For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
The one spoken of is Jesus Christ, who belongs to another tribe than Levi, namely Judah, of which no man ever served at the altar because that service was given to Aaron and his sons alone. His priesthood is therefore not by tribal descent or succession like Aaron's, but after the order of Melchizedek, eternal and unchangeable by the power of an endless life and the oath of God. The law that had to be changed to allow a priest to arise from Judah is the law that vested the priesthood in Levi and the house of Aaron, not the Ten Commandments or the Sabbath. Because He was of Judah with no provision for earthly altar service, He could not serve as priest in the earthly sanctuary, but began His priesthood for humanity after His ascension in heaven itself, the true tabernacle. The ending of the Levitical priesthood and its transfer to Christ does not end the obligation of the tithe, for Abraham's giving tithes to Melchizedek shows that his children by faith still owe tithe to Christ as High Priest after that same order.
Tribe and Altar
The one of whom these things are spoken is Jesus Christ, who belongs to another tribe outside Levi and apart from the altar-serving tribe. That other tribe is Judah, not Levi, the tribe from which the priesthood under the law was drawn. His arising as priest from Judah after the order of Melchizedek therefore distinguishes His priestly order from the Levitical and Aaronic priesthood. His priesthood does not come by descent or succession as Aaron's priests did, but is received from no predecessor and passes to no successor.
Of that tribe of Judah no man ever served at the altar, and no one from that tribe gave attendance there under the law. Under the law the altar service and priesthood were assigned to Aaron and his sons of the tribe of Levi alone. The law barred people outside Aaron's Levitical line from sanctuary service and required priests to come from Levi. Because Christ came from Judah, that confining law had to be changed for Him to serve as priest.
With respect to Judah Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood, and Moses prescribed no altar service for that tribe. The Mosaic priesthood law appointed no one from Judah to serve and restricted the priest's office to Aaron and his sons. The Ten Commandments contain not a word about priesthood, priestly tribe, or altar service. To use this testimony to prove the Commandments changed is obtuseness.
His birth of Judah was in itself in nowise material to His priesthood and does not make Him a priest, proving His priesthood is of a different order that does not rest on tribe or genealogy. Levi descent was a necessity for the Aaronic priests, while His priesthood is after Melchizedek, not Aaron, without genealogical qualification or succession. His descent from David establishes His claim to David's throne but does not make Him a priest on that throne. Christ is enthroned by God to carry out His priestly work, not by descent to occupy David's throne, and during the gospel's work He ministers grace as priest on a throne of grace and assumes His kingdom after that work is finished.
Contrasting Priesthoods
The one spoken of belongs to a tribe other than Levi, from which no one served at the altar, and this marks His priesthood as distinct from the Levitical and Aaronic priesthood and places Him after the order of Melchizedek. Aaron's priesthood alone does not fully represent Him, while Melchizedek supplies the lacking features that complete the picture, so neither pattern alone presents every essential truth but together they point to Him who both fulfills the Levitical pattern and follows Melchizedek's order. Identifying Melchizedek by genealogy would undo the argument that he stands as a distinct type, and no earthly priest can claim to serve as Christ's priestly successor because His work has moved from the earthly sanctuary to the heavenly one where He is High Priest. His priesthood began especially for humanity after His ascension, by the power of an endless life rather than by the law that governed the Levitical priesthood.
His priesthood does not come by tribal descent or succession, unlike the priests of Aaron whose genealogies had to establish their right to office and determine their eligibility. As Melchizedek's priesthood is presented with no account of genealogy, beginning with no other before him and ending with no other after him, so Christ's priesthood came from no other and passes to no other, received from no predecessor and yielded to none to come. Without father or mother means without recorded pedigree, with no record of when the priesthood began or ended and no known predecessor or successor, and Christ's tribe of Judah was not eligible for the Aaronic priesthood under the law governing priestly service. His priesthood therefore does not depend on the genealogical qualifications required for Aaron's order but is an age-lasting priesthood with no priestly genealogy.
