Day 11 - Hebrews 7:5 - 7:15

Hebrews 7:5-15 

5 Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel, who are also descendants of Abraham. 6 But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. 7 And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.

8 The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on. 9 In addition, we might even say that these Levites—the ones who collect the tithe—paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him. 10 For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.

11 So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?

12 And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. 13 For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. 14 What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.

15 This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared.

Terrie's Comments -

This passage is the beginning of establishing why a new covenant with a different order of priest was necessary.  The order of Levi and Aaron could never acheive perfection because they were not perfect themselves and every single priest died.  

Because Melchizedek (Melchi - for short) was used as a type of Jesus Christ his brief appearance in the Old Testament shows us a few things.  Because the Bible doesn't record any ancestry or any end Melchi is seen as eternal (just like Jesus).  

verses 8-10 talk about how since the tribe of Levi came from the line of Abraham and Abraham paid a tithe to Melchi technically the Levitical priests paid tithe to Melchi through Abraham's tithe.

verse 11 is a retorical question kind of like asking "so if a rock and a bar of soap, on which we used to wash our clothes in the river, could have achieved the cleanest clothes possible why did anyone have to go to the effort of inventing our modern day washing machine instead of continuing to use the rock and bar of soap in the river?"

Because we have a different high priest who doesn't come from the Levites the law must change because the Levitical law was given to the Levitical priests to carry out in their duties.  

Tori's Comments - 

If I'm honest, Terrie had to sit down with me and talk me through this section. I was so lost, you have no clue.
I totally bypassed all talk about Melchisnfdjddek last section because hope was being compared to an anchor and I liked that. But there's no escaping Meldfndjdiunvdkdek, and I had to face the facts that I couldn't just pretend he didn't exist to get through this section.

First, Terrie and I named him Melky, because Meldsfnjskdhfdek is a mouthful.
Second of all, Terrie and I read it out loud together, and I made sure to give her multiple headaches by asking what was happening every two seconds.

And I'm getting it, I think. Call me a work in progress.

I understand that Melky is a metaphor or whatever for Jesus. One that lived thousands of years ago. One that either has immortality or is MIA. I don't know beyond that. 
I'm assuming it will be elaborated on tomorrow. Now, I'm going to go read Terrie's comments for this section, because it turns out my brain is turning into mush.


Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!