Thursday, 13th January 2022
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-10 The Origin of the Priest
V1-3 ‘For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.’ Melchizedek was the king of Salem his name means righteousness. He was a king he had the authority, there were people following him. He was not only a king but also the priest of God. He had the authority from God.
Melchizedek blessed Abraham after he had won from the war. We usually ask for blessings before our success, but Melchizedek blessed after Abraham’s victory. What is this blessing? This blessing will let Abraham to be more humble. When he received victory, what was in his heart? He might have been quite proud of himself. God is love, He is not here to judge us but to call us. God has love and trust for people, when Adam and Eve sinned, God called them out, continued to trust them and waited for them to return to Him. God told Adam clearly that when he ate the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he would die. But after they sinned, Adam and Eve did not repent and ask for forgiveness.
So God told them that they would die, they must die, because if they didn’t die they won’t be able to receive salvation. In the same way, Melchizedek came as the priest of God, to bless Abraham and let him give all glory to God. When David returned from victory, people praised him and said ‘Saul kills thoughts, David kills tens of thousands.’ That’s when Saul became jealous of David. If there was a priest coming out at the time to bless them, the situation may be different.
We must set ourselves apart, to always give thanks, to glorify God, to see every victory is from God, not from us. When Melchizedek blessed Abraham, Abraham gave his tithes. Even though Melchizedek was wealthy and had everything but Abraham humbled himself and offered with a thankful heart. It’s easy for us to give to those in lack but we don’t usually give to those who are wealthy.
Melchizedek helped Abraham to see the truth. Can we see the love of our parents and our authority? We always remember how they hurt us but we never think about how they love us. We always seek for healing but never the problems of our lives. V4 ‘Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.’ Are we the priests of the earth or the priests of the heaven? Are we examining ourselves?
V5 ‘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.’ Why did Moses ask the people to take their tithes? Because people cannot be like Abraham, to offer willingly. Our hearts have hardened, so God is helping us to recognize this truth. We are selfish in nature, if God didn’t remind the people to give tithing then they would not see the needs of the Levites. Are our hearts still cold and harden? Do we have a thankful heart?
V6-7 ‘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.’ Abraham was willing to give the offering of thanksgiving, therefore there were the Levites as priests coming out from his descendants. God will be responsible to the end, the priests will not be in lack! Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, Jacob had 12 sons, but what Abraham did not see was that these 12 sons became 12 big tribes, and one of the tribes became a tribe of priests.
Section Two V11-19 The Change of the Priest
