Bible Study - December 16, 2020

Okay, well, it's been three weeks. Hard to believe it's been three weeks since we were last together on these Bible studies. But let me begin by just bringing everyone up to speed very briefly on where we are in the book of Hebrews. My notes show that the last time we completed Hebrews 4 and verse 13. And just to recap the book of Hebrews, the first three chapters, it introduces Jesus Christ and compares him with the determination that he's better than the angels, he's better than flesh and blood, better than Moses, relatively speaking, so that the New Testament people who are reading this understand the significance of Jesus Christ just as you and I do. There is no one greater. He is the only name through whom salvation comes. And as the book of Hebrews opens, it reminds us of that. Jesus Christ is superior, superior to the angels. Just like our calling is superior to that of being angels, we are called to become joint heirs with Christ. Indeed, we have his Holy Spirit, use his Holy Spirit, live according to his Holy Spirit, yield ourselves completely and totally to God. And as we moved into chapter 4, last time, actually the last two times, we talked about the Sabbath days. It's interesting as God authored this book, and as he put it together, that it begins with Jesus Christ being superior so that we understand the significance of our calling. And then the next thing he talks about really is the Sabbath day. And so many people we talked about will look at Hebrews 4 and say, well, this means we don't have to keep the physical Sabbath day anymore. We just keep a spiritual Sabbath, and that can be done on any day of the week. It could even be done in our minds. And they miss the whole meaning of Hebrews 4, because the Old Testament, when we look at it, it was a very physical Testament. You had physical laws, you had physical Israel. They were expected to obey physically the law without the spiritual component of it. Of course, physical Israel, except for the leaders, didn't have the Holy Spirit. But when we get into the New Testament, Jesus Christ specifically says he didn't come to do away with the law. He came to magnify or fill up the law. So now there was a physical keeping of the law. You always keep the physical part, but now there was a spiritual component as well. So as we look at the Sabbath day and the command in chapter 4, we see the same thing with the Sabbath day. There is still a physical keeping of the Sabbath day that we learned, as specifically stated there in Hebrews 4 verse 9. But there's a spiritual component of the Sabbath day as well, that we look forward to that time of rest and entering into that rest that will come when Jesus Christ returns to this earth, when we are spirit beings and at rest from our, well, the world that we live in, the lives that we live, and the ongoing battle that we have with ourselves, with the world, and our own sinful natures. So we look forward to that time of rest. And as we keep the Sabbath day, it's not a time for just sitting back and doing nothing, but it is a time to picture that time of rest and doing God's will and dedicating ourselves to Him.

So we talked about that through chapter 4, and as we move toward the end of chapter 4, we find that God is now going to show us yet another thing that Jesus Christ is superior in. Again, He goes through the Old Testament times. The Jews, the Hebrews, to whom this book was apparently written, would have been very familiar with all the temple ceremonies and all the temple rituals, all the physical accoutrements that were in the temple, and of course, the high priest that was there. They looked to Him as the spiritual leader. He was appointed by God. He was the one who was to be keeping Israel spiritually focused and on the path for what God wanted them to. And as we move into chapter 4, we find that God is going to now show that Jesus Christ is superior. He is the superior high priest. The physical high priests were very good, you know, most of them. They did their job, but they were physical human beings. Jesus Christ is the superior high priest. So let's pick it up in verse 14 of chapter 4.

See that we're moving from the Sabbath discussion that we had last time into another section of Hebrews that really encapsules the next six chapters that we're going to be talking about in this book.

In verse 14, it says, You can see the wrap-up then of one section of moving into another.

So the case has been made. Jesus Christ is superior. He's our superior high priest. Back in chapter 2, we saw that introduced as well. And so we have the superior high priest. Let's hold on to that. Let's, you know, let's not lose sight of what God has called us to and who, you know, who Jesus Christ is. For we don't have a high priest, it says in verse 15, who can't sympathize with our weaknesses, but wasn't all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. On that verse, he's drawing a contrast between the physical high priests.

He's just highlighting that they are physical. And as physical human beings, we can understand what God is saying here. He says that those physical, those men, those physical high priests couldn't sympathize with us in all cases of everything that we might have brought to them or anything that we might have been going through.

I give the example that sometimes, you know, we hear of something that's just awful that happens in someone's life. And the one that comes to my mind is, is when someone loses a child. And I think that's a horrible thing to go through, to have your child die. And we do, we sympathize, we pray, we try to identify with it. But I know that unless you actually had that happen to you, you can't really understand the death of what people are going through.

And so we are limited sometimes, not that we don't feel, not that we don't care, not that we're not trying, and that we really are praying for people's comfort and as they go through various trials. But unless we've gone through them ourselves, we don't fully understand everything that they're going through.

And that's what, that's what I think God is saying here in verse 15. The physical high priests understood a lot. They had trials, they had temptations. But just like you and I have various things that we go through, various trials, we can identify when someone says, you know, I've got this issue and I'm battling it and I can't, I can't deal with it.

I'm going through this trial that I'm going through, not deal with it, but how to deal with it. If we've been through the same thing, we can help, we can identify with it. But if we haven't, we might even say, well, that's not even, how can you have a problem with that? I don't have any problem with that at all. Again, not that we don't help, not that we don't talk about it, but that's just our human element where we have our own set of trials, weaknesses, false temptations that we deal with.

So he's saying here that the physical high priest, they were limited to that, but Jesus Christ isn't. He was tempted in all points as we are. He's experienced it all. He understands the range of human emotions, the range of human experience, the trials, the hurts, the fears. Everything that has gone on, He can identify with it perfectly. He is superior to those high priests.

He can identify, and He is the intercessor, the intermediary, if you will, between us and God. He can go to God, and when we pray, He'll say, I know what they're going through. I understand what they're going through. The physical high priests, they were the intercessors, if you will, or the intermediaries between the people and God. They would, of course, offer the sacrifices for sins, for the thank offerings, the burnt offerings, the sin offerings, all the offerings that Israel came with. They were kind of the go-between between the people and God, and they did their job well. It was physically based in the Old Testament, but Jesus Christ is our intercessor.

He's our intermediary. He is so far superior to what those physical high priests were of the Old Testament, is what He's trying to say here. Again, the superiority of Jesus Christ in every element of our lives. And in verse 16, then, building on that, He says, He's got that word, therefore, summarize up, Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So He's saying, given all these, given who Jesus Christ is, given that He is the superior high priest, given now with His death and that veil in the temple being torn in two, so we have access to the throne of God to go right to Him directly, with Jesus Christ sitting in His right hand, let's go boldly to His.