The Aaronic priesthood was temporary and mortal, tied to the sacrificial system and holding its duties, responsibilities, and privileges of receiving tithes only for a time until it ceased at the cross. Christ's Melchizedek priesthood is eternal and unchangeable, royal and by the power of an endless life and the oath of God. The Levitical priesthood has therefore ended, giving way to and being superseded by the priesthood of the order of Melchizedek which passes not to another. The priesthood passed from Levi to Judah when Christ offered His blood and He became High Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, and the tearing of the temple veil at His death marked the end of the earthly sanctuary services. This change belongs to the transition from the earthly sanctuary to the true heavenly sanctuary and its more excellent ministry, distinguishing Ezekiel's sanctuary from the gospel dispensation when the Levitical priesthood no longer existed.
Like Melchizedek, Jesus is a priest-king, King of righteousness and therefore King of peace. As a descendant of David and heir to his throne He is both King and Priest in the order of Melchizedek, with Melchizedek meaning king of righteousness pointing to the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS and king of Salem meaning king of peace pointing to Christ as peace. He serves as Priest-King on His Father's throne rather than on His own throne, and His priestly work there includes the cleansing of the sanctuary in the Most Holy Place. Hebrews 7 sets forth His priesthood, His relationship to the work of God on earth, and His superiority as High Priest over the high priests of Levi. It presents Him as the Antitype of the past sacrifices and as fit to redeem, teaching the preeminence of His Melchizedek priesthood and the superiority of His priesthood over Aaron's under the new covenant.
Law That Changed
Under the law the priesthood was assigned to Aaron and his sons, requiring every priest to come from the tribe of Levi, while the one of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, namely Judah, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. Because He sprang from Judah, that confining law had to be changed to allow a priest to arise from Judah and for Him to serve as priest. The law changed is the law regulating the priesthood and vesting it in Levi and the house of Aaron, which barred men outside Aaron's Levitical line from sanctuary service. Under it death met the man of another tribe who served, and when God made Jesus priest forever after the order of Melchizedek He changed and set aside that restriction which would otherwise have forbidden Christ from Judah to act as priest. The change discussed concerns the priesthood and its law, not the obligation to pay tithe.
That change was foretold in the Messianic prophecy that another Priest would arise not after the order of Aaron but after the order of Melchizedek, a Priest forever by direct appointment from God and superior to Aaron. Apart from Christ as that Messiah and High Priest the Levitical or any other human priesthood has no significance, and only by adhering to Him as High Priest are Moses' instructions carried out to their ultimate spiritual import. The law in view is not the Ten Commandments, which contain no rule about priestly tribal descent or altar service, nor the moral law, nor the Sabbath. It has nothing to do with a change of the Ten Commandments or of the Sabbath, and to use the passage to prove the Commandments changed and Sunday replaced the Sabbath is obtuseness.
In its context the verse points to the abolition of the ceremonial order and Levitical law at the cross. The Levitical law and the earthly tabernacle ordinances ended at Christ's death, when the order of the Melchizedek priesthood took effect and He became High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. The change was from the Levites and Aaron's order to Christ and the order of Melchizedek, as part of a clearly explained change in the remedial system.
Heavenly Sanctuary Ministry
Because He belonged to Judah with no provision for earthly altar service, Christ could not serve as priest in the earthly sanctuary, in the temple, or during His earthly life, and His priesthood did not begin on earth at His baptism. His tribe was Judah and not Levi, from which alone the altar priests came under the order of Aaron, so His earthly work is to be distinguished as prophetic rather than priestly, His priesthood belonging to the order of Melchizedek and distinct from His later reign on David's throne. Had He ministered on earth under the first covenant He would have served as a type of Himself, offering sacrifices that were types of His own blood. That could not be ministered before it was shed while the typical services and offerings continued until His death.
His priesthood belongs to the new covenant and began especially for humanity after His ascension, when He entered heaven itself, the true tabernacle not made with hands. There He does what Moses and Aaron did in its earthly pattern, His priesthood arising from Judah after the order of Melchizedek by the power of an endless life rather than by the law governing the Levitical priesthood. This change from the Levitical priesthood to the order of Melchizedek belongs to the transition from the earthly sanctuary to the true heavenly sanctuary and its more excellent ministry.
