This tape is the third of six in a series of teachings entitled, The Priesthood of All Believers, delivered by the Reverend John W. Howe, rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia. The title of this teaching is, The Order of Melchizedek, and the scripture reference is Hebrews chapter 6 verse 13 through chapter 7 verse 28. Let me just review a little bit with you because in our review we'll start up a question, perhaps a problem, that I want us to deal with tonight. God's original intention in choosing the Jews, in telling the Jews to be his chosen people, was what he called them to be. A royal priesthood, that's what we're centering on.

In Exodus 19, he called them to be a royal priesthood and a holy nation. Specifically, a royal priesthood meaning every man, woman, child in ancient Israel was to be part of the priestly people. More personally, every single one of them was called to be a priest.

Was that conditional or unconditional? conditional upon what okay if you will keep my covenant then you shall be to me a royal priesthood and a holy nation it is a conditional calling and they didn't do too well at that they broke covenant in fact they broke covenant right from the very beginning and so god went to what i called plan b a kind of a shorthand way of speaking about it. He went to, instead of the whole nation being a nation of priests, he went to an exclusive hereditary male priesthood through the line of whom?

Aaron. Aaron, brother of Moses, both of them of the tribe of Levi. And we saw that if you weren't born into that family, there was no way you could become a priest.

If you were born, if you were a male descendant of Aaron, you were born into the priesthood. And I commented that I suppose you could choose not to fulfill your priesthood. You could go and do something secular, but you were a priest, whether you liked it or not.

But if you weren't born into it, there was no way you could join it. You couldn't pass a test or go to seminary or do any other thing to become a priest. And in fact, if you presumed to act as a priest and you weren't one, what were the consequences?

Capital offense. In some cases, God wasn't as severe as that. Notable case being when Saul acted as priest in the absence of Samuel, God didn't kill him, but he took away the kingdom.

It was very, very severe consequences. however the second part was it was part of God's plan to send Jesus as the anointed one and particularly in terms of the calling of Isaiah 61 we saw that he was coming to reestablish what God had originally planned amongst his people that as the anointed one as the Messiah Jesus would reestablish a priesthood of all believers. Remember that?

And so what are the consequences of Jesus coming as priest in terms of the Levitical priesthood? He abolishes it. He annuls it.

Okay? Good. Now the problem that that sets up is this.

How could he do this? If God is faithful to his own word and to his own promises, and he said that nobody who is not born into the priesthood can presume to function as a priest. In fact, it's a capital offense.

Jesus comes along and he is not born into the priesthood. He is not a descendant of Aaron. He is not of the tribe of Levi.

He's of which tribe? Judah. Which, interestingly enough, says out of the tribe of Judah shall come the kingship, but out of the tribe of Levi shall come the priesthood.

Jesus comes from the royal line. He's a descendant of David. He's of the kingship line, but he's not of the priestly line.

How, then, can he function as a priest and still be within the scope of God's promises? God says you may not function as a priest unless you're born a priest. And if you presume to do so, even if you're the king, it's a capital offense.

King Saul presumed to function as a priest, and God takes away the kingdom from him. How could Jesus, who is not a Levite, not a male descendant of Aaron, how could he presume to act as a priest? Well, in order to answer that, we come to what I think is one of the most fascinating passages of Scripture, and for a lot of people, one of the most abstruse as well.

Some of you may have studied this previously, and some of you may have scratched your heads over it, but I'd ask you to come to Hebrews chapter 6, and then even more especially, chapter 7. And I want to get inside of the argument that is absolutely central to this book, the book of Hebrews. Chapter 6 and verse 13 is where I'll begin.

Notice what it says about God keeping his promise. That's what the whole question hinges upon, is God's faithfulness to his own word, okay? And the writer begins with that very premise.

Hebrews 6, verse 13. For when God made a promise to Abraham, that goes way back beyond the Levitical priesthood, It goes way back beyond Jacob, Israel. It goes all the way back to Abraham.

When God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself. Now, in a human sense, we swear by all kinds of things, don't we? You know, by heaven.

You know, by Jove. By golly. You know, by God.

