A. INTRODUCTION
1. The Bible is a record of the history of the cosmos. Specifically, the Bible explains how God relates to us in the midst of the flow of history from the creation of "the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1-2 ) to the creation of "a new heaven and a new earth" ( Revelation 21-22 ). God's relationship with His people is summarized in Leviticus 26:12: "I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people."
2. God's relationship to mankind is described in the Bible as a c __ __ __ __ __ __ __, and the Bible's record of the history of the cosmos flows through a series of covenants.
a. "Covenants in Scripture are solemn agreements, negotiated or unilaterally imposed, that bind the parties to each other in permanent defined relationships, with specific promises, claims, and obligations on both sides." - "God's Covenant of Grace," at Genesis 12:1-3 in the New Geneva Study Bible
b. In a covenant relationship both parties assume responsibilities and enjoy benefits. In His covenant relationship with His people, God has taken upon Himself the responsibility to do everything necessary for our salvation, our deliverance from sin. In so doing it was necessary that God the Son become incarnate, live a perfect life of righteousness under the Law He Himself had established, die on the cross for the sins of His people, and be raised from the dead for our justification. We as God's people enjoy all the benefits of this great salvation: we are justified ("called righteous" ), adopted, made holy, and will be made at last perfectly glorious in order to live forever with Him.
As God's servants in this covenant relationship we also assume responsibilities.
(1) We are required to t __ __ __ __ God to keep His part of the covenant.
(2) We are required to o __ __ __ His commands -- but to do so out of l __ __ __ and gratitude for the benefits He provides for us.
God, too, enjoys benefits in this relationship. He gains g __ __ __ __ through our lives of service and worship.
3. It is essential that we understand our covenant relationship with God. The next section of the Epistle to the Hebrews will describe in much detail the final form of God's covenant relationship with His people: the N __ __ Covenant -- the one sealed by the blood of Jesus Christ. This morning we begin with a look back at the Old Covenant -- the one which pointed the way to the New Covenant -- into which God entered with A __ __ __ __ __ __, the spiritual patriarch of all the people of God.
B. TEXT: Hebrews 6:13 - 7:25
1. In 6:12-20 the writer of Hebrews declares the basis of the believer's h __ __ __ for the future to be the certainty of God's promise to us.
a. God guaranteed His part of His covenant agreement with Abraham by means of two "immutable" ( "unchangeable" ) things:
(1) His p __ __ __ __ __ __ and
(2) His o __ __ __.
b. The details of this profound moment in history are contained in Genesis 15:1-21.
(1) This incident occurs just after Abraham's meeting the mysterious Melchizedek, about whom much is written in the second part of today's text passage.
(2) God re-states His original promise to Abraham, and Abraham asks the question every believer asks of Him: "How can I know for sure?" Yes, like all of us, Abraham's faith (certified by God Himself in 15:6) was mixed with an element of d __ __ __ __. He trusted God, but still he yearned to be sure that God would do what He said He would do.
(3) God responds by, incredibly, swearing a maledictory oath against Himself! He does so through a solemn ceremony in which a theophany ( "a visible manifestation of the invisible God" ) in the form of a "smoking o __ __ __" and a "burning t __ __ __ __" passed between the pieces of animal sacrifices which had been torn in half.
"Here God says to Abraham in graphic terms, "Here's how you can know for sure -- I will swear a solemn oath to you. If I do not keep my promise to you may I be torn in two even as these animals have been torn asunder." God swears by Himself, by His solemn divine nature. He is saying that if He doesn't keep His word that curse will come upon Himself. His immutable nature will suffer mutation. His indivisible being will be divided. The light of His own countenance will be shrouded in darkness. God puts His own deity on the line to give Abraham assurance." - R.C. Sproul: "The End of All Dispute" in the August, 1995 issue of Tabletalk magazine
c. The writer of Hebrews reminds us in 6:17-19 that God took this oath not only for the benefit of Abraham.
