Ezekiel 12:1-14:11, Hebrews 7:1-17, Psalm 105:37-45, Proverbs 27:3
Today is the 5th day of November, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is a joy, like it always is to show up here and be here together, take the next step forward in the Scriptures. And for us, where we are now, we will be taking the next step forward in the book of Ezekiel and in the New Testament in the book of Hebrews. We’ve been reading from the English Standard Version this week. Ezekiel chapter 12 verse 1 through 14 verse 11.
Commentary:
Okay, you remember several days ago when we began the letter to the Hebrews and we talked about it, I mentioned that Hebrews is written to Hebrews. Losing sight of that can make some of the passages in Hebrews hard to track with and today’s passage in Hebrews is like that and will talk about it. Hebrews gives a Gentile, like most of us who haven’t grown up with this kind of background and this kind of back story woven into the tapestry of our lives like it wasn’t kind of taught to us and we grew up in it and immersed ourselves in it because it’s the origin of our family. It gives we who haven’t had that context and understanding because Jesus was a Jew and he was in a Hebrew context his entire ministry and so that’s the context from which the Savior ministered and so, understanding that context well into the future in a very Gentile world is important so we can get at the essence of what the gospel is and what the message is. So, for the last couple of days in Hebrews, we’ve had this name come up Melchizedek and then today we spent most of our time reading about Melchizedek in the context of Jesus and that name may be familiar, you may have heard it before. We’ve definitely at least heard it a couple of times before because it appears a couple of other times in the Bible. This figure, this person Melchizedek, who, there’s like almost no knowledge of. And yet, the writer of Hebrews is saying Jesus is like Melchizedek in terms of being a high priest, a priest of God according to Hebrews Jesus is in the order of Melchizedek, the order of Melchizedek. Sounds like a secret society or something and in a weird way it is a little bit. So, let’s try to get the context from a Hebrew perspective. So, Melchizedek shows up in the Hebrew Scriptures, which is what we generally know as the Old Testament among those of the Christian faith. Melchizedek first shows up in the in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible and interacts with Abraham. So, I quote from Genesis 14 “and Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God most high brought Abram some bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing, blessed to be Abram by God most high Creator of heaven and earth and blessed be God most high, who has defeated your enemies for you. Then Abram gave Melchizedek 1/10 of all the goods he had recovered,” and that’s the long and short of the story. That’s all there is about Melchizedek in Genesis. The next time we find Melchizedek mentioned in the Bible, it’s in the book of Psalms chapter 110, which says the Lord is taken an oath and will not break his vow, you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. That’s it. That’s all there is in the Bible until he shows up again in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, which is kind of ironic. There’s so little information and yet this name, this idea around the order of Melchizedek lasts outside of the Bible, but within the Hebrew context for thousands of years. So, we read from Genesis about Melchizedek. We know that that’s the time of Abram or Abraham, then we read about him again in the Psalms, which is the time of David and we know that a lot of time passed between Abraham and David, and then we don’t see him again until the New Testament after the time of Jesus ministry. So, between David and Jesus is a significant portion of time as well. So, this Melchizedek lasts all the way from the book of Genesis all the way into the New Testament extra biblically, like they’re still talking about him. So why is the writer of Hebrews, making Melchizedek a prototype of Jesus. Basically Melchizedek, Melchi Zedek, that means king of justice or king of righteousness. He’s also the King of Salem, which is the king of peace. And he is the first priest of the most high God to appear in the Bible. And so, what do we get from all that, that Melchizedek was the first righteous or just priest of the most high God and a person who was also a physical king of a city. That city beings Salem or Solem. Here’s where it gets interesting. And here’s where we have to lean back on some of the things we’ve talked about in Paul’s writings, the Mosaic law was given, when the Mosaic law was given Moses’s brother Aaron was anointed as priest, as high priest and his offspring would always serve as priests among their brothers and sisters, among the other tribes, they would be the priestly tribe to lead people before God. In fact, the Mosaic law made it pretty clear that if you weren’t of this house of Aaron or of the tribe of Levi, the Levites then you couldn’t serve as a priest, you had to be a Levite in order to serve as a Hebrew priest leading Hebrew people in the customs and rituals and covenant