You know, we're swearing, we're appealing to something greater than ourselves. it's pretty much a figure of speech but if you stop and think about it that's what we're really doing God had no one greater than himself to swear by so he swore by himself saying surely I will bless you and multiply you and thus Abraham having patiently endured obtained the promise men indeed swear by a greater than themselves and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation, do you swear that the testimony you will give is the truth? Do you swear?

You see? They're making an oath. An oath is final for confirmation.

So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he interposed with an oath. So that through two unchangeable things in which it is impossible that God should prove false, We who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. What are the two unchangeable things?

Two unchangeable things in which it is impossible that God should prove false. What are the two unchangeable things? That's an interesting answer.

That's close. his promise and well his promise and his oath are the same and himself see his word and what backs up his word his own character okay God's word is absolutely sure if God said it you can count on it that's what the writer is saying and if you didn't if you weren't convinced of his word by itself what backs up his word, his own character. God swore by himself.

So, do you see the force of this? It's God's word that creates the problem. Because God's word says, nobody who isn't a priest can presume to act as one.

So these two unchangeable things, God's word and his character, or himself, behind his word. We who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.

A hope, now here get the priestly imagery, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain. What's that referring to? Sure.

The whole thing we were looking at last time. The temple, and before that the tabernacle, in which the high priest once a year goes through the curtain or through the veil to take the blood of the sacrifice to the mercy seat to make atonement atonement for our sins. And what we saw last time is that that whole thing, that whole drama of redemption in the Old Testament is really a prefigure or, if you like, a foreshadowing of the reality of Jesus.

A couple of you weren't here. Let me just repeat the illustration I gave at the very end last time. The language of Hebrews is that the whole Levitical system is a foreshadowing.

And I use the illustration. if I were coming through that door over there with a bright light behind me, just before I come into the room, what you'd see is my shadow, if you were looking in the right place. Right?

My shadow would come into the room before I do. And if you look at it, you'll say, hey, somebody's coming into the room. And if you look closely, you'll get an idea, sort of an outline of what I look like.

It's not very precise. it's just a shadow it's in two dimensions I'm obviously in three and so a minute later I come through the door and you correct your impression the reality is here the shadow came first but it's only a shadow don't judge the reality in the light of the shadow judge the shadow in the light of the reality do you get the connection? that's a very provocative statement if you wrap your mind around it I think what we tend to do, typically, is we try to understand the work of Jesus in the light of the Old Testament.

You see. And we understand what the priest does and he takes the blood of the bull or the goat or the sheep or whatever it is and he comes in and he does this and he does that and we interpret Jesus in the light of that. But that's just the shadow.

That's a dim, vague, two-dimensional Outline the reality is much richer, much more significant. Interpret the shadow in the light of the reality. I'm going to try to develop that a little bit more next time.

But this is the imagery here. We who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.

And here's the key. Having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now this is very obscure, but very, very important.

Not a priest after the order of Aaron, but a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek occurs in only two places in the Old Testament. Just very fleeting references, but very, very significant.

Hold your finger here, we're going to come back to it. And look all the way back in the book of Genesis, chapter 14. Only three verses, four verses, I guess, in which he appears.

Genesis 14. This is the very beginning of the story of Abraham. God has called Abraham and given him these incredible promises, and Abraham has begun to respond.

But at this point, Sarah doesn't have any children. Isaac isn't born. Abraham is far from being the kind of champion of faith that he eventually becomes.

He's just at the beginning of understanding what's going on. And he moves into the area that eventually becomes Israel, but at that point it is certainly not that. It is just a very sparsely settled series of little towns and hamlets and each one has its own feudal lord or king.

And they're all warring against each other for the most part. And let's pick up the story at verse 17. After his return, that's Abraham's return, from the defeat of Chedor Laomer and the kings who were with him.

The king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shabbat. That is the king's valley. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine.

He was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him. He, Melchizedek, blessed him, Abraham.

His name hasn't even been changed at this point. He said, blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. Abraham has successfully routed some tribal chieftains who had plundered the goods of his nephew Lot.

