A Permanent, Personal High Priest

A Permanent, Personal High Priest

Hebrews 7:1-10

Introduction - On June 27, 1976 armed operatives for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine surprised the twelve crew members of an Air France jet liner and its ninety-one passengers, hijacking it to a destination unknown. The plane was tracked heading for Central Africa, where indeed it did land under the congenial auspices of Ugandan President Idi Amin. And there it remained apparently secure at Entebbe Airport where the hijackers spent the next seven days preparing for their next move. The hijackers were, by all estimations, in the driver’s seat.

However, 2,500 miles away in Tel Aviv, three Israeli C-130 Hercules transports secretly boarded a deadly force of Israeli commandos, who within hours attacked Entebbe Airport under cover of darkness. In less than sixty minutes the commandos rushed the old terminal, gunned down the hijackers, and rescued 110 of the 113 hostages. The next day, July 4, Israel’s Premier Yitzhak Rabin triumphantly declared the mission “will become a legend,” which it surely has! Israel’s resolve and stealth in liberating her people is admired by her friends and begrudged by her enemies.

Actually, Israel’s resolve is nothing new, because the same quality can be traced all the way back to the very beginning of the Hebrew nation in the prowess of their father Abraham. The kidnappers in his day were a coalition of four Canaanite kings headed by King Kedorlaomer who attacked the Transjordan, defeating the city-states of Sodom and her neighbors and carrying off a large number of hostages, including Abraham’s nephew Lot (cf. Genesis 14:5–12).

Undaunted, Abraham recruited “318 trained men” (v. 4)—proto-commandos!—from his own household and took off in hot pursuit—until he closed in on the kidnappers somewhere close to Damascus. And there, under the cover of night, he deployed his small forces in a surprise attack. His troops, riding bawling camels and slavering horses, bore down on the hijackers and their hostages. Deadly arrows flew in the night, and bloody swords were raised gleaming in the dusty moonlight—and the four kings were put to flight.

The Genesis account gives this Entebbe-like summary of Abraham’s success: “He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people” (v. 16). Abraham could be formidable. It was not wise to mess with father Abraham!

When Abraham returned home after his slaughter of the kings, he was hero. Picture him riding back home to a hero’s welcome parade with his 318 servants turned commandos. Genesis 14:18-20 tells us what happened next:

Genesis 14:18–20 NKJV

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.

(Hughes, R. K. (1993). Hebrews: an anchor for the soul (Vol. 1, pp. 183–184). Crossway Books.)

It is against that background, we turn to the focal point of the book of Hebrews, chapter 7. The writer of Hebrews mentioned Melchizedek in 5:10 & 6:20 but wasn’t ready to develop his theme that Jesus Christ is the perfect, personal, permanent High Priest & King.

Here in chapter 7, he’s going to make the case that Melchizedek is a type of Christ as Priest and King far superior to the priesthood the COI held dear, the Levitical priesthood. We’ll only have time to dig into verses 1-10 tonight as we dive in to this mysterious person named Melchizedek.

1. His identity. 1-3

This discussion is important b/c there is much conjecture about Melchizedek. Some have proposed he was an angel who took on human form during the time of Abraham. Others propose he was a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ.

The problem with the “angel view” is that the priesthood is human, not angelic. Nowhere in Scripture do we see Angels serving as priests offering sacrifices for sin.

Vs. 3 expressly says he was made “like the Son of God”; not being the Son of God. If it really was a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit could have inspired the writer of Hebrews to just say: being the Son of God. In which case his argument that Jesus Christ is a superior priest to the Aaronic/Levitical priesthood a slam dunk.

King of Salem - This is an ancient name for the city of Jerusalem, the ultimate place of worship for the COI where David reigned as King & where Solomon’s Temple was built and the service of the priesthood was carried out!

Priest of the Most High God - God established Melchizedek as a priest and Melchizedek blessed Abraham.

2a. Abraham gave him a 10th of the spoils. We’ll talk more of this in a minute.

Melchizedek’s name is translated for us two ways: 1) “King of righteousness” - Hebrew “Melek” = King & “Zedek” = righteousness. 2) King of Salem = king of peace.

It’s interesting 1st John 2:1 says: “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

Isaiah 9:6 says: “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Vs. 3 - Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning or end of life, but made like the Son of God remains a priest continually.

