Book of Hebrews - Ch. 7, Vs. 1-28 (04/18/2021)

Hebrews 7 and the Superiority of Melchizedek

Well, good morning. It's good to see all of you this morning, and it's good to be back where we can actually have church in person and not just on the internet. But it's also good that we have the facilities to reach out and touch those people that can't be here with us this morning.

I'd like to begin with a quick word of prayer. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, and thank you for all the things that you've given us. Bless us and keep us, go through with us the services today, and lead us to those things that you want us to explore, those things you want us to know, and lead each one of us individually to gain from these messages those things that you would have us to know.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen. So, we are still in Hebrews chapter 7, verse 1. I'm going to read a little bit, then I'm going to stop and talk a bit. 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, by interpretation, king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is king of peace, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually.

Now last Sunday, we spent the bulk of our time comparing Melchizedek to Abraham, and we saw the superiority of Melchizedek to Abraham, and that's swell and good, but we need to keep this in mind. That is not the focus of Hebrews, nor is it the focus of the Scripture in general.

In fact, John, in chapter 5, verse 39, tells us this, search the Scripture, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. So the focus of the Scripture is not Melchizedek and what a wonderful personage he was, nor whether or not he was superior to Abraham, which he was, or whether or not his priesthood was eternal, because it had no defined end or beginning, but what the focus of Hebrews, as well as all the rest of the gospel is, is Jesus.

So we need to keep in mind that Jesus is what we're focusing on. So what we're going to do this morning is we're going to go briefly to John MacArthur for his brief summary of the material that we covered last Sunday, and then to the more important comparison, not the comparison of Melchizedek to Abraham, but the comparison of Melchizedek to Jesus.

So we're going to begin with Hebrews chapter 3, chapter 7, verse 3, without father, without mother, without descent. The Levitical priesthood was hereditary, but Melchizedek's was not. His parentage and his origin are unknown because they are irrelevant to his priesthood.

This is John MacArthur. Contrary to some interpretations, Melchizedek did have a father and a mother. I'm just going to add, this is my own. We just don't know who they are. The ancient Syriac Peshitta gives a more accurate translation of what was intended by the phrase without father, without mother, without descent.

It says it this way, whose father and mother are not written in the genealogies. So even though he had a mother and a father, we just don't know who they were. No record exists of Melchizedek's birth or death.

Now that's quite a contrast to the details of Aaron's death and Levi's and everybody else's that the Bible speaks of. There was quite a record of all the things associated with Aaron and his death. And then we come to the phrase made like unto God.

Literally, that means made to be like. This word, made to be like, is used nowhere else in the New Testament. The implication is that the resemblance to Christ rests upon the way Melchizedek's history is reported in the Old Testament, not upon Melchizedek himself.

Melchizedek was not the pre-incarnate Christ, as some people maintain, but was similar to Christ. He was similar in that his priesthood was universal. His priesthood was royal. Not only was he a priest, he was a king.

And as we recall from last week, there was another king who got in a good bit of trouble because he tried to usurp the role of priest when his role was to be that of a king. That was Saul. So Melchizedek modeled for Christ in that he was similar to Christ.

His priesthood was universal, royal, righteous, peaceful, and unending. It was an eternal priesthood and an eternal kingship. Now we're to verse 4. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

Now in antiquity, it was common for people to give a tithe to a god or to his representative. Abraham, the father of the Hebrew faith, gave a tithe to Melchizedek. That shows that Abraham viewed Melchizedek as superior to him because the lesser person gives tithes to the greater.

Verse 5. And verily they that are the sons of Levi, who receive the office of priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham.

So what he's doing is saying with regard to the priesthood, the Levitical priesthood, and the people that they were taking tithes from, they were not better than the other people. They were their brothers.

They came from the same genetic background as did the Levites. They all came from the loins of Abraham. Now the Levitical priests collected tithes from their fellow Israelites by the authority invested in them after the establishment of the Mosaic law.

That is to say, God granted to them the right to collect tithes. If you recall, of all the tribes of Israel, one tribe had no possessions given to them. You know which one that was? The Levites. The Levites.

