| Jesus Is Superior to the Aaronic Priesthood |
Series: Hebrews: The Superior Christ (Week 2 of 3) Woodrow Kroll: Welcome to the international media ministry of Back to the Bible. Hi, I’m Woodrow Kroll. Tami Weissert: And I’m Tami Weissert, and it is so nice to have you join us today. Woodrow Kroll: Yeah, Tami, we’re continuing with our series entitled, The Superior Christ. This is actually a dozen, really a "baker’s dozen," of studies on the Book of Hebrews. So, if you’d like to get your Bible and join us, we’d be happy to have you do so. Tami Weissert: OK, today we meet a character, the mysterious Melchizedek. And where did this guy come into Hebrews? I mean we see him back in the Old Testament, Abraham days, and all of a sudden he’s here in Hebrews. Woodrow Kroll: Yeah, he looks a little like a bump in the road here but he really isn’t because the Book of Hebrews is designed to show us Jesus is superior to everything the Jewish people had in the past. Now, one of the things the Jewish people had in the past was the whole Levitical sacrificial system, the system of Aaron and the Aaronic priesthood. What Melchizedek shows us is, Jesus doesn’t belong to the Aaronic priesthood, the priests after Aaron. He’s from a whole different category--and a much better category. We’ll see all that here today on Back to the Bible. There’s a movie I remember from some years ago called, Racing Stripes. And in this movie Nolan Walsh is a retired horse trainer who’s coming home to his farm one night, and there by the side of the road is left, abandoned, a zebra. So, he picks it up, he gets it into his pickup, takes it home. His daughter decides to raise this zebra, and she appropriately names the zebra "Stripes." That’s what this movie is all about, racing Stripes. But here’s the thing, the zebra lives next to a race track and the zebra hangs out with race horses all the time. So, the zebra thinks it’s a race horse, all right. And that’s the whole premise of the movie. But when the zebra is among the other horses, or among the horses I should say, the zebra really stands out as someone unique. Now, that’s what Melchizedek is like, the person we’re going to study today. And the first thing I’d like to have you do, you’re probably already in Hebrews because that’s where we’re studying, but I’d like you to go to the Old Testament Book of Genesis. Genesis 14, I want us to see, first of all, where this character appears in the Old Testament. Melchizedek was kind of a mysterious, biblical personality whose name means "king of righteousness." And the historical record is found here in Genesis 14, let’s read it. Genesis 14:17[-20]: “After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’ “And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.” Now, Abram gave tithes to this strange person who met him on the road coming back from rescuing his nephew, Lot. But Melchizedek gave gifts. Now, the issue here is ultimately going to be, which is greater--tithes or gifts? All right. We’ll come back to that in a minute. So, the first time we encounter Melchizedek is right here in Genesis 14. Now, let’s go to Psalm 110. Psalm 110, this also makes reference to Melchizedek, specifically in verse 4. But let me read to you Psalm 110.