He's gone after them. They came and plundered Lot's goods from around the area of Sodom and Gomorrah. You remember when they said, well, you go north and I'll go south.

Lot went down into the area of Sodom and Gomorrah. And some of these other kings, these little tribal chieftains, got together, came, raided, took his goods. And Abraham went after them.

And he's successful. He routes them. And as he's coming back, he's met, first of all, by the king of Sodom.

And then secondly, by this very strange figure, Melchizedek. Okay? This is all we know about him.

This is it. These two sentences. 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, maker of heaven and earth. Blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. That's the whole story. That's all we know, all right?

But that is very significant. Look at what Shun said. First of all, he's a king.

Okay? He's a king of a place called Salem. Recognize that word?

Shalom. Or in Arabic, salam. It means peace.

and you may know it as Jerusalem. Alright? King of what eventually becomes Jerusalem.

Alright? But he's also priest of God Most High. He's not even called Yahweh or the Lord.

He doesn't have a name by which we know him other than God Most High. He doesn't give the name I am who I am, Yahweh, until Moses' time. This is way before Moses.

This is about 300 years before Moses. But he's priest of God Most High. King and priest at one and the same time.

How can that be? No explanation. He's the king of Salem and priest of God Most High.

And he comes and he pronounces a blessing on Abram. And Abram's response to that is to give him what? A tithe of all things.

Literally one tenth of the spoils of that campaign. Now, there are at least two things going on here. And I need to just sort them out.

First of all, there's a very large argument from silence. We know so little about Melchizedek. We don't know anything about him.

We don't know where he came from. We don't know who his parents were. We don't know how he came to be king.

We don't know what his priesthood entailed. What did that mean? We're given absolutely no information about it.

We don't know whether there were any others who shared that priesthood. We don't know whether it was inherited and he received it from his father and passed it on to his son. We don't know what happened to him afterward.

We don't know anything about him except this. It's as if he simply drops into the story out of nowhere without parents, without genealogy, without beginning or end. He does his priestly thing.

And for our purposes, all that means is he blesses Abraham and he disappears. Secondly, you need to understand that there's a Jewish mindset, and this runs all the way through the Old Testament, that a son cannot be more important or more glorious than his father. Or let's state that more broadly, a child than his parents.

But it's usually done in patriarchal terms. son, no matter how many honors he attains and no matter what status he has and no matter how rich he becomes and no matter what glory he ever accrues to himself, he cannot be more important than his father. It is inconceivable to the Jewish mindset that a father would ever bow down before his own son.

No matter who that son becomes, president of the United States, the father does not bow down before it's the other way around. Now, just follow this for a second. This is the progenitor of the chosen people.

Abram, who becomes Abraham. By the way, this is just a little parenthesis for you, But what's added here is the Jewish letter H, which is often used as an abbreviation for the Holy Spirit. Fascinating.

Abraham becomes father of who? Isaac, who becomes father of? Jacob, whose name is changed after he wrestles with the angel.

Okay. who becomes the father of 12 tribes. Okay.

Okay. Among whom, as we've already said, are Judah and Levi. And of Levi's descendants, eventually we come to Aaron.

And of Judah's descendants, eventually we come to David, and about a thousand years later, to Jesus. Okay? Now, why can a son never become more important than his father?

Because, according to the Jewish understanding, the child is literally in the father. He's in his loins. He's in his seed.

Okay? I can't bow down to that or even acknowledge as superior. I don't mean bow down in the sense of worship, but I mean I can't look up to someone who has descended from me.

It's the other way around. All right? And with that, more broadly, you need to understand finally that to pronounce blessing upon someone is to put yourself in a position of superiority.

To receive blessing from someone is to acknowledge that superiority. All right? You got the dynamics going here now?

This, by the way, is a major part of the explanation of the doctrine of original sin. how is it that I'm born into the world needing redemption well because you see I was literally in Adam when he sinned that's what 1 Corinthians says 1 Corinthians 15 says as in Adam all died get it? we were there we were all there alright It's not really a doctrine of original guilt at all.

You know, the baby didn't do anything yet. But if they all died in Adam, he's born dead, spiritually. You get it?

