Who Is This Guy? Part 1

Posted on April 1, 2021 by Don Merritt

The story of Jesus and Melchizedek doesn’t begin here at the beginning of Hebrews 7; it goes all the way back to Genesis and the story of Abraham. Our author has mentioned earlier in the letter how all of this worked, beginning with a basic definition of what a priest actually is:

Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.

Hebrews 5:1-4

While priesthood has all of the characteristics mentioned in these verses, Jesus (and Melchizedek) was no garden variety priest. Aaron’s descendants were born to the (Levitical) priesthood, but Jesus was born to the royal line of David; our author explains how Jesus could also become a priest:

In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,

“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.”

And he says in another place,

“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”

Hebrews 5:5-6 (cf. Psalm 2:7; 110:4)

In Jesus’ case, He became a high priest in the Order of Melchizedek because His Father directly intervened. That is amazing enough, but as you can see, there is so much more to it:

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 5:7-10

So, there it is: Jesus, during His earthly ministry, demonstrated the role of a priest in His selfless devotion not only to God, but in the way that He interceded for Mankind- even to the extreme of going to the cross in which, He brought Himself as the superior sacrifice from the superior high priest to establish a superior Covenant based upon superior sacrifices.

With that freshly in mind, we can resume to narrative in chapter 7… See you next time!

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God’s Promises

Posted on April 1, 2021 by Don Merritt

When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

Hebrews 6:13-15

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that our author has moved into a section that reassures us of God’s promises right after the warning contained in the first part of this chapter.  The message is clear: God keep His promises! Since Abraham is the point at which Jewish history was generally thought to have begun, it would only be natural to start with God’s promises to Abraham, which is what the author does.  Notice that he makes the point that God swore an oath in making His promises; a covenant required an oath, and God swore His by Himself, since there is nobody greater than He.  Also notice that the author adds that after Abraham waited patiently, God kept His promises.

People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because 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. God 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 set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 6:16-20

In these final verses of chapter six, an amazing transformation begins to take shape, for beginning with God’s promise to Abraham, a promise that Jewish Christians would be very well aware of as a foundational event, our author begins the process of morphing it into a New Covenant reality.  Notice that he wants us to understand that God swore the oath so that there could be no argument about His intentions and purpose in entering covenant. He points out two unchangeable things that form the basis for our own hopes. First, God cannot break His promise, for He is holy and faithful. Second, God cannot break His oath, for He swore it on Himself.  To the ancient Middle Eastern mindset, the significance of the oath would be that if He broke His oath, He shall die, and this applies to all oath swearing at the entry point of all covenants, thus the use of blood sacrifices in oath swearing. There will be more on this point as we continue…

Next, the author applies this principle to our situation in Christ with the words “we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us”. This refers to all of us who have left behind the old ways and taken up the cross of Jesus, and here the point is made that because of the surety of our hope in Jesus Christ, we will be greatly encouraged, both in our times of trial and in all other situations. You see, this is a transition to a larger principle that is only just beginning to take shape in this amazing letter.

The larger principle is that Jesus, who is superior to the angels, and superior to Moses, our superior high priest, has brought a superior sacrifice to establish a superior covenant with superior promises.  This great hope is not only encouraging, but it is the very anchor of our souls, because It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. 

When the reference is made to the “inner sanctuary, behind the curtain” the author is actually referring to the Holy of holies in the Temple, where nobody can go.  Once a year, the High Priest could enter there, but only if he followed the prescribed procedure. Any other time, any other person would be immediately struck dead.  The reason for this is that the Holy of holies was considered to be the dwelling place of God on the earth, and since God is holy and righteous, and no man is holy or righteous, no man could enter His presence.  Then the author makes an amazing claim: Jesus has entered that space.  No matter how carefully you read the four Gospels, you will not find this event; when did Jesus enter the Holy of holies? To understand fully this statement, we must go back to the cross. Remember that at the moment Jesus died, there was an earthquake, and the veil (curtain) in the Temple was torn in two?  This veil (curtain) was what separated the Holy of holies from everything else, it was the thing that kept man from coming into the presence of Holy God, and when Jesus’ work was done, it was ripped apart, because Jesus had made it possible for us to enter God’s very presence. No, Jesus did not enter that exact geographical location in body, but He entered it in a vastly more significant way, for He did in Spirit and in Truth; the Old Covenant was over forever.