obedience to God. So, here’s the interesting thing, remember when Paul talks about Abraham and how Abraham couldn’t obey that law, the law of Moses because Moses wasn’t even born during Abraham’s time, and so the law that was revealed through Moses did not exist for Abraham to obey. And there’s a bunch of theology about that, we’ve talked about this, Melchizedek is not unlike that, Melchizedek was a priest of the most high God, but he was not a Levite. Levi wasn’t born, there was no tribe of Levi, there was no tribe of priests. So, if we move like a thousand years-ish forward from Abraham, we’ll land ourselves in the time of David and the time of Psalm 110, which also mentions the order of Melchizedek. During David’s time Levi had been born, Moses had been born, the law had been given, the tribe of Levi were the priestly tribe, nobody else could be a priest other than a person born into the tribe of Levi. And yet, David was born from the tribe of Judah, and he was considered to be a priestly king as was Melchizedek, a priestly king. Melchizedek had been the earthly king of Solem or Salem. David was a priestly king in Jerusalem the same city. So, now we begin to understand what this order of Melchizedek may be because David was being set apart to be a priestly king like Melchizedek and David wasn’t from the tribe of Levi, and neither was Melchizedek, so this order of Melchizedek then are those rare people that God chooses to be priests outside of the tribe of Levi as if it’s a specific exception for a specific purpose, the order of Melchizedek. Jesus then comes through the line of David, of the tribe of Judah, he is a king of justice and righteousness, the Prince of Peace, and the final high priest in the sacrificial system. So, Jesus is our high priest right, and if you have like a Hebrew context, you don’t like, a priest, a high priest of like, what, we don’t even have the context but it should be starting to fill in. Jesus is our high priest; Jesus is our King. Jesus was not of the tribe of Levi, but of the tribe of Judah, and this is how we see him in the order of Melchizedek, making Melchizedek and David prototypes of what was coming in Jesus. So, kinda having that back story and we read again from the letter to the Hebrews what we read today. This becomes even more evident and I’m quoting from Hebrews here, “This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily dissent, but by the power of an indestructible life for it is witnessed of him, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So, there probably is more we can talk about this. There’s definitely more we could talk about in terms of the Hebrew context, but we will continue to talk about that as we continue our journey. But this at least shows us how the Hebrew back story and how Hebrews is written to Hebrews and how understanding that context helps us to understand a whole lot more and unpacks a whole lot more for us as we continue to seek clarity and wisdom and meaning from the Scriptures.
Prayer:
So, Father we thank You yet again. And when can we not be thankful for what You are doing among us that You have allowed us to live on this planet at a time where this is even possible, where we can gather around this Global Campfire all over the world and sit together, be together, shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart as Your word washes into our lives, transforming us in ways that we need to be transformed. Thank You, thank You, thank You for the gift of the Scriptures and for the gift of each other and for the gift of life. We are here to hear what You have to say through the Scriptures. Come, Holy Spirit, we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Prayer and Encouragements:
Hey, Daily Audio Bible family, it’s so great to talk to you. This is His Warrior Girl in Alabama. I am a first-time caller but a five-year listener. It has been a joy and a pleasure to be praying along with you guys and listening to the Bible and the commentaries for the last 5 years of my life. But, for the last year you guys, listening to you guys pray and ask for prayer and be humble, be broken, be excited, to be living your life for Jesus and in front of Him and calling out to Him has been such a bright light and every November for the last probably 10 Novembers I’ve done a Daily I’m Grateful For. So, today is November 1st of 2021 and the first thing on my list today is Prayer Warriors. I am so grateful for the men and women who take up the mantel that God has put on us to pray and intercede and stand in the gap for others. I’m thankful to the Father that He calls Himself, the God who hears prayers and that He says He inclines His ear to His children. And I’m so humble that Jesus is our great high priest, ever interceding for us and that the Holy Spirit gives us words when we can’t even make them for ourselves. I love you guys, I’m excited about calling this in. It’s November 1st now so I know it won’t play until later but I’m excited about starting to interact with you guys. I love you all very much. Father, thank You for this world-wide community of prayer warriors. Thank You that You love us and that You have brought us together under this one teaching and one ministry. Love you guys, bye.
