Hebrews 7:21, commentary and pictures

The former priests took office without a divine oath, but Jesus was made priest by the Father's sworn declaration recorded in Psalm 110:4 that He is a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec. That oath is irrevocable and unchangeable, giving His priesthood its honor, dignity and permanence in contrast to priests made under the law. The order bears Melchisedec's name because he was a king-priest of righteousness and peace with no recorded pedigree, predecessor or successor, and he is a type of Christ and not Christ Himself, while Christ's own Melchisedec line from Judah begins with Him and passes to no other. Because He holds an endless, unchangeable life and ever lives to intercede, He can save completely those who come to God through Him as surety of a better covenant. The change tied to His oath concerns the law of the priesthood and its service and not the moral law or the Sabbath, while the tithe paid by Abraham to Melchisedec continues under Christ's living priesthood who receives it.

Oath and Divine Appointment

The former priests were made without an oath, but Christ was made priest with an oath by the Father who said the Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. The Levitical and Aaronic priests were appointed without an oath through arrangement by mortal man, while Jesus was constituted priest by God's oath, and this contrast is one of ten prominent points of difference between the two orders of priesthood. That oath is irrevocable and unchangeable, from which He will not turn, and it establishes Christ as priest forever in the order of Melchisedec. It indicates the honor and dignity of Christ's priesthood, to show which is the object of the entire chapter, and marks its importance and permanence in contrast to the temporary Aaronic office connected with the sacrificial system.

The oath was given a thousand years before Christ's birth and recorded in Psalm 110:4. It came after the law and after Christ was perfected through suffering, so His oath-backed priesthood began especially for humanity after His resurrection and ascension when He began His ministry for them. The oath is prophetic and points forward to the Messiah's priestly ministry after His ascension, placed at His resurrection when God also declared Him His Son. After His crucifixion and resurrection He ascended and began this enduring priestly ministry for the world, serving in the heavenly sanctuary and offering His life for His people while looking toward the final cleansing from sin.

Jesus was made priest not by the law of Moses but by God's oath from a higher quarter, and because He sprang from Judah, of which Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood, He could not be priest under the law confining priesthood exclusively to Levi. The law allowed no one to hold the office without tracing pedigree back to Levi, so the necessity was a change of that priesthood law and its restriction, not a change of the moral law. Being from Judah rather than Levi, He would not be a priest on earth under the Levitical arrangement, but exercises His priesthood in the heavenly sanctuary. As Seed of Abraham He receives His priesthood from the oath of God and by it becomes the Melchisedec of this world in a still closer sense, having been originally first of a great order of king-priests and having come down to win the place Adam lost. He became priest because He is the Son, by the word of God's oath, after the power of an endless life, unlike the seed of Aaron who were made priests after the law of a carnal commandment.

Melchizedek Order Explained

The order bears Melchizedek's name because he was the first of that order and had no predecessor in office, just as kings are called sons of David because David was first of that line and Levitical priests are called of the order of Aaron because Aaron was first. Melchizedek was priest of the Most High God, and by name and office he was king of righteousness and king of Salem meaning peace, which made him a fitting priest-king type of Christ who is righteousness and peace and the great High Priest. Having no recorded father or mother means no record of pedigree or descent is given, and having no recorded beginning, ending, predecessor or successor is purposeful in Scripture, for details and omissions alike express divine wisdom.

In this silence he supplies what is lacking in Aaron to furnish a complete type of Christ's priesthood: a kingly priesthood, a priesthood not dependent on proved genealogy, a priesthood that does not end by death and pass to a successor, a priest without need to offer for his own sins, and a priest from another tribe. Melchizedek is a type of Christ and not Christ Himself, for Christ was made like unto Melchizedek as priest after the same order. To identify them would make Christ a priest after the order of Christ and a type of Himself and His own successor, and identifying him or supplying his genealogy would undermine the argument that his priesthood represents what Aaron's lacked, since type and fulfillment must remain distinct.

Melchizedek was neither Shem, whose recorded genealogy forbids the identity, nor an ordinary man, for he was greater than Abraham because Abraham paid him homage. It was suggested that he may have been a being from another world visiting this world, placed here for a little time as a type, a matter presented as subject for further study. In that fuller sense Jesus, manifested as Abraham's Seed, receiving His priesthood from a higher quarter by the oath of God, was originally first of a great order of king-priests, the Melchizedek of the universe, and He came down to this world and won as Melchizedek of this world the place that was to belong to Adam but was lost when Adam failed.

