The Book of Hebrews 7:1-10 Abraham, Melchizedek, Levi & the Son of God
Hebrews 7:1-10 · Vern Peterman · Oct 20, 2013
Hebrews, No. 27
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/49264456166

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. We are going to proceed with our study of Hebrews here, going today into the passage Randy just read for us, Hebrews 7, 1 through 10. And now we're going to get in our time machine to do this here. And it'll be about 65 AD, so we're going to climb into the time machine.

Take a look at things from that time and that perspective, these Hebrew or Jewish people who are reading this letter. Last Sunday we looked at the life of Abraham from the time God first gave a promise to him, that's Genesis chapter 12, to the time Abraham received bread and wine and a blessing from Melchizedek in chapter 14. So today what we're going to do is take that background that we covered last week and we're going to bring that into this passage here in Hebrews as we look at the passage going through it verse by verse. Now, one of the things I want to remind you here, just keep in mind that the people whom this letter was written to were very Jewish, okay?

Very Jewish. And they're the kind of folks that would get menorahs tattooed on their arms, and they'd get, you know, WWMD, what would Moses do? That's the mindset that these people have. They're very Jewish. You've got to understand that as you go through this. All right.

One of the backgrounds to this particular passage that we need to bring to light is Psalm 110, 1 through 4. Now Psalm 110, 1 is actually the most quoted Old Testament verse in the New Testament, and it's quoted in the book of Hebrews as well. And then, relevant to this particular passage, quoted several times here in Hebrews, is Psalm 110, verse 4. So let me read it here. And the Lord says to my Lord, and this is God the Father speaking to God the Son, sit at my right hand in the heavenlies until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And then verses 2 and 3 are actually talking about that time when Christ comes again when his enemies are made a footstool for his feet, and then in verse four, which is the passage that's quoted repeatedly for us here in Hebrews, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. A particular verse is quoted several times here in a row in Hebrews.

In Hebrews 5, 6, and 7, 17, they quote Psalm 110, 4, and with discussion of Melchizedek in between, and then bring in parts of that passage in again. And so we'll be looking at the first 10 verses of that Hebrews 7, 1 through 16 passage, taking a look next time at the rest of the verses there about Melchizedek. So, what we have here in this passage, there are four personalities that are brought up and discussed in different ways. One is Abraham himself, who in the Old Testament until chapter 17 is called Abram. And then we also have Melchizedek, the name Melchizedek.

And then Levi, the son of Jacob, and we'll see why that name is relevant shortly. And then finally, the Son of God, and I use specifically that phrase because Christ was the Son of God in eternity past before he was ever born of Mary. He was the Son of God before he was ever born of Mary, and we'll see why that's particularly relevant. Physically speaking, Levi, the son of Jacob, also called Israel, Jacob is also called Israel by God himself, And Jesus Christ and his humanity are both descended from their physical father, Abraham. So Jacob and Jesus both descended from their physical father, Abraham.

Melchizedek and Levi are not related, but they're both the head of an order of priests. Both the head of an order of priests. So Hebrews 7, 1 and 2 reads like this, For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Now, Melchizedek was the king of Salem, which is the early name for Jerusalem.

And that last part of that, we say Salem, but it's actually in the Hebrew Shalom. Shalom, which is the Hebrew greeting, it says peace. But that was the name. And then Jerusalem, Yerushalom, is habitation of peace. So that's the full name as it's called now. Melchizedek was also a priest of the Most High God.

He just shows up there in chapter 14, no prior notice that he's going to show up and nothing afterwards talking about any subsequent event or whatever happened to him. We don't know where he came from and we don't know what happened afterwards. He was there in Salem, which is the early Jerusalem. Melchizedek met Abraham at the King's Valley, just as Abraham was returning from victory over the forces of the four invading kings from the north.

And that King's Valley, as we pointed out here, this is to kind of give you the physical orientation. Here's the Dome of the Rock, which now sits on the Temple Mount, the mount that used to be the place where the temple was located, the Jewish temple. Was located that's the temple where Jesus walked and the disciples came in afterwards That dome of the rock is over a rock that is claimed by the Muslims to be the place where Ishmael was offered, but it is in fact the the place where Isaac was offered and Here at this rock, there is an indentation in the rock that is the size of the Ark of the Covenant. Isn't that interesting? Okay. Here is the outline of the city of David. This is about a thousand years later, but that's an outline of the city of David as it was during the time of David, so when Jerusalem was smaller.

