Participants: Pastor Stephen Bohr
Series Code: CGC
Program Code: CGC000047S
|
01:13 Shall we bow our heads for prayer. Father in heaven, we
01:17 thank you for the awesome privilege of coming into your 01:20 presence to open your holy word. We ask that as we study about 01:25 the priesthood of Melchizedek that your Holy Spirit will be 01:30 with us to instruct us. We ask that you will give us divine 01:34 wisdom so that we might learn the lessons which will be useful 01:38 in our personal daily walk with Jesus and we thank you for 01:43 hearing our prayer for we ask it in Jesus' name, Amen. 01:48 In the Bible there is perhaps no more mysterious figure than an 01:54 individual called Melchizedek. He's an individual who is 01:59 mentioned in Genesis chapter 14. Throughout the course of 02:03 Christian history there have been different views about the 02:07 identity of Melchizedek. Some people have felt that 02:11 Melchizedek is actually another name for Michael the archangel. 02:16 Others actually believe that Melchizedek was another name 02:22 for Shem the son of Noah. Still others have believed that 02:28 Melchizedek is really a name for Christ in his preincarnate state 02:34 and still others have believed that Melchizedek is actually a 02:39 manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Now I want 02:44 to tell you as we begin that I don't believe that any of these 02:49 views is correct. I believe that Melchizedek was actually a 02:54 historical figure who comes on the scene and disappears from 02:59 the scene very quickly. Actually I would like to begin by reading 03:04 a statement, a very important statement, that we find in the 03:09 Review and Herald, February 18 of the year 1890. This is 03:14 written by Ellen White. She says this about Melchizedek: It was 03:21 Christ that spoke through Melchizedek, the priest of the 03:28 most high God. Melchizedek was not Christ, but he was the voice 03:35 of God in the world and the representative of the Father. 03:39 And all through the generations of the past Christ has spoken, 03:46 Christ has led his people and has been the light of the world. 03:51 And so we find very clearly in this statement that Melchizedek 03:56 was not Christ. Melchizedek was actually a representative of 04:02 Christ. And we want to study about that representative of 04:07 Christ as the story is found recorded in Genesis chapter 14 04:12 and verses 18-20. In fact, let's begin our study by reading those 04:18 verses. Genesis chapter 14 and verses 18-20. We find these 04:26 words... 05:03 Now in order to understand this passage, we must look at the 05:07 story that comes immediately before it. You probably remember 05:12 the story of how Lot and many of the men of Sodom were actually 05:17 taken hostage by this group of kings from Canaan. Actually it 05:22 was a coalition of many kings that got together. They came to 05:26 Sodom. They took Lot and many of the men from Sodom and of 05:31 course they took all of the loot or all of the riches of Sodom as 05:35 well. When Abraham heard that Lot and the men of Sodom and the 05:40 riches of Sodom had been taken by this coalition of kings from 05:45 Canaan, Abraham gathered 318 men together. Now we need to 05:50 understand that Abraham was not a warrior and yet he gathered 05:56 these 318 men together and they went after this coalition of 06:01 kings and the story tells us that Abraham and his 318 men 06:07 were able to defeat the kings of Canaan and Abraham was able to 06:13 bring back all the riches and release the hostages that they 06:18 had taken. There are two key ideas in this story that comes 06:23 before the episode about Melchizedek. First of all, you 06:28 have hostages and secondly we find here enemies who take the 06:33 hostages. We'll find that this is very important to understand 06:37 a little bit later on in our story. So the enemies come and 06:42 they take hostages. Abraham goes he defeats the enemies and he 06:47 delivers the hostages from bondage. Then of course as 06:52 Abraham is returning we find this episode that we just read 06:56 about; the episode where Abraham meets with Melchizedek. 07:00 Now there are several things that I want to underline about 07:05 the passage we just read from Genesis 14 and verses 18-20. 07:10 First of all, you'll notice in this passage that Melchizedek 07:15 suddenly appears on the scene. There's nothing about 07:20 Melchizedek before this and we don't know anything about 07:24 Melchizedek after this. He suddenly appears and then he 07:29 disappears from history. We don't know anything about his 07:33 birth. We don't know anything about his genealogy. We don't 07:38 know anything about his destiny. He suddenly appears and he 07:42 disappears almost as quickly as he appeared on the scene. 