3/13/20
Tom Lowe
The Levitical Priesthood
The Levitical Priesthood traces through the three sons of Levi, through the Sadducees until it went extinct at the death of Christ, when it was replaced with the Priesthood of Christians which endures until the second coming.
Lesson #23 [ID5b]
The Greatness of Melchizedek’s Order in Relation to the Levitical Priesthood (7:11-28)
Scripture: Hebrews 7:11-28 (NIV)
11If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. 13He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests. 15And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17For it is declared:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
18The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
20And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:
“The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
‘You are a priest forever.’ ”
22Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.
23Now there have been many of those priests since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25Therefore he is able to save completely c those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them.
26Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
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Introduction:
Having established Melchizedek’s superiority both personally and in comparison, with Abraham and Levi, the writer was ready to make a new point. This superiority was needed since the Law was superseded. The inaccuracy of the legal and Levitical systems had to be replaced by something better.
In this section, the writer took his argument one step further. Not only is Melchizedek greater than Aaron, but Melchizedek has replaced Aaron! It is no longer “the order of Aaron” or “the order of Levi.” It is forever “the order of Melchizedek.” Why would God make such a radical change?
Commentary
(7:11). If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?
The words translated “perfect” and “perfection” are keywords in this epistle (Heb. 2:10; 5:9; 6:1; 7:11, 19; 9:9; 10:1, 14). They essentially mean “completed, fulfilled.” The Old Testament priests could not by their ministry, complete the work of God in the heart of a worshipper. “For the Law made nothing perfect” (Heb. 7:19). The animal sacrifices could not give any worshipper a perfect standing before God (Heb. 10:1-3). The Mosaic system of divine Law was not a perfect system. It was “added,” to serve as a “schoolmaster” to prepare the way for the coming of Christ (Gal. 3:19-4:7).
In other words, the thing which characterized the Aaronic priesthood is that it is incomplete. It never brought perfection, complete communion with God. It never gave redemption and acceptance before God to the people. It never achieved its goal. Therefore, we need Christ.
The bottom line here is this: Perfection was not attainable through the Levitical system. Sins were never put away and the worshippers never obtained rest of conscience. The priesthood that was set up under the Law of Moses was not the ultimate one.
Another kind of priesthood is now in effect. The perfect priest has now come, and His priesthood is not reckoned according to the order of Aaron but rather after the order of Melchizedek.
(7:12). For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also.
We are no longer under the Mosaic Law. The Mosaic Law belonged to the Aaronic priesthood where they offered bloody sacrifices. The Mosaic Law and the Aaronic priesthood go together. Since the priests received their authority from the Old Testament Law (Heb. 7:28), and since the priesthood has been changed, there has also been a change in that Law.
(7:13). He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar.
(7:14). For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests.
The Lord Jesus belonged to the tribe of Judah and therefore could never be a priest here on earth. The priestly tribe was the tribe of Levi. The priesthood had to be changed since Christ did not come from Levi.
The Law of Moses made no provision for priesthood from the tribe of Judah. Since our high priest is from the tribe of Judah, according to His human ancestry, then there must have been a change in Moses’ Law. There has been! The entire system of Old Testament Law has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ and has been taken out of the way (Col. 2:13-14). The believer has been set free from the Law (Gal. 5:1-6) and is dead to the Law (Rom. 7:1-4).
This new arrangement does not suggest that a Christian has the right to be lawless. “Free from the Law” does not mean “free to sin.” Rather, it means we are free to do the will of God. We obey, not because of outward compulsion, but because of inward restraint (2 Cor. 5:14; Eph. 6:6). The indwelling Holy Spirit enables us to fulfill the “righteousness of the Law” as we yield to Him (Rom. 8:1-4).
(7:15). And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears,
The word “another” means “another of a different kind.” The Levitical priests were made priests by the authority of a temporary and imperfect Law. Jesus Christ was made Priest by a declaration of God
This is what the prophesy in Psalm 110:4 said concerning the Messiah who was to come.
