HEBREWS CHAPTER 7
STUDY LED BY WALT HENRICHSEN
Hong Kong - April, 2001
Notes taken by Jay O'Keefe

VERSES 1-10 - WHO IS MELCHISEDEC?

WALT - OK, let's talk about Melchisedec...........Now the importance of chapter 7, and the treatment on Melchisedec is strategic for us in that it shows how the inadequacy of the Old Testament system had to be highlighted................it had to be abolished in order for the cross..................So the argument of the author in these verses, in part, is to show how the Old Testament taught its own inadequacy. Now that was a hard thing, and still is a hard thing for the Jew to accept.................that the Old Testament taught its own inadequacy. So, verses 1-10 deal with Abraham's encounter with Melchisedec in Genesis chapter 14. So, he's a priest of the Most High God, King of Salem, King of peace, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abiding a priest continuously. Who is he, and why do you come to that conclusion? Or do you have any thoughts as to who he is?...............and why?............................(silence)..................First of all, in verse 3, do you understand the author to be saying that he has no genealogy? Or is the author saying there's no record of his geneology?
STUDENT - I'd say no record.
STUDENT - Neither beginning or end.............
WALT - What does that mean, Steve, neither beginning nor end?
STEVE - There's no record of his beginning or end.
WALT - No record of it.
STUDENT B - That would be an interpretation, wouldn't it?
WALT - Steve's is an interpretation?
LEE - Well we keep throwing no record in there.
STUDENT B - He's adding words, right?.................It could be either one, right?
WALT - Yeah, that's what I'm asking.
STUDENT B - If it's true, then he's still kickin around here somewhere.
STUDENT - And that's what it's saying. We just don't have records like the Jews kept records of genealogies. There's no record of his genealogy, not that he's still alive. We just don't know when his beginning and his day was.
WALT - Thomas, would you agree with that?
THOMAS - Sorry, didn't (??)
WALT - The question is, what does verse 3 mean? Does it mean that he has no beginning nor end, no father or mother? Or does it mean there's no record of it?
CHUCK - He's always been.
THOMAS - Of course the question is, can anyone be without a father or mother.............apart from Jesus. So my answer is Melchisedec is the Old Testament type of Jesus.
WALT - So it doesn't say there is no record of it, but it just says that he didn't have a father or mother. Is that the way you read the verse?
THOMAS - Yes.
CHUCK - Aren't these some of the attributes of God?
STUDENT - Could I make a comment?
WALT - Absolutely.
STUDENT - When Abraham gave him the tithes, Abraham is subordinating himself to Melchisedec as a superior, and only Christ can be that superior, assuming Abraham knows what he's doing. Abraham is inferior to the person receiving his tithes.
WALT - Right. The less is blessed of the better. That is correct. If I understood Thomas correctly, he said that he is an Old Testament revelation of Jesus Christ. Did I quote you correctly on that?
THOMAS - Yes.
WALT - Would you gentlemen agree or disagree with that?..................(silence)...............One of the questions you have to ask yourself is, how many High Priests do you have? Because this man's priesthood abides for ever.
STUDENT - He precedes the date of the birth of Levi.
WALT - Yes.
STUDENT - I think he is emphasizing a greater order over the Levitical order.
WALT - Right. And in doing that do you think he is saying that he is Christ himself?
STUDENT - He is a type.............I think Thomas said he was a type of Christ.
THOMAS - It could well be Christ himself.
RICHARD - Christ incarnate.
PANG - So Abraham met Christ then?
WALT - That is the question. So what do you think, Pang? 
PANG - Not sure.
WALT - Well none of us can be sure...........but what do you think?
STUDENT - If he is not Christ, we have two priests then in heaven. One is Christ and the other, Melchisedec.
WALT - Seems like it. Yes.
STUDENT - Can we have two priests in heaven?
WALT - That's what we're trying to find out. What do you think?
STEVE - He's a different...........not the same..........you know, it's the order of Melchisedec..............it could go either way, right? There's no way to really know, although if he never had end of days, and never died, what happened to him.
WALT - Well, whatever............let's say that it's just a record of it, what does it mean that he abides a priest forever, verse 3? 
STEVE - Remains, continues forever.
WALT - Which means then, you've got two priests.
WING LUCK - You have to undersand this just within the boundaries of the episode, the encounter with Abraham. He came to Abraham, and Abraham does not know..............As far as Abraham was concerned, he is a type of Christ. It doesn't mean that after the encounter, he never gave up his priesthood.............nobody replaced..............we don't even know what kind of priesthood he represents.
WALT - So the phrase, he abides a priest forever, means in the light of this, what?
WING LUCK - In terms of the single episode, the encounter with Abraham, he was a type of Christ......that's how I have seen it.
STUDENT - So we would say that there's not two priests. Christ continues his line..........as the other............
WING LUCK - He was a model of the kind of priest that Christ is.
LEE - Except he continues...........
WING LUCK - And I think that if we see him like this, as a type of Christ, we must not carry all this information outside the one encounter between him and Abraham.
WALT - OK. Would you all agree with Wing Luck?..........................................that the author is saying nothing more than you have to understand this material in light of that one encounter, and we know nothing more about him than that? He serves only for that purpose, and don't take it any further than that?
STEVE - Anything else is speculation?..................
WALT - Well, the other possibility is to take it literally, in terms of not just the one encounter, but in terms of the fact that he never had a father, he never had a mother, therefore there was never any genealogy. He never had a beginning of days. He never really had an end of life. And he continues as our priest.
STEVE - Then it can't be referring to Christ himself.
WALT - Exactly, exactly.
STUDENT - Was Christ a priest between Genesis 14 and the time he offered himself up?
WALT - If that's the conclusion, yes.
LEE - He died before the foundation of the world.
WALT - If that interpretation is accurate, that's what you'd have to say, yes.
STEVE - As part of the Godhead, one of his roles was he always was a priest.
CHUCK - He's gone back to being a priest?
WALT - So what do you think, gentlemen? You've got two choices. Do we hear a third?
LEE - An angel?
WALT - OK. Then if Jesus is after the order of an angel, it would seem the superiority of the angel rather than the superiority of Christ.......................it would seem......................Anthony, what did you conclude?
ANTHONY - I'm not sure, really.
WALT - How about the rest of you?
CHUCK - Could it be God? Could Melchisedec be God?
WALT - In other words, a revelation of God, or Christ?
CHUCK - Yeah.
STEVE - It's interesting, he wasn't just a priest, he was also a king.
WALT - Yes.
STEVE - An earthly king.
WALT - Yes.
STUDENT - Who worshipped God.........the same God Abraham was worshipping......................................
WALT - Does it say that he was worshipping?
STUDENT - In Genesis I thought they said..............I thought when they interacted............I thought it said he was a stranger to Abraham, and said something to the effect of giving praise to God the Most High.
WALT - Why don't you read that to us out of Genesis 14.
STUDENT - Verse 18, "And Melchisedec the king of Salem brought out bread and wine. And he was the priest of God most high, and he blessed Abram saying, blessed be Abram by God most high, the creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God most high, who delivered your enemies into your hand." So they're worshipping the same God.
WALT - OK.
STUDENT - That seems to me to argue that Melchisedec was a real person, because otherwise God would be praising himself. He was just a real person of which we have no record.
WALT - Well it could not be Christ praising God, huh?
STUDENT - Sure.
STUDENT B - Would he also be a Gentile? Would not be a Jew, right? Because he's a stranger to Abraham?
LEE - Well neither was Abraham at that point.
STUDENT - Abraham was really the first Jew.
WALT - Yes.
RICHARD - Who can be called the king of righteousness?
WALT - Yeah, Richard asked, who can be called the king of righteousness?............................Salem, peace, shalom is the name for Jerusalem, isn't it?
STEVE - Were they one and the same? Was Salem a precurser to the same location of the actual city of Jerusalem? Is that what it implies? That he was king of Salem............that that was an ancient city that predated Jerusalem? 
WALT - Yeah. I ran a trace on Jerusalem, and I found it for the first time in Joshua 15:63, then in Joshua 18:28................................... 

