Hebrews 7

Notes

Ver. 1. For this famous Melchisedec, of whom our Lord Jesus, in his kingly and priestly office, is the great antitype, was a renowned king of the ancient accursed Canaanites at Salem, and divinely called to officiate as a priest among them; and, meeting with Abraham in his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer's army, he not only refreshed his fatigued warriors with bread and wine, but, in the execution of his priestly office, authoritatively pronounced a blessing on him, and all those Jews or Gentiles who were represented by him as his seed; 2. To him Abraham, in acknowledgment of his superior character of priesthood, paid the tithes, or tenth part of all the spoil which he had taken in the war; and his name, and that of his abode, represents him as first a king of righteousness, and then king of peace; 3. Yea, his whole genealogy of ancestors or successors, and his birth, death, and the beginning and ending of his priesthood, are entirely concealed by the Holy Ghost in Scripture, that by this means he might be a more eminent type of the eternal Son of God, who is at once our most glorious, generous, and compassionate King and great High-priest, in and by whom all his faithful servants and people are blessed with all spiritual blessings, and to whom even the greatest acknowledge their dependence, and to whose superiority they submit; and who, being our righteousness and peace, rules in righteousness, and procures and bestows on all his subjects peace with God, with their consciences, and with one another; and who, being without mother as God, without father as man, has no predecessor or successor in his office, but, as immediately appointed by God, abides a Priest for ever, to make continual intercession for us. 4. Now that ye may have the more clear and exalted views of the excellency and dignity of Christ's priesthood, think seriously how great a man Melchisedec, who but typified him, must have been, when Abraham, the progenitor and covenant-head of the whole Hebrew nation, acknowledged him his sacred superior, by giving him the tithes of his spoil. 5-7. Ye cannot but observe also that the Jewish priests descended from Levi receive tithes only from their brethren and equals, and that by virtue of a law from God, assigning them that portion which belonged to God himself; but here one of a very different stock received tithes from Abraham, their most honoured progenitor, and authoritatively blessed him in the name of God; and common sense dictates that he who authoritatively blesses another must be superior to him in dignity. 8. Besides, the Levitical receivers of tithes are represented to us as mortal men, dying one after another; but this Melchisedec, by the vail cast over his history, is never represented as one dead, but only as living. 9, 10. And, moreover, all those Levites who by the Mosaic law receive tithes from their Hebrew brethren, really, though indirectly, paid tithes to Melchisedec, being all in the loins of Abraham, as their ancestor, covenant-head, and representative, when Melchisedec met him; and so must be greatly inferior to Melchisedec, who, after all, was no more than a type of our infinitely more excellent and dignified Jesus Christ, the great King and High-priest of his church. —11. Now, it is plain that if perfection of atonement for sin or acceptance with God, or in the form and fellowship of the visible church, and especially in holiness and happiness, could have been really and effectually obtained by the Levitical priesthood, in connection with which the Jews received and in part observed the law of Moses, there could have been no need to introduce a high-priesthood after another and higher order. 12. It therefore necessarily follows that the Levitical priesthood, and the ceremonial law connected with it, must be changed and abolished to make way for a better priesthood, and an evangelical dispensation, in the person of Christ; for if the priesthood established by and connected with the ceremonial law of Moses be altered, that law, the administration of which was chiefly confined to the Aaronical priesthood, must also be abolished, to make way for this evangelical constitution, which derives its efficacy from that more excellent and exalted order of priesthood. 13, 14. And as one evidence hereof, it is manifest that Jesus Christ, who was prefigured by Melchisedec, did not spring of the tribe of Levi, to which the legal priesthood was restricted, but of the tribe of Judah, none of which had any warrant from God to officiate as priests, in offering sacrifices, burning incense, or the like. 15-17. And another evidence that the Levitical priesthood, and the ceremonial law which depended on it, must be abolished, is, that there is now, according to ancient predictions, divinely raised up a High-priest after the different and more excellent order of Melchisedec—even a High-priest who is not appointed to his office according to the ceremonial law of carnal ordinances given by Moses, by which the frail and decaying descendants of Levi were appointed to theirs, but by a far more excellent and abiding constitution, suited to that unchangeable life which he has in himself as the eternal Son of God, and to that eternal life of glory and honour to which he is now advanced as God-man Mediator; for, as hath been repeatedly hinted, God, by solemn oath, declared him, in his one person, a Priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec. 18. And in this new and everlasting priesthood of Christ there is really, supposed or implied, an abrogation of the whole ceremonial law of Moses, as insufficient and unavailable to purge men's consciences from guilt, or to justify them to eternal life: 19. For that law was of itself quite incapable of perfecting its worshippers in anything belonging to their conscience and reconciliation with God, and was merely intended to prefigure Jesus Christ and his priestly character and work, and the gospel state of the church founded thereon—by the introduction of which is presented to us a better ground of confidence towards God, and a better, nearer, and more advantageous access to him, than ever the Jews, or even their priests, had by the law. 20, 21. And to assure us hereof, Christ was not chosen and installed in his priestly office in the less solemn manner of the Aaronic priests; but to mark the excellency, unchangeableness, and perpetuity of his priesthood, his Father constituted him a Priest for ever in his own person, with the irrevocable solemnity of an oath. 22. Yea, in proportion to the superior excellence of his priesthood to the Levitical, in its nature and form of instalment, Jesus, our once crucified but now exalted Saviour, was divinely constituted the undertaker, promiser, and sponsor for us in the infinitely more excellent kingdom of grace, particularly with respect to its last dispensation under the gospel, when, by his death, it was put in force, and clearly dispensed to men in the form of a testament, in which all his secured blessings are freely given to all who believe. 23, 24. And further to manifest the weakness and unprofitableness of the legal or ceremonial dispensation, the priests, being all mortal, succeeded one another in their different generations, and could never after death resume their office; but Jesus Christ, being God-man, who could never die out of his office, but perpetually and everlastingly abides in the execution of it, without any interruption by his death, has, in his own single person, an unchangeable and everlasting priesthood, which cannot pass away from him to another. 25. From what has been said concerning Christ as our great High-priest, it necessarily follows that he has not only all divine ability originally in himself, but also all official power and authority, as well as willingness to give complete deliverance from all sin and misery, fears and dangers, and to advance to all the glory and blessedness of the heavenly state—to the utmost of their wants, desires, hopes, and capacities, and to the utmost boundaries of infinite duration—all those that, in prayer, or other parts of gospel worship, come unto God through him as their only Mediator,—seeing he ever liveth as God in their nature, and as their great High-priest and Advocate, to make continual intercession for them; pleading that, through the merits of his obedience and suffering, all the spiritual, temporal, and eternal blessings of the new kingdom may be given them in due time: 26. For such an excellent, almighty, and ever-living High-priest was necessary and alone fit for us, who is, in every respect and degree, pure from sinful pollution in heart and life, and who, in holiness, as well as in dignity, authority, and exaltation, far transcends all the holy angels and glorified saints in the heavenly state; 27. Who needed not, in the manner of the Aaronic priests, first to offer up sacrifice for his own sins, and then for the sins of his people, nor needed to repeat his sacrifice for their sins—his once offering of himself, as an atoning sacrifice, being of such infinite worth as to finish transgression, and make an end of sin, obtain eternal redemption, and perfect for ever them that believe. 28. For the ceremonial law appointed men priests who were sinful, weak, and mortal; but the oath of God, which was afterwards intimated, invested the eternal Son of God, who is absolutely unblemished and perfect, with a priesthood which is of perpetual duration and efficacy for the salvation of men.