Good morning, this is Lord’s Face from Northern Nevada. And I was just listening and I heard the prayer request from Rodney who is paralyzed and his wife has just left him with his little girl. I just wanted pray for you Rodney. My ex-wife divorced me when my little girl was two and so I know how that feels. And I just want to just lift you up in prayer right now. Father God, I just pray that You would bring healing to Rodney in whatever way seems right to You and best from You. That You would just let him know how strong of a man he really is, just to have connected with the Daily Audio Bible and to be listening and drawing his heart closer to You as he goes through this season of his life that is so difficult. And that he has physical things that need to be made better and that You would help him with that. So, I’m just praying for healing, I’m praying for encouragement that You would let him know how much You love and how special is he is. He is a daddy to that little girl and that You would allow him to be in her life and be a good dad and that his life would have meaning and purpose because You love him as a good father so much. In Jesus name. Amen.
Good morning DAB family, this is Cheryl, Princess Warrior in Southeastern Washington. It is November 2nd 2021. Listening to the Daily Audio Bible, I heard a prayer request from Rodney. Rodney, thank you for calling in and I’m gonna be praying for you Rodney that God would just continue to guide you and welcome to the family. Welcome to DAB family. You have brothers and sisters here that will pray for you. Just keep reaching out Rodney. God is got your path; He knows what’s ahead. And you asked for peace even though your wife left you and that God would open her eyes and we’re praying with you Rodney. And keep calling Rodney so we can stay in touch. We love you brother, God bless you. God is in control. Love you DAB family. Bye.
Good morning this is Tamra from Northern California. First, I want to thank Deon Jackson for turning me onto this amazing app about two years ago. I have been consistently listening for a year and half now. So, thank you Deon. I just was led to call in this morning to lift up those who are listening and that they have not called in yet, there prayer requests. Some have been listening for years and they are full of prayer requests and it’s all just in their heart. And so, I just want those individuals to know that God hears your heart, whether you utter a word, whether you pick up the phone and place your prayer requests on this app, He hears you. Be encouraged today. My prayer for you is that God will meet you at your point of need whatever the need is, if you need a healing, that He will bring about healing. If you need restoration to be restored in the areas that you are broken and bruised and that He will restore you in those areas. If you need deliverance that He will deliver you from whatever it is that you are struggling with, whatever it is that keeps you outside of his wheel. And so, I am encouraged on today that God will answer your prayers and I am touching and agreeing that all is well with you on today. Be encouraged. God bless.
Hello prayer family. This is Beautiful Sunsets calling to ask for prayers for my family. God knows what we’re going through. It has been a nightmare of darkness. Rivers of tears cried, grief, pain, anguish, fear. Please pray for my family for restoration and freedom for God’s light to shine through you. We keep praying Isaiah 54:17: No weapon formed against you shall prosper. Friends, I need you to pray for us and my family will be reunited. Thank you.
Lord, we lift up Rodney to You today and we thank You Lord. We thank You for his life. We thank You for giving him a new beginning. We thank You that he is in the word, Lord and that he is, has the desire to move forward. And, we just pray that You will help him as he learns to live in the, with the abilities that You have given him right now, Lord. And that he is, you know, use, with the things that he is not able to do Lord, I just pray that You would bring him support and help. And I lift up his marriage to you. Lord, You can work out anything for Your good so we just pray that You will heal his marriage and his relationship with his wife. And that You will bring him together with his daughter to have a strong relationship with her as well. I just pray healing over his body in the name of Jesus. And I thank You for the healing that Your doing throughout his body and throughout his mind and his spirit. In Jesus name. I also lift up Michael from Harrisburg as he has suffered a loss of his parents and grandparents and best friend Lord. I just pray that You will bring him good, supportive people to fill his life with as well as Tammy or Tamare who lost her parents. Amen.