Hebrews 10:1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.
This verse contains a harsh indictment concerning the Law. It is written that the Law is only a shadow of the good things to come. In short, the Law conveyed a base image of the true good thing God would visit His people with; but the Law was not the thing itself.
The gift of speaking in tongues is as divisive as any doctrine one will find in professing Christendom. Some in the church will say it departed centuries ago; others will maintain that it exists and thrives today. But what is the gift of tongues, what was it for, and why did God the Holy Spirit bequeath said gift to certain among the church?
Hebrews 9:28b To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
Do we eagerly wait for Jesus? Jesus asked, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8. This rhetorical question sadly addresses the end time, when our Lord will return for His bride, and then bodily and visibly for Israel, as her King, in glory. The unspoken answer can be inferred from the narrow gate Jesus refers to that leads to life. Few there are that enter it, He tells us. The broad road, like a highway, that leads to destruction, or perdition, is traveled by many.
Hebrews 9:28a so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.
This verse is laden with doctrinal soundness, and there is much to unearth. Notice first how the writer contrasts verse 27 with his introductory statement. As men die but once, and then face the judgment, so too was Christ offered once to bear the sins of many.
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
The Greek term “appointed” is, “apokeimai.” It means, “to be reserved, or to await.” Men await death; we are reserved for it. Why? We are the inheritors of Adam’s sin nature, and also the curse that attends it. Job says of his own race, “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble,” Job 14:1. Eliphaz, though he agreed with Job on little else, adds, “Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward,” Job 5:7.
Hebrews 9:25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—[26] He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
Before beginning to unfold this passage, here is what the Roman Catholic Church says about the once for all sacrifice of Christ in what they refer to as Mass:
The Mass is the Sacrifice of the New Law in which Christ, through the ministry of the priest, offers Himself to God in an unbloody manner under the appearances of bread and wine.
The Mass is both a sacrifice and a sacred meal because it is an unbloody representation of the sacrifice of the Cross; in application of its sacred power, the Lord is immolated in the Sacrifice of the Mass.
Thus the Mass does not re-crucify Christ. It perpetuates His one sacrifice that stands outside of time. God cannot be killed and when His humanity died in the Person of Jesus Christ on Good Friday such an event must break through the confines of time if God is truly eternal and infinite.
The Mass is classed as a sacrament (an outward sign of an internal truth or experience) because the Eucharist is received within each Mass. The Mass is also classed as a sacrifice, as the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is made present and true each time the Eucharist is celebrated.
(Quotes taken from AFC.org and EWTN.com)
Hebrews 9:24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
The author contends that Jesus, as our High Priest, did not enter the earthly tabernacle during His ministry. The writer makes it clear that Jesus, regarding His human advent, came from Judah, and not Levi, and therefore would not officiate at the altar, Hebrews 7:13, 14.
Hebrews 9:23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
The writer insists, “it was necessary” that the copies of the heavenly things be purified with blood: symbolic of the sacrifice Christ our Lord would make on our behalf, to reconcile us to God. Beginning with verse 16, we read about the testament, and the testator’s death, putting said testament into power, or effect, verse 17.
Of special note is the conclusion to verse 22. Without shedding of blood there is no remission. Remission of sin is of course what the writer is alluding to. One may remit sin one of two ways, and only one of two. We may place our faith in Christ, whose substitutionary death on the cross paid for our sin by taking the punishment in our stead. Or we may die for our own sin and receive the punishment due: eternity separated from the Creator in the Lake of Fire.
Hebrews 9:18 Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. [19] For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and the people, [20] saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” [21] Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. [22] And according to the law almost all things are purified wit blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
The first covenant was the Sinaitic covenant, made between Yahweh and the people of Israel, after He led them out of Egypt and judged their gods. The record states it as such: “Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions,” Genesis 15: 12-14.
Hebrews 9:16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. [17] For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.