And then Here is the Kidron Valley, which is known as the King's Valley. This is the place where Abraham and the King of Salem, Melchizedek, would meet. So that's the King's Valley that is recorded there in Genesis 14. Now from Genesis 14, we have the blessings that were given by Melchizedek. So in Genesis 14, 18 through 20, It reads this way, and Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine.

Now he was a priest of God Most High, El Elyon in the Hebrew, and he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he, that is Abraham, gave a tenth of all the spoils. So Abram's name in chapter 17 was changed to Abraham. Now, it says Abraham, in verse 2, gave a tenth. Abraham gave a tenth of his gains from defeating the forces of the four kings of the north to Melchizedek, priest of God Most High.

In that era, giving a tenth, a tithe, of one's income was a fairly standard practice. So it was like assumed, of course you're going to give a tenth. That was just kind of across the board around the entire Middle East. You give a tenth for payment of taxes and for contributions for priests. That was just a standard number. Documents from all over the ancient Middle East record that as common practice. So it wasn't any question in Abraham's mind if he's going to give some amount, it would be a tenth. That would be an automatic assumption.

Now, how about these titles or words? King of Righteousness, King of Peace. Let's take a look at that. So the meaning of the name Melchizedek, that is Melchizedek, King of Righteousness. King of Righteousness. The meaning of the name Salem from the Hebrew Shalom is peace. It was the Hebrew greeting they would say Shalom which means peace. Melchizedek is also then being the King of Salem, the King of Peace. So he's the King of Righteousness and the King of Peace, one by his name, Melchizedek, King of Righteousness and King of Peace, because he's the King of Salem, which means peace.

Melchizedek was a prototype of Christ. Some have said, well, he must be Christ pre-incarnate. No, not exactly. But he is a prototype of Christ in various ways, as this passage will step through. He was both a king and a priest. Now, when is Christ a priest? Right now he is our high priest. That's what Hebrews has been telling us.

And he will be a king when he comes again to reign. And by the way, his titles are, he will be the king of Israel when he comes to reign, as soon as seven years from now. He will be the King of Israel and he will be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords over the Gentile nations. That's a Gentile Empire title. King of Kings and Lord of Lords over the Gentile nations.

So Melchizedek was a king and a priest and Christ will be a king and is now a priest, our High Priest. He is known by righteousness and peace. And that, real interestingly, that combination of words, righteousness and peace, come together in Psalm 85, 8 through 13, again in Isaiah 15 through 20, and then in the New Testament in Romans 5, 1 and James 3, 17 and 18. The combination of those two words, righteousness and peace, come together in those Old Testament and New Testament passages. So Melchizedek was a prototype of Christ in those names and titles, the meaning of his name and the title that he had. Melchizedek, King of Righteousness, and as the King of Shalom, or the King of Salem, King of Peace.

Now in Hebrews 7.3 it reads like this, Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.

Now at this point I have to remind you, these people were very Jewish. Very Jewish. And why am I reminding you that? I'm reminding you of that because they do something that we would probably scratch our heads at. But it's a Jewish practice. Let me let you know what I'm talking about.

Since no father or mother nor family connections are recorded for Melchizedek, and of course we've seen in Genesis, as we've studied through it before, lots of genealogies, but not for this guy. Not for Melchizedek. No father, mother, or family connections are recorded for Melchizedek. No date of birth. No date of death. By implication, he was like the Son of God. Now, what are we doing? We're saying it's not recorded that he had a mother and a father. It's not recorded his date of birth or date of death. It's not tied to anything. Did he have a mother and a father? Yes, he did. He's a man.

But the absence of those things in the Jewish mindset, this is why I remind you these are very Jewish minded people who are reading this, the absence of those things being recorded would imply that he had none to the Jewish mind. Because in the Jewish mind, of course you always give a genealogy, right? And if you don't, well, you must not have a mother or father. So that's why the author puts things this way. It's a Jewish mindset. It's not one that we would typically have. We would say, well, of course he has a mother and a father. And the Jews would say, where's the genealogy, right? Where's the genealogy?

But these things are actually more true of the Son of God than they are of Melchizedek, who actually did have a father and a mother and was born and died, though these things are not recorded. And that's why the passage has, let me back up to it, the Son of God and not Jesus Christ. Did Jesus Christ have a mother and a father? Jesus was born of Mary. So that's why the identification here, the Son of God. As the eternal Son of God, even in eternity past, Christ did not have a mother and a father, didn't have a date of birth or a date of death. So that's why this title, Son of God, and not Jesus Christ, are put here in these words. Now the other thing that happens here is we begin to see a contrast between Melchizedek and Levi. Both Levi and Melchizedek are at the head of an order of priests. One must have a genealogical connection with Levi and Aaron to be a Levitical priest. It takes both. You have to have a genealogical connection with Levi and Aaron to be a Levitical priest.