The earthly tabernacle, its ordinances, and its priestly service were a fitting type, pattern, figure and shadow of Christ's heavenly ministry with His own blood. That pattern included the two stages of sanctuary service in which the regular priests ministered first and the high priest performed a distinct service afterward, and the yearly service of atonement and cleansing. It sets the Levitical priests who served in the earthly sanctuary over against Christ the great High Priest who ministers in the heavenly sanctuary. When He died the priesthood passed from Aaron to Melchizedek, from Levi to Judah when Christ offered His blood and became High Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. At the instant of His death the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, indicating that both apartments of the earthly sanctuary were now alike abandoned by the symbol of God's presence because the work in them was finished, the typical service ended, and a new and living way was opened under the new covenant.
That heavenly work includes the cleansing of the sanctuary in the Most Holy Place and the anointing of the Most Holy, the Holy of Holies, the Sanctum Sanctorum, which is the last event of the seventy weeks. The earthly anointing immediately preceded the presentation of the sin offering before the mercy seat, so Christ had to go within the veil to fulfill the type, which He did not do before His ascension, proving the seventy weeks did not end at the crucifixion. The transfer from the earthly sanctuary to the heavenly one excludes any claim that earthly priests serve as His priestly successors or that ordinary ministers exercise His priesthood at an earthly altar, for Christ is High Priest there and the tabernacle symbols signify His work alone. It likewise excludes the claim that He will serve as a Levitical priest on David's throne, since His priesthood is not Levitical and not based on the genealogy required for the Levitical priesthood; His descent from David establishes His claim to David's throne but does not make Him a priest on that throne, His present priesthood being after the order of Melchisedec on His Father's heavenly throne.
Melchizedek as Type
Aaron's priesthood by itself gives an incomplete picture of Christ's priesthood, for Christ belonged to another tribe than Levi from which the altar priests came, and no man of that tribe ever served at the altar. What Aaron's line lacked is supplied by Melchizedek, whose order portrays the unchanging character of Christ's priesthood, so that neither Aaron alone nor Melchizedek alone presents every essential truth but together they point to Christ who both fulfills the Levitical pattern and follows Melchizedek's order. His priesthood is therefore both after the order of Melchizedek and the fulfillment toward which the sacrifices and priests of the past pointed.
Without father, without mother means without recorded pedigree or genealogy, with no record of when his priesthood began or ended and no known predecessor or successor. This stands in contrast to the Levitical priests, whose eligibility was determined by descent traced to Aaron and for whom genealogy controlled service at the altar. As Melchizedek's priesthood began with no other before him and ended with no other after him, so Christ's priesthood was received from no predecessor and passes to no successor, an age-lasting priesthood with no priestly genealogy.
The Holy Spirit's way of narrating Melchizedek's appearance carries meaning, so that the absence of recorded descent, beginning, or end is not accidental but conveys truth, since Scripture's omissions as well as its words are guided by the Spirit. To identify him by fixing his parentage or to establish his genealogy would undo the argument that he serves as a distinct type of Christ.
Melchizedek was the literal king of the city of Salem in Abraham's time and priest of the Most High God, made a fitting type of Christ by character, name, and city. Melchizedek means king of righteousness, pointing to Christ as the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, and king of Salem means king of peace, pointing to Christ as peace. He was greater than Abraham, to whom Abraham gave homage, yet he was not Christ Himself, for a type is distinct from what it foreshadows and Christ was made like him as priest after the same order. Those who held that he was more than an ordinary man taught that he was a representative and head of another unfallen world, as Adam would have been priest and head of this world if he had not sinned, placed here for a little time as an illustration for generations to come.
The verse belongs to the epistle's extended argument on the Melchizedek priesthood first introduced in Hebrews 5:6, whose full treatment was delayed because the hearers had not improved their opportunities and were not prepared to appreciate its weighty truths. There followed a digression describing their condition with solemn admonition of great danger, then encouragement by the example of Abraham and the faithfulness and righteousness of God in keeping His promises, with the hope resting on the promises made to Abraham then turned toward the priesthood of Christ after the order of Melchizedek as the great object of the letter. In that contrast the ministration of the first covenant was performed by the Levitical priesthood with its ordinances of divine service, while Christ's more excellent ministry in all its branches fulfills the ministration of the second covenant.