VERSES 4-10 - HOW GREAT IS MELCHISEDEC?

WALT - OK, now in verses 4-10, he says let's consider how great this man was. Let's assume we are not going to be able to be definitive as to who he is, you pick your own choice, but irrespective of that, let's consider how great he is. So this is a typically Jewish argument. Levi, the ancestor of the priestly tribe, was Abraham's great grandson. Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec, and since Levi was in the loins of his father, yet to be born, Levi paid tithes to Melchisedec. And on that basis, Levi is inferior to Melchisedec. Melchisedec is greater than Levi. That's the argument. So, you may not like the argument, gentlemen, but just by way of application, NEVER FORGET THAT WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU DO APPRECIABLY INFLUENCES YOUR PROGENY. So, the author says three reasons, (1) Abraham chose to consider Melchisedec great, (2) Abraham, the patriarch himself was great, and (3) Abraham gave to Melchisedec, gave to Melchisedec 10% of everything.
BART - Why that number..........10%?
WALT - Again, Bart, that is the first I could find of the tithe. Remember the second time it shows up, gentlemen?
BART - Deuteronomy.
WALT - Before then................................................
SOMEONE - Joseph.
WALT - Not Joseph, but who?
SOMEONE - Jacob.
WALT - Jacob, yeah, where? When?....................(silence)...................Gentlemen, Jacob is at Bethel.
RICHARD - He made a promise.
WALT - Yes................and he saw the ladder, and the angels ascending and descending on the ladder, and in the morning he woke up and gave a tenth of all to God. (Gen 28). How he gave a tenth to God, I haven't figured out yet, but he gave a tenth to God........Did he burn it....did he give it there, let somebody else steal it after he left?
CHUCK - Maybe Melchisedec was there..................(all laugh).............
WALT - Old Mel showed up for another collection.
CHUCK - He knows a good thing.
RICHARD - Nobody's smarter than Jacob.
WALT - That's true, nobody's smarter than he.........................................

