Hebrews 7:1-19 - A new priesthood required and delivered

I am not a builder. I have never gone out and built a house, although I have done a bit of painting, some repairs, and helped with renovations once or twice. However, even though I am not a builder, I know that no house is built with only one row of bricks. If you want to build a house strong, high, and sturdy, you put one row of bricks upon another row of bricks. One layer upon another layer, and you don't place one brick directly on top of another, so that they are all in a straight line going up, no, you overlap your rows so that each row of bricks gives support and strength to the row above and below, and, of course, you would use mortar to hold them together. Then, as a brickie puts layer upon layer, row upon row, the walls get higher, stronger, and the house is complete.

This is what our author has done so far in Hebrews. Through the first six chapters our author has set down one row of bricks after another. One layer after another as he built his argument, reinforced it, and as he used Scripture to hold together his argument as he built strong walls in his desire to prove and to declare the greatness of the person of Jesus, and the greatness of the ministry of Jesus.

This is why the author of Hebrews keeps going over and over the same ground. Mentioning something briefly, only to come back to it later, and then to mention it again still later. Building. Explaining. Emphasising different things so that he builds up this great, and giant argument that so clearly proves the point he has been trying to make.

Here in Hebrews 7 he has done the same thing. Three times already in his letter he has mentioned this man "Melchizedek". In Hebrews 5:6 he mentions Melchizedek in passing by indicating that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise found in Psalm 110:4:

The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

While in Hebrews 5:10, he indicates that it was through Christ's obedience, and the suffering that obedience brought, that Jesus was ordained into his high priestly ministry:

having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Then, in Hebrews 6:20, he talks about how our hope is in Christ and in the sacrifice of Christ. He talks about how our "hope" is in the work that has gone on within the "heavenly tabernacle":

where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Three times already he has mentioned Jesus following on in "the order of Melchizedek", but here, in Hebrews 7, he finally explains the point he has been hinting at for two chapters, and, when he finishes discussing Melchizedek in Hebrews 7:17, he doesn't mention him again. Why? Because he has proven his point. Because that layer in the wall, is complete.

But who is this Melchizedek? Why is he so important that our writer mentions him eight times,[1] when the rest of the Bible only mentions him twice?[2] In the New Testament Melchizedek is only mentioned in Hebrews. Not by Jesus. Not by Paul. Not by Peter, John, James, Luke, or Jude.

In the Old Testament we have Psalm 110:4:

The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

Other than that one verse, Melchizedek is only mentioned in the Old Testament in Genesis 14. where we read that Abraham's nephew Lot is living in the city of Sodom. At that time, a coalition of cities come and attack Sodom and its allies, conquering them, taking the people captive, and taking all of their possessions away as the spoils of war, including Lot and his family.

When Abraham hears about this, he takes all of the men who work for him, and he gathers the other tribal leaders who are his allies, and they go off in pursuit. When they find them, Abraham and his allies attack, defeat this coalition of kings, and rescue Lot and everyone else. They then begin their return journey, where we read in Genesis 14:18-20:

King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.  He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him one tenth of everything.

And that, as that say, is that. Other than this very brief mention, and Psalm 110, the Old Testament says nothing whatsoever about this person Melchizedek, and yet in Hebrews he becomes central to the author's argument about the person and work of Jesus Christ, being mentioned eight times in Hebrews. Why?

So far, our author has made a lot of comparisons in his desire to show the greatness of Jesus. He compared Jesus and the prophets and showed how Jesus is the greater. He compared Jesus and the angels and showed how Jesus is the greater. He compared Jesus and Moses as well as Jesus and Joshua, and he has shown how Jesus is the greater.

He shows how the rest that Jesus gives in the presence of God is so much greater than the rest Joshua gave in the promised land, for it, like so many other things, was lost due to sin.