The testament, of course, is a will. It is the legacy, or inheritance of what the testator leaves behind or bequeaths to his loved ones. To follow this line of logic, we return briefly to verse 11, and walk back to our current passage.
By this moment I mean the moment when the new covenant supplanted the old, and those waiting in faith for the fulfillment of the promise to be led by the Christ into Heaven and the Father’s presence, when He led captivity captive, Ephesians 4:8. Zechariah says of Messiah, “And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen (Gentiles): and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth,” Zechariah 9:10, KJV.
I apologize that the details regarding this prayer request need to remain anonymous. My family is close to another family whose youngest child is suffering extreme behavioral issues. So much so that it is putting her life in jeopardy.
“Because I live, you will live also,” John 14:19. This is a promise from the lips of Jesus Himself. The resurrection was God’s assurance to His children that what He promised, He would perform. It is the promise God made to the Jewish patriarchs, Acts 26:6. The promise—witnessed in the Law and Prophets—was this: “that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles,” Acts 26:23.
Hebrews 9:15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
We pause at the beginning of the verse to ask the question: for what reason? The author states, “for this reason,” Christ is the Mediator of the new covenant. It is beneficial sometimes to forget chapter and verse breaks, since the numbers can adversely impact our understanding of a passage. Sometimes they are read in isolated pockets, like every verse is an island unto itself. But each verse deepens the theological context of the overall idea the writer is attempting to convey.
Hebrews 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,
The sancitfication mentioned here is ritualistic or ceremonial in nature. That is why the writer expresses it as sancitfication for the purifying of the flesh. It ritually cleanses the body, or symbolizes the spiritual cleansing that all such sacrifices are the antitype of. But specifically, what is the author referring to from the Mosaic Law?
Hebrews 9:12 Not with blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption
The writer conjures the imagery of the high priest of the Aaronic priesthood entering the Most Holy Place during the Day of Atonement. Described in Leviticus chapter 16, it was a very solemn day for the nation of Israel. It was a reminder that what the high priest did, he did for the whole of the nation of the Jews. The blood offered on the mercy seat within the Holiest of All was for all Israel. Caiaphas, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said much the same regarding our Lord.
Hebrews 9:11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.
Again, following the natural progression the writer leads us along, he wants his readership to pause when he says, ”but.” The word “But” is a conjunction, used in writing to contrast one idea against another formerly mentioned. Verses 8 through 10 focused on the earthly tabernacle, made by Moses and the Israelites by God’s express direction.
Hebrews 9:10 concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
These fleshly ordinances are “imposed until the time of reformation.” Skipping to the latter half of the verse, we learn the very stark fact that, fleshly or otherwise, these ordinances were imposed. They were compulsory, enforced, or obligatory. Failure to participate resulted in being cut off from one’s people for the Jews. Even that fact reveals a spiritual truth. Only this method, at this time, made it acceptable to approach Israel’s covenant God.
Hebrews 9:9 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience
Pause for a moment to focus on the first three words of verse 9. “It was symbolic.” What was symbolic? The tabernacle, and everything that it represented under the Old Testament Judaic dispensation. While it still stood, the symbol, not the substance, was with Israel.
Hebrews 9:8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.
Pneumatology is the study of the Holy Spirit in Scripture. Many things have been said about God the Holy Spirit, and many Christian sects and pseudo-Christian cults claim that the Holy Spirit is not a person. He is not part of the Trinity, or Godhead.
Hebrews 9:6 Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. [7] But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance;
The writer is addressing the preparation of the tabernacle during the wilderness wandering, when Israel camped for forty years, and only when the tabernacle was thus prepared would the ministry of the priesthood begin, verse 6.
Hebrews 9:5 and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
If the tabernacle was in fact an earthly shadow of the heavenly things, then this depiction of the cherubim is quite telling. The highest of the angelic orders, the cherubim held a position of great glory amidst the ranks of the host of Heaven. Our Lord informs us that the angels are glorious (filled with glory), Luke 9:26. In Jude we read, “Yet in the same way these men, also be dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties,” Jude 8, NASB. “Angelic majesties” in the Greek is literally translated, “glories.” The HCSB renders the term “glorious ones.”