"’And the LORD says to my Lord:
The LORD sends forth from Zion
The Lord is at your right hand; Now, this is a messianic psalm. This is a psalm written by David. In fact, there is a little superscription over the Psalm says, "A Psalm of David." But did you notice in the very first verse there it says, "The LORD," capital "L", capital "O", capital "R", capital "D," says of my Lord, capital "L", small "o-r-d." So, what David is saying here is this: “The Lord/Jehovah/God says to my superior, ‘My Lord, my Master.’” So, he’s talking about someone else. Obviously, David envisioned someone greater than himself coming along who would be the One after the order of Melchizedek; that Someone, we understand to be the Lord Jesus Himself. So, I think, the significance of David’s statement here in Psalm 110 was left for the writer of the Book of Hebrews. So, having seen the historical contexts, Genesis 14 where we understand the first time we encounter him, Melchizedek; having seen the prophetic context now in Psalm 110; let’s go to the Book of Hebrews, and I want you to see that this man, Melchizedek shows up several times in Hebrews, always in relationship to Jesus. So, I think, our understanding that what David is speaking about here is Jesus is a pretty solid one. Cindy, would you read for us Hebrews 5:9-10? Now, remember, these verses are speaking about Jesus. Cindy: "And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek." Woodrow Kroll: Yeah, there are two words there Cindy read that, I think, we ought to take note of. One of them is that He was the "source" of eternal salvation. If you want to find salvation, you go to the source. Jesus is that source. The second thing is that He did not take this honor of being a High Priest on Himself. He was appointed or designated by God to become the High Priest. The second passage is in Hebrews 6:19-20, and Mark is going to read that passage for us. Mark: "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Woodrow Kroll: Yes, now if you were part of our discussion yesterday, part of our study group yesterday, that sounds awfully familiar to you because we ended yesterday talking about Jesus being the anchor of our soul. But that verse goes on and says that He is superior, His priesthood is superior because He is of the order of Melchizedek. So, let’s remember what the whole point of the Book of Hebrews is--the Book of Hebrews is to write to Hebrew Christians, Jewish people who have trusted Christ and to compare their past with their present. Compare everything they understood from Judaism with what Jesus offers them. And the point here is that the priesthood of Aaron is not equal to the priesthood of Jesus; that Jesus is even a superior priest to them. Well, there is a lot that we need to say about distinguishing between the priesthood of Aaron, the Aaronic priesthood and the priesthood of Melchizedek. I don’t even know if this a word, we’ll call it the “Melchizedekian” priesthood. I’ll be back in just a minute to compare these two priesthoods so you and I know why this one is superior to the priesthood of Melchizedek. Tami Weissert: Today's Muslim population is growing three times faster than the Western population. That's a surprising statistic to some. But here at Back to the Bible, we see a tremendous opportunity that parallels the growing demands of the Muslim society. One of those demands is television. Over 90% of the households in most of the Middle East have satellite TV. This is a relatively new resource and considering how little access most Muslims there have had to anything outside their locale, this will drastically change their access to Christian teaching. And that's where we come in. Back to the Bible is partnering with Leading the Way Ministries to televise our programs in the Middle East and Northern Africa. And starting in March, Back to the Bible translated into Arabic and will be broadcast four times a day throughout the entire area. Now this offers a tremendous opportunity for us to reach people who have never experienced anything but the regulations of Islam; people who have never had a chance to know God through Christ. What will it take to accomplish this? Well, first of all, your prayers. And for a year of broadcasts, $130,000. Now please don't get stuck in that total. Instead, consider your portion of the total so that, together, God can bless our unity and make an impact for Christ in the Middle East and Northern Africa. To help televise Bible teaching in the Middle East and Northern Africa, send your gift to Back to the Bible, Box 82808, Lincoln, NE 68501. Or you can partner with us by calling 800-759-2425. Woodrow Kroll: Well, our goal in our study today here in Hebrews 7, is to compare the priesthood of Aaron, which is what the Old Testament is built on, with the priesthood of Melchizedek, and ultimately the Lord Jesus, which is what the New Testament is built on. So, what I want to do is look at the contrast between Aaron’s priesthood and Melchizedek’s priesthood. There are actually seven ways we can contrast these two. And the neat thing is they are all right here in Hebrews 7. That makes it easy for me, all I have to do is read. Let’s look at them. Start right at verse 1, Hebrews 7:1[-2]: "For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace." Now, while things could be said about this man, Melchizedek, but notice that both Christ and Melchizedek are the "kings of righteousness" and the "kings of peace." Peace never came through Aaron. That’s why they had to have a sacrifice every day. Righteousness never came through the Aaronic priesthood; that’s why they were