VERSES 11-22 - THE PROMISE

WALT - In verses 11-22, gentlemen, we see the promise. In the verses we just looked at, Melchisedec is present, Christ is not. In the verses we're going to look at now, both Christ and Melchisedec are present......................................Now, the sacrificial system originated where?..............................Cain and Abel, so somewhere between chapters 3 and 4 (Genesis) God instituted the sacrificial system.
CHUCK - Wasn't it started as a result of Adam and Eve covering their bodies...........with the bodies of.............? 
HK Hebrews, Ch 7, page 4 173 

WALT - It doesn't say that. It says God covered them.........gave them an excuse to cover them, but it says that the sacrifices were in place in chapter 4, but it didn't say anything about how that happened. All we know is that there is a certain way that God wanted it done, and both Cain and Abel knew it, and one accepted what God wanted, the other rejected what God wanted............................but at Sinai, he marries the sacrificial system with the law. He takes the sacrificial system out of the hand of anybody who wants to do it, and puts it into the hands not only of the Levites, but of the house and descendants of Aaron. They and they only can offer sacrifice.
STUDENT - The first VCWs. 

AN IMPERFECT SACRIFICE SHOWS THE NEED OF A PERFECT SACRIFICE

WALT - The first VCWs....................yeah. So, in this material, we see that the fact that Jesus was a priest after the order of Melchisedec, shows that the Levitical order had to be set aside. The fact that Christ became our sacrifice shows that the Old Testament sacrifices were inadequate. The fact that perfection didn't come until Christ's sacrifice shows the imperfection of everything that happened before. So, here the author argues, we're going to begin with imperfection, "If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise up after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?" He's now going to begin to challenge the adequacy of the Old Testament system. And what his argument is, is that God perfectly created an imperfect system. He created a system that was intrinsically defective. So in verse 11 we see that the sacrifice needed to be changed because those in the Old Testament were imperfect. In verse 12 we see that the law needs to be changed because we're now under a new dispensation. The law provided for Levi and did not provide for Melchisedec. In verse 15, it says the priesthood needed to be changed because Melchisedec was eternal and Levi was temporal. Let me, by the way, point out how ubiquitous this word "perfection" is in the book of Hebrews. It appears again and again and again throughout the book.
STUDENT - What did you say needed to be changed in 11?
WALT - The sacrifices, because the Old Testament ones were imperfect............................................................................ 

GOD ALONE HAS THE CHARACTERISTIC OF INDESTRUCTILITY

WALT - Notice verse 16. How does your translation put that? Read that for me.
STUDENT - "Who has become, not according to the law of fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life."
WALT - Endless life.
STUDENT B- Mine says "indestructible life."
WALT - Indestructible life. How about the rest of you.
SEVERAL - Indestructible life.
RICHARD - The Chinese say endless [indestructible].
WALT - Indestructible, yeah.................interesting............greater than the ability to create is the fact of being indestructible. It's the one characteristic of God that stands alone...........he is indestructible. Part of being created in his image is the desire to create. Men love to create...........to bring into existence new things..........whether that's a painting, or a building, an empire, or it's a factory, men love to create. But being indestructible is a characteristic of God, and God only.
LEE - In verse 12, which law is changing into which law?........the Old Testament Mosaic law needs to be changed.
WALT - Yes.
LEE - To the New Covenant law? To change priests?.........................................................
WALT - He didn't say in here what it's changed into, it only says what it's changed from.
LEE - But we know there's a change of law, right?
WALT - Yes..................and the change is evidenced from Psalm 110:4....................................Now gentlemen, notice the frequent use of words that show the inadequacy of the Old Testament system.................change, verse 16, "a carnal or fleshly commandment." Verse 18, "weak, unprofitable." Verse 19, "unable to make perfect." So in this portion, he shows the frailty, the inadequacy, the weakness of the Old Testament order. Any questions on that?
LEE - The thing that's hard to get your hands on is the fact that Mefchisedec shows up before Christ, before Levi, so it seems that his priesthood is already established. Then we establish Levi's priesthood............then Christ comes back and establishes Melchisedec's priesthood............................When we try to prove that Christ is better than Melchisedec............but Christ is Melchisedec...................
WALT - Christ is after the order of Melchisedec and therefore better than Levi and Aaron.
LEE - But it seems like we already had a better order before Levi.
WALT - Yes, yes.
LEE - So the whole sacrificial system was (??) something which would lead us down the wrong track..............or make us appreciate what we had before when we go back to the order of Melchisedec.
WALT - Well, when we get into the material in chapters 9 and 10, he will tell us a little bit more about the reason for the Levitical 
HK Hebrews, Ch 7, page 5 174