Actually, as we will soon see, the Temple itself was only a picture of the reality to come, for Jesus entered God’s actual presence when He returned to the throne in heaven where He sits at God’s right hand to this day…

In doing so, He became our high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Yes, there he is again!  Chapter seven is all about Melchizedek and Jesus.

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Weekly Bible Study Notes: March 31, 2021

Posted on March 31, 2021 by Don Merritt

John 7:25-52

We have been looking at Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles, and in this section, we will pick up the story at verse 25, where John shifts the narrative to focus on the “the people of Jerusalem” which are those in attendance who are “hometown” attendees.  It would seem that at least some of them are aware of the plot afoot to kill Jesus.

Where the Messiah would come from is the subject of much discussion and speculation in this passage, and it is a very important question relating to the validation of Jesus in the eyes of many people.  Can a Messiah come from Galilee?  Would a Messiah come from anywhere in particular- or must he come from Bethlehem?  After Jesus’ statement in 28-29, they want to seize Him, but are unable because His time had not yet come to die; the murmuring continues until the Chief Priest orders the temple guards to arrest Him. The question for us to ask is why? They were arguing among themselves about where the Messiah would come from; he should come from a place they don’t know about, but this guy came from Galilee; Jesus set them straight about where He really came from, and they want Him dead…?

Does that make sense?

The scene closes with Jesus’ remarks about where He will ultimately go; a place they will never be able to follow.  Again, the speculation rages among the Jews; again, they simply can’t seem to comprehend that He is talking about Heaven which is His ultimate destination.  Again, they are frustrated.

Jesus begins His discourse of the last day by telling the people about “living water” which John points out to us is a reference to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit beginning at Pentecost. This, however, is not the direction that the remaining text will take…

After Jesus spoke of living water, the text returns to the confusion amongst His hearers.  They can’t seem to figure out what He is telling them; rather they are more concerned about ancillary issues.

In verses 45-52, we come face-to-face with the overwhelming desire on the part of the priests and Pharisees to disbelieve Jesus.  It would appear that their only interest is in silencing Him…

Apparently, the great controversy of this passage is just who Jesus is, and that controversy is increased by the question of His origin. Jesus answered the question, giving them a place of origin that would also answer the whole Messiah question, yet it seems as though nobody was listening, for in truth, no one was. Certainly, the Jewish officials in the story should have been able to understand this riddle, for of all people, they were the experts in such things. Yet one thing is clear above all else, the Pharisees and priests didn’t want Jesus to be the Messiah, so they simply closed their minds.

I wonder if any of you can think of a parallel today.

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On a More Optimistic Note

Posted on March 31, 2021 by Don Merritt

Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.  We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Hebrews 6:9-12

This paragraph begins the transition into the next area of discussion in the letter, and it does so on a more optimistic note, showing the love and mercy of God.  Even though our author has just delivered a very serious warning, he believes that the people who read it will heed the warning and remain faithful. Notice he says “in your case” as opposed to in every case, meaning that some others might not be so wise.  Notice also that our attention is now turned to God’s mercy and forgiveness.  This is a really important thing for us to bear in mind, for God is not looking for a technicality to have as an excuse to cut anybody off from relationship. He knows that we will make mistakes He knows that we will slip up, and the blood of Christ is sufficient for those cases.  If we can lose our salvation, we would have to really work at it before God gave up on us; we would need to utterly reject Him and walk away, and to me, this seems like a very rare thing, as opposed to those who might have a season out in the wilderness, or benign neglect of our relationship with Him.