Christ's Melchizedek priesthood therefore comes from no other and passes to no other, an independent, age-lasting line that began with Him and will end with Him, with no other priesthood to follow. Unlike the Levitical priests, He came from the tribe of Judah, while the Melchizedek priesthood represents the unchanging character of His priestly work and has replaced the Levitical priesthood in force under the Mosaic dispensation. Joined to His birth from the tribe of Judah, the oath of the Father makes Him both King and Priest, King by birth and Priest by oath, a royal priesthood belonging to His kingly authority and exercised now in the heavenly sanctuary at the Father's right hand on God's throne rather than David's throne.

Enduring Priestly Ministry

Christ is priest forever after the order of Melchizedek with an indissoluble, endless life, His priesthood confirmed by oath and therefore enduring and certain. Unlike the Levitical priests who were dying men, so that the office had to pass from one to another, He was made priest not after the law of a carnal commandment but after the power of an endless life, never prevented by death from continuing His work. Having assumed the office it never passes to another, for His is an independent line with no predecessor or successor, come from Judah and not passing to another as the Levitical priesthood did. The Melchizedek priesthood is eternal in nature because God made it so by His oath together with that endless life, while the Aaronic priesthood was temporary in duration and ceased at the cross.

Because He ever lives to make intercession, He can save completely and for all time those who come to God through Him. He continually intercedes for them as High Priest in heaven, and this appointment with an oath is part of God's plan and His continuing work as humanity's High Priest and Advocate in heaven. Having laid down His life for the world, He exercises that work as the great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary before God's ark, able to save completely those who come to God through Him.

His unchangeable, oath-confirmed priesthood is superior to and replaces the temporary Aaronic and Levitical priesthood. It is contrasted with the frailty and limited service of the priests made under the law, who offered yearly-repeated service, whereas as High Priest He offered Himself once and serves in heaven. As the earthly sanctuary gives way to the true heavenly sanctuary and its more excellent ministry of the new covenant, the Levitical ministry of the first covenant is superseded and does not pass to another. This permanence and supremacy distinguish Christ's priesthood from the earlier priests who became priests without an oath.

In this priestly office He is King of Peace and makes peace for us on His Father's throne. As our High Priest He makes peace between people and God through His priestly work, giving Himself and obtaining redemption for us by shedding His own blood and laying down His life. His priesthood after the order of Melchizedek was established by God's oath and is forever, and in that office His blood obtains redemption.

His Melchizedek priesthood is not a Levitical priesthood of Aaron or Levi, and it is not limited to putting away sin like the Levitical type for a sinful world. The Levitical priesthood served as a type of Christ's priestly work for a sinful world, addressing the putting away of sin and the needs that arose from sin, while the Melchizedek priesthood is suited to all conditions and times, past, present, and future. Unlike the temporary Levitical priesthood which served because of sin, this oath-established priesthood extends through eternity and embraces the universe, everlasting and royal and applying in every time and condition. The great Melchizedek Priest's priesthood began before sin and will continue through eternity, and His people are kings and priests to Him forever, with priestly ministry meaning service as He directs and not necessarily involving offering sacrifices.

He serves as priest on His Father's throne, distinct from His own throne, on which He will not serve as priest. His priesthood is not exercised on the earthly throne of David but on His Father's throne in heaven where the place of His priesthood is clearly revealed, serving now in the heavenly sanctuary at the Father's right hand on God's throne rather than David's throne. This oath-appointed priesthood is royal, both King and Priest, with no exception made for its royal character in the general description of its stated features. He will never be a priest on His own throne.

His priestly rule and mediation as both Priest and King on the Father's throne continue while probation remains and until His enemies are put under His feet. His work includes entering the Most Holy Place to cleanse the sanctuary, that work having begun in 1844 and proceeding until it is finished rather than being completed at His entrance. Then His priestly work will end as He receives His own subordinate throne and kingdom and becomes subject to the Father.

Heavenly Sanctuary Fulfillment

Hebrews belongs to the explanation of the priesthood showing how the old sanctuary service finds fulfillment in Christ's ministry and sacrifice. He is High Priest in the true tabernacle in heaven which the Lord pitched and not man, entered after His ascension to minister for His people. There He does what Moses and Aaron did in the earthly pattern, the earthly service being its pattern. The anointing of the Most Holy, the Holy of Holies, the Sanctum Sanctorum, is this heavenly anointing and not an earthly one. As the earthly anointing of the Holy of Holies immediately preceded presentation of the sin offering before the mercy seat, He must go within the veil after ascension before He could fulfill the type.