07:47 Another important detail that we just read is that Melchizedek 07:52 was the king of Salem. Now if you read Psalm 76 and verses 1 07:58 and 2, you're going to discover that Salem is another name for 08:03 Jerusalem. And so actually Melchizedek was the king of 08:09 Salem or he was the king of Jerusalem. But you'll notice 08:14 also that Melchizedek was not only the king of Jerusalem but 08:20 he's also spoken of as priest of the Most High God. And so 08:26 Melchizedek is king and he is also priest in the city of 08:31 Jerusalem. In other words, in himself in the one person, he 08:36 gathers the two functions of king and priest. I want you to 08:41 notice also that when Abraham meets Melchizedek, Melchizedek 08:47 brings out wine and bread. That is very, very significant that a 08:53 priest would bring out bread and wine. Actually we're going to 08:58 find that we have symbolized here the Lord's supper, the 09:02 symbolism of the Lord's supper and of course Jesus is our 09:06 great high priest according to the book of Hebrews. You'll also 09:11 notice in this passage that Melchizedek blessed Abraham and 09:16 Abraham gave Melchizedek tithes from all of the loot, or all of 09:21 the booty or the spoils that Abraham had brought back to 09:25 Sodom. Now these are very important details because it 09:29 shows that Melchizedek is actually greater than Abraham 09:32 because the one who blesses is greater than the one who is 09:37 blessed. And not only that the one who receives the tithes is 09:41 greater than the one who gives the tithes. And so for these two 09:45 reasons we discover that Melchizedek is a greater 09:49 figure than Abraham. Now it's interesting to notice that as 09:54 scripture moves along, Melchizedek is mentioned once 09:58 again in the Old Testament in Psalm 110. Now you're probably 10:02 saying, Pastor Bohr, your saying that Melchizedek doesn't 10:06 appear again in scripture after Genesis 14 and that's true. 10:11 Melchizedek as a person does not reappear. What we find is the 10:16 priesthood of the order of Melchizedek and so it's talking 10:20 the priesthood that comes from the priesthood of Melchizedek, 10:25 but it's not talking directly about Melchizedek. Now in Psalm 10:29 110 verses 1 and 4, we have a very interesting Messianic 10:35 prophecy which refers to Melchizedek. Notice Psalm 110 10:40 and verse 1 first of all. It says there:... 10:55 Now there are several things in this verse that I want to 10:58 underline. First of all, when it says the Lord said to my Lord, 11:03 the Lord, the first reference to Lord is the covenant name 11:09 Yahweh or Jehovah. The second reference to Lord is Adonai. 11:15 So in other words when it says in Hebrew that Yahweh or Jehovah 11:21 said to Adonai. And so really it says, Jehovah said to my Adonai, 11:27 sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. 11:32 Now it's very important to realize that this is a Messianic 11:38 prophecy. It's being given by David, but David is not talking 11:42 about his son Solomon. He's talking about someone who is far 11:47 greater than Solomon and you say how do we know this? Simply 11:52 because in Psalm 110 it says the Lord said to my Lord. David is 11:57 writing that the Lord said to his Lord, to David's Lord. 12:01 Now who was David's son? David's son was Solomon. What is David 12:07 calling Solomon if this is Solomon? He's calling Solomon 12:12 his what? His Lord. Let me ask you, was Solomon David's Lord? 12:18 Now he was David's son. And so basically what we find in this 12:23 verse is that this is not speaking about Solomon being 12:27 David's son, because David is calling this individual Lord. 12:32 And so if he's calling this individual Lord, my Lord, in 12:37 fact, it must refer to someone other than his son Solomon. 12:41 Are you understanding what I'm saying? And so really this is a 12:44 Messianic prophecy. Now let me ask you, does this Messianic 12:49 prophecy talk about kingship, about rulership? Yes. In fact, 12:55 Jehovah is say to my Adonai, David says, the Lord is saying 13:01 to my Lord to do what? To sit at my right hand. Is he going to 13:07 sit on the throne? Yes he is. Sit at my right hand until I 13:13 make your enemies your footstool Who's going to make the enemies 13:18 the footstool. It is Jehovah Lord who is going to make the 13:24 enemies of Adonai or the enemies of the son of David in a 13:30 Messianic sense, to be under his feet. Now I want you to notice 13:37 also Psalm 110 and verse 4. This individual is not only a king 13:44 who sits with Jehovah on the throne because Jehovah says 13:49 to Adonai, sit at my right hand till I make all of your enemies 13:54 your footstool. Not only is he a king but I want you to notice 14:01 that he is also a priest. It says in Psalm 110 and verse 4: 14:07 Lord, that's the word Yahweh or the word Jehovah as we know it, 14:26 So let me ask you according to Psalm 110, is this Messianic 14:31 figure going to be both king and priest? He most certainly is. 14:36 And his priesthood is going to be according to the order of 14:41 whom? According to the order of Melchizedek. By the way, does 14:46 the king have a special Son who is going to sit with him on his 14:51 throne until all of the enemies are made subject to the Son 14:56 by the Father? Absolutely. Very important to remember this as we 15:01 move along in scripture. Now I would like to read another 15:05 passage from the Old Testament which is similar to what we just 15:10 noticed from Psalm 110. Zechariah chapter 6 and 15:15 verses 12 and 13. Zechariah chapter 6 and verses 12 and 13. 