system. He takes a break after chapter 7 to talk about the covenant. But we said that in the first paragraph (vss 1-10), Melchisedec was present but not Christ. In 11-20 it was Christ and Melchisedec, and in the last paragraph, Christ but not Melchisedec. So he moves in this transition from Melchisedec to Christ..................................Interesting, verse 22 is the first time in the chapter that the name of Jesus appears.............before this time only the pronoun appears.................What does verse 22 mean?...........................................Who of you can tell us what a surety is?
STUDENT - Guarantee.
WALT - Yes. In what way is Jesus a guarantee of a better covenant?
STUDENT - [Couldn't understand answer]
WALT - OK, immutable and eternal. The first was not. This one is. 

VERSES 23-28 - THE PERFORMANCE OF A PERFECT PRIEST

WALT - OK, gentlemen in verses 23-28, we see the performance of the better priest. And note the contrast between Christ and the Levitical priesthood. Many priests - one priest. Couldn't continue by reason of death - he continues forever. A changing priesthood - an unchangeable priesthood. Able to save - unable to save...............Any questions on the remaining portion of the chapter?
PANG - Walt, judging from what you have asked us before, this priest Melchisedec, which only receives offerings, he didn't offer anything, as the Levitical priesthood, and he has an indestructible life. So my conclusion is that most likely he is Christ.
WALT - Mine too. Can't be dogmatic, but most likely that's who he is.
PANG - Because only God receives offerings.
WALT - Yes.
RICHARD - What's the meaning of the word "type?"
WALT - The word "type" means "illustration of" like Jonah three days in the belly of the fish is a type of Christ in the grave.
RICHARD - So type may not be the person himself?
WALT - Correct. Yes.
LEE - Did Pang say Melchisedec is a type or Melchisedec is Christ?
PANG - Is Christ, not a type, because of the evidences.
WALT - That seems to be the soundest conclusion...............It's the most satisfying to me.
STUDENT - In this case, would it be the first incarnation of Jesus then?
WALT - No. No, it was an appearance but not an incarnation.
LEE - It would be stupid to give tithes to an appearance.
WALT - Gentlemen, when Adam and Eve were born, they were born corruptible and destructible. They sinned and they became corrupted. When Jesus was born, he was born corruptible, and did not sin as the second Adam. When you were born, you were born corrupted. When Christ came in the form of Melchesedec, he did not come in a corruptible form.
RICHARD - This person actually lived in Jerusalem...........he came from Jerusalem.
WALT - King of Salem, king of righteousness, king of peace.
LEE - Where is that?
WALT - I think about verse 2.
LEE - Where is Salem located?
WALT - Well I think that may very well be.................(Jerusalem).
RICHARD - He actually ruled there.
WALT - Right.............which is another name for the heavenly city of God, and may be in reference to that.
RICHARD - But there was a city there and he was a ruler there.
WALT - I'm not sure. I'm not sure.
RICHARD - He was the king of Salem.
WALT - Yes.
RICHARD - And a ruler there. He comes from there. He lives there.
WALT - Yes.
STUDENT - Who were his people?
RICHARD - Jerusalem, a city near Jerusalem.
STUDENT - But he was also king of righteousness. Where is the city of righteousness?..............(all laugh)............
STEVE - In other words it could be a figurative kingdom, not a literal kingdom at the time.
WALT - Or, the city of God.
STEVE - Which at the time would not have been inhabited by anybody. Not a literal place.
WALT - Right.
STUDENT - How do you read verse 11, "What further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchisedec?"
WALT - My answer to that would be that we need the incarnation, because if Christ is going to be a substitute for our sin,.............
STUDENT - He wasn't another priest. He was the same priest returning to fullfil the order of ..............
STUDENT B - But it says here for another priest to arise................
LEE - That would mean Melchisedec could not have been Christ............
STEVE - That would mean he would have been the same. When Christ came another priest did not arise.
RICHARD - Never offered a sacrifice. What did he do?.........(all laugh)...........
SOME - Received sacrifices..............(all laugh)
WALT - And remember I never said that he did. I said there's no record of his ever offering one.
