Dive into Hebrews Chapter 7 as we unravel the mysterious figure of Melchizedek and his priestly connection to Jesus. We explore how Jesus stands as our eternal high priest, surpassing the Levitical priesthood with a perfect and everlasting covenant. Uncover the profound implications of this biblical text and its relevance to our faith journey today. With insights from over three decades of personal Bible study, this episode provides depth and clarity to complex theological concepts.
00:00:23 Hebrews Chapter 7: The Priestly Order of Melchizedek
00:03:45 Jesus as the Guarantor of a Better Covenant
00:05:08 Personal Reflections on Hebrews Chapter 7
00:08:02 The Significance of Melchizedek and Jesus
00:10:55 Call to Action and Ezra Project Programming Overview
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
SPEAKER 02 :
Today we are in Hebrews chapter 7, the priestly order of Melchizedek. We’ll listen to Faith Comes by Hearing’s reading of Hebrews 7. Hebrews 7
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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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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, You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. 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. 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. 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. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests. But the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a son who has been made perfect forever.
SPEAKER 02 :
In 1993, after reading Hebrews chapter 7, I wrote in my personal Bible reading journal, Jesus, our high priest, God is perfect. We are sinful. Who can intervene? Jesus, the perfecter of our faith, sinless, perfect. Praise God. We don’t need human priests anymore. We have Jesus as our intermediator. In 2005, when I read Hebrews chapter 7, I wrote Melchizedek, a mystery in scripture. He appears in Genesis 14, and I quoted verse 18. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. Now he was a priest of God most high. Then I continued to write, so he was a king and a priest. He brought bread and wine before there was a Passover or Last Supper, the elements of communion. He received a tithe from Abraham before Moses uttered the law. He probably wasn’t Jewish, yet he was a priest of God Most High, well before the Levitical priesthood. If Psalm 110 refers to Jesus, and I was quoting verse 4, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, and Jesus is related to him as King of Salem, Peace, and our High Priest. His name means king of righteousness and king of peace. Jesus was not a Levitical priest. He was of the tribe of Judah. He is our high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. And I was referring to verse 17 of this chapter. Levitical priests offered animal sacrifices as atonement for their sin and ours. Jesus offered himself once for all sin. Jesus offers a better covenant. Verse 22. Holds his priesthood permanently. Verse 24. Is able to save forever those who draw near to God through him. Verse 25. Lives to make intercession for them. Verse 25. Is made perfect forever. Verse 28. Therefore he is above the priesthood established by the law. In 2013, when I read Hebrews chapter 7, I wrote, Melchizedek, king of righteousness and king of peace, also brought out bread and wine, according to Genesis 14, 19, the very symbols Jesus used to institute the Last Supper and Holy Communion. He blessed Abraham and God Most High, according to Genesis 14, 20. Abraham honored the high priest by giving a tenth of everything. there was no priesthood in genesis chapter fourteen the levitical priesthood was established later the law may have described perfection but it made nothing perfect levitical priests died but jesus continues forever so far in hebrews we have seen that jesus is superior to angels to moses to the law and now to the priesthood some of those journal entries pretty well describe the relationship of melchizedek and jesus Melchizedek was before the Levitical priesthood was ever established. Jesus is not a high priest according to the Levitical priesthood. He is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was a king. He was also a priest, just like Jesus. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 3 says, Describing Melchizedek, 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. Even Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrew nation, honored Melchizedek and gave him a tenth of the spoils. When Abraham did that, there was no Levitical priesthood. In one of my journals, I wrote the law described perfection, but made nothing perfect. Let’s look 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? So yes, the Levitical law described perfection, but made none of us perfect. thus the need for another priest. And verse 14 reminds us that Jesus was not a Levite. The verse says, For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests. So Jesus is not in the order of a Levitical priest. Verse 17 says, For it is witnessed of him, you are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. The law and the Levitical priesthood was unable to save. But Jesus, our high priest, is able to save. Look at verse 25. 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. Yes, Jesus, our high priest, is able to save to the uttermost. Those who draw near to God through Him. So what’s our application from Hebrews chapter 7? First, that the Levitical law was good. It described how to live a perfect life. The problem was we were unable to do that. So we needed another priest. Jesus fulfills that role as a priest in the order of Melchizedek. A king and a priest. Jesus is our king and our priest. He and He alone is able to save. To God be the glory. Jesus, superior to angels, superior to Moses, superior to the law, and now superior to the priesthood. Father, we thank You that You sent Jesus as our High Priest. holy innocent unstained separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens your son who has been made perfect forever though you make salvation available to all to the uttermost We must act. We must draw near to God through him. And Lord, we thank you that many of us have. If there’s any that have not, may that be done today. May you draw near to God through Jesus, the high priest, this day. Repent of your sins and accept him as your high priest, your Lord and Savior. Thank you, Lord, that you are the only one that is able to save. Therefore, we give you our praise. In Jesus’ name, amen. Our radio programming is set for 2025. We will cover 44 of the 66 books of the Bible using the Ezra Project day by day through the Bible 11 book series. We start at January 1 with the writings of Old Testament historical books beginning with Job. We will cover seven more historical books until spring when we jump into the New Testament writings of Mark, Peter, James, Jude, and Hebrews. By summer, we will go back to the Old Testament writings of all 13 of the minor prophets. We’ll finish 2025 with the writings of Paul. Maybe you don’t want to follow the AdBible radio programming in your daily quiet time. Okay, I offer you an alternative plan. Read the Bible chronologically starting any day you want. The Bible is not organized the way things occurred. You can order an Ezra Project Chronological Bible Reading Journal and experience an amazing journey through the Bible in the order things actually occurred. The first time I read the Bible chronologically, it was an aha experience. While reading Kings and Chronicles, I read the prophets who were alive at the time. In the New Testament, you read about a miracle or a parable by all four gospel writers on the same day. It was a very educational and inspiring way to read the Bible. One user said this about our chronological Bible reading journal. Some years ago, I used a couple of spiral notebooks for my journaling. I’ve attached pictures of the book, the first edition of the Ezra Project Bible Reading Chronological Journal. That was the picture he sent. I live in Phoenix now, and I cannot find any place that has this type of journal. I’ve used many types of journals recently, but this seems to work the best for my needs. Please let me know if these are still available. Yes, they are. In fact, it is our number one best-selling product of all time. Visit azureproject.net and order a chronological Bible reading journal today and start your chronological journey through the Bible. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. It’s not too late to get your copy of the writings of the Old Testament historical books to follow along with this AdBible program. The book contains our studies on Job, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles. We’ll be in those books for the next several weeks. The book has comments on every chapter, applications for your life, and a place for you to record your thoughts on each chapter of each book for future reference. Visit EzraProject.net and order the writings of the Old Testament historical books today so you can get more out of these radio programs and more out of your Bible. I know you’re going to enjoy it.