So Melchizedek is an Old Testament type of Christ: a picture, a pattern, a foreshadow of Jesus Christ in His ministry as Prophet, Priest & King.

Vs. 4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. He challenges his readers and us to think deeply of the significance that Abraham, fresh of a huge military victory, out numbered and out gunned, gave Melchizedek tithes.

So lets compare and contrast the Levitical priesthood with the priesthood of Melchizedek.

Levitical priesthood -

1.Strictly national, strictly Jewish -

All priests were from the tribe of Levi. God chose the Levites to be priests for Him in Numbers 8:13-19. Turn & read. Their service was uniquely chosen by God, and unique for the people of God.

2. They were subject to the king just as other tribes and because of their priestly service, they could never be kings or rulers.

3. Sacrifices they offered were temporary, not permanent.

The Day of Atonement came around once a year & their continued offering of sacrifice for sin was a reminder their work only temporarily covered sin.

4. Priesthood was hereditary without qualifications.

In order to be a Levite Priest, you had to part of the family. It didn’t matter if you were righteous or not; did you descend from Levi?

5. Service as priest was for limited time.

Numbers 8:24-25 specified their service was limited from age 25-50. When they turned 50, they could no longer offer sacrifices. In my case, I would have been put out to pasture 8 years ago if we were under OT law, I wouldn’t have been eligible to serve was your pastor!

Now let us consider the Priesthood of Melchizedek:

1. Universal priesthood, not national -

Vs. 1 tells us Melchizedek was the priest of the Most High God. He certainly wasn’t Jewish because Abraham was the first Jew! Jesus Christ is of course the Messiah of the Jews, but the Savior of the whole world. 1st John 2:2 “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

2. Royal priesthood, both a king & priest -

4 times the writer of Hebrews stresses Melchizedek was a King. Someone please look up Ps. 110:1-4 for me. 1000 years after Abraham met Melchizedek, the Holy Spirit inspired David to record the Messiah would be a priest after the order of Melchizedek and He would rule as King in Jerusalem.

Listen to Zechariah 6:13 “Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory, And shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” 

3. Priesthood is righteous & peaceful -

Vs. 2 Jesus Christ is righteous, He satisfies the just demands of God as the sinless Son of God. He alone can bring us into a right relationship with God provide peace b/w sinful man and holy God.

4. Priesthood is personal, not hereditary -

Remember with the Levitical priesthood, genealogy and your family line determined everything. Melchizedek personally met Abraham and blessed him. Vs. 3 specifically says Melchizedek had no genealogy. We know nothing of his pedigree & family tree. It’s interesting Jesus’ genealogy is listed through Joseph to show He was king in Matthew. In Luke Jesus genealogy is listed through Joseph going back to Him being Son of God, and as God He is the perfect, personal High Priest.

Recall how the book of Hebrews began in Heb. 1:3-4 “who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” It doesn’t get much more personal than “He had by Himself purged our sins...” Jesus was qualified as High Priest, not by genealogy, but by theology because He is God - Holy, righteous & just.

5. Priesthood is eternal, perpetual -

Melchizedek has no beginning or end of days. His service didn’t end at age 50, but remains a priest forever, continually. See further down in 7:23-24. Again Melchizedek is a type of Christ foreshadowing Jesus.

Applications:

1. We have a personal, sympathetic High Priest in Jesus Christ!

Heb. 4:14-15 “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

2. Melchizedek is proof God wrote your Bible so you can bet your life it.

The accounts of Melchizedek in sacred history are one of the most remarkable proofs of the divine inspiration and unity of Scripture. The whole concept of Melchizedek is an amazing insight into the fact that God wrote the Bible. In Genesis we have only three verses about Melchizedek. Some thousand years later David makes a briefer mention of him in Psalm 110:4, declaring for the first time that the Messiah’s priesthood would be like Melchizedek’s. After another thousand years, the writer of Hebrews tells us even more of Melchizedek’s significance. He reveals things about Melchizedek that even Melchizedek, or his contemporary, Abraham, did not know—and of which David had only a glimpse. So we reason that the God who wrote the book of Hebrews wrote the book of Genesis and Psalm 110—and all the rest of Scripture.