The New High Priest
The letter to the Hebrews begins by stressing the superiority of the “word spoken in the Son” over all previous revelations that were “spoken in the prophets.” And this includes the Great Lawgiver himself, Moses, and it indicates the fundamental weaknesses of the Levitical priesthood and its sacrificial system.
The previous words provided by the Hebrew
prophets were true but partial and preparatory. But now, “upon the last of
these days,” God has “spoken” with great finality in one who is a “Son.”
And since this word is complete, it is “better
than” the partial revelations of the past. “Having achieved the purification
of sins,” the Son sat down at God’s right hand as the “appointed heir of
all things.”
And logically, this means the word spoken “in
the prophets,” especially the Levitical code with its priesthood and
sacrifices, failed to achieve the “purification of sins” so desperately needed
by the people of God.
NEW PRIESTHOOD
After demonstrating Christ’s superiority over
the angels, the letter warns that if the previous incomplete word included “just
recompense” for disobedience, likewise, believers cannot escape a far worse punishment if they ignore
the superior word “spoken in the Son” - (Hebrews 2:1-4).
The letter to the Hebrews demonstrates
the superiority of this new “sonly” word by contrasting his priesthood,
covenant, and sacrifice to the Levitical priesthood, covenant, and repeated animal
sacrifices performed in the ancient Tabernacle.
The fact that God promised a future priesthood “after the order of Melchizedek” demonstrates beyond doubt that the Levitical priesthood was incapable of achieving the “purification of sins.”
And that priestly order required multiple priests
and animal sacrifices, and it was received at Mount Sinai as an integral part
of the Torah. Therefore, and quite logically, the promised change in the
priesthood means also a “change of
law”:
- (Hebrews 7:11-12) – “If indeed, therefore, there had been a perfecting through means of the Levitical priesthood, for the people thereon have had based a code of laws, what further need was there according to the order of Melchizedek for a different priest to be raised up, and not according to the order of Aaron? For seeing there is to be a change of the priesthood, of necessity, of law, also, comes a change.”
Due to human mortality, the
Levitical priesthood is dependent on lineal descent and multiple generations of
priests. Humanity's frailty was always the weakness of the system. Therefore, a
fundamental change in the law was
necessary, or at least, a change in the law of the priesthood and sacrifices.
THE NEW HIGH PRIEST
In contrast, the priesthood “after the
order of Melchizedek” is perpetual since it is based on the endless resurrected life of the Son.
He is, therefore, the “priest forever” who serves in the “real Tabernacle
not made with hands” for his people - (Hebrews 7:15-17).
Unlike the Levitical priests, the priest,
singular, after the “order of Melchizedek” is installed by the declared
word of Yahweh - (“Yahweh swore and will not regret: You are a priest
everlastingly”); therefore, he holds the priesthood “un-transmissible.”
Moreover, he became the “guarantor of a
better covenant” and saves “to the uttermost” everyone who
approaches God through him because he “lives evermore to intercede in their
behalf” - (Hebrews 7:19-25).
Under the old system, once each year, the
high priest entered the “holy of holies” with blood from sacrificial
animals to stand briefly in
the sanctuary where he applied the blood of animals to cleanse the sins of the
nation committed in the preceding year.
In contrast, Jesus entered the “real sanctuary” once-for-all with his own blood to atone for the sins of his people, then he “sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens” where he remains to this day.
The old priesthood and its animal sacrifices
were mere “glimpses and shadows of the heavenly realities,” just as
Moses was told to make the earthly Tabernacle “according to the pattern he
had seen in the mount” - (Hebrews 8:1-5).
Jesus is also the mediator of a better
covenant legislated on better promises. If the “first
covenant” had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second
one. However, having found fault with it, the Lord announced the coming
days when “I will conclude a new covenant” with His people - (Hebrews
8:6-7).
And according to Hebrews, this new
covenant is NOT “according to the covenant” made at Sinai. It is NOT
a “renewed” or modified covenant, but something new, one that is necessary
because the old legislation was incapable of “achieving the purification of
sins” - (Hebrews 8:8-13).
By establishing the promised new covenant
through his sacrificial death, Jesus has rendered the “first one obsolete.”
Even now. it is in the process of disappearing, at least, from the perspective
of the epistle.
Thus, the jurisdiction of the Levitical code
over the conduct, hopes, and beliefs of the people of God is superseded by the
“word of the Son.” Therefore, anyone who wishes to remain under the old system
chooses a system that is obsolete and incapable of cleansing the stain of sin
from the believer’s “conscience.”
