Better Bible Study #7

In Order to Improve Our Understanding of the Bible…

We’ve Been Trying to See the Bible as a Unified Story that Leads Us to Jesus

And We’ve Been Doing that By Taking a Look at Several Major Themes that are Found in the Bible

Themes are People, Places, Things, or Ideas that Continue to Pop Up and Play an Important Part in the Story

We’ve Looked at the Tree of Life, Babylon, Sabbath, and Temple so Far

There are So Many Interesting Themes that We Could Look at:

Exile

The Holy Spirit

Spiritual Beings

The Day of the Lord

The Image of God

Law

Covenant

Holiness

Sacrifice

Atonement

Messiah

Gospel

I Want to Look at All of These Eventually

But For Now, We Are Going to Go Back to Looking at a Few More Tips and Tricks of Better Bible Study

2 Bible Study Tips and Tricks We Talked About Previously Were:

Memorize, Study, and Think About the Text

Recognize Your Biases

Tonight We are Talk About:

Paying Attention to Details

It’s Very Important for Us to See the Bible as One Big Story

To Step Back and Try to See the Big Picture

To Recognize How Each and Every Unique Book of the Bible Connects to All the Others

How It’s All About Jesus and His Redemptive and Reconciling Death, Burial, and Resurrection

But it’s Also Important to Pay Attention to the Details as Well

To Zoom in and Focus On Certain Stories Told Throughout the Bible

And to Even Focus On the Specific Words Used By the Biblical Writers

Not Only Does the Story as a Whole Matter

But Each Individual Word Used to Tell the Story Matters

When the NT Writers Studied the OT, They Payed Attention to the Most Minute…

And Seemingly Insignificant Details of the Text

It Will Transform Your Bible Study When You Begin to Do the Same

Let’s Look at Some Examples of How the NT Writers Payed Attention to the Details

Melchizedek

Genesis 14:18–20 (NASB)

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all.

These 3 Verses Contain All the Information We Have of Melchizedek

Taking a Basic Look at These Verses, What Do We Know About Him?

He was King of a Place Called Salem (Later Known as Jerusalem)

He was a Priest of God Most High, Possessor of Heaven and Earth

In Verse 22, Abraham Refers to YHWH as Being God Most High, Possessor of Heaven and Earth

He Blessed Abram

Abram Gave a Tithe of His Spoils to Him

That is Very Few Details

It Would Be Easy For Us to Skip Right Over These 3 Verses…

And Assume Melchizedek is Just Another Background Character Who Plays No Important Role in the Bible

But Not to the Writer of the NT Book of Hebrews

We First See Melchizedek Mentioned Hebrews 5

In Hebrews 4, Jesus is Described as Our Sympathetic High Priest Who Has Passed Through the Heavens

Hebrews 5:1–6 (NASB)

For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself.

And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”; just as He says also in another passage, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”

The High Priest is Chosen By God to Offer Gifts and Sacrifices for Sins

As God Appointed Aaron and His Lineage to Be High Priests…

God Appointed Jesus to Be High Priest

Then the Writer of Hebrews Quotes From One of the Most Quoted Texts in the OT - Psalm 110

Psalm 110 (NASB)

The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew.

The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head.

The King Who Would Come From the Line of David, God Swore Would Be a Priest Forever According to the Order of Melchizedek

He Would Be a King and Priest Just Like Melchizedek

But the Hebrews Writer Isn’t Even Close to Being Done with Melchizedek

Hebrews 7:1–2 (NASB)

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace.

Notice How the Writer of Hebrews Pays Attention to the Details

He Recaps What We Learned From Genesis 14

But By Digging Deeper into the Details…

He’s Able to Pull Out More Information

He Translates Melchizedek’s Name For Us

It Means “King of Righteousness”

And He Also Brings Significance Out of Where Melchizedek was King

He Was King of Salem

Salem Which Means “Peace”

Just By Paying a Little Bit Closer Attention to the Details…

We Learn that Melchizedek Was “King of Righteousness” and “King of Peace”

He Uses These Details to Show Further Comparison Between Melchizedek and Jesus

Hebrews 7:3 (NASB)

Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.