RICHARD - OK, if he offered a sacrifice, that sacrifice is good, once and for all. Anything from Christ is once and for all...........and then you may assume he never offered any.....................
STUDENT - What's the argument supporting that Melchisedec represented Christ, not God the Father? You might have mentioned that verse 11 surely points to Christ as another priest who will arise after the order of Melchisedec.........because he replaced the priests who arise after the order of Aaron because perfection has not been attained yet.
WALT - Yeah. We looked at Genesis 14 earlier, and we saw that he was giving praise to God..........Melchisedec did.
RICHARD - The sacrifice of praise.
WALT - I don't know. I'm not suggesting to you that any one answer is conclusive to the exclusion of any other possibility. I think we have to hold whatever position we have tentatively. If you asked me, what are the options that best fit in my mind, it was a theophany of Christ.
BART - A what?
WALT - I wouldn't die for that.
RICHARD - Theophany - an appearance..............................
WALT - Any other thoughts?.......................................OK, why don't you guys go to bed...............(all laugh)...............I don't want you to take this wrong, but I've seen dead men that look better than you guys...................(all laugh)............
LEE - You have this lulling effect.
WALT - I know it. I know it.
STUDENT - Walt, one more question. This morning you said that when you read that Christ accepted you as you are, it was settled for you once and for all, self acceptance. Did you mean that you didn't have to struggle with it any more?
WALT - Correct.
STUDENT - Once you understood it, it wasn't an issue for you?
WALT - Correct.
STUDENT - Emotionally?
WALT - Correct. Doesn't mean that I don't make me sick. But I can accept that. This is the way I am.
RICHARD - Do you labor in faith?.................
WALT - No. The labor of faith is not just self-acceptance. I had to labor to get there. But it is resting in the goodness of God when he tests me.
STUDENT - This is one area of your life where you don't fight back.
WALT - Yes.............I fought the battle until I understood..........I fought it, and fought it, and fought it for years.
STUDENT - In my own life, after understanding it..........after understanding my spiritual position, or spiritual reality, I get a comfort from the truth.............I fought the battle................In your experience you seem to come to an understanding. You settled the problem.......................
WALT - I'm sure that just as I said that to you, tomorrow I'll be strugging with it............(all laugh)..........so far so good.
BART - What did you mean by epiphany? What does it mean?
WALT - A revelation................
CHUCK - Suddenly. A sudden revelation.
STUDENT - It seems Abraham can recognize God.................the people's troubles.................and he knows to talk about Sodom and Gommorah.
WALT - Yes.
STUDENT - And he recognized this king. He seems very smart.
WALT - Yes.
STUDENT - Why just Abraham, not Moses?
WALT - I don't know.
STUDENT - Because Paul leads us always back to Abraham....................So the law is going to be set aside. Priesthood is also going to be set aside. Maybe you felt, then, we can't understand Jesus..........because now Melchisedec is Christ. Abraham shows us justification by faith. 
WALT - Yes, Abraham was given the unconditional covenent.............................................So with Adam, you have a conditional covenent, individually given. With Abraham you've got the unconditional covenent. With Moses you've got the contitional covenant given corporately. In Jeremiah you've got the unconditional covenant given corporately.
STUDENT - Jeremiah is individual isn't it?
WALT - Corporate.
STUDENT - Law written in (??)
WALT - No, "The day is coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." So I would say that is corporate.
STUDENT - You do have an individual dimension in that?
WALT - Yes. Always do.............I'ts something new he's going to do for the nation of Israel.
STEVE - Maybe he was just asking this, but in the gospels, the people who oppose Jesus are not (??) the law, not Abraham?
WALT - Correct.
STEVE - But he doesn't talk here much about Moses, but rather Abraham. Does he mention Moses in Hebrews?
WALT - Moses was the subject of chapter 3, Christ is greater than Moses.
STUDENT - Stephen has mentioned about when Jesus was on earth, it was not so much conflict with the Pharisees about Moses, is it? Are you referring to that?
STEVE - Yes.
STUDENT - In the gospel of John there is a lot of comparison with Moses..................(long silence). 
WALT - Have a good night.