(1) It was done also "to make very clear to the h __ __ __ __" of Abraham the "unchanging nature of His purpose." (v.17)
(2) It was done that we might "take hold of the h __ __ __ offered to us" in order that we
might "be greatly e __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __." (v.18)
(3) And it was done that this hope might be for us "an a __ __ __ __ __ for the soul, f __ __ __ and s __ __ __ __ __." (v.19)
d. 6:19-20 identifies the heirs of this promise of God as those who have, by faith, followed Jesus Christ into the "inner sanctuary behind the curtain" -- the very presence of God.
2. At this point the writer of Hebrews picks up again his earlier alignment of the great High Priesthood of Christ with that of Melchizedek who, after having briefly crossed the pages of Bible history in Genesis 14:18-20 and having been mentioned in passing in Psalm 110:4, commands some serious attention in Hebrews 7:1-19, if only for the purpose of properly elevating Christ's High Priesthood above that of Aaron and the Levitical line of priests.
The writer's reference to so cryptic an Old Testament figure is not surprising in the light of the wild literary speculation about Melchizedek within Judaism during the second half of the first century. The widely-read book of 2 Enoch ( part of the Pseudepigrapha or "false writings" ) contained a sensational account of the supernatural birth of Melchizedek as a nephew of Noah. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the writer of Hebrews seeks to set the record straight about the purpose of God in including the Gentile Melchizedek in the Old Testament record.
a. Facts about Melchizedek:
(1) He blessed Abraham by bringing him b __ __ __ __ and w __ __ __ after his great victory. These have always been seen as tokens of the kingdom of God, first in the tabernacle on the Table of Showbread and now in the sacrament of communion.
(2) His name means "king of r __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __" and he is said to be the "king of Salem," almost certainly the original name of Jerusalem. Salem means "p __ __ __ __." So Melchizedek, the "king of righteousness," is also the "king of peace."
b. 7:3 is the key.
Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.
(1) "The first phrase, 'without father or mother, without genealogy,' applies a rabbinical principle to Melchizedek that held that when a Gentile came to faith in the God of Israel, he began a new line of descent within the family of faith. From the perspective of Talmudic law, he had no parents or genealogy. The second phrase, 'without beginning of days or end of life,' applies another popular first-century rabbinical principle which claimed that if the Scriptures do not speak of something, for religious purposes, it did not happen. For example, it is often said that prior to Genesis 14 there was no war since that chapter holds the first scriptural mention of it. In this case the writer weighed heavily in the silence of Scripture regarding Melchizedek's lineage since there are so many other records of birth and death in Genesis." - Michael Beates: "The Melchizedek Mystery" in the October, 1992 issue of Tabletalk magazine
(2) "The real key to the writer's exegetical method is found in the phrase resembling { "like" in the NIV } the Son of God. The word translated as resembling occurs only here in the New Testament. It is a suggestive word, used in the active of a 'facsimile copy or model' and in the passive of 'being made similar to.' It is because Jesus Christ is of the order of Melchizedek that the representative of the order is seen to be a model of the true. In other words, it is Christ's priesthood that is the standard, not that of Melchizedek. This passage comes close to being allegorical. Yet the important factor which the writer wishes to establish is the eternal priesthood of the Son of God rather than Melchizedek's, although the latter is implied. What makes Melchizedek's order perpetual is that Scripture says nothing about the succession. What makes Christ's perpetual is, however, his own nature. The fulfillment is more glorious than the type." - Donald Guthrie: Hebrews ( Volume 15, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries )
c. V.11-16 argue that the Levitical priesthood, inherited by the descendants of Aaron on the basis of the law of Moses, is seen clearly to have been "temporary" in that it has been succeeded by a priesthood after the type of Melchizedek's. He will use this argument as a springboard toward his teaching in chapter 8 of the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old Covenant. This is declared plainly in 7:12: For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law.
(1) This "change in the law" regarding the priesthood includes two important factors:
- succession through the tribe of J __ __ __ __ instead of Levi (v.14), and
- the "power of an I __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ life." (v.16)
d. "The author of Hebrews argues that God deliberately left out the genealogy of Melchizedek in order to make clear that this order of priesthood is not received by inheritance. Rather, it is received directly from God. In the same way, the Son of God received His priestly mantle directly from God the Father, not from the line of Aaronic priests, because Jesus was not descended from Aaron but from the royal tribe of Judah.