Ver. 3. Without father, &c., is generally understood to signify 'without a father' who was a priest.—Without a mother who was daughter of a priest.—Without descent, without scriptural genealogy, ver. 6.—Beginning of days, any fixed period for commencing.—Nor end of life, any fixed period for demitting the priestly office, such as the descendants of Levi enjoyed. But, truly, since 'he abideth a priest continually,' and 'liveth for ever,' it seems difficult to arrive at any other conclusion than that he was a manifestation rather than a mere type of Christ, and such as Abraham subsequently enjoyed. See Ge. 15. 1-18; 17. 1-22. C.

Ver. 11. Perfection is predicated, through the remaining parts of this epistle, chiefly of the following subjects: (1) Of the priesthood of Christ, which is pronounced perfect, because he was sinless, ver. 26, 27; because his office was unchangeable, ver. 16, 24, 28; because in him sacrificial offering terminated, ch. 10. 10-12; because remission of the sins of believers was, by his sacrifice, completed, ch. 10. 16; because, by his ascent, access to God was opened, ver. 19; ch. 10. 19-22; and by his intercession the salvation of believers is made sure, ch. 7. 25. (2) Of the perfect promise exhibited and confirmed in Christ, ch. 8. 6-13; 9. 9-14. (3) Of the perfect inheritance secured to the children of God, ch. 9. 15. (4) Of the perfect condition of his church, whether as triumphant or militant, ch. 11. 40. (5) Of the perfect work of the Spirit to be wrought in believers on earth; and, (6) Of the perfect state of the saints in the glory of heaven, ch. 12. 22-24. C.

Ver. 27. Daily. Inasmuch as the high-priest did not offer 'daily,' but annually, on the day of expiation, it has been proposed to render the phrase, 'from time to time.' This, however, is a straining of the original, and is by no means necessary, inasmuch as the high-priest might justly be said to offer daily what he offered, not by himself, but by any of the other priests. See 1 Ki. 8. 62-64; 9. 25. C.

Reflections.—Superlative is the excellency and royal dignity of our great High-priest Jesus Christ. In his supernatural and divine call; his transcendent ability to fulfil all righteousness and bless his people; in the dignity and moral qualifications of his person; in the solemn manner of his instalment; and in the spiritual nature, marvellous efficacy, unchangeable and incommunicable nature and perpetual duration of his priesthood, he far transcends all Levitical priests of the Old Testament. Consider, O my soul, how great this God-man is! Never, by attempts towards self-righteousness, strive to put him from or deprive him of the honour of his priesthood. And while he lives as a Saviour, a righteous Advocate, with the Father, let nothing, not even sin itself, while felt and lamented over, hinder my boldest approaches to his throne of grace.