One Greater Than Abraham - 27

Well, we are looking at more lessons from the mysterious Melchizedek in Hebrews chapter 7. You remember earlier in the book, the writer of Hebrews is demonstrating to Hebrew believers in Jesus Christ who are being pressured to return back to the old covenant rather than continue with Christ, that Jesus is greater than the angels, those who were chosen by God to deliver God's word to Moses and to others. And Jesus is greater than Moses, the one who received the law from God on Mount Sinai and who delivered all of the commandments of God to the nation of Israel, that Jesus is greater than Joshua, the successor of Moses who led the people of God into the promised land. And now as we come to this section in Hebrews, we learn that Jesus is greater than Abraham, Father Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, maybe in the minds of many, the greatest Hebrew of them all, certainly one of the greatest, maybe only rivaled by Moses, but greater than Abraham, how could that be possible?

But that is exactly so. And even though all the blessings which the Jews enjoy connect them back to Abraham and to the promises that God gave to him, even in the Old Testament scriptures, we learn of one who was greater than Abraham. So don't be surprised if with the ushering in of the new covenant, we have another one who is even greater than the one who was greater than Abraham in the Old Testament scriptures. And the one in the Old Testament that we speak of is in fact Melchizedek. Melchizedek mentioned earlier in the book of Hebrews in passing, and there you remember the writer of Hebrews said, I need to tell you about Melchizedek because there is so much truth connected to him that will help you with your struggle, but I'm reluctant because you are so sluggish, you are so spiritually dull, you are so lazy.

I don't know if you'll be able to understand this or not, but here we go, you need it, and we're going to do our best to explain it to you. And so Melchizedek, mysterious indeed, Melchizedek puzzling at times, Melchizedek baffling at times as he is to me and I'm sure to you as well. It is no simple subject, but all Hebrew Christians wake up and learn from Melchizedek. 21st century American Christians wake up and learn from Melchizedek, one who's greater than Abraham. We're taking verses 4 through 10 as our text today, and herein we shall endeavor to see number one, Melchizedek received Abraham's tithes. That shows that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham. Number two, Melchizedek blessed Abraham.

That also shows his superiority. And number three, Melchizedek received Levi's tithes, a surprising development indeed. First of all, Melchizedek, we are told, received Abraham's tithes. Verse four, now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.

And indeed, those who are the sons of Levi, who received the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham, but he whose genealogy is not derived from them, received tithes from Abraham. Melchizedek's greatness is declared at the opening of verse four. Now consider how great this man was.

That's an invitation to stop and think about this. Consider this carefully, how great this man was. He had, in the words of scripture, exalted status even though there's not a whole lot said about him in the Bible. There is relative obscurity in regard to our knowledge of Melchizedek, and we wouldn't know this if the writer of Hebrews had not committed these things to writing by the direction of the Holy Spirit, and they were passed down to us today. But now we learn that this Melchizedek mentioned in three verses in Genesis 14, and then one verse in Psalm 110, is actually a greater man than most people realize. Consider how great a man he was. He enjoyed a comparative greatness that if you're comparing him to Abraham, as the writer of Hebrews is at this point, Melchizedek's honor, Melchizedek's station in life is indeed higher than that of Abraham.

Higher in honor, higher in religious significance, which is the real point of what is being told us here. In the purpose, plan, and design of God, Melchizedek holds a higher station in religious matters than did Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation. Melchizedek's greatness is hereby declared.

But it's not simply declared, it's also demonstrated. And so we see Melchizedek's greatness demonstrated in the remainder of verse four and in verse five and in the beginning of verse six. Now, the only way you can understand how great Melchizedek is, is to reflect for a moment upon how great Abraham was, and then accept the word of God that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham. So a great man produced significant greatness, namely Abraham, because Abraham, by the working of God in his life, produced the priestly line of Levi, prominent in this passage. Abraham produced the tribe that received tithes from their brethren, as told us in this passage. Abraham produced the people who received God's law, all of God's commandments.