Tithe and Believers
Hebrews 7 has as its leading features the priesthood of Christ, His superiority over the high priests of Levi, His relationship to God's work on earth, and the tithing question with His right to the tithe as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. The chapter recognizes that Abraham supported Melchizedek's priesthood by giving him tithe, and that Christ's priesthood continues that same Melchizedek order in which tithing was recognized. Melchizedek represents Christ, linking Christ's priesthood to Abraham's precedent.
The tithe was required by God from the beginning and was placed in the eternal priesthood. It was held for a time by the Aaronic priesthood with its duties, responsibilities, and privileges of receiving tithes from brethren. When that temporary priesthood ceased at the cross, all duties, responsibilities, and privileges not typical and ending at the cross reverted to the Melchizedek priesthood, of which Jesus Christ is now High Priest. The change discussed belongs to the priesthood and its law, for Christ belonged to Judah and not to Levi from which the priesthood under the law was drawn, and no man of Judah served at the altar under that priesthood.
Abraham's giving tithes to Melchizedek supports that those who are Abraham's children by faith should give tithes to Christ for the support of His work. The tithe system did not begin with the Levitical priesthood, for Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, so the principle is not limited to the Levitical system but applies under Christ's priesthood. Christians under the Melchizedek priesthood therefore remain obligated to give a tithe of their increase to God's cause, and the change of priesthood does not end the obligation to pay tithe.
The tithe belongs to the altar and to the service of God as one of the holy things of the altar, and they who wait at the altar are partakers with the altar. The priests who served in the temple as types of Christ were exempt from paying for its support, and Christ as their antitype and the end of that system was likewise free from that payment.
The Levitical priesthood served as a pattern of Christ's work for a sinful world, addressing the need to put away sin and human need. By contrast Christ's Melchizedek priesthood is everlasting and royal, suited to every condition and age and time. It extends to the universe and continues for eternity, and His saved people are kings and priests to Him forever.
Christ is the great High Priest over both the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods, and His mediatorial work is central to both the old and new dispensations. He is the King of Peace and a priest after the order of Melchizedek, a kingly priest seated as priest on His Father's throne and not on His own throne. In that priestly office He makes peace for humanity and for His people and obtains redemption through the shedding of His own blood.
The one spoken of is Jesus Christ, who belongs to another tribe than Levi, namely Judah, of which no man ever served at the altar because that service was given to Aaron and his sons alone. His priesthood is therefore not by tribal descent or succession like Aaron's, but after the order of Melchizedek, eternal and unchangeable by the power of an endless life and the oath of God. The law that had to be changed to allow a priest to arise from Judah is the law that vested the priesthood in Levi and the house of Aaron, not the Ten Commandments or the Sabbath. Because He was of Judah with no provision for earthly altar service, He could not serve as priest in the earthly sanctuary, but began His priesthood for humanity after His ascension in heaven itself, the true tabernacle. The ending of the Levitical priesthood and its transfer to Christ does not end the obligation of the tithe, for Abraham's giving tithes to Melchizedek shows that his children by faith still owe tithe to Christ as High Priest after that same order.
Tribe and Altar
The one of whom these things are spoken is Jesus Christ, who belongs to another tribe outside Levi and apart from the altar-serving tribe. That other tribe is Judah, not Levi, the tribe from which the priesthood under the law was drawn. His arising as priest from Judah after the order of Melchizedek therefore distinguishes His priestly order from the Levitical and Aaronic priesthood. His priesthood does not come by descent or succession as Aaron's priests did, but is received from no predecessor and passes to no successor.
Of that tribe of Judah no man ever served at the altar, and no one from that tribe gave attendance there under the law. Under the law the altar service and priesthood were assigned to Aaron and his sons of the tribe of Levi alone. The law barred people outside Aaron's Levitical line from sanctuary service and required priests to come from Levi. Because Christ came from Judah, that confining law had to be changed for Him to serve as priest.
With respect to Judah Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood, and Moses prescribed no altar service for that tribe. The Mosaic priesthood law appointed no one from Judah to serve and restricted the priest's office to Aaron and his sons. The Ten Commandments contain not a word about priesthood, priestly tribe, or altar service. To use this testimony to prove the Commandments changed is obtuseness.
