Like Melchizedek

Posted on October 1, 2025 by Don Merritt

If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests

Hebrews 7:11-14

In the last section, we got into the whole Melchizedek issue, and here, the author is applying it to our present situation in Christ.  A careful reading of this text will begin to reveal an amazing aspect of the relationship between the Old and New Covenants, and we quickly discover why the Old Covenant is no more.  To begin, verse 11 brings us a rhetorical question: If perfection could have been attained through the old priesthood, why do we need another?  Simple enough… Let’s understand “perfection” for a minute here, since I think it might refer to something that many might not be thinking about right off.  By “perfection” the author isn’t asking whether or not the Law could make a man perfect through His obedience to it; I’m sure you can recall Paul asking those kinds of questions.  In this case, perfection is linked to the priesthood itself, and the priesthood represents the entire Old Covenant system of atonement for sins.  Since that system cannot take sin away, it cannot bring about perfection. Jesus not only provided for forgiveness of sins; He took them away entirely.

Verse 12 brings up an interesting point in claiming that if the priesthood is changed, the Law must also be changed.  This is because the Levitical priesthood (Order of Aaron) was created and established by the Law, and a new priesthood can only be established by doing something with the Law first.  In the next verse, the author points out that the new high priest is from the tribe of Judah, and the old priests were from the tribe of Levi. According to the old Law, priests can only come from the tribe of Levi, while kings come from the tribe of Judah. Jesus came from Judah, the tribe of kings, and He was the heir to the throne of David. He is not eligible for priesthood under the Law of Moses… so something must give!

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

Hebrews 7:15-16

Enter Melchizedek; he is a priest, but he is not a Levite, so how can he become a priest?  Think carefully now… a Levite is a priest because of a life force, in their case one of genetics and ancestry, but that life force is temporary, because they will die and need to pass the priestly office on to an heir.  Contrast this with the life force by which Melchizedek is made a priest: Indestructible life:  Which is better?

 For it is declared:

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

The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

Hebrews 7:17-19

Again, we have the quote from Psalm 110:4. Melchizedek is priest forever; indestructible life. In addition, the old Law was set aside because it was “weak and useless”.  An interesting note here is that the term “set aside” is a legal term.  Even now, when a judge sets something aside, he rules that it is null and void, and has no effect.

When the author says that the “law made nothing perfect” you might well notice that the Law is being spoken of in the past tense because it is entirely over.  Also, notice that “perfect” is being used in a different context than it was several verses back when it was applied only to the priesthood.  Here we are talking about the entire context of the Law, not just atonement.  Not only could the Law not take sin away, it made sin more evident than having no Law at all.  For anyone who cares to notice, the Law makes imperfection obvious, so that we can easily see that Man is quite lost without a direct relationship with God. Melchizedek’s priesthood is a vast improvement over the Law of Moses, for it gives us this direct relationship.

And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:

“The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
‘You are a priest forever.’”

Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.

Hebrews 7:20-22

Melchizedek became a high priest, not because he inherited it, but because God directly intervened in the process to appoint him… and He swore an oath that it should be so: Powerful stuff. Because of this, Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant, and that pretty much says it all.

 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, 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 for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.

Hebrews 7:23-28

I think these final verses are pretty obvious and no further words are necessary from me.  We have arrived at the point where the superiority of Jesus as our high priest is obvious to all, and the author is moving on to a discussion of the New Covenant. We will join that discussion next time…

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Covenant-keeping, an essential aspect of Christian teaching

Posted on October 1, 2025 by Don Merritt

To continue with our discussion of Biblical covenants, we come to an essential aspect of covenants: Covenant-keeping.  To introduce this concept, it is helpful for us to realize that the ancient Hebrews had a special word for this: hesed.  Hesed means covenant-keeper, and yet it is seldom translated that way when it is translated into English.  Most Bible translators have rendered it as faithful, faithfulness, loving-kindness or mercy. While this may seem odd at first, a better understanding of this particular concept may help you see why this is so.

Faithful(ness) relates to the idea that someone will keep their word or their commitment to something… like an agreement.  We use the terms “faithful” and “unfaithful” as covenant terms in English, particularly in referring to one’s obligation under a covenant of marriage to “remain faithful until death do us part.”  If a person is said to have been “unfaithful” that person is usually thought of as having violated their marriage vow to (and here I nearly wrote ‘remain faithful’) not have sex with another person outside of their marriage.  In fact, this connotation is so strong that we have forgotten that “faithful” is a covenant term and not a sexual term.

