The Anchor of Our Soul

We are back in Hebrews, picking up in the last half of Chapter 6. When we finished a few weeks ago, we had talked about spiritual immaturity. The author of Hebrews had chastised those reading saying that they were stuck drinking milk like babes instead of eating the meat of the Word of God, instead of going after the great mysteries that lie in Scripture and with God. Last week, we looked at and in the end we found out that God is ready to reveal His mysteries to us and that He does it through the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. With that Spirit in us, we can and do have the mind of Christ. The Spirit of God is the only one (yes, the Holy Spirit is a one, not a thing. He is a being) that can know the things of God. The Holy Spirit of God reveals to us based on the maturity level that we have and that is determined by the time and energy we put into this relationship that we have with God. You wouldn't reveal any of your secrets to someone until you have established a strong and deep relationship with them. The stronger that relationship is, the more the trust and the more the sharing. God is no different. Let's pick up in the

9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. 10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. NKJV

Although the author has chastised them, he now encourages them. The gist of this passage is that even though they may not be where they should be in their maturity, God still recognizes what they have done. They still worked in His name, they still ministered to people and were continuing to do so and God does not forget these things. He then encourages them to continue on, showing the same eagerness that they have been in ministering to others. Hold on hope, waiting, assurance until the end. Let us not quit or become sluggish, slothful and lazy because the end has not come yet. This is the time for us to kick it up a notch and dig in our heels to stand firm in our resolve and in our mission to bring the Gospel to the nations. Every day we get closer to that end that is continually talked about throughout these letters. It's coming and it's going to take many by surprise.

Don't be caught slacking but instead, he says, "imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." God has proclaimed promises to those who hold out until the end. Some promises will be received and seen here and most, especially the best are saved for the future, for eternity.

In verses 13-18, we are told of how well we can count on God's promises. God promised Abraham that He would bless him and multiply him. Abraham had to wait to see the fulfillment of that promise and it was not in the greatness that we see now. Abraham saw his son Isaac born 13 years after Ishmael was born. Although we never read about Abraham seeing his grandsons Jacob and Esau, according to the timelines, he would have had to. Abraham had Isaac when he was 100 years old. Isaac had the twins Jacob and Esau when he was 60 years old and according to Scripture, Abraham died when he was 175 years old meaning that he saw the promise to the second generation for fifteen years. The fullness of God's promise to him was not seen this side of death.

But God's promises are sure and they can be counted on. It says that God could swear to His promise by no one greater so He swore by Himself. Men will swear by something greater than themselves and make an oath to confirm what they say and that binds them to adhere to the contract that they have made. The finish of this is basically that God set out to show that His promises are immutable, unchanging, so He made a promise and an oath and it is impossible for Him to lie. So, we can count on what God has said we can lay hold of the hope that is set before us. That hope, as we always say, is not wishing that it happens but instead is the expectation of it happening.

Now we get to some meat.

, This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. NKJV

I love this part. The hope that we have, that expectation of the fulfillment by God of the promises and oaths that He has sworn by Himself, is an anchor of our immortal souls. Not only is it an anchor, but the picture here is that it is firmly anchored to the Presence behind the veil. That description is of the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. It separated God from man. That veil was torn at the cross. This states that we are anchored to God Himself who is seated on the throne in heaven. The forerunner, Jesus, has entered there already, showing us the way. That is what "forerunner" means. It is someone who goes ahead. The other definition is, a scout. Jesus has paved the way for us to get to the throne of God and we are anchored to God by our hope, our expectation (which in effect is our faith). Jesus was the forerunner, the scout, when He became High Priest, and here it is again..."forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

If you will remember, the author said back in

, And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10 called by God as High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek," 11 of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. NKJV

There he chastised them saying that there was much to learn here but they weren't mature enough to be getting this teaching. The debate has raged as to whether he meant that there was much to say about Melchizedek, Jesus or being High Priest. Now let's move on.

, For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated "king of righteousness," and then also king of Salem, meaning "king of peace," 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. NKJV

Here we have the most complete picture that we get of Melchizedek. Melchizedek comes from two Hebrew words, melek and tsedeq. The word melek means king and tsedek means righteousness, so his name would mean King of Righteousness. It can also mean "My king is righteous." It states that he is the King of Salem. Salem is a Hebrew word meaning peace. So we have this guy here who is named King of Righteousness and he is the King of Peace. Hmmm...sounds a lot like the description of Jesus. Salem is the city that would become later Jerusalem. Jerusalem being two Hebrew words, actually yara and salem. Yara actually having several meanings, dual, as related to the two hills on which the city sits. But it also means "founded" or foundation. Putting the two together, would give us Founded Peacefully or Foundation of Peace. There is so much more to the name Jerusalem which we won't get into here. It's a fascinating study.

So why do we bother with all of this? Well, we were told by the author of this book that there is much to be studied about Melchizedek, Jesus, the High Priesthood and the connection of the two. Seems like reason enough. Look at Jerusalem. The first we hear of it is in with Melchizedek as Salem. At some time after this meeting, Abraham would take his son Isaac to the mount Moriah there to sacrifice him, the same place that the Lord would later be crucified. (Explain the area) Later we would see that it would no longer be under the rule of this King and Priest of the Most High God. The Canaanites would have it and Joshua would overthrow it but that would be hundreds of years later. King David would capture it and make it center of Israel. The Temple would be built there and God would abide there among His people. And we know that in the end, there will be a New Jerusalem that will come down out of the heavens and that Jesus, the King of Righteousness and the Great High Priest of God will rule from that city. He will be King of Salem, the King of Peace.

Back to Melchizedek. We have a priest, in a time when we know nothing of priests. He is the first to be called that. He is in the land of pagans and we know nothing of the people of his city. But, evidently everyone there knew who he was. He was priest before God authorized priests from the line of Levi. Remember, Abraham would later have Isaac, who begets Esau and Jacob. Jacob would beget twelve sons who would become the twelve tribes of Israel (Jacob would be named Israel by the Lord...whole other story). The twelve tribes would go to Egypt because of Joseph and there would end up in bondage for 400 years. Moses shows up and leads the out of Egypt in the great Exodus. During that time, God would establish the tribe of Levi (one of the twelve) as the line of priests (them and only them). Jesus comes from the line of Judah.

We see here also a description of Melchizedek that says, "without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life." This doesn't mean literally not having father and mother but instead means that there is no knowledge of where he came from. In the future, all of the priests would have to prove their lineage from Levi. We know nothing of a successor or predecessor to Melchizedek. He is there, he distinguished as king and priest, and then he is gone. We won't see king and priest again, until Jesus. King Saul tried to take on the role of priest while he was king and offered a sacrifice and it ended up costing him everything.

And then we read this, "but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually." We don't know anything about this guy, BUT...he is "made like the Son of God" and he "remains a priest forever." This is the troubling phrases for a lot of people. Some believe that Melchizedek was an angel sent to be King of Salem for a time. Others believe that this was the pre-incarnate Christ, a Christophany. But it appears that this is all said to give us a picture of the One that was to come. All throughout the Bible, we see in the Old Testament archetypes of Christ. Examples and imitations, pointers to the real thing.

Joshua was an archetype of Christ, even having the same name, Yashua. He led God's people into the Promised Land. Boaz, the kinsman redeemer of Ruth's inheritance is a picture of Christ. Isaac was an archetype of Christ being the “one and only son” of Abraham. Jonah inside the belly of the fish for three days was an archetype of Christ. And, I believe that Melchizedek was possibly the greatest archetype of them all culminating the finale of Jesus as the King of Righteousness and the King of Peace.

SO, what does this all mean for us?