Let's go boldly to Him in time of need, when we need mercy, when we need comfort, when we need consolation, when we need understanding, when we need anything.

That we can go to Him because Jesus Christ is there for us. He dedicated His life to serving us and sacrificing His life, that we might have the opportunity that He's presented to us with the calling that God has given us.

So, you know, we move into chapter 5, a chapter break here, but with those three verses, you know, if we go to Hebrews 10, I mentioned that we're going into a pretty long discussion here, and God has provided six chapters in this book of Hebrews, and it's really the most complete six chapters of anywhere in the Bible to discuss, you know, the high priest and the temple sacrifices and how they relate to the New Testament way that we worship and how Jesus Christ is superior to those sacrifices as we continue this. And this section goes all the way to chapter 10, and I'm going to pick it up in verse, I'm in the wrong chapter, chapter 10, in verse 19.

We're going to see the intervening chapters in the next week. We're going to be on virtually the same topic as we go through this, go through this and and transition from the Old Testament way of worshiping God to the meaning of Jesus Christ and what we worship today.

So this section goes all the way to chapter 9, pick it up in verse 19, I'm sorry, Hebrews 10, verse 19.

There's the word therefore, we're coming to the conclusion of the section here where the author is drawing our attention to it. It says, therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiness by the blood of Jesus.

He introduced this section with those words, and now he's concluding this sixth chapter section with it.

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way, which he consecrated for us through the veil.

That is his flesh. Now we worship Jesus Christ. Now we have access to God's throne. That's different than what they had in the temple.

God used to dwell in the physical temple. Now he dwells in us as he lives in us by a new and living way, which he consecrated for us through the veil.

That is his flesh. And having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Verse 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

So virtually the same words at the conclusion of this six-chapter section on this.

And then when we look at verse 24, the rest of the book of Hebrews teaches us how to apply the principles that we learn in God's law into our life.

And very notably, verse 24 is a verse we quote quite often, shows the importance of it to God.

That we would consider one another to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, but doing it even more as the day approaches.

So as God begins to teach us, this is what you do, how you live in the rest of the book, that's the very first thing he mentions.

Again, shows the importance of that to him.

So let's go back. I'll pause for any questions or comments or observations.

Again, feel free to just pop in and talk whenever you have something come to mind.

Mr. Shaby. Yes, sir. I was just going to say, I think it's interesting when we read about how Jesus was tempted in all things, yet without sin.

And a lot of times we think about when he was in the wilderness, he was tempted 40 days and 40 nights.

And a lot of times we kind of think that because those three examples were in there, that he was only tempted three times.

But in Luke 4 it says that he was tempted for the full 40 days.

So that was a lot to have to endure, that intense pressure the whole time.

And to me, it just shows even more how awesome he is, you know? And he was able to withstand all those temptations for all that whole period of time, and yet he didn't sin.

And it's very encouraging to know that.

And the same spirit in him he gives us.

And not only those 40 days, but his entire life, right?

I mean, it was his entire life he was tempted.

Satan was focused on him the whole time.

Okay, anyone else?

Yeah, yeah, James. Just thinking back in chapter 2 of Hebrews, verse 17, it just kind of jumps out as it leads up to what he's saying here.

It says, In all things he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest.

And I just thought that was kind of an interesting thing, kind of a concept that you don't see in history and religions and so forth.

That God essentially made his Son like us so that he would understand us and all that we go through. Just a very interesting idea there.

Yeah, I didn't know. No, absolutely.

That's why he's the preeminence high priest for us in intercessor.

Mr. Shavey. Yes, yeah, Frank.

One of the things that recently I've been thinking about trying to get my head around, when just before he was hauled away to be put on the stake, he prayed three times, he sweated like blood, and it said he was basically under a whole lot of stress.

And I've been trying to figure out what the problem was. I mean, obviously he had to learn some more about our human flesh and our weaknesses, but I don't think he was afraid of death. I don't see that as he knew he was going to die. He's not afraid of it. Was he afraid of the pain? Was he afraid of doing something that his father wouldn't like? I have not been able to come to grips with that.

But we know he had to learn our limitations and what really drives us nuts sometimes.

Yeah, I may.

Well, yeah, Devon, go ahead.

And to be clear, I'm only speculating in my response, but I think part of that, as far as the anguish that he felt, was he knew what was coming. He knew good and well the pain he was going to go through with discouraging. He knew what the crucifixion would do to his physical body. And whether or not he was afraid of that, he still knew it was not going to be a very pleasant experience. The other thing is, and I don't know whether he knew this was going to happen or not, but there's a point when he's being crucified where he asks God, why have you forsaken me, where he's basically cut off from the Father, when he's having to take our sins upon him.

At that point, I wonder if he knew that was going to happen, and maybe that was one of the things he was not looking forward to as well. And that might have been what caused him to feel the anguish that he did before he was taken.

Again, I can only speculate there, but I think that might have had something to do with it.

Yeah, I have a real quick question, a real quick answer. Mr. Shaby, not an answer, but a real quick observation. Okay, and we talk about his anguish. You know, have we ever stopped to think that maybe he was thinking about what his disciples were going to have to go through at that point in time? It wasn't just about him. It was about the people that he loved.

All right, that could have also played into that.

I agree with you. There's a whole lot going on there, right? That would have been on his mind. I think all those answers, right? You know, when Devon was talking, one of the things that he hadn't experienced until he made those comments, you know, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He never felt what it was like to bear the burden of sin and be apart from God. And that was something new he was going to have to experience there at the very end of his life. So there was a whole lot, a whole lot there at the end that he might have been very, very, well, obviously concerned about. He was human. He knew it was going to hurt, but everything else along with it, too. Yeah, very good. One thing that was involved in that, too, I think it's just in, it's in Luke and Mark. I forget which one, but it says while he was praying, God sent him an angel that strengthened him.

I mean, that's what we got to do because he was having trouble physically and we really have trouble physically. And the only way we're going to get through is with his spirit. Yeah, totally agree. We've got to have the same reaction that Jesus Christ developed that when things are really tough. Look to God and he'll provide the help.

Yeah, Mr. Shavey, I thought it was interesting observation. Obviously, I agree with everything that's been said there.

