The Book of Hebrews: Week 5

We'll go ahead and open your Bible to Hebrews chapter seven.

We are in the Book.

Of Hebrews for the summer months, and today we are

trying to Hebrew seven. Hebrew seven is one of the

most complicated and complex passages in the Bible, because in

Hebrew seven we are introduced to the most mysterious person

in the entire Bible, and his name is Melchizedeck.

Can you say the name Melchizedek?

I figured, if I had to learn how to pronounce it,

we should all learn how to pronounce it. Melchiz A

Deck is a mysterious person in the Bible. Now, as

I was studying this character melchiz A Deck in this history,

my mind wandered to some fictional characters.

Uh.

For example, I'm a big fan of Star Wars, and

I thought about Yoda, this great Jedi master who's a

mysterious He's like a little green frog looking alien, and

he's really powerful. He can move space ships, he can

leap to great heights. He's really mysterious because nobody knows

where he comes from, nobody knows what species he is.

Some say he's like over nine hundred years old. He's

just a mystery. I also thought about from the book's

Lord of the Rings about Gandalf, this wise sage wizard person.

He's got his long beard, he's got his staff, he's

puffing on a pipe. He speaks in riddles. He's really mysterious.

He's very powerful. Sometimes he'll disappear and then he'll reappear,

and there's very little known about him. He's shrouded in mystery,

like where did he come from? How old is he?

What's his background?

He's a mystery.

So, as I was looking at Melchizedec in the Bible,

I thought about these fictional characters. Now, obviously, the difference

between these characters in Melchizedek is that these characters are fictional.

Melchizedek is a real person who walked on earth, who

lived a life, and everything we know about Melchizedic is

found in the Bible. The author of Hebrews introduces Melchizedek

at the end of chapter six. He writes, Jesus has

become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

So the author of Hebrews describes Jesus as a high

priest in the line of Melchizedic, just like Melchizedek. Now,

Melchizedek is really mysterious because he only appears in the

Bible three times. By comparison, Jesus is mentioned in the

Bible more than thirteen hundred times, David is referenced over

nine hundred times, and Moses's name appears at least eight

hundred times. But Melchizedek only shows up three times in

Genesis fourteen, then a blip in Psalm one hundred and ten,

and then here in Hebrews. And so today we're gonna

be digging deep into Melchizedek. Now, you know there's a

difference between I mean snorkeling and scuba diving. If you've

ever gone snorkeling, you know that you're kind of limited

to where you can go. You've got the face mask,

the air hose, and you can maybe dive down maybe

ten feet twenty feet a little bit, but you're kind

of close to the shore. You don't go out very far.

You have limited time because you're holding your breath and

then you got to come back up. But if you

go scuba diving, man, you can go out.

You can go out deep away from the shore.

You can stay underwater at great depths for a long

period of time. Scuba diving is deeper. Today, we're going

Bible scuba diving. We're going deep today. We're going deep

into theology. We're going deep into history. We're gonna be

looking at Old Testament, New Testament. We're gonna be digging

deep into Melchizedeck. So let me tell you where this

message is going. There's two parts basically to this message.

The first part is the theology of Melchizedeck, and then

the second part is three reasons why Melchizedeck matters. We're

gonna start with the theology because you gotta get the theology.

You gotta understand theology so it can apply to our lives.

So we're gonna dig deep into this mystery. We're gonna

begin here in Hebrews seven, starting in verse one, we

read this Melchizedek was King of Salem and priest of God.

He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings

and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First,

the name Melchizedek means king of righteousness. Then also the

king of Salem means king of peace without father or mother,

without genealogy without beginning of days or end of life,

resembling the Son of God.

He remains a priest forever. Okay, can you see the mystery? Like,

who is this guy? He shows up?

We don't know whose parents were, We don't know when

he was born, We don't know when he died.

Like, we don't know much about him. He's a mystery.

A couple of things I want us to observe in

this passage.

First, notice that he is a king and a priest.

He's a king and a priest.

This is important. Second, notice that he is a king

of the city called Salem. Salem is an abbreviation for Jerusalem. Jerusalem,

the capital of Israel, Jerusalem where King David reigned, Jerusalem,

home of the Temple, Jerusalem where God met with his people, Jerusalem,

the same city where Jesus was crucified, buried, and then

rose from the dead. Long before the Jewish people were

a nation, long before the Temple was built, Melchizedek was

king of that city.

So notice he is king and priest, king of Salem.

So let's talk about the theology of Melchizedek and Genesis fourteen.

Elchizedek meets Abraham Abraham had just had victory in a

battle against the Cabal of pagan kings.

