The Certainty of God’s Promise
13When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 15And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. 16Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
- This idea of an anchor is interesting. This is the only time in the NT that the idea of an anchor is used in reference to Christianity
- But it’s kinda weird when the author says that the anchor “enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.”
- An anchor belongs in the sea. What is all this curtain business?
- The author is going back to this idea of Jesus as high priest. A high priest, in the Jewish culture, would once a year, go through a curtain to enter the innermost sanctuary, the ‘holy of holies.’
- This was the place where it was said that a person could be the closest to God Himself.
- We are going to unpack in the next chapter, that Jesus not only entered some earthly Temple, he entered heaven, and the very dwelling place of God.
- He has gone into the very presence of God. He is our anchor who has gone into God’s presence
- As long as we hang onto Him, we hang onto to God’s presence (metal cable)
- Even though storms come, we have hope in the fact that we he is secure and solid.
- We often try to find something solid to hang onto. The anchor often is an over-used analogy in the Church.
- We say that the anchor is the written Biblical text, or our experience at youth camp, or some intellectual proposition, but all of those things are incomplete without relationship with Christ.
- The anchor is the person of Christ himself!
- Now, We are not promised that there will not be storms. We are promised that we will be kept safe.
- We can cling onto the hope that we have in Christ.
- The author uses the example of Abraham who hung onto God’s promises in the midst of everything.
- God promises that he will keep us, not by anyone else but by Himself.
- Some authors believe that when this is translated, “I will surely bless you.” It should say “If I do not bless you.” It’s indicative of a longer sentence. In the sense that, “If I do not bless you, let my reputation be smashed.” If I break my promise, I’m not trustworthy.
- This is a big deal. We have a secure hope. Christian faith is not just faith in faith. Christian hope is not optimism, not a general sense that things are going to be ok. Christian faith is trusting and trusting again, and continuing to trust no matter what.
- It is really en vogue right now to leave the faith. I’m not talking about leaving the church, but leaving Christianity all together and rejecting it. Sometimes, we seemingly admire these people. Their rebels, etc.
- But, this is truly sad. The real fact is that they gave up. The wind and the waves got too strong, and they gave up
o Maybe this is because of how Christians treated them (added to the storms, because they themselves have not hung onto Christ)
o Maybe it’s because they went through a tragedy and couldn’t reconcile it intellectually
o Maybe they reached a place in their lives where it just didn’t make sense.
- Our hope is not fatalistic either. We have hope, not just optimism, but we cling to the fact that Jesus is making things new again
- Jesus is what this thing is all about. That’s why we talk about Him so much. That’s why we go on week after week, year after year, celebrating Him
Observation #1: Hold firmly to Christ, don’t give up.
1This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 3Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. 4Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, their brothers—even though their brothers are descended from Abraham. 6This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater. 8In the one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. 9One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.
- Today, we are going to discuss Mekezidek.
- The author has tantalized us with this word several times, kinda leaving us with a “huh?” Who is that, and how does he have any reference to Jesus?
- Melchizedek is mentioned in Psalm 110, which we have read before, here, and first in the narrative of Genesis 14 (we won’t look at it because the author of Hebrews quotes the only relevant part here). So, what kind of priest was he, how does he connect with the story of Abraham, and what can he tell us about Jesus as our high priest?
- This is an interesting name. Melech means “king” and Zedek means means “righteousness” or “justice.” Also, he is from Salem, which is another name for Jerusalem and is also the world for peace. But, all this is really secondary.
- We need to understand what was so striking about this figure, Melchizedek. What is so striking is what was this guy Melchizedek? A priest…and what else? A king! In the Jewish culture, these two roles were very separate. The idea that someone was both a king and a priest was unheard of!
- Now, the author of Hebrews points out that Genesis doesn’t mention that Mel has a father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life.
- You may have heard a lot of preachers then deduce that Melchizedek didn’t have any of these things, and so Mel was really Jesus in the OT. I don’t know that this is really the point.
- Now the priests of the day were from the tribe of Levi. They were born into it, their family were the priests, and they made good blue jeans.
- The key point here is that Mel was a priest of God, but where did he get His priesthood from? He’s just there! He just comes to Abraham. There is no succession or anything else. He’s just there. We don’t know if he comes from the right family, he’s just there.
- This prepares us for what the author has to say. Jesus’ priesthood is not dependent on being born into the right family. This priesthood is different than the Levitical priesthood, it is a permanent fixture.
- Verses 4-10 show us that this kind of priesthood is superior to the Levis.
- Abraham paid tithes to Mel, and he blessed him.
- The author’s point is that Jesus, a Melchizedek high priest, is greater than the Levitical high priests.
- This does two things for the Jewish people
o The temple is now redundant. You don’t need the Levitical high priests when you have Christ
o Also, you can trust him as a true and permanent fixture, without beginning or end, he is priest forever.
#2: Our high priest is trustworthy; he is priest forever.
Heb. 7:11If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come—one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. 13He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16one 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. 17For it is declared: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” 18The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
- Is anyone in here a perfectionist? I tend to be on some things, but most of the time, I am not.
- When we first started SN, I was a bit of a perfectionist. Is everything in its place. Oh no, the Powerpoint was slow and we didn’t get all the words to the song, are all the candles lit?
- As time went on, the leadership team here helped me see that one of the things that is good about SNCC is that we do not try to “fake” perfection, and part of what makes us true is that we are not “perfect” in the sense that everything is rightly in its place.
- Also, what I think of as “perfect” in my life is often was just faking it.
- I think that we often have a faulty perception of perfection. The book of Hebrews has a lot to say about it.
- One of the things that we can get off track about is thinking that it is talking about moral perfection, as if we white-knuckle it, we can achieve perfection. For many of us, this is a long way off. Agreed?
- Perfection is probably best understood here as completeness or wholeness. It is what happens when everything is set up for the final purpose to be fulfilled.
- What is the final purpose? It seems that the final purpose is God’s intention for the whole world. This includes our human behavior, but it is also quite deeper. God is in the process of completing his purpose for the world.
- For the Jewish readers, there was an understanding that if they just served God through the Levitical sacrifices, God would eventually make them perfect through this. Then, when they were perfect, He would perfect the world.
- But, this was never God’s plan. He had already promised early on that, one day, the Levitical priesthood would be replaced. The sacrifices pointed to the eventual wholeness, but they couldn’t do it by themselves.
- Through Jesus, the powers of our own effort have been replaced. We can’t do it without him. Through Him, God has brought into being this wholeness which was impossible under our own efforts.
- We are not dependent on our own systems for perfection and wholeness. We trust in a forever-kind-of priesthood
- The word “better” appears in Hebrews more than the rest of the OT combined. This should tell us something. The author of Hebrews is not comparing something good with something bad. He is comparing something good with something better.
- Are you seeking good things, or are you seeking the better? Are you dependent on your own systems for wholeness, or are you seeking a loving God?
Observation #3: Seek Christ for the wholeness that we can not achieve ourselves.