But the observation about thinking about your disciples or the disciples. It's interesting that in John 17, that final prayer that Christ gave was almost exclusively about those who would be following. That was really what was on his mind as he was sitting there practically sweating blood as he was praying about the disciples, more so than about his own skin. Yeah, no, you're right. That was a very, that was a prayer about his disciples. You're exactly right.

Okay, anyone else you want to get into chapter five a little bit then?

As we get into it, he's going to introduce something here in chapter five that, you know, is mentioned as we get down to it only one time in the Old Testament. So let's look at the chapter five. It's pretty self-explanatory, the first few verses here. It says, What he's saying there is, you know, these are all men God learned in verse four. He's the one who appointed them. No one took that position of high priest for themselves. Every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God. They should have been the spiritual leaders of Israel. They should be the ones who, you know, would be able to answer the questions. This is who God is. This is what we do. Here's how we handle this situation in accordance with God's law.

And we know that was a large part of the high priest and the priest's duties back in those days. When you count up the number of animals and the sacrifices, that's what they did. It was all designed to, you know, to be those approaches to God with all the sacrifices that went on, whether for sin or thanks or peace or whatever, wherever the purpose was. All that was directed to God, and they were the intercessors. They were the ones offering all those things and going through that work on the behalf of the people.

And no man, verse three, no, I'm going to go to verse two. I'm getting ahead of myself here. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray since he himself is also subject to weakness. Well, we can understand each other, right? That's where we learn to bear with one another, that we don't look down on one another. We don't judge one another. If someone's going through a trial, we don't say, how could you go through that? That seems so simple. It's like we bear with one another because we know we have our own weaknesses.

And the high priests would also understand, you know, I've been ignorant. I've gone astray. I've done these things, so I have mercy and patience with you as we do with each other. Because of this, verse three, he is required, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. So, you know, when we talk about the ceremony on the Day of Atonement, for instance, we were very well aware of Aaron and his example going in and making atonement for himself.

He, too, was a sinner, so he had to atone for his sins. It wasn't forgiveness of sins, but covering his sins and the way God had prescribed in the Old Testament, he had to do that for himself and purify himself before he could ever do that on the behalf of Israel. Because he was a physical man who was a sinner. And so that was part of what the requirement was for the high priests back then. Of course, Jesus Christ doesn't have that because he is perfect. And he says in verse 4, And no man takes dishonor to himself, but he who was called by God, just as Aaron was.

God is the one who appointed the high priest. Moses was over the physical things. Aaron was the high priest. His descendants became the high priest down through the ages. God is the one who appointed that. It wasn't a self-appointed office. In verse 5, so also Christ. He didn't glorify himself to become high priest, but it was he, God the Father, who said to him, Jesus Christ, You are my son.

Today I have begotten you. That word begotten, we talked about it, you know, in a few Bible studies ago. It's Gennao, G-E-N-N-A-O, the Greek word Gennao. It literally means the time in the womb. It's begotten. It's not born again. It's begotten. So Jesus Christ, just like us, he was flesh and blood. He had the victory over death, the victory over flesh. He became and was born a spirit being, and now sits at God's right hand. But he went through the same process that you and I do. God said to him, You are my son. Today I begotten you. But he looks at you and me.

He sees us as his children, but we're begotten. We're not born yet. That'll happen when Jesus Christ returns, provided we've lived the life that God has called us to. And when we're born as spirit beings, then we will be his literal sons. Today he sees us as that.

We spent a lot of time talking about that. Back in chapters 1 and 2, You are my son. Today I have begotten you. And he says in another place, verse 6, You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. So he introduces here in Hebrews Melchizedek, who is going to be prominent. You know, in the next few chapters, in chapter 7, Melchizedek is mentioned over and over and over again.

And for God to mention Melchizedek and to talk and to dedicate really a whole chapter and then some to this Melchizedek, the order of Melchizedek, it is something important that God wants us to understand. Now, when we look at the Old Testament, Melchizedek is mentioned just a couple times in the Old Testament.

But here in Hebrews, God draws attention to him. And there's something that he wants us to know about him and what that might do to us when we recognize who Melchizedek is, what he's done, and that he is a high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Let me drop down to verse 11 here. Now, let me just read down to verse 11. We'll just kind of read the verses here as we go on. Verse 7, talking of, as he speaks to Jesus Christ, you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek, who, in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death and was heard because of his godly fear.

Okay, now there's a lot of hymns and he's in that verse. Let's go back. Who in the days of his flesh, that's Melchizedek's flesh, okay, we get the picture of who he's talking about here, when he, who is Melchizedek, had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears, we've already talked about that a little bit, what Christ was going through, and he was about to face his arrest, his torture, and then his death, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears, to him, that would be God the Father, that's who he prayed to in the garden that night, who was able to save Christ from death and was heard because of his Melchizedek, you know, Jesus Christ's godly fear.

So we have all, we have all of, okay, I hear an echo, okay. So we have there the picture, I mean, I don't, can anyone, does everyone understand that that's talking of Jesus Christ? I mean, that is kind of a definition of Jesus Christ in that, in verse 7. So, Tiesmelchizedek directly to Jesus Christ, that's exactly what he went through, we've already talked about that.

And notice the things, you know, as God would save him from death, and Jesus Christ was heard because of his godly fear. You know, we don't, maybe we don't talk about the fear of God enough. Jesus Christ, the spirit that was in him, when it tells us that he has the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of counsel, and the spirit of all the things that God has given him, the last thing it mentions there is that he had the spirit of the fear of God. And that's one thing that we just have to, we just have to really keep preeminent in our lives, that we never take God for granted, and we understand his supremacy, and we're in awe of him.

Not that we're terrified of him, you know, but that we understand he has the power of life and death, and when we approach him, we're coming before the most supreme being anywhere, you know, in the universe. And Jesus Christ had that, and it was, and he says that, it says there, God was able to save him from death, and Jesus Christ was heard because of his godly fear.

You know, as we pray to God, and as we ask him for things, and when we're times of trial, and we're looking for him, you know, our prayer is mixed with godly fear. One of the things that the fear of God does, the very first thing that we learn in the Bible is that it keeps us from sin, that we're living a life. And Jesus Christ, he was sinless. Jesus Christ trusted in God implicitly. Jesus Christ relied on God. Jesus Christ looked to God for strength. He didn't muster up armies, you know, in the Garden of Gethsemane when he was going to be arrested.