External religious formality reigned in Israel as Jeremiah attempted to reason with a people beyond redemption, Jeremiah 7:16, 11:14, 14:11. Like Pharaoh in Moses’ time, they had hardened their hearts beyond recovery, and now destruction awaited them because of their rebellious choices. Idolatry had warped their perspective and lessened their view of their national God; God in turn was stripping them of every vestige of idolatry, including the permanent removal of the ark.
Hebrews 9:4b and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;
The epistle now touches upon an item of some small controversy: the Ark of the Covenant. Brought into popular culture by Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, the symbol of the ark has long been a topic of great interest in certain circles of Christianity.
To commemorate March 4th once again, let us reflect on the fundamentals of the Christian faith, and what we have believed to be given the title of Christian. Before that, however, I wanted to relate a conversation I recently had with another professing believer that attends a church here in Duluth. I won’t mention names, but she and I engaged in a conversation about the Bible, Jesus Christ, and salvation, and I was sorrowful to discover that she did not know what the gospel was. Her impression of salvation, derived it seems from her church, was that good acts outweigh the bad, and by this one is saved. In summary, she believed the gospel of works salvation.
Hebrews 9:3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, [4a] which had the golden censer
The first veil permitted the priesthood entrance into the tabernacle to officiate at God’s altar. The second veil was different, however. That veil remained largely untouched but for once a year, which we will delve into in more detail a little later. The first compartment is the holy place or the sanctuary. The inner part of the tabernacle is the Holiest of All: the inner chamber where the famous Ark of the Covenant resided.
Hebrews 9:1 Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. [2] For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary;
Right away it may be noted that the first covenant (the Sinaitic Law) was divine; it was a divine service and form of worship of Yahweh, Israel’s covenant God. Secondly, the sanctuary in which these ordinances were performed was an earthly sanctuary. God instructs Moses, “And see to it that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain,” Exodus 25:40, see also Exodus 26:30.
So we learn from man’s creation several details regarding man and woman. Woman is man’s equivalent or equal; but equality does not mean identicalness, which is a massive fallacy in our current societal thinking. The erasure of gender in a desperate bid to make men akin to women and visa-versa horridly confuses roles in the relationship.
Like Creation, marriage and sex (which go hand in hand Biblically) should have a unified front in the church that Jesus Christ founded on the day of Pentecost. But it is not so, especially in this day and age, when liberalism, individualism, and a diluted, perverted caricature of Biblical love is being paraded throughout the church proper. It would be a simple matter to say, “they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God,” John 12:43. This may be true, but this is not all.
Hebrews 8:13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
God addresses a new covenant through the prophet Jeremiah, indicating that the temporal and conditional covenant made at Sinai was—or would be—no longer valid. Otherwise, as stated in Hebrews 8:7, a second covenant would not have been sought.
Hebrews 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them in their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
This verse is reminiscent of the prophecy of Joel, which reads at length: “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days,” Joel 2:28, 29 NIV.
Hebrews 8:8b “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—[9] not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.
This portion of Hebrews chapter 8, verses 8 through 12, is cited from Jeremiah 31:31-34. The writer uses this prophetic utterance to demonstrate that the seemingly novel thing he is addressing—finding fault with the old covenant because of the people—is not in fact anything new at all.
Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. [8a] Because finding fault with them, He says:
There is a saying that a chain is only as good as its weakest link. God is perfect, and the Law is holy and good. But Paul observed that the Law, which was to bring life, brought death instead, because the Law was contrary to its recipients. While the Law was holy and good, mankind is unholy and evil.
Hebrews 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.
Turning from Hebrews, we will find the apostle Paul’s testimony about the glory of the old and the new covenant in the third chapter of 2 Corinthians. Pausing on his explanation to the church at Corinth will be edifying for the verse we’re presently on, so we will go at length into his discussion.