Abraham produced the people that received God's old covenant blessings, which are immense. And all of the descendants of Abraham were of equal essential quality. He makes that clear in verse five, when he's talking about Levi who received tithes from the people, according to the law, that is from their brethren. They were all brethren, Levi and the other tribes.

Though they have come from the loins of Abraham, all of them did. Both Levi, who received the tithes, and the other 11 tribes who rendered the tithes to Levi, all of them came from Abraham and in essential equality were equal, and yet God chose to elevate one of the tribes to the place where they received tithes from their brethren. And as this passage makes clear, that gave them special honor because the honor of Melchizedek is seen in that Abraham rendered to him tithes. And so though a great man, namely Abraham, produced significant greatness in his day, a great man, namely Abraham, acknowledged Melchizedek's greater greatness. A great man, Abraham, acknowledged Melchizedek's greater greatness.

Abraham acknowledged that Melchizedek was greater than he was. And that's why we read in verse four, now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. Abraham was a great man. He's called here Abraham the patriarch. Patriarch, the first part of that word, patrev, refers to a father.

The last part, arch, refers to elevated status, greatness, chief. Abraham was the chief of the fathers. Abraham was the greatest of the Jewish fathers. Abraham was the most elevated of all the fathers of the nation of Israel. And yet this great man Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. Abraham the patriarch. Abraham the conqueror. He's also referred to in that way here because we read that he gave a tenth of the spoils. Now where did those spoils come from?

What does that refer to? That of course takes us back to Genesis chapter 14 where Abraham, hearing the news that four kings had come together in a combined army and had attacked the city of, the twin cities really of Sodom and Gomorrah, and had conquered them and plundered them and carried away many people captive. And one of those captives was Abraham's own nephew Lot and his family. And Abraham hearing that news gathered together 318 of his own servants who were all trained for war. What a great man Abraham was to have that. And yet those 318 must have paled into insignificance against the armies of four kings who combined for this warfare.

We don't know how many soldiers they had but presumably a great many more. And yet going forth in the strength of the Lord his God Abraham surprised that army, defeated that army, captured all of their captives to bring them back to Sodom and Gomorrah again and took all of the spoils, all of the good things that the four kings had taken from Sodom and Gomorrah. These are referred to as the spoils of conquest. And so Abraham is the patriarch, Abraham is the conqueror. He conquered the four kings who defeated Sodom and he returned all the captives and their goods. And he's furthermore referred to in verse four as Abraham the tither. Now consider how great this man was to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.

Spoils I'm told literally reads the top of the heap. Abraham gave the best. Abraham took the best of the spoils and calculating the tithe of the spoils he didn't just go one two three four five six seven eight nine for me, one for God, one two three four five six seven eight nine for me, one for God.

He so arranged the spoils that those that were the best of all the spoils, the top of the heap was apparent and those he gladly gave to Melchizedek because Melchizedek was a priest of the most high God. And Abraham is giving this as an offering to God in gratitude for the amazing victory that God had just given him over these four kings that normally an army of his size would probably have had no possibility of conquering. But God gave him the victory and Abraham attributes that victory to God not to himself. And Abraham worships God and Abraham gives a generous offering to God in recognition of what God has done. And Abraham gave him the top of the heap, the best of the spoils when he gave him that tithe. He gave generously, he gave the best that he had. And furthermore, he gave knowledgeably, he gave a tithe. First mention of tithe in the Bible, but obviously not a brand new thought to Abraham, evidently not.

Apparently Abraham's had some idea that a tithe, the 10th of whatever he has is an appropriate amount to give to God. How do you know how much to give to God? How do you know what's honorable in your giving? How do you know what will be acceptable to God? Is it entirely up to you to say, well, I think this is generous enough? Well, I think that's good enough.

