The Faith Beyond Trauma Podcast

A better covenant: Hebrews 7 (FBT Daily Devotional)

• Pastor Reggie

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What if the key to lasting peace with God isn’t found in stricter rules, but in a different kind of priest? We unpack Hebrews 7 to show how Melchizedek’s mysterious appearance foreshadows a priesthood older than the law and stronger than death. By tracing Abraham’s tithe, Psalm 110’s promise, and the tribe of Judah, we explain why Jesus stands as the true king priest whose authority rests not on genealogy, but on the power of an indestructible life.

Together we explore why a new priesthood demands a new covenant and how that covenant delivers what the law never could: a clean conscience, open access, and confidence to draw near. The old system cycled through sacrifices and reminded people of sin; Jesus offered one perfect sacrifice that does not need repeating. We talk about righteousness and peace finally meeting in him, the end of endless offerings, and what it means that God swore an oath to establish Christ’s royal priesthood forever.

This conversation is practical at heart. We show how faith comes by hearing and how to lay hold of the finished work—no spiritual resume required. You’ll hear how the virgin birth safeguards a pure, undefiled high priest, why the Father sees us through the Son, and how Jesus’ continual intercession means he can save completely. If you’re hungry for a sturdier hope and a simpler way to approach God, this deep dive into Hebrews 7 will steady your steps. If it resonates, share it with a friend, subscribe for more thoughtful teaching, and leave a review to help others find the show.

