Focal Point

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Is God really the same yesterday, today and forever? Why is it that God cared about the hair on the side of your head if it were 2,050 years ago, but he doesn't care about it now? What's the deal? Is his style changing? Why in the world don't we have Levitical priests anymore? That's what the book of Hebrews is all about.

Dave Drew: Welcome to Focal Point with author and Pastor Mike Fabarez. There was a time when church services involved priests, animal sacrifices, and complicated religious rites. But now, most churches ignore these Old Testament practices. Today on Focal Point, Mike Fabarez begins a new mini-series called Christ Changed Everything.

If you've wondered why Christians don't need to perform all the rituals and sacrifices of the Old Testament, we're glad you're listening today. Pastor Mike calls the message, "Why Don’t We Have Priests?"

Pastor Mike Fabarez: You remember Hebrews chapter one? We had a section that was a significant section to the first part of Hebrews on why Jesus Christ is better than angelic beings. But we confessed to the fact that nobody here is tempted to think that Jesus Christ is inferior to an angel, especially because our view of angels is Hallmark and fat, chubby, naked little boys with wings. Jesus isn't inferior to an angel.

Today we reach Hebrews chapter seven. We're going to cruise through this midsection of Hebrews, not because it's unimportant, but because the writer of Hebrews is trying to convince a first-century Jewish group not to be tempted to go back to the ceremonies, the priesthood, the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. The problem is, I'm preaching to 21st-century Gentiles who don't struggle with any of those issues.

No one grew up in this room hoping to be a Levitical priest. Am I right? Firemen, maybe, I don't know. But not a Levitical priest. No one is struggling in their conscience coming to church saying, "Well, we're not bringing an animal to deliver to the guy at the door. I don't know, can this really be church?" Nobody struggles with the absence of the sacrificial system.

Nobody struggles with the fact that you're wearing clothes that have two kinds of materials that are sewn into the clothes and you don't go, "Oh, I feel really bad. How can I do that with a clear conscience when, of course, as a Sabbath school Jewish graduate, you would know that's against the Levitical law?" You and I are over all of this.

So it is no longer an issue of conscience or a difficulty of application, but it still remains for us an academic question, a question of our intellect. Why in the world don't we have Levitical priests anymore? And you're not wondering that, are you? But it is a good question. The question really begins to beg other questions that relate to the issue of God and his immutability.

Is God really the same yesterday, today and forever? Then why in the world does he require one thing at one time and now all of a sudden he requires something else? Because the critics of your Christianity will say, "See, God's changing all the time. He's evolving." A lot of the guys will say, "Well, we're not even sure there is a God, but people's perception of God is changing, and so that's why the Bible was different on the left side than it is on the right side." And you and I should say that's baloney.

But why is it? Why is it that God cared about the hair on the side of your head if it were 2,050 years ago, but he doesn't care about it now? What's the deal? Is his style changing? That's what we're trying to deal with. But for now, let us get a few preliminaries under our belt before we jump into Hebrews chapter seven.

The first thing I want you to remember is that there is an issue in the book of Hebrews of emphasizing Jesus the Christ. And that's what the book of Hebrews is all about. And just by way of review, let us understand that there were three important offices in the Old Testament. Old Testament theology founded on three very important, God-ordained offices.

And all of them were authorized by a very strange authorizing ceremony. And what it involved was the act of pouring oil on one's head. Taking olive oil and pouring it on the top of one's head. But the olive oil wasn't just any olive oil; it was mixed with all kinds of spices. It smelled really good. It was special. As a matter of fact, God said, "If you use this ingredient for anything but sanctifying and consecrating these leaders, you will be killed."

So this was a very important recipe, one you don't want to experiment with on your own. But that important recipe of oil poured on the head of three groups. But before we get to that, let's understand one more time what this was all about. The word in English that translates the pouring on one's head or the pouring out of some liquid—in this case, a special blend of olive oil—is the English word "anointed."

If someone has poured oil on your head in a ceremony with the special ingredients that the scripture requires, you would be someone who has been anointed. Now, I know that's not how most of you use the word because we've kind of created our own 21st-century way to use the word. Let's at least think in a biblical way about the word: to pour oil in a special ceremony on one's head.