15:23 This is another Messianic prophecy, another prophecy 15:26 about the Messiah. And it's talking about another individual 15:30 who is going to be both king and priest and once again you have 15:35 two individuals involved, a Father and a Son. It says there 15:40 in Zechariah chapter 6 and verses 12 and 13 the following: 15:48 Then speak to him saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts saying 15:55 behold the man whose name is the Branch. From his place he shall 16:01 branch out and he shall build the temple of the Lord. Now let 16:06 me stop there for a minute. Who was it that built the temple of 16:12 the Lord in the Old Testament? It was Solomon. But is this 16:16 prophecy actually talking about Solomon? No. Just like Psalm 110 16:22 is not talking about Solomon, because in Psalm 110 actually 16:27 David is calling his son Lord. That means that his son is 16:32 greater than he is. It' can't be Solomon. It has to be a 16:36 Messianic figure so we're going to find here that the builder of 16:40 the temple of the Lord is not Solomon. It is one greater than 16:44 Solomon. And so he continues saying: He shall build the 16:49 temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory and shall sit and 16:55 rule on his throne. Question: Is this Messianic figure, who is 17:01 called the Branch going to sit on a throne? He most certainly 17:07 is. He is going to sit and rule on his throne. But there's more. 17:13 Notice what it continues saying: So he shall be a priest on his 17:19 on his throne and the counsel of peach shall be between them 17:25 both. How many individuals are involved in this prophecy? 17:29 The word both means what? Two. How many are sitting on the 17:36 throne? Two. Is the Son both king and priest? Yes he is. 17:41 Now in the Old Testament you remember that the kingship 17:46 belonged to the tribe of Judah. And the priesthood belonged 17:52 to the tribe of Levi. But here we find an individual who bears 17:57 both functions or both offices. He sits as a king on the throne 18:02 with his Father and he also serves as a priest after the 18:08 order of Melchizedek. He is king and priest. He takes the two 18:13 functions which belong to the tribes in the Old Testament and 18:18 now he joins them in himself. Now the question is, who is 18:23 this Son of David who is greater than Solomon the literal son of 18:30 David? Well we don't have to guess because in the book of 18:35 Acts chapter 2 and verses 34-36 we find the answer given by 18:41 Peter on the day of Pentecost. Acts chapter 2 and verses 34-36. 18:47 We find here the Apostle Peter saying this:... 19:09 What prophecy is Peter quoting from? He is quoting for Psalm 19:17 110 and now notice the last part of the verse... 19:36 So in whom is the prophecy of Melchizedek fulfilled? It is 19:42 fulfilled in Jesus who becomes the King and the Priest of 19:49 Israel and I'm not referring about literal Israel. 19:52 I'm speaking about true spiritual Israel that joins 19:56 Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Now the greatest development of 20:01 the Melchizedek theme in the Bible is found in the book of 20:05 Hebrews chapter 7 and we're going to move through Hebrews 20:09 chapter 7. We're actually going to go through the whole chapter 20:13 and we're going to see what it has to teach us about Jesus as 20:17 the successor of Melchizedek or Jesus as the priest according 20:22 to the order of Melchizedek. Let's begin in Hebrews chapter 7 20:27 and verses 1-3 where we have an introduction to Melchizedek. 20:32 And by the way, in the book of Hebrews we're going to find some 20:36 additional details that are not mentioned in Genesis. 20:38 We're going to find that the Apostle Paul, whom I believe is 20:42 writing in the book of Hebrews actually takes the story from 20:47 Genesis 14 and he not only tells us certain things about 20:51 Melchizedek that are mentioned in Genesis 14, but he actually 20:55 tells us a few things that are not mentioned. In other words, 20:58 he not only takes into account what Genesis says, but he also 21:02 takes into account what Genesis does not say, what Genesis is 21:06 silent about. Notice Hebrews chapter 7 and verses 1-3: 21:20 Is that in harmony with what we read in Genesis? Absolutely. 21:23 He is king and is priest... 21:46 Now let me stop there just for a moment. The name Melchizedek 21:51 comes from two Hebrew words: The word Melech which means king 21:56 and the word sadach which means righteousness. So the name 22:00 actually means king of righteousness. Now according to 22:04 the New Testament, who is our righteousness? Christ is our 22:09 righteousness. You'll notice also that the Apostle Paul 22:14 explains here that Melchizedek is the king of peace. 22:19 Now according to scripture who is the Shiloh, the peace giver, 22:24 or the one who brings peace? It is Jesus Christ. Now notice 22:29 in verse 3 that the Apostle Paul is arguing from what is not said 22:34 in Genesis chapter 14 and this has confused a lot of people. 22:39 It says here in verse 3 about Melchizedek:... 