SHOW NOTES: - Head to our Start Page for all you need to begin! - Join the RECAPtains - Check out the TBR Store - Show credits FROM TODAY’S RECAP: - Genesis 14:18-20 - Video: Who Was Melchizedek and What Is His Significance? - Article: Who was Melchizedek? - Matthew 27:51 - 2025 Prep Episode - Find out more about D-Group - Find a D-Group: D-Group Map BIBLE READING & LISTENING: Follow along on the Bible App, or to listen to the Bible, try Dwell! SOCIALS: The Bible Recap: Instagram | Facebook | TikTok D-Group: Instagram | Facebook TLC: Instagram | Facebook D-GROUP: D-Group is brought to you by the same team that brings you The Bible Recap. TBR is where we read the Bible, and D-Group is where we study the Bible. D-Group is an international network of Bible study groups that meet weekly in homes, churches, and online. Find or start one near you today! DISCLAIMER: The Bible Recap, Tara-Leigh Cobble, and affiliates are not a church, pastor, spiritual authority, or counseling service. Listeners and viewers consume this content on a voluntary basis and assume all responsibility for the resulting consequences and impact. Links to specific resources and content: This is not an endorsement of the entire website, author, organization, etc.. Their views may not represent our own.
Full Episode
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Today we drop back in on the book of Hebrews and its rich descriptions of Jesus and his supremacy over all things. Chapter 7 opens by continuing to compare him to the Old Testament priest Melchizedek.
Some scholars believe he was a Christ type, while others believe he was God the Son, making a special appearance on earth before he was born as Jesus. They certainly have a lot in common. For instance, Melchizedek's name means righteousness, and he was the king of a place called peace. And when he showed up in Genesis 14, he brought out bread and wine.
And the author of Hebrews makes a case for Melchizedek being greater than Abraham because he bestowed a blessing to Abraham. The idea of someone being greater than Abraham was probably shocking to Jewish readers. It's a pretty great story. Check it out if you have time.
And if you want more information on the mysterious Melchizedek, we've linked to a video and an article again in today's show notes. Another interesting thing about Melchizedek is that he wasn't a descendant of the line of Levi, and all the priests during the Old Covenant were supposed to be descended from Levi.
But there's a good reason he wasn't a descendant of Levi, because he lived about 500 years before Levi was born. As a non-Levitical priest, one not descended from Levi, Melchizedek kind of sets a precedent for Jesus as priest, because Jesus was also not a descendant of Levi. But Jesus, who is from the line of Judah, gets his priestly authority based on the fact that he is eternal. That'll do it.
If you joined us in the New Testament, it's possible that some of this may be lost on you, but I hope you'll stick around and join us when we start in Genesis 1 again, because it will help you see some of the really rich textures in this story. One of the things it points to is this.
The old law that the priests upheld was great for when they were under the old priestly system, but we have a new system in place now because the priest has changed. It's kind of like how our laws change when we get new leaders in office. Now that Jesus is our high priest, we operate under a new covenant. And verse 27 points out why this is infinitely better.
It says, He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. Jesus offered the final sacrifice for our sins. There's no need for a sacrificial system anymore. He finished it.
Chapter 8 reminds us that after he finished paying for our sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Priests don't sit. There's too much work to do. So the fact that he's sitting, it's because the work is done, finished. The author references this again later in 10.12 when he says, When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.
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