High Priests 101

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Personal Introduction and Family Banter

Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, Michael Lee Abendroth. My father�s name was Lee, his middle name was Henry, my grandpa�s name was Henry. So right at that point, I guess it started, where whatever your dad�s name was, the firstborn son, or the only son, pretty much around here, they got the dad�s first name as their middle name.

So my son is named Luke, and he guesses what his middle name is. And I think you guessed correctly. Anyway, I�m excited to see my kids learn and grow, walking by faith, speaking in tongues, speaking of Luke.

He is out in Los Angeles and loves to teach the Word, and I don�t know, I probably should have some kind of plug. You know, if you�re in Los Angeles and you need somebody to give a youth message, you let me know.

I�m his bookie, booker, booking agent, I�m his bookie. Remember the old days when you�d say, �I got to book it, man. I got to get going. I got to hurry. I have to hurry up. That�s the way we used to talk, at least in Nebraska.

Maybe there�s something left of me that thinks of Nebraska and Midwestern work ethic and some just pretty good people, but sometimes when I talk, I think, �Oh, Lord, you should have had me grow up in, I don�t know, some Ivy League community.

It wouldn�t have worked because my IQ would have been the same. I just maybe would have known how to say the word �sit� instead of �set. Have your children sit down. Sit down. Sit down. Sit. Seated.

Sat. Anyway, if you�re listening, you�re probably over 55 years old. My demographic is over 50, usually male. So if you�re a lady that�s younger and you listen, I welcome you to No Compromise Radio. I�ll try to keep the Depeche Mode New Order references to a minimum, but that�s just part of who I am.

I�ll try to stick closely to the Scriptures, especially since Steve�s not here. When Tuesday Guy�s gone, we�re all about the Bible, right? When Steve�s here, we�re yucking it up, and we�re talking about all kinds of things from pulpits to pitfalls to everything else.

Well, if you are listening and you�re giving on Patreon, would you email me? I�m trying to figure out who the people are who give because I think I might owe some CDs or DVDs or things like that and just have a list.

I can�t access that list for some reason. Email me, Mike at NoCompromiseRadio. That would be great. Well, today on the show, we�re talking about the book of Hebrews, and why I like to talk about the book of Hebrews is because, well, A, I�m preaching it now, preaching through it.

Hebrews and the Question of Hermeneutics

But also, it highlights the person and work of the Lord Jesus. There are hermeneutical issues in the book, and there are hermeneutical issues even in evangelicalism now. How do we interpret the Bible, and do we focus on the human author more than the divine author?

Do we focus on the divine author more than the human author? What about the Enlightenment, and how does that affect the way we do hermeneutics? Are there multiple meanings, census plenier? How do we read the Old Testament in light of the New or the New in light of the Old?

There�s all these issues that are coming around. Do you preach Christ in every sermon? Is He found in every text? And if you�re in Ezra and Nehemiah and Esther, how often do you talk about Jesus? Are you jamming Him into the text?

If you talk about Him, and a lot of those questions, well, those questions are answered to some degree, to a great degree, in the book of Hebrews as you see the writer, how he interprets the Old Testament.

But above and beyond that, I like talking about Hebrews because then I don�t have any questions from people on either side of the spectrum. Hey, why are you talking about Jesus in this message? Because the message of Hebrews is, we have a great high priest who has done his work of purging sins of the people that the Father has given Him, and that He has then died as a sacrifice, He�s the priest and the sacrifice, and that He then has been exalted by God the Father in a place of preeminence and of honor and of dominion, in a place that really, if the Father thinks so highly of the Son, maybe I could boil down the whole message of Hebrews into this.

Is your view of Jesus the same view as the Father�s view of Jesus? That�s really what we�re after, a view of exaltation and honor and power and authority and dominion and majesty. And since you have such a great high priest, shouldn�t you just rest?

I mean, I have a lot of issues going on in my life at a lot of times because I have my own issues of frailty and sinfulness and just being a dope, and then I have to deal with other peoples because as a pastor and as an elder, then we get involved with other folks when they�re sinful and dopey and, you know, not doing the right thing.

It is good for me to be reminded, even today, today�s kind of a stressful day in my life. Let me just tell you about it and we can discuss. Even today, you know, the Lord Jesus, He�s building the church.

The Lord Jesus, He�s going to return. I like that. Jesus is going to return. Just to ponder that makes me encouraged. That�s why so much eschatology is what theologians call �ethical. It�s ethical eschatology in light of the soon return of Christ, the soon bodily return.