One of the Things Genesis Tells Us Nothing About is Melchizedek’s Family History

That May Seem Insignificant to Us

But the Writer of Hebrews Even Capitalizes On the Lack of Information to Show Melchizedek as a Foreshadowing of Christ

We Have No Information of Melchizedek’s Birth or Death

Almost as if Melchizedek is Eternal

Though Melchizedek Wasn’t Eternal…

The Hebrews Writer Pays Attention to the Details (or Lack of) to Make a Comparison to the Eternal Christ

We Have No Indication that Melchizedek Ever Stopped Being King and Priest

Just as Jesus Will Never Stop Being King and Priest

Hebrews 7:4–10 (NASB)

Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choicest spoils. And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham.

But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.

In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

Under the Law of Moses, Tithes Were Given to the Tribe of Levi (the Priestly Tribe)

But Before the Tribe of Levi Ever Existed, Abraham Gave a Tithe to Melchizedek

Abraham as the Father of All Israel, is Considered the Greatest of All Israel

But the Greatest of Israel Paid Tithes to and was Blessed By Melchizedek

Meaning Melchizedek Was Greater than Abraham

This is Another Foreshadowing of Christ

Just as Melchizedek is Greater Than Abraham, So is Christ Greater Than Abraham

Hebrews 7:11–16 (NASB)

Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?

For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.

And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.

God, Through David, Promised a Royal Priest According to the Order of Melchizedek

So There Would Eventually Be a Change of the Priesthood and Law

Just as Melchizedek Was a Priest, But He Wasn’t From the Tribe of Levi…

So Jesus Would Be a Priest, Even Though He Isn’t From the Tribe of Levi

He is a Priest, Not After the Order of Levi, But After the Order of Melchizedek

And This Was All Made Possible Through His Resurrection to Indestructible Life

Going at the Speed We are Going, All of This Stuff Can Start to Run Together and Become Confusing

So Let’s Summarize

We Learned This Information About Melchizedek From Genesis 14

He was King of a Place Called Salem (Later Known as Jerusalem)

He was a Priest of God Most High, Possessor of Heaven and Earth

In Verse 22, Abraham Refers to YHWH as Being God Most High, Possessor of Heaven and Earth

He Blessed Abram

Abram Gave a Tithe of His Spoils to Him

The Hebrews Writer Payed Close Attention to the Details and Pulled Out:

Melchizedek is a Type/Foreshadowing of Jesus

They Both are “King of Righteousness” and “King of Peace”

They Both are Priests With No Beginning or End

They Both are Greater Than Abraham

When You Pay Attention to the Details, There’s So Much More You Can Learn

Jesus, Himself, Payed Attention to the Details of the Scriptures as Well

Resurrection

In Matthew 22, Some Sadducees Came to Jesus to Question Him About Resurrection

They Were a Sect of the Jews Who Did Not Believe in the Resurrection

It’s Also Thought that They May Have Believed the Pentatuech to Be More Important Than the Rest of the OT

That May Explain Why Jesus Responded the Way He Did to Them

Matthew 22:23–32 (NASB)

On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him, asking, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’

“Now there were seven brothers with us; and the first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother; so also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. Last of all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”

But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

To Prove the Resurrection to Be a Future Reality…

Jesus Quotes From the Pentatuech (Exodus 3:6)

This is Where God Speaks to Moses From the Burning Bush…

Centuries After Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Died

Jesus Pays Attention to the Details of the Text

God Said, “ I Am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”

Signifying that His Covenantal Relationship to Them is Still Active, Even After Their Deaths

Death Isn’t the End, as the Sadducees Believed

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Still Exist

And They Will Eventually Resurrected, Just Like Everyone Else

Because Jesus Paid Attention to Such a Tiny Detail as to Notice the Present Tense of a Statement…

He Was Able to Prove Resurrection From the Pentatuech

Pay Attention to Details

Those are Just 2 Examples of Times the Biblical Writers Brought Out Huge Implications From Tiny Details

In Order to Better Know and Understand the Bible…

We Need to Pay Attention to Details

It’s Important to See the Big Picture

But It’s Also Important to See the Tiny Pieces of the Puzzle that Make Up the Big Picture

Dig Deeper into Your Bible Study

Realize that Every Word in God’s Book is Intentional