Thursday, 18th February 2021
Ps Kathy Poon
Section One: V1-3 The Blessings of Melchizedek
In Genesis 14:17-20, it talks about Abraham’s encounter with Melchizedek, the King of Righteousness. Another name for Melchizedek is the King of Salem (Shalom), translate to be the King of Peace. He was both a king and a priest, and during that time, there were many kings, who were also priests. Then after Israelites established their nation, the King and the High Priest became two people – the kings came from the tribe of Judah, and the priest from the Levites.
But different from other people of the Old Testament, Melchizedek had no genealogy recorded, there was no one before him or after him, living forever, just “like the Son of God”, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is a Priest in the order of Melchizedek, so he also has this five-fold identity: King, High Priest, King of righteousness, King of peace, and the Priest living forever.
Section Two: V4-10 The Lesser is Blessed by the Better
The Levites were the priests serving in the Temple for God and for the people, and therefore, they received tithes from people. The people, who were all sons of Israel, offered to the priests, who were also sons of Israel. What was different from Abraham’s offering was that Melchizedek was from a different genealogy. Abraham was the ancestor of the Levites, furthermore, he was blessed by Melchizedek, therefore we would know that Melchizedek was at a higher position than Abraham, because “the lesser is blessed by the better”.
V8 says that Abraham and everyone else would die one day, but Melchizedek would live forever, prefiguring Jesus Christ as the living High Priest Who cannot be replaced.
V9-10, When Abraham offered tithe to Melchizedek, as the descendants of Abraham, the Levites also offered the tithe to Melchizedek, as a result, Melchizedek is of a higher position than the Levi priests.
Section Three: V11-19 The Power of an Endless Life
Jesus was born in the tribe of Judah, which was the tribe of the kings. So, it would not make sense if Jesus is also the High Priest. Yet the author of the Book of Hebrews explained that Jesus is both the King and the High Priest, and that’s why He was called according to the order of Melchizedek. So why do we need a High Priest according to this order? Because the Levi priests were not complete and had limitations.
V16a, v18 the Levities were the descendants of the High Priest Aaron, therefore, according to the flesh and by the blood they can become the priests. But they had weaknesses, for example, Eli and his sons. The people coming out from the tribe of Levi were the priests of the world and of the flesh.
V16b, v17 Jesus is the High Priest, according to the order of Melchizedek, and has the power of an endless life. We always want to have leaders or pastors, who we can follow and bring us closer to God. But they are also human beings, they have limitations and weaknesses, and there would be times we feel so alone that even when our authority prayed for us, we cannot overcome the loneliness and helplessness in us.
That’s why we need to have the 21-Day Fasting Prayer, for us to build up a closer and more intimate relationship with our God through our personal prayers. Only through Jesus, our Surety and the One according to the order of Melchizedek, can we come to the Heavenly Father and give all our troubles to Him. When trials and troubles come to us, we should praise the Lord because that’s the time we can experience His Power!
Section Four: V20-28 Always Lives to Intercede
V20-21 Jesus is the High Priest, who would live forever to pray for you and me (an oath from God as in Psalm 111:4). He has become a surety of a better covenant between God and us. Just like in the Old Testament, Moses and Aaron were the surety of the covenant between God and the Israelites, and here we learn that Jesus has become the surety of a better covenant.
V23-25 The new covenant is better than the old covenant, and Jesus “has become a surety of a better covenant” between us and God, because the Old Testament symbolized salvation in the blood of animals, and Jesus made salvation complete with His own life. And thus the New Testament fulfills the Old Testament The effect of Jesus being a mediator (surety) is everlasting. In the Old Testament, every generation needs a new High Priest, and they might not be good priests. However, now we have Jesus, He will stay in the position of the High Priest forever, we no longer need to worry about if we can have a good High Priest or not. All the people we rely on in this world will all fade away, only the word of God stands forever. Jesus has the unchangeable priesthood; He lives forever, and He continues forever.
V26-28 In conclusion, Jesus is the most fitting High Priest for us, “who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens”. When we intercede for others, we need to first cleanse ourselves, in the same way, before the priests made the offering, they must first sanctify themselves. But Jesus came to the world as a human being, He took the sins of all people, offered Himself only once and once for all. Because of His sacrifice on the cross as a King and Son of God, He became the living High Priest, making intercession for us in front of the Father forever.
Jesus is both the King and the High Priest, so we can give our lives to Jesus, because through Him we can come boldly to His throne of grace, to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need!
