Hebrews 8:1-6

The second “priest” in the following verse is Jesus: For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. (v. 3) It struck me that the writer was distinguishing between gifts and sacrifices – clear distinctions exist in Leviticus. Jesus’ sacrifice (on the cross) was clear to me, so I was asking myself what might have been Jesus’ gift(s) to us. And after thinking about it, I would suggest that His very life on earth was His gift to us. His ministry, His teachings, His example… Through His life He has taught us everything we really need to know. That’s His gift!!

However, I also think the writer is making “gifts and sacrifices” a moot point, in that he goes on to say, But as it is, He has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant He mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. (v. 6) Having accomplished “gifts and sacrifices”, Jesus’ has a new ministry – mediating a new covenant (tomorrow’s reading) – a major portion of which is interceding with the Father on our behalf. At least those are my thoughts.

Slava Bohu!

Hebrews 7:23-38

He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for His own sins and then for those of the people, since He did this once for all when He offered up Himself. (v. 27) Credit to my Study Bible for a really simple, totally obvious, but fully meaningful observation: The Jewish high priests offered up animals to cover sins – animal for man; Jesus offered up Himself for all our sins – man for man!! Once again we see how important was Jesus’ incarnation!

Slava Bohu!

Hebrews 7:11-22

Early on in 2019 we read the following passage: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17) In today’s reading a simple verse puts an exclamation mark on that statement. In the past I have often thought of Jesus’ fulfilling the Law in two activities. First, He was sinless so he fulfilled the requirements of the Law by following those laws. Second, His sacrificial death meant that animal sacrifices were no longer needed to cover our sins; He did it all on the cross.

So here’s today’s verse: For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. (v. 14) Not only has Jesus fulfilled and “set aside” the Law, but in becoming our High Priest He has come out of the tribe of Judah – He has set aside the entire priesthood given to the Levites at Mt. Sinai! The High Priesthood has moved to an entirely different tribe! That is an exclamation mark on Jesus’ fulfilling the Law and the Prophets!

Slava Bohu!

Hebrews 7:1-10

Four days ago I made the following comments regarding Melchizedek and his relationship to Jesus: “One might argue that there are four references forward to Jesus. (1) Melchizedek was a king; Jesus is King of Heaven and Earth; (2) Melchizedek was a priest; much of what we are currently reading in Hebrews explains Jesus’ high priesthood; (3) Melchizedek brought bread and wine; Jesus instituted the sacrament of Holy Communion when He offered bread and wine at the Last Supper; and (4) Abraham paid a tithe of his goods to Melchizedek (see also Hebrews 7:4); we pay tithes to Jesus’ church. Even with all that, Melchizedek remains a mystery, researched extensively throughout history.” Today I found a fifth: He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life… (v. 3a) No doubt the Bible reports Melchizedek as an historical figure, a human being. And so was Jesus, for 33 years! Yet the book of Genesis says nothing about Melchizedek’s genealogy. That’s very strange for Genesis!

Another interesting thing about Melchizedek is Abraham’s giving him a tenth part of everything… (v. 2b) We Christians today tithe according to our centuries-old traditions, but we give “within the family” – to the church, the bride of Christ. Even the Jews of old gave “within the family”, to the Levites, for their life and temple support. But Abraham’s tithe to Melchizedek was “outside the family”, Melchizedek having no blood relationship with Abraham or his family. Strange!

Finally, one other item: For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him… (v. 1). My Study Bible pointed out that blessings go from the greater to the lesser – that is, the greater blessing the lesser. In this first verse, Melchizedek was the greater and Abraham the lesser. Even though Abraham is the “father of many nations”, one of the greatest figures in all of Jewish history, yet here he has the position of the lesser relative to Melchizekek. Again, strange…!

Slava Bohu!

Hebrews 6:13-20

…so that by two unchangeable things… (v.18a) The two unchangeable things are God’s promise to Abraham (God cannot lie) and the oath that He swore in vv. 13-14, For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.”

So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise … we … might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. (vv. 17-18) Taking apart these two verses together, what we see is that the audience to whom the author was writing (the heirs of the promise) have encouragement (because of the promise and the oath) of the hope set before us (them). That is, Abraham’s Jewish descendants have hope of entering into the Holy of Holies through Jesus who has gone before them and opened the way to them (vv. 19-20), and even though we’re not Jewish, that’s us!! GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!

Hebrews 6:9-12

What does God see when He looks down on His children? So many people think that God is out to get them, waiting for them to make a bad move. Others see Him as a loving God, loving His children completely in spite of their many failings. Look at today’s verse 10: For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints, as you still do. The author of Hebrews says that God is watching our every action, smiling when He sees our good works. But is He keeping an accounting? Does He chalk up one more in our “good column”? What about our “bad column”? Doesn’t that get wiped clean each time we seek His forgiveness? If that bad column gets wiped clean, does the good one also get wiped clean? Does He start our accounting all over, yet one more time? Or do our good works build up jewels in our heavenly crown, forever immovable?

