We Have Such a High Priest

April 4, 2024

Building People of Substance for Works of Power

“ For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man”.

Hebrews 7:28 – 8:1-2 ESV

We have been on quite a journey in our discussion of tithing. Although we saw foreshadowings of the idea in the Garden, it was Genesis 14 before we found the first mention of giving a tenth:

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Genesis 14:18-20 ESV

Abram had just defeated four kings who had taken his kinsman Lot and his family from Sodom. He came to a place called the Valley of the Kings. There he met a person named Melchizedek, who was both a king and a priest. Abram broke bread with him and received the blessing of the Most High God from him. He then gave him the first tithe. Interestingly, this is also the first appearance of Melchizedek and the first use of the term “priest.”

Now fast-forward to the New Testament book of Hebrews. This letter is an exhortation to Jewish believers to resist the temptation to be drawn back into their old ways of worship. Beginning in chapter 4, the author reveals Jesus as our new High Priest. Like the Levitical priests of the Mosaic Law, he experienced the reality of being human, which enabled him to understand our pain and temptations. Unlike them, however, he was not from the tribe of Levi and therefore did not qualify to be a priest under the Law.

Beginning in chapter 5, Jesus is introduced as our new High Priest in a class that existed before the Law and will continue throughout eternity. He did not receive his priesthood through human birth, but was appointed by God to be a priest of the same type as Melchizedek. To make this point, Hebrews quotes Psalm 110:4: “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” In the first reference in Hebrews to this event, Christ’s sonship is linked to His appointment as high priest.

So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.” 6 As He also says in another place: “YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK”.

Hebrews 5:5-6

Our new priest, Jesus Christ, is the risen Son of God and is of the same order of priesthood as Melchizedek. He goes on to describe this new priesthood as the God-ordained source of salvation (5:9-10), the steadfast anchor of our souls (6:19-20), endless and indestructible (7:15-17), and established by a divine oath (7:20-21). In Hebrews 8:1 he makes the remarkable assertion that “the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest.” This is an extremely important matter. Jesus, the Son of God is now and forever our High Priest in the Heavenly Holy of Holies.

In Hebrews 7 we find the last mention of Melchizedek by name. It is also the last mention of tithing. I don’t believe in coincidences, especially in the Bible, where God has carefully crafted the narrative to teach us about Himself and His relationship with man. The eternal connection of the tithe to the eternal priesthood of Christ is no coincidence.

So what’s the big deal about having a new and eternal high priest who is in the order of Melchizedek? God is making a point: the Law may have passed away, but we have a newly instituted High Priest who is eternal. This priesthood existed before the Law and continues to exist after the Law. The first mention of the tithe was associated with Melchizedek, and the last mention, nearly 2,000 years later, is associated with the One who is now eternally in the same line. It has not passed away.

Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? Hebrews 7:4-11 NKJV

What do these parallels and connections between the priesthood of Melchizedek and the priesthood of Jesus Christ teach us? What is God telling us by associating the tithe with both?

• Abram brought the tenth to an eternal king/priest who blessed him, and then blessed God Most High. Abram is our example of faith. We walk in his footsteps of faith and are blessed together with him. (Romans 4:12 / Galatians 3:9.) If Abram tithed to the priest of the Most High God, so will I.
• The tithe expresses how great we believe our Priest to be. It is our acknowledgment of the blessing that comes to the lesser from the greater. It is a tribute to the God who gives us our victory. The tithe gives witness that we believe He lives. With my tithe, I decare that God is my source, not man.
• Here mortal men receive the tithe, but there He receives it. Our tithe is deposited in the storehouse of Heaven by our new High Priest who lives forever.
• The tithe has not changed, but our High Priest has, along with our covenant. In Genesis 14, Abram gave tithes, then lifted his hand to the Most High God, acknowledging the covenant. Immediately thereafter, we read, “the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” (Genesis 15:1). Then God reiterated His covenant with Abram and sealed it with a spectacular, supernatural sacrifice. (Genesis 15)

Hebrews 7 outlines the correlation and continuation of the covenant priesthood that was before the Law, and now replaces the Levitical priesthood. It describes the eternal nature of the tithe and connects it to that new priesthood. Immediately thereafter, in Chapter 8, we read those stirring words, “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6 NKJV). The tithe is part of the eternal covenant, not just the temporary Mosaic addition.

Somebody Said: “Tithing is a practical expression of our faith and trust in God’s provision.” — Rick Warren

Here’s the point: Those who maintain that tithing was under the Law of Moses and therefore not for us miss the point. The tithe was part of the first covenant with Abraham. He gave the tithe to a priest who was also a king. After the law, the One who fulfilled the law was appointed our high priest of the same order as that first one, Melchizedek. Here on earth we bring our tithes to mortal men, but our heavenly High Priest receives them in heaven. The tithe we bring says the same thing as Abram’s tithe: Jehovah is my God. He is my source. I am grateful for what He has done and I trust Him for what He says He will do. We are in covenant. My tithe acknowledges that Jesus lives and is the mediator and the surety of our new and better covenant.

And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “THE LORD HAS SWORN AND WILL NOT RELENT, ‘YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK’ “), by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.

Hebrews 7:20-22 NKJV

Pastor Virgil

3141 W. Ironwood Hill Dr.

Tucson, AZ 85741

www.fcftucson.org

Complete Class: “The Tithe. An 8-hour course focused on God’s plan and purpose in the tithe. The videos and course outline are available free of charge on the FCF Tucson YouTube channel.