His birth of Judah was in itself in nowise material to His priesthood and does not make Him a priest, proving His priesthood is of a different order that does not rest on tribe or genealogy. Levi descent was a necessity for the Aaronic priests, while His priesthood is after Melchizedek, not Aaron, without genealogical qualification or succession. His descent from David establishes His claim to David's throne but does not make Him a priest on that throne. Christ is enthroned by God to carry out His priestly work, not by descent to occupy David's throne, and during the gospel's work He ministers grace as priest on a throne of grace and assumes His kingdom after that work is finished.
Contrasting Priesthoods
The one spoken of belongs to a tribe other than Levi, from which no one served at the altar, and this marks His priesthood as distinct from the Levitical and Aaronic priesthood and places Him after the order of Melchizedek. Aaron's priesthood alone does not fully represent Him, while Melchizedek supplies the lacking features that complete the picture, so neither pattern alone presents every essential truth but together they point to Him who both fulfills the Levitical pattern and follows Melchizedek's order. Identifying Melchizedek by genealogy would undo the argument that he stands as a distinct type, and no earthly priest can claim to serve as Christ's priestly successor because His work has moved from the earthly sanctuary to the heavenly one where He is High Priest. His priesthood began especially for humanity after His ascension, by the power of an endless life rather than by the law that governed the Levitical priesthood.
His priesthood does not come by tribal descent or succession, unlike the priests of Aaron whose genealogies had to establish their right to office and determine their eligibility. As Melchizedek's priesthood is presented with no account of genealogy, beginning with no other before him and ending with no other after him, so Christ's priesthood came from no other and passes to no other, received from no predecessor and yielded to none to come. Without father or mother means without recorded pedigree, with no record of when the priesthood began or ended and no known predecessor or successor, and Christ's tribe of Judah was not eligible for the Aaronic priesthood under the law governing priestly service. His priesthood therefore does not depend on the genealogical qualifications required for Aaron's order but is an age-lasting priesthood with no priestly genealogy.
The Aaronic priesthood was temporary and mortal, tied to the sacrificial system and holding its duties, responsibilities, and privileges of receiving tithes only for a time until it ceased at the cross. Christ's Melchizedek priesthood is eternal and unchangeable, royal and by the power of an endless life and the oath of God. The Levitical priesthood has therefore ended, giving way to and being superseded by the priesthood of the order of Melchizedek which passes not to another. The priesthood passed from Levi to Judah when Christ offered His blood and He became High Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, and the tearing of the temple veil at His death marked the end of the earthly sanctuary services. This change belongs to the transition from the earthly sanctuary to the true heavenly sanctuary and its more excellent ministry, distinguishing Ezekiel's sanctuary from the gospel dispensation when the Levitical priesthood no longer existed.
Like Melchizedek, Jesus is a priest-king, King of righteousness and therefore King of peace. As a descendant of David and heir to his throne He is both King and Priest in the order of Melchizedek, with Melchizedek meaning king of righteousness pointing to the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS and king of Salem meaning king of peace pointing to Christ as peace. He serves as Priest-King on His Father's throne rather than on His own throne, and His priestly work there includes the cleansing of the sanctuary in the Most Holy Place. Hebrews 7 sets forth His priesthood, His relationship to the work of God on earth, and His superiority as High Priest over the high priests of Levi. It presents Him as the Antitype of the past sacrifices and as fit to redeem, teaching the preeminence of His Melchizedek priesthood and the superiority of His priesthood over Aaron's under the new covenant.
Law That Changed
Under the law the priesthood was assigned to Aaron and his sons, requiring every priest to come from the tribe of Levi, while the one of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, namely Judah, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. Because He sprang from Judah, that confining law had to be changed to allow a priest to arise from Judah and for Him to serve as priest. The law changed is the law regulating the priesthood and vesting it in Levi and the house of Aaron, which barred men outside Aaron's Levitical line from sanctuary service. Under it death met the man of another tribe who served, and when God made Jesus priest forever after the order of Melchizedek He changed and set aside that restriction which would otherwise have forbidden Christ from Judah to act as priest. The change discussed concerns the priesthood and its law, not the obligation to pay tithe.