Loving-kindness and mercy are the result of God keeping His promises under His covenant relationship with people, and thus can only take place within the larger context of covenant-keeping, so they too are ways in which hesed can be understood in English.  As we continue this series, you will see examples of all of these and a few more…

No covenant is worth its salt if the parties will not keep its terms.  In a Biblical covenant, the parties consist of God and Man; that God is a covenant-keeper is the cement that holds the whole thing together, it is a given. God, because of His justice will keep his Word, and because of His loving-kindness will help us keep our word, and this is why the Old Testament writers are constantly making reference to His hesed. This made a strong impression upon the Old Testament authors because they realized that hesed was never a question with God, it was always Man that had difficulty in keeping up his end of the bargain.  They were much more aware than most of us are today that the covenant was a set of conditional promises; God will do such and such if Man kept their agreement, but God, as the stronger party, did not have to keep His promises if Man did not keep the terms.  For an example of this, see Deut. 28:1-14 for God’s blessings (promises) if men kept His terms, and then see Deut. 28:15 ff. for the curses God would impose upon them if they did not. Thus, to sum it up, hesed with God was assumed, but with the people, it was the condition upon which all of His promises were based. This of course brings us to a second part of the meaning of hesed: It is not only based upon the legal quality of the relationship between the parties, but also upon the relational quality.  Keeping covenant is based upon, first, keeping your end of the deal, and second, upon helping your covenant partner to keep their end of the deal.  Again, think of the marriage covenant.  Not only are you supposed to keep your promises to love, honor, cherish and not sleep around, but you are supposed to help your partner to do the same, and if you make your partner’s part hard to keep, you have violated covenant!

Finally, for the Hebrew, covenant keeping was essentially about behaviors.  Behaviors that were allowed by covenant were to be done, behaviors not permitted were to be forbidden, and behaviors not mentioned were understood to be allowed.  Behaving in accordance with the requirements of the covenant was keeping the covenant.

When we get together next time, we’ll take our discussion to the next step: See you then!

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Who Is This Guy? Part 2

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Don Merritt

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. 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, “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.

Hebrews 7:1-3

The story of Melchizedek and Abraham is found in Genesis 14:17-20, and he isn’t mentioned again, except for an obscure reference in Psalm 110 that is only understood when it is quoted here in Hebrews 7.  He came suddenly out of nowhere, and was gone just as quickly, and many scholars believe that Melchizedek is a pre-incarnation appearance of Christ (called a Christiophony).  Clearly there are similarities between the two, but without more evidence, I’ll only say that he was a “type” of Christ.

Don’t go too fast in this passage; you don’t often come across a guy who is both king and priest, in fact that is not the Jewish model at all; only Jesus Himself comes to mind quickly for these two offices.  Note also the similarity of names. Melchizedek is called “king of righteousness” and “king of peace” while Jesus is called “Righteous King” and “Prince of Peace.”   He has no genealogy, no beginning of days or end of life… Very interesting. Here is a comparison chart for Melchizedek and Jesus:

MelchizedekJesus
A KingA King
A High PriestA High Priest
No beginning of days and without genealogyNo beginning of days and without genealogy (on his Father’s side)
Ministered bread and wineMinistered bread and wine
Non LeviteNon Levite
King of Salem (King of Peace)Prince of Peace (Is 9:6)
King of RighteousnessRighteous King (Is 9:7)
Greater than AbrahamGreater than Abraham

Isn’t it interesting that the author says that Melchizedek resembles the Son of God? I’m having a hard time thinking of another text that makes this kind of statement…

Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 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 descended from Abraham. This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.

Hebrews 7:4-10

Up to this point in Hebrews, we have seen that Jesus is superior to the angels, and we have seen that Jesus is superior to Moses, but now we see that Melchizedek is superior to Abraham; in Jewish tradition, nobody is superior to Abraham! Yet when you consider the author’s evidence, it would seem that he has a valid point. Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek; this can also be rendered “tribute” which is always paid by the lesser to the greater.  Under the Law, a tithe is paid to the Levites, the priests, and yet the father of all the Israelites paid a tithe to this Melchizedek centuries before the Law, and in a sense, Levi himself was involved in the payment, since his ancestor paid it.

The really amazing statement that the author makes in this section is this: In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living (7:8). I don’t mean to be overly simplistic, but you just don’t come across writing like this very often: who is this guy?  It’s becoming easier to understand why many scholars have concluded that he must be Jesus pre-incarnation. Of course, the point was also made in verse 7 that the lesser is blessed by the greater.  Clearly, Melchizedek is superior to Abraham, as mind-boggling as that must have been to a Jewish audience.

Before I wrap this up, I think we need to recognize here and now that this section is entirely intentional in the letter, for our author is building up to a massively important crescendo.  As we continue, we will see that not only was Melchizedek greater than Abraham, but the Jesus is like Melchizedek, and as a result, He is also a high priest superior to the Levites, administering a covenant superior to the Law of Moses, and theologically speaking, that’s the ball game.

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Setting or Rising?

