Hebrews 7

    The writer continues his discourse on the priesthood of the Messiah, the king-priest after the order of Melchizedek.  He does this by proving from OT Scripture that Jesus is the fulfillment of that which Melchizedek typified, using Gen. 14:17-20, and then nailing down his argument with David’s prophecy about the Messiah in Ps. 110:4 (19, 21; and see 5:6).  Thus, this understanding about the significance of Melchizedek is not just his notion, but the word of God through David.  (Jesus also applies Ps. 110 to himself, Mt. 22:41-45.)

     7:1-3.  Just as David does in Ps. 110:4, the writer is seeing Melchizedek (Gen. 14:17-20) mystically and typically, not literally, as a figurative type of Christ.  (Cf. Paul’s typical use of OT characters in Gal. 4:21-31.)  In his commentary on 7:15, William Gouge says, “This likeness of Christ to Melchizedek was as the likeness of a body to the shadow.”  In other words, the greater reality is always to be found in the substance, not in the shadow.

     7:2.  The shadow typified Christ in his name and title: king of righteousness; king of peace.   He is king of righteousness first of all, because his righteousness brings peace.  (Salem was later Jerusalem.) 

     7:3.  Unlike most men of such obvious importance in the OT, this priest of the Most High God (1) appears without introduction of any sort: no father; no mother; no genealogy; no beginning of days nor end of life.  Christ in his human nature had no human father.  In his divine nature, he had no mother or genealogy, but was eternally God, with no beginning nor end of life.  Even his human life proved to be indestructible (16).

     7:4-10.  Typically, Melchizedek was greater than Abraham (cf. John 8:58), for Abraham not only received a blessing from him (6-7), but paid him tithes, a tenth part of the choicest spoils (4).  Even Levi (who normally only collected tithes) paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father (i.e., great grandfather) when the tithes were paid (9-10).  Abraham was the federal head of the people of promise, and Levi was in him just as we were in Adam, our federal head, when he sinned, and thus are we all conceived and born with his sin nature.

     7:11-14.  The Law of Moses established the Levitical priesthood after the order of Aaron in the old covenant.  Yet many years after the Law was given, David spoke of another priesthood to arise after the order of Melchizedek, not Aaron (11).  This proves that the law itself was changed (12), being replaced by a better covenant (22).  For the one of whom David spoke in Ps. 110 was to arise from the tribe of Judah, not Aaron (13-14).  (He was to arise as a living shoot from the stump of Jesse, cf. Is. 11:1.)

     7:15-19.  Our priest in the likeness of Melchizedek is superior in every way.  He is not appointed by law, but announced with power according to his indestructible life (15-17).  The Law (being only a shadow) was weak and useless to actually make us perfect.  Christ brings a better hope (18-19).

     7:20-25.  The old priesthood came without any promise that it was permanent; quite the contrary.  But of our priest, the Lord has sworn an oath that it is the unchangeable and immutable purpose of God that Christ is a priest forever of this better covenant (20-23; cf. 6:17-18).

     Unlike the former multitude of priests who die, our one priest abides forever, and is able to save forever those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them (24-25).

     7:26-28.  He did his perfect work once for all with his one perfect sacrifice (26-27).  His one sacrifice is not to be understood as eternally offered or repeatedly offered as in the mass, but as offered once, and forever sufficient. Communion is a remembrance of Him (Lk. 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24-25).

     V. 28 is a perfect summary statement of the necessary conclusions drawn from Ps. 110:4.