Treasures New and Old (Hebrews 7:1-3- Jeff Kliewer)

And so we're going to go back to the old. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 13. We're picking up a story that the author of Hebrews draws upon. Genesis 13 verse 12. Before I read it, I'll make another point about this treasure hunting theme.

Yesterday, we were at one of those Sky Zone bounce places, trampoline parks. Just needed the kids to get some exercise, so I just cut them loose there for an hour, and I'm just sitting at a table. And up walked two Muslim kids.

I knew they were Muslim because they were wearing robes, and they kind of had that look with the hat and everything. So these two Muslim kids sat down at the table where I was sitting, this small table.

They said, can we sit here? Because the other tables were full. And I said, sure, have a seat. And I was glad because it might be an opportunity to witness. So I just asked them some questions, and you know, what are you reading these days?

And one kid said, I'm reading Just Mercy, which is some movie, I think, by Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx, he said. He started telling me all about it. The other kid told me about this book he's reading from middle school.

And then I had my chance to tell them. And I said, you know what I'm reading? Isaiah 53. And I said, it was written 700 years before Christ came, but it tells about Jesus. And I didn't say it quite like I'm doing now, which is probably a weird of them out.

I mean, I wasn't like all like excited like that. I was kind of playing it cool, you know, just like, just talking, just talking. And I told him there in Isaiah 53 is treasure. It's like a treasure hunt.

If you read that passage, you will find treasure that will change your life. And they were interested. And they told me they'd go read it. I don't know if they will. That's probably the only encounter I will ever have with those two Muslim boys.

But I told him that there's treasure hidden in Isaiah 53. Similarly, in Genesis 13 and 14, there is treasure that we're going to stumble across here, hidden in the field. Chapter 13, verse 12, we pick up.

Lot’s Tent Pitched Toward Sodom

Abram settled in the land of Canaan while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now, if I comment on every verse, we're going be here all day. So I have to comment on this one.

In the King James, it says that Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom. There's a lesson for that us in that. This is when Abraham and Lot went their separate ways and Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom. Later, you will find that Lot is now living in the city.

He's built a house there, or he's rented a condominium or something. And later after that, you see he's sitting at the gate with the elders. And you know what happens to Sodom, and you know what happens to Lot.

But it all began when he pitched his tent towards Sodom. He loved the things of this earth. He got too close to it, and then he got entangled, and then it overtook him, and then he was destroyed. So, point being, that just preaches so well, I had to make it.

Kings and Kingdoms in Genesis 14

Now, we're going to follow along, and we're getting to chapter 14, verse 18. But you need to see, here's the big theme, and I'm not going to comment much. But in the big theme, you have kings. That's the word for today.

Kings and kingdoms, warring and fighting. Verse 13, now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord. The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, lift up your eyes and look from the where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward.

For all the land that you see, I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.

Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you. So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron. And there he built an altar to the Lord.

What does he do on the altar? He sacrifices innocent animals. That's what he does there. Verse 14, in the days of... I mean, chapter 14, verse 1. In the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Ariok, king of Elassar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goyim.

These kings made war with Bera, king of Sodom, Bersha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Adma, Shamiber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is Zoar. And all these joined forces in the valley of Siddin, that is the Salt Sea.

Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. You guys noticing a theme here? You have a bunch of kings. And by the way, if you have trouble reading difficult names, just be confident.

Just act confident. I could have said cheddar cheese there. You guys would have agreed. You don't know. I don't know if that's the right pronunciation. Just do the best you can and be confident with it, and people will think you know.

In verse 4, it says, twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim and Ashtaroth Qarnaym and Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim and Shabbath Kirithim, and the Horites in their country of Seir, as far as El-Paran on the border of the wilderness.

Did I do good there? That was exactly right. You can trust that. Just kidding. Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat, that is, Kadesh. You'll remember Kadesh because the Israelites go through Kadesh in Numbers 13.

And defeated all the country of the Melakites and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon Tamar. Now, the reason I read all that is because most Christians by this point have glossed over it. Our eyes get blurry.

We don't think it's all that relevant, although it proves the historicity of the Bible. If you're ever in an apologetic situation, you can point to passages like this to show, look, this is real history.