The Levites didn't have a grant of land. They were given, I'm sorry, their inheritance was the Lord. That's right. Their inheritance was the Lord, and their duty was to serve the Lord. And in recompense, they were to get tithes from all the other tribes.

So God granted them the right to collect tithes. Now the other people, the one that gave the tithes, they submitted this to honor God, not to honor the Levites or the priests. Verse 6,. But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham and blessed him that had the promise.

And without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the greater. So what's happening here is Melchizedek didn't receive the tithes that he received from Abraham in the same fashion that the priests received their tithes from the other people.

Melchizedek, unlike the Levitical priest, was not descended from the sons of Levi. And as we mentioned last week, in all probability, they were descended from him. It's my belief, although it's just my belief, you can take this with a grain of salt or maybe a whole pound of salt, I don't know.

There's a probability or possibility that he was Shem. But we can't know and we don't know and we don't need to know because the genealogy of Melchizedek has nothing to do with his priesthood. In any case, we do know for certain two things.

Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek. And remember, the lesser gives tithes to the greater. And Melchizedek blessed Abraham. The greater blesses the lesser. Both indicated that at least in Abraham and Melchizedek's mind, Melchizedek was the greater than Abraham.

Though Abraham was the father of all of Israel. Now verse 8,. And here men that die receive tithes, but there he receiveth them of whom it is witnessed he liveth. Now, the Levitical priesthood changed every time a high priest died.

When a high priest died, a new high priest took his place. And that continued all the way until it passed away altogether. Now, when did the Levitical priesthood pass away altogether? Anybody know? When did the Levitical priesthood end?

It ended when Jesus fulfilled all the requirements that needed to have been fulfilled before the Scripture was completed. Whereas the Levitical priesthood changed as each priest died until it passed away altogether, Melchizedek's priesthood is viewed as perpetual since the record about his priesthood does not record his death.

Not that he didn't die. If he was a man, he died. But that there is no record of his death. And that leaves Melchizedek as an apt model of Christ, a priest and a king eternally. Now again, there is one priest and king eternally, and that's Jesus Christ.

Melchizedek is only a model of that, and he only is allowed to be a model of that. He only qualifies to be a model of that because there's no record of his priesthood and his kingship ending. So he can be viewed as a model for Christ.

Verse 9,. And as I may so say, Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes to Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. Now what's that saying? It's saying that in the same sense that Paul says in Romans, we inherited the sin from our descendants from Adam because when Adam sinned, all sinned.

When Abraham paid the tithe to Melchizedek, all of his descendants paid tithes to Melchizedek. So we speak of the Levites and all of his descendants giving tithes to Melchizedek, recognizing that Melchizedek was superior to them when Levi's father, Abraham, gave the tithe.

And now we come to a subtle shift. It's one that the first time through, it was like three or four pages deep before I realized that he had changed subject. He is no longer going to be comparing Abraham and Melchizedek.

Now he's going to be making a greater comparison, Melchizedek to Jesus. A shift from the comparison of Abraham and the Levitical priesthood to Melchizedek and his model of eternal priesthood and kingship to a comparison of Melchizedek's model and the reality of Jesus's eternal priesthood and kingship.

So we have, first of all, a comparison of Abraham and King Saul to Melchizedek and finding that Melchizedek was greater than either one of those. And now we're going to go to a different comparison, that of Melchizedek and his priest and kingship to Jesus Christ and his kingship and priesthood.

And both of those are apt in that they are both eternal, at least in the sense of we don't know the end or the beginning of Melchizedek. Okay, so back to verse 11. If therefore perfection. Now, perfection doesn't mean perfection like we think of perfection, like everything being tidy and neat and up to date and everything exactly right.

Brother Otis Fisher used to always say, when a peach blossom blooms, it's a perfect peach. And when it begins to form the little green hard knot that will later become a peach, it is perfect then as well.

It is exactly what it was meant to be at the time that it's there. When it becomes a full-fledged peach, fully ripe, delicious to eat, it's no more perfect than it was when it was a bloom. It was everywhere exactly what it was meant to be.

