he foundation is finished. The Holy Spirit is now starting to build the walls of His conclusions. This study is the first major conclusion the Holy Spirit has been preparing for us. He has laid the foundation that Jesus is greater than the angels, is more faithful than Moses and is better than any earthly priest. The footings are in place and the concrete has hardened. The rest of the construction material has been purchased or obtained and the walls are going up. Changes are going to occur. An old proverb says, “The only thing that is constant is change.” We have all tried to motivate someone to change something in his or her life. It can be hard to motivate someone to change. Most of us do not like change. We are unwilling to change unless there is a compelling reason. The motivation can be positive or it can be for personal safety. The Spirit’s purpose so far has been to motivate them to believe in Jesus. Now He is going to give them very strong reasons to do so.        Background. There have been two key parts to the Holy Spirit’s foundation. The first was that Jesus is recognized in Psalms 110:4 as a high priest just like Melchizedek. The readers may have said to themselves, “So what?” He said that in chapter five. He gave them another warning in chapter six and then laid the final piece of the foundation.        In our last study we saw that Melchizedek was man. Scripture does not record his birth, his genealogy, or his death. This is important because the Jews accepted men as priests only if they could trace their genealogy or family heritage back to Levi. If Melchizedek is accepted by God as a priest even though he is not a Levite, then Jesus can also be a priest even though He was not from the family of Levi. He came from the family of Judah.        First Major Conclusion. With the foundation now in place, the Spirit’s first major conclusion is that the Levitical priesthood was not perfect.     Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? (NASB) Heb. 7:11 ˜ What is the proof the Levitical priesthood was not perfect? The answer is that God recognized another high priest who was not a Levite after the Levitical priesthood was established. Wow, what a shock this must have been to the Jewish readers! The Levitical priesthood was all they had known. They had believed it would last forever.   ˜        Have you ever been asked to do a task or a job only to discover some months or years later that someone else had been asked to do your job? Why did that happen? Maybe you had done a great job, but someone thought someone else could do your task better.        Second Major Conclusion. One wall is up and one more to go. The shock is not over and the Holy Spirit drops another disappointment.     For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. (NASB) Heb. 7:12 ˜ This was another startling statement to the Jewish readers. Their heritage was just set aside. Since their childhood they had attended the synagogue, read the Torah, and enjoyed the Old Testament holidays. The Jewish laws, ceremonies, and synagogue were just thrown out. The priests and the sacrifices were now obsolete. The question they must have asked was, “Is this true?”         < Back   Next >
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