And as Abraham was returning.

From victory, he meets Melchizedeic, this king and priest. And

then Melchizedek does two things with Abraham. First he feeds Abraham,

and then second he blesses Abraham. And then the story

tells us that Abraham gave Melchizedek one tenth of all

of his wealth. Verse four in our text says, think

how great Melchizdek was, even the patriarch, Abraham gave him

a tenth of the plunder.

One tenth is called a tithe.

Tithe is an act of worship, giving tenth ten percent

to the Lord. And here we see Abraham, the great Leader,

the great father of Israel, giving a tithe to Melchizedek.

He honors Melchizedek. Notice here that this text calls Abraham

the patriarch of the nation of Israel.

He was the founding father of the nation of Israel.

In a few days, we're going to be celebrating the

two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the

United States. Two hundred and fifty years ago, the founding

Fathers declared independence and began birth the United States. Now,

the Founding Fathers were some pretty smart people, and they

had a strategy because they wanted to create a government

a nation that would be protected from monarchy, that'd be

protected from dictatorship. They also wanted to create a form

of government that could rebuff any threat to democracy. So

the framers of the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, developed a

style of government with three branches of government, the executive,

the legislative, and the judicial. We know those as the presidency,

the Congress, and the Supreme Court. Three equal branches of government,

a separation of powers with zechs and balances. Now, it

goes without saying that no one person can serve in

two branches of government at the same time. You cannot

have a president who is also a Supreme Court justice.

There's checks and balances.

You cannot have a judge on the Supreme Court serving

in Congress.

There's a separation of powers.

I learned something interesting in US history. Most presidents, when

they leave the presidency, they will often retire or maybe

go into the private sector, do some fundraising philanthropy. But

I learned that President William Howard Taft did something really unusual.

He served as president and then after leaving the presidency

eight years later, he became the Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court. He's the only president who's ever served on

the Supreme Court, the only person to be called mister

President and mister Chief Justice. But obviously, because of checks

and balances, he could not have both roles at the

same time. There was a separation of power in the

nation of Israel. There was a leadership structure with a

separation of power. There was checks and balances. In the

nation of Israel. There were two branches of hereditary leadership.

Those were the kings and the priests. These are two

separate leadership roles, and they were hereditary roles because they

came by bloodline. The kings came from the tribe of Judah,

from the blood line of David, and the priests came

from the tribe of Levi and the blood line of Erin.

And there was a separation of powers.

The kings had the power and authority to rule over

the people, to enforce laws, to protect to lead the military.

The priests had the responsibility of mediating between God and

the people, offering sacrifices for sins priests often anointed the

new king. Priests performed religious ceremony. There was a separation

of power and these were hereditary roles established by bloodline.

Kings came from Judah, priests came from Levi.

Let's say it together.

Kings came from where Judah, priests came from where Levi.

No king could be a priest and no priest could

be a king.

In fact, if anyone tried to blur the lines and

the roles of king and priest, they were severely punished.

The Second Chronicle as we read an account.

Of a devastating story about one king who tried to

blur the lines. Second Chronicles twenty six we read about

King Usiah. The story goes, after King Jusiah became powerful,

his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to

the Lord, his God, and entered the temple of the

Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. As Auriah,

the priest, with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord

followed him in. They confronted King Uziah and said, it

is not right for you Usiah to burn incense to

the Lord. That is for the priests. The descendants of

Aaron who have been consecrated to burn incense, leave the sanctuary,

for you have been unfaithful and you will not be

honored by the Lord God. Husaya's pride blurred the lines

between king and priest, and because he did not repent,

God immediately struck him with leprosy, and he lived out

the rest of his days in isolation. Kings and priests

were strictly separate. A king couldnot be a priest. A

priest cannot be a king because of bloodline. Kings came

from Judah, priests came from Levi. Except Melchizedek is both

a king and a priest. He doesn't fit this rule.

He doesn't fit this mold. Melchizedec combines king and priest.

He combines into one role. Because Melchizedek was before the Leevites,

before the Temple, before the Nation of Israel, God had

decreed that the Levites the priests would receive a tenth

a tithe from the rest of the Nation of Israel.

It was part of the worship of the nation. We

read in our text in verse five. Now, the law

requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect

a tenth from the people, that is, from their fellow Israelites,

even though they also are descendants of Abraham. This man, Melchizedek, however,

did not trace his descent from Levi. Yet he collected

a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

Without doubt, the lesser is blessed by the greater. And

so the authors pointing out, Hey, the Levites are so

great they receive a tithe from the rest of the nation.