His faith was completely in God to deliver him, and that God's will would be done, even though he knew how painful that was going to be for him. So there's a lot in that verse 7 there, that as we look to become like Jesus Christ, that we, you know, that we can build into our lives and remember godly fear, godly fear, the proper godly fear has to be something that motivates us and drives us to become more and more like Jesus Christ.

In verse 8, it says, You know, God had his spirit. The spirit of God, of course, was in him. He was begotten of God. We can look at ourselves and God gives us his spirit. God sees us as his children today. Though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered.

We're gonna pause and think about that. Jesus Christ, he was already perfect. He already obeyed God perfectly. He had no occasion of sin in his life, unlike you and me.

And it says, he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. So if we apply that to ourselves, if he had to learn obedience in the way God looks at obedience and submission to him through suffering, how much more, how much more must that apply to us? Because we are imperfect. We are sinners. We all still have so much that we have to overcome, so much that we have to become like Jesus Christ in obedience, in faith, in surrender, in trust, in all the things that God is looking for us to become.

And Jesus Christ learned it through suffering. We learned it through suffering, too. So that when we have our trials, and when we have our sicknesses, and we have our ailments, and we have people that are persecuting us, causing us problems, whatever it might be, our trial that we go through, we should, through those things, as we are looking at the Bible and using God's Holy Spirit, we should be using those to become more obedient and more completely submitted to God, if I can put it that way.

That as we go through each trial, we are learning a little more to rely on him, a little more to obey him, a more realizing we need to pay attention, as Jesus Christ said, to every word of the Bible, and patterning our lives and having our lives directed by the words that God said. Not holding anything back, as he leads us to understand, willing to sacrifice our ideas, our time, our whatever it is, to become like him. Because Jesus Christ did it, and yet he was perfect. How much more, how much more us? And if God expected him to learn obedience by the things he suffered, then certainly that is something that we need to keep in mind, because we certainly need it more than Jesus Christ did, if I can put it in those terms. And then in verse 9, it says, And having been perfected, and he was already perfect, but he had been perfected. He now understands the whole range of human experience. Now he can even be our high priest, because he understands our weaknesses, he understands our temptations, he understands what his role is. And having been perfected in all the ways that he had to be perfected through his human life, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him. And so we say, there is salvation comes through no other than Jesus Christ. Acts 4, 12 states it. It's a very simple thing. It's only through Jesus Christ, only by yielding to him, following him, and allowing the Spirit of God to lead us and guide us and put that mind, the same mind that was in Jesus Christ in each of us. That day by day, month by month, year by year, decade by decade, we're becoming more like Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives. In verse 10, then we come back to Melchizedek again. Called by God, and having been perfected, he, Christ, became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him, called by God as high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Second time we see that. Of whom, verse 11, we have much to say, the author says. There's a lot to say about Melchizedek, even though he only shows up, his name only shows up twice in the Old Testament. God has a lot to say about him here in the New Testament. And hard to explain, he says, it's kind of a concept that we're going to have to spend some time thinking about and meditating about. It's not going to be like one plus one is two, and we memorize it, and it's like, oh, something's one of those things that we have to dig into the Bible. And as we recall scriptures like 2 Timothy 2.15 that talks about digging into the scriptures, being diligent in studying, learning how to rightly divide the word of truth. And he talks about it here later on in chapter 5 when we come back to it. Now, Melchizedek is one of them that we have to think about. Why is it that he is significant to God that he, in this book of Hebrews, he brings him up and talks about him so much when he is just a couple verses in the Old Testament?

Well, let's go back. Let's go back and look at one of those places in the Old Testament.

You know where we're going, Genesis 14.

And as you're turning to Genesis 14, I'll just remind you of the situation. We talked about this a few weeks ago in a sermon. We were talking about the God of patience and the God of mercy, and we were talking about Sodom and Nineveh, and the examples that we learned from those societies. And you'll remember in chapter 14 that Sodom was one of four kings and cities that were under attack by verse 1, these other five kings here, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, that were attacking Sodom. And the kings in verse 1 of chapter 14 came in, and they made war with the king of Gomorrah and the king of Sodom.

And you'll recall, they won. They took all the spoil from Sodom. They took lot with him. And then Abraham moved into action. He had his 318 men, and he went out to go and battle against these kings that had conquered Sodom and Gomorrah and the other two that are listed there in verse 2. And he brought back the spoil. He brought back the spoil and gave it back to Sodom, put lot back where he belonged.

And when we come down to verse 18, after all of this, we see this Melchizedek. Melchizedek come to visit David. It says, then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most High. So it tells us who he is, and he blessed Abraham and said, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

Now, you know, the Bible tells us a lot, as we are learning. Every word in there and every incident in there has significance to us. You know, step back, and I want to just paint the picture of Abraham and what his life was like and where he was at this time when all this happened. You'll remember in Genesis 12, you know, God told Abraham, get away from your country to a land that I will show you.

And Abraham just left. He left everything behind, and he followed God. And as we see Abraham, God moved him from place to place. He was in, you know, in Abimelech for a while. He was in other places for a while. He just moved wherever God wanted him to be. So here is we are in Chapter 14, and we see all these kings that are around Abraham, the five, the nine that are listed there in Chapter 1 and 2, or verses 1 and 2 of Chapter 14.

Abraham is there. Abraham is living out in the middle of the wilderness, if you will. I don't know if I want to call it a wilderness because it was pasture land. You'll remember that he and Lot were there. Clocks grazing in the pasture. They became so wealthy that they had to separate. And Lot decided to take the land by Sodom, eventually moved into Sodom.

And Abraham was out there. But we don't see a very wealthy Abraham. We don't see him doing things the way that the people around him did. We don't see Abraham building a palatial mansion. We see Abraham living in tents. We see Abraham with all of his people, I think if I have the number right, 318, you know, that went with him. As God has blessed him and his household has grown, he hasn't surrounded himself with a wall. Like Sodom had a wall, and Gomorrah had a wall. And all these cities had kings, and they had walls to protect themselves.

But there's Abraham, a very wealthy man, Abraham. Lots of flocks, so much so that he and Lot had to separate. And then you have these kings warring with each other. The kings in verse 1 of chapter 14 go to war with the kings of verse 2. What they want are the things that Sodom has. And so they take everything out of Sodom. They even take the people. But no one attacks Abraham. He's a sitting duck, if you will.