Otherwise, you can't be. You're not allowed to be. Checking the connection to Levi is shown in Ezra 2, 61-63 and Nehemiah 7, 63-65. They go through the genealogies and check them out and they'd say, Yes, you are descended from Levi and from Aaron, and so you can be a priest. But somebody else would come in and say, nope, your genealogy doesn't check out. You're not doing this. We won't let you do it because you're not descended from Levi and Aaron. Can't do it.

With the priestly order of Melchizedek, it is not necessary to show a connection by parentage or family to be a priest of Melchizedek's order. Melchizedek himself did not have a genealogical connection revealed. So that's why a comparison is made here between Melchizedek and Levi. In the tribe of Levi, descended from Aaron, you could have priests only. But with Melchizedek, the genealogical connection and requirement is not there.

That's why Jesus, who is actually of the tribe of Judah, could be a priest of the order of Melchizedek now Hebrews 7.4 now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the choice's spoils what he's about to tell them is Melchizedek is higher Melchizedek is better than Abraham yeah this guy who's Got no genealogy. Better than Abraham. Abraham, we got a connection, you know, fathers and whatnot, all the way back to Adam. Melchizedek? No genealogical connection. He's better. All right.

So, in Hebrews 7, 4 through 10, it's going to present points of comparison and contrast between the orders of Levi and Melchizedek in order to show that the order of Melchizedek is the greater order. the greater order so the rest of the passage here will be looking at the reason for doing this is because the Hebrews the Jews to whom this letter was written were thinking of going back to the temple sacrificial system operated by the Levites the descendants of Levi were the only ones operating temple and they're thinking of going back to it and so what he's going to do is to tell them look Jesus is of the order of Melchizedek and that's higher than the order of the Levites that's higher than the order of the Levites now to be an actual priest in the Jewish sacrificial system one had to be descended from Aaron who was also descended from Levi must So get this distinction.

To be a priest you have to be descended from Levi and Aaron. Both. Those who were descended from Levi but were not descended from Aaron were given other temple and temple related duties and those were called Levites. And so that's why you will see several times in the Old and New Testament the priests and the Levites. So the priests were descended from Levi, but also from Aaron. Those who were descended from Levi, but not from Aaron, were called Levites.

So those are the two different terms. And so they'd be given other duties. Example, they'd be temple guards. They weren't handling the sacrifices, but they had duties in the temple, and they might be a temple guard. They might be a temple scribe. Let's see.

On this side over here is where they kept all the genealogical records. And you had to have people keeping that organized and updating them. So they kept all the genealogical records because it was important to know what's your genealogical history. One, we've got to know whether you can be a Levite. We've got to know whether you can be a priest. We've got to know who you're descended from. And so all the genealogical records for all of Israel were kept right there. on that part of the temple. And so you'd have Levites who were assigned to that duty. You'd also have Levites that would be kept in charge of maintenance.

And even this was a temple in operation, but it was also a temple that was being reconstructed. That began under Herod the Great, who wasn't all that great, right? And it was continuing all through the time of Christ and into the early decades of the apostles, into the early 60s AD. And you know who did the work on that temple? You couldn't bring in just any old craftsman, because this is an operating temple, and not everybody is allowed to go in there. So what they did is they trained the Levites to do the work. They trained them to be stonemasons, and they trained them to do metalwork. So they do that.

They also had musicians. They had people playing harps and other instruments of the blocks from the temple that were dumped off the edge. One of them has some words etched in, and this is the trumpeter's place. etched into one of the stones. And so they had harps and they had various musical instruments and the Levites were called to be musicians. You're a Levite and we need musicians so you're going to learn to play the harp.

And you also see that kind of semi-circular set of steps. Let's see here right in here. See that semicircular set of steps They would come in at certain times throughout the day and they'd have choirs set up there and they'd have instruments set up there and they would play okay, and that would be part of the Temple process, but it would be the Levites would be given that duty as well. So various things other than handling the sacrifices and various things around the temple would be the job of the Levites, and then the priests would specifically be the ones who would deal with the sacrifices directly. Okay.

