It’s been a blessing already. Now if you would please take your Bibles and turn to Psalm 110. The larger series that we are in, we are trying to show how the Bible is a gospel-shaped book about Jesus. And then within that series more recently we’ve been looking at the messianic hope, the promise of the Messiah in the Old Testament. We did several overviews of that with the big picture. And then now more recently we’ve been taking just a couple of samples of specific messianic prophecies and expounding them.
Last week we began Psalm 110. We’ll continue that this time and then the next time I’m back in the morning we will finish up with verses 5 to 7. Today our focus will be on verse 4. Let’s take time to read the entire psalm.
“A Psalm of David. The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’ The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! Your people will offer themselves freely in the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’ The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.”
And then again, verse 4, we’ll focus on today: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.'”
Let’s bow for prayer. Father, we’re grateful for this wonderful psalm, a high point of Old Testament prophecy of Jesus. We pray that you’ll give us a better understanding of it today and through it, a firmer faith in the Lord Jesus and a greater appreciation for his great work for us. Lord, if there are any here who do not know Jesus—they have not yet known that wonderful experience of forgiveness of sins—Lord, take your word today and minister to them in such a way that their hearts are open to see themselves and to see Jesus. And we pray that you would use your word by your spirit to draw them in faith to him. We ask in Jesus’ name, amen.
All right, as we said last time, we are looking at this psalm of the priest-king. And in verses 1 to 3, we saw that we have the Messiah presented as the divine king, and then in verse 4 he’s a priest-king, and then in verses 5 to 7 that we’ll see next time, he is a warrior king.
We saw in verses 1 to 3 that Jesus’ royal kingship is emphasized in several ways. First and most importantly, right off the bat, the Messiah is Lord. And here we saw that it was important to notice that this was a Davidic Psalm, and David says, “the Lord says to my Lord.” And here we are let in on a conversation that God is having with Messiah. And this Messiah is the one that David refers to as “my Lord.” And so “the Lord says to my Lord,” this greater than David—this is where we get that language of “great David’s greater son.” The Messiah is David’s Lord. And we saw that Jesus picks this up in Matthew chapter 22 and puts the Pharisees in quite a conundrum. If David calls him Lord, how can he be David’s son? Of course this makes sense to us knowing of the incarnation and so on. But here we have it emphasized and stated very plainly then that the Messiah is Lord.
We also saw in verse 1 that the Messiah is enthroned. That’s the language of “sit here at my right hand.” It’s a language of enthronement. We saw that that finds its fulfillment in the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus where he has completed his mediatorial work and he has ascended to the throne of the universe at the Father’s right hand.
And then we saw that Messiah will triumph. “I will make your enemies your footstool.” Ultimately he will put down all evil, and that is the theme that will be picked up in verses 5 to 7 that we’ll see next time.
And then we saw, in verses 2 and 3, that Messiah will rule. We see him here exercising his reign through his volunteer army. His scepter is sent forth from his throne. His people offer themselves freely on the day of his power. They go forth into battle, taking the gospel and carrying out, extending the kingdom of God through the gospel and through their work. And they do so very willingly because in God’s grace, their hearts have been turned to him.
Well, that is then the divine king in verses 1 to 3. And now we come to verse 4, which is a fascinating verse on its own and in this context as well. It is really the focal point, I think, of the psalm. “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
In verse 1, “sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” That notion of sitting at the right hand of God, seated on the throne, that’s picked up in the New Testament often; that’s picked up in our hymnody all the time. Wherever you sing this in our hymns of “seated at the right hand,” that’s taken right here from Psalm 110 in verse 1. Well, now we have this king addressed in verse 4 as a priest. “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Now, to understand that, we have to go back to Genesis chapter 14. So keep your hand here; we’ll be back. But go back to Genesis chapter 14. Now we won’t take time to read through the entire chapter here, but try to keep in mind the events here. You remember there’s some… you have this area where there are a lot of these city kings, all these kings of these little cities around there and they’re big shots in their own little realm. And then we have in chapter 14, many of them allied together and they go to battle against other kings and they take the spoil from the cities and they take prisoners. And prisoners of war and all of that, take as slaves, and all of that is happening.