The whole point of the warning bears this out; God loves us, even when we aren’t doing a very good job in following Him.  Yet, it is much better if we hang in there and see things through.

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A Fairly Tough Warning

Posted on March 31, 2021 by Don Merritt

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,  who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

Hebrews 6:4-8

About 20 years ago, I was teaching a class in a predominately Calvinist group of people.  The scope of my engagement was that I would present “controversial” passages giving the various interpretations, and then let each decide their own view.  In teaching this section, I presented various views and then broke down the various arguments and ended by saying “We report, you decide!”

The following week, a guy came up to me and said, “Boy Don, you really had me going last week; I had to go home and look this up in my study Bible, and then I saw the note that said that the author obviously was talking about people who weren’t really all the way saved. That was sure a clever way to get us to go deeper into the Word!”  Yes, clever.

I thanked the man and told him that it was great to hear that he went deeper into the Word, and found the answer in a margin note… the irony, I’m afraid, was lost on him that day. Clearly, his margin note might reflect the way this is sometimes explained, but it seems at odds with the text under review.

Let’s get back into context.  We are in a section of warning to Christians enduring terrible persecution, not to fall away from the faith.  We just covered the section referring to spiritual maturity, and now the warning gets a little pointed.  It is not possible for someone who falls away from their faith in Christ to return to the faith. Now, a closer look:

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, (6:4) This verse is a parallelism., thus “enlightened”, “the heavenly gift” and “shared in the Holy Spirit” are all referring to the same thing: receiving the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Let’s be very clear and simple; it doesn’t really matter what your doctrinal position is, the only way that someone can receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit without “really” being saved, is if they could fool God.  It seems unlikely to me that this is possible.   who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age (6:5) this also provides a challenge for some, for how does an unbeliever “taste the goodness of the word of God”?  The only way would be if the “Word” is something on a printed page, rather than a Person (cf. John 1:14).  Tasting the powers of the coming age…?  Isn’t that the power to overcome death? (Hint: Yes) So far, the author is referring to a person who has received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and received the gift of eternal life, and then… and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. (6:6) Here you can see that they have fallen away and would need to be brought back to repentance.  Repentance is something that we do after we first believe. This person, who has received the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the gift of eternal life, would need to be brought back to repentance, so it is impossible since they would be crucifying the Lord over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace. It sure sounds to me like this person had been a “real” Christian, but they gave it all up and now can’t come back. Verses 7 and 8 use another metaphor (land) to underscore that conclusion, or at least that’s how I read it.

If you, dear reader, prefer the doctrine of eternal security, that’s OK by me, but I wouldn’t suggest this text as being one that supports it. Yes, I know there are other passages; maybe they support it better than this one.

After this rather stern warning, our author moves onto something wonderful- see you next time!

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BONUS POST: The Identity of the Hebrews Author

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Don Merritt

I’m sure that you have noticed that as we continue through the book of Hebrews, I haven’t mentioned the name of the author, instead, I’ve just said “the author.”  This is because his name is never mentioned in the text. Obviously, whoever it was knew an awful lot of Old Testament details, so many scholars believe that it must have been Paul. Others have suggested Barnabas, while still others have suggested different possibilities.

Some suggest that it couldn’t have been Paul, since Paul’s other letters have a greeting that includes his name, and this has no greeting of any kind.  The complete lack of any greeting at the beginning has led some to theorize that Hebrews isn’t a letter at all, but a sermon that has been transcribed, and there is some merit to this thought since it follows an outline that is more like that of a sermon than any other of the epistles in the New Testament.

As for me, if I were a betting man, I would probably bet that Paul wrote it, but I am not a betting man.  He is my guess, but since there is no evidence that directly supports the guess, I will simply continue to refer to him as “the author.”

