Hebrews 7 & 8

This week, instead of listing all our notes, we decided to take the cream of the crop, and post those.  Also, since we had two activities this week that were rather time consuming, we posted an explanation (and pictures, too) and let it go with that.  That being said, I present to you "Romans 7 and 8...Jael style!"

7:1-10  There once was a man named Melchizedek who no one had ever heard of... Just kidding.  Melchizedek is a minor Bible character who plays a disproportionately large role in the book of Hebrews.  Who was he, and how does he come to bear in this chapter and the last?  

In Genesis 14, Abraham is returning from rescuing his nephew Lot from some people who had captured him.  As he travels, Melchizedek "the King of Salem" appears and gives him bread and wine.  This Melchizedek is described as "priest of God most high" (which is very surprising, considering that Abraham is, like, the only "Yaweh-fearer" in the land up until this point), and he blesses Abraham.  Then, Abraham gives Melchizedek 1/10 of the plunder he has recovered.  And that's that end of the story.  Kinda small, until you read Hebrews 7.

Hebrews 7 starts out by describing Melchizedek and his interaction with Abraham.  But then it describes his name as "King of Righteousness" coming from Salem (which means "peace").  So the king of righteousness is coming from peace.  Then we're told that Melchizedek has no genealogy, and no beginning or end.  If you think about it, that is true.  Most people in the Old Testament have a full genealogy written out for them.  Abraham did.  Lot did.  But Melchizedek doesn't.  Hmm.  

Then it goes on to say that Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder.  If you know your Old Testament history, you know that it was every Israelites bound duty to give a tenth of all their crop to the Levites once a year.  But Abraham was the grandfather of Levi, and yet he gave a tenth to Melchizedek, which says that Melchizedek was a higher order of priest than even Levi.  

Furthermore, Melchizedek blessed Abraham, and it's generally understood that the greater person blesses the lesser.  (Aka, your dad blesses you, not you blessing your dad)  So Melchizedek was above Abraham who was the grandfather of Levi, which means that Melchizedek blessed Levi.  

Basically, this whole section is there to explain logically why Melchizedek's priesthood is about Levi's.  Okay.  End of my big, long explanation.  :-)

7:23  Levidic priests died, so there were many of them.  (Does that mean that the Levidic priesthood will die?)

7:24  Jesus lives forever, so his priesthood will never go away.

7:26  We need a high priest who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens, innocent, harmless, and undefiled.  The Bible describes exactly what we need!  Now, I want you to look a this big beautiful bag of marshmallows.  I'm leaving them in the bag so they don't touch me.  You see, these big white innocent-looking...fluffs...are deadly!  They clog your arteries, slow your heart, and ultimately give death!  *mock shudder*  So these represent sin.  Now Cecily here is obsessed with marshmallows.  I mean, everything she does or things about is connected with marshmallows.  Everyone that knows her KNOWS that marshmallows are her life.  Now Maddie also adores marshmallows, except she hides her obsession.  All her marshmallows are hidden in her closet, and if someone were to mention marshmallows to her, she'd be like, "Oh, marshmallows are terrible things!  They clog your arteries!"  Then she goes home and stuffs herself with them.  Now I want to shift to the difference between purity and innocence.  I know there's all this hoopla about purity, and so I wanted to explain it in a simple way.  Callie is innocent of marshmallows.  She has never heard or seen of a marshmallow.  Her parents have carefully checked to make sure all movies she watches are "marshmallow free."  So she doesn't want a marshmallow.  But she isn't really pure of marshmallows.  She is INNOCENT of them.  But let's take Sophi now.  She has heard of marshmallows, and seen them.  She's also heard how DELICIOUS they are!  Yet she doesn't eat them.  Is she innocent of marshmallows?  No.  But she is PURE of them.  In the same way, Jesus was pure of sin.  He was in the world.  He was tempted by them.  Yet no marshmallows were found in him!  I mean, the devil even offered him, "Turn these stones into marshmallows!"  :-P  Yet even though Jesus was surrounded by a marshmallow-prone world, he didn't give in.  He was pure of marshmallows.  And we are called to be like him.  

7:27  Jesus is different from the Levidic priests.  He doesn't have to offer sacrifices day after day.  The Levidic priest had to offer sacrifices for themselves and for the people every day.  Jesus didn't have to atone for his signs, so he, as priest, offered himself once to atone for the people forever.

7:28  The Levidic law appoints as priests imperfect men, because that's the only type available.  Jesus, however, is perfect.

8:1  All of chapter 7 was describing the perfect priest lived out in the person of Jesus.  The good news is, we get Jesus as our high priest!  :-D

8:2 Jesus serves in the tabernacle set up by God.

8:3  To be a good high priest, you have to have gifts and sacrifices to offer.  So, Jesus had to have them too.  What did he offer?  :-P

8:4  If Jesus have been from this world, he could not have been a priest, given his ancestry.  

8:5  The Levidic priestly order reflects the heavenly order.  That's why they were instructed to obey the law given to Moses on Sinai SO carefully!  Let me illustrate.  Here are 6 pieces of paper with six idioms: "Bring down the house", "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink", "You look like something the cat dragged in", "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade", "Put the right foot forward", and "Kill two birds with one stone".  Take them and act them out.  :-)

8:6  Jesus has the spirit of the law, so his law is much better.  :-P

8:6  Jesus's ministry is reconciliation, so that ministry has better promises.  (We live by faith)

8:7-12  Now, nothing was "unrighteous", per say, in the Levidic law.  But it wasn't perfectly "God's law", if you know what I mean.  Think about the skits earlier.  It was the letter of the law, instead of the spirit of the law.  But Christ's law is the spirit of the law.  (1 Corinthians 9:20 & 21)

8:13  Explain about abrogation.

8:13  Jesus lives forever!  

Random thought to consider: 

Do we have to obey the 10 commandments in order to be saved?