22:59 Now what has confused people is they say this has to be some 23:02 divine figure. Melchizedek has to be a divine figure because 23:06 we're told here that he didn't have a father and he didn't have 23:09 a mother and he didn't have a genealogy. He didn't have a 23:12 beginning of days, he didn't have an ending of life so this 23:17 has to be Jesus or has to be a divine figure. Absolutely not. 23:21 What the Apostle Paul is arguing is that we do not have any 23:26 record of these things. In other words, do we know who 23:31 Melchizedek's father was? No. Do we know who is mother was? Do we 23:36 have any genealogy. No. Do we have any record of his beginning 23:41 of days or of his ending of days? Absolutely not. Now the 23:46 text makes it very clear that Melchizedek is not Christ 23:51 because the last part of the verse says but made like the 23:56 Son of God, remains a priest continually. Notice that 24:00 Melchizedek is not the Son of God; he is made like the Son of 24:05 God. In other words, Melchizedek is a type of Christ. He is a 24:10 representative of Christ. He is an illustration of the work of 24:14 Jesus Christ. Are you understanding what I'm saying? 24:17 So when it says that he was without father, without mother, 24:20 without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor 24:24 end of life it's not saying that he had no beginning and he had 24:28 no end. What's it's saying is that we have no record of this. 24:31 By the way, did the priesthood of Aaron, the Levitical 24:36 priesthood, depend on keeping a very careful record of 24:41 genealogies. Absolutely. Because you had to be a member of the 24:45 tribe of what? Of Levi, in order to be a priest. But what the 24:50 Apostle Paul is arguing here is that Melchizedek had a right to 24:55 the priesthood not because he was of a certain genealogy but 25:00 because his priesthood was of a different order. Are you 25:05 understanding what I'm saying? Now let's jump to verse 4, verse 25:10 4 and actually through verse 10 we're going to find that the 25:15 emphasis is that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham. And I must 25:21 warn you that the argumentation here becomes a little bit tricky 25:25 so you have to kind of stick with me on this. You know don't 25:29 start thinking about what you're going to do tomorrow or start 25:33 day dreaming because I'm going to lose you. The Apostle Paul 25:37 uses some very strange logic in this passage. It says there 25:41 in verse 4... 25:53 Question: Who is greater, the one who gives the tithe of the 25:58 one who receives the tithe? The argument of the Apostle Paul is 26:03 that the receiver of the tithes is greater than the giver. 26:06 And for this reason Melchizedek is greater than Abraham because 26:11 Abraham gave him the tithes. Notice verse 5... 26:32 Now did the Levites receive the tithes? Yes they did. Did the 26:36 Levites come from Abraham? Did they descend from Abraham? 26:41 Yes they did. So the argument is that when Abraham gave 26:45 Melchizedek the tithes because the Levites descend from 26:50 Abraham the Levites Melchizedek tithes. I don't know if you are 26:55 following what I am saying. It's saying that actually Levi was in 26:59 the loins of Abraham. That means that he's going to descend from 27:03 Abraham. So when Abraham gave tithe to Melchizedek, the 27:07 Levites gave tithes to Melchizedek through Abraham 27:10 their representative and this makes the Levites also lesser 27:17 that Melchizedek. Are you understanding what the 27:19 argumentation is? Now let's go once again here to verse 5. 27:23 And indeed those who are the sons of Levi who received 27:26 the priesthood have a commandment to receive 27:28 tithes from the people according to the law, that is 27:31 the law of the priesthood, that is from their brethren 27:52 Now not only is Melchizedek greater than Abraham because 27:58 Abraham gives him the tithes, but Melchizedek is also greater 28:02 than Abraham because Melchizedek blesses Abraham and the one who 28:07 blesses is greater than the one who is blessed. Notice what we 28:11 find in verse 7... 28:49 Do you understand the logic that the Apostle Paul is using? He's 28:53 saying that the priesthood of Melchizedek is greater than the 28:57 priesthood of Aaron or the priesthood of the Levites. 29:02 And it's true for two reasons. Number one: Because the Levites 29:07 through Abraham gave tithes to whom? To Melchizedek. And second 29:12 Abraham and also the Levites through Abraham were what? 29:17 Were blessed by Melchizedek and the one who is blessed is lesser 29:23 than the one who blesses. Raise your hand if you're 29:26 understanding what I'm saying. This is a very important part of 29:29 the argument of the Apostle Paul. So in verses 4-10 the 29:35 Apostle Paul is emphasizing that Melchizedek was greater than 29:40 Abraham and he was greater than the priesthood of the Levites. 29:44 This is very foundational for what he's going to come to in a 29:49 moment. Now in verses 11-13, we're going to find that in 29:55 order for Christ who was the descendent of Melchizedek to be 30:01 a priest, he had to be a priest from a different order than the 30:06 Levites because Jesus was not from the tribe of Levi. Jesus 30:11 was from the tribe of what? Of Judah. Did Jesus have the right 30:15 to be a king? Yes he did. Did Jesus have right to be a priest 30:20 according to the order of the Levites? Absolutely not because 30:24 he was from a different tribe. And so Jesus had to have a 30:28 different priesthood than the Levitical priesthood or else he 30:32 could not be a priest. Now notice Hebrews chapter 7 and 30:37 verse 11... 