek recognizes that God is the Most High and that he is the one that actually won the battle.

Abraham was victorious because the God of Heaven and Earth wanted him to be victorious.

And this blessing is a call back to Genesis 12:3 NLT “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

And out of honor and recognition Abraham gives Melchizedek a tenth of everything from his spoils of war.

This was a foreshadowing of the command by God for the Israelites to give a tenth of Everything to the priests that served them.

So how does this get us to Jesus?

Well Melchizedek is an image of Christ in the OT.

He is a Priest King that brings a blessing to God’s People.

And let’s not overlook the fact that He brings bread and wine for the feast to celebrate Abraham’s victory.

The Book of Hebrews does an incredible Job pointing out how Melchizedek was a picture of Jesus.

This text ties together beautifully and wonderfully.

Hebrews 7:1–3 (NLT)

This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.

Hebrews 7:21–28 (NLT)

but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him,

“The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow:

‘You are a priest forever.’ ”

Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.

There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins. The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.

Perfect High Priest King!

Here the Author of Hebrews doesn’t want us to overlook the fact that Melchizedek’s name and kingship is important.

He is the King of Righteousness and the King of Peace.

But he is also a Priest of the most high God.

He is a mediator between God and Man.

Jesus is the ultimate King of Righteousness and King of Peace not in name and title alone, but in practice and reality.

Joining the offices together forever through Jesus!

So in Jesus we see the reuniting of the Priest King.

We see God fulfilling his promises.

We see that Jesus is still ruling, reigning, and mediating for us.

And he will continue to do it forever.

And because of Jesus and his sacrifice we can become priests.

Access to God has been granted to all those who trust in Jesus as savior.

We no longer have to go through a mediator because we have the perfect mediator in Jesus.

Before Jesus’ sacrifice there was only one person in all of Israel who could enter into the Holy of Holies in the temple.

The Holy of Holies was the place where God’s presence dwelt with his people.

And this one person could only go in there one time a year.

So access was limited to one person one day of the year.

But when Jesus Sacrificed himself the Veil to the Holy of Holies was torn in two allowing all of God’s people access.

And because we have access we are all now priests of the most high God.

1 Peter 2:9 NLT “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.”

God’s promise has been fulfilled in Jesus and he has reestablished A royal priesthood.

That is why our calling is so great and so wonderful.

We can go out into the world and proclaim the excellencies of God.

We can go out into the darkness and bring the light.

We can go and point people to Jesus.

We can boldly approach the throne of Grace and have access to the holy God.

Conclusion:

Jesus reversed the curse.

He offers restoration.

He offers healing.

He offers to make us what we are meant to be.

But we have to submit to him.

We have to give ourselves over to him.

And we need to tell others so that they can be set free.

Prayer:

Where are you right now with God?

Are you telling others about the life you have in him?

Are you pointing others to Jesus?

Are you even a part of his family?

Have you surrendered your life to His Priestly Kingship?

He is calling out to you to be restored will you answer him?