That change was foretold in the Messianic prophecy that another Priest would arise not after the order of Aaron but after the order of Melchizedek, a Priest forever by direct appointment from God and superior to Aaron. Apart from Christ as that Messiah and High Priest the Levitical or any other human priesthood has no significance, and only by adhering to Him as High Priest are Moses' instructions carried out to their ultimate spiritual import. The law in view is not the Ten Commandments, which contain no rule about priestly tribal descent or altar service, nor the moral law, nor the Sabbath. It has nothing to do with a change of the Ten Commandments or of the Sabbath, and to use the passage to prove the Commandments changed and Sunday replaced the Sabbath is obtuseness.
In its context the verse points to the abolition of the ceremonial order and Levitical law at the cross. The Levitical law and the earthly tabernacle ordinances ended at Christ's death, when the order of the Melchizedek priesthood took effect and He became High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. The change was from the Levites and Aaron's order to Christ and the order of Melchizedek, as part of a clearly explained change in the remedial system.
Heavenly Sanctuary Ministry
Because He belonged to Judah with no provision for earthly altar service, Christ could not serve as priest in the earthly sanctuary, in the temple, or during His earthly life, and His priesthood did not begin on earth at His baptism. His tribe was Judah and not Levi, from which alone the altar priests came under the order of Aaron, so His earthly work is to be distinguished as prophetic rather than priestly, His priesthood belonging to the order of Melchizedek and distinct from His later reign on David's throne. Had He ministered on earth under the first covenant He would have served as a type of Himself, offering sacrifices that were types of His own blood. That could not be ministered before it was shed while the typical services and offerings continued until His death.
His priesthood belongs to the new covenant and began especially for humanity after His ascension, when He entered heaven itself, the true tabernacle not made with hands. There He does what Moses and Aaron did in its earthly pattern, His priesthood arising from Judah after the order of Melchizedek by the power of an endless life rather than by the law governing the Levitical priesthood. This change from the Levitical priesthood to the order of Melchizedek belongs to the transition from the earthly sanctuary to the true heavenly sanctuary and its more excellent ministry.
The earthly tabernacle, its ordinances, and its priestly service were a fitting type, pattern, figure and shadow of Christ's heavenly ministry with His own blood. That pattern included the two stages of sanctuary service in which the regular priests ministered first and the high priest performed a distinct service afterward, and the yearly service of atonement and cleansing. It sets the Levitical priests who served in the earthly sanctuary over against Christ the great High Priest who ministers in the heavenly sanctuary. When He died the priesthood passed from Aaron to Melchizedek, from Levi to Judah when Christ offered His blood and became High Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. At the instant of His death the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, indicating that both apartments of the earthly sanctuary were now alike abandoned by the symbol of God's presence because the work in them was finished, the typical service ended, and a new and living way was opened under the new covenant.
That heavenly work includes the cleansing of the sanctuary in the Most Holy Place and the anointing of the Most Holy, the Holy of Holies, the Sanctum Sanctorum, which is the last event of the seventy weeks. The earthly anointing immediately preceded the presentation of the sin offering before the mercy seat, so Christ had to go within the veil to fulfill the type, which He did not do before His ascension, proving the seventy weeks did not end at the crucifixion. The transfer from the earthly sanctuary to the heavenly one excludes any claim that earthly priests serve as His priestly successors or that ordinary ministers exercise His priesthood at an earthly altar, for Christ is High Priest there and the tabernacle symbols signify His work alone. It likewise excludes the claim that He will serve as a Levitical priest on David's throne, since His priesthood is not Levitical and not based on the genealogy required for the Levitical priesthood; His descent from David establishes His claim to David's throne but does not make Him a priest on that throne, His present priesthood being after the order of Melchisedec on His Father's heavenly throne.
Melchizedek as Type
Aaron's priesthood by itself gives an incomplete picture of Christ's priesthood, for Christ belonged to another tribe than Levi from which the altar priests came, and no man of that tribe ever served at the altar. What Aaron's line lacked is supplied by Melchizedek, whose order portrays the unchanging character of Christ's priesthood, so that neither Aaron alone nor Melchizedek alone presents every essential truth but together they point to Christ who both fulfills the Levitical pattern and follows Melchizedek's order. His priesthood is therefore both after the order of Melchizedek and the fulfillment toward which the sacrifices and priests of the past pointed.