This is also an explanation of Jesus' fascinating question to the Pharisees, and I'm going to come back to this. But you remember when Jesus says to the Pharisees, what do you think of Christ or Messiah? What do you think of the Messiah?

Whose son is he? And their answer is he's David's son. How then what?

Good, exactly. How then does David call him Lord? And he quotes from Psalm 110 where David says, the Lord, God, says to my Lord, Messiah, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.

And Jesus says, if Messiah is David's, not son, but offspring, if he's David's descendant, how can David call him Lord? It's not possible, see? If he is only the human descendant of David, then he's contained in David.

David would never call his own descendant my lord. Do you follow the argument? It's very consistent.

Okay, for Melchizedek to pronounce blessing on Abraham and for Abraham to tithe to Melchizedek is a two-fold acknowledgement that Melchizedek is in a position of superiority to Abraham. Got it? All right, now, you followed all this.

Abraham acknowledges Melchizedek as being in some sense in a position of superiority, and in the moment of doing that, his whole line, which is literally contained inside him, acknowledges Melchizedek's superiority. so Aaron and the whole priesthood of ancient Israel was there acknowledging there's a priesthood superior to ours that's pretty wild isn't it yeah absolutely absolutely I'll show you why in just a second come back to Hebrews 7 yes I believe it is see it doesn't call it a tithe there it just says he gave him one tenth and that's spelled out I don't think the tithe is spelled out as a requirement until we get into the laws given to Moses wonderful significance brings out the bread and the wine, it is filled with greater significance as we go along. Last time we saw that on the table of showbread is bread and wine.

These were the elements of the common meal. They become the principal elements in the Passover feast. And that's really interesting when you stop and think about it.

I mean, if you and I were naming the Passover feast, based on the description given of it, I suspect we'd name it the Feast of the Lamb. Because the Lamb was commanded to be slaughtered and its blood splattered all over the place and eat it in haste. And it's almost incidental that they mention the bread, but what the Jews call it is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, not the Feast of the Lamb, it's the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which also was to be eaten in haste, and that's why it's unleavened.

And it's that bread which Jesus took and broke and said, this is my body. He filled those symbols with greater significance. So it's like so many things in the scripture.

There are layers and layers and layers. And this is the first time we encounter this, except for... Do you remember Cain and Abel?

One brought grain. which was not acceptable the other brought blood sacrifice which was but in the marvelous redemption of God even the grain becomes the bread fascinating let me come back to Hebrews 7 sure sure absolutely you're seeing it exactly sure Hebrews 7 again. Let me read from the beginning of chapter 7 and you'll see how this summarizes what we've just seen.

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, that is Melchizedek is, 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 and has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, here you get that sense of foreshadowing again, he comes first, but in fact the reality which he prefigures is the Son of God. Resembling the Son of God, he continues a priest forever. Verse 4, see how great he is.

Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe 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 brethren, though these also are descended from But this man, Melchizedek, who has not their genealogy, received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.

Here, tithes are received by mortal men, there 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, I suspect that all of this would seem just a very, very fanciful interpretation of a couple of fleeting verses, except for Psalm 110.

hold your finger here we're coming back yet again but look at Psalm 110 I've already alluded to it this is the one that Jesus quoted in his question to the Pharisees and you'll almost certainly have written over it regardless of your translation a psalm of David there's no real dispute nobody argues but what David was the author of this psalm the Lord Yahweh says to my Lord Messiah sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. That by itself is marvelous, isn't it? The Lord God says to Messiah, sit.

Nobody sits in the presence of God. Huh? But Messiah, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.

The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. What's that about? ruling kingship the Lord sets forth from Zion your mighty scepter rule in the midst of your foes your people will offer themselves freely on the day you lead your host upon the holy mountains from the womb of the morning like dew your youth will come to you verse 4 the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Exactly. 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. Imagery, which is obviously that of kingship and of unique kingship. This is king of kings.

This is one who sits in the presence of the Holy One. This is one to whom God himself says, I'm going to act in your vindication. I'm going to bring your enemies to a point of total subjection.