That's what perfection means. Here what perfection means, all through Hebrews, and in fact through the text, through the Scripture, the term perfect refers to complete reconciliation with and access to God.

So when we say something is perfect, in the spiritual sense we're talking about you have access to God and you have reconciliation with God. So I'm going to start again. If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, for it was under it the people received the law, what further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek and not be called after the order of Aaron?

Now the word another, the Greek is so wonderful. It's got two different words for another. If we say another, I'd say John is a person and Ben is another person. But I might say John is a person and Mrs. Schubert is another person.

They will use a different word for that. They would use one word that says one of the same kind and one of a different kind. The word used here is heteros. That's one of a different kind. That's one of a different kind, one not like Melchizedek, one not like the Levitical priest.

In one sense Melchizedek was like the Levitical priest in that he was a man like they were. But in another he is not because there's no record of his death. Jesus is totally unlike either one of them.

So what we're talking about here is a priest of another order, not of the same kind, but of the order of Melchizedek. Compared to Melchizedek, what does that mean? It's a priesthood and a kingship. You can have them both together as Melchizedek did, but not as Abraham and Saul did.

Saul was a king. He couldn't be a priest. Aaron was a priest. He couldn't be a king. They were separate. Melchizedek was both. Melchizedek was a man and he was both. He modeled Jesus who was a man in one sense, but God in another sense.

We have to keep that in mind. That's what makes Melchizedek and Christ a stronger, greater comparison to the one that we just had. Again, it's not one of the same kind. It's one of a different kind. The Levitical system and its priesthood could not save anyone from their sins.

Nor, in fact, could Melchizedek and his priesthood. He couldn't forgive anyone of their sins either. He couldn't save anyone from their sins. Who or what can save anyone from their sins? God through Jesus.

Jesus said Himself, I am the way, the truth, and the light. No man cometh to the Father but by me. Yes, we can go to the Father, but there's only one way we can go there. We can't go there through the Levitical priesthood.

We can't go there through Melchizedek. We can't go there through Mohammed. We can't go there through Buddha. There's only one way we can get to God, and that's through Jesus Christ. No, what we needed was a priesthood of an entirely different kind.

A priesthood of a kind that could save a man from his sins. A priesthood after the order of Melchizedek in that it was eternal, but not after Melchizedek in that it is effective, that it can effectively save men from their sins.

And then we go to verse 12. For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attention at the altar, for it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning the priesthood.

And in fact, Moses spake nothing of the tribe of Judah at all, because it was not at that time that Israel had a king. When did Israel have the first king, and what made them have the first king? Anybody know where the kingship of Saul originated?

They wanted a king. They wanted a king because all their neighbors had kings, and they wanted a king, and they begged for a king. He gave it to them, but he reassured Samuel. I think it was Samuel. Correct me if I'm wrong on the prophet.

He reassured Samuel, but Samuel, they're not rejecting your leadership. They're rejecting my leadership. So don't you take it to heart. I'll take care of you. But I'll let him be king. He won't have anything to do with your stuff.

That's why Saul got in trouble. When Samuel was late, well, Samuel was not late. He was right on time. When Samuel, who was right on time to his rendezvous with Saul prior to the attack of the Philistines, Saul took it upon himself to usurp the duties of the priest, and when the priest came, he said, you have done bad.

You have done wrong. You've done wickedly. You will now be removed from your kingship. Your seed will not be king. In fact, God has already chosen a man to replace you, and we know who that was. It was David.

For it's evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. Now here's what MacArthur says about that. Since Christ is the Christian's high priest, and he was of the tribe of Judah, not Levi, his priesthood is clearly beyond the law.

I want to say outside of the law, without regard to the law. The law didn't establish his kingship or his priesthood. The law didn't describe or authorize Jesus' priesthood. That was the authority of the Levitical priesthood, and this is proof, he says, that the Mosaic law was no longer in effect.

