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This Melchizedek was king of Salem and a priest of the Most High God. As Abraham was coming back from the battle in which he defeated the four kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him,
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and Abraham gave him one tenth of all he had taken. (The first meaning of Melchizedek's name is "King of Righteousness"; and because he was king of Salem, his name also means "King of Peace.")
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There is no record of Melchizedek's father or mother or of any of his ancestors; no record of his birth or of his death. He is like the Son of God; he remains a priest forever.
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You see, then, how great he was. Abraham, our famous ancestor, gave him one tenth of all he got in the battle.
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And those descendants of Levi who are priests are commanded by the Law to collect one tenth from the people of Israel, that is, from their own people, even though they are also descendants of Abraham.
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Melchizedek was not descended from Levi, but he collected one tenth from Abraham and blessed him, the man who received God's promises.
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There is no doubt that the one who blesses is greater than the one who is blessed.
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In the case of the priests the tenth is collected by men who die; but as for Melchizedek the tenth was collected by one who lives, as the scripture says.
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And, so to speak, when Abraham paid the tenth, Levi (whose descendants collect the tenth) also paid it.
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For Levi had not yet been born, but was, so to speak, in the body of his ancestor Abraham when Melchizedek met him.
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It was on the basis of the levitical priesthood that the Law was given to the people of Israel. Now, if the work of the levitical priests had been perfect, there would have been no need for a different kind of priest to appear, one who is in the priestly order of Melchizedek, not of Aaron.
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For when the priesthood is changed, there also has to be a change in the law.
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And our Lord, of whom these things are said, belonged to a different tribe, and no member of his tribe ever served as a priest.
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It is well known that he was born a member of the tribe of Judah; and Moses did not mention this tribe when he spoke of priests.
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The matter becomes even plainer; a different priest has appeared, who is like Melchizedek.
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He was made a priest, not by human rules and regulations, but through the power of a life which has no end.
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For the scripture says, "You will be a priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek."
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The old rule, then, is set aside, because it was weak and useless.
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For the Law of Moses could not make anything perfect. And now a better hope has been provided through which we come near to God.
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In addition, there is also God's vow. There was no such vow when the others were made priests.
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But Jesus became a priest by means of a vow when God said to him, "The Lord has made a solemn promise and will not take it back: 'You will be a priest forever.' "
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This difference, then, also makes Jesus the guarantee of a better covenant.
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There is another difference: there were many of those other priests, because they died and could not continue their work.
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But Jesus lives on forever, and his work as priest does not pass on to someone else.
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And so he is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through him, because he lives forever to plead with God for them.
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Jesus, then, is the High Priest that meets our needs. He is holy; he has no fault or sin in him; he has been set apart from sinners and raised above the heavens.
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He is not like other high priests; he does not need to offer sacrifices every day for his own sins first and then for the sins of the people. He offered one sacrifice, once and for all, when he offered himself.
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The Law of Moses appoints men who are imperfect to be high priests; but God's promise made with the vow, which came later than the Law, appoints the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
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The whole point of what we are saying is that we have such a High Priest, who sits at the right of the throne of the Divine Majesty in heaven.
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He serves as high priest in the Most Holy Place, that is, in the real tent which was put up by the Lord, not by human hands.
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Every high priest is appointed to present offerings and animal sacrifices to God, and so our High Priest must also have something to offer.
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If he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer the gifts required by the Jewish Law.
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The work they do as priests is really only a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven. It is the same as it was with Moses. When he was about to build the Sacred Tent, God told him, "Be sure to make everything according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain."
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But now, Jesus has been given priestly work which is superior to theirs, just as the covenant which he arranged between God and his people is a better one, because it is based on promises of better things.
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If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, there would have been no need for a second one.
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But God finds fault with his people when he says, "The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will draw up a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
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It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They were not faithful to the covenant I made with them, and so I paid no attention to them.
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Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
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None of them will have to teach their friends or tell their neighbors, 'Know the Lord.' For they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.
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I will forgive their sins and will no longer remember their wrongs."
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By speaking of a new covenant, God has made the first one old; and anything that becomes old and worn out will soon disappear.
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The first covenant had rules for worship and a place made for worship as well.
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A tent was put up, the outer one, which was called the Holy Place. In it were the lampstand and the table with the bread offered to God.
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Behind the second curtain was the tent called the Most Holy Place.
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In it were the gold altar for the burning of incense and the Covenant Box all covered with gold and containing the gold jar with the manna in it, Aaron's stick that had sprouted leaves, and the two stone tablets with the commandments written on them.
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Above the Box were the winged creatures representing God's presence, with their wings spread over the place where sins were forgiven. But now is not the time to explain everything in detail.
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This is how those things have been arranged. The priests go into the outer tent every day to perform their duties,
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but only the high priest goes into the inner tent, and he does so only once a year. He takes with him blood which he offers to God on behalf of himself and for the sins which the people have committed without knowing they were sinning.
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The Holy Spirit clearly teaches from all these arrangements that the way into the Most Holy Place has not yet been opened as long as the outer tent still stands.
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This is a symbol which points to the present time. It means that the offerings and animal sacrifices presented to God cannot make the worshiper's heart perfect,
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since they have to do only with food, drink, and various purification ceremonies. These are all outward rules, which apply only until the time when God will establish the new order.
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But Christ has already come as the High Priest of the good things that are already here. The tent in which he serves is greater and more perfect; it is not a tent made by human hands, that is, it is not a part of this created world.
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When Christ went through the tent and entered once and for all into the Most Holy Place, he did not take the blood of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice; rather, he took his own blood and obtained eternal salvation for us.
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The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a burnt calf are sprinkled on the people who are ritually unclean, and this purifies them by taking away their ritual impurity.
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Since this is true, how much more is accomplished by the blood of Christ! Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself as a perfect sacrifice to God. His blood will purify our consciences from useless rituals, so that we may serve the living God.
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For this reason Christ is the one who arranges a new covenant, so that those who have been called by God may receive the eternal blessings that God has promised. This can be done because there has been a death which sets people free from the wrongs they did while the first covenant was in effect.
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In the case of a will it is necessary to prove that the person who made it has died,
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for a will means nothing while the person who made it is alive; it goes into effect only after his death.
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That is why even the first covenant went into effect only with the use of blood.
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First, Moses proclaimed to the people all the commandments as set forth in the Law. Then he took the blood of bulls and goats, mixed it with water, and sprinkled it on the book of the Law and all the people, using a sprig of hyssop and some red wool.
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He said, "This is the blood which seals the covenant that God has commanded you to obey."
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In the same way Moses also sprinkled the blood on the Sacred Tent and over all the things used in worship.
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Indeed, according to the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and sins are forgiven only if blood is poured out.
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Those things, which are copies of the heavenly originals, had to be purified in that way. But the heavenly things themselves require much better sacrifices.
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For Christ did not go into a Holy Place made by human hands, which was a copy of the real one. He went into heaven itself, where he now appears on our behalf in the presence of God.
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The Jewish high priest goes into the Most Holy Place every year with the blood of an animal. But Christ did not go in to offer himself many times,
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for then he would have had to suffer many times ever since the creation of the world. Instead, now when all ages of time are nearing the end, he has appeared once and for all, to remove sin through the sacrifice of himself.
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Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God.
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In the same manner Christ also was offered in sacrifice once to take away the sins of many. He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are waiting for him.