How should we live? I mean, if it�s just be holy, you know, Jesus is coming back, you know, your dad�s getting back to town, be holy, clean your room, well, I�m not going to argue against that. But I don�t even think that�s the preeminent.

I don�t think that�s the priority. The Lord Jesus is going to come back. I eagerly anticipate that for lots of reasons. He�s going to make all wrongs right. He�s going to avenge. He�s going to do everything right.

But I can just trust that the Father�s going to send Him back just at the right time, and that everything�s true in the Scriptures, that God is faithful, and He knows about our difficulties and struggles and temptations, and I can just rest in that.

I can rest knowing that the Lord knows the Lord�s going to return. And that�s good. That�s good news. I don�t know why I have this frog in my throat. Well, the book of Hebrews, and we�re in chapter 7, the book of Hebrews is really trying to, I guess, back you into a corner so that no matter if you�re a Jewish person back in those days, a Jewish person today, a Roman Catholic today, a Roman Catholic in the 1500s, that you say, �Jesus�s priesthood is better.

And no matter what the Levitical priest did, and no matter how great they might have been, Jesus is better. And if you think of Moses and Aaron, and who was Aaron�s? Followed after him Eleazar, is that right?

I think so. A couple of them died, right, in Adab and Abihu. But the Levitical priests, as good as they were, right, they were ordained by God, good as the institution was. I mean, the men weren�t good, right?

I know they were affected by Adam�s fall, but I�m talking about the institution of priesthood. As good as that was, I mean, God instituted it, but it was temporary. It was not to be permanent. There were some things about it that lended itself to, hmm, there�s got to be something better.

And if you look at verse 23 of Hebrews 7, as you think about this great passage, just kind of let it settle in, the Levitical priest died and could not continue in office. Do you think that�s a problem, or do you think that was a good thing?

Well, it�d be a good thing, I guess, if it was a really bad priest, and you didn�t like him, and he was, you know, ran around with other women, and you think, well, at least he died, you know. This is not a one-to-one correspondence, but it makes me think of the way lots of churches have their elder boards set up, and it�s three years on, one year off.

Why do people do that? I mean, if you desire to be an elder, it�s a good thing. If you�re qualified, then you should be an elder. Therefore, elder emeritus, you know, you�re an elder by title, but you don�t do anything, I don�t think that�s a biblical concept.

I think an elder who�s served for lots of years should be often sought out for counsel by other elders and other people, but you�re not an elder. You either are an elder or you aren�t. There�s no such thing as elder emeritus.

There might be a president emeritus, but not an elder emeritus, president at a college or something like that. Well, same thing with three years on, one year off. Why do they do that? I mean, if there�s really a great elder, would you want him to really take a year off even though he wants to serve, even though his kids are now all out of the house and he can just serve and come alongside folks?

That doesn�t seem right. But I think lots of times it�s three years on, one year off because in the society, especially Baptist society, are those in Bible churches, evangelical, you know, EV-free types.

If you�re going to have an elder and he�s not good, well, how are you going to get rid of him? And believe me, when you have to get rid of an elder, it�s hard to do, it�s stressful to do. And therefore, what do you do?

You, I don�t know about you, but I�m not looking for trouble usually. I want to avoid that kind of stress. Well, you can avoid that stress by just waiting it out and then they have to leave in three years and then you don�t have to have them back.

But anyway, back to the Levitical priesthood in Hebrews chapter 7. There are people who were probably good priests. That is to say, you know, they functioned well and then they were kind to people outside of what they did, but it didn�t really matter their moral standing and character because it was the work to be done and they did the work.

And therefore, if the work was done, the work was done. But one of the things about all these, they died, and that should tell you there�s something temporary to that. And it says in verse 23, �The former priests were many in number.

Right? How many high priests were there? You can go to Josephus and I don�t know how many he counted, I think 80 from Aaron to the destruction of the temple. It says in the text, �Because they were prevented by death from continuing in office.

I looked up the word �transitory� and it�s from the Latin �passageway. Right? You�re going, you know, to transport, transit. There�s an impermanence, there�s a brevity, there�s a fleetingness, here today gone tomorrow type of thing.

The priesthood of the Levitical priests were anything but eternal and abiding and everlasting. They died. And you can see the comparison. Many high priests, one high priest. High priests that couldn�t continue, high priests that could continue.