So it says the choicest spoils versus food, or choicest spoils versus things that spoil. I'm sorry, don't want me to confuse you. The last words of this verse highlight another difference between the tenth given to Melchizedek and the tenth given to the tribe of Levi. So he's making a difference here. Abraham gave to Melchizedek, the king of righteousness, the spoils of war that were the top... the word actually means, the choices, is actually the top of the heap.

The top of the heap. Here was the pagan custom. This wasn't a Jewish custom. What they would do is, after they'd finish a battle, they'd go and take off all the spoils of war, everything from weapons to things that they got off of people to be of value, and they would pile it up. And they'd take the top of that heap and give that to the gods. So that's the word that's used here. That's the top of the heap. the top of the heap, but the tribe of Levi was given food from the land. It was a very different custom.

So what Melchizedek got from Abraham were pieces of hardware, goods of different kinds that were of value and actually of lasting value. What the Levites got, the tribe of Levi got, whether they were Levites or priests, what they got a tenth of was everybody else's, all the other tribes, food. So a difference in the kind of thing that's given. The choice of spoils that Abraham gave were things that lasted. What the tribe of Levi was given was food, things that get consumed. So that's the difference between what each of them gave. Abraham gave the top of the heap, the top of the heap of spoils.

Now Hebrews 7.5, it reads like this. And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest's office have a commandment in the law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham. So the tribe of Levi collected a tenth because that was a part of the law of Moses. Under the law of Moses, the tribe of Levi collected a tenth from the production of the land from all the other tribes of the people of Israel. And so this was ordered in Deuteronomy 14, 22 through 27.

Oh, and by the way, ever have anybody beat you over the head, I'm saying figuratively speaking, with, you know, you gotta tithe, right? Some pastors will really get into that. You gotta tithe, you know? The thing is, they'll take it out of this passage here in Deuteronomy, and what they'll do is some pastor will go and tell everybody, you gotta tithe, and then they'll go out for lunch over at Red Lobster. Well, red lobsters, and lobster, any of that, is against the law of Moses to eat. So what are they doing?

Taking the tithing thing and then going and breaking the law. Oh, and by the way, the passage right after this one about tithing is you got to let your land life follow every seven years. So that's why all the pastors, of course, who follow this, let their lawn dry up every seventh year, right? Okay. Okay, anyway.

So this was because the tribe of Levi was to serve in the temple. In other words, instead of farming and ranching and all that, the tribe of Levi was to serve in the temple so they didn't have the time to farm and to raise livestock because they're busy in the temple all the time. But also they don't have an assignment of tribal land in Israel. So Levi specifically had no land inheritance. It was not spelled out just kind of by default. They didn't get one. They were specifically told, you don't have one, okay?

Numbers 18, 20 through 24. So here is the map of how the lands were assigned. And you see the different tribes, Asher and Naphtali and Manasseh. Notice Manasseh actually has two areas. and Gad and Reuben and Ephraim and Dan and Benjamin and Judah, all the different tribes had lands assigned, but not the tribe of Levi.

The tribe of Levi did not have a land assigned, so all the other tribes had to support them. So they didn't have the land to grow anything on. They also didn't have the time, because they were always busy in the temple. I showed you the picture of the temple. There were even places to stay while they were working in the temple. So the tribe of Levi is not given land, and that's specifically by exclusion in the Law of Moses.

Now here is the family tree of Abraham, and you have this on your handout on page two. And I specifically made this one a different color and different letter size so you could identify it. The third one in there of the tribes is the tribe of Levi. The next one in is Judah, and that's where David and Jesus himself are descended. So this is the family tree, if you will, from Abraham down to the tribes and then through the line of David and Christ. Now, so while the Levites were given a tent from all the other tribes, it was commanded under the law of Moses.

And by the way, you had to pay a 20% late fee if you paid late on those tithes. I'm serious. You had a 20% late fee. You had to give 20% more if you were late. So I don't know how they charge interest that way, but that's what you had to do. That's the penalty. You're going to give more. By the way, one more thing about the time.

If you live too far away, and it didn't say how far away, too far away was. If you live too far away from the place where they had the storehouses for the tribe of Levi, you had to throw a party. I'm serious. I'm serious, you had to throw a party, take a tenth, and you had to throw a big party for everybody. So anyway, I guess it was really cool if you lived too far away, huh? Alright.

The other tribes gave a tenth of their production from the land to the tribe of Levi under the law of Moses. In other words, you give a tenth by law. which commanded them to give the tenth or face the consequences. You're going to give it anyway, so you might as well give it on time instead of paying the 20% late fee.