But here in Hebrews 7, he contrasts Jesus and Aaron. He contrasts Jesus, the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, with Aaron, the High Priest according to the law, and he shows that Jesus, the priest in the order of Melchizedek, is greater than Aaron, the priest according to the law, and in so doing, he shows that the priesthood that this group of Jewish Christians wanted to turn back to, the sacrifices, offerings, and temple that they wanted to turn back to, just wasn't good enough. Not that the law was "bad" of itself, as Paul said in Romans 7:12

The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.

The author of Hebrews mentions this also and says that the problem was never the law, the problem was always the people, for:

God found fault with [the people].[3]

The law could only show sin for what it was, it could not make people righteous.

  • The law could only deal with the past; it could not deal with the present or future.

  • The sacrifices needed to be done over, and over, and over again.

  • There was no sense of "permanence".

The priests were always busy, they never "sat down", and so Jesus:

  • The High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, the one who is "high priest forever".

  • The one who is living, the one who has an "indestructible life".

  • The one who has received both the promise of God and the oath of God.

This Jesus is greater, more powerful, more suitable, and more effective than Aaron.

Why, then, would you want anything else? Why would you choose to go from that which is superior and effective, to that which is fading and inadequate?

But before he gets to that, he starts off by saying that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham, and he is greater than Abraham because in Genesis 14:19 he blessed Abraham, and, as Hebrews 7:7 says:

It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.

Here, the implication is that Jesus, being a high priest in the order of Melchizedek, like Melchizedek, Jesus is also greater than Abraham.

In John 8, Jesus and some Jews are having a debate, an argument. In the course of their discussion, the Jews claimed in John 8:33:

We are descendants of Abraham.

Then in John 8:38:

Abraham is our father.

They then ask Jesus in John 8:53:

Are you greater than our father Abraham?

While Jesus answers them in John 8:58:

Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.

Yes, I am greater than Abraham because I was here long before he was. He rejoiced to see me. He never rejected the truth of God, and even though Abraham died, I will give eternal life to everyone who believes in me.

Just as Jesus made it clear in John 8 that he was greater than Abraham because he is the son of God, so also the writer of Hebrews makes it clear in Hebrews 7 that Jesus is greater because he follows "in the order of Melchizedek". The order which pronounces blessings, receives tithes, and has replaced the sons of Aaron as the go between, the intermediary, between God and human beings. This makes Jesus "greater".

In the law, it was the priests who gave the blessings. Numbers 6:24-26 records the blessing that the High Priest was to give to the people:

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Deuteronomy 21:5 says that:

The priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to him and to pronounce blessings in the name of the LORD.

While 1 Chronicles 23:13 says:

Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things, so that he and his sons forever should make offerings before the LORD, and minister to him and pronounce blessings in his name forever.

Pronouncing blessings over the people showed their status, their "greatness" over the people, for they, and not the people, were in this position.

But here in Genesis 14, it is not the sons of Aaron, it is not the priests according to law, it is not even Abraham, but it is Melchizedek, a priest forever, who pronounces the blessing. But he does not bless the common people, instead he blesses the patriarch Abraham, showing that Melchizedek the priest had a greater honour and status than the patriarch Abraham.

We then read in Psalm 110:4 that the Messiah, the one who is to come, is:

a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

A priest with an authority, status, greatness, and honour that exceeds that of the patriarch, Abraham, and Hebrews 7 shows us that it is Jesus who is that High Priest, so why would you want to return to the law and Aaron?

Melchizedek is also shown to be greater than Abraham because the greater (Melchizedek) received the tenth, or the tithe, from the lesser (Abraham). Again, in the law, it was the Levites and the sons of Aaron who received the tithe, or the tenth. Leviticus 27:30, 32 says:

All tithes from the land, whether the seed from the ground or the fruit from the tree, are the LORD’S; they are holy to the LORD. . .. 32 All tithes of herd and flock, every tenth one that passes under the shepherd’s staff, shall be holy to the LORD.

