Call to Commitment

 

Chapter 9

 1. Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.

2. For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary;

3. and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All,

4. which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;

5. and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

 

The earthly sanctuary

 One of the reasons that I believe that every Christian should study the entire Bible, Old Testament and New, is because through it, God is revealed to us. That is its main purpose and nowhere outside the Bible is there a reliable revelation of Him. There is only one God and He does not change; The God of the Old Testament is the same God, who is manifested through Jesus in the Gospels. A. W. Tozer said that the most important issue in the life of the individual and the church is the concept of God.

 While we study, we learn to know the ways of God, which will seem very strange to us in the beginning, because His ways are totally different from the ways we have learned in the world. No secular school offers a course on the ways of God and even Jesus’ closest disciples had great difficulty in understanding His ways. In order to function as a Christian, each one of us must learn to walk in them. One of my favorite verses is Psalms 77:19, because it shows the complex nature and impossibility of finding His ways by natural means: “Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters, and Your footsteps were not known.” Spiritual insight is required. 

An expository study of the book of Hebrews

 

Chapter 8

 1. Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

2. a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

3. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.

4. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;

5. who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moises was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

6. But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

7. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

 

A position of perfection

 The Holy Spirit is glorifying Christ, just as Jesus promised He would do: “For He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you” (Jn.16:14). In the seven previous chapters, He was leading us to this main point. He is now presenting the One, who is the High Priest of a better order of priesthood than the Levitical order. In the last chapter, He showed us this type in Melchizedek, having referred several times to Psalm 110:4. He is the perfection of the High Priest that God had in mind in eternity. 

  (An expository study of the book of Hebrews)

 Chapter 7

1. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

2. to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,”

3.  without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

 

The person Melchizedek

 We have now left the milk of the basic principles of the doctrines of Christ and are deeply into teaching that is solid food. We have learned of the oath of God towards Abraham and his spiritual descendants. We have studied biblical hope that is anchored within the veil and draws us into the Holy of Holies. Now we come to the teaching concerning Melchizedek, and the writer has already referred three times to him in 5:6 and 10, and in 6:20, quoting each time from Psalms 110:4. In 5:11, he states, “Of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.” This is going to be very solid food.

I think, in this chapter, more than in any other portion in the Bible, the Holy Spirit establishes Scripture, not only as the greatest authority, but as the only authority for Christian doctrine. Under the anointing and inspiration of the Spirit of God, the writer develops a wide range of New Testament truth, regarding the order of Melchizedek, from a total of four Old Testament verses… Genesis 14:18-20 and Psalm 110:4. Taught by the Holy Spirit, he builds upon this foundation, not only upon what these verses say, but what they do not say. We will attempt to delve into a most intriguing study, a beautiful example of a revelation, in which the Spirit opens the eyes of the heart to give spiritual understanding!  

 Every word has significance. He first introduces the name of the person that he is presenting, Melchizedek, and then follows with the titles of his offices, as king and priest. He gives his encounter with Abraham, inserting it into the historical record from the book of Genesis. Abraham had just returned from rescuing his nephew, Lot, and his family from four kings, who had taken them captive. Immediately after Abraham accepts the bread and wine of Melchizedek, he refuses the reward of the king of Sodom. The type is most suggestive and means: Let all those who partake of the bread and the wine, which is the body and the blood of Christ, refuse the world’s offers. I remind you that this is no legend; it is an authentic story, written by the Holy Spirit with the lives of real people. Now the Author points the writer to the details that He placed in the account centuries before (1).