"Not only did the book of Genesis not record a genealogy for Melchizedek, but in stark contrast to all the other servants of God in Genesis, we never read that he died. Some have thus speculated that Melchizedek was a preincarnate manifestation of the Son of God. A better understanding is that he was a mere man, a servant of God. God recorded his history in Genesis in such a way as to point to the deathless and eternal character of the reign and ministry of Christ, the ultimate Priest-King." - R.C. Sproul: Themes from Hebrews
3. V.20-28 considers for the second time in Hebrews Christ's priestly credentials.
a. His priesthood was a direct result of God's o __ __ __ (v.18-21).
b. His priesthood administers a "b __ __ __ __ __ covenant" (v.22).
c. His e __ __ __ __ __ __ nature gives Him a "permanent" priesthood, the benefits of which are declared in v.25:
Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.
d. He alone can meet our needs.
(1) He is "h __ __ __, b __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __, p __ __ __, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens" (v.26).
(2) His does not need to offer sacrifices daily, neither for His own sins -- He is perfect -- nor for the sins of others -- He has already done so, once and for all, on the cross (v.27).
"Because Jesus died once for all, He brought the sacrificial system to an end. He forgave sins -- past, present, and future. The Jews did not deed to go back to the old system because Christ, the perfect sacrifice, completed the work of redemption. You don't have to look for another way to have your sins forgiven -- Christ was the final sacrifice for you." - Notes on Hebrews 7:27, Life Application Bible
C. APPLICATION
The deep and sometimes difficult theological truths presented in Hebrews are not meant to fill us up with impressive deuteronomical knowledge. They are meant to encourage us. Today's text passage is particularly helpful.
1. It should thrill our hearts that God thought so much of us -- the "heirs of the kingdom which He has promised" ( James 2:5 ) -- that He first swore an oath on Himself that He would keep His covenant and then died on the cross to do so.
2. If we have trusted God, then we have experienced the truth the Joshua declared to the children of Israel in Joshua 23:14:
And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.
3. Our lives should be filled with the peace of God in the knowledge that the great, eternal High Priest -- Jesus Christ -- intercedes before God for us perpetually.
a. The Bible record contains samples of His intercession.
(1) Luke 22:31-32 [ NKJV ]
And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."
(2) John 17:6-26
b. In answer to Christ's prayers for us, we are being shaped and polished by the Holy Spirit into a Christ-likeness which enables us to overcome the "old man" and to proclaim Jesus in word and deed to the world around us.
2 Corinthians 3:12, 16-18 [ NLT ]
Since this new covenant give us such confidence, we can be very bold. We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory fading away.
Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, then the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, He gives freedom. And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him and reflect His glory even more.
D I S C U S S I O N G U I D E
1. Assurance for the Christian has been defined as "the confidence of the believer in Christ that notwithstanding his/her mortal sinful condition, he/she is irrevocably a child of God and an heir of the kingdom of God. The writer of Hebrews in 6:13-20 presents "two immutable things" as a source of assurance for believers that God can be trusted to keep His part of the covenant agreement.
a. Read Ephesians 1:7-13. Try to find three other sources of "salvation assurance" for believers which are presented in this passage.
b. What other sources of assurance have encouraged you in your walk with God?
2. Read Matthew 5:17-18. Why is it important to remember that Jesus did not come to destroy the Jewish system but to fulfill it? Cite Scripture to support your answer.
3. Read Hebrews 6:13-15.
a. Abraham had to wait for God's promises to be fulfilled. What promises are you still waiting to be fulfilled?
b. How can you show trust in God while you are waiting? Cite Scripture where possible.
4. Read Hebrews 7:7.
a. What does it mean for one person to bless another?
b. Who can you bless?
c. How can you bless this person?
5. Read John 17:20-26, an example of Christ's intercessary prayer for us.
a. List five requests made by our Lord in His intercession for us.
b. This prayer is seen by some Bible scholars as an expression of all that Christ taught on earth. List three things claimed by some believers as "benefits" of being a Christian which Jesus did not include in His prayer.
