A GREATER PRIESTHOOD. Hebrews 7 Chapters 7 through 10 provide a detailed explanation of why the high priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ is superior to Aaron’s, why the covenant with our Lord is far better than Aaron’s old one, why the new sanctuary where we meet with God is considerably better than the one Moses built, and why the sacrifice for sins that our Lord Jesus Christ made surpasses all the sacrifices of Judaism in every way.
Hebrews 1 describes our Lord Jesus as the Son of God and our Great High Priest. Chapter 2 teaches us that as the Son of Man, He can help those who are tempted. At the end of chapter 4, He is described as our Great High Priest who has experienced all we might face without sin. After covering the basic teachings, chapter 7 shows the Holy Spirit guiding the writer to begin advanced Christian teachings about our Lord's priesthood, especially for those who are mature or growing in their faith in Christ.
Even though most believers today are Gentiles, now both Jews and Gentiles are “church of God.” For our learning, these matters that are taught are really important to us. They will help us appreciate more the work of Christ for us and the blessings our salvation has brought us. That way, we will not take them for granted. Reading the Old Testament will make us aware of the blessings, assurance, freedom, and peace we have in Christ, in contrast to the demands of the law that convict us of our sins.
Strangely, sadly, and really hard to believe, is the fact that after a few generations of Christians had passed, professing “Christians” started copying the restrictive laws and rituals of Old Testament Judaism that held people in bondage. A designated “priesthood” emerged that was separated from the priesthood of all believers. “Clergy and laity” created a division among church members and took away the sense of spiritual responsibility from those who professed to be Christians.
Instead of serving as a testimony that the church is a “kingdom of priests,” that truth was either overlooked or rejected. Building structures for the church's use became “the church” to many people, following the pattern of temple worship in the Old Testament. These buildings became “the house of God,” instead of recognizing the assembly of believers itself as the real “house of God.”
Instead of having access and boldness to enter into the holiest of all, people were taught that some places were forbidden to the common believers. These places were guarded by men who were appointed, and many of them, if not most, were not even believers in salvation by grace alone through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts of repentance became a way to raise money for “the church.” The consequence of such teaching led to practices that became “church doctrine.” Now, many, if not most, people who claim to be Christians are made to hope only that they can do enough good deeds to be accepted by God.
What has happened as a result of compromised Christianity is that there is now a compromise of biblical authority, biblical doctrine, and a compromise with pagan philosophy. Martin Luther realized this, and a period of time followed that became known as the Renaissance, a French word meaning rebirth. Out of this came a new line of thinking, particularly by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Swiss philosopher, who thought that reason wasn’t as important as feelings. That is where much of modern thought originated. “What I feel is right is right, and what I feel is wrong is wrong. Our first duty is to ourselves.” Worldviews began to blend, and now the majority of people view humans as the authority that decides what is right and wrong. God’s standards of righteousness are being replaced with a worldview that suits individuals.
The same issues that faced the Judaizers when Hebrews was written face us today. Do we accept the word of God as the fundamental standard of right and wrong? Are my thoughts about life, death, and eternity what are what is important? If I change my mind about Bible truth, does that make what I think right? This line of thinking has led to communism, globalism, socialism, and an “anything you think is right, is right for you” attitude. This thinking has undermined good government, society, religious beliefs, and even family life.
The doctrine of salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ began as the teaching of the Holy Spirit in the word of God. “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, lest any man should boast,” has become, through false doctrine, “do the best you can, don’t hurt anyone, don’t worry too much because God is too merciful to allow anyone to go to hell.” Another newer form of false doctrine is, “your truth is your truth, and my truth is my truth. It doesn’t matter what the Bible says.” Now, simple truth has been replaced by a complicated form of idolatry called “Christianity.”
Thankfully, there have been, and still are, those who follow the word of God rather than adhere to a man-made “statement of faith.” A lesson for us is to ensure that our beliefs and practices are biblical and Christian, rather than borrowing from Judaism with Christian terms attached.
The topic of discipleship is introduced in Hebrews 7-9. The Hebrew believers were to progress toward becoming mature disciples who could understand the Word of God and then share what they had learned from the "meat of the word of God" with others. The sacrifice they had to make was significant because it involved leaving Judaism behind—the feast days, the temple, the sacrificial lambs, and the religion they had followed as a nation. The old system, which was shadows and types, had passed away now that reality had arrived.
Christ's superiority over the priesthood of Aaron is the theme of chapter 7. The first six verses of chapter 8 teach that Christ is far more significant and superior to the Tabernacle in the wilderness, which was the most complete and perfect type of the Lord Jesus. The old covenant of the law made nothing perfect because it was given as a "schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ." Christ fulfilled the law and is greater than the law [8:7-13]. All the sacrifices offered on the altar under the law foreshadowed the "one sacrifice for sins forever" that Christ made. He was greater than all the sacrifices on Jewish altars [ch.9:1-15]. The life of our Lord Jesus Christ, given through "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanseth us from all sin," was of greater value than all the blood of every sacrificial animal [9:15-28].