The Hebrew Priesthood
(110:4) The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
What a priest Melchizedek is! If you look back at the Old Testament you will see the need for such an individual. Think of the only human priesthood ever ordained by God, the priesthood of Aaron. It dominates the Old Testament age. Everything about the Old Testament age was significant: the priestly robes, rituals, and restrictions. Everywhere we are confronted with symbolism and types.
Aaron, his sons, and his heirs had a monopoly on that restricted priesthood: the only way to become a priest was to be born a priest. No amount of wisdom, wealth, wishing, or work, no amount of well-doing would make a man a priest unless he was born into the family of Aaron.
We can imagine, then, the surprise with which David recorded the words that take up the second great theme of this psalm. What God had to say about the Melchizedek priest struck at the roots of the priestly system in Israel, a system sanctioned by God and already made venerable in David’s day by five centuries of practice.
“The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent . . .” The word sworn corresponds to the word said in verse 110:1. David’s son was to be a priest. In one sweeping statement, that abolished the entire fabric and function of the priestly order of Aaron. No wonder it was confirmed by an oath. Of course, God’s naked word is enough. God’s word is His bond. God cannot lie. Why then was there a divine oath? Because the installation of Messiah as a priest meant an end to a priestly order which, by the time of Christ, had been entrenched by divine decree for fifteen hundred years.
The day Christ died; God reached down and rent the temple veil. Judaism, as it had been known, ceased to be and the Levitical priesthood was over. There was a new priest, one of David’s royal lines. How much of that do you think David was able to grasp?
“Thou art a priest forever.” One who would live a priest forever must live an endless life. He must count time not by years but by ages. David must have rubbed his eyes. That was astonishing enough, but a priest forever? If the inspiring Spirit of God had not God-breathed the line, he would have rubbed it out.
Melchizedek is set before us in the Bible in an astonishing way. He was a king-priest, not an appearance of Jesus Christ on earth; he is only a type of Jesus in his present priestly ministry (see Heb. 5:1-11, 7-8; Zech. 6:12). Jesus Christ is our glorified King-Priest in heaven interceding for us (Rom. 8:34). His throne is a throne of grace to which we may come at any time to find the help we need (Heb.4:14-16). In him, church and state merged, as it was never allowed to do under the Mosaic Law. He was king of Jerusalem, a mysterious figure, mentioned only once in the Bible until David drops his name into this psalm, and mentioned only three times in all of Scripture. In Genesis he is mentioned historically; in Psalm 110 he is mentioned prophetically; in Hebrews, he is mentioned doctrinally.
Since he was a thoughtful man, David would have meditated on the Spirit’s introduction of the name Melchizedek in this psalm. He would have concluded that his coming Son, this coming Messiah if He were to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek, would introduce a totally new order of the priesthood, which could be described with three words: stable, sovereign, superior.
• A Stable Priesthood.
Melchizedek was introduced into the Genesis account without a genealogy. One moment he was there, the next moment Abraham had moved on, but Melchizedek remained. He had no family tree, no ancestry, and no heirs. The Spirit of God had written it this way on purpose. Melchizedek was, genealogically speaking, and as far as his priesthood was concerned, “without father or mother, without beginning or ending of days.” His would-be a stable priesthood.
• A Sovereign Priesthood.
One of the points about Melchizedek was his position as both king and priest. He was something Aaron’s sons could never be, a king. He was something David’s sons could never be—a priest. “All power,” then, was concentrated in the same hands: all royal power, all religious power.
• A Superior Priesthood.
All the priests whom David knew were sons of Aaron, but Melchizedek was his spiritual superior; Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. Since Aaron and Levi and all the priests were descendants of Abraham, they too, so to speak, paid tithes to Melchizedek, in Abraham, when Abraham paid his. It followed, therefore, that any priest after the order of Melchizedek would be superior to any priest after the order of Aaron.
The Spirit of God has made matters clear for us in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Jesus is this Melchizedek priest of whom David spoke so profoundly.