The Levitical priesthood with its ordinances of divine service, and the earthly tabernacle with its priestly ministry, were type, shadow and example of the heavenly sanctuary. Christ is the real Priest and antitype, appointed after the order of Melchizedek to minister in the heavenly sanctuary in place of the Levitical priesthood which served as shadow of the heavenly service. The sacrifices and priestly service of the past pointed to Him and found fulfillment in Him. The ceremonial law that pointed to Him was abolished at the cross. His work in the heavenly sanctuary deals with the sins of His people, foreshadowed by the yearly round of earthly service by the Aaronic priesthood, especially the atonement cleansing and hallowing the sanctuary from Israel's uncleanness by removing sins to the head of the scapegoat sent into an uninhabited wilderness.

Neither Melchizedek nor Aaron alone presented all essential truths of His priesthood, but together they did. He fulfills what Aaron's priesthood represented, the high priest's office including making the great atonement, of which He is antitype. The Levitical service prefigured His priestly work, while the Melchizedek priesthood represents its unchanging character. His priesthood is permanent and does not pass from one to another, an independent line with no predecessor or successor, and unlike the Levitical priests He came from Judah.

After ascension He entered heaven itself with His own blood and consecrated it. This entering into the true tabernacle in heaven, the Most Holy, to do there what Moses and Aaron did in its pattern, is the anointing of the Most Holy listed as the last event of the seventy weeks. The Levitical priesthood was superseded by the priesthood of the order of Melchizedek when the tabernacle made with hands gave place to the true tabernacle at the termination of the seventy weeks cut off upon the earthly sanctuary as part of the 2300 days, at the very point where the shadow of good things to come ceased being nailed to the cross.

The chapter dwells at length on phases of the Levitical priesthood, especially the high priest's work, as foundation for concluding that Christ is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens as minister of the sanctuary and true tabernacle. Those earthly services, including daily work in the first apartment and yearly work in the most holy place, served as example and shadow of His more excellent ministry in the true sanctuary. The extended comparison of Aaron's priesthood with Melchizedek's, and of the earthly sanctuary with the heavenly sanctuary, presents His heavenly work as dealing with His people's sins foreshadowed by the yearly atonement.

Hebrews 7 with Hebrews 8, 9 and 10 gives a full account for comparing the ministrations or services of the two covenants. The Levitical priesthood with its ordinances performed the ministration of the first covenant, and the more excellent ministry of Christ including all its branches fulfills the ministration of the second covenant. Ministration means the act of performing service, not the words written and engraven in stones themselves, so God's law given as basis of the first covenant is distinct from its ministration given in the handwriting of ordinances. In this way the second or new covenant is proved to have ordinances of divine service, as the first covenant also had.

To show the honor and dignity of Christ's priesthood is the object of the whole chapter. The Father declared His Son's priesthood with an oath from which He will not turn, while the former Levitical priests were made without an oath, and the oath indicates that honor and dignity. That priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, first stated in Hebrews 5:6 and set forth at length in Hebrews 7, is the great object of Hebrews. Its full unfolding was delayed because the brethren had not improved opportunities and were not prepared to appreciate its weighty truths, requiring first description of their condition, solemn admonition pointing out great danger, and encouragement by Abraham's example and by God's faithfulness and righteousness in keeping promises. The oath turns the subject of hope, which rests on the promises made to Abraham, toward the priesthood of Christ after the order of Melchizedek.

Covenant Law and Change

Unlike the former priests who were made without an oath, Jesus was made priest with God's oath declaring Him priest forever after the order of Melchisedec, and that oath is irrevocable and will not be revoked. Because He is priest forever by that oath, He is the surety of a better covenant whose success rests on Christ and His ministry rather than on sinful people's promises to obey. As surety He guarantees to believers that God will keep His promise to give His life, law and Spirit in their hearts, and He guarantees to God their obedience and covenant keeping, becoming power in them to overcome evil and keep the commandments. Because He lives forever He is High Priest in heaven who ever intercedes and is able to save completely and for all time those who come to God through Him.