Or is there a basic standard that can be used to measure these things? And Abraham evidently had a concept of one tenth a tithe as an honorable amount to give to God. So he gave knowledgeably and he gave reverently. He's giving to God, but he's giving to God through God's representative. Melchizedek, king of righteousness, king of Salem, priest of the most high God. So he is identified in Genesis 14. So he is acknowledged to be by Abraham, God's choice servant, chosen by God, brought from the Ur of the Chaldees, brought to the land of Canaan, promised many, many things by God. And yet Abraham, this patriarch as he would soon become of the nation of Israel, recognized that Melchizedek was in fact a representative, a true representative of the most high God. And because we can't give to God without giving to men who represent God, Abraham honored God by giving to Melchizedek a tenth of all the spoils he gave reverently. And so we see that Melchizedek received Abraham's tithe and that demonstrates his greatness in comparison to Abraham. But the second indication of his greatness is seen to us in that Melchizedek blessed Abraham. Verse six, he who genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

Now beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the greater. Melchizedek is the one not only to whom Abraham gave tithes in worship of God, but Melchizedek is the one from whom Abraham received a blessing from God. Melchizedek, according to our text, blessed a great man. He who genealogy is not derived from them, the tribe of Levi, received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Lest the one who had the promises, the special promises of God to whom had been given the promise of a miraculous child to whom he and Sarah his wife had so far been unable to produce a child, but God had promised a child to him and Melchizedek blessed the one who had the promise of a miraculous child.

Melchizedek blessed the one who had the promise of a great lineage. One child would begin it all, but God said to Abraham, look at all the stars of the heavens. Your seed, your children will exceed the number of the stars.

Look at the sand on the seashore. Your children will exceed the sands on the seashore. Abraham must have shaken his head in wonderment, in amazement that such a thing could be so, but God had promised it. These are great promises and Melchizedek blessed one who had the promises, a great man indeed. Melchizedek blessed Abraham who had the promise of a divine savior that would come out of his line, Jesus Christ and Melchizedek blessed Abraham who had the promise that from him the whole world would be blessed. That's a pretty great man, the one through whom the whole world will be blessed, but Melchizedek blessed him, Abraham who had the promises, and thereby according to our text demonstrated that he Melchizedek in the esteem of God was a greater man than even Abraham. In Abraham all the world was blessed. In Melchizedek Abraham was blessed. Melchizedek blessed Abraham. But then thirdly, and this may be the most surprising one of all, we read in our text that Melchizedek received Levi's tithes.

They hadn't even been born yet. You say that's a bit of a stretch, but listen to the reasoning of the sacred author. Verse eight, here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives him of whom it is witnessed that he lives. Even Levi who receives tithes paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. Levi paid tithes to Abraham. The Levitical tithes, the point here, one of the points of these verses is to remind us that the Levitical tithes, though they were very important to the nation of Israel, were by God's design temporary. Levi received tithes that we are given, that information we're given in the present tense.

I'll make mention of that later. But here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives. So Levi receives tithes, but there's a challenging verse, verse eight, and I'll just tell you that I have wrestled with the exact meaning of this word verse for more than 40 years and I'm still not sure. And I have read a, are you ready for this one? A plethora of commentaries on this, Jeremy Veroy.

A plethora of commentaries, a lot of them, that means a lot, of commentaries on this and I haven't found anybody who's been able to explain it to me clearly either. So we'll wrestle with this a bit together, but notice verse eight. Here mortal men receive, present tense, tithes, but there he receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives, even Levi who received tithes, paid tithes.

Now the questions that come to my mind in verse eight are number one, where is here? Here mortal men receive tithes. Is here on earth or is here in reference to the old covenant? In which case I'm not quite sure why the author uses the present tense because he's making the point that the old covenant's already passed and he was capable of using the past tense. Number six, but he who genealogy is not derived from them received past tense, not present tense, tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.

But here, verse eight, mortal men receive present tense tithes. Where is here? Is that earth? Is that a reference to the old covenant or is it something else?

I frankly do not know. Also, there is the word there. If we knew what here is, we'd probably know what there is, but since we're not sure what here is, it's a little difficult to figure out what there is. Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them and that present tense is actually just understood from the present tense of those who receive tithes already mentioned, but there he receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives.