You're going to lead a host forward to your holy mountain. This is king of kings, and yet God himself says, you're a priest. not a priest after the order of Aaron, but you're a priest after the order of Melchizedek.

And that's the key. And whoever it was that wrote the book of Hebrews obviously had meditated long upon that and long upon this little incident way back in Genesis. And I'm sure that the Lord also gave him revelation, insight into what he's writing for us.

You see, we're not saying that there was another order with membership in it. But there are at least a couple of instances of folks outside of the Levitical priesthood who are functioning as priests. This is the most notable one, Melchizedek.

But there's also Job. Job, who is not a descendant of Abraham. In fact, he's probably a contemporary of Abraham.

In the east somewhere, that's on the other side of the Jordan, probably in the area of Moab. And he's functioning right in the very first chapter in a priestly role. He's never called a priest, but he's offering sacrifices every day for himself and for his children, lest they might have sinned, which is why he's called a righteous man.

It's not that he has never sinned. but that he understands the nature of priesthood. He's made righteous through sacrifice.

So there are people who are functioning as priests who are not part of the Levitical priesthood and the most notable here, Melchizedek. Finally, let's come back to Hebrews 7 one more time. Verse 11.

Now, if the 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 belong 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 according to a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him, thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.

Quoting from Psalm 110. On the other hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness. For the law made nothing perfect.

On the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath. We come back to the word of God.

those who formerly became priests took their office without an oath but this one was addressed with an oath the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind thou art a priest forever this makes Jesus the surety of a better covenant and then the comparison you're comparing two radically different orders of priesthood the former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But he, who? Jesus holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever.

Consequently, he's able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens, he has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people. He did this once for all when he offered up himself.

Indeed, 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. the superiority of Christ is that he became a priest by divine selection not by inheriting it from his human parents not by being born a Levite his difference from these other human priests is his sinlessness back in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 the writer stresses Jesus' identification with us while remaining sinless but here he emphasizes his difference from us while still sharing our humanity 415 for we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin. In every respect, he's like us, except this most important one, he hasn't sinned.

Hebrews 4.15 stresses his identification with us while remaining sinless. 7.26 emphasizes his difference from us while still sharing our humanity. it was fitting that we should have such a high priest holy, blameless, unstained separated from sinners exalted above the heavens and yet he's still a human being the trouble with the Levites is that they share our condition see they have a role of superiority but they're not superior people they have to offer sacrifices daily.

Not only for the rest of us, but for themselves. And the proof of the pudding is they die, just like everybody else. See, there's no permanent priesthood.

They hold that role, they execute that ministry, but just like everybody else, they die, and death is the consequence of the wages of sin. It's death. Okay?

But Jesus, though he died, lives forever. And that is proof positive of his sinlessness. Put it to you this way, if you need a heart transplant, you're not going to go to somebody who's just died of cardiac arrest.

You're going to go to somebody who may be brain dead through an automobile accident, but whose heart is in good condition, right? Only somebody who is perfectly healthy can give us new life. Only somebody who is totally innocent can do something about our sin.

Only somebody without debt of his own can pay the price for us. Only somebody who isn't lost himself can help us find our way home. And that's our great high priest.

That's the superiority. That's why it is not a presumption for Jesus to come and act as our priest. He's not of the order of Aaron.

He's superior to it. He is of the order of Melchizedek who bursts upon the scene in a role of superiority who functions in a relationship with Abraham as one who has the right to pronounce blessing and receive tithes. And Jesus, the answer to his own question, is yes, humanly speaking, he's descended from David.

But that's not the whole story. His real origin is from old. His real father is the eternal one of Israel.

okay let's stand and pray together father god we're astonished at the truth of that saying that not one word of what you have said drops to the ground what it accomplishes your purpose how how absolutely extraordinary the way you weave into the pattern of your holy history even the tiniest details thank you Lord for another foreshadowing for that strange person of whom we know so little but of whom the little we do know is so significant Thank you for the order of Melchizedek. Thank you that this Jesus of whom we speak is a greater than Aaron. We bow in order.

We offer you our praise in his name. Amen.