Melchizedek was either a real person, king of Salem, later to be named Jerusalem, or he was a Christophany, that is a manifestation of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 110:4b Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Psalm 110:4 The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
1. According to Roman Catholic doctrine no man can know if he is saved.
2. This is the Arminian position.
3. This is the Calvinist position.
4. This seems to be the position of the author.
The difference between Arminius’ and Calvin’s five tenets.
Numbers 20:8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
This is a clue to what the impossible verses really mean. Think of Jesus as the rock, which he is. God told Moses to speak to the rock , not strike it as he did the first time, but instead he struck the rock twice. Jesus was struck once at the cross for our sins, from now on we speak to Christ. The Hebrews came out of the sacrifice culture, and some looked wistfully at the time when they could atone for their sins yearly. The temple was still standing at the writing of this letter, and the pressure was high to go back to their old ways. After the cross there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, and this is why it says “To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”
Psalm 2:7 I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
Psalm 110:4 The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Psalm 95:11 “So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
Genesis 2:2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
Psalm 95:7b Today, if only you would hear his voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,[quarreling]
as you did that day at Massah[testing] in the wilderness,
Psalm 95:7b-11 Today, if only you would hear his voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
Psalm 8:4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
Psalm 22:22 I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
Isaiah 8:17 I will wait for the Lord,
who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him.
18 Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion
(This was my first teaching the adult Sunday School class some years ago, hence the original power point background.)
My guess is that Aquila and Priscilla taught Apollos, who wrote it down, and Paul added input, especially chapter 13.
Back to the beginning of the introduction:
This is all one sentence in Greek, and together with Genesis 1:1-4 and John 1:1-14 are some of the best opening paragraphs of all literature, and should be taught in all English classes at least once.
Psalm 2:7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have become your father.
Deuteronomy 32:43 (ESV) “Rejoice with him, O heavens;
bow down to him, all gods, (Septuagint and Dead Sea scrolls, this part missing from the Masoretic text) for he avenges the blood of his children]
and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
He repays those who hate him
and cleanses his people’s land.”
Could it be that the Masoretic text has omitted this part of the verse to lessen the divine aspect of Jesus? Anyhow, the author reminds the Hebrews that the Dead Sea scrolls and the Septuagint contain this phrase.
“ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good”
Dan failed to conquer the Philistines and settled in the northernmost part of Israel instead. This continues even to this day.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 