Where is there? If here is earth, then there must be heaven. If here is the old covenant, then there must be the new covenant.

If here is something else, then until we figure out what the something else is, we're going to have difficulty figuring out what the there is. But that does give me pause to wonder why does the writer of Hebrews use the present tense here when he's already used the same word or basically the same concept. It really isn't the same word, but in the past tense in verse six.

I don't know. At one time, I was quite sure that what this is saying is here on earth, on earth, that's the here, here on earth, men receive tithes because even though the writer of Hebrews is saying that the old covenant is past, it's also true that while he was writing, the unbelieving Jews were still practicing the terms of the old covenant and we're still tithing to the Levites of their day. So that makes perfect sense. Here on earth, men are still receiving tithes because unbelieving Jews are still worshiping under the terms of the old covenant. But there, and I used to be quite sure in my mind that there therefore must refer to heaven and who in heaven receives tithes?

Well that would have to be Jesus Christ. And the rite of Hebrews says though, though here on earth, the Levites received tithes, there in heaven, Jesus Christ receives them. If that's what it means, and I'm not sure that it does, but I'm not sure what it does mean, but if that's what it means, then it does mean that the writer of Hebrews recognized that the practice of tithing to Christ in heaven for new covenant believers was ongoing in his day. But I'm not sure that is what it means. I haven't figured it out yet, but I just raise it for your consideration.

There are a lot of things to consider here. Consider how great this man was, verse 4. Consider the mysterious meaning of verse 8.

When you figure it out, let me know. But the idea is that Melchizedek as a type of Christ is a type of the one who lives forever. We've already covered that in the first three verses of the chapter. And therefore, though the Levites' tithes had a completion date to them when the old covenant was destroyed with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and with the abolition of the operation of the Levitical priesthood, nevertheless, the tithing that is represented by Abraham tithing to Melchizedek continues on perpetually because in the typology of the Old Testament, Melchizedek has never died. Now, I'm confident that that's only in returns of typology.

I believe he was a real human being who had a birthday and a day of death, but they're not recorded in the Bible to make him a suitable type for Jesus Christ. Here's what Franz Delitzsch said at this point. Some of you may have a set of Kyle and Delitzsch.

Do you have that? That is the standard Old Testament commentary if you want to know the technical details of the Hebrew. And Franz Delitzsch was an orthodox conservative Lutheran commentator of great scholarship in the 1800s. And he and his partner, Kyle, who was a man of Jewish birth who had become a Christian and was also quite a scholar, they collaborated on an Old Testament commentary. So if you want to know the meaning of Old Testament words, you need to get a set of Kyle and Delitzsch.

It's about 10 volumes. Anyway, here's what Franz Delitzsch said about Melchizedek's living on. He says, quote, fixed as it were in unchangeable existence by the pencil of inspiration and so made a type of the eternal priest, the Son of God. So Levitical tithes were temporary because all the Levites who received tithes for a while died. And eventually the whole Levitical system died. But at least in the typology of Scripture, the tithing represented by Melchizedek continues on because the one of whom Melchizedek was a type, namely Jesus Christ, never dies. Another way of looking at this is in the Levitical system, the priest's earthly service died at age 50, no matter how long they lived.

We talked about that last Sunday. They started their service at 25. They finished their service at 50. That's when they were required to retire.

Others took their place. And so in a sense, their priestliness died at age 50. But of Melchizedek, there is no record of his death. And so Melchizedek continued to serve as a priest until he died. And note this connection. And he's a type of Christ, and therefore Jesus Christ will serve as our great high priest until he dies. When will that be?

Never. But the point is that even, not only did Abraham pay tithes to Melchizedek, but Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek, so to speak. It could be said. It's almost like the rite of Hebrews says, I know this is a bit of a stretch, but think through this. I'm trying to show you something to help you understand. Through Abraham, Levi's great, great grandfather, Levi wasn't born yet, but through Abraham, when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, it could be said that Levi, his great, great grandson, paid tithes to Melchizedek as well. Therefore, it could be said that Melchizedek is greater than Levi because he's greater than Abraham, indicated by the fact that Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek and Levi, in the loins of Abraham, also thereby paid tithes to Melchizedek.