Well, here's Melchizedek, this king and priest.

He's receiving a tithe from the forefather, Abraham.

Verse nine continues.

One might even say that Levi, who collects a tenth,

paid a tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedeck met Abraham,

Levi was still in the body of his ancestor. Abraham,

the founding father of Israel, the great grandfather of Levi,

the leader, the patriarch of the nation of Israel, honors

Melchizedeck because Malkiz the deck is superior to Israelite priests.

He's a greater priest, he's more superior. You know, earlier

we mentioned the Supreme Court briefly. The Supreme Court is

the highest court in the land. Supreme Court has the

final case, the final state.

When it hears a.

Case, it can overturn court decisions from lower courts. For example,

in nineteen fifty four, the landmark case Brown versus Board

of Education, the Supreme Court overturned.

Segregation in public schools.

This ruling allowed black children and white children to attend

the same schools. Now, a little known fact about this

court case that Brown Board of Education was heard by

a lower court and that lower court decided in support

of segregation.

But when it got to the Supreme Court, the Supreme.

Court overruled that lower court's decision. Because it's superior, the

Supreme Court has the final say. Melchizedek is superior to

the Levite priests. Melchizedek is superior to the Jewish religious system.

Melchizedeck is greater and more superior than the priests. And

Melchizedek received honor from Abraham, and he blessed Abraham. So

why the text says without doubt, the lesser is blessed

by the greater. Now what does that have to do

with Jesus. A few years ago, my dad, who lives

in Ohio, bought some property where he wanted to build

a house and retire, and he bought about forty acres

of undeveloped, untouched land. It was just wooded, no running water,

no electricity, I mean, no site for a house.

It was just wooded, untouched property.

And so over the years he's been clearing trails and

clearing paths on this property. And they've run electricity. Now

they've run power. He's got a brush hog that clears

all the underbrush and using chainsaws to clear out the trees.

And now today there are some half dozen trails and

paths cut in the woods. And I have a picture

here my son Shepherd. He loves to ride with his

grandfather on four wheeler through the cut paths in the

woods and in the trees. Melchizedeck cleared a path for

Jesus to be king and priests. Melchiz Deck made a path,

cut a path because Jesus is a king, because it comes.

From the tribe of Judah and the blood line of David.

But Jesus has no bloodline qualifications to be a priest.

Jesus's genealogy does not qualify him to be a priest. However,

in Psalm one hundred and ten, God gives a prophecy

that the Messiah Jesus would be a priest. We read

in psalmone ten, the Lord has sworn and will not

change his mind. You are a priest forever in the

order of Melchizedec. So the prophecy says, the Messiah is

not gonna come as a levite priest. He's going to

be a greater priest than the line of Melchizedek. Jesus

had no bloodline connection to the priests, but Melchizedek clears

away for Jesus to be king and priest.

Our text continues in verse fourteen.

It's 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 ancestor,

but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.

Jesus could not be a priest because of bloodline, but

he is a greater priest because he has an indestructible life.

Because Jesus died and rose from the dead. That qualifies

him to be a priest in the order of Melchizedec.

You see, the Leevite priests were average humans. They lived,

and they died. When one died, another one took their place.

But Jesus is eternal, the text says in verse twenty four.

Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. The

Leevite priests were sinners like everyone else, so whenever a

priest had to give offering for the sins of the nation,

first the priest made his own sacrifice for his own

personal sins. But Jesus is no sinner. Verse twenty six says,

such a high priest truly meets our need, one who

is holy, aimless, pure, and set apart from sinners, exalted

above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does

not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for

his own sins, and then for the sins of the people.

He sacrificed for their sins once and for all when

he offered himself. See, Jesus is a greater high priest.

Jesus is not only the priest who makes the sacrifice,

He is the sacrifice himself. When he died on the cross.

He paid the price for our sin. He atoned for

our sin. It was his blood that was shed. It

was not the blood of goats or lambs, the blood

of bulls. It was the blood of the Son of God,

so that we can be forgiven.

And then he rose from the dead.

So we can have eternal life once and for all.

You see, Melchizedek teaches us about the role of priest

and king. You have the priest, and the priest has

like a vertical relationship.

The priest represents.

God to the people and the people to God. And

then you have the role of the king, and the

king rules over the people, enforcing the laws, providing for

the people. But what Melchizedek shows us is that Jesus

combines these two roles into one. And when we see Jesus,

we see a perfect king who protects and provides for

his people, who lays down his life for his people.

We see a priest who makes sacrifice, who sheds his

own blood for forgiveness of sins. You see, Jesus is

superior and better and greater than the old religious system.