But just as God made gracious promises to Abraham, Genesis chapter 12, which he did not have to give, God was not compelled to make a promise Abraham did have not have God over a barrel. Okay, there was no compulsion on God's part. He graciously gave the promise Abraham Gave to Melchizedek even though he was under no obligation to give anything at all He didn't have to give anything to Melchizedek So the difference is the tenth given to Levi was under compulsion. And by the way, you better pay it on time Whereas the tenth given by Abraham to Melchizedek was not under compulsion. It was a completely gracious gift. He didn't have to give it. So Abraham's gift tent was under grace. The tent given to the tribe of Levi was under law.

So here's how Hebrew 7.6 reads, But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tent from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises, Abraham. So here's the way it shows up, and God makes a gracious covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12, 1 through 3. And I want to skip down to verse 3, the first line of which is, I will bless those who bless you. Did Melchizedek bless Abraham? Yes! So what do you have? I will bless Melchizedek Because Melchizedek blessed you. Okay? Because Melchizedek blessed you. And I will bless those who bless you.

And that's exactly what Melchizedek did. Now, in verse 6, we have no idea whose genealogy Melchizedek fits into. It's just not given. We've got all the other genealogies in Genesis and everything's all nailed down tight, but we have no idea what genealogy Melchizedek fits into.

But we do know Melchizedek had blessed the God Most High, El Elyon, and also Abraham whom God had blessed. So he blesses God and blesses Abraham whom God had blessed. Melchizedek had blessed the one whom God had blessed so he would be blessed. That line we saw there in Genesis 12, first line in verse 3. Melchizedek blessed Abraham to whom God had made the promises. That's what this spells out here.

So Hebrews 7.7 reads like this. But without any dispute, the lesser is blessed by the greater. So there's a lesser and greater ranking here. And he's saying, it's very clear, the lesser Abraham is blessed by the greater Melchizedek. Melchizedek is even greater than Abraham. He who blesses is greater.

Now, don't get me wrong here. We have a custom. If somebody sneezes and we say bless you, that doesn't mean you're greater. Okay? It just doesn't work that way. All right. So if we say bless you to somebody, that doesn't mean you're greater. Okay? No ranking here.

The one who blesses first is greater. That's the biblical pattern. And actually you start in Genesis and keep going every time there's a blessing. The one who blesses first is greater. The one who blesses first is greater. That's a principle that gets carried throughout scripture. And so he's saying, absolutely, that's the pattern. The one who blesses is greater.

So that means that Melchizedek who is the one who blessed Abraham is even greater than the Jews highly revered Abraham from whom the tribe of Levi is descended. So that automatically then says that Melchizedek is higher than Levi as a priestly order. Melchizedek is higher than Levi as a priestly order.

Why? Because Melchizedek blessed Abraham and the Levites are descended from Abraham. so the priestly order that is higher is that of Melchizedek so Hebrews 7 verse 8 reads like this in this case mortal men receive tithes but in that case one receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives on and the pronouns are going to really confuse us so let's untangle the pronouns here in this case mortal men, those of the tribe of Levi remember it's plural, receive tithes but in that case that is One, Melchizedek, receives them of whom it is witnessed that he, Melchizedek, lives on.

That is, his descendants are not recorded. This is, again, this Jewish mindset. If you don't have a genealogy, then they must not have died. So, receiving tithes and a record of death. Aaron of the tribe of Levi is the first priest under the law of Moses. He died. We have that recorded in numbers in the law. Numbers 33, 38, and 39. Aaron died. Okay? Aaron died. And so did all the rest of those who are of the tribe of Levi. These received tithes. That is, they received a tenth. Melchizedek also received the tithe, the tenth.

Remember the top of the heap? Right? From Abraham, but his death is not recorded for us, implying as an argument from silence, per the Jewish custom, that he lived on. That's why it says he lived on. Because his death is not recorded and he doesn't have a genealogy. So Hebrews 7, 9, and 10, and so to speak, through Abraham, even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes. And boy, this is going to be another one of those Jewish things, right? For he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him." You say, what? What? Okay, we're going to partly expand and explain, and then I'm going to fully expand and explain. Alright? So we'll get there.

In a manner of speaking, through Abraham, even his descendant Levi, who received tithes from the other tribes, paid tithes to Melchizedek, for Levi was still on the loins of his father Abraham when Melchizedek met Abraham." Now, let me fully expand and explain on that. Verses 9 and 10 say, in effect, that Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek through his father Abraham. Now, we may be scratching our head here, and that's okay.