Many priests and they would die. Jesus died and was raised from the dead. And that�s what�s going on in this section. If you�re an Aaronic priest, a Levitical priest, you are going to die. And therefore, when you�re dead, can you do what priests are supposed to do?

Make sacrifices and intercessions and other things? No, but for Jesus, it�s different. In the next verse, we�re going to talk about how He�s permanent. These men, these Aaronic priests could not overcome death, and that would not be a good thing.

And I even think to some degree of comparison, you have the vicars of Christ now in the Roman Catholic Church, and one after another after another, they die, right? Death is not a respecter of persons.

And if you�re going to have to have a priest, you want an eternal priest. You want a priest that is seated at the right hand of the Father. When you read Genesis chapter 5 in the genealogy, �And He died, and He died, and He died, and He died.

Remember, Satan said, �Oh, you�re not going to die, and He died, and He died. Well, the same thing could be true if we had a genealogy of the high priests, �Died, died, died, died. And if you die, then you�ve got to be replaced.

But the language of this verse, verse 23 and sentence 23, 24, 25, it�s the language of �On one hand, but on the other hand. �On one hand, but on the other hand. It�s a men day, is what it�s called in the Greek.

On one hand, lots of priests died, died, died, died, died, died, died. On the other hand, there�s another priest that�s different that is wonderfully different. And this Jesus we have heard in Hebrews 7 .16, I believe, as I�m pulling up 7 .16, has a kind of life that is amazingly described.

And it says in 7 .16, �He has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. He died, He died, He died, He died, He died, Aaronic priests, He lives, Jesus, the high priest, indestructible life.

Now, you think about the Old Testament that these people would have been very familiar with. It says in Numbers 20, �In the journey from Kadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation came to Mount Hor, H-O-R.

And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor on the border of the land of Edom, �Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.

Take Aaron and Eliezer his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor, and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eliezer his son. And Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and shall die there. Moses did as the Lord Yahweh commanded, and they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eliezer his son. That must have been an amazing occurrence. And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eliezer came down from the mountain, and when all the congregation saw that Aaron had perished, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.

Now I believe that mountain is somewhere, well, it's on the border of the land of Edom, I know that's what the text says. But when we go to Petra, I don't think I'll ever go back to Petra, I didn't feel safe in Jordan.

I mean, I think you're supposed to feel safe in Jordan if you listen to the propaganda and you think about how westernized a Middle Eastern country could be. But I don't know, I just wasn't really too thrilled.

I've been to Petra a couple times, and neither time was I really like, oh. But anyway, you can stand, I think, near Petra and see, or when you're driving to Petra, you drive on this road from Amman down to Petra, south, you know, Moab, Edom, I think you can see the mountain, Mount Hor, where Aaron died.

And I think it takes a few hours to hike up it, and of course when you're with a tour group, and I think the NoCo tour with Bethlehem Bible Church and Omaha Bible Church, the next Israel trip, we need some kind of Rome extension, I think, but the next trip is going to be, this year is 2019.

It's not going to be 2020, but 2021, February. That gives you 24 months to start saving your shekels. If you saved $25 a week, that's what, $100 a month, that's $1 ,200, you still wouldn't make it, but you're on your way.

Okay, with the Rome extension, save $50 a month. I mean, $50 a week, $200, yeah, $4 ,800, that'd do the trick. Anyway, you could see that mountain and climb up that mountain. You don't really get to do that on field trips because, you know, on travel tours because there's somebody who's not able to, and they don't like to do these four-hour-ups and four-down, you know, kind of thing.

And you can see it. Here's the point. Aaron died. And later, in Joshua 24, Eleazar, who took over for Aaron, he died too. It says in Joshua 24, and Eleazar, the son of Aaron, died, and they buried him at Gibeah, the town of Phinehas, his son, which had been given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

Well, here's this Levitical priesthood. It's never going to work. It's never going to get you to where you need to be. It's temporary. And you've got one after another after another Aaronic high priest, and they die.

They could never continue in office. What's a dead priest going to do for you? And so, we know the answer to that question. You need to have a priest you can rely on all the time. And of course, as a pastor, I just can't get everywhere, and I'm not reliable.

I want to be reliable, of course. I want to keep my word. I want to be there when people need me. But you need somebody greater than your pastor. You need somebody greater than these priests that die.

Those priests at 30 to 50, they'd work, right? And if they died early, they're done. And they'd get old, and they'd get sick. And you know, you think about even your own pastor, okay, I'm 58. And I have friends who have died, and friends that are dying, and when I look at myself in the mirror, and I can't see, I can't hear as well, and so when I stand up, you know, it's the typical old person stand up, and you've got to kind of like get your bearings because everything's hurting.