He's just sitting out there. How easy would it have been for those kings to say, we want what Abraham has. We're just going to march in. He has no walls. He has no force. But look what God did to Abraham. Abraham completely trusted in God. He didn't worry about building walls. He didn't worry about building cities. He trusted in God. And God watched over him that entire time. When we're told that Abraham is the father of the faithful, what faith did Abraham have?

A whole lot more than you and me, I think. When we take the time to see the situation that he's in and how he lived his life, he was completely reliant on God. And God protected him completely because of the faith that Abraham had in him. And so when it comes time, when Sodom is raided and Lot's taken away with him and Abraham goes out and he's becoming a nation at this time. You know, God said, I'm going to make a view of a great nation.

And here's Abraham. He's going out. And here the four kings of verse 2 aren't able to battle against those other five. Abraham with his small band of men, he's able to conquer. He's able to bring back all the spoil to Sodom. He's able to rescue Lot and his family, put them back where they were. And Melchizedek, this high priest Melchizedek, king of Salem, comes to Abraham and tells him, Abraham, you're blessed. You're blessed of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, he's delivered your enemies into your hands.

Abraham knew he wasn't going to be able to battle against those kings. He went out in complete faith that he was doing God's mission, what God was having him do, and God did it. And Melchizedek appears on the scene here to give Abraham that blessing. Now, the other thing, when you just look at those two verses, you know, I guess, yeah, 18, 19, and 20, where it mentions Melchizedek, you don't see Abraham being surprised. You know, is this the Melchizedek king of Salem, you know, just comes up to Abraham.

It doesn't say Abraham was startled. It doesn't say Abraham was, you know, who are you? You know, when angels appeared to him about Sarah's birth and the conception of, you know, about Isaac and everything, he prepared things. But here's Melchizedek. It's like a very familiar, and I'm speculating here, I'm filling in some blanks, but, you know, you see Melchizedek approach Abram, and there's just this conversation. He blesses Abraham. And then at the last sentence of verse 20, it just simply says, Abram gave him a tenth of all, gave him a tithe of all.

Here's this man that appears. Here's this man who blesses Abram, reminds him God is the one who blessed you. And it doesn't say there that Melchizedek instructed him, you know, when God provides increase, you need to pay a tenth to him. It's just a matter of fact. And Abraham gave a tenth, gave him a tithe of all. So it can make us pause a little, I think, and say, who is this Melchizedek?

How familiar was Abraham to him? And who was he? You know, we've already read in Hebrews where it tells us pretty much who Melchizedek is and was. But here he is, Melchizedek, appearing in Old Testament times to the Father of the faithful before Israel ever was. And, you know, blessing Abram, and Abraham somewhere along the line knew my response to him is give him a tithe. He didn't give a tithe to the angels who came and visited him, but he gave a tithe to this person.

Keep your finger there in Genesis 14, or just keep your memory there in Genesis 14. Let's go back to Hebrews again. Hebrews 7 this time. And in Hebrews, it explains this meeting, if you will, between Melchizedek and Abram. In chapter 7 and verse 1, it says, For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, the very same way he's introduced here in Genesis 14, 18, and this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, very the same thing it says in 4, 18, he was the priest of God Most High, who met Abraham, returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, and then it tells us what Melchizedek means.

It's translated king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, meaning king of peace. So we don't even have to turn to the concordance and say, well, what is the Hebrew word Melchizedek? What is the Greek word Melchizedek?

The Bible tells us what it means. It's king of righteousness and he's king of peace. So he's called in Hebrews, and he's called in Genesis, the high priest, the most high priest of God. So he's priest, but then we're also told he's king. We look at that, and we look at the titles. King of righteousness, well, there's only one king of righteousness. We know that's Jesus Christ. There's only one king of peace. That's Jesus Christ. And here's a man, if you will, if I can just call him a man that appears, who's king and priest.

You know, there's one Jesus Christ who comes as king and priest. And that's what he, you know, he's our high priest, but he's also our king of kings. You know, we baptize people. We have you have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and your master, your savor, your savior. You know, we are told he's our high priest. He's king and priest. And what are we training to be? Tells us in Revelation to be kings and priests. So we have, you know, we're told who Melchizedek is here in the New Testament. We see him there in the Old Testament with Abraham.

And in verse 3, it tells us he's eternal. He's verse 3, he's without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. But he's made like the Son of God, and he remains a priest continually.

So chapter 7 here in Hebrews tells us Melchizedek is an important is an important personage. Hard to understand, it tells us in the prior chapter, verse 11, hard to understand, but something that we want to pay attention to. And we see this Melchizedek back at the time of Abraham. Finishing up in verse 4 it says, now consider how great this man was, this Melchizedek. Consider how great this man was to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.

So you can keep your... you can be in Hebrews 7 or Genesis 14.

Mr. Shaby, can I interject for a second? Absolutely, yes. Okay. I've done quite a bit of reading about this, and it's really hard to find much information, all right, as we all know. Okay.

Well, one of the things that was pointed out in some of that research was that Christ becoming a high priest after the Order of Melchizedek was because he was of the tribe of Judah, all right? And Judah were the priesthood, all right, was from the tribe of Judah, if I'm not mistaken. Am I wrong about that? I'm trying to remember.

The priesthood is Levi, right? Yeah. Levi, but wasn't there also? Okay, maybe I'm getting confused about something then, all right, but yeah, I think I am. Never mind. Forget it.

Brother Shaby. Well, David, go ahead. Okay, Xavier.

A few points. The word order in verse 6 of chapter 5 means due, fixed succession, character quality style, an arrangement, meaning when Christ ended himself, it was already planned. Once you do this, it is yours again. Mm-hmm. All right.

The point that you were saying that you're speculating, I don't think you're speculating. John chapter 8, verse 39 and 40 says, maybe we'll go to the end. We're in Christ is talking to the Jews, he says in verse 39.