(7:16). one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.
(7:17). For it is declared: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
Christ became a PRIEST by His resurrection from the dead; He has an endless life. But because Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, He lives by “the power of an indestructible life.” What a contrast between an endless life and a profitless Law!
Since Jesus Christ is “Priest forever,” and since He has a nature to match that eternal priesthood, He can never be replaced. But nobody can annul the “power of an indestructible life”! The logic holds: Jesus Christ is a Priest forever.
(7:18). The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (unprofitable)
The Mosaic system went out of style -it wore out because “it was weak and useless:” it could not continue forever; it never gave what men must have, perfection; it was not given by God Himself (Could God give anything that was weak and useless?). The answer is that God never intended this to be the ultimate law of the priesthood. It was preparatory to the coming of God’s ideal priesthood. It was a partial and temporary picture of that which would be perfect and final.
The setting aside (annulling) of the Law meant the abolishing of the priesthood.
(7:19). (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
We come to God through Christ. We have seen that the Lord Jesus Christ is a perpetual priest and He is a perfect priest. The Aaronic priesthood could not fill the bill because it never made anything perfect. The people were never able to go into the presence of God in the Most Holy Place. This enforced distance between God and man was a constant reminder that the sin question was not settled once for all. Now we have a perfect priest, and that one is the Lord Jesus Christ. He has provided salvation for you and me. God has taken us out of Adam and put us in Christ. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ {1], the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Cor. 5:17). We are no longer joined to Adam but are now joined to the living Christ.
The writer kept in mind the temptation his readers were facing to go back into the old temple system. Therefore, he reminded them that Jesus Christ has accomplished what the Law could never accomplish: He brought in a better hope, and He enables us to draw near to God. To go back to Judaism would mean losing the enjoyment of their fellowship with God through Christ. The only hope Judaism had was the coming of Christ and these believers already had that blessing.
(7:20). And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath,
(7:21). but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’?”
Psalm 110 is a prophecy (see verse 15 above) of the fact that the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, would be in the line of Melchizedek as a priest. “The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent (change His mind), Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4). The matter is finally settled, and it cannot be changed.
One thing that makes the priesthood of Christ superior is the very simple fact that it rests not only on the Word of God but upon the oath of God. All the Old Testament tells about the tribe of Levi is that they were set aside for that function -no oath was given concerning them.
No priest in the order of Aaron was ever ordained and established on the basis of God’s personal oath. The Aaronic priests ministered “after the law of a carnal (physical) commandment (7:16). Their moral or physical fitness was not examined. The important thing was that a priest belonged to the right tribe and met the right physical and ceremonial requirements (Lev. 21:16-24).
16The LORD said to Moses, 17“Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect may come near to offer the food of his God. 18No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; 19no man with a crippled foot or hand, 20or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. 21No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the LORD. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. 22He may eat the holiest food of his God, as well as the holy food; 23yet because of his defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary. I am the LORD, who makes them holy.’ ”
24So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
(Lev. 21:16-24)
Jesus Christ’s heavenly priesthood was established based on His work upon the cross, His character (Heb.2:10; 5:5-10), and the oath of God. The presence of this oath gives to the priesthood of our Lord a greater degree of permanence and assurance.
(7:22). Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.
The word testament should be “covenant.” We have not only a better priesthood in Jesus Christ, but it is also by a better covenant. Christ is our High Priest. He ministers in a superior sanctuary, by a better covenant, and built upon better promises. We will see this subject expanded in chapters 8-10. The Lord Jesus’ priesthood is superior in every department. The Aaronic priesthood was a part of the Old covenant. The priesthood of Christ is connected with the New Covenant. Covenant and priesthood stand or fall together.
The New Covenant is an unconditional agreement of grace that God will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah when the Lord Jesus sets up His kingdom on earth (Jer. 31;33, 34). Believers today enjoy some of the blessings of the New Covenant, but its complete fulfillment will not be realized until Israeli is restored and redeemed nationally.