Well, don't lose sight of the main point. Melchizedek is greater than Abraham. Melchizedek is greater than all old covenant personages and offices. And since Jesus Christ is high priest after the order of Melchizedek, Psalm 110 verse 4, and in a real sense, several chapters here in Hebrews are actually a sermon from the writer of Hebrews based upon the text in Psalm 110 where God said to his son, the promised Messiah, who is to come, I have made you, I have declared you to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek forever. So Melchizedek is greater than all Old Testament personages and offices because he's greater than Abraham, who was the father of all of that. And Jesus Christ is high priest after the order of Melchizedek, which is an eternal priesthood, not a temporary one like Levi. Therefore, the new covenant which Christ inaugurated is greater than the old covenant. So Hebrew Christians, you can't go back to the old covenant.

That's the whole point. It's too late for that now because Jesus has come. Now let's draw a few lessons. I know all of this is a bit dense, but I warned you about that.

The writer of Hebrews did. He said you can't be dull of hearing and understand these things about Melchizedek. Didn't he warn us? Has it come to pass this morning?

I think so. Can you understand what I'm saying? I'm trying to make it as clear as I can. I hope you're getting it. But now on to some applications. Number one, notice in this something about the concepts of essential equality versus functional differences.

What is that? Think with me. We're told in verse five that all Abraham's descendants were essentially equal. Verse five, and indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who received the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law. That is from their brethren.

They're all brothers. Essential equality. Though they have come from the loins of Abraham, they've all come from the same place, essential equality. But notice how God has taken some out of this group who are all essentially equal in one sense, and he's elevated some of them to a place of honor so that all of their brethren are required to pay tithes to the tribe of Levi, and they are thereby honored above the other 11 tribes.

Essential equality versus functional distinctions. All Abraham's descendants were essentially equal, but Levi was appointed to a functional distinction, we might say, above his brethren. Their tithes to the tribe of Levi indicated that. If Abraham's tithes to Melchizedek proved that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham, then surely Levi's tithes from the other 11 tribes prove that, at least in some sense, Levi is greater than the other 11 tribes, and yet they're all brothers.

They're all born from Abraham. There's an equality here. But as the priestly tribe, Levi, received tithes from all the others, does that mean that Levi was better than the other tribes? Well, that depends on what you mean by the word better.

And I would say not essentially better, but functionally distinct. Essentially Levi and Judah and Reuben and all the people that were in those tribes were all essentially equal before God. But God chose by an act of who he would have as his priest, God's privilege to choose those. God elevated those whom he would have as his priest from the tribe of Levi, and there took from among this group of those who are essentially equal, a certain group, and said they and they alone may serve as priests and all the rest of you must give them your tithes.

That's a command. Okay, so what's that got to do with anything? Ah, now your ears are on.

Listen to me. Today, the question would not be the equality or distinction between Levi and Judah. Today, one of the big questions would be the question of equality and distinction between the roles of men and women in the home and in the church. And some argue because the Bible indicates that all are equal before God, there's neither male nor female, bond nor free, Jew nor Gentile. Therefore, that means that there is no recognized distinction in the home, no recognized distinction in the church.

All are essentially equal, true, but not all are functionally equal. There's a functional difference by God's appointment. What would have happened if someone from the tribe of Judah said, I feel called to be a priest.

I'm going to operate as a priest. We know a few times what happened when that was done. They were either struck dead by God or given something like leprosy, which was a slow death, judged by God.

Why? Because God said only the tribe of Levi can serve as priest. Remember when some of the people were murmuring against Moses in his day and said who made you to be better than us? We're equal before God with you?

Who said you're the leader around here? And God, Moses went before the Lord. The Lord said, let me demonstrate. And he said, all of you who feel that way, you get over here. And the rest of you who don't feel that way, get over here. And those who felt that way had the earth open up and swallow them.