And then we have one incident now where these kings battling it out go take and overthrow the king of Sodom. Well, you remember Abraham’s nephew, Lot, lives in Sodom. And so these kings, they go, they overthrow Sodom, they plunder the thing, take all of the possessions, take many prisoners of war, and among them is Lot. One escapes, tells Abraham about it. Abram takes 318 of his trained men of his own, goes back after these kings, and overthrows them, and takes his own plunder, rescues Lot, sends Sodom and all of those that were taken back into Sodom, gives them their possessions back. The king of Sodom offers it to Abraham to take the plunder, “just give us our people back.” “No, you take it. I’m not going to have you make me rich.”
And on his way back now, Abraham stops at Salem, which is almost certainly the city that becomes later known as Jerusalem. But here he comes to Salem, and we read of it beginning in verse 18: “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’ And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”
So here, Melchizedek, the king of Salem, comes out, blesses Abraham. Abraham gives him a tenth of the spoils that he has taken as a tribute. And Melchizedek pronounces this blessing on Abraham.
So then, who is this Melchizedek? Well, everything we know about him is in those three verses. That’s it. Verses 18 to 20. He’s an ancient city king. He evidently shares the faith of Abraham. He blesses God Most High and he pronounces blessing in the name of God Most High. So he’s a God-fearing monotheist. He’s king of Salem, which as I say is almost certainly Jerusalem. Salem is related to the Semitic word Shalom. King of Peace, then, is what it means. King of Salem, King of Peace. You even hear that word sometimes in some of the Semitic languages today when they speak of Salem. It’s this word, Shalom, or King of Salem, that means, if you translate it out, King of Peace. His name is Melchizedek. Melchizedek, that is “King of Righteousness.” So his name means King of Righteousness. Melchizedek also is a priest-king. He’s a priest, and he’s king of Salem. So he’s a priest-king. And then he blesses Abraham, and Abraham gave him a tithe of his spoils.
So, Melchizedek, what do we know about him? He’s an ancient city king, he’s a God-fearing monotheist, he’s King of Salem (which would mean King of Peace), his name is King of Righteousness, he’s a priest-king, he blessed Abraham, and Abraham gave him a tithe of his spoils. And then we come to Psalm 110 verse 4, and God says, “you’re a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” And that is all we know about Melchizedek in the whole Old Testament.
All right, looking back then at Genesis, God now, through David the prophet, says of Messiah: “you will be a priest, but not a Levitical priest. You’ll be a priest after the order of Melchizedek, just like he was.” What can you draw? What can you deduce from all of that? Well, you don’t have to guess, because actually the New Testament picks up on it. Hebrews in particular.
Very often in the New Testament we find Psalm 110 quoted and often we find it alluded to. In fact, as I mentioned last time, Psalm 110 is the most quoted and most alluded to Psalm in the entire New Testament. But in the book of Hebrews in particular, the writer zeroes in on this verse, Psalm 110 and verse 4. “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” And again, keep your hand in Psalm 110, we’ll be back. But look at the book of Hebrews.
Now in Hebrews 5, verses 1 to 6, we have Melchizedek just mentioned in a citation of Psalm 110 and verse 4. This is Hebrews 5 verses 5 and 6. Verse 5, he quotes Psalm 2, “you are my son, today I’ve begotten you.” And then now in verse 6 of Hebrews 5, he quotes Psalm 110 verse 4, our verse for today: “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” But he doesn’t expound on it.
But now look down to chapter 6 and verse 20. We’ll start with verse 19: “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
And now chapter 7, and the length of chapter 7 is given to expounding Psalm 110 and verse 4, and this declaration that the king, the Messiah, is to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Now, I’ll give you the three points that we’ll work through. The second point is the one we’ll spend the bulk of our time on, but I’ll give them to you quickly at the beginning so you can track where we are going. Basically, three declarations are made then in Psalm 110 and verse 4 as they are picked up in Hebrews chapter 7.