Jesus Christ is the “surety” (guarantee) of a better testament (covenant).” The term “surety” means “the one who guarantees that the terms of an agreement will be carried out.”
As the Mediator between God and Man (1 Tim. 2:5), Jesus Christ is God’s great Surety. Our risen and ever-living Savior guarantees that the terms of God’s covenant will be fulfilled completely. God will not abandon His people. But our Lord not only guarantees to us that God will fulfill the promises. As our representative to God, He perfectly meets the terms of the agreement on our behalf. We on our own could never meet the terms; but because we have trusted Him, He has saved us, and He has guaranteed that He will keep us.
The writer has given three reasons why God has changed the order of the priesthood from that of Aaron to that of Melchizedek: (1) the priesthood and the Law were imperfect; (2) being imperfect they could not continue forever; (3) God had sworn by His oath that the new order would be established. Then the writer of this letter to the Hebrews closed this section with a fourth reason.
(7:23). Now there have been many of those priests since death prevented them from continuing in office;
In other words, the Aaronic priesthood of the Old Testament always ended in death. Aaron died, just as Moses did. Now they would have to have a new priest. You and I don’t have a changing priesthood -Christ will always live to make intercession for us.
There were many high priests because no one priest could live forever. In contrast, the Church has one High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, who lives forever! An unchanging priest means an unchangeable priesthood, and this means security and confidence for God’s people. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). “Thou art a Priest forever” (Ps. 110:4).
(7:24). but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.
The Lord Jesus won’t be dying anymore. He died once for our sins, but never again will He die. He is there all the time for you. I rejoice in being able to give out the Word of God today because I am assured that the Spirit of God will be ministering it to the called-out people. The Lord Jesus is the Great High Priest. While I am sleeping there is a High Priest up yonder who will make the Word effective. How wonderful is that! Let’s give Him all the praise and glory.
The fact that the unchanging Christ continues as High Priest means, logically that there is an “unchangeable priesthood.” Our Lord’s priesthood in Heaven is valid and unalterable. Because it is, we can have confidence in the midst of this shaking, changing world.
The following verse is perhaps the key verse to this entire section, and it is the very heart of the Gospel.
(7:25). Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them.
“Therefore” -again we have this little hinge on which a big door swings. It swings back into what has been said before and swings on into what is ahead.
“He always lives.” It says, first, that Christ is not dead, but He is living. Right at this very moment, He is alive. We emphasize the death and resurrection of Christ, but we ought to go beyond that. We have to do with a living Christ. We no longer know Him after the flesh. We know Him today as our Great High Priest at God’s right hand. That is what we need to go on today -that is where we need to put the emphasis. He died down here to save us, but He lives up there to keep us saved.
“He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him.” He can keep on saving you. “To save completely” means totally (all the way through). He can save us completely and perfectly. He is the Great Shepherd who up to this very moment has never lost a sheep. Do you want to know something? He never will lose one. If you are one of His sheep, you may feel like you are going to be lost, but He is up there for you and He is watching over you. There is no danger that any believers will be lost. Their eternal security rests on His perpetual intercession for them. He is also able to save them for all time because His present ministry for them at God’s right hand can never be interrupted by death.
“He always lives to intercede (make intercession) for them.” Intersession means “intervention.” He intervenes for us. “. . . We shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10). John wrote, “My little children (born again ones), these things writeth I unto you, that you sin not.” Well, John, you are not talking to me because I do lots of things that are wrong. Now John, do you have a word for me? John went on to say, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1). An advocate is a comforter, someone to stand at our side. He is Jesus Christ, the righteous. Everything He does is right. Everything He does is righteous. We shall be saved by His life.
How wonderful to know we have a living Christ! You are not alone. It is just baby stuff to sit down and cry, “Oh, I’m having this problem, and I’m so alone. There’s nobody to help me. Who can I go to.” My friend, what do you think He is doing up there. Aren’t you conscious of Him? Why don’t you turn to Him? It is wonderful to know He is up there, my friend.