30:49 it's not talking about the 10 commandments. It's the law about 30:52 the priesthood in its context. 31:12 The law here is not the 10 commandment law it is the law 31:16 of the what? Of the priesthood. The issue that is being 31:21 discussed here is the law of the priesthood. What gave priests 31:24 in the Old Testament the right to officiate. It has nothing 31:28 whatsoever to do with the 10 commandments. It's not saying 31:31 that the 10 commandments had to be changed. It's the law of the 31:35 priesthood which needed to be changed. Now I need to explain 31:38 a little word that we find here which is very important. 31:41 The word perfection. If perfection were through the 31:46 Levitical priesthood. This is not talking about moral 31:50 character perfection. In the book of Hebrews when it speaks 31:54 about perfection it's talking about the fulfillment of that 31:59 which was in figure in the Old Testament. Let me explain what I 32:03 mean. In the Old Testament, when the Israelites sacrificed an 32:07 animal did that truly remove their sin? No. It was only on 32:12 the basis of the future promise of the coming Christ that that 32:16 sin would be removed. When the priest went into the sanctuary 32:21 and interceded for the people did the priest actually do the 32:24 interceding or was it Jesus in the Old Testament who was doing 32:28 the interceding? It was Jesus. But we need to understand that 32:32 in order for Jesus to stand as our priest, he had to offer a 32:36 sacrifice first. And so when the Apostle Paul says that if 32:40 perfection was possible through the Levitical priesthood there 32:44 would not be need for another priesthood. He's not talking 32:48 about moral perfection. He's talking about the fact that the 32:52 Old Testament system did not actually remove sin, the priests 32:55 of the Old Testament were not the true priesthood. When Jesus 32:59 came the true sacrifice was offered and the true priesthood 33:03 of Jesus was instituted. Are you understanding? In other words, 33:07 the Old Testament system was inadequate. The New Testament 33:11 system because everything that the Old Testament pointed to was 33:14 fulfilled in Christ, it's much more adequate and actually 33:18 fulfills the prophecies of the Old Testament. Now why would 33:22 there have to be a change in the law of the priesthood? 33:26 Why would it be necessary you know when Jesus comes as the 33:30 priest to change the law of the priesthood of the Old Testament? 33:33 Well the fact is that I've already mentioned that Jesus 33:37 could not legally be a priest according to the Levites. 33:41 In fact, it was a very serious thing for an individual to claim 33:45 to be a priest and not be from the proper genealogy. He could 33:49 actually be destroyed from among the people if he claimed to be a 33:53 priest and he did not belong to the tribe of Levi. So Jesus did 33:56 not have a right to be priest according to the order of Aaron; 34:00 therefore, the law of the succession of the priesthood had 34:04 to be changed and Jesus had to be a priest according to a 34:08 different order. Are you understanding what I'm saying? 34:11 Now let's actually continue in verse 14, Hebrews chapter 7 and 34:17 verse 14. Here the Apostle Paul develops this thought... 34:35 Did anybody from Judah officiate at the altar? Did they have a 34:40 right to officiate as priests. No. So is Jesus from a different 34:45 tribe? Sure. In order for Jesus to be a priest, must the law of 34:50 the priesthood change, the law of succession according to the 34:54 fleshly commandment as we're going to find. Absolutely. 34:57 It says in verse 14... 35:20 What is the law of the fleshly commandment? It's the 35:23 commandment that says that priests must be from what? 35:26 From the tribe of Levi... 35:31 Because as Melchizedek we don't have any record of his beginning 35:35 or his ending of days, we don't have a record of his father and 35:39 his mother, his priesthood continues so also with Jesus. 35:44 Jesus is a priest according to a different order. He has the 35:48 right to a priesthood that is not included in the priesthood 35:53 of Aaron in the Levitical priesthood. Actually in fact, 35:57 if you look at the Old Testament you'll discover that Jesus gets 36:00 his right to be a priest from Melchizedek. But he gets a 36:05 description of his functions as priest from Aaron. In other 36:09 words, everything that Jesus does as our priest is prefigured 36:13 by the priesthood of Aaron. We don't know very much about what 36:17 Melchizedek did in officiating as a priest, but we know a lot 36:21 about what priests did in the Levitical system and so Jesus 36:25 gets a description of his functions from the priesthood of 36:29 Levi or from the priesthood of Aaron while he gets the right to 36:34 his priesthood from the priesthood of Melchizedek. 36:38 Now notice verses 18 and 19. Actually let's go to verse 17 36:43 first. Let's not skip that one. It's very important. 36:46 It says there... 