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SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so this evening we are talking about Hebrews chapter 7. And I'm gonna actually read it all in the Passion translation. I was looking through a whole bunch of different translations today, and the Passion really kind of brings out the point really um plainly. So here we go. Melchizedek's name means king of righteousness. He was the king of peace because the name of the city he ruled was as king of Salem, which means peace. And he was also a priest of the most high God. Now when Abraham was returning from defeating many kings in battle, Melchizedek went out to meet him and blessed him. Then Abraham took a tenth of everything he had won in battle and gave it to uh Melchizedek. This Melchizedek has no father or mother and no record of any of his ancestors. He was never born and he never died. But his life is like a picture of the son of God, a king priest forever. Now let me show you proof of how great this Melchizedek is. Even though Abraham was the most honored and favored patriarch of all God's chosen ones, he gave a tithe of the spoils of battle to Melchizedek. It would be understandable if Melchizedek had been a Jewish priest, for later on God's people were required by law to support their priests financially because the priests were their relatives and Abraham's descendants. But Melchizedek was not Abraham's Jewish relative, and yet Abraham still paid him a tithe. Melchizedek imparted a blessing on mighty Abraham, who had received the promises of God. And no one could deny the fact that the one who has the power to impart a blessing is superior to the one who receives it. Although the Jewish priest received tithes, they all died. They were mortal, but Melchizedek lives on. And furthermore, for God to send a new and different rank of priest meant a new law would have had to be instituted even to allow it. Yet the one these things all point to was from a different tribe, and no one from that tribe ever officiated at God's altar. For we all know that our Lord didn't descend from the tribe of Levi, but shined from the tribe of Judah. And Moses himself never said anything of a priest in connection with Judah's tribe. And all this is made even clearer. If there was another king priest raised up with the rank of Melchizedek, this king priest did not arise because of a genealogical right under the law to be a priest, but by the power of an indestructible resurrection life. For it says in the Psalms, you are like a like Melchizedek, a king priest forever. And that's Psalms 110, verse 4, it's referring to the old order of priesthood has been set aside as weak and powerless. For the law has never made anyone perfect, but in its place is a far better hope, which gives us confidence to experience intimacy with God. And he confirmed it to us with his solemn vow. For the former priests took their office without an oath. But with Jesus, God affirmed his royal priesthood with his promise, saying, The Lord has made a solemn oath and will never change his mind. You are a king priest forever. So all of this magnifies the truth that we have a superior covenant with God, uh, then what we have, what they experience, for Jesus himself is its guarantor. Hallelujah. As additional proof, we knew, no, there were many priests under the old system, for they eventually died, and their office had to be filled by another. But Jesus, hallelujah, permanently holds his priestly office since he lives forever and will never have a successor. So he is able to save fully from now throughout eternity everyone who comes to God through him, because he lives to pray continually for them. He is the high priest who perfectly fits our need, holy, without a trace of evil, without the ability to deceive, incapable of sin, and exalted beyond the heavens. Unlike the former high priest, he is not compelled to offer daily sacrifices. They had to bring a sacrifice first for their own sins and for the sins of people, but he finished the sacrificial system once and for all when he offered himself. The law appointed flawed men as high priests, but God's promise, sealed with his oath, which succeeded the law, appoint a perfect son who is complete forever. Praise God. Now, just a few points to draw out about this. Um, Hebrews, the author of Hebrews once again is doing a compare-contrast method with what is um uh the old covenant versus the new covenant, um, Jesus versus the Levitical priesthood versus the Arionic priesthood, um, how Jesus is a much better um priest and who stands ever living to make intercession for us, who is at the right hand of the Father, doing the same. Um, Jesus is likened to the Melchizedek priesthood, and the Melchizedek priesthood uh existed before the Levitical priesthood, before the Arionic priesthood. This happened in Genesis uh says chapter 14, and we can read in here in verses um 18 it says, and Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of God most high, priests of God most high, brought Abram some bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing. Blessed be Abram by God most high, creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God most high, who has defeated your enemies for you. So Melchizedek existed uh uh before Aaron, before Levi, because like we just read, um the Levitical priesthood was still inside of Abraham at the time. Uh they had not been even been born, had not even been mentioned. And then we've already seen the comparing contrast when we're talking about the law. The law versus what happened with uh the promise. The law was there as a gatekeeper, as a um watch guard over us, over them, to uh let them see what sin was, right? It did not make the anything right, it did not fix anything. The sacrificial system only covered up the sins. It got and gave them a remembrance of them every single time they had to come each year. Um, but the the way that Jesus um was a perfect sacrifice, perfect sacrifice, hallelujah. He was a perfect sacrifice that atoned for our sins, past, present, and future. How do we know that? Because Jesus died over 2,000 years ago. He's not coming back down to die again, he's not um going to the grave and ascend it back up. None of that is happening. He gave us one sacrifice for all times. So, how do we partake of this? How do we receive of this? By faith. That's where faith comes in. You have to reach out of with your faith because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So anytime you're sitting under um teaching and preaching and reading your word, faith is coming to your heart. So you take that faith that you are having imparted to you when you're listening to these words, and then you utilize that to reach out and apprehend the promises of God. And of course, the promise of God that we're talking about in this instance is salvation. Like um, it talks about McKizab being king of righteousness and king of peace. There is no righteousness, there is no peace without righteousness. So, being that righteousness and peace have kissed in this moment, this uh is also another proof and an um example of what Jesus did when he broke down that middle wall of partition and made it so that we don't have to, you know, continue a sacrificial system, we don't have to do all these things. He actually canceled that system, he laid that system to rest. That's why it's called the Old Testament and the New Testament. We have a better covenant with better promises. Jesus is that sacrifice, that one sacrifice, one sacrifice, once and for all for all mankind. So we are in such a blessed position now and forever. You know, when we um just take Jesus, take what he did, take him at his word. Because understand that there's nothing, even on your best day, there is nothing that you can do in and of yourself that will allow you to get in on your own righteousness. You know, in the book of Isaiah, it says our righteousness is as of filthy rags, right? Um, Julin, it says faith partakes in the eternal sacrifice Jesus gave. You are absolutely correct. It's it does. It reaches out, the hand of faith reaches out and grabs it and makes it yours. It gives you um the right and the ability and the standing to come inside of the presence of the Father, um, completely free of sin, completely spotless, completely clean. How you can you say that I'm clean, you know, uh, because of what Jesus did. I that's exactly how, because of what Jesus did, because of who he is, his name that is high and above every name. When God sees you, he does see you perfect, he says you righteous, he does love you just as much as he loves Jesus because that's how he views you through the blood of Jesus. He views you through that lens right there when you receive Jesus. You can't come in your own standing in front of God and ask for anything because that had no standing and no count with God. What counts with God is what his son did. That is the sacrifice that has been accepted for all time for each and every one of us. So praise Jesus always and forevermore for what he did. And then, you know, the separation of the priesthood, you gotta understand, like when Adam and Eve um were on the earth, and then you know, Adam um uh sinned by uh biting of the fruit that um God told him not to bite of, and then sin entered the entire bloodline and went all the way down to every single person. So you are born with that sin nature. So, you know, because that sin nature was tainted, there had to be a new way made that could get a pure, undefiled specimen into this earth, um, of the word made flesh, Jesus, and that's why he had to come through the Virgin Mary, come in the way he did, with through the power of the Holy Spirit overshadowing them through the line of Judah, separate from anything that had been done by mankind. In this same way, when they changed up the priesthood, um, with the order of Melchizedek, the order of Aaron was underneath the law. The order of Melchizedek is underneath the promise, underneath what God ordained, underneath what God instituted, right? And this was all done before the foundation of the world. So, like I already stated, you know, the order of Melchizedek came before Aaron, and the priesthood was even instituted. So praise God, like I say again, you know, we we are in a blessed position because we have Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Uh Seth, you're so informative and your knowledge is powerful. I receive it. Praise God. Thank you, Miss Penny. Um, but yeah, um, this one is it was a nice one. And like I said, going through the passion translation, it just brought everything completely out and made it really plain and really easy just to kind of pass over the information. Y'all done Jesus did it all, and he did it once. Hallelujah. One sacrifice for all time, good for all eternity. He doesn't have to come and do it again and again and again, like the old testament um priest had to do one time, one king priest forever. And with that, we will stop and go to the breakout room.