He Is A Priest-King
Messiah is a priest-king.
He Is A Melchizedekian Priest
That is, he’s a priest after the order of Melchizedek.
He Is A Priest Forever
Those are the three points that we’ll be looking at. He’s a priest-king, he’s a Melchizedekian priest, and he is a priest forever.
All right, let’s see then what the book of Hebrews says is the significance of Psalm 110 in verse 4, where God says, “you’re a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Number one, as I say, you’re a priest-king. Messiah is a priest-king. Oh, that’s right on the surface of the text, isn’t it? “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Now, it’s obvious that he’s a king. He’s Messiah. That’s what the messianic hope is, the hope of this coming king after the order of David. That, of course, is the line of Judah. That was told us back in the prophecy of Genesis chapter 49, that Judah would be the family with the scepter. That was picked up again in 2 Samuel 7 that we’ve seen so many times where of Judah’s descendants it is David who receives the scepter and it is his son who will reign on the throne forever and ever.
But here it says in Psalm 110 verse 4, Messiah is also a priest. That’s a fascinating thing because David… he may have performed some mild priestly duties like blessing the people and things like that, but he didn’t go into the altar. He couldn’t go into the most holy place and things like that. He was not a priest, and he couldn’t be. He was of the tribe of Judah. The priests are of the Levitical tribe, of the tribe of Levi. In particular, the high priest comes from the family of Aaron. But if you’re not a Levite, you’re not a priest. But here it says, Messiah from the tribe of Judah is a priest. How in the world is that going to happen? Someone from the tribe of Judah becoming priest.
Well, that brings us to the second point, and this is where it is explained. Number one, Messiah is a priest-king. Number two, he is a Melchizedekian priest, and this is where we’ll spend our time. “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Now, why don’t we take the time to read through chapter 7, and then I’ll come back and work through some of the parts of it? But let’s get the whole picture in mind. Keep in mind here Psalm 110 and verse 4. This is what he’s working from, and watch to see what he deduces from the declaration of Psalm 110 verse 4. That’s what we’re going to focus on for the bulk of our time.
Hebrews 7 beginning with verse 1: “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.
See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him, ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.’
For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: ‘The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever.”‘ This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.
The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.”
Alright, he is reasoning then from what we know of Melchizedek in Genesis 14 and the declaration about Melchizedek in Psalm 110 and verse 4. And how does he reason his way out through this? Well, notice verses 1 to 3 of chapter 7. He gives us the basic facts of the event of Genesis 14. He says Melchizedek has no father or mother. The idea there is that this guy pops up in Genesis’ narrative out of nowhere. A big theme in Genesis is the seed, the offspring, the promised line of descent. Huge theme in the book of Exodus. And that is prominent going through Genesis, but when you come to Melchizedek, he’s got nothing to do with that. He’s not in any kind of important line. Anybody who was anybody in the Old Testament has to fall into line in this descent thing, in this seed thing.
This Melchizedek guy pops up out of nowhere. He’s not related to anybody. He just shows up, does his thing, gone, and that’s all we know of him. And he says in a sense then, it’s like an analogy, he’s like the Son of God then. He’s got no beginning, no ending. Now there’s been a lot of discussion here. As you can imagine, was Melchizedek then in fact a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus? Is that what he is saying here in Hebrews? I doubt that. I think he’s just a historical figure that has these traits that he uses by analogy to point to Jesus. But he’s giving us here in verses 1 to 3 the basic facts of the discussion. There’s a sense in which he is like the Son of God. He shows up out of nowhere, he has no beginning, we don’t have any record of his death—no beginning, no end.
Now he begins to reason from all of this and make deductions in verse 4. Look at verses 4 to 7. “See how great this man was, to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils. And those descendants of Levi who received the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man, who does not have his descent from them, received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promise. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.”