36:48 Where is that quotation from? From Psalm 110 and verse 4. 36:59 Is that a messianic prophecy, Psalm 110, verse 4? Is it 37:03 applied directly to Christ? Absolutely. So according to 37:07 whose order is Jesus a priest? He's a priest according to the 37:11 order of Melchizedek. It combines the prophecy of 37:15 Genesis 14 and the prophecy of Psalm 110. He does not come from 37:19 Aaron, then he would not have the right to do that, so the law 37:23 of the priesthood must be changed and he must belong to a 37:26 different order. Notice verses 18 and 19... 37:37 Which former commandment. I guess this is talking about the 37:40 Sabbath commandment right. How can you ever in the world say 37:43 that this is talking about the 10 commandments and yet 37:45 Christians will used this verse, they'll take it out of the 37:48 context and they'll say this shows that the Sabbath 37:51 commandment was annulled. It's talking about priesthoods. 37:55 It has nothing to do with the 10 commandments... 38:05 You couldn't profit because Jesus couldn't be a priest 38:09 according to that order... 38:13 What does that mean that the law made nothing perfect? 38:16 Did the priesthood of Aaron actually take away sin? No. 38:20 Did it legally remove sin? No. Did it give the priests a legal 38:24 right to represent Israel? No, because they were sinful men. 38:29 And so it was unprofitable and weak so it says for the law made 38:34 nothing perfect... 38:43 In the Old Testament system the people could actually not draw 38:46 near to God. There were barriers because of the priesthood. 38:50 But now we have access to the throne of God through Jesus 38:55 Christ the true priest according to the order of 38:58 Melchizedek. And now I want you to notice the priesthood of 39:03 Aaron was something that was inherited because of your 39:09 lineage. But the priesthood of Melchizedek was by a divine 39:16 oath. Notice Hebrews chapter 7 and verses 20-24. It says... 39:21 Inasmuch as he was not made priest without an oath. In other 39:26 words Jesus was not made priest without an oath... 39:31 Who is they? The Levitical priests. They did it by lineage, 39:36 not by an oath... 39:52 Is this a far greater priesthood when it involves an oath from 39:57 God the Father saying to Jesus you are a priest forever after 40:00 the order of Melchizedek rather than the weak commandment that 40:04 you inherit the priesthood because of your lineage. That's 40:08 what the apostle Paul is saying. And then notice; let's go once 40:13 again to the quotation of Psalm The Lord has sworn and will 40:18 not relent, you are a priest forever according to the order 40:22 of Melchizedek... 40:31 Why is Jesus a surety of a better covenant than this old 40:34 Levitical covenant. It's because Jesus fulfills the Levitical 40:40 covenant and Jesus becomes a true priest who can represent us 40:44 before God. Jesus actually has the right to be our intercessor 40:49 because he is God and he is man and he is perfect. Notice also 40:54 verse 23... 41:11 Was the priesthood of the Levites a changeable priesthood? 41:15 Of course, because the priests what? The priests died. 41:18 They could not continue. Is the priesthood of Jesus changeless, 41:23 enduring and forever? Absolutely because as Melchizedek we have 41:28 no record of his origin or of his destiny. Jesus according to 41:32 that priesthood we have also the knowledge that Jesus had 41:37 no origin and Jesus is obviously not going to have any end. 41:42 So what is said about Melchizedek on a lesser 41:45 scale is said about Jesus on a much greater scale because 41:50 Jesus is far greater than Melchizedek and so the process 41:54 is Melchizedek is greater that Abraham and Levi but Jesus 41:59 is greater than whom. Jesus is greater than Melchizedek. Now 42:04 there's another reason why Jesus is greater than the priesthood 42:08 of Aaron. Not only because the priesthood of Melchizedek was 42:13 by an oath, but also because Jesus is a sinless priest. 42:19 Notice verses 26-28 of Hebrews chapter 7. Verses 26-28. It says 42:41 Is the priesthood of Jesus eternal and unchanging? Yes. 42:46 And so we can always come to him and know that he represents 42:51 us before his father. That could not be said about the priesthood 42:55 of the Levites because they were prevented by death and 42:58 they were prevented by their sinfulness from fully fulfilling 43:02 the law of the priesthood. Now notice what it continues saying 43:05 in verse 26... 