I hope that you will consider this as an interpretational principle when you read the Bible.  If the text doesn’t actually say something, we should use caution about asserting it as a fact. Yes, of course there are things we can infer, and many times this inference is so clear as to make it a necessary inference. Yet more often, these inferences are only possible, and not necessary.  Very often these possible inferences, taken as fact without adequate evidence become the basis of unnecessary arguments, and even division within the church. Thus, I would conclude that since some things aren’t completely certain, we should leave others to draw their own conclusions in those areas without debate, for while many things are left open to interpretation and opinion, one thing is very clear in Scripture: Dissention, endless arguments and divisions within the church are frowned upon!

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Too Close for Comfort

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Don Merritt

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so.

Hebrews 6:1-3

For me, this little bit of text always brings bit of a shock, for we see that the things we almost always talk about are the “elementary teachings,” the “milk” but not the “solid food” of maturity at all! Let’s take a closer look:

“…not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God…” This is something we need to see in a different way, for it isn’t maturity in Christ. What is this “foundation” for repentance from sins and faith in God? Think…

It is the cross.  All of us take everything back to the cross, and properly so, but we normally do that as if the cross was the end, but it is not the end; the cross is the beginning of the story. Yes, it’s true, as awe-inspiring, wonderful and amazing as it is in its fullness and mercy and love, the cross is the beginning, not the end of maturity.  “Cleansing rites” for us today would be in the same category as rituals, ceremonies, styles of worship and so forth.  These things are elementary, “young” and baby milk things, not the sort of things that the mature in the faith are much concerned with. “Laying on of hands” and other spiritual gifts are wonderful, but elementary.  Resurrection, eternal life, and judgment are at the beginning of the process, wonderful promises, and highly instructive at an early stage of growth, but they are not in and of themselves maturity in Christ. Can you see why I said that these are things we always talk about?  Yet, they are milk, not solid food for adults; God permitting, we will move on from these things.

Before I close out this section, let’s pause and take stock.  Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians in Rome who are being persecuted by the Emperor Nero, one of history’s most notorious criminals.  The author is writing this to encourage them, to instruct them and to hopefully energize them so that they do not give up their faith in the stress of persecution. Doesn’t it seem reasonable to suggest that their “elementary” spiritual development might be the cause of their temptation to drift away? I hope that we too, will reflect on this.

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It’s Time to Grow Up!

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Don Merritt

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 5:11-14

Well now, isn’t this an interesting thing to say?  Let’s bear in mind that our author has been talking about Jesus as our great high priest, according to the order of Melchizedek, but he hasn’t discussed Melchizedek yet, he’s only made a reference to him. He has teased us with a contrast between the Old and New Covenant priesthood, and by extension the very nature of the two covenants, and then he diverts his discussion here and gets into the issue of maturity. I really hope that we can avoid the temptation to think that his readers must be very much the immature ones; that we are somehow in a better position spiritually than they were.  If the truth were really to be told, we are not much different today; in fact, we might just be worse off than they were.

I hope, dear reader that anyone who has the courage to keep reading, will take this as an opportunity for some serious reflection and self-examination, as I am doing as I write this; it is a serious matter.

The author is speaking about the process of spiritual maturity as a life-long journey, a journey of growth and attainment of maturity.  Think of it this way, how long have we gone on with the attitude that when we reach out to those people who are living without a relationship with Christ, and when they agree to receive His grace and become a “new” Christian, our job is done? The reality of the situation is that our job has only just begun!  How many of us have been Christians for a lifetime, but are still “infants” spiritually… yet think we are mature because we can recite scripture and answer trivia questions? How many of us are still growing in our relationships with Christ, versus thinking we need not grow further? Consider our text: “by this time you ought to be teachers” but “you need someone to teach you…” I can attest to the fact, that this is a typical condition in the church today. Notice that there is linkage between “elementary truths of God’s word” and a baby’s milk.  Here the author is using infancy and adulthood as a metaphor for spiritual growth, particularly in relation to the respective diets of the two; “milk” as opposed to “solid food.”