Notice reasoning here. It’s pretty simple, really. That is simply Melchizedek must have been a pretty important guy. How do you know he’s a pretty important guy? Because Abraham, who is a very important guy, paid tribute to him. Now, if Abraham, given his importance, paid tribute to Melchizedek, then this Melchizedek must be one very important guy. That’s, in plain language, the gist of verses four to seven. Melchizedek was greater than Abraham.
All right, that’s not lying on the surface of the text, but it’s pretty close, right? Now, verses nine and 10, notice what he reasons: “One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham. For he was still in the loins of his ancestor Abraham when Melchizedek met him.” That is, okay, let’s do this reasoning again. Abraham, a really important guy, paid tribute to Melchizedek, who must then be a more important guy. Levi, who is a descendant of Abraham, is by virtue of that lineage not greater than Abraham. Abraham’s greater than Levi. And so we might say that Levi, who was still in the loins of Abraham, he also paid tithes to Melchizedek when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek.
So Abraham, being an important guy, paid tribute to this more important guy Melchizedek. Wait a minute, that means if Melchizedek is greater than Abraham, Melchizedek is ipso facto greater than Levi also. So he’s building a structure of who’s important, who are the big shots in this line. So, Melchizedek is greater than Abraham, Melchizedek is greater than Levi.
Now keep in mind the context here. In the book of Hebrews, we haven’t taken time to look at that, but here the writer is writing to a professing Christian congregation, many of whom are now being tempted to go back to Judaism. And they’re thinking that this persecution stuff with Christianity isn’t working out as well as it did when we were Jews. And they’re tempted to go back to that old system of worship. And so this whole book is given as an argument of the superiority of Jesus with a greater priest and a greater covenant and greater promises and all of that. And the whole point is to show that Jesus is greater. And here he’s showing that Jesus is greater than Levi, because the Levitical priesthood, great as it was, isn’t as great as Abraham, and Abraham’s not as great as Melchizedek. And guess what? Messiah is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. So he’s greater.
And now, verses 11 to 14, the Melchizedekian priest now is greater than Abraham. He’s also greater than Levi. In verses 11 to 14, he reflects now on the announcement of Psalm 110, verse 4. “If perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than the one named after Aaron? For when there’s a change in priesthood, there’s necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these are spoken belonged to another tribe from which no one has ever served at the altar. It’s evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests.”
If Levi, if the Aaronic priesthood was already in place—1446 BC, Levitical priesthood is in place. The Aaronic priesthood is the high priesthood. That’s in place. Now, 400 years later, somewhere around 1000 BC, David writes of Messiah, “you’re a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Now, he’s just reading his Bible sequentially here. He’s saying, “okay, back here, God says it’s Levitical priesthood. And now here, 400 years later, he says Messiah is priest after order of Melchizedek.” Once you’ve said that, you’ve predicted the eventual obsolescence of the Levitical priesthood. If the Messiah is going to be priest, and if Messiah is from the tribe of Judah, Levi’s been given his pink slip. That’s his reasoning here. He is descended from Judah. Nothing was ever said about Judah being a priest. And now we have in Psalm 110 verse 4, this descendant of Judah, the Messiah, will be a priest. He’ll be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. That simply means, right on the face of it, that a Melchizedekian priesthood—a Messianic priesthood—is replacing the Levitical priesthood, and Aaron is out of a job. Levi’s days are numbered. He’ll be replaced by a Messiah from the King of Judah.
Now that’s the reasoning you can see in verse 11: “If perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek rather than the one named after the order of Aaron?” If the Levitical priesthood could have brought about all we need—that is, if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, if it could have accomplished all that it signified—I wouldn’t have ever needed another one. But when God comes along 400 years later and says there’s going to be another priest after another order and not Levi, that means then your own Bible tells you that the Levitical priesthood will one day be eclipsed. A new priest is coming and a whole new priesthood.
That’s what he has in mind in verse 28 at the end of the chapter when he speaks of “the word of the oath which came later than the law.” God established the Levitical priesthood, the Aaronic priesthood, and then later said, “guess what, it’s going to be a Melchizedekian priesthood.”