If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. Now we'll skip the part about the murder. Mm-hmm. He says, I have spoken to you the truth, which I've heard from God. Abraham did not do this, wanting to not hear what I'm saying to him. Mm-hmm. So as you said, when Christ met Melchizedek, it wasn't something new to him. This person would appear to him and talk to him, tell him what God said, and vice versa. And he was the one, the same one, who spoke to him with the two angels who went up. Yep. Very good. Yep. Yeah, that... And then the last point... Go ahead. ... we're back to chapter 7, verse 3. Micah 5, verse 2. It says that Christ going forth was from everlasting. And that also goes back to John chapter 1. Okay. Very good. Mr. Shaby, I was just going to mention in... that goes along with it also what Ziyu was just talking about in Psalm 110, where that describes both Jesus Christ as the king and the priest, because, you know, the Lord said to my Lord, said to my right hand, tell him, make your enemies your footstalk. And then down in Psalm 110, verse 4, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. So, yeah, I think it's pretty interesting there, too. Yep. No, it is. And those are the two places in the Old Testament it mentions. But, you know, as Ziyu said, I think what we see in Melchizedek and Abraham were familiar, and it was Jesus Christ who was teaching Abraham how to live. Right? It was Melchizedek who had... that Abraham would be able to say, I give you a tenth. You know, I'll give you my tithe. You know, he wasn't worried about what it was going to be. There was no temple that day to support, you know, the tithes. There was no buildings around. Abraham is just like, purely, everything I have I owe to you, I give you a tenth. You know, just a pure, just a pure honoring God with our substance that tithing should be. We're grateful to God for what he's done. And it's like, here's... here. I offer this to you. And this is well before the time of Israel. You know, so many people want to say, oh, that was just for Israel. No, there is this attitude that Melchizedek, Jesus Christ, was teaching Abraham even back then. You know, Genesis 26 verse 5, when he's... when the blessing is being passed on to Isaac, it says, because Abraham obeyed my voice, he kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. Where did Abraham learn all those things? Melchizedek? Melchizedek teaching him, teaching Abraham the same things that God would later remind Israel what they were supposed to be obeying. Those same commands, those same statutes, those same laws, the same things that we live by today, the same things that Enoch lived, you know, Enoch and Noah before the flood were living by because it was God who was teaching them, and there was Melchizedek teaching Abraham. I find that... I find the whole thing just fascinating and inspiring and so settling to know and to see it played out that, you know, that Jesus Christ really is, which I always believed the same yesterday, today, and forever. What Abraham lived by is the same thing, the same way that God is having us live, the same thing that Enoch and Noah, and he asked Israel to do with the same things, not, of course, with the spiritual understanding.

And it's so... you know, Melchizedek, Jesus Christ was there. We always knew he was there in the Old Testament. There he is. We're walking with Abraham and teaching him and a familiar presence, it appears, in Abraham's life, just as Jesus Christ walks with us today and his Holy Spirit with us teaches us and leads us and, you know, leads us into understanding and truth.

So let's do turn to Psalm 110. Dave mentioned that, but let's just turn that, because it's the other place in the Old Testament that we see Melchizedek show up by name.

And I mentioned this afternoon, the more I read the Psalms and read of what David has written, you can see that God has taught his people, you know, his plan.

They weren't ignorant of what God's plan was. They may have lived in Old Testament times, but they understood, just like we talked about last week at Enoch. You know, he was preaching the same gospel before the flood that we're preaching today. And, you know, that the two witnesses will be preaching at the time right before Jesus Christ.

So here in Psalm 110, Dave has already mentioned it, but you can see the difference here between YHWH being God the Father and the little LORD in verse 1 being Jesus Christ, the, you know, you know, when David says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.

We know that Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God, waiting for the time that God sends him back to earth to take the kingdoms of this world.

We drop down to verse 4. It says, the Lord, that's YHWH, the Lord has sworn and will not relent.

Doesn't change his mind. He is constant. We can cling to that rock. We can hold fast. That is the one sure thing throughout our lives. No matter the storms, no matter the winds that come, we can cling to God, and if we don't cling to God, we will be washed away and lost.

The Lord has sworn and will not relent. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

So David knew, and look what it says here then in verse 5, the Lord is at your right hand.

Jesus is at your right hand, God the Father. He shall execute kings in the day of his wrath.

We talk about that. At the Feast of Trumpets, the pictures of the time of his return and conquering the earth, he shall execute kings in the day of his wrath.

He shall judge among the nations. He shall fill the places with dead bodies. He shall execute the heads of many countries.

David knew, Melchizedek of the time of Abraham, Melchizedek here that David was aware that Abraham was working with Melchizedek as we're learning in Hebrew 7, a very significant and great man, if you will, who was Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? So, you know, we can look at that and let's head back to Hebrews, if there's any comments or anything that anyone wants to add.

Brother Shabir, one last, maybe the last. Sharon?

Yes, yes, are you there? Yeah. Hey, you've given me chances Sharon. Hi Sharon. Hey, I have just a thought back on Genesis 14, where it says he gave him tithes of all. Yes. We know he recovered spoils from Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham refused to accept any of the spoils from Sodom. So I'm wondering, is it like a one-time spoils maybe from Gomorrah, or is it that Hebrew grammar, present, progressive, I'm not sure the term now, where something has occurred in the past and continues occurring in the present, where Abraham was in the habit of paying tithes to Melchizedek?

I can't give a definitive answer on that. I tend to lean to the latter. It was just part of what he did. He knew that he owed it, and here is his opportunity. But if someone else has some insight on that? Yes. We don't know exactly how he calculated it or whatever, but Abraham knew that he had been increased. And so when it says he gave him a tithe of all, whatever that means, was it just the spoils, or this was his opportunity now that he was here, the increase that he had been given since the last time Melchizedek was there? I don't know. But it was something that he was in the habit of doing. It wasn't the first time or the only time from what we read there.

Brother Shavie? Yes, sir.

In the quote here, in Psalm 110, when Christ quotes it, he makes the correction that the scribes who God used to preserve the Old Testament made an adjustment to the Hebrew.

He says in Matthew 22.44, he says, The Lord, curious, said to curious, there's no difference. Hence they both have a character, they're individuals, and they share a name, though one is greater than the other. He says, I'm curious, said unto curious, sit up my right hand, and he asks, how does he call him curious if he's a son? But the scribes made an adjustment, and what's his name? Companion battle notes that they changed from JHVH to DHVH and Adonai. Because they didn't want to have that in their brain, that there could be two who were similar. Okay, so you're saying that when it's lowercase LORD, that really is the same that originally was YHWH2? Okay, and it boggled their minds to understand how they could both be YHWH. And they made it, but they made a note that they made it. Okay, that would boggle their minds, and that would be hard to understand, wouldn't it? Even though they wanted to kill Christ, they wanted to kill Christ because they said he was the Son of God. Yep. Interesting. Interesting. Yeah, that's an interesting point. I'll have to go back and look at that. That's very good. So, makes sense, though. Makes sense that it would be that, that you'd have the two YHWHs in that sentence. Very good. Yeah, Mr. Shaby? Yes, sir. Frank, I just want to point out, who do we think that the angel was that wrestled with Jacob?

