July 23, 2021 — A Study on the Book of Hebrews

“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? For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 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.For it is declared: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.” Hebrews 7:11-19

“The author’s point is, if you’ve got something better, why go back to something worse? Maybe they were nostalgically thinking of “the good old days,” but they were losing sight of the fact that what they presently had in Christ was far better than anything that they had under Judaism. What the Old Testament saints looked forward to, we have received! We have full forgiveness of sins through Christ’s better sacrifice.” (Bible.org, Steven J. Cole)

The purpose of the Old Testament priesthood was to reconcile men to G-d by sacrificing animals for their sins. But this priesthood could only “represent” our reconciliation — it could not actually cleanse our sin. For the cleansing of our sin, we all need some other kind of sacrifice for the reconciliation. As such, the Old Testament system was not able to take away sin. It was imperfect – though for the time it served its purpose. Some “thing” or “person” was needed to see to it that people had full access to G-d. This is the purpose that Jesus fulfilled through the cross.

As Steven J. Cole says, people in the church like to rest in the memories of the “good old days.” If we stay glued to the memories of “days past”, we may be missing some of the best days of the church – or at least the potential for greatness. This is what Christ represents – better days – not just better but the best of the best for our salvation. As such we cannot live in the past – we must always be living into the future.

Jesus went to the cross and took on our sins and won for us our reconciliation to G-d – in other words, Jesus fulfills the law – and is our permanent priest and advocate to G-d…..thanks be to G-d.

Pastor Dave