The change spoken of in Hebrews 7 is a change in the law of the priesthood and priestly service, made necessary by the oath-backed change of priesthood, not a change in the tithe obligation, the Sabbath commandment, the moral law, or any perpetual law. Jesus was made priest not by the law of Moses but by God's oath, God swearing that He would not change His decision, which sets His priesthood apart from the earlier priests appointed without an oath. That law of Moses confined the priesthood exclusively to the tribe of Levi and allowed no one to hold the office without tracing pedigree back to Levi, while Jesus sprang from Judah of which Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood, so He could not be priest under that law and that restriction had to pass and be replaced by the new order. Because Abraham paid tithe to Melchisedec, those who are Abraham's children by faith continue to pay tithe under Christ's Melchisedec priesthood.

The new covenant concerns the same law as the old, namely the moral law which God promises to put in people's hearts and which Christ taught. The true Melchisedec priesthood belongs to the covenant with Abraham, with Christ appointed priest forever by God's oath. The Levitical priesthood with the earthly sanctuary and its services was instituted only to instruct Israel about that true Melchisedec priesthood and about the heavenly sanctuary and its services where Christ ministers as priest after the order of Melchisedec. Neither the Levitical priesthood nor the earthly sanctuary service was final and neither could give salvation and perfection, but Israel perverted them by making them final and expecting salvation and perfection by them instead of coming through them to faith in the covenant with Abraham.

That oath gives believers confidence that Christ's ministry as High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary will save them, being the same oath that confirmed God's promise to Abraham, a promise extending to the gospel and to believers who trust in the God who raised Jesus. The verse gives splendid instruction concerning Christ as High Priest and His Melchisedec priesthood, showing the wonderful encouragement God gives to His children in this priesthood and the certain fate of those who reject the means by which He saves.

Tithe Duty and Kingdom Hope

The oath sets Christ as priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, unlike the earlier priests who were made without an oath, and the change spoken of is a change in the law of the priesthood, not a removal of the obligation to pay tithe. Because Abraham paid tithe to Melchizedek, those who are Abraham's children by faith continue under that same enduring Melchizedek priesthood and pay tithes as Abraham did for the support of Christ's cause. That priesthood lasts forever, so its requirements remain in force and tithing remains recognized under Christ's priesthood.

The Aaronic priesthood was temporary in duration and ceased at the cross, having for its lifetime carried out duties, responsibilities and privileges that before its existence had belonged to the Melchizedek priesthood, among them receiving tithes from their brethren. When the Aaronic priesthood ended, all its duties, responsibilities and privileges not of a typical nature ending at the cross reverted to the Melchizedek priesthood from which they originally came. The tithe, exacted by God from the beginning, was placed by Him in that eternal priesthood of which Jesus Christ is now High Priest by oath and by the power of an endless life, belonging to the altar or service of God as one of the holy things of the altar for those who wait at the altar. The setting forth of Christ's priesthood and His superiority as High Priest over the high priests of Levi therefore has as leading features the tithing question and Christ's right to the tithe as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Because Christ belongs to Melchizedek's priestly order, the priest who received Abraham's tithes represented Christ, so the tithes were paid to Christ, who lives and receives tithes as the Son of God represented by Melchizedek, in contrast with the Levitical priests appointed without an oath.

Christ is not a Levitical priest but the great Melchizedek Priest whose everlasting, royal priesthood began before sin and continues through eternity, suited to all conditions and times past, present and future, while the Levitical priesthood was a type for a sinful world addressing the putting away of sin. His people saved by Him are kings and priests to Him forever, serving God under Him in whatever way He directs, with priestly ministry meaning service and not necessarily involving the offering of sacrifices. As antitype and end of the Levitical system, Christ is likewise free from paying for the support of His Father's house, just as the temple priests who typed the heavenly High Priest were exempt from paying for the temple's support.

The unchangeable oath, recorded in Psalm 110:4 a thousand years before Christ's birth, establishes the importance and permanence of His priesthood and pledges that He will succeed Adam, receive possession of the renewed and purified world as His eternal kingdom, and reign after the cross has redeemed Adam's failure and His enemies have been removed. His superiority to the Levitical priests helps show that He is God's Son in a higher sense than other beings called sons of God. Beyond identifying Him as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek and not after Aaron, the passage presents the Mosaic priests as prefiguring the work of Christ the great High Priest under the present dispensation.