You got to know that Jesus is more than a

moral teacher Jesus is more than a good role model.

Jesus is more than a religious martyr. He is superior

in every way. He's superior to every king, every ruler,

every priest, every government. Jesus is greater than Moses. He's

greater than Abraham. He's better than David. He is superior

to Melchizedek. He is the Messiah, he is the Savior.

He's the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the

King of kings and Lord of lords.

If you believe that, give him some praise.

He is a great and holy and mighty king and priest.

This is the theology of Melchizedek. Melchizedek demonstrates that Jesus

is superior to bloodline titles in religious systems, and that

Jesus is qualified as a king and a priest. Now

I said that there's two parts to this message. That's

the theology. Now we need to talk about three reasons

why Melchizedek matters. First, trust, God's got a better plan. Well,

Kizidek shows us that God's always got a better plan.

Long before Abraham had a child, God had a plan

for the Messiah.

Long before the nation of Israel was a people.

Long before the Temple was even built, long before the Law.

And the Ten Commandments.

God had a plan for a Messiah, and he hinted

at his plan in Genesis fourteen, and then again in

Psalm one hundred and ten, and then here in Hebrews

we see God has a plan. I moved to Indy

seven years ago, seven years ago this summer. And when

I moved, I had to do two things. I had

to find a house to live in here in Indy,

and I had to sell an old house in Pennsylvania,

and it was very challenging. We put the old house

on the market for sale in June of that year.

I want you to remember that that it was for

sale in June, and then all summer we had showings

and open houses. And then when we moved to Indy,

a buyer made an offer that we accepted and we

had a deal on the old house. But then two

days after moving to Indy, that buyer canceled the deal

on the old house. Then a second buyer came along

and we had a deal. The second buyer backed out

of the deal. Then the third buyer came along and

we had a deal, and that third buyer canceled the deal,

four different times, four different buyers made offers and then

retracted them, and I thought this house would never sell.

I thought the house was cursed. I just didn't know

why it was not selling. And then after some months,

we took a step of faith here in Indie, and

we saw a house here in Indy that had been

remodeled and renovated and it met our needs, that met

our budget. We took a step of faith and we

bought that house before selling the old house. And so

I was nervous. I was worried because I didn't want

to have two houses in two different states.

I didn't want to have two mortgage payments.

I mean I even considered turning the old house into

a rental, but then I didn't want the pressure being

a landlord two states away. Like it was just complicated.

But then about thirty days after buying the new house,

a buyer made an offer and we closed, and we

sold the old house. And let me tell you how

good God is. The last mortgage payment I paid on

that old house was in December. The first mortgage payment

on the new house was due in January.

Not a single month of double payments.

It gets even better. Remember when did I put that

old house on the market for sale. It was in June.

I found out later. I had no idea that the

house we live in an Indy. The person who renovated

it and remodeled it bought that property in June and

worked all summer to repair and remodel and get it

ready to sell. You see, when I couldn't see the solution,

God was already preparing when I was worried, when I

was stressing, God was already going before me. He was

preparing the new place. Because God's always got a better plan.

God had a plan for the Messiah. He had a

better plan. In verse nineteen, we read a better hope

is introduced, by which we draw near to God. Verse

twenty two, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.

Trust God's got a better plan, even if you can't

see it.

When you're worried. Trust him when you're afraid.

Trust him when you're stressing, when you're panicked, Trust him

when you're doubting, when you're fighting in illness, when you're

going from treatment to treatment, when you're in the doctor's office,

Trust him when you go from job interview to job interview.

Trust him.

If you're a single parent, just living paycheck to paycheck,

trying to make ends meet, you got to trust that

He's got a better plan. When you're crying out to

God desperately for your child who's walked away from faith,

trust that God's got a plan. When your marriage is

on the brink, when you don't know what to do,

when you don't know how to save it, you gotta

trust he's got a plan. When you feel like giving in,

giving up and walking away, trust that He's got a

better plan. God's always got a better plan.

No, kiz the Deck reminds us that God's got a plan.

Well, Kizdek also reminds us that the Old Testament of

the Bible is just as valuable as the New Testament.

You see Malkizdeck appears in the Old Testament in Genesis

and in Psalms, and then he appears again in Hebrews

that hear a clear path for Jesus. You see the

author of Hebrews use a scripture to interpret scripture. Nol

Kizdek shows us that scripture interprets scripture. I want to

encourage you beware of some people, even Christians, who say

that the Old Testament doesn't matter as much, or who

minimize the Old Testament or say it is outdated it

is irrelevant. No, not at all. In fact, there are

some even Christians who say, all you need are the

words that Jesus said. Just the words of Jesus, disregard

the rest, just the words of Jesus. Well, let's see

what Jesus said in Matthew six. He said, do not

think that I have come to abolish the law and

the prophets.