In Hebrew, we had a word for that, if you were one who had been anointed, and that is the word *Mashiach*. In English, we transliterate it "Messiah." And therefore, we think Jesus was the only Messiah, but we're wrong because anyone who's been through this ceremony is a messiah in a small 'm'. And some of you Bible students read your Old Testaments carefully and you stumble over that when you find it in the Old Testament.

Wait a minute, this guy's called the messiah? I thought there was only one Messiah. Is there only one Messiah in the Bible? No. Several. You weren't ready to say that, but it's true. How many Messiahs are there in the Bible with a capital 'M'? One. That was the Sunday school answer.

Now, in Greek, *Mashiach*, we don't transliterate it "Messiah" anymore. There was a Greek word for it, and of course, the New Testament was written in Greek, and that word is *Christos*. We translate that "Christ." So we talk about the Christ. Now, because in the New Testament we don't have this ceremony of pouring oil on the head to authorize someone for an office, because they're not New Testament offices anymore, we don't have this word used of anyone but Jesus from Nazareth. He was called the Christ.

Okay, there were three groups, three offices I said. Let's look at letter A. Position, function, tribe, and then let's just at least be able to prove in scripture that this was an anointed office. And by that, I mean they had oil poured on their head in a sacred ceremony. The King of Israel, which was God's allowance and eventually his choice with David, was an office that God set up for the function of leading God's people.

These were supposed to be people who knew God's word. As a matter of fact, the Bible required that every King of Israel was to make a handwritten copy of the Old Testament law. Now, there's a first assignment for you, right? First day of your kingdom. Okay, sit down, you got about a two-month project. Go write the Bible by hand. That's what they had to do. They were supposed to know God's word. They were supposed to know the truth.

And they were, in a very real sense, a political shepherd of God's people, and they were to lead God's people with the policies and the rules and the ordinances and the laws that reflected God's pattern. And so they were leading on behalf of God. The tribe for this? Judah. There were 12 tribes of Israel, right? Zebulun, Naphtali, Manasseh, all these people.

And then you had Judah, the most southern area of Israel. And from that tribe, God made that the regal tribe. If you read the last part of the book of Genesis, you'll find that God ordained that tribe—the scepter would be in Judah and it would not depart from Judah. Remember that phrase? And that was the tribe God chose for the kings of Israel.

So the anointed King of Israel, who's often called the anointed one, is one who is from the tribe of Judah who has had the sacred oil poured on his head for the purpose of leading God's people as the leader of the country. Where were they anointed? Several places. 1 Kings 1:39 is one example of the ancient ceremony of pouring the oil on the top of the head of a king.

Letter B. There was another group. He is the priest. The priest. This was the person with various different ranks—there was the high priest, the ultimate priest—who had the assigned function to speak to God for people. He was to go and speak to God on behalf of people. That's why he went into the Tent of Meeting, they often called it, to meet with God and plead for his mercy because he knew the people of Israel, just like us, are sinful people.

But he went and interceded on behalf of the people and said, "God, I want you to accept these people and forgive these people." And after all these ceremonies, the priest would go in and speak to God on the behalf of people. What tribe did you have to be from to serve in this role? Levi. That's why we called them the Levitical priests. They're all from the tribe of Levi.

Letter C. There was a third position that was very important, a sacred position in Israel. It was a third leg of this stool on which the functioning people of God operated. And that was the position of the prophet. The prophet. Now, the prophet was someone who didn't speak to God for people. His main role was inverted. He was to speak to people for God.

He was to speak to people on behalf of God. God would give him the message and he would deliver the message. Usually to the people of Israel, but sometimes not. Jonah's been given a message that he didn't want to give to the people of Nineveh. They weren't Israelites. But God says, "Go and tell them this." And the prophet was to go on behalf of God and speak by proxy for God and he shows up and says, "Here's what God says." That's what the prophet did.

So you have the king, he leads on behalf of God. You have the priests, they speak to God on behalf of people. And you have the prophet, he speaks to people on behalf of God. And with that triad of leaders in Israel, we had a functioning society where God was getting along quite well, doing what he needed to do and taking his people from where they were to where he wanted them to go.