Obviously, it was the Logos from Melchizedek, right? Because Jacob asked for a blessing, and angels don't bless. Mm-hmm. Is that correct? Would that be correct? Yeah, no, they're correct. He doesn't call him Melchizedek there, but he knew who he was wrestling with, yeah. Yes. So the Logos is very active and involved in the Old Testament, and not necessarily just under the name of Melchizedek. Yes. And he was there teaching those people. Just like he works with us today. And as he told those disciples, you know, it's to your benefit that I go away, because my spirit will be, the spirit will be in you.

And it is. Just as he walked with those disciples when he was on earth for those three and a half years, and he, you know, was with Abraham, and, you know, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So he is with us all the time. All the time, yes. Yeah, very good. Okay, well, let's go back.

Let's go back to Hebrews 5 then. Mr. Shaby, real quick. Yes, yeah, Bob. I can see where I was getting confused before, because I was reading something, and I'm just going to read it here, because I could sometimes get confused. And it's better if I just read what I'm looking at. Right. And this is in Hebrews, and it says, it's clear that our Lord arose from Judah. And Judah was not associated with any kind of priesthood. High priests, no high priest ever came out of the tribe of Judah.

Correct? Correct. They came from the tribe of the Levites. Okay. But here we have Christ now becoming a high priest, all right, who was part and descended from the tribe of Judah. And so there's a separation, it tries to point out, in the law as opposed to what the Levites were commanded to do, and what Christ came under the banner, let's say, of Melchizedek, and how things were going to be different.

Is that a reasonable look at that or not? Say that last part again, say the last part again about how things would be different when you're going there. Well, what it's trying to say, all right, and maybe I should just read this, it says, He has no need, as did the high priest, to offer sacrifice day after day. First for his own sins and then for those of the people. He did that for all when he offered himself. The Levitical priesthood, high priests, were not qualified to offer Christ as a sacrifice because they were of the Levitical priesthood and were not qualified to perform this task.

So the Levites could perform certain tasks, all right, under the priesthood guys that they were a part of. But Christ offering himself as a sacrifice did this because he was of the tribe of Judah and he was the priesthood of Melchizedek. You see what I'm saying? What I'm trying to show? Yeah. Go ahead. No, I'm saying, did that make sense? All right, that Christ offered himself as a sacrifice, all right, because he was of the tribe of Judah, but he was after the order of Melchizedek who was able to also, you know, offer up a sacrifice.

All right, that was different from what the Levites were doing. I think that makes sense. I think it makes sense. I have to sort through it a little bit in my mind, but I think it makes sense. Okay, Bob. I think we're going to run into this more as we go and read more of the Scriptures in Hebrews. Hey, Bob. Dave's got a comment. Yeah, Bob. I think part of it might be because, you know, you had the order of Melchizedek, which was Jesus Christ, and then God instituted the Levitical priesthood, and they offered up those sacrifices, and all those sacrifices were pointing to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ fulfilled all those sacrifices.

So since he fulfilled those, they were no longer necessary. And now that he is our high priest, there's been, as it says, there's a necessarily there's been a change in the priesthood back from the Levitical priesthood to Jesus Christ, which is of the, you know, the Melchizedek kind. I'm not really sure if it has anything to do with him being from the tribe of Judah or not, though. I think it's more along the lines of the fact of going from the Melchizedek than to the Levitical priesthood, which was temporary, and then back to Jesus Christ.

Well, as we get further into Hebrews, let's see if that pans out, though. Yeah, there will be a lot, believe me, as we get into 7 and 8 and 9, there's a lot of detail in there, and that's why I think the author says this is hard to explain and maybe hard to understand. But we have to take the time to go through it and see how it moves from Old Testament and what those shadowed into what the New Testament truth is.

And as far as Melchizedek, go ahead. Yeah, it's Frank. Yeah, it's funny, Frank. Let me clarify what I hear everybody saying, and this is where it comes out of my mind. The Levitical priesthood could only offer animal sacrifices. That was their limitation. Correct. Now, Kizadat, on the other hand, could offer the one sacrifice. So he's a higher priest. Very good. Good way to put it. So it's the physical and then the spiritual. Very good. Makes sense by the way.

Yeah, that's it, James. Oh, yeah, James. Yeah, just kind of circling back to what Sharon was talking about, about the tithes. You mentioned getting into Hebrews 7 and 8. Hebrews 7, down about verse 5 through about verse 10, kind of elaborates a little bit on that, talking about how Melchizedek received tithes plural. And when you read through the context, it talks about how he receives tithes from Abraham and even Levi who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham and so forth. So it seems, if you read that context, it seems like it was pretty much an ongoing thing when you read that passage there. Yep, yeah. Yeah, so as we get into 7, 8, and 9, we're going to see the way of God, and we're going to see that Abraham, you know, again, Jesus Christ is saying, yesterday, today, and forever. You know, we're going to see those verses, you know, that statement proved, you know, through God's work. So... I think Hebrews 7 is going to bring out a lot of this. Yeah, it is. It's going to take some time to go through there. There's an awfully lot in there, but it's important for us to, you know, to delve into and to dissect and understand.

Okay, let me... let's go back to chapter 5. Now, let's finish up, you know, what chapter 5 has to say, because as he introduces Melchizedek here... and we can see there's been a lot of good conversation about Melchizedek, and there has to be, because it's important to God that we understand who he is, who he was, how he, you know, is a factor in the Bible, in the Old Testament and New Testament. In verse 11 we read down to that he's hard to explain, you know, whom we have much to say and hard to explain.

But then in the very last part of verse 11 it says, since you become dull of hearing. So the author goes back to the contention that he's made two or three or four times before in chapters 1, 2, and 3, where he warns God's people, you know, don't become dull of hearing. Don't. Don't become lazy, if you will.

Don't think I've heard it all. I know it all. And let these things pass through your minds. You know, it's focus. I mentioned 2 Timothy 2.15 before where it talks about we learn how to rightly divide the word of truth. And that takes some diligence. That takes some effort. That takes some drilling down into it that I've heard, you know, some of you speaking here this evening. You've done that. But we all need to do that because that's what it takes to understand the things of God.