And then in Numbers 18:21, 24:

To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for a possession in return for the service that they perform, the service in the tent of meeting. . .. 24 because I have given to the Levites as their portion the tithe of the Israelites, which they set apart as an offering to the LORD.

Then, to show the superiority of the priests over the Levites, we read in Numbers 18:26, 28:

You shall speak to the Levites, saying: When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them for your portion, you shall set apart an offering from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe. . .. 28 Thus you also shall set apart an offering to the LORD from all the tithes that you receive from the Israelites; and from them you shall give the LORD’S offering to the priest Aaron.

In the same way, when Abraham gave the tithe to Melchizedek, this showed that Melchizedek the priest had a greater honour and status than the patriarch Abraham. We then read in Psalm 110:4 that the Messiah, the one who is to come, is:

a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

A priest with an authority, status, greatness, and honour that exceeds that of the patriarch, Abraham, and Hebrews 7 shows us that Jesus is that High Priest who is greater than Abraham. Greater than Aaron. So why would you want to return to Aaron, to that which is inferior?

He then talks about how Melchizedek is greater than Levi, and being greater than Levi he is also greater than Aaron, who was the first High Priest in the line of priests serving in the temple that this group of people wanted to return to, and he proves this by indicating that the greater person (Melchizedek) also received the tithes, figuratively speaking, from Levi who was still in the body of Abraham, and so Levi (and Aaron) have themselves paid the tithe to Melchizedek through Abraham.

Melchizedek is also greater than Aaron because while Aaron and the other priests die, all we know about Melchizedek is that he lives.

Melchizedek is greater than Aaron because perfection cannot be found in Aaron and in the service Aaron does for the people, and so a new priesthood (that of Melchizedek) needs to be raised up. We then read in Psalm 110:4 that the Messiah, the one who is to come, is:

a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

The Messiah is to be a priest with an authority, status, greatness, and honour that exceeds that of Levi and Aaron, and Hebrews 7 shows us that it is Jesus, who is that High Priest. Layer upon layer. Brick upon brick. Row upon row. Proving. Establishing. Maintaining the greatness, power, and might of Jesus, our great high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

But why? Why did we need another priest? Why couldn't we just stick with the priesthood of Aaron. Temples. Sacrifices. Dead animals? That is, in fact, the same question that our author asks in Hebrews 7:11 when he says:

Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood—for the people received the law under this priesthood—what further need would there have been to speak of another priest arising according to the order of Melchizedek, rather than one according to the order of Aaron?

If ritual sacrifices. If taking an animal to the temple or tabernacle had been sufficient, would we have needed anything else? Would a promise about a new priesthood have been necessary?

Remember that the promise of a new High Priest that we find in Psalm 110 was made during the time of David, centuries after the law and the priesthood of Aaron was brought about.

So why did God say that he was going to bring in something new? Someone to replace Aaron?

Because that which was old, the high priesthood to be found in the law, just wasn't good enough. It could not bring about "perfection". It could not make us "complete". It could not bring us to the "goal" that God intends for us.

The old priesthood was insufficient and inadequate because, through our sin, we are insufficient and inadequate. So God made a promise about a new priesthood, one that would deal with our inadequacy, with our sin, and with our failures. A new priesthood that would bring forgiveness, cleansing, life, and perfection, and so we read in Hebrews 7:18-19 that:

There is, on the one hand, the removal[4] of an earlier commandment because it was weak and ineffectual, (for the law made nothing perfect); there is, on the other hand, the introduction of a better hope, through which we approach God.

Comparing the ministry of Jesus with that of the priests in the tabernacle and temple, we read in Hebrews 8:6-8 that:

Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one. God finds fault with them when he says: “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.”

In Jeremiah 31, which our author quotes in chapter 8, Jeremiah talked about a "new covenant". The "new covenant" that Jesus said was in his death on the cross. A "new covenant" that replaced the old covenant of temple, priests, law, and sacrifices, because, as Hebrews 8:7 says, there was something wrong with it.

  • A "new covenant" which Hebrews 8:13 says has made the first one obsolete.