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Don Merritt

When the Constitutional Convention ended in Philadelphia back in 1787, Benjamin Franklin remarked that during the long process of drafting the U.S. Constitution, he had taken notice of the sun engraving on the back of George Washington’s chair and wondered whether it was a rising or setting sun.  George Washington was the president of the Convention, so he was setting on the dias in front of the room and the high back of his chair was easily visible to Franklin who sat in the front row.

Certainly, if you read about the Convention and the arguments and battles that went on over that long summer, it’s easy to understand Franklin’s’ musings.

As our lives move on through life’s journey, there may be those times when we wonder whether our “sun” is setting or rising.  Surely life has its ups and downs!

A life that is lived for Christ never has a setting sun, for it is eternal; the days of life will not end, even though our physical bodies may die.  A life lived for Christ is a victorious life, and as we travel along the road of life with Jesus at our side there is no reason to worry or despair even if things don’t go our way. The real question to ponder is this: Is our view of life an eternal one?  If we are constantly getting caught up in the cares and worries of this world, then it may be that our viewpoint isn’t as eternal as it should be.

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Who Is This Guy? Part 1

Posted on September 29, 2025 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 sufferedand, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey himand 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 return to the narrative in chapter 7…

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Covenant Basics

Posted on September 29, 2025 by Don Merritt

A covenant is an agreement between parties, something like a contract or a treaty.  (This is the simple non-academic explanation) This agreement or treaty (a treaty is a contract between nations, by the way) has parties, terms (or stipulations) and promises.  The parties are the people who are making the agreement.  The terms are the requirements under the agreement, and the promises are what the major party will do if the terms are kept.  To use an example, if you were going to borrow money to buy a house, you and the bank are the parties.  The terms would be the obligations of the borrower; have insurance, make the payments on time and so forth, and the promises would be that the bank would provide financing and not take away your house as long as you keep the terms.  Yes, preachers, I realize this is a very simplified example but we want people to understand the concept.

OK, everybody with me so far?

There is a lot more to say about the nature of Biblical covenants, and we will cover those things in future posts.  For now, let’s get the basic understanding of what it is…

God’s restraint comes into play in Biblical covenants because in agreeing to keep certain promises as long as His covenant partners keep their promises (terms), God has limited His course of action. This is how we can be assured of our salvation in Christ, for it is a function of God’s covenant promise. He has limited his action to keeping this promise and He cannot simply cast us off just because we are imperfect or because we simply make a mistake.  I don’t know about you, but this is a comforting thing for me, since I have been known to have my share of miscues!

In a few days, I will post on this topic again and we’ll take the subject another step forward.  Yes, I will be keeping this simple and will continue avoiding big academic terms that few are familiar with.  By the time we finish our examination of the subject, if you read all of these posts, you should have an understanding of the Bible that fully 80% of Christians lack.

Did you catch that?  It was an offer of a covenant:

Parties:  Blogger (me) and reader (you)

Terms:  Read all of the posts in this series

Promises:     I’ll avoid big academic terms and you should have a solid understanding of the subject.

More next time; see you then!

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Sunday Reflection

Posted on September 28, 2025 by Don Merritt

I hope you are all well this Sunday; here is another Sunday Reflection for September 28…

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BONUS POST: Who is the Author?

Posted on September 27, 2025 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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God’s Promises

Posted on September 26, 2025 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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Having Faith

Posted on September 26, 2025 by Don Merritt

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1

People talk about faith quite often, sometimes in a negative way but most often in a positive way…  Faith is being sure of a hope and certain of what we don’t see, and every single person has faith about something.

There are just some things that we might not see, but that we know, for example:

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Hebrews 11:3

We know that God created the universe, in fact we know that He made it out of nothing.  Some would say that this is silly and substitute a theory they learned from science class, but if you ask me that takes considerably more faith, since those theories have always struck me as being inconsistent and contradictory.

For example, when I learned the “Big Bang” theory, the professor taught us that the universe began when a bunch of cosmic “stuff”…  Wait!  If your theory begins with “stuff” then it isn’t the beginning; where did the “stuff” come from?  Gee, we haven’t even gotten to the “bang” and we already have a problem!

Anyway, let’s get back on track… We know by faith that Jesus died for our sins, and that through Him we have the hope of eternal life.  It is that hope that we know by faith, but the death, burial and resurrection is something we know by historical fact; the historical fact supports the hope.

So where am I going with all this? Simple: Why do we question our faith, why do we hesitate to respond fully to the Gospel?  Why do we hold back on our service? We know the facts and they support our faith; sometimes we need to remind ourselves of how sure and certain we are about our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Take heart, for there is no power on this earth that can pry us away from our hope in Christ as long as we keep the truth and certainty of our relationship with Him in mind as we go through the trials and challenges of life, for our God is greater than any power on earth.

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