43:23 How is Jesus different than the Levitical priests. He is what?.. 43:27 Holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners and has 43:32 become higher than the heavens. Now let's stop there for a 43:37 moment. Somebody says well Pastor Bohr, it says here 43:42 separate from sinners. So how can Jesus represent us if he's 43:47 separate from sinners. Let me give you an illustration so that 43:53 we can understand. If you were sinking in quick sand would you 43:59 rather have someone on solid ground with a rope in his hand 44:05 or would you rather have that individual in the quick sand 44:10 with you sympathizing with your experience? (Chuckles) I think 44:16 you would say I would rather have someone on solid ground 44:19 with a rope who can throw the rope. You see if Jesus was a 44:24 sinner just like us he would need a redeemer, he would need a 44:28 sacrifice, he would need a priest to represent him. But the 44:32 fact is that he's separated from sinners in the sense that he 44:37 never committed sin. He did live among sinners, he sympathized 44:41 with the sinners, he understood the sinners, he understood the 44:45 temptations that we have but he never sinned. So he can identify 44:48 with us but he's on solid ground and he can throw us the rope and 44:52 he can pull us up and he can save us from the mire of sin. 44:56 Notice verse 27. Who does not need... 45:16 So the priests in the Old Testament you know they kept 45:18 offering sacrifices and sacrifices and sacrifices and 45:21 sacrifices. With Jesus no way. All he has to do is offer what? 45:26 One sacrifice and that qualifies him to become our priest. 45:31 By the way this is very important for some people who 45:35 belong to a certain church whose name I won't mention that 45:40 teaches that in the religious service Jesus is sacrificed anew 45:46 each time and the sacrifice of Christ is repeated time and 45:51 again, time and again, each time that the service is performed. 45:56 The book of Hebrews tells us very clearly that Jesus died 46:00 once for all and in this way he was qualified to be our priest. 46:07 Verse 28:... 46:14 Which law is this that appoints this. What law is it, the 10 46:19 commandments, right? No. It's the law of the priesthood... 46:41 In other words, as a result of what he did he has been 46:44 qualified forever to be our high priest. Doesn't that comfort you 46:50 to know that we have an elder brother sitting on the throne as 46:55 king but the king also represents us as priest? 46:58 I'll tell you what, that's a very comforting thought that he 47:01 doesn't come like the Levites and repeat the same sacrifices 47:05 over and over again, that he wasn't full of sin and therefore 47:08 needed an intercessor and a sacrifice for himself; that his 47:12 priesthood is not interrupted by death but that he's a priest 47:16 forever and he has absolute power to represent us before 47:19 God. That's a marvelous thought. Now let's summarize what we have 47:24 studied so far. Jesus in eternity shared the throne with 47:30 his Father. We found that in Zechariah chapter 6 verses 12 47:36 and 13. They both sat on the throne. The counsel of peace was 47:41 between them both. In other words, in a certain sense Jesus 47:45 has been king and Jesus has been priest at least with respect to 47:51 the promise of salvation which was made in eternity from 47:54 eternity. In a certain sense, Jesus is a priest from eternity. 47:58 Not in actual coming and being sacrificed and actually 48:02 resurrecting from the dead and going to represent us before God 48:05 but he's actually been the go between the Father and 48:10 us. Jesus actually was the one who created us. So we find that 48:16 Jesus actually is a king and a priest forever. Furthermore, 48:21 we have noticed that Jesus was made priest by an oath by his 48:26 Father which was repeated in Psalm 110 but which actually was 48:31 made by the Father in eternity. The Father said if man should 48:36 sin you will be the sacrifice and you will be the priest to 48:41 bring salvation to those who sin. We find that Jesus combines 48:47 both offices, the office of priest and the office of king. 48:53 The sacrifice of Jesus actually forgives sin once and for all. 48:59 There's no need for any other sacrifice. And because his 49:03 sacrifice was once for all Jesus is qualified forever to 49:07 represent us before the Father because he ever lives to 49:11 intercede for us. Now let me ask you, has Jesus delivered us from 49:18 our enemies. You remember the original story in Genesis 49:23 chapter 14. By the way, this idea is picked up in Psalm 110 49:27 where it says until I make your enemies your what? 49:30 Your footstool. See, it's picking up on the idea the small 49:34 scale model of Genesis 14 where the enemies are overcome and 49:39 the hostages are what? The hostages are released. Question: 49:45 Did Jesus destroy our spiritual enemies by his death on the 49:50 cross? Yes he did. Did he deliver spiritual hostages from 49:55 bondage to sin? He most certainly did. In fact, let's 50:00 notice how this is picked up in Luke chapter 1 and verses 68-71. 50:05 Luke chapter 1 and verses 68-71: This is a very interesting 50:12 passage where Jesus is taken to the temple and I want you to 50:18 notice what words are spoken here and these words are spoken, 50:24 by the way, by Zacharias. It says there in verse 68 the 50:31 following: Blessed is the Lord God of Israel for he has visited 50:39 and redeemed his people and has raised up a what? A horn, by the 50:46 way that refers to kingship, a horn of salvation for us in the 50:51 house of his servant what? David There you have the connection 50:56 with Psalm 110. As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets 51:01 who have been since the world began that we should be saved 51:06 from whom? From our enemies and from the hand of all who hate 51:11 us. Was Jesus going to be the deliverer from our enemies. Yes. 51:16 Not primarily physical enemies but what? Spiritual enemies. 