I've not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

For truly, I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear,

not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen,

will by any means, disappear from the law until everything

is accomplished. More than anyone else, Jesus knew the Old

Testament inside and out. The entire Bible is helpful for

us to become more like Jesus. So study the scriptures,

both old and new. Memorize Bible verses old and new.

I encourage you when you read the Old Testament, read

the Old Testament through the lens of the Gospel. I

believe that you can see Jesus in almost every Passage

of the Old Testament if you're looking for him. In

biblical studies, there's something called typology theology, and it's this

idea that in the Old Testament there are pre types

of messiahs, pre types of Jesus, characters who foreshadow to

Jesus point to Jesus. You see, Moses is a pre

type of Jesus who delivers his people. Aaron is a

pre type of Jesus who is the perfect priest. David

is a pre type of Jesus, the perfect king who

protects his people.

Esther is a pre type of.

Jesus who stands between the people and destruction. And Malchizedek

is a pre type of Jesus who is both king

and priest. Melchizedeck combines king and priest. Jesus is the

perfect king priest. Jesus has the authority and the power

of a king to protect and defend and provide, and

Jesus has the responsibility and the holiness of a priest

to intercede for us, to make atonement for us, to

make us holy. He is king and priest. You know,

this week, as I was preparing this message, I kept

coming across that phrase king slash priest, king priest. It's

kind of a clunky title to say. Jesus is king

slash priest. And I was praying this week, asking God

to show me what's a better word than king slash priest.

What's a better title than king priest that encapsulates the.

Roles of king and priest.

And then the Lord drew my attention to the very

end of the Book of Hebrews, to the very last

chapter of this book, chapter thirteen and verse twenty, we

read the God of Peace who, through the blood of

the Eternal Covenant, brought back from the dead, our Lord, Jesus,

that great shepherd. Would you say the word shepherd? When

I read this, I thought, that's it, Jesus, the perfect

king priest is a great shepherd. The word shepherd includes

the power and authority of a king and the responsibility

and the holiness of a priest. We have a good shepherd,

a great shepherd. I want to show you what I

mean by looking at Psalm twenty three. It's a famous

passage of scripture, one of my favorites. It's well known,

but I want to show you in this passage it

talks about the good shepherd, how the shepherd is both

king and priest. Look at the words of Psalm twenty three.

We read the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not lack.

A king provides for his people, so they do not

lack food. They do not lack shelter, they do not

lack protection. He makes me lie down in green pasture.

He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul.

The purpose of a priest is to restore our broken

relationship with God. He leads me in paths of righteousness.

For his namesake, God commanded that every new king would

copy the law of God by hand God's righteous laws

so he could rule with righteousness. Though I walk through

the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear

no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and

your staff they comfort me. A king ruled with a

scepter with a rod. A king protected his people from

danger and defends them from evil. You prepare a table

before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint

my head with oil. My cup overflows. A priest used

alive oil to anoint new kings, and a priest often

would anoint the sick and pray for their healing. Today

in a moment, we're going to have a time of

response to receive anointing and receive prayer. Finally, Palm twenty

three closes by saying, Surely goodness and mercy will follow

me all the days of my life, and I will

dwell in the house of the Lord forever. A priest

lived in the house of the Lord. A priest worked

in the house of the Lord. The priest brings the

people into God's house, into the temple. So I want

you to see that you have a good shepherd, a

shepherd who is king and priest.

I want to invite you to stand with me today.

We've talked about theology, we've looked at history, but the

one thing I want us to remember today is.

That you have a good shepherd. You have a great shepherd,

a shepherd.

Who is king with power and a priest with holiness.

You have a king who defends you. You have a

priest who intercedes for you. You have a shepherd. And

so when you leave here today and you are weary,

you are burned out, lean on your shepherd. When you

face incredible temptation, run to your shepherd for help. When

you're walking through the darkest valley, the worst trial in

your life, your shepherd walks with you. When you hear

the critics cheering for your downfall, Listen for the voice

of your shepherd. When you think you can't go any further,

when you think you can't fight any longer, when you

think you're gonna give up hope and give in and

walk away, let your shepherd pick you up and put

you on his shoulders.

And carry you the rest of the way. You've got

a good shepherd.

He is Jesus.

The King and the priest are good shepherd.