So now follow his thinking. Messiah is greater than Abraham, he’s greater than Levi, and he’s also greater than the Levitical priesthood. He has a priesthood that is greater than the Aaronic priesthood. Now just in passing here, we should notice the parenthesis in verse 11. Fascinating statement. “Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood…” skip the parenthesis, “…what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek?” He’s already made his point. But now notice what he has in parenthesis: “(for under it the people received the law).” That is, under the terms of the priestly code, the covenant was given. Now that’s a fascinating statement. The priestly code is the very foundation of the old covenant. And he’s reasoning here, then, if the priesthood has been changed, that necessarily means the old covenant itself has been displaced.
The whole thing has been eclipsed. How do you know the whole old covenant’s been eclipsed? Because the priesthood’s been eclipsed. And the rest of the covenant’s been grounded on the Levitical priesthood. So now he has said, not only is Messiah greater than Abraham and greater than Levi, not only is his priesthood greater than the Levitical priesthood, but he now evidently is coming to bring in a greater covenant as well. And all of this he just deduces from the fact that this prophecy of Messiah in Psalm 110 verse 4 comes 400 years after the establishing of the Levitical priesthood in the giving of the law at Sinai. So as soon as this announcement was made in Psalm 110 and verse 4—”You, Messiah, are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek”—as soon as that announcement is made, not just a new priesthood is announced, but a new covenant is being announced as well.
Now for those of you who are… this next part, some of you can tune out if you’d like for the next minute. But for those of you who are into the study of the traditional Reformed view of the law, this has fascinating implications. The traditional Reformed view of the law is that we have the moral law, which is the Ten Commandments. And on the basis of the moral law, the rest of the covenant is given. And in fact, in the first part of the moral law, first few commandments of the 10—verse four—we have the ceremonial law. The ceremonial law regarding the sacrifices, the priesthood, and all of that is just an exposition of the first four commandments. An exposition and an application of it. And then we have the civil law, which is an exposition and application of the second part of the law, commandments five through 10.
In that view, the moral law is the ground of the covenant and the rest of the covenant is grounded in that and an exposition of it. That threefold idea of the law is a very helpful thing in many ways. To recognize that there are moral aspects, civil aspects, and ceremonial aspects of the law is a helpful thing. We might add a fourth called dietary aspects or whatever. But it’s helpful to recognize that there are various aspects of the law.
But then in the traditional Reformed view, what we have is we take those three and we use that then as an interpretive tool when we get to the New Testament; it speaks of the obsolescence of the old covenant and of the old law. Well, what that means when Jesus says the law is going to be displaced, when Paul says the law is going to be displaced, or when Hebrews says the law is going to be displaced, what that means is that the ceremonial law is being displaced and the civil law is being displaced (unless you’re a theonomist, and then it’s just the ceremonial law that’s being displaced). The moral law is the basis of all of it.
And all of that has real trouble with this parenthesis here. The moral law, so-called, is not the ground of the covenant. The priestly code is the ground of the covenant. And what he is arguing, then, is that if the priesthood has been changed, as was announced in Psalm 110 and verse 4, the whole covenant, then, is being displaced.
All right, back on track. Abraham pays dues to Melchizedek. Therefore, Levi is inferior to Melchizedek. The announcement of the Melchizedekian priesthood came after the Levitical priesthood, and therefore, the Levitical priesthood is temporary. Therefore, the law covenant itself is temporary. It’s anticipating the Messiah, a new king, who will bring in a new priesthood, and with that a new covenant.
Now, verses 15 and following in Hebrews here, he draws out further implications. And the idea here simply is, if that old covenant itself has been replaced, then can’t we assume that the New Covenant is better? And keep in mind the context of those who are tempted to go back to the Old Covenant, and he’s pushing the pointer: “You want to go back to that when we have something better?” And here’s his point: that Old Covenant’s been displaced. God announced that it would be displaced. Do you think he would replace the Old Covenant with something new that is of less value?