The Levitical system was replaced by a new system, with a new priest offering a new sacrifice under a new covenant. And then I decided to go to Matthew 5 verse 17, and I'm going to actually read this one twice today, but forgive me.

Think not that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.

So how did Jesus put an end to the law? How did Jesus end the law? He finished it by fulfilling it and providing the perfection which the law could never accomplish. You see, because of the law, you can't follow the law.

The law doesn't give you a way to follow it. It only tells you what you have to do, and what it really does is show how much you need an alternate way, how much you need a different way to come to God because you can't come to it by what you can do.

So the law can never accomplish perfection. And then Matthew 5 verse 20, a couple of verses down, and I should have told you this at the beginning of this passage. Jesus is speaking to a group of people here, but primarily he's speaking to the Pharisees.

And so this verse is going to bite to the quick. For I say unto you, he's talking to a big group, but a lot of them are Pharisees, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you should in no case enter unto the kingdom of heaven.

Now, he didn't say if your righteousness is as good as the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Had he said that, the Pharisees might have been happy, but he didn't say that. What did he say? Your righteousness, except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no case enter unto the kingdom of heaven.

What did that say about the Pharisees? Their righteousness was not sufficient.

There was no way they could exceed.

There was no way they could certainly exceed their own righteousness. And there's no way we can either. And even if we did, no, we can't. This does not go that way. There is no way that anyone can exceed or can be righteousness enough to inherit the kingdom of heaven except for one man.

And who is that? Jesus Christ. And by Him, we inherit this righteousness. It's imputed to us. It's given to us. It's something that belonged to Him that was given to us. And unfortunately, well, I don't know.

Maybe this is fortunate. And fortunately for us, at least, our sins, our unrighteousness was given to Him. And He carried that to the cross. And when He died, just before He died, is when it was finished.

We'll get to that again in a minute. Verse 15. And it is yet far more evident for that after the similitude of Melchizedek, there arises another priest. This is the another that I really didn't connect at first.

After the likeness similar to Melchizedek, there was another kind of a priest, a different kind of priest than Melchizedek, different than the Levites, different than Melchizedek, different than all of them, one of another kind, who is made not after the law of carnal commandment, as was the Levitical priest, as were the Levitical priest, and as was Melchizedek, but after the power of endless life, another priest of another kind, Jesus.

Now John MacArthur also says this. The law dealt only with the temporal existence of Israel, Israel in time. And the forgiveness which could be obtained, even the forgiveness that was obtained on the Day of Atonement was temporary.

Those who ministered as priests under the law were mortals, receiving their office by heredity. The Levitical system was dominated by manners concerning the physical existence and the transitory ceremonialism of the law.

The physical existence and the ceremonies. That's what the Levitical system was concerned about. And then we come to the phrase, the power of endless life. Because He is the eternal second person of the Godhead, Jesus, God the Son, His priesthood cannot end.

His kingship cannot end. He obtained His priesthood, not by commandment, not by any law, not by virtue of any law, but by virtue of His deity, that He was God. Oh, He was man. He was all man. He had to be all man, but He was also God.

He was all God. It's hard for us to understand how He can be all of two things, but He was. I guess it's hard for us to understand because we're not one of them. We're not one of the Trinity. And we can't be.

But we can have the value of being one of the Trinity if we are in Christ. Verse 17, For He testified, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Nachizedech. And He's again quoting the verse that we quoted last week from Psalms 110, verse 4.

Verse 18, For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and the unprofitability thereof. Now the commandment going before, that's the law. He's talking about the law.

And He says the law is weak. Now why is the law weak? Be saved under it. The law cannot save anyone. What can it do? It can point out that everyone is in need of a Savior, but it can't save you. The law can't save you.

For the law made nothing perfect, made nothing complete, but the bringing in of a better hope did. What was that better hope? That better hope was Jesus Christ, by the which we draw nigh unto God. Now drawing nigh unto God, drawing near to God, is the essence of Christianity as compared to the Levitical system.

What the Levitical system had was a wall between God and man and a way to breach that wall by a mechanism, by ceremonialism, and, in fact, once a year by the high priest on the Day of Atonement, a way to bring the needs of the people before God, because God and man were separate.