  • A "new covenant" which Hebrews 9:15 says sets us free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

  • A "new covenant" which Hebrews 10:17 says, means that:

I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.

And so Jesus, by his death and resurrection, brings about a new covenant, a new agreement between God and humanity. And what Jesus has done on the cross replaces, supersedes, and makes obsolete everything that went before. Hebrews 7:12 goes on to say:

For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.

In other words, a change in the priesthood comes with a change in the law, or the covenant. A change in the law, or the covenant, brings a change in the priesthood, and this very "change" means that with the new priesthood of Jesus, in fulfilment of the promise in Psalm 110:4:

You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

With this new priesthood, the old priesthood of the Law, Levi, and Aaron, ceases to be valid for us, or for anyone else.

I want us to look at something that we most probably never noticed before. In Exodus, we read about the time when the people of Israel had been delivered from Egypt. They cross the Red Sea and spend some time moving through the desert. Finally they camped before Mount Sinai. Now at this point they had received no laws, no religious requirements (other than Passover), no instructions about the sons of Aaron as priests, no Ten Commandments. None of this begins to happen until Exodus 20, when God gives the Ten Commandments, and from then on there are all of these other things. But what we read in Exodus 19:24, before any of these things happen, is:

The LORD said to [Moses], “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you; but do not let either the priests or the people break through to come up to the LORD; otherwise he will break out against them.”

Did you catch what God said. Look at it again:

do not let either the priests or the people break through to come up to the LORD.

What priests? Aaron and his sons had not yet been installed as priests; this doesn't occur until Leviticus 9. So who are these priests?

These are the older, tribal priests who served Israel during their slavery in Egypt. This was the priesthood that was even older than the priesthood of Aaron, selected by tribes, perhaps even "family" priests to serve larger, family groups. We see a remnant of this in Judges 17-18.

But with the giving of the law, the giving of the Ten Commandments, with a change in the law from whatever it was during their time in Egypt to what God revealed to Moses in the desert, the old priesthood that had existed prior to the Exodus is done away with, and a new priestly order, that of Aaron, is established, and when that happened, the old priests and priesthood were made "invalid", and it would be no use going back to them because they were no longer authorised to offer sacrifice, for under the new priesthood, everything must be done through Aaron and his sons.

So also in the New Testament, with the doing away of the law and the bringing in of a new covenant, the "old priesthood of Aaron" is done away with, and a new priesthood, that of Jesus, is brought in because of the new law, the new covenant, the covenant in his blood.

Luke 22:20b says:

[Jesus said], “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

Matthew 26:28:

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Mark 14:24:

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

Everything is now through Jesus, the one who is the fulfilment of the "new covenant" in Jeremiah 31.

Everything is now through Jesus, the one who is the fulfilment of "the one who comes in the order of Melchizedek".

Everything is now through Jesus, whose shed blood brings us eternal forgiveness.

Everything is now through Jesus, our great high priest, who lives forever and makes intercession for us.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that everything is now through Jesus, so why would you want to go back to something that is superseded, fading, and will soon disappear? Why would we want to trust laws, or rules, or anything else other than Jesus Christ?

In Hebrews, the greatness of Christ is proven bit by bit. Row by row. Layer by layer.

In Hebrews, Christ is clearly shown to be everything we need. Superior. Greater. Superseding all things.

So what will we turn to? Who will we rely upon? What and where is our hope? Hebrews 3:1 says:

Therefore, brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.

Hebrews 4:14:

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.

Hebrews 6:18-20:

Through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Where is your hope, your confidence, your faith?

Trust in Jesus, the one who is greater than all, the Son of God become human, the one who is:

a High Priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Trust in Jesus.

[1] Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1, 10, 11, 15, 17

[2] Genesis 14:18; Psalm 110:4

[3] Hebrews 8:8

[4] NRSV “abrogation”. ἀθέτησις c/f Hebrews 9:26, “to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself”.