And that’s what he begins arguing way back at verse 11. If perfection—that is all we needed before God—had been attainable through the old covenant, we would have kept that priesthood. But it couldn’t. And so God announced a new priest. And with that comes a new covenant and new provisions. And he spells these out beginning in verse 15:
“This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him: ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’ On the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect), but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: ‘The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever.”‘ This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.”
The setting aside of the original covenant necessarily introduces (verse 19) a better hope, grounded in (verse 22) a better covenant. This new covenant promises something better than the old covenant could ever deliver. He mentions that briefly then in verses 26 and following:
“For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.”
That is, we have a better priest, we have a better sacrifice, a very different kind of priest. We have a priest that offered himself. A strange priesthood when he offers sacrifice, offers himself as the sacrifice, but that’s the Lord Jesus. That’s the whole theme of Jesus’ death: that he came and offered himself as that perfect sacrifice to which all of those pointed, and offered himself as the perfect sacrifice acceptable to God, which then says we have a better covenant.
The old covenant, what did it say? “Do this. Do that. Don’t do this. Don’t do that.” And if you do this, if you don’t do that, if you fail to keep this law, you’re condemned. Do this or you’re condemned. Don’t do that or you’re condemned. Do this or you’re condemned. Don’t do that. And you read that over and over and over through the old covenant, don’t you? And God comes to Jeremiah the prophet and says, “we’re going to have a new covenant. People couldn’t make it under that. It was too weak.” Better yet, they’re too weak. It commands perfection. It commands holiness. It directs you in the direction of holiness. It points you there. But all it is is written on stone.
What we’re going to do in this new covenant is something entirely different. In this new covenant, we’re going to write the law on their hearts. We’re going to change them from the inside out so that they will have obedience from the heart outwards and fundamentally, it is this: “I will forgive their sins.” Instead of condemnation, there’s justification. Better hope, better covenant. Actually accomplished in Jesus, which is what the old covenant pointed to.
He then picks that up in chapter 8 and quotes at length the Jeremiah prophecy. He expounds it at length in chapters 9 and 10—that we have this better priesthood and a better sacrifice that has been offered. That old priesthood, it pointed forward to certain things that are realized in Jesus, but all that old priesthood could do was show what was needed. And with its closed curtain and cut off holy place and the presence of God shut off from the people of God, all it could do was show you that you have no right into the presence of God. But now under this new covenant, we have someone who has gone in behind the veil through the sacrifice of himself and has brought us with him into the very presence of God. That’s chapters 8 through 10 in 30 seconds.
Now this, in turn, informs what we have in chapter 8 and verse 1: “Now the point at which we are saying is this: We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.” Seated at the right hand—where did he get that? Psalm 110 and verse 1. But it’s a priest who’s seated—where do you get that? Psalm 110 verse 4, “you’re a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Now this is a complex idea. Christ seated at the right hand of God. It’s just suddenly becoming a complex idea. On the one hand, as we saw in Psalm 110 and verse 1, it’s the enthronement idea. It’s the king on his throne taking his seat on the throne of majesty ruling over all things. A kingly enthronement idea. But it’s also a priest who’s seated on the right hand of God. A king-priest.
Sitting is an unusual thing to say about a priest. They’re always up and doing their activity and offering sacrifices, burning incense. They’re always about doing their work. And Hebrews picks that up in the following chapters as well. But this man—in fact, why don’t we look that up here in chapter 10, verses 11 and following. Hebrews 10, verse 11: “And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.”
So we have a priest now who is not standing ministering daily. Why? Because his work’s done. Once for all, he has offered a sacrifice that avails for all times, and so we have a king-priest seated on the throne, ruling with a finished work in view.
Now all of that then in turn informs this idea of intercession that we find in verse 25: “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” That is to say, we have one who has finished the work of salvation; he has offered a completed work, has been accepted in heaven, he is seated on the throne with a complete work, and now on the basis of that completed work, he is able to intercede for his people. And if anyone—if the devil or anyone else—brings accusation against his people, we have a priest seated on the throne. He says, “no, no, no, I’ve answered for that.”