Without father, without mother means without recorded pedigree or genealogy, with no record of when his priesthood began or ended and no known predecessor or successor. This stands in contrast to the Levitical priests, whose eligibility was determined by descent traced to Aaron and for whom genealogy controlled service at the altar. As Melchizedek's priesthood began with no other before him and ended with no other after him, so Christ's priesthood was received from no predecessor and passes to no successor, an age-lasting priesthood with no priestly genealogy.
The Holy Spirit's way of narrating Melchizedek's appearance carries meaning, so that the absence of recorded descent, beginning, or end is not accidental but conveys truth, since Scripture's omissions as well as its words are guided by the Spirit. To identify him by fixing his parentage or to establish his genealogy would undo the argument that he serves as a distinct type of Christ.
Melchizedek was the literal king of the city of Salem in Abraham's time and priest of the Most High God, made a fitting type of Christ by character, name, and city. Melchizedek means king of righteousness, pointing to Christ as the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, and king of Salem means king of peace, pointing to Christ as peace. He was greater than Abraham, to whom Abraham gave homage, yet he was not Christ Himself, for a type is distinct from what it foreshadows and Christ was made like him as priest after the same order. Those who held that he was more than an ordinary man taught that he was a representative and head of another unfallen world, as Adam would have been priest and head of this world if he had not sinned, placed here for a little time as an illustration for generations to come.
The verse belongs to the epistle's extended argument on the Melchizedek priesthood first introduced in Hebrews 5:6, whose full treatment was delayed because the hearers had not improved their opportunities and were not prepared to appreciate its weighty truths. There followed a digression describing their condition with solemn admonition of great danger, then encouragement by the example of Abraham and the faithfulness and righteousness of God in keeping His promises, with the hope resting on the promises made to Abraham then turned toward the priesthood of Christ after the order of Melchizedek as the great object of the letter. In that contrast the ministration of the first covenant was performed by the Levitical priesthood with its ordinances of divine service, while Christ's more excellent ministry in all its branches fulfills the ministration of the second covenant.
Tithe and Believers
Hebrews 7 has as its leading features the priesthood of Christ, His superiority over the high priests of Levi, His relationship to God's work on earth, and the tithing question with His right to the tithe as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. The chapter recognizes that Abraham supported Melchizedek's priesthood by giving him tithe, and that Christ's priesthood continues that same Melchizedek order in which tithing was recognized. Melchizedek represents Christ, linking Christ's priesthood to Abraham's precedent.
The tithe was required by God from the beginning and was placed in the eternal priesthood. It was held for a time by the Aaronic priesthood with its duties, responsibilities, and privileges of receiving tithes from brethren. When that temporary priesthood ceased at the cross, all duties, responsibilities, and privileges not typical and ending at the cross reverted to the Melchizedek priesthood, of which Jesus Christ is now High Priest. The change discussed belongs to the priesthood and its law, for Christ belonged to Judah and not to Levi from which the priesthood under the law was drawn, and no man of Judah served at the altar under that priesthood.
Abraham's giving tithes to Melchizedek supports that those who are Abraham's children by faith should give tithes to Christ for the support of His work. The tithe system did not begin with the Levitical priesthood, for Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, so the principle is not limited to the Levitical system but applies under Christ's priesthood. Christians under the Melchizedek priesthood therefore remain obligated to give a tithe of their increase to God's cause, and the change of priesthood does not end the obligation to pay tithe.
The tithe belongs to the altar and to the service of God as one of the holy things of the altar, and they who wait at the altar are partakers with the altar. The priests who served in the temple as types of Christ were exempt from paying for its support, and Christ as their antitype and the end of that system was likewise free from that payment.
The Levitical priesthood served as a pattern of Christ's work for a sinful world, addressing the need to put away sin and human need. By contrast Christ's Melchizedek priesthood is everlasting and royal, suited to every condition and age and time. It extends to the universe and continues for eternity, and His saved people are kings and priests to Him forever.
Christ is the great High Priest over both the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods, and His mediatorial work is central to both the old and new dispensations. He is the King of Peace and a priest after the order of Melchizedek, a kingly priest seated as priest on His Father's throne and not on His own throne. In that priestly office He makes peace for humanity and for His people and obtains redemption through the shedding of His own blood.