Honestly, as I read these verses, I’m reminded of something a blogging friend said to me several years ago: “The problem with ‘Sunday School’ is that there is no expectation that anyone will actually ever graduate.” How many of us have studied the Bible for decades, but would never even consider teaching or leading a study? The ancient Hebrew mindset went something like this: To hear something is to believe it, to believe something is to know it, and to know something is to do it.

Something to think about for all of us, I’m sure.

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Our Great High Priest

Posted on March 29, 2021 by Don Merritt

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:14-16

It is altogether fitting that the text shifts from warning against falling away, to the piercing power of the Word of God, to our Great High Priest Jesus, for our author has been warning and encouraging his readers to hang on to their faith through a time of great trial lest they should perish. Think about it: They were being told to endure a really horrible time in history, Christians were being burned alive for fun and amusement, and the author is telling the people to endure that rather than turn their backs on God: Yikes!

There is a huge difference between unbelief, turning our backs on God and making an error or committing a sin.  The error part, the sin part is not a problem, for we have a great High Priest.  Since Jesus, our “big brother” has ascended into heaven where He is our high priest who makes intercession for us with God, we must, and we can hold onto our faith.  Jesus, who makes intercession for us with God, has endured every temptation; He knows what it’s like to be a weak human, so He will understand and intercede for us.

Do you see how encouraging this must have been for those brothers and sisters who first heard it?  Isn’t it pretty encouraging for us now?  Do I hear an “Amen”?

With this in mind, the next step is to approach the throne of grace with confidence.  Why? Because we know who our High Priest is, there is nothing to fear… We can remain in our faith and seek forgiveness when we fall short; there is no need to give up and turn our backs on God, thinking that our case is hopeless, for Jesus is in our corner.

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Today, Tomorrow and I’m Not Sure What

Posted on March 29, 2021 by Don Merritt

This past Saturday I wrote a little item about a thought I once had, a strange little thought about Today and Tomorrow. I’ve been thinking more about it, and I’m about to conclude that “Tomorrow” is probably a sort of philosophical illusion.

Maybe. I think. Well, it could be possible; I’ll let you know.

It haunts me sometimes.

Well not really, but sort of…

See what I mean? This stuff is confusing!

Six years ago, I had an extended stay at a dear friend’s house while travelling from out of town. One fine Saturday, they had an overnight visit from a second-grade granddaughter. She was (and is) a very bright young lady, and so full of energy. She overheard me talking to my friend about this burning issue, and she jumped into the conversation and we debated it for quite some time. She was absolutely certain that I was wrong when I said that tomorrow never comes because it’s always “Today”.  If I’m honest, she became more and more frustrated with me… which was great fun, but I realized that if I didn’t do or say something pretty quick, she’d cross the line and get into trouble with her grandparents. Of course, I didn’t want to get her in trouble, so I cut our debate short by saying that I would prove it to her in the morning.

When Sunday morning came, we adults were sitting at the kitchen table with our coffee when she came into the room half awake. I said, “Good morning, how are you today?”

“Fine I guess” was her groggy reply, and we all started to chuckle.

She was suddenly awake, “No! That’s not right, you cheated!” That’s when it really sank in for me that Tomorrow is an illusion, maybe even a fraud, because every 24 hours someone seems to move the goal post.

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts.”

Hebrews 4:6-7

We came across this verse recently in our Hebrews study, along with this one:

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Hebrews 3:13

It was “Today” when Hebrews and all of the rest of the Scriptures were written, and as I write this little piece, it is still called “Today”. The written Word of God is still living and active in our lives, its teaching and wisdom remain untarnished and undimmed through the ages, and why should that surprise anyone in the know- after all, they were written “Today”.

Of course, we can always decide to put off things like encouraging one another until tomorrow, but “Tomorrow” still hasn’t come along.

Am I crazy? Maybe, but I (seriously) think it’s something for us to seriously think about.

Maybe I’ll post more on this topic tomorrow!

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