Written ~ 11-19-2024
Read Hebrews Chapter Seven
Hebrews 7
I really don’t want to say that I dreaded this chapter, because I absolutely LOVE the Word of God, every page, every verse, but I must admit I do feel a bit intimidated by chapter seven’s subject matter. If you recall, when we read through chapter five, verse 5:6b gave us the first mention of the “order of Melchizedek.” And as promised we will discuss the order of Melchizedek with more detail today. This Bible Study will require us to go back to the Old Testament for some pertinent information and I will be using commentary notes, as well as the Life Application Study Bible footnotes for further guidance.
***You may want to read through the entire chapter first, I don’t know if it will make this chapter easier to understand, but it may help “set the stage” for what we will be discussing. Of course, that’s up to you.***
Let’s begin…
Hebrews 7:1…
1 “This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him.”
To find out a little more about who Melchizedek was let’s go back to the Book of Genesis. We will be looking at Genesis chapter 14. During the time we are introduced to Melchizedek, every king in the local cities were at war with each other. There were constant rivalries among the kings, which resulted in fierce and deadly wars breaking out all across the land. Abram (God had not yet changed his name to Abraham), was notified that during one of these said wars his nephew, Lot, along with everyone else in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were captured and carried off. Abram jumped into action and pursued the army who had captured Lot and brought him back to safety, along with everyone else and all the goods that had been stolen and it’s at this point we first hear about Melchizedek…
Genesis 14:17-24…
17 After Abram returned from his victory over Kedorlaomer and all his allies, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
18 And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine. 19 Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing:
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And blessed be God Most High,
who has defeated your enemies for you.”
Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.
21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give back my people who were captured. But you may keep for yourself all the goods you have recovered.”
22 Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I solemnly swear to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from what belongs to you. Otherwise you might say, ‘I am the one who made Abram rich.’ 24 I will accept only what my young warriors have already eaten, and I request that you give a fair share of the goods to my allies – Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre.”
I know this is a lot to process, but bear with me, it’s important to have this background as we learn the significance of the order of Melchizedek.
Let’s go back to our text in Hebrews…
Hebrews 7:2-3…
2 “Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” 3 There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors – no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.”
In Hebrews 7:3 we see that there isn’t any other information about Melchizedek except in the Genesis account, then briefly in Psalm 110:4 which was quoted in Hebrews 5:6, then again in our chapter today. Melchizedek seemingly has no beginning and no end, his appearance in the Old Testament is what’s called a “type of Christ.” That means it’s a biblical person, event or symbol that points directly to Christ.
Hebrews 7:4-7…
4 “Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. 5 Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel, who are also descendants of Abraham. 6 But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. 7 And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.”
Upon meeting Melchizedek for the very first time, Abram recognized the greatness in this king. Abram came to realize that they both worshipped and served the same Almighty God. That’s the reason Abram felt compelled to give this king a tenth of the spoils he had collected from the warring kings, usually it would be the descendants of Levi who would collect a tithe, so this was quite unusual.
What makes Melchizedek notably different, he is not a descendant of Levi, all priests in that time would have come from the line of Levi and then through Aaron. This makes Melchizedek stand out even more, he is honored by Abram, who recognized the anointing he had from God to be a priest. If we set Melchizedek aside as one of a kind, someone with no beginning and with no end, no lineage to Levi or to Aaron, his priesthood is also completely unique. From what Scripture says, it is without end, it’s easy then to see that the “order of Melchizedek,” is unique. All other priests came from a long line of Levites, each priest who died, another would take his place, all throughout history. Think of it this way, these priests, essentially, would be from the “order of Levi or of Aaron.” It only seems right that Jesus would be appointed as High Priest in the “order of Melchizedek” because it was one of kind, its uniqueness matches who Christ is. This too, would be another reason the Jewish leaders would reject Christ. What I learned from the “Expositor’s Bible Commentary” is that the religious leaders would also have rejected the order of Melchizedek because it came before the law was given to Moses, they felt anything that came before the law was obsolete. And since, in the law, the priests would be designated only from the line of Levi, the order of Melchizedek would become in their eyes, nonexistent.
Hebrews 7:11-14…
11 “So, if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron? 12 And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. 13 For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. 14 What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.”
This is what I find so interesting. And I love how Scripture ties the Old Testament to the New. God had to establish Melchizedek as priest, even though later on it would not be recognized as a valid priesthood… but it’s there in the Scriptures, just as God intended. Even though Moses doesn’t mention Melchizedek and his priesthood, it does not mean it isn’t important. The law wasn’t changed to add Melchizedek and his priesthood, God had it established for His purpose and that was to tie His Son to that priestly order.
Hebrews 7:17b…
“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
When Jesus came to earth, died on the cross and rose to His glory, He forever became the High Priest. He wasn’t from the lineage of all other priests whose human bodies passed away, instead He cancelled out that priesthood and became the one and only High Priest.
Alright… I know… this chapter is difficult! And sometimes we will run across things in Scripture that will be harder to understand, and that’s OK! But that’s why we ask the Holy Spirit for His wisdom when reading the Word of God. We can ask Him for revelation when reading the Bible, to bring understanding when our minds just don’t fully comprehend.
What we need to remember and try to understand… is what it says in the final verses of this chapter…
Hebrews 7:20-22, 27-28…
20 “This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became priests without such an oath, 21 but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to Him,
“The Lord has taken an oath and will not break His vow:
‘You are a priest forever.’”
22 Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.
27 Unlike those other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when He offered Himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins. 28 The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed His Son with an oath, and His Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.”
Even if you still don’t fully understand the “order of Melchizedek,” what you should understand is that Christ Jesus our Savior is the final Sacrifice and He is the perfect High Priest, and He reigns forever. Jesus is our Ultimate Authority.
Well… I hope, I pray, that this Bible Study brought just a little more clarity to the “order of Melchizedek.” If you still need more understanding, do some more research!! I’d love to hear what you find!
Until next time! Have a wonderful and blessed day!
~AMEN~