Reflections on Hebrews 7

Hebrews 07 (Contemporary English Version)


1. Melchizedek was both king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He was the one who went out and gave Abraham his blessing, when Abraham returned from killing the kings.
2. Then Abraham gave him a tenth of everything he had. The meaning of the name Melchizedek is "King of Justice." But since Salem means "peace," he is also "King of Peace."
3. We are not told that he had a father or mother or ancestors or beginning or end. He is like the Son of God and will be a priest forever.
4. Notice how great Melchizedek is! Our famous ancestor Abraham gave him a tenth of what he had taken from his enemies.
5. The Law teaches that even Abraham's descendants must give a tenth of what they possess. And they are to give this to their own relatives, who are the descendants of Levi and are priests.
6. Although Melchizedek wasn't a descendant of Levi, Abraham gave him a tenth of what he had. Then Melchizedek blessed Abraham, who had been given God's promise.
7. Everyone agrees that a person who gives a blessing is greater than the one who receives the blessing.
8. Priests are given a tenth of what people earn. But all priests die, except Melchizedek, and the Scriptures teach that he is alive.
9. Levi's descendants are now the ones who receive a tenth from people. We could even say that when Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth, Levi also gave him a tenth.
10. This is because Levi was born later into the family of Abraham, who gave a tenth to Melchizedek.
11. Even though the Law of Moses says that the priests must be descendants of Levi, those priests cannot make anyone perfect. So there needs to be a priest like Melchizedek, rather than one from the priestly family of Aaron.
12. And when the rules for selecting a priest are changed, the Law must also be changed.
13. The person we are talking about is our Lord, who came from a tribe that had never had anyone to serve as a priest at the altar.
14. Everyone knows he came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never said that priests would come from that tribe.
15. All of this becomes clearer, when someone who is like Melchizedek is appointed to be a priest.
16. That person wasn't appointed because of his ancestors, but because his life can never end.
17. The Scriptures say about him, "You are a priest forever, just like Melchizedek."
18. In this way a weak and useless command was put aside,
19. because the Law cannot make anything perfect. At the same time, we are given a much better hope, and it can bring us close to God.
20. God himself made a promise when this priest was appointed. But he did not make a promise like this when the other priests were appointed. The promise he made is, "I, the Lord, promise that you will be a priest forever! And I will never change my mind!"
21. (SEE 7:20)
22. This means that Jesus guarantees us a better agreement with God.
23. There have been a lot of other priests, and all of them have died.
24. But Jesus will never die, and so he will be a priest forever!
25. He is forever able to save the people he leads to God, because he always lives to speak to God for them.
26. Jesus is the high priest we need. He is holy and innocent and faultless, and not at all like us sinners. Jesus is honored above all beings in heaven,
27. and he is better than any other high priest. Jesus doesn't need to offer sacrifices each day for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. He offered a sacrifice once for all, when he gave himself.
28. The Law appoints priests who have weaknesses. But God's promise, which came later than the Law, appoints his Son. And he is the perfect high priest forever.
    
    

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    In the previous chapters the writer began telling of Christ's priestly role but then paused to mention the immaturity of his readers and their likely inability to understand what he was about to tell them. However, he concluded that they needed to move to topics of a weightier nature than those to which they had limited themselves and so he now has launched fully into his discussion of Christ's role as High Priest.
    
    The arguments of chapter seven are aimed at Christ's superiority over the Levitical priests to serve as our High Priest. Also, with the replacement of the Levitical order comes a change of law as the writer points out in verse 12: "For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must be a change of law as well." The argument for Christ's superiority as priest includes first of all His being in the same order as Melchizedek which order is not based on a law but on an unending life. Furthermore, Melchizedek was superior to Abraham and therefore to his levitical descendants. Evidence of his superiority to Abraham is Abraham's paying a tithe to Melchizedek and Melchizedek's blessing of Abraham, in which case the superior one always blesses the inferior one.
    
    A question is then raised as to why there was a need to replace the Levitical priesthood if perfection came through it? The response was that the Levitical order was based on a law that "perfected nothing." (7:19) It was "weak and unprofitable." (7:18) Thus, the former law and the priesthood which was based on it was ineffective and in need of replacement. The priests under this system had to offer sacrifices for their own sins before offering sacrifices for the sins of the people, and then these priest were subject to death so they were always changing. By contrast, Christ was without sin and therefore could offer Himself as a sacrifice one time, not over and over, and in atonement for everyone who accepts it. Furthermore, Christ never dies and is "always able to save those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them." (7:25)
    
    Yet another argument for superiority is that Christ's priesthood is based on an oath and not on a law. The oath being superior. On this point he says, "The Lord has sworn, and He will not change His mind, You are a priest forever." (7:21) He concludes, then, that "Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant." (7:22)