killing so many cows, and so many bulls, and so many sheep, and so many goats, and so many of everything. But Jesus is the king of righteousness, and He is the king of peace, and so is Melchizedek. Well, here’s the second way I think we can contrast the two priesthoods. Jesus and Melchizedek have a priesthood that does not depend on family pedigree, you know, who you’re parents were, who your grandparents were. Look at verse 3 of Hebrews 7: "He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever." All right, so, who was the father of Melchizedek? There’s a good question you want to ask your Sunday school group sometime. And let them stew on it awhile because there is no father. There’s no father, no genealogy; he just came out of nowhere and talked about the Most High God. He was a priest of the Most High God. So, Jesus does not have a family lineage that He needs to stake His priesthood on; He was appointed priest by God. The third contrast between the Aaronic priesthood and the Melchizedek priesthood is that those who are of the Melchizedek priesthood--they exist forever as priests. You see that right there at verse 3 at the end, "resembling the Son of God, he continues for a priest forever." Aaron’s priesthood lasted until Aaron died, and then Aaron’s sons took over. Two of them died early on and the third son took over. And when he died a grandson took over; and all the way down through the history of Judaism. But in Jesus’ case, His priesthood doesn’t last until His death; His priesthood continues forever. Now, we’ve seen three contrasts; let’s hurry on to number four. Both of the priesthoods, Jesus and Melchizedek, are superior to the Aaronic priesthood because Melchizedek was superior to Abraham. Abraham was the father of Levi who ultimately through him the priesthood came. And Melchizedek gave gifts to Abraham, but Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. So, who is superior, the one who gives gifts or the one who to whom you pay tithes? You see, that’s a given. So, if Abraham is not superior to Melchizedek, than the Aaronic priesthood cannot be superior to Melchizedek’s priesthood. Hebrews 7, look at verse 4: "See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. [There’s our word, the "inferior" Abraham is blessed by the superior Melchizedek.] In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him” (Hebrews 7:4-10). There’s an interesting argument. Melchizedek’s priesthood has to be superior to Aaron’s priesthood because Levi was still in the loins when Melchizedek met father Abraham, and father Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. So, when you look at the two lines, here we have Aaron’s priesthood, and this represents: the blood of bulls and goats; it represents the Festival of the Passover; it represents the Festival of Booths; the unleavened bread--all the seven feasts of Judaism, that’s what Aaron’s line represents. And then over here you have Melchizedek’s line, his priesthood, and it represents none of those things. And here’s the key, his priesthood (Melchizedek’s) is superior to Aaron’s priesthood. Which means then, Jesus automatically, since He’s of the priesthood of Melchizedek, is superior to Aaron. And the sacrifice of Jesus is superior to all the sacrifices of the Old Testament, and suddenly you’re all getting the picture. The whole point of the Book of Hebrews is to say the sacrifices and all the things the Jews did in the Old Testament were fine, but this is better. Jesus’ death and atonement for us is better than going out and sacrificing a lamb or sacrificing a ram. Well, that’s four contrasts we’ve made. Let’s go on, look at chapter 7 again of Hebrews verse 11. And there you’re going to see that David predicted that the priesthood of Melchizedek would be greater than the priesthood of the Levites. And he would show the imperfection of the Levite’s priesthood. Let me read it to you, Hebrews 7, at verse 11: "Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron?" Now that is a legitimate question. Verse 12: "For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar" (Hebrews 7:12-13). Now, wait a minute, what's he mean by that? The one of who which these things are spoken of is from another tribe. Priesthood of Aaron came to the tribe of Levi. We’re talking about the priesthood of Jesus who did not come through Levi. He came through Judah. It would be impossible then for Jesus to fulfill the requirements of Aaron’s priesthood because He couldn’t even be a priest while He was here on earth. Well, He could, if His priesthood was superior to the law of Aaron. Let me read on, we stopped at what? Verse 14, “For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him, For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God” (Hebrews 7:14-19). Now, what we have here is this constant expression from the writer of the Book of Hebrews that something better has come along. Not that something old was not good. Something old was fine that got them through the whole Old Testament 1500 years; but in God’s providence and in His plan, God had an idea for something better and there was day when God said, "This is where we switch from the old to the new. This is where we switch from Aaron to Melchizedek." Now, let me go on. Here is the sixth contrast between the two; you find it in verse 20 of Hebrews 7. And that is that the Melchizedekian priesthood, of the Messiah, was confirmed by a divine oath. And that was never true of the Levitical priesthood. Again, verse 20: “And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: “‘The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever.”'”