They were gone. Because yeah, in one sense, Moses isn't any better than anybody else, not in essential equality. But in another sense, God had appointed him to be the leader. And anybody who tried to usurp that position was defying not Moses, but God.

You understand what I'm saying? So in our day, when a woman says God has called me to preach and some Christians say, well, yeah, I think that's all right. Some churches say, yeah, that's all right.

We'll ordain you into the ministry. God may not strike them dead, but it's very clear that they have confused essential equality with divine distinction. God has made all equal before him as far as the worth of the soul, as far as our relationship to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, as far as salvation in Christ makes no difference, male, female, bond free, Jew, Gentile, barbarian, Scythian, whatever. But when it comes to those things that God has designated a distinction, we dare not ignore that. In some of the mainline denominations now we've seen a great split here lately because finally the line has been crossed and Bible believing Christians within some of these denominations say, wait a minute, you've gone too far. You now say it's all right to ordain practicing homosexuals into the ministry. We don't agree with that. We're going to pull out of this denomination and start a conservative one that doesn't recognize that. Well, good for you, but BT about time, why didn't you stick your finger in the dyke when you started ordaining women preachers in that denomination?

Oh, that didn't seem so bad, just as bad. It's contrary to the word of God. Did God let you decide which of his commandments are not important and which ones are? Don't confuse essential equality with divinely ordained functional distinctions.

Don't use essential equality to erase functional distinctions nor, nor the other way around use functional distinctions to erase essential equality. What always happens is someone says, I'm the man around here. I'm in charge and start treating women as if they're lesser citizens if they have a lower level of equality, essential equality with God.

That's just as wrong, just as sinful as women insisting on having the same role in the home and in the church that God has given to men. Let's get it right. It's so important.

Let's get it right all the way across the board. That's one lesson. Also, of course, we come up again in regard to the question, the lesson of New Testament giving, and it is clear to me that it's unwise to dismiss the tithe as a general principle in giving. The tithe is not strictly Old Testament in the sense that most people meet it. That is, it was part of the law of Moses.

It predates that by hundreds of years. The tithe was not commanded. In Abraham's day, he gave it voluntarily. He didn't have a divine command that we're aware of to tithe. But when he decided to give voluntarily to God to honor him and his giving, how much did he give? A tithe.

Where did that come from? Didn't come from the law of Moses. It predated the law of Moses. But though the tithe was not commanded to Abraham as it was under Moses, it is obviously an ancient measure of honorable giving. We are told in the New Testament, not a particular amount. We're not commanded to tithe unless this verse in Hebrews 7-8 is saying that.

I'm not sure that it is. But there's no command even if that is referring to tithing. There's no command under the New Covenant to tithe. But we are told to give to God, to give generously, to give as a matter of worship, to give in recognition that everything belongs to him, that all of our blessings come from him. We are to give generously. Well how do we know how much is generous giving?

Covetousness may cloud our ability to answer that question honestly. Fear, lack of trust in God to supply our needs might cause us to fail to answer that question honorably. As fallen though redeemed sons of Adam, we still need some guidelines and here's one, it's a guideline not a command, the tithe.

That's a good place to measure your giving to God or at least to begin in measuring your giving to God and then ask God to enable you to go above it. But thirdly and lastly, what is the main point of this whole passage? It is that we might have a clear understanding of the gospel. Christ fulfilled the promises and messages of the Old Covenant. Christ replaced the Old Covenant when he ushered in the New Covenant. Salvation is not in ceremonies, rituals, institutions, or priests.

Salvation is in Jesus Christ alone who is acquired by faith alone. And so the question for you today is, the most important question of all, have you been to Jesus for the cleansing blood? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are your robes made white? Are they washed in the blood of the lamb? If they are, praise God, the Holy Spirit has worked that in your heart. If you're not sure then you need to go to Jesus, the one greater than Abraham. Shall we pray? Father, help us to understand this passage that is filled with challenges and difficulties. By the help of your Spirit, help us to understand it to the salvation of our souls and to an honorable walk in following the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.