Now this brings up all kinds of imagery that the New Testament doesn’t quite say, but we have it put together in some of our hymns. It just draws out exactly what the intended meaning is.
Arise, my soul, arise, shake off thy guilty fears;
The bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears:
Before the throne my surety stands,
Before the throne my surety stands,
My name is written in his hands.
Five bleeding wounds he bears, received on Calvary;
They pour effectual prayers;
“Forgive him, oh, forgive,” they cry!
“Forgive him, oh, forgive,” they cry!
Don’t let that ransomed sinner die.
We have a priest. He’s completed his work, sitting down on the throne of heaven, ruling, yes, and also interceding for the people for whom he died.
Now there’s one more detail I have to point out quickly. Don’t leave Hebrews 7. We are still here. But look back at Psalm 110 and verse 4. Messiah is priest-king. Messiah is a Melchizedekian priest, and there’s one more detail here that needs to be picked up, and in fact he does pick it up in Hebrews 7, and that is when God says “you are a priest forever.”
“You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Messiah is priest-king, Messiah is a Melchizedekian priest, Messiah is a priest forever. Not only is he a new kind of priest (a priest-king), not only is it a new order of priesthood (and with that a new covenantal arrangement), but he’s also the final and the never-ending priest. He’s a priest forever.
Now, in a way, this echoes 2 Samuel chapter 7, where God made the promise to David that his son would sit on the throne forever. Only here, the emphasis is his priesthood, not his kingship. His priesthood is the emphasis here. His priesthood is forever.
Now, notice how he reasons from this in verses 23 and 24 of Hebrews 7: “The former priests were many in number…” That is, there were a lot of priests in the Old Testament. Why? “…well, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office.” They died. And when they die, you’ve got to replace them. Aaron eventually died, then the next one, the next one, the next one—they died. They all keep dying and have to be replaced. That’s the idea. Verse 24: “but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.” That is, he’s resurrected from the dead, isn’t he? He’s been raised from the dead. He never dies. And that is to say that this priest has been installed forever. There’ll be no end to it.
Now notice what he deduces from that. Verse 25: “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” Now notice here the word uttermost. Don’t misunderstand it. It has often been taken to mean something like “guttermost.” “God can save to the uttermost—he can save the worst of you.” That’s wonderfully true, but that’s not what he’s saying here. He can save to the uttermost because he never dies. He always lives and so he can save forever, and the intercessory work that this priest has will continue forever and forever and forever and forever because he will never die. And we need never fear that this priesthood may ever fall into the hands of someone less qualified. This priesthood has accomplished the work forever. He never dies, and his saving work is once for all, and he is able forever to intercede for his people.
And so we have that in Hebrews 7 commenting on Psalm 110 and verse 4. A king-priest: Christ in his regal authority, representing his people in priestly mediation.
As so often, I think the whole point here is encouraging the people of God who are tempted to go back. The point for us is the same. In Jesus, you have all that you need. Don’t ever think that you need to fall back on your own efforts to make yourself acceptable to God. Don’t ever fall into that thinking that says, “I’ve got to impress, and I’ve got to keep up, and I’ve got to do this, and I’ve got to do that for God to accept me.” But rest in the final work of Jesus, who has accomplished the work, is seated on the right hand of God as a king-priest, and therefore ever makes intercession for his people.
Next time then we will see how this priest-king conquers all evil as well, as he becomes the warrior king when he comes again.
Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, what a wonderful priest-king is our Jesus. We thank you for telling us about him. We’re thankful that you have through all of the long centuries displayed for us in the old priesthood what he would do, what he would accomplish, the work he would do for sinners, and how it would atone for sin. We’re thankful that you’ve made the promise. We’re thankful that you fulfilled it. We rejoice in him. We thank you for the gospel of Jesus Christ. In his name we pray, amen.
Please take out your blue Trinity hymnal, open to number 223. Let’s stand together and sing “Arise, My Soul, Arise,” number 223.