With my eldest daughter’s permission, I wanted to share this excellent poem she wrote two days ago for a school English essay. It is untitled, and I present it the way it was written, with minor grammatical correction. I enjoyed this very much, and I hope you do as well. God bless!
Hebrews 8:4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law: [5] who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”
The author makes the differentiation that if Christ were on earth He would not be part of the priesthood. Why? The priests who served the tabernacle erected by Moses served under the Law, and also served the shadow of the heavenly things they were patterned after, Exodus 25:40.
Hebrews 8:3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.
Leviticus chapter 16 describes the high priest’s sacrifice, or atonement, for his own sin. “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house,” Leviticus 16:6. Aaron attained to the role of high priest by divine appointment; that cannot be overstated. What the Aaronic priesthood did in the interim between the genesis of the tabernacle and the fulfillment of the Law by Christ was ordained by God.
Hebrews 8:1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: we have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, [2] a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.
We have now exited the parenthetical portion of the epistle. The writer, in an effort to extrapolate about the superiority of Jesus in regards to His High Priesthood and relation to Melchizedek, went down a bypath in chapter 5. The pause in his advance happens in Hebrews 5:11 and 12 when he relates that while he has much to say about the topic, the hearers have grown dull, and need milk rather than solid food.
Like reproduction, which passes along the choicest genes to the worthy heirs of tomorrow, death cycles the old into the new, making things incrementally better, step by minute step. Death is a blessing (if such an absurdity exists in a materialistic, relativistic worldview) endowing future generations a greater aptitude for survival. That is, until death takes them as well, and the cycle repeats.
It is debatable if the battle for the book of Genesis is considered a molehill. But for the interest of this series, I constitute it as such, since Christendom should be standing harmoniously on the truth of God’s word about how our universe, planet, and conscious life came into being. Sadly, most of the church, fearing the “truth” as it is found in Darwinian Evolution, has capitulated, compromised, and abandoned Genesis as a fairy tale.
Hebrews 7:28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
This is the author’s summarized thoughts as he finishes his parenthetical pause, beginning around Hebrews 5:11 and culminating in this verse. The diversionary teaching came on account of the readership’s poor understanding, and how, though they were Christians for some time they needed to rehash the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
Hebrews 7:27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
Continuing the contrast between the Aaronic priesthood and Jesus Christ, the author makes another telling point. Our Lord, unlike the priests that worked under the Mosaic Law, does not need perpetual sacrifice. The priests under Aaron never ceased their work; they did not sit but kept the fire kindled day and night. And every officiating priest still needed sacrifices offered on his own behalf, as well as Israel’s commonwealth.
Hebrews 7:26d and has become higher than the heavens;
The Greek word for “higher,” in this verse is, “hupselos,” and means, “lofty in place or character.” The same term is used in Acts 13:17, where it is written, “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted (hupselos) arm He brought them out of it.” Loftiness is in view, and since we may dismiss literal, physical loftiness from both verses, the idea is positional.
Hebrews 7:26c For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is… undefiled, separate from sinners,
To defile something (or someone) means to take away their purity or innocence. The High Priest that is fitting for sinful mankind is undefiled. This makes perfect sense, since mankind is entirely defiled.
Hebrews 7:26a For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy,
Jesus is a fitting High Priest for sinful humanity. Why? This verse answers the question. Jesus is, first of all, holy. Holiness is a quality uniquely God’s. More to the point, it is natively His, though He imparts it to those who come to Him through His Son.
Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
The word “therefore” appears when a verse or passage preceding its arrival establishes a point the writer is emphasizing. In verses 23 and 24 he contrasted the priests of the Aaronic priesthood, who could not continue because of death with Christ, who continues forever and has an unchangeable priesthood. Verse 25 begins with the idea of the author stating, “because of these truths…”
Hebrews 7:23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. [24] But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.