We’ve heard countless times that we can’t work our way to heaven, that Jesus’ death and resurrection has done it all for us and that we need only accept His forgiveness of our sins, for which He has already paid. So what is the purpose of our “good works”? Though I may be theologically inept, I see three values in our good works. First and foremost, I would maintain that our good works are “for show” for everyone else. Non-believers and marginal believers see our good works and ascribe some merit to Christianity. The short form of this argument is the quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.” Second, I think our doing good works is for our internal well-being. We feel good when we’ve done something good, even though occasionally we may have done that good thing grudgingly. This argument can easily get twisted – we’re not lauding ourselves, but we are, in fact, better people as a result of having done good works. Finally, I do think that God looks down and smiles at our good works. I think there is a “Well done, good and faithful servant” commendation on God’s lips when He sees us serving Him.

My thoughts… I do wish we could be together to better hash these things out!!

Slava Bohu!

Hebrews 6:1-8

In today’s first three verses the author of Hebrews mentions six “elementary” items and suggests that we move on to more meaty topics. But each of those six items has been researched and discussed by countless Biblical scholars from the 1^st century until today. So maybe those items are not so “elementary”!

Another “once saved, always saved” item: For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. (vv. 4-6) My Study Bible suggested three explanations for these three verses, but those authors had one-sentence comments on the first two explanations and clearly favored the third, that these “Christians” had never really, truly been born again. It’s a standard argument that allows “once saved, always saved” proponents to continue that premise. NOTE: I do not disagree with that premise – I join them in asking, “Were they really born again?”

Slava Bohu!

Hebrews 5:8-14

Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. (v. 8) Most fathers would not willingly allow their children to go through suffering, especially physical pain, but God the Father not only permitted, but even sent His son to the cross. That was a measure of the extent to which He loved us, His creation.

Verse 10 mentions Melchizedek. We first see him mentioned in Genesis 14:18-20, 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. One might argue that there are four references forward to Jesus. (1) Melchizedek was a king; Jesus is King of Heaven and Earth; (2) Melchizedek was a priest; much of what we are currently reading in Hebrews explains Jesus’ high priesthood; (3) Melchizedek brought bread and wine; Jesus instituted the sacrament of Holy Communion when He offered bread and wine at the Last Supper; and (4) Abraham paid a tithe of his goods to Melchizedek (see also Hebrews 7:4); we pay tithes to Jesus’ church. Even with all that, Melchizedek remains a mystery, researched extensively throughout history.

Slava Bohu!

Hebrews 5:1-7

The author of Hebrews clearly did not have Annas and Caiaphas in mind when he wrote the following words: And no one takes this honor [the high priesthood] for himself, but only when called by God… (v. 4) In Jesus’ time the office of the high priest had become highly politicized. Annas and Caiaphas were both from the sect of the Sadducees, who were quite far off the mark set by Aaron in the book of Exodus. They surely took the honor for themselves; it’s also questionable whether or not they were called by God. To that point, however, yesterday’s Lexington Herald-Leader had an article by one of their weekly authors, Paul Prather, a minister, in which he was opining as to whether our U.S. presidents are selected in accordance with God’s will, as is suggested in Paul’s letter to the Romans, verse 13:1, Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Paul Prather’s article had to do with strong evangelical support for President Trump – their strong support for him in 2016 and their disappointment at the 2020 election outcome. While he was not suggesting that evangelicals thought Biden’s election was the work of the devil, he did make the point that if Trump had been God’s choice in 2016, then Biden must have been God’s choice in 2020 and Obama must have been God’s choice in 2008 and 2012. Likewise, if Biden’s election was counter to God’s will in 2020, then Trump’s election in 2016 might also have been counter to God’s will. My bottom line – how different our world would be if we would all be doing that for which we are called by God!!

Slava Bohu!

Hebrews 4:11-16

As we read Peter’s letters, we found him very different from Paul. Now as we read Hebrews, I find this writer different from both Peter and Paul. In particular, verse 14 threw me for a loop: Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. I was wondering, where does that come from? The author first compared Jesus with angels, then with Moses, and now he is headed to an extended discussion comparing Jesus with the Old Testament high priests. But his transition in verse 14 seemed to come out of nowhere. Then I looked back earlier in the letter: Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. (vv. 3:1-2) In today’s verse 14 the author is referring back to the beginning of the previous chapter where he introduces Jesus as the high priest of our confession. That is, the entire discussion of chapters 3 and 4 has been a “Moses and resting” interlude between introducing Jesus as our high priest and then comparing Him to the Old Testament high priests.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (v. 12a) The use of “the word” in Christian circles can be quite confusing. Jesus is referred to as “the Word” in the first 18 verses of John’s gospel, so He is often referred to as “the Word”. I’ve seen people hold up the Bible and claim it as “the word”, as in “Did you bring your copy of the word with you?”. I’ve heard preachers ask, “Does anyone have a word from the Lord?”, yet another application. Initially it sounds like the writer of Hebrews means the spoken word – the Gospel, the good news, the salvation message – which is, in fact, able to pierce one’s heart at the deepest level. But then the next verse says And no creature is hidden from His sight… (v. 13a), clearly implying Jesus as “the Word”. So, substituting, “…Jesus is living and active, … discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”? I don’t have any problem with that statement! That’s the work of His Holy Spirit!

Slava Bohu!