Pursuit & Respond
Who is Jesus to us? He is the King of Shalom, He is the Prince of Peace, He is our Surety of the Covenant, He lives forever, and He is the living High Priest, according to the power of an endless life. Today let us pray for the power of an endless life to enter our hearts, to our finance, our family, our health, our workplace, and let this power turn away all the disappointment and failures within us, open our spiritual eyes to see a better hope and know deeper about Jesus as our High Priest and Surety.
Lord, You are our hope when we see no hope, You are the living High Priest Who has been perfected forever! May Your power of an endless life enter our life, restore and heal us. We pray for our children and the brothers and sisters in our church, that each one of them connects to You personally. You know the situation each of us is facing, so we ask for Your supernatural intervention to come into our life and make a great shift! We don’t just want benefits and blessings from You but we want You Lord Yourself! Help us to know You more, to experience You more, and to have Your life in our lives always. Amen!
2021年2月18日 星期四
希伯来书 7
成全到永远的大祭司耶稣
– Kathy 师母 –
之前第5章11节提到关于“麦基洗德”有“难以解明”的话，在本章就详细解释了。
一、麦基洗德的祝福 (v.1-3)
1-2，麦基洗德是撒冷王，在创14:17-20说到他在“亚伯拉罕杀败诸王回来的时候，就迎接他”。 “麦基” 是君王的意思，“洗德”是 公义、仁义，所以他名字翻译出来就是“仁义王”，又名“平安王”（撒冷、沙龙)。他不但是君王，也是一个至高祭司，兼具双重角色。在以色列立国之后，这两个角色就被分开，君王是犹大支派，而祭司由利未支派出来。
亚伯拉罕与麦基洗德关系就是当他杀败诸王后，他接受了麦基洗德的祝福，就把他所得来的十分之一献给麦基洗德。而耶稣与麦基洗德的相似之处在第3节进一步说明: 麦基洗德“无父、无母、无族谱”，他有别于旧约其他人物，就是看不到清楚的族谱记录，并且“无生之始，无命之终”，自己本身就是长远活着的人，生命和身份是永远的，“乃是与神的儿子相似”。
耶稣因着是照着麦基洗德的等次被立，所以他也有君王、大祭司、公义王、和平王、永活的大祭司这五个身份。
二、位分大的要给位分小的祝福 (v.4-10)
4-7，这一段比较麦基洗德等次的祭司和利未人的祭司。利未人照命令领取从百姓来十分之一，这些都是以色列的弟兄，都属亚伯拉罕的后裔。麦基洗德与利未人不同族谱、血脉，却能够从亚伯拉罕- 也就是利未人的先祖 – 收取所献给他的上等之物（十分之一），说明麦基洗德是在利未人之上的。并且，麦基洗德也为亚伯拉罕祝福，通常是“位分大的给位分小的祝福”（v.7），说明麦基洗德比亚伯拉罕位份要大。
8，向百姓收取十分之一的利未支派“都是必死的人”，生命是短暂的，然而“在那里收十分之一的”麦基洗德是活着的，“无生之始，无命之终”（v.3），预表耶稣基督是永活的大祭司，不可更换。
9-10，当亚伯拉罕向麦基洗德纳什一奉献的时候，利未人也间接的向麦基洗德纳了什一，证明了利未人是比麦基洗德的位分要小的，所以照麦基洗德等次立的祭司要优于利未人的祭司。
三、无穷的生命 (v.11-19)