This is God's Word in real time and real space. But the point is, there's some treasure about to be unveiled that connects to this that most of us miss. Here you have kings and kingdoms, the kingdoms of men at war with one another, trying to take possession of the land.

Verse 8, then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah. Do you see what the author of Genesis is underscoring here? Kings and kingdoms. King of Zeboiim, king of Bala, that is, Zoar, went out and they joined battle in the valley of Siddim with Chedolomar, king of Elam, Tidal, king of Goyim, Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Ariot, king of Elassar.

Four kings against five. Now the valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, so tar pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country. So it's as if God is fighting against the five.

The king of Sodom and Gomorrah, they're falling into pits while they're trying to get away. Keep reading. So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions and went their way.

They also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way. Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eschol and of Aner.

These were allies of Abram. When Abram heard that his kinsmen had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. Now it just occurs to me as I read that Mennonites took on an extreme pacifist bent, and I don't find that in the text.

There is a time for war, and guys, we should be trained for war. The Bible says physical training is of some value, but spiritual training is of eternal value, holding value not just for this life, but for the one to come.

When it says trained men, it means that these guys didn't do like five pushups and then fail on number six. These are like seal team six. They're like elite warriors because 318 of them are going to chase down the kingdoms of men.

Four kings who have conquered five others and are returning from the battle. Abram's going to war with 318 men. So then it says in verse 15, he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus.

Then he brought back all the possessions and also brought back his kinsmen lot with his possessions and the women and the people. After his return from the defeat of Cedar Loamer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shavuot.

That is the king's valley. Let's stop right there because here comes the treasure. I want you to mark this spot. What's the issue so far? Kings, kingdoms, it's the king's valley. Even named it the valley after the kings.

The idea is the kingdoms of men raging and battling one another, embittered towards one another. And now this golden nugget. Look at verses 18 to 20. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine.

Look at this little parenthetical sentence. So small. Maybe you've missed it your whole Christian life. But the theme of the book of Hebrews is right here in a few words. He was priest of God most high.

That's a beautiful little parenthetical. And he blessed him and said, blessed be Abram by God most high, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God most high who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. And now the story continues. The king of Sodom talks to Abram. Abraham barely gives him the time of day. He's like, take your stuff and go. Just, I'm done with you.

He wasn't playing with that king the way Lot did. Come with me now back to Hebrews 7 because we've spent time digging into this passage to see the events that took place. And those three little sentences, verses 18, 19, and 20, are now the subject that we're studying.

You have to take the time to do this. In chapter 7, verse 1, it's just a retelling of what you just read. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God. Remember that parenthetical?

He's a priest of the most high. Met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings. What's the slaughter of the kings? That's when Abraham went out and slaughtered kings because they tried to grab Lot.

He met him and blessed him. And to him, Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. Now we're up to speed. Let's make application. He is first by translation of his name, king of righteousness. And then he is also king of Salem.

That is, king of peace. This Melchizedek is, first of all, a king. And scholars are divided as to who this guy is. The rabbis say one thing, that he's just a Semite king living in this particular town.

All agree that he's from Salem, which becomes Jerusalem, the city that means peace. Some Christians say that this is Jesus pre-incarnate. That's not likely because in chapter 7, we're told explicitly that Jesus is made like Melchizedek.

He's a likeness. And so I think the clear interpretation is that Melchizedek is a man who somehow God has made to be a king and a priest for such a time as this. To appear in the text, to be buried like treasure way back in Genesis, so that 2 ,000 years later, Christians sitting outside of Philadelphia, in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, could go back and see that treasure buried there in order that we would see Christ for who he is.

Melchizedek is a type of Christ. Christ is the anti-type, the one to whom the type points. And the Word of God tells us that this is the case. A few things about the king. Two things, really. One, he is the king of righteousness, and two, he is the king of peace.

If you want to understand what is so great about our king, over against every Chetilohemar, and every Darius, and every Alexander the Great, and every Caesar, and every ruler who walks the face of the earth to this day, our king is righteous.

He has never sinned. He is the king of righteousness. He walked among us and never transgressed the law of God. And our king of righteousness stood in the place of sinners like us and took the death that we deserve.