“This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant” (Hebrews 7:20-22). Now, we are going to talk about the better covenant later on this week. Right now, I want you to see that the priesthood of Melchizedek is a better priesthood than Aaron. I didn’t say that; God said that. And the whole purpose of the Book of Hebrews seems to show us that what was good in the past is not what God has for the future. I said there are seven ways we can contrast but there’s one more, it’s at verse 23, look at it. And that says that Melchizedekian priesthood had kind of an unchangeable, permanent character to it. Look at this, verse 23: "The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God) through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:23-25). Now, I don’t know about you, but if your salvation depends on a priest, who may die before you die, think about that. You’re in big trouble! If your salvation; however, depends on a priest who lives forever, then your salvation can live forever. And, I think, the reason why this contrast between Melchizedek and Aaron is so important (especially in the Book of Hebrews, because it was left to this writer to explain all this to us) is it’s just another way to show us that what God did through his people Israel in the Old Testament was good. What God is doing for us and through us today by virtue of Jesus Christ is better. Jesus always is better than any other option. Well, I’ll be back in a second to conclude our study for today. Tami Weissert: The more you study God's Word, the more you understand that your life really doesn't belong to you; it belongs to the One who died for you! Hi, this is Tami, and that's just one of the thoughts you'll consider in the current edition of Meet with God, Back to the Bible's monthly devotional. Meet with God brings home the fact that God isn't hiding. He's in plain sight for anyone who really wants to see Him. And you'll find Him in the pages of the Bible. So be sure to take time to study His Word. Not quite sure where to start? Let Meet with God help you! Each issue contains 4 lessons built around one theme: to help you pick up on some key points in your relationship with God. This month focuses on how the Bible meets the real world! So, it's full of helpful life applications from a God who cares deeply about what happens to you each day! Get to know Him in Meet with God. Now you need to call us to get your free copy. I did say Meet with God costs you nothing. So take advantage of the offer and call this number, 1-800-759-2425. Order your free Meet with God today! Well, Dr. Kroll, this was a very informative session. It helped me understand some things that, maybe, I hadn’t kind of connected the dots on before. And I totally understand how this was very necessary for these people that were being written to in Hebrews. But today, we don’t really, I don’t think, struggle with whether Jesus comes through Melchizedek or Aaron. In fact, I don’t even think I was aware of that. I’ve always just been told it’s Jesus; it’s a new covenant; it’s grace. What can we really take from this and make our own? Woodrow Kroll: Well, let’s apply what he’s dealing with here with the Jewish people to us today. While we don’t struggle with, "Should I be sacrificing a bull or goat, you know," we struggle with the issue of, "Is Jesus really the one?" I mean there are a lot of pretenders today. There are a lot of other religions today; there are a lot of teachers today. Can I really trust Him? Is He really, the real deal or not? And when people start to question whether or not Jesus is the way to God, then they have the same struggles that these people are having, questioning whether or not His blood is the only sacrifice necessary. Tami Weissert: So, today we see that He replaced the imperfect line of priests with the perfect Priest. Now, tomorrow, our study is going to show us how we replace the imperfect covenant with the perfect Covenant. Woodrow Kroll: Right. We’ve been kind of dancing around the whole idea of the New Covenant verses the Old Covenant. But tomorrow we’re going to hit it square on because we want to contrast the Old Covenant which was through Moses and Aaron for the people of Israel with the New Covenant which Jesus institutes and is for all of us. Now, if you’ve always been confused about "Should I be under the Old Covenant or the New?" well, tomorrow is your day. We’re going to discuss that right here in our study room at Back to the Bible. Thanks to all of you for joining us in the study room and you at home for being a part of Bible study as well. God bless you. I’m Woodrow Kroll. And my prayer is the same every day for you at this time that you would have a good and godly day. For of what lasting value is a good day if it’s not also a godly day. |
|||||||