既然已经有人间的大祭司，为什么还需要麦基洗德等次的大祭司？耶稣是从犹大支派出来，“这支派，摩西并没有提到祭司”（v.14），这样合律例吗？神在犹大支派兴起耶稣基督，就如同麦基洗德一样兼具君王和祭司的身份，与旧约的应许相呼应。
11，为什么我们需要有“麦基洗德等次的大祭司” ，因为利未人 – “亚伦等次“的祭司不够好，不能完全。
*亚伦等次的大祭司：v.16a，18，亚伦的后代是照着属肉体的条例、血统可以成为祭司，但因为是从肉体而来，所以就会有限制，就会“软弱无益”，说明利未支派的祭司是属血气的，属肉体，预表人间的大祭司会死去。
*麦基洗德等次的大祭司：v.16b, 17- 是照着无穷生命的大能所立，是刚强的，不会被废去的。
就好像在教会我们有牧师、小组长，有时候我们会希望他们成为我们跟神之间的中保，会请他们为我们祷告，带领我们更亲近神。这是好的，但是，牧者也是人，人都有软弱，可我们有的是一个有无穷生命大能的耶稣基督，照着麦基洗德等次成为大祭司，是我们的中保。我们的牧者、小组长就算很有恩赐也不会百分之百知道我们内心和所面临的光景。在我们21天禁食祷告的过程中，我们可以借着耶稣基督跟神做灵性悟性的祷告，唯有他成为我们的中保，为我们在天父面前代求。特别是在遇到一些很艰难、无人帮助的景况，很多事情只有他最明白。所以我们不仅需要跟弟兄姐妹一起祷告，也要有个人的祷告。 借着患难、试探，抓住机会亲近神、经历主。
四、长远活着 为我们祈求 (v.20-28)
20-21，耶稣是长远活着，替我们祈求。他是因着起誓立的 （ 诗篇111:4 – “主起了誓，决不后悔，你是永远为祭司“），是有神的应许和起誓的双重保证，所以耶稣优于其他的祭司。
23-25，在旧约的时候，以色列人借着摩西和亚伦的代求来到上帝面前，但在新约，耶稣成了我们和神之间更美的中保，因为旧约是用动物的血来象征救恩，而耶稣用自己的生命成就救恩，更加完全。也因此新约成全的旧约。耶稣做中保的效果是永远长存的，所以是“更美的约”。 旧约的大祭司若不合格，全以色列就遭殃，但耶稣 “既是永远常存的，他祭司的职任就长久不更换”， 我们就不用去担心会换到不好的祭司影响我们。V25 – “凡靠着他进到神面前的人，他都能拯救到底，因为他是长远活着，替他们祈求。” 这段经文强调耶稣的身份是长久、长远的。世上的一切会废去，唯有神的话永远立定，永远不会失信。我们生命中遇到的所有人都是短暂的，唯有耶稣是永远在的那一位。
26-28，结论：耶稣是最合宜的大祭司，是“圣洁、无邪恶、无玷污、远离罪人、高过诸天的大祭司”（v.26）。 当我们为别人代祷前要先做自洁祷告，好像旧约的大祭司在为人献祭前先为自己献祭那样。但耶稣 “只一次将自己献上，就把这事成全了”（v.27），成为永远的献上。“律法本是立软弱的人为大祭司，但在律法以后起誓的话，是立儿子为大祭司，乃是成全到永远的”（v.28），耶稣是神的儿子，道成肉身来到世间，是以一个君王、儿子的身份，愿意为我们死在十字架上，成为永远的祭司，如今就能在父神右边时时为我们代求。
耶稣是君王、祭司、公义王、和平王，也是永活的大祭司，他为我们赎罪、代求，他统管万有、掌管我们的生命，以至于“凡靠着他进到神面前的人，他都能拯救到底，因为他是长远活着，替他们祈求。”（V25）所以我们可以把我们的生命完全交在耶稣手上，倚靠主我们就得胜有余，可以坦然无惧来到他的施恩宝座前，为要得怜恤，蒙恩惠，作随时的帮助。
追求：
当我们仰望耶稣，我们要思想耶稣在我们每一个人生命中的定义是什么，他是撒冷王、是麦基洗德、是君王、是祭司、是和平之君、是新约的中保，他有无穷生命的大能，他永远长存不更换，他永远活着，是成全到永远的那一位大祭司。让我们来祷告，让耶稣基督无穷生命的大能临到我们的生命，以至于我们对耶稣有一个更深的认识，能看见一个更美的指望，在现在的环境里我们要看见耶稣基督无穷生命的大能进入到我们生命中每一个失望、失败的地方，用我们属灵的眼睛看见耶稣这一位麦基洗德的大祭司成为中保，将无穷生命的大能释放在我们里面，帮助我们成全在肉体、心灵、环境、关系、财务、健康、职场各个领域。
主啊，当我们无可指望的时候你是我们的指望，让我们看见你是那成全到永远的大祭司，你在我们生命里的应许都是是的，你必成全一切关乎我们生命的事。我们内心里的渴慕、无力，你都知道，求你复活的生命 – 那无穷生命的大能进入我们里面，做修复和医治的工作，有你神迹奇事和超自然的介入。也为我们的下一代来祷告，成为他们个人的救主。让我们教会的弟兄姐妹不是只来求从你而来的好处，而是要主你自己！我们要与你连结，看见你是我们永恒的中保，是麦基洗德公义的君王、永远为我们代求的祭司。你知道我们每一个人的光景，知道我们里面无力改变的地方，求主你施怜悯，超自然的介入，让我们在环境中看到极大的改变。每一个人都要进入祝福的循环，每一个弟兄姐妹都要与你有连接，要的不是祝福，而是主你自己。真实来认识你、经历你，让耶稣基督真实活在我们生命中。