Being strung up on the cross, he died in our place, taking the wrath of God against him in his own flesh. Now he imputes his righteousness to those of us who look to him in faith. He is a king of righteousness.

He makes unrighteous men and women righteous and standing before God. To those who believe in him, it is credited to them as righteousness. He is a king of righteousness. He is a king of peace. Ephesians 2, 13 and 14 says, but now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for he himself is our peace.

This is the prince of peace, a king who will bring peace to earth in the millennial kingdom when he rules in righteousness and all things are made to be at peace. Right now we live at war, but our greatest enemy is not the liberals who oppose the word of God, although that's an enemy in the flesh, those who deny God's word.

Our greatest enemies are not horizontal from us. In fact, we're called to love them. The enmity that is so dangerous toward us is God's hatred of our sin. The issue is the wrath of God against sinners like us.

There's no peace. We say peace, peace. Everybody assumes there's peace with God when there's not and they make war with one another. The real issue is that God is so holy and so righteous that he cannot bear sin.

We are sinners and there is a gap between us. There is reconciliation that needs to happen. And we have a king of peace, one who has gone and sat down at the right hand of the father and somehow made peace between God and men.

He is the king of peace. And that brings us to the last verse for today, the priestly work of Christ. This is so little understood in the church, but it really summarizes the gospel. The work of Christ as priest, the one who propitiates the wrath of God.

God has wrath toward sinners, but he satisfies that wrath by making an offering that pleases God, that turns God's wrath away. And that offering is his one and only life, his blood poured out for sinners.

This priest brings the offering and the offering is him. The cross is the altar. So it says in Hebrews 7 .3, he is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling, that's why he's not Melchizedek, he resembles the son of God.

Resembling the son of God, who is the type, Melchizedek's the type and Jesus the anti-type, he continues a priest forever. The subject of that sentence ultimately then is Jesus. Melchizedek is the one in view, but it's pointing to Jesus.

He, Melchizedek, is without father or mother or genealogy. What does that mean? That means you're supposed to just be reading Genesis chapter 14, and the point is, he comes out of nowhere, right? Who's his father?

Who's his mother? We don't know. After verse 20, because it's just 18, 19, 20, after verse 20, where does he go? Who are his kids? Where's his genealogy? We don't know. He is without father or mother or genealogy.

That was intentional by God. I don't think Moses understood it when he wrote it, but in Christ, all of the old and the new fit together perfectly, and we understand. This was to point to the son of God, because before Jesus came into the world, he already existed.

He is not born of father and mother. The son was always the son from all eternity. He's always been the son. All things were made through him, Hebrews 1, 2. So he has no beginning, and he has no end, and this is very important, because human priests die, and especially the Levitical priesthood.

This was the issue. They had to have the right genealogy. They had to come from Aaron's line and Levi. So the Levitical priest, once this Levi dies, the next one replaces him, but he only lives 80 years if he has the strength, and then he dies, and then the next one, and they die, and then they die, and then they die.

They get replaced. That's how the priesthood worked in Israel, but what marks Jesus as being so different is that he has no genealogy. He continues as the priest forever. He doesn't die. He makes sacrifice for sins, the sacrifice of his own life on the cross.

He rises from the dead with an indestructible life, and he ascends and sits at the right hand of the father, and there he makes intercession for us. This point culminates at chapter 7, verse 25. That word, consequently, is a textual marker that this is where we're going with it all.

This is what you really need to get from it. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. He's a priest that never dies.

He saves to the uttermost. That means forever. It never runs out, and completely, thoroughly covering all of our needs. Not that we'd have to pay for part of our need in purgatory. No, he saves completely, and to the uttermost, forever.

A priest who actually atones for our sin. So, in closing, that's what we wanted to look at today. Just the first three verses, and the big ideas are king and priest, and we'll get into the priestly work of Jesus, and what remains next week.

We'll have much more to cover in Hebrews chapter 7, but we needed to see this big picture, and go back and see the treasure in the old, to see how this all ties together. God planted that treasure there, so that we would discover it.