The Aaronic priesthood of course had limitations. One of those limitations was the inherent mortality of the priest officiating at God’s altar. Whether the writer is assuming many priests at any given time serving in the tabernacle or a succession of high priests since Aaron, the idea is that many men accepted offerings from the hands of their fellow Jews.
Hebrews 7:20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath [21] (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn and will not relent, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek’”), [22] by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.
The comparison between the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood continues. Jesus was made priest with an oath given by God the Father. God had sworn an oath over the Christ’s right to the priesthood, unlike the many priests that served the earthly tabernacle for hundreds of years from the time of Aaron until the destruction of Jerusalem’s temple in April of 70 AD by general Titus by order of his father, the emperor Vespasian.
Hebrews 7:18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, [19] for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
Verse 18 through 19a describes what the writer entails as, “on the one hand.” This phrase is used to introduce a point of view, followed by a contrast against its counterpart. The verse begins with the annulling of the former commandment. This is the “fleshly commandment” he mentioned in verse 16, indicating the Law and all it incorporated. He speaks a little later of the earthly tabernacle, which stood at the heart of the Law, describing it as, “fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation,” Hebrews 9:10. The former commandment of Hebrews 7:18 is the fleshly ordinance of Hebrews 9:10, annulled because it was only efficacious as Israel’s tutor UNTIL the time of reformation.
Hebrews 7:15 And it is far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest [16] who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. [17] For He testifies: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Verse 14 explained that it is evident that Jesus arose from the tribe of Judah, and would not be a priest on earth had He remained here. Verse 15 now contrasts the former verse, adding that it is far more evident, if there arose another priest according to the likeness of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 7:13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. [14] For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
The writer pauses here to briefly assert Jesus’ biological ancestry. Verse 13 is simply a tacit admission that Levi was the priestly tribe, and no other tribe was permitted by God to serve at the altar. Mind you, this didn’t stop northern Samaria from doing just that when Jeroboam broke from Israel and led ten of the twelve tribes into rebellion against the house of David.
Hebrews 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. [13] For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.
The Aaronic priesthood was implemented as a teaching tool. As stated previously, the Law was to magnify sin, or rather to identify it for what it was. Also, the Law was to lead the penitent to Christ. The endless round of sacrifice the priests of Levi ministered to, by very definition of their repetition, indicated not completion or salvation, but a reminder that the issue of sin was unresolved during the dispensation of the Law.
Hebrews 7:8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. [9] Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, [10] for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
Verse 8 carries a deific flavor to it, since the writer blatantly contrasts “mortal men” with Melchizedek, who is witnessed to live on. This verse creates a connection with verse 3. When taken of itself the naturalistic explanation concerning Melchizedek can comfortably stand on solid ground.
Hebrews 7:6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. [7] Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.
The first word to focus upon in verse 6 is “genealogy.” Used also in verse 3, it is translated “descent” in the KJV, but verses 3 and 6 actually coming from different terms. Verse 3 incorporates the whole phrase, “without genealogy” when translating and is taken from the term, “agenealogetos,” which means, “unregistered as to birth.”
Hebrews 7:4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. [5] And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham;
How great this man was is not contested. Abraham, inheritor of God’s blessing and promises, tithed to Melchizedek and the high priest in turn uttered a benediction. Abram gave him a tenth (or tithe) of all; clearly an act of acknowledgement: not only that the patriarch knew of Melchizedek, but also knew his esteemed position as God’s high priest and honored that with a tithe, or tenth, a number that seems to accompany matters of divine government. Most famously this is showcased in the Ten Commandments or the ten plagues upon Egypt’s gods.
The opposing camp suggests that Melchizedek was either a pre-incarnate Christ or an angel; so I suppose that really means this camp is even divided in opinion as to what to make of Melchizedek’s appearance in the Old Testament. Dr. Henry Morris was of the opinion that Melchizedek was a theophany of Christ, come out to greet Abraham.