As believer priests, as believers, we are to all draw near to God. That's characteristic of this new priesthood. The difference between Christianity and the law is Christianity gives us a mechanism to draw nigh to God and for God to come nigh to us.

In fact, we say God lives in us as an indwelling Holy Spirit. That's a difference between the law and Christianity, the new covenant. Verse 20, For insomuch as not without an oath he was made priest, for these priests were made without oath, but with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord swear and would not repent.

Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. That was the quote from Psalms. That's it. God will not change His mind. Christ is a priest and a king forever and will be so forever. And the elect will be priests and kings along with Him.

That says one thing for us for sure. We should be testifying about Jesus all the time. Our life, our energies should be geared toward testifying about Jesus. Not wondering how much money we can earn. Not worrying about our country and what hardships it's going through.

Not being resentful. Our energy should be focused on testifying about Jesus Christ. Verse 22, By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. This is the only use of the Greek term in the New Testament.

It sometimes could be translated guarantor. Do you know what a guarantor of a loan is? If you've ever been one, you know. That means if something happens, you're responsible for it. So this better testament, what Jesus is saying is, if something happens, it's on me.

I'll take care of you. Chuck Missler defined a guarantor as a, I can't remember the word he used. I'll say a chump with a pen. Don't be a guarantor for anything. Only God can guarantee something. Only Jesus Christ can guarantee something.

Smuck, that's what he used, a smuck with a pen. It was a Jewish word, yeah. Jesus himself guarantees the success of his new covenant of salvation. This is a new and a better covenant. Verse 23, and they truly were many priests because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.

But this man, because he continues ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Now, who is this man that we're talking about now? Not Melchizedek. This man is the man Jesus Christ, who has the reality of an unchanging priesthood.

Not Melchizedek, who was a pattern of that, and not the many Levitical priests. Some say that there was as many as 84 high priests, and many other of lesser ranks from the time of Aaron to the time just before Jesus ends it all.

But what happened to each and every one of them? What happened to each and every one of the priests except for one? Each and every one of the high priests except one died. And which one didn't die? Now, I'm not talking about Jesus.

The one that was still high priest when Jesus died. He lived on a few days. Oh, he didn't die, but his death didn't end the priesthood. What ended the priesthood? The priesthood was not ended by the death of this final human priest.

The priesthood ended by the death of the real priest, Jesus. And when did he die? When Jesus was on the cross. I was going to read, again, Matthew 5, 17. I'm not going to read it all because we're at a good time.

I will read it all. Sorry. Some say there were 84 high priests and many more of lesser rank, but each and every one of them served for a limited time, limited by his death, except for those who were serving when Jesus ended the law by fulfilling it.

Here's what he said in Matthew 5, 17. I'm going to read it again. Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I have not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.

Okay? Not till the earth pass, but until everything be fulfilled. And when was the law fulfilled? After this. This is John 19, 28. John 19, 28. John 19, 28. And after this, he's on the cross. Jesus, knowing all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

Everything that he had to do to fulfill the Scripture has been done, said, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it on his lip, and put it to his mouth, before he had refused to take the vinegar.

But now he takes it. When Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, why did he refuse to take it before? Because it was not all fulfilled before. He received the vinegar, and he said, it is finished.

As I rode into church this morning, I looked over at the little churches on the corner, and you know what their topic for the day is? It is finished. I said, and they shouldn't put down below it. Painted full.

And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. That's when the law was fulfilled. Verse 25. Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing that he liveth to make intercession for them.

It's been a while since we were in Hebrews. Hebrews, wherefore he, who is that he? That he is Jesus Christ. Wherefore he, Jesus Christ, the one who just died on the cross, is able also to save them, us, all of us, everyone in the whole world, no, the elect, save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.

See, that's not everybody, because not everybody comes unto God by him. Some try to come unto God by Mohammed. Some try to come to God by their own works. What was his name? Nimrod built the Tower of Babel.