Bringing out treasure, new and old, and delight in God's word. So, we're on a treasure hunt. That's what Christians ought to be doing. A few things about that, in closing. Number one, when you become passionate to dive into God's word, and discover treasure, you begin to love Christ more.

The more you see him, the more you love him. The more you enjoy his word, and seeing him in it, the more you delight in him, and you become like him. We saw that in second Corinthians 3. When you behold his glory, you're being changed from one degree of glory to another, as you behold him.

Number two, when you set your mind on this kind of treasure hunt, you're free from distraction. I don't know about you, but my mind is prone to wander, but when you spend time here, looking at these treasures, it displaces all those distractions.

So, you're not led astray into vain thoughts, and intrusive thoughts. It sets your mind on things above, not on things below. A third great benefit of this is apologetics. The more you see how every piece fits together, the more solid your worldview becomes.

And I don't know if this is just because of my role as a pastor, and I was an apologist, and kind of evangelist for 14 years in the city, before being a pastor, 12 years. But it seems to me that anything I ever study from God's word, eventually finds a usefulness.

I don't know how it is. If I store it away, as obscure as it is, I study some point of theology, eventually it comes up again. And I think that's probably true for all of us. I think God loves to bring things back around.

That if you'll take the time now to grab some treasure from his word, and bury it in your heart, that he will wait. Might be five years from now in some conversation, maybe an attack against the Christian faith or something, where something that you have buried in your heart will become the key that unlocks the gospel for somebody else.

So, that's why it's so important. It doesn't seem all that important. A lot of people gloss Hebrew 7, and it frustrates me sometimes to listen to other preachers as I'm trying to prepare, because it seems like everybody just blows through the chapter.

And what about the gold that's there? You know, I need to spend time. And I'll probably frustrate you, because I'll go too far the other way, and spend too long in Hebrew 7. But the point is, there's gold here.

And then lastly, it becomes ballast to your ship. Ballast to your ship. A ship that's floating on the water, with not enough weight in the bottom, when the storm comes, that thing can topple right over in a strong gale.

But ship people know that you have to put ballast, it has to have enough weight to hold the boat low enough in the water that it can't blow over. And I think that's what it's like when you find treasure and store it away in your heart.

It's like ballast to your ship. One day I'll tell you guys the story of Paul Cleaver, my grandpa, spent four years in a Russian gulag. If you want to know what that's like, read Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn.

It is, it was an intense four years of his life. But I have a magazine article that he wrote for a Mennonite magazine in Canada, that's three parts, it's about 30 pages long, where he recounts what that was like for him in the gulag.

And what it reads from page to page is how the treasure of God's Word was ballast in his soul. In fact, he physically kept his Bible the whole time against the atheist Russians. How? By hiding it in a water canteen.

And he had that Bible with him all four years. It was ballast to his soul in persecution, in times of trial. So this is why it's so important that in times of peace that we would add that ballast, let's pray.

So Father, we thank you so much for this treasure that we have in your Word, for giving us Melchizedek for three verses in Genesis 14, and how those verses are really not about Melchizedek the man, but are about the one to whom those verses point.

Jesus, the King of Righteousness, the King of Peace, the Priest of the Most High God. God, in coming weeks as we begin to study the priestly work of Christ and truly understand what atonement, and propitiation, and expiation, and all these things are and mean, we pray that you would help us to chew the meat.

God, we pray that we would not be like babies that are content with milk, but that we would enjoy your Word. Help us to treasure it above all else, bringing out treasures new and old, to even sell the field, sell everything we have to buy that field.

Lord, we thank you for the example of Brian, I'm sorry, Mark and Gloria Zuch, how they found the treasure and they took it around the world to share with the people who had never heard. We pray for ourselves that we would share the treasure.

Right here in a culture that is departing from your Word, help us to have boldness to share the gospel. We do pray for our missionaries, Lord, I think of those who are in very hard places right now. I pray that you would help them, remind them of the treasure that they hold.

For your Word says we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the all-surpassing power comes from God and not from us. Help us, Lord, to love your Word as we ought. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Let's.

Stand and close a song. You seek it like silver and search for it. As for hidden treasures,.

Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Amen. Go in peace.