JESUS Christ’s High Priesthood after the order of Melchisedec Heb. 7:1-10, FAR MORE EXCELLENT THAN Aaron’S PRIESTHOOD, 11-28
And here men that die ver. 23; ch. 9:27 receive tithes; but there he of whom it is witnessed that he liveth ch. 3:16, 18, 19; 5:6; 6:20, Jn. 11:25, 26; 14:6, 19, Rev. 1:18” (v. 8). The apostle advances a further argument to support his demonstration of the inferiority of the Aaronic order of priesthood to the Melchizedekean: the “here” referring to the former, the “there” to the latter as stated in Gen. 14. the Levitical order of office was but temporary, not so of that priest who blest Abraham. “The type is described as having no end; the order of priesthood which it represents is therefore eternal” (Calvin). “And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him” (vv. 9, 10). F.S. Sampson says, “Abraham was truly the covenant-head of his posterity in the line of Isaac and Jacob, in whose descendants the promises made to him were fulfilled…He was both their natural progenitor and their covenant-head, by the appointment of God…Therefore, when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek as a priest of the most High God, and received a blessing from him, it was a historical fact intentionally introduced by God’s providence, with a view to its becoming a feature of the type (so to speak) which Melchizedek, in his history and functions, was foreordained to present, of the supreme and eternal High Priest…” The principle of federal representation lies at the very base of all God’s dealings with men, as a careful study of Romans 5:12–19 and 1 Corinthians 15:45–47 reveals. Adam stood for and transacted on the behalf of the whole human race, so that what he did, they legally did; hence his sin, guilt and death, are imputed to all his posterity, and God deals with them accordingly. So too Christ stood for and transacted on the behalf of all His seed, so that what He did, they legally did; hence, His meeting the demands of the law, His death and resurrection-life, are imputed to all who believe on Him. In like manner, Abraham stood for and transacted on the behalf of all his posterity, so that God’s covenanting with him, is to be regarded as His covenanting with them also. Proof of this is found in the title here (and nowhere else) given to Abraham, viz., “the patriarch” (v. 4), which means, head or father of a people. The all-important and inexpressibly blessed truth for us to lay hold of is that in vv. 9, 10 we have an illustration of the most soul-satisfying truth revealed in Holy Writ. Just as Levi was “in Abraham”, not only seminally but representatively, so every one of God’s children was “in Christ” when He wrought out that glorious work which has honored and pleased God high above everything else. When the death-sentence of the law fell upon Christ, it fell upon the believer, so that he can unhesitatingly say, “I was crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). So too when Christ arose in triumph from the tomb, all His people shared His victory (Eph. 2:5, 6). When He ascended on high, they ascended too. Let all Christian readers pray earnestly that God may be pleased to reveal to them the meaning, blessedness, and fullness of those words “In Christ”.