(7:26). Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
He “meets our need” means Christ is just what we need. He is the one who fills the bill. He is just right for us—we couldn’t have anyone that is better than He is.
“Holy”—that is, in relationship to God. He is the Holy One.
“Harmless” means “blameless,” (No Jewish priest could claim this distinction.) that He is free from any malice, craftiness or cleverness. When He gets you off, when you sin, it is not because He is a clever lawyer. It is because He is the one who paid the penalty for you, and the penalty absolutely has been paid.
“Pure” (undefiled, unstained) means He is free from any moral impurity. Dear reader, this is God’s answer to the blasphemous films, songs, and literature of our day. The Bible makes it clear that the Lord Jesus was free from any moral impurity.
He is also “set apart from sinners.” He is like us, yet unlike us. He could mix and mingle with sinners, and they didn’t feel uncomfortable in His presence, but He was not one of them. His enemies accused Him of associating with publicans and sinners. He sure did, yet He wasn’t one of them, He was “set apart from sinners,” for their ministry so in that sense they were holy. But they were not holy in character. They were sinners like the people to whom they ministered.
Today, Jesus Christ is “separate from sinners” because of His position (“exalted above the heavens”); but He is not separated from the people to whom he ministers. He is always available to us at His throne of grace.
Again, only Jesus Christ could claim these characteristics: holy, harmless, pure, set apart from sinners. No matter how devoted and obedient the Aaronic priests were, they could not always meet the needs of all the people. But Jesus Christ perfectly meets all our needs.
The emphasis in this verse is on His sinlessness. Being perfect, He can exercise a perfect ministry for His people. Because of their sins, some of the Old Testament priests not only were unable to serve the people but actually abused them. This could never happen with Jesus Christ and His people.
(7:27). Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
Notice that the Lord Jesus didn’t need to offer any sacrifices for His own sin—He had none. This is the kind of high priest we need! We are prone to sin daily, even hourly; and we need to turn to Him for spiritual help. As our high priest, Jesus Christ gives us the grace and mercy that we need to not sin. But if we do sin, He is our advocate at God’s throne (1 John 2:1-2). If we confess our sins to Him, He forgives us and restores us (1 John 1:9).
If it were necessary for the Lord Jesus to come back and die for you again, He would be back today, dear reader. But He won’t be back to die for you—He died once.
Do you know what God is trying to tell us here? He is trying to tell us that sin is an awful thing and that it requires the shedding of blood. But he has one who is coming someday who is going to die on a cross for us. When he does there is going to be no more shedding of blood. He will have paid the penalty.
(7:28). For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
The high priest in the Old Testament had to offer a sacrifice for himself—the Lord Jesus never did.
We have a high priest who can be touched, who can be reached today. He is there to help and He understands, but He is “holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.”
The application is obvious: why turn away from such an adequate High Priest? What more can you find in any other person? The men who served under the Law of Moses had human infirmities and weaknesses, and they often failed. Our heavenly High Priest has been “Consecrated (made perfect) forevermore” and there is no spot or blemish in Him. Such a High Priest “suits us perfectly”!
Are you availing yourself of His gracious ministry”?
Special Notes and Scripture
[1} Therefore if any man be in Christ.--To be in Christ, in St. Paul's language, is for a man to be united with him by faith and by baptism (Romans 6:3-4), to claim personally what had been secured to him as a member of the race for whom Christ died. In such a case the man is born again (Titus 3:5) --there is a new creation; the man, as the result of that work, is a new creature. The old things of his life, Jewish expectations of a Jewish kingdom, chiliastic {2] dreams, heathen philosophies, lower aims, earthly standards--these things, in an idea at least, passed away from him at the time when he was united with Christ. We may trace an echo of words of Isaiah's that may have floated in the Apostle's memory: "Remember ye, not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold I make new things" (Isaiah 43:18-19).
[2} Chiliastic—Pertaining to the religious doctrine of a thousand-year period of peace and prosperity; millenarian.