It's amazing when we first come to the truth, but we have to grow beyond that because there's every word in this Bible has meaning to us that God wants us to understand. And as we go through these things, we share with one another and certainly with God's Holy Spirit, we see things and we begin to learn things when we take the time to go through it. So He cautions us again, you know, He's writing to the people in the 60s A.D., but He's writing very clearly to us in the 21st century here.

You know, these things may be hard to explain, but you've got to spend some time thinking about it. You've got to spend some time meditating about it. You've got to do some time asking God to help our understanding.

He says, but they're hard to explain since you've become dull of hearing. You're not drilling down enough. You're not paying enough attention to the Bible. You're not looking and searching and seeking it. And then, because then He goes right into verses 12, 13, and 14 that wraps up, you know, this chapter 5. And He says, for by this time, though by this time, you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. So again, it's in 62, 63 AD when the commentators say this is of the book was likely written.

People have been around. They've been in the church, if we want to use that term, for 30 years. Jesus Christ, you know, they have kind of caused 31 AD. The Holy Spirit came. People have been around for a while. They've become dull of hearing. They might have thought, like, we know it all. There's nothing new to learn. We've got it nailed and believe you, me, the more we read the Bible, the more we understand that there is so much more that we have yet to understand and become like.

Though by this time, you ought to be teachers, He's saying you've regressed. You've got to go back and you've got to, you've got to again be taught the first principles of the oracles of God. You know, this first oracle is God. It's the same thing that it says in Revelation 2, and it's talking to the Church of Ephesus, and it talks about, you know, repent and do the first works.

You've lost your first love. You know, part of what we did when we first came in is we just devoured the Scriptures. We wanted to know everything about it. And that needed to continue and not say, well, I know it all and whatever. And the more we learn, the more we are inspired, the more we're motivated to become more like Jesus Christ.

And part of the reason, part of how we can tell we become dull of hearing is if we're not becoming more like Jesus Christ, but more of a, you know, some of Jesus Christ and an all of, you know, and more and more of the world that we look to. And how Abraham was, the father of faith, to whom Melchizedek came and Melchizedek was teaching, and how much faith he had in the face of a world that was as dangerous as the world we live in. Yet he had complete faith in God.

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. And you have come to need milk and not solid food. You know, it's just it's just too hard for you to chew. You just don't want to take the time to make yourself think about it. You want to don't want to take the time to drill down and devour that. You want to just you just want to have smooth things spoken to you.

Things that I know, things that are comfortable, things that I've always heard. I just want to be reminded of them. But God says you need to learn those again. You need to be inspired again to go beyond, to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Verse 13, for everyone who partakes only of milk, if only all we ever do is just, you know, all we ever do is recite the Ten Commandments to us, but we don't really think about them. We don't really see how to apply them into our lives. We just, you know, we can recite Bible stories, but all we want to hear is the smooth things.

Everyone who partakes of milk, only a milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. You know, we've had we've had children and we know how they, you know, they have milk. Then you feed them the pureed food that they have and then they grow and they can have a few solid foods and then pretty soon they can eat some meat. And that's how they grow and they are stronger.

And God says the same thing of his word. If you're just looking for the smooth things, if you're just looking, you know, I feel good about it. I read my five chapters and everything. But God says that's not that's not becoming skilled in his word. That's not something that we're studying and that we're becoming, you know, his true disciples in.

Everyone who protects only a milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness. Again, back to 2 Timothy 2, 15. You know, learning to rightly divide the word of truth, to look into it, to let God guide us into what the truth is, for he is a babe. Verse 14, but solid food, you know, the meat belongs to those who are of full age, the spiritually mature.

They've grown up. They can devour it. They can spend the time thinking about it. They can spend the time engaging God and meditating on it and allowing his spirit to help us see how these things are and how we need to be.

And how the patriarchs of old were that pleased God. Solid food belongs to those who are of full age, who are of full age. That is, those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised. God will use what God gives us. You know, we can't just be spoon-fed. We've got to take the time. That tells us, you know, as we get into it, he's going to talk about Melchizedek, and then we're going to have a little break next week as we look at chapter 6 and some of the, what he calls the elementary principles of Christ. Because he knows they need to be refreshed in those and then get back into Melchizedek and the items of the tabernacle or temple life.

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age. That is, those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Now, I'm going to stop there. I'll stop there at verse 14 and next week pick it up and, you know, go right in the order that God, you know, that God does. As he's writing to the people then and to us today, remind ourselves of what God says in chapter 6 and then delve back into Melchizedek and the temple in 7, 8, 9, and 10. So let me, let me leave it there and open it up for discussion, comments.

Okay. Now what time? 8 22. So I've given you, I've stopped. I was 10 minutes early in the afternoon session, 8 minutes early, 8 minutes early tonight. So we're, we're on the same schedule. Well, I've got a question. Sure. Go ahead. Yeah, Frank Donovan. Frank Donovan. Yeah, it's a Frank. We, how do we understand Melchizedek supposedly, or presumably, he appeared as a man, but the law goes Christ did not become a man until, you know, his birth. So it was an, it was an apparition or a physical manifestation. I mean, it's an oddball thing to think about. It's an oddball thing to think about. I mean, he appeared, he appeared as a man. When Abraham saw him, he, you know, and the Bible calls him a man. So he appeared as a man to Abraham. But yet he was not yet born as a man. Right? Yeah. Correct. An apparition, Brother Frank, would be like a ghost. When Christ appeared of disciples, he did the same thing after his resurrection. He appeared to them as flesh and bones, but not flesh and blood. That's what he said. Flesh and, flesh and, does not have, our spirit doesn't have flesh and bones. But he never said blood. Only human beings as mankind have blood and flesh and bones. But as God or angels, they can appear as flesh and bones, but they don't have blood. I don't doubt the power of God to do that. I was just, we don't talk about that distinction very much.

Well, that's why there's a lot to think about with Melchizedek. And Xavier makes a good point. I mean, he, as he appeared to those disciples, Thomas, he allowed him to feel his hands, so that he could see the holes in his hands and everything. Okay, well, good discussion tonight, everyone. I think we've all learned, we've all learned something tonight about Melchizedek. I would encourage you to think about it, you know, go back and read some of those things. Let's delve into it and understand what God has to say. Again, it's very important to him to have so much of this book be dedicated to who Melchizedek is in a book that keeps talking about the superiority of Jesus Christ.

Okay, well, then I'm gonna, if nothing else, I'm gonna sign off. So again, Jacksonville 1130, Orlando 230. Have a good rest of the week, everyone. Good night, guys. Good night.