He was leading his people through those three offices. What tribe did you have to be from to be a prophet? Any tribe. You could be from any tribe. As a matter of fact, he chose some interesting people. He sometimes used a donkey to speak for him, literally and metaphorically. Anointed? Yes. They would even anoint the prophets. 1 Kings chapter 19, verse 16 is a good example. In that very verse, you have God's instruction not only to anoint and pour oil on the head of the king, but also on the prophet who would succeed the former prophet.

So he was the spokesman for God. Great. Now, unfold that sheet if you haven't already. That's some background. Actually, before we do that, let's look at Hebrews chapter one. The point of Hebrews is establishing the fact that God has done an amazing thing. He's taken the role of king and priest and prophet, and he's put them all together in the ultimate one that is called in Hebrews as the Son.

He has a special relationship to God. As a matter of fact, in the first chapter, he is called God himself. And he's called God, and yet he serves in all three functions. Look for them here as we just reread this section, verse number one. In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets, at many times and in various ways.

But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things. Now, if you're heir of all things, that's a position of your status. That's starting to look like a king. And through whom he made the universe. That's a pretty powerful situation there. The Son, verse three, is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being.

When a king led, he led not for himself; he led for God. Here's one who has all the attributes of God. He's the exact radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his own powerful word. Now, priestly function. After he had provided purification for sins—who does that? The priests do that.

He sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. That looks like what a king would do. And so he became much more superior to angels than the name that he's inherited is superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did he ever say, "You're my son today, I've become your father"? Or again, "I will be his father and he will be my son"?

And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let the angels worship him." In speaking of the angels, he says, "He makes his winds his angels and his servants flames of fire." But about the Son he says, "Your throne—that's what kings sit on—oh, God will last forever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter—that's what kings hold—of your kingdom." That's what kings lead over.

"You have loved righteousness, you've hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy." He's yet to call him Christ. Have you noticed that? That's what the Christ is. And what's interesting is all three offices are merged together in Jesus Christ: the king, the priest, the prophet. And it's all laid out in the first nine verses of the book.

Now, we start to go through the book and we're kind of cool with the issue that he's the prophet. Look at what he did, he revealed his Father. Look also how he led as the great king. We're calling him Lord. So when we see the word *Christos* starting to show up in the book of Hebrews, we're like, "Okay, I'm cool with that." But before we get very far, chapter five, we start hearing about him being a priest.

That starts to cause a few people to scratch their heads. We've got to deal with that. How in the world is Jesus the priest? That's what Hebrews chapter seven's all about. And that's why the person of Melchizedek is brought up. And that's the next thing I'd like to do is compare the three Melchizedek passages. And there are only three sections of scripture that do it.

The first one, as a matter of fact, if you do an Old Testament search, you'll only find his name come up twice in two passages. The first one, Genesis chapter 14. Melchizedek. Interesting name. Only shows up in one section of the Old Testament story in Genesis. His name only mentioned one time.

If you know the story here, you've got Abraham with a flunky nephew named Lot, who gets in a lot of trouble. He's greedy. He's selfish. He's causing Abraham some grief. But Abraham loves him. He's a faithful uncle and he deals with Lot as best he can. And when he gets himself in trouble, like going to live in Sodom because he really likes the bright lights—the foreign kings come and they take over and they pull all these people away, including Lot. Now he's a captive.

Now, Abraham puts together an army, and with just a few men, as we often see a providential miracle, Abraham goes out with a few men that are trained for war and he's able to get them, defeat them, kill a bunch of them, and get Lot and his family back and all his possessions. So Abraham wins this very unexpected victory in Genesis chapter 14.

Drop down, if you would, to verse number 18. After coming back, he says, "Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought out bread and wine. And he was a priest of God Most High. And he blessed Abram saying, 'Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High who delivered your enemies into your hand.'" Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

He meets this religious leader and he gives him 10 percent of his income. Who is this guy? A couple things you need to know. Jot down the date. This is approximately 2000 BC. The Exodus and the giving of the law when Moses took the children of Israel into the desert was 1445 BC. So this is 500 years before that.

