This weekly feature is dedicated to Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed in the Sabbath School lesson quarterly. We post articles which address each lesson as presented in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, including biblical commentary on them. We hope you find this material helpful and that you will come to know Jesus and His revelation of Himself in His word in profound biblical ways.
Lesson 6: “Jesus, the Faithful Priest”
COLLEEN TINKER
Problems with this lesson:
- The author does not explain that Melchizedek lived BEFORE the Mosaic covenant law existed; thus, Jesus’ priesthood is like Melchizedek’s which existed APART from the Ten Commandments.
- This lesson doesn’t deal with the explanation in Hebrews 7 that the Law was built on the levitical priesthood and could not exist with a priest NOT of the line of Aaron.
- This lesson doesn’t explain that Jesus’ high priesthood does not resemble Aaron’s as depicted in Adventist art.
For further study:
Former Adventist Podcast:
Video:
This week’s lesson deals with Jesus’ priesthood as explained in Hebrews 5–7, but it obfuscates the message of these chapters and leaves the reader confused, believing Jesus now reigns over the Ten Commandments and puts them in our hearts.
For the sake of getting to the heart of the matter, this commentary will address Hebrews 7 specifically and show the real significance of Melchizedek as the example of Jesus’ priesthood and also the clarity of Hebrews 7:11–14 which states,
Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.
Hebrews 7:1–10 explains Melchizedek who first appears in Genesis 14 where Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek after Abraham returned from the battle of the kings in which he rescued Lot and his family from capture.
Perhaps the most significant fact about Melchizedek’s priesthood is completely omitted in the lesson: Melchizedek existed BEFORE THE LAW. Hebrews 7:4–8 explains that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham, the one who received Gods unconditional promises, and this fact is clarified by Abraham’s giving tithe to Melchizedek. Furthermore, the patriarchs were less important than Melchizedek as well, because Isaac, Jacob, and Levi—the patriarchs through whom the priesthood came—were still in Abraham’s loins when he met Melchizedek. Thus all the patriarchs “paid” tithe to Melchizedek through Abraham.
This superiority of Melchizedek over the one who received God’s unconditional promises is a type of the Lord Jesus—the priest who was to come to whom all of God’s people are subject.
What’s more, however, is this fact: Melchizedek was NOT a levitical priest—and neither is the Lord Jesus! Melchizedek’s priesthood existed apart from the law. No Mosaic covenant, including the Ten Commandments, dictated the terms of Melchizedek’s priesthood. Similarly, Jesus’ priesthood exists APART from the LAW!
Jesus is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek because He is greater than Abraham and Abraham’s sons. He did not descend from a human legacy of priests but was greater than Levi—of a different tribe. Even more, Jesus’ priesthood exists OUTSIDE the law.
Hebrews 7:11 above explains what Adventism never admits: Israel received the law in very specific circumstances: the law existed under the levitical priesthood. In other words, without the levitical priesthood, the law could not exist. The priesthood was the foundation, the ground, of the law. The Ten Commandments and all the rest of the 613 laws were based upon the levitical priesthood.
Hebrews 7:12 explicitly states the consequence for the law: with “a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.”
Do you see that? The author of Hebrews 7 has just gone to great lengths to explain that Jesus established a completely OTHER priesthood from the levitical one. Jesus’ priesthood is of a completely different order! Jesus is according to the order of Melchizedek, not according to the order of Levi!
With a change of the priesthood, there MUST BE a change of the law also!
The lesson tries to say the “law of the priesthood” and the “law of sacrifices” was changed.
NO! The law is a unit; all of it exists as an unbroken whole; when Jesus fulfilled the law, He fulfilled ALL of it, including the Decalogue.
With Jesus’ priesthood came a NEW LAW: the law of Christ (1 Cor. 9:21; Gal. 6:2).
According to Hebrews 7, the priesthood determines the law. The priesthood is the foundation that supports and holds up the law. If the priesthood changes, that law cannot function in any sense. A new law is mandatory!
It’s important to mention that Adventist art always depicts Jesus dressed in Aaronic high priestly garments when it portrays Him in the heavenly sanctuary. It shows Jesus standing before the ark with the golden cherubim, dressed like Aaron. Even without words, this art teaches Adventists from infancy that Jesus is really up in heaven carrying out a heavenly version of Aaron’s Day of Atonement sacrifices. This picture of Jesus shores up their teaching that the investigative judgment includes Jesus “applying His blood” to the confessed sins of the saved for an indeterminate length of time that began on October 22, 1844. This idea is blasphemy!
Jesus is NOT in heaven perpetuating the Day of Atonement. His blood was applied once for all on the day He died. Now those who believe receive its cleansing by faith. No further application is needed!
Jesus is not dressed in Aaronic clothes puttering around heaven sprinkling His blood on books of sins! NO! He is a SEATED high priest. His work is done, and when we believe, we are seated with Him in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6).
Summary
In summary, this lesson hides from its readers the shocking reality clearly stated in Hebrews 7: Jesus’ priesthood, like Melchizedek’s, exists OUTSIDE and apart from the law! It is not described nor determined by the law, and it does not govern the law. The law was temporary; it came into existence at Sinai, 430 years after Abraham, and it existed UNTIL Jesus came (Gal. 3:17–19). Levi’s descendants were the foundation of that law; in fact, the law couldn’t even exist apart from the levitical priesthood! Thus, Melchizedek’s priesthood and Jesus’s priesthood exist apart from the law, and with the inauguration of Jesus’ priesthood, the law was changed. We now live under the Law of Christ.
I encourage you to watch the video and to listen to the podcasts listed at the top of this lesson for further study into this amazing topic. Jesus fulfilled the law, and the law was changed when Jesus fulfilled it! †
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