Lesson 4 - Rebuke and Return to Melchizedek

• So why is the writer so angry?
• What exactly is he saying in the first part of Chaper 6?
• Aren’t we forgetting about Melchizedek?
• So this Melchizedek was a big deal?

So why is the writer so angry?

Ah, you noticed! Yes, he really lays into them in the last of Chapter 5 and the first of Chapter 6, doesn’t he. And for good reason - these people were about to turn their backs on Jesus, just as the Jews had turned their backs on Moses. Their rebellion cost them the chance to enter the Promised Land because God slammed the door on them in judgement.

Now Jesus, far greater than Moses, arrives on the scene as the perfect Son of God and Son of Man (OK - that’s from the Gospels, not Hebrews) and declares a message that goes far beyond anything Moses offered. These believers at first committed to the Messenger and the message, but now they were ready to abandon their commitment.

“You fools!” cries the author. “Don’t you remember what happened to them? Don’t you realize that you are rejecting something much greater and are in danger of a much greater judgment?”

Remember, the New Testament, especially Hebrews, came from the Mid-East, not the Mid-West. Except for love affairs, politics, and football games people in Peoria sit around and calmly discuss things. In Palestine they are in each other’s face about everything! Passion is a way of life for them, whether bargaining for a camel or a wife, they carry on the same way.

A young lady at Salem Alliance told me that she had married into an Arab family. On her first visit to her in-laws she saw first-hand how they talked and argued. One day she almost ran out of the house in tears, fearing that bloodshed was the next step! It wasn’t, for they weren’t angry. They were just discussing a minor family problem.

Such is the personality behind Hebrews. Now think of this - God chose such a person to write this book. Why? Because God Himself feels the same passion about these people - and us! God used passionate people to write these books because He is a passionate God - passionate about His people, about those who made a commitment to His Son, and especially about those who are about to turn their backs on Him.

I don’t think he’s angry - I think he’s passionate about these people and their continuing commitment.

Return to top

What exactly is he saying in the first part of Chaper 6?

Good question! Lots of ink and paper have been spent, wasted some say, in trying to answer it. Chapter 6:1-8 plays a major part in discussions of Eternal Security.” Some, usually known as “Calvinists,” maintain that once a person enters God’s family there’s no way that person can ever loose that family connection. You may sin so much that God will end your physical life in discipline, but He'll never disinherit you.

Others, usually known as “Armineans” after Arminius the theologian, not the Armenian area of Turkey, claim that Yes, you can sin so much that God will say “Depart from me. I never knew you.”

Oh, boy - why do I get into these things?

I don’t know, or care, if you have a position, or if you even care! If you believe in eternal security, you’d better not use it as an excuse for your sin. If you don’t believe in eternal security, remember that God’s forgiveness is still offered as long as you are alive. Whatever or position or lack of one, our lives should look the same to those around us.

So what’s the writer’s point? Well, if Miss Piggy were writting this, she’d say, “YOU GUYS ARE ON THIN ICE!” Forget about the “eternal” dimension of these verses for a moment. These guys are heading into trouble, serious trouble with God Almighty, and they had better straighten up and fly right.

Return to top

Aren’t we forgettng about Melchizedek?

Nope, because we’re on our way back to him. First the writer lightens up, much like a wise father who shows his errant son the strap and woodshed (what such were still in vogue) and then says, “Now I know you won't do anything to make me use this there, will you?” So he writes, “Now I'm convinced of better things concerning you.”

They had been doing fine, and were still on track to some degree. What they had lost was their diligence, their commitment, their mutual support as they patiently struggled through life. Yes, they were in danger of falling away and into judgment, but they weren’t there yet.

So, how does the writer get them back to Melchizedek? He first points to Abraham as an example of someone who was given an impressive promise from God and spent years patiently waiting until he recieved it. Along the way he went through many spiritual failures, but he finally gained enough spiritual strength to trust God, to truly “have faith” in Him.

Now we - you, me, and the recipients of this book - have received a major promise from God, to wit (love that phrase!) If we believe that Jesus died for our sins, that his death satisfies God’s judgment against us, then we are forgiven and reconciled to Him. This is the promise, and in this promise lies our hope.

Now back to Hebrews, for the author gets us back to Melchizedek - bet you thought I’d forgotten - when he refers to this hope as an “anchor of the soul,” resting behind the “veil” where Jesus has gone since he is a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

The symbolism here is based on the ritual established through Moses - the tabernacle, the veil that separates the Holy place from the Holy of Holies, and the entrance of the High Priest into the Holy of Holies. Jesus, however, enters the Holy of Holies on a different basis than Aaron and the sons of Aaron.

Return to top

So this Melchizedek was a big deal?

Real big! In Chapter 7 the writer spends a lot of space - 10 verses to be exact - showing how much bigger Melchizedek was than Abraham. Check it out -

• Melchizedek has no recorded genealogy - he enters the record a priest and leaves a priest.
  
• Melchizedek blesses Abraham. Clearly the greater blesses the lesser.
  
• Abraham gives Melchizedek a tenth (=tithe) of what he had won in the battle. Again- the lesser gives the tithe to the greater.

Pretty impressive! Jesus' priesthood was based on someone much larger than Moses or Abraham. The high priesthood of the Messiah had a far different basis than that of Aaron and his high priesthood.

Now a question for you, O wise reader - Aaron received his appointment as high priest under the rules and regulations of the Mosaic Covenant. Now we find that the Messiah’s high priesthood appointment has a different basis. What does this mean concerning the Mosaic Covenant?

Nope - you'll have to wait until the next lesson!

Return to top