Useful Bible Studies > Hebrews Commentary > chapter 7
God’s law is perfect (Psalm 19:7). But as Paul wrote people must use it properly (1 Timothy 1:8).
There are many people who do not use God’s law properly. They imagine that they can achieve a right relationship with God by their own efforts. They want to save themselves. And they see no purpose in Christ’s death. So really, they have not learned the most important lesson that the law teaches. Only God can save us. And he does it by means of Christ (Galatians 3:21-24).
God gave his law by means of Moses and his brother Aaron, Israel’s first chief priest. And much of the law is about the work of the priests.
Aaron’s family continued to work as priests for 1500 years. And perhaps some people thought that they needed no other priest. They had God’s law. They had the temple (God’s house). They had the ceremonies and holidays that God had established. And they had a family of priests (Aaron’s family) that God had appointed.
But in Psalm 110:4, David wrote that there would be another priest. That priest would be a king, as well as a priest. He would not belong to Aaron’s family, but he would be a priest like Melchizedek. The first Christians taught that David was a prophet (Acts 2:29-30). A prophet is someone who tells people God’s words. So David was writing about the future. He was not using his imagination. He was writing about Christ.
And people certainly did need another kind of priest. Aaron’s family were carrying on a good work when they served God as priests. By the law, they showed people what is sin (wrong and bad things in God’s opinion). By their ceremonies, they helped people. So that they could recognise Christ’s work. They taught people about God. They made it possible for people to serve God.
However, these things were not enough, because sin still ruled people’s lives (Hebrews 10:2). The priests could only enter a copy of the real holy place that is in heaven, not the real one (Hebrews 9:23-24). So their work was not perfect.
But, Christ, our great chief priest, can free us from sin completely. He offered his own blood (his death) to God the Father in heaven (Hebrews 9:11-12). And what he did was perfect. He died once, to free us from sin for all time (Hebrews 9:25-28).
Next part: When God’s law changes (Hebrews 7:12)
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© 2014, Keith Simons.