These verses are using the same logic of position and headship that we see elsewhere in the Word of God. And what do I mean by that? Here's an example. Romans 5, 12-14 and 1 Corinthians 15-22 have us in Adam, even though we were not there physically, so that what he did was also our act. He is our head. Do you see that? In Adam we sinned. Were you there at the garden? Did you eat the... No, you didn't. But we were in Adam He acted as our head. And this same principle is what the author of Hebrews is drawing upon here. Here is an example from descendants being in the father, and even in the mother, in Genesis 25-23.

And the Lord said to her, that is to Rebekah, Isaac's wife, two nations are in your womb, one headed, but you can imagine having two nations, that's unthinkable. One headed by Jacob and the other headed by Esau. Well, I'm such a literalist, anyway. But two nations are in your womb, one headed by Jacob and the other headed by Esau. And the two peoples will be separated from your body. And the one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.

Do you know that the last record that we have of the line of Esau is in 70 AD, when the Romans were attacking Jerusalem, a number of people from the line of Esau came and volunteered to go into Jerusalem and to fight with the Jews against the Romans. They didn't come out.

That's the last record that we have of the line of Esau. So what's amazing, do any of you know and hear about Jews today? of those of descendants of Jacob. We have millions of descendants of Jacob. We don't know of any of the line of Esau. So far as we have record, died out in 70 AD.

Amazing. So this is an example, however, of here you have two nations in your womb and it's two babies really. The descendants are in the father and in the mother of the nations. Malachi 1, 2 and 3 and Romans 9, 11 and 13 also have similar mention of this.

So then as we look at this passage in total, the order of Melchizedek is superior. So by several lines of logic, and I'll have to admit it's Jewish logic, and observation. The Jews are going to look at things and examine things differently out of their cultural mindset. And we see that Melchizedek and his priestly order are superior to the priestly order of Levi and Aaron. Melchizedek and his priestly order are superior to the priestly order of Levi and Aaron.

So the author of Hebrews is bringing these points out because his readers are thinking of slipping back under the temple sacrificial system which is run by who? Those who are descended from Levi and Aaron. Only those who are descended from Levi and Aaron are going to handle the sacrifices. The rest of them are Levites who will handle other temple duties.

That's the way it's going to happen. Going back under the temple sacrificial system would be a move to an inferior priesthood. Stick with Christ. Stay with Christ. Because if you go under that temple sacrificial system, you're going to go under an inferior priesthood. And why would you do that? Under an inferior, merely human high priest, Setting aside Christ, who is our High Priest forever. See the difference? See the distinction? Now, I have another slide that's not on your handout.

It's called, Do you want that for here or to go? So, spiritually speaking, we can ask that question. Do you want that for here, on planet Earth, or to go? Likely not many of us are tempted to go back to the Jewish sacrificial system, especially since it ended in 70 AD. It's been a while. So that's probably not a temptation for us. However, it is possible for any of us to settle for something less than Christ. And that wouldn't be good. You see, the world, the flesh, and the devil offer a wide variety of alternatives to Christ.

Lots of them. A great number of them. All you gotta do is change the channel, right? You can see all the different ones. So the world, the flesh, and the devil offer lots of alternatives, a wide variety of alternatives, to fellowship and relationship with Christ. And what's even worse, even believers can get caught up in Christian alternatives to faith in Christ alone. Yeah, we can get caught up in Christian alternatives to faith in Christ alone.

What do I mean by that? We can get caught up in, oh, hey, this church has just a fantastic music program. It's very entertaining. Right? So we can go to church for entertainment. We can go to have our ears tickled and to hear the things we want to hear. Things that are easy to hear, right? We can have other Christian alternatives as to, how do I feel? We have places that really stroke the feelings or give you special experiences. So there are Christian alternatives to faith in Christ alone.

But once you understand what Christ is offering, why would you settle for something less, even if it is among Christians? OK, let's pray. Lord, we thank you. As we look at this passage, we see very clearly that the Hebrews were thinking of flipping under something that was less than fellowship and relationship with Christ, less than Christ is the High Priest. And we, too, face some similar temptations to fall under something that the world offers, to fall under something that seems appealing, Even something that gets classified as Christian. But Lord, you've called us to fellowship and relationship with you. And we thank you for that. We thank you for making it clear what is your desire for us and what may be our own desire or someone else's. We thank you for that. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.