You have Abraham meeting the priest of the Most High. What have we got here? Let's just put down the nature of it for the sake of comparison. This is a historical passage. This, in every way that we look at the genre of scripture, the narrative here, this is a real guy who's a real priest who comes out and really takes the tenth from Abraham. This is a historical situation in 2000 BC.

A couple things. Let's step back and just look at his name, which by the way, in Hebrews chapter seven, let's look at verse one. "This Melchizedek was king of Salem, priest of the God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and he blessed him. And Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means 'king of righteousness', then also 'king of Salem' means 'king of peace'."

Melchizedek means "king of righteousness." One of the first vocabulary words you learn in Hebrew is *melech*. *Melech* is the Hebrew word for king. *Sedek* is the Hebrew word for righteousness. His name, *Malki-sedeq*, means king of righteousness. Furthermore, he's designated in scripture as the King of Salem, which is a real historical city.

It's a cognate word of the word *shalom*. It means peace. *Salem* is the Hebrew word for peace. So you have him being one who is designated King of Righteousness, King of Peace. Secondly, what's an interesting feature about this discussion is his kingdom. He is said to be the King of Salem. Well, what's Salem?

You're in the ancient Near Eastern area of a place that would eventually be called Jerusalem. Jeru-salem. Does that sound familiar? Yeah, that's familiar. Jerusalem, ancient Ugaritic root is probably *Yeru*—comes from the word the foundation of, or the establishment of. *Salem*, peace. Jerusalem means the establishment or foundation of peace.

What's interesting is that place has been that place all throughout the days of Abraham, all throughout the days of the conquest of Joshua and the wanderings of Moses until David finally captures the city and ends up calling it the city of David. What's interesting about Melchizedek, King of Righteousness, King of Peace, is that he is the king of a place that is known later in scripture as the most important city in all of the Bible: Jerusalem.

The bizarre thing is, before Jerusalem is ever an issue in scripture, the first time we meet this bizarre guy, Melchizedek, he is the king of the future home of Jesus's trial and crucifixion and resurrection. Do you see how this is a mysterious dude in the scripture?

Dave Drew: You're listening to Focal Point with Pastor Mike Fabarez and a study called "Christ Changed Everything." We've been looking at the New Testament book of Hebrews over the past few weeks. And if you've missed any portion, you can always catch up by going online to focalpointradio.org. And if taking these messages on the road sounds good to you, the free Focal Point app is worth grabbing from your app store.

You can also hit subscribe on the Focal Point podcast and have new programs land on your device automatically. Find both options at our website. Now, this month, we have a book we'd love to put in your hands. It's titled *The Unfolding Mystery: Discovering Christ in the Old Testament* by Edmund Clowney. If today's study sparked something in you—that sense that the Old Testament is far richer and more connected to Jesus than you may have realized—this book will take you deeper.

Rather than reading the Old Testament as a collection of disconnected stories and laws, Clowney helps you see it as one coherent narrative with Christ at the center. Just request the book *The Unfolding Mystery* when you give over the phone by dialing 888-320-5885 or go online to focalpointradio.org. You can also donate through the mail by writing to us at Focal Point, P.O. Box 2850, Laguna Hills, California 92654.

The work of this ministry moves forward because of people who genuinely care about solid, faithful biblical teaching and who want to see it reach as far as possible. Listeners across the country and around the world are tuning in because of the generosity of supporters like you. If these programs have meant something to you, we'd love for you to be part of what makes them possible. A gift of any size goes a long way. Call us today at 888-320-5885 or go online to focalpointradio.org. Well, I'm Dave Drew and that wraps up today's program. Join us tomorrow when Pastor Mike picks up right where he left off, tackling the question: why don't we have priests? That's Thursday here on Focal Point.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Pastor Mike here. Ever wish you could corner your pastor and challenge him with your toughest questions about the Bible, about faith? Well, now you can. Send me your questions. Head on over to focalpointradio.org and click on "Ask Pastor Mike" or send me a note on facebook.com/pastormike or twitter.com/pastormike. I can't wait to hear from you.

Dave Drew: Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.