He tried to come to God by his own works. It don't work. You can't come to God by anything except by coming through Jesus Christ. Any other way? He won't save you. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he liveth to make intercession for them.

And I left out one word, he ever liveth. He is always alive. He is always there to make intercession for you. And Paul reaffirms that in Timothy 1 verse 2. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and man, the man, Jesus Christ.

Not two, not three, not just try to be a good guy. One way. For such is a high priest, for such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.

And since we do have a little time, I'll tell you something that came up at breakfast this morning. Diane, my sister-in-law, for anybody that doesn't know, and my brother were talking about this personage on Fox News that just wrote a new book, 12 Women in the Bible.

And I don't remember exactly what the name of the book is. But one of her, one of the stories that she liked the best was the story about the woman with the bleeding issue that came up in the crowd and touched Jesus.

And Jesus said, who touched me? And said, you can just see, you can just see the reaction of all the disciples. What do you mean who touched you? In a crowd, a lot of people touched you. This is a different touch.

You see, she was unclean. And normally what happened is if you touched an unclean person, what happened? By the law, you became unclean. And then you had to go through a whole ceremony of cleaning yourself.

Did that happen here? What did happen here? She became clean. Not that he became unclean, but when she touched him, she became clean. Not only that, but he healed her, saved her, and sent her on her way.

And she became a witness to us all. For such a high priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and can't be defiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than heavens, who needeth not daily as those who offer sacrifices first for his own sin and then for the people's.

For this he did once when he offered up himself. Whenever a Levitical high priest sinned, he was required to first of all offer a sacrifice for himself to clean himself. Whenever people sinned, he had to offer a sacrifice for them.

But before he could offer a sacrifice for them, he must first offer a sacrifice for himself. Because in the meantime, he had done something wrong. These occasions could happen every day. And certainly they happen once a year on the Day of Atonement.

He had to again offer sacrifices for himself and then for the people. Christ had no sin and did not need to sacrifice for himself. That step was out of the picture. And only one sacrifice by him was needed.

One time. One time only. For all men that come to him. For all time. Once and for all. This is the key emphasis in Hebrews. That the sacrificial work of Christ never needed to be repeated. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity.

But the word of the oath which was since the law maketh the son who is consecrated for evermore. Since Jesus did not sin, he did not need to offer a sin for himself ever. And he did not need to make an offer for sin daily as the Levitical priests did.

One sacrifice. One time. Never needed to be repeated. That's the emphasis of the entirety of the book of Hebrews. And if you think about it, that is the emphasis of the entirety of the Scripture. One man, Jesus Christ, who came, suffered, paid the penalty for our sin once and for all, never needed to be done again.

Okay, we're running close now.

Any questions or comments? Did they understand that the sin was being...

They did. They understood that. And that's why they had to do it daily when people came to them. It had to be recovered. And once a year, all the sins were pushed back for another year. So yes, they did understand that it was just pushing it back.

And they were waiting for the Messiah. And even though they were waiting for the Messiah, they were blinded. So when he came, they didn't see him. Anything else? Yes. I don't know exactly how you phrased your...

The high priest, when he did what with regard to the high priest? Jesus officially... Okay, I'm going to answer your question. Before time began, what is the answer? I was listening to see if you said, when did he assume the role?

Yeah, like when did David know that he was the king of Israel? When Samuel anointed him out at his father's house years before? Before he slew the giant? A long time before? Before? When did he assume the role?

Later. So I think he assumed the role when he ascended. I think, and again, that's me. I think he assumed the role of high priest when he ascended. The Levitical priesthood is over. It's no more. There is a new priesthood.

He is the high priest. He is in the heavens to intercede. And he will be there forever until he brings us all up there with him and then comes down. That's what I believe. High priest, yes. Then all high priests after that of the Levitical system are counterfeits.

I'll just say it that way. Counterfeits. Not real. The real high priest is in heaven right now interceding for us. And that is a wonderful thing to know. Okay. Is that it? Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, and thank you for all our many opportunities to witness to other people, not by how good we are, but by how good our Lord is.