51:21 The devil, his angels, sin, the flesh, the world. By the way, 51:26 did Jesus release the captives. You can read in Luke chapter 4. 51:31 It says that Jesus came to release the captives. This is at 51:34 the beginning of his ministry and then of course you have 51:38 Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 8 where Jesus is ascending and it 51:42 says that he led captivity captive. Just like Abraham 51:48 went and he delivered Lot and he delivered the captives and 51:52 defeated the enemies and brought them back. Jesus the priest 51:56 according to the order of Melchizedek fulfills this 51:59 spiritually with his people. By the way, Hebrews chapter 7 52:03 emphasizes that Jesus is a special priest because he is 52:08 the Son in a special sense because he has a sinless 52:13 character and because he is confirmed by an oath from his 52:18 Father. Do you remember in Genesis chapter 14 that when the 52:24 victory was won bread and wine were brought out by this priest? 52:29 The priest of the Most High God. Why do you suppose bread and 52:34 wine would be brought out? Well let me ask this. What is the 52:40 commemoration that Jesus left of his victory on the cross of 52:46 Calvary? You know this. Jesus himself before he died 52:51 instituted in the church a special ceremony. It's called 52:55 the Lord's supper. And the Apostle Paul repeats this in 52:58 I Corinthians chapter 11 that the night that Jesus was 53:01 betrayed that Jesus took what? Jesus took bread and then he 53:05 took after this the cup which we know had grape juice 53:09 unfermented grape juice. And, in fact, the Apostle Paul 53:12 says that when you partake of this bread and when you drink 53:16 of this cup you announce the death of Jesus Christ until he 53:21 what? Until he comes. So the bringing out of bread and wine 53:26 by Melchizedek is actually a prefiguring of what Jesus does 53:31 offering his body represented by the bread and offering his 53:36 blood represented by the grape juice as symbols of his 53:40 salvation. It's actually a prefiguring of the Lord's 53:45 supper. It is a commemoration of the victory of Jesus on the 53:50 cross, the victory over the spiritual enemies and he who 53:54 released the captives from captivity to Satan, from 53:58 captivity to the world and from captivity to sin. Now the final 54:05 fulfillment of this prophecy of Psalm 110 is still to take place 54:12 I would like to read in the short period that we still have 54:17 left from I Corinthians chapter 15 and verses 24-28. And here 54:21 the Apostle Paul gets a little complicated in the way in which 54:27 he writes and so I am going to interpret as we go along. Once 54:33 again I Corinthians chapter 15 verses 24-28. The final 54:36 fulfillment of Genesis chapter 14. It says here: Then comes 54:44 the end when he, that is Jesus, I'm going to put in the names of 54:49 the he's, who the he's represent here because there are a lot of 54:54 he's and you get kind of confused which he refers to 54:59 whom. And so it says that he, that is Jesus, delivers the 55:03 kingdom to God the Father. Who's going to deliver the kingdom to 55:07 God the Father? Jesus is. When he, now it's the Father, when 55:12 he, that is the Father, puts an end to all rule and all authority and all power. 55:17 By the way, who gave the victory to Abraham? Listen, if you read 55:21 the story, it had to be God who gave him the victory. 55:25 And Melchizedek comes to commemorate the victory, but 55:28 the victory was given by God. And so it says here, when he, 55:32 the Father, puts an end to all rule and all authority and all 55:38 power for he, that is Jesus, must reign till he, that is the 55:43 Father has put all enemies under his feet. When will all the 55:48 enemies be put under the feet of Jesus? At the end according 55:54 to this. And then it says the last enemy that will be 55:56 destroyed is what? Is death. Verse 27: For He, that is the 56:02 Father, has put all things under his, that is Jesus', feet. 56:06 But when he says all things are put under him that is under 56:10 Jesus, it is evident that the Father, or that he, which is the 56:14 Father, who put all things under him, that is under Jesus, is 56:18 accepted. Now when all things are made subject to him, that is 56:22 to Jesus. By the way, who makes them subject to him? The father 56:27 does. Then the Son himself will also be subject to him, that is 56:32 to the Father, who put all things under him, that is under 56:37 Jesus, that God, that is God the Father, may be all in all. 56:41 The final fulfillment and Jesus will be our priest forever in 56:46 the kingdom. He will be one of us. He will conserve his human 56:51 nature and we will have communion with him face to face 56:54 as our Brother who came to save and to redeem us. 56:58 Isn't this a marvelous message that God gives all the way back 57:04 in the book of Genesis. He's actually giving a prophecy 57:09 prefiguring the coming of our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, 57:14 our king who will sit with the Father on his throne and the 57:19 honor and the glory be to the Father forever and ever. |
Revised 2023-11-20