Letter to the Hebrews Volume 61

 Jesus Christ is our Forerunner and He Appeared to Abraham as Melchizedek Part 5

Hebrews 7:8-10 And here men that die receive tithes; but there He receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that He liveth. And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him. KJV

If the words from the writer of Hebrews in the previous verses 1-7 were not enough to make it abundantly clear that this Man Melchizedek was more than just a man, but instead that He was the Pre-Incarnate God/Man our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ, then he seals his intention in this very next verse with these words, "And here men that die receive tithes; but there He receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that He liveth." (Hebrews 7:8) (KJV). We find no where in any of the rest of this Chapter or indeed in the rest of this Book of Hebrews or anywhere in the Book of Genesis that records the record of the death of this Man Melchizedek. Moses even his death is recorded for us in (Deuteronomy 34:5-8), however, there is no record of the death of Melchizedek and that is because Melchizedek was and is our Lord Jesus Christ who had no beginning and has no end as it is written in these two places in the Psalms, "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." (Psalms 90:2) (KJV) and also, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD." (Psalms 106:48) (KJV). Here is what Adam Clarke had to say of this verse, "The Apostle is speaking of the ecclesiastical constitution of the Jews, which was standing at the time this epistle was written. Under the Jewish dispensation, though the priests were successively removed by death, yet they were as duly replaced by others appointed from the same family, and the payment of tithes was never interrupted. But as there is no account of Melchizedek ceasing to be a Priest, or of His dying, He is represented as still living, the better to point Him out as a type of Christ, and to show His Priesthood to be more excellent than that which was according to the law, as an unchanging Priesthood must be more excellent than that which was continually changing. The word here, in the first clause of this verse refers to Mosaical institutions, as then existing: the word there, in this clause refers to the place in Genesis (Genesis 14:20) where it is related that Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, who is still considered as being alive or without a successor, because there is no account of His death, nor of any termination of His Priesthood."

The writer now continuing to make his point of the superiority of the Priesthood of the Man Melchizedek, now references the Hebrew man (Levi) in whom the Levitical Priesthood was named and founded even many years after the death of Abraham, however, the writer wants to further declare the forever continuance of the Priesthood of Melchizedek by stating that in Levi's ancestor Abraham, he (Levi) even paid tithes to Melchizedek, as it is written here, "And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham." (Hebrews 7:9) (KJV). Here is what Adam Clarke had to say of this verse, "This form of speech, which is very frequent among the purest Greek writers, is generally used to soften some harsh expression, or to limit the meaning when the proposition might otherwise appear to be too general. It answers fully to our so to speak - as one would say - I had almost said - in a certain sense. Many examples of its use by Aristotle, Philo, Lucian, Josephus, Demosthenes, Aeschines, and Plutarch, may be seen in Raphelius and Kypke. The Levites, who were descendants of Abraham, paid tithes to Melchizedek through, Abraham, their progenitor and representative."

The writer declares how this honoring of the Man and Priesthood of Melchizedek was clearly an act of the honoring of the very God that their ancestor Abraham honored when he gave a tenth of his spoils to Melchizedek after he defeated the kings of the earth at the valley of Shaveh because they were yet to be conceived and born into the human family as Hebrews  and so does he declare this with the following words, "For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him." (Hebrews 7:10) (KJV). The writer here is speaking of Levi who wasn't born yet and was born to Abraham's grandson Jacob many years after the death of Abraham. Here is what Vincent's Word Studies said of this verse, "In the person of Abraham. The