The hearts of the people are harden, they were confused and conformed to the world. The tribe of Levites had fallen and therefore God had to raise another priest, who does not belong to this world, to offer sacrifice for all. Levites were not able to carry out the work of God for people, they not only did not lead people to God, but allowed them to sin further.
Only when we come before God then we can receive this blessing and salvation. We must enter this completion, so come before God, to be close to Him, then we can hear His heartbeat. That’s why the priest needs to be changed.
Section Three V20-28 Makes Us Whole
God established Jesus, His Son, as our High Priest, this is our of His love and trust for us. Jesus also had the love and trust for the Father, therefore when He was on the cross, He was facing pain and darkness, yet He could still say, ‘it is done’. Do we still see ourselves as the victims? May God help us to learn from Jesus, to be made whole and receive the heavenly blessings.
希伯来书 7 – 祭司中的大祭司
2022年1月13日 星期四
潘锡安牧师
神不仅爱我们，神也信任我们。我们如何去回应神对我们的爱和信任呢？
一、v.1-10 祭司的由来
V1 麦基洗德的名字意思是“公义之王”，在“撒冷”之地作王，“撒冷”原意是“平安”。王是有权柄的人，下面有人跟从，听王的差遣。圣经里第一次提到的“神的祭司”就是指麦基洗德。祭司不仅为人献赎罪祭，也给人“祝福”。很多时候我们要祝福是我们还没有得到想要的东西时，但“至高神的祭司”麦基洗德是在“亚伯拉罕杀败诸王回来的时候”为他祝福。至高神的祭司不会将人带到偶像或在教导的时候让人把神当成偶像来拜。麦基洗德的祝福让刚打完胜仗后意气风发的亚伯拉罕可以更加谦卑。当神创造天地的时候，他希望与人有亲密的关系，即使在亚当夏娃犯罪后，神还是愿意先来亲近他们。神对人的爱和信任才让亚当愿意从躲藏之处走出来，但是神的爱并非一味包庇，而是在公义里。神的爱使人走出山洞，不是审判，而是呼召。当我们面对自己的罪时，神还是信任我们，知道哦我们有一天还会回转。神曾亲口告诫亚当夏娃，吃了分辨善恶树上的果子后就必定死，但从亚当夏娃犯罪到他们被赶出伊甸园，他们都没有认罪悔改。罪的工价就是死，所以神绝不允许他们回去吃生命树上的果子，不然他们会变成另一个撒旦，结局是在火中被完全毁灭。唯有真正死了才能等待赎罪的羔羊使我们复活，唯有认罪悔改才能与耶稣同死同埋葬同复活。至高神的祭司并没有为亚伯拉罕祝福使他打胜仗，而是在他打完胜仗后将荣耀交给神。
V2 当时世上没有圣经或教会教导人十一奉献的真理，麦基洗德是一个王，不缺财富，但当这位至高神的祭司为亚伯拉罕祝福后，亚伯拉罕仍然将这“十分之一”奉献出来给麦基洗德，因为亚伯拉罕知道至高神的祭司麦基洗德将他带回到神那里，让他经历神。大卫当初打了胜仗回来，人都称赞他说“扫罗杀死千千，大卫杀死万万”，结果从那一刻开始，扫罗就决心要杀大卫，但如果当时有祭司出来为他祷告，或许结局会不一样。人在得到了自己想要的东西之后，是否会愿意谦卑下来感恩？我们是否愿意将神放在众人之上？在亚伯拉罕最容易跌倒的时候，麦基洗德出来为他祝福，让亚伯拉罕经历神，所以亚伯拉罕给麦基洗德十分之一的奉献，即便麦基洗德已经富裕到不需要这些财物。亚伯拉罕不看麦基洗德是否有钱有权，而是愿意在神面前谦卑下来，心怀感恩。麦基洗德是那时“至高神的祭司”，我们今天如何看待我们在教会的权柄？我们不将权柄偶像化，但是否能看到他们是属于“至高神”的。亚伯拉罕不看麦基洗德是否需要这十一奉献，他也没看到摩西的律法，单凭信心奉献出来，这就是“信心之父”。麦基洗德不担心或害怕别人对他的看法，他的做法反而带来“平安”，真正的平安就是将人带回到神那里。
V3 麦基洗德“与神的儿子相似”，但他不是神，不是基督。他不属于这个世界，就像耶稣基督在世上所行的都是不属于这个世界的。我们是否属于这个世界？我们教养孩子的理念、方法是否跟随这个世界的潮流？我们用世界的“爱”来鼓励孩子，却没有用圣经的教导去管教孩子。真正的管教是帮助我们对付里面的“我”。耶稣12岁时留在圣殿，他的父母回来找他、管教他的时候，即使耶稣没错，他仍愿意听从父母，因着这样的顺服，他学习到了“时候未到”的功课，并没有心里受伤，反而胜过软弱，使神和人对他的喜爱都随年龄而增长。我们觉得受伤，是否是因为被过去父母在管教我们的时候所展现出来的情绪或方式影响？他们或许做得不对，但我们是否看到自己的问题？耶稣年纪小的时候没有用神子的身份挑战地上的父母，我们是否懂得感恩我们的父母？当我们进入神的爱与信任里时，我们才能看见真相，看见父母的辛劳，看见自己被爱。我们做父母的，是否害怕我们的孩子像我们一样“受伤”？当我们看不见真相的时候，我们会一直以为自己是受伤的，是对的那一方，需要强迫自己去饶恕做错事的那一方。我们没有被教导去看到自己生命的问题。我们是属神的，还是属世界的？求神帮助我们像麦基洗德那样能帮助人看到真相。
V4 “想一想”的原文是“观察”。麦基洗德的“尊贵”不是因为他在地上的身份。
V5 摩西让利未人从百姓那里取十分之一，不是因为神需要。正如当时摩西允许以色列人离婚，是因为他们心硬。人没有办法像亚伯拉罕那样有对人对神感恩的心，所以律法要求百姓给利未人奉献，不然利未人就饿死了。我们的心是否冷漠刚硬，还是懂得感恩？
V6-10 因为亚伯拉罕愿意献出感恩的十分之一，从他的后裔中就生出利未支派，可以从弟兄中拿属神的十分之一，因为“给人的就有给你的”。利未支派在服事神的时候，他们有丰盛供应，没有缺乏，因为神会负责。我们想要神马上给我们祝福，但神有他的时间，是对我们最好的。祭司的由来是出于神，当我们凭信心先愿意给出去的时候，我们才能在对的时间得祝福。
二、v.11-19 祭司的更改
为什么利未人祭司的责任是在律法以下？神要摩西这样讲，因为人的心硬了，百姓被世界的价值观侵蚀，里面充满混乱。利未人无法胜任祭司的职责，所以神要兴起另一个祭司，是照着麦基洗德的等次，他的服事不属于这个世界，而是属天的。
V18 人的心硬了，所以这些条例帮不了他们，都要废掉。
V19 神使他的儿子成为大祭司，带领我们“进到神面前”，就是靠近、贴近神。唯有来到神的面前我们才能求怜悯、恩典，得力量，并听到神的心跳。耶稣来，不是要不断献祭，因他的一次献祭就已经完全了。
三、v.20-28 让我们得以完全
在律法以后神是“立儿子为大祭司”，这是在爱与信任里的。耶稣因着对父神的爱和信任，所以在十字架上的时候，即使面对痛苦、黑暗，他还能说“成了”。我们是否看自己还是受伤的？求神帮助我们学习耶稣的榜样，得以完全，得到属天的祝福。