You go to the chiropractor, and he's like, what hurts? Yes. Yes. One day, I'm going to die. I've thought about that, you know, especially with the cancer stuff, a lot more than I've ever thought about.

I guess I could be around for another 20 more years to preach. I've been here almost 22 years, and I guess I could be here another 22. I won't complain if I am, right? I have no death wish. I mean, it'd be great to be free from all this chaos in this world.

That's true. But while I'm here, I'd like to be faithful. I'd like to talk about Jesus regularly and often. That's what I talk about. If you want me to come speak at your church function, you can email me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com.

And if you want a TED Talk, I'm not going to show up. If you want moralism, pietism, scholasticism, mysticism, or a lot of the other isms, I'm not going to go do that. I want to talk about who the Lord Jesus is.

And especially, I think, with my background and self-righteousness and probably a lot of moralism I've taught over the years, I don't want to do that anymore. Should we be moral and pious in light of who we are in Christ?

The answer is yes. But that's a lot different than being moralistic. Anyway, I'm going to die one day. Your pastor's going to die one day. And then what are you going to do? Well, then there's the next, and so the person will either be a better preacher than I am, a more godly than I am, a more conservative than I am, or the opposite, and they'll probably look a lot better.

I mean, who knows? Luke might be the next pastor here. I have no idea. Then the Word goes on and on and on and goes forth. That is great when it happens and churches don't go liberal. Well, I'm going to die, these priests died, but Jesus is not like that.

His priesthood never comes to an end. You say, yeah, He died. Yeah, He died and He was raised from the dead, so He continues, right? And we're not talking 72 hours in the tomb, right? It wasn't that long that He was in there, His body.

When you think about Friday, and then any part of Friday counts as a day as you're having the Jewish reckoning for days, Saturday, 24 hours, all day Saturday, and then Sunday morning, part of Sunday morning.

How many hours? I don't know. But we're not talking about that many hours that He's dead, and He has been raised from the dead. The Father raised Him because He did the work that He was sent to do. The Spirit of God raised Him, vindicated by the Spirit, 1 Timothy 3, and the Son Himself raised Himself from the dead.

So that's the kind of priest you want. I could probably say it this way, the Levitical priesthood, it was planned obsolescence. It's built-in obsolescence. I studied that a little bit this week, that you design a product with an artificially limited useful life.

It's designed that way, and either by function, by fashion, by iOS stuff, it's no longer going to be needed, and they're going to want to get the update. They're going to want to get the upgrade to get you to purchase more, quote, shorten the replacement cycle, end quote.

And it started back in the day with Alfred P. Sloan, and he, in 1924, was trying to figure out how to sell more cars. Everybody had a car, so how are you going to sell more cars if the market has already been saturated?

And he, a General Motors head, Alfred P. Sloan, said, you know what, let's change models every year and try to convince them that they should get new models. And allegedly, that was from the bicycle industry.

The bicycle industry used to do that, planned obsolescence. And Sloan said, let's not call it that, let's call it dynamic obsolescence. Henry Ford didn't really like that, and therefore he lost, Ford lost the dominant company.

He didn't lose his company, but he was eclipsed by General Motors. Well, there's a planned obsolescence in the mind of God for the Levitical priesthood. It was certainly planned by God, but there was going to be a greater priest, and everything that was wrong about the priesthood in the Old Testament, that is to say, the character of the priests, how long they would live, what kind of animal sacrifice, repeated sacrifice, access that they had, that was all to be eclipsed.

That was all to be pointing to something better. There's got to be something better. And on the other hand, verse comes up to verse 24. On one hand, verse 23, on the other hand, that's actually how you should translate it, but in the ESV it's translated, but he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever.

So on one hand, you've got the priest, one after another after another, died, died, died, died, animal, animal, animal, animal, no access, no drawing near, except once a year in the Holy of Holies, what about character, what about everything else, died, died, died.

But on the other hand, he holds his priesthood permanently. That's why you should be encouraged with the Lord Jesus. Well, the time goes by so fast. My name is Mike Abendroth. This is No Compromise Radio.

You can write me, info at nocompromiseradio .com, or you can email me, I guess the same as writing now, electronic writing, mike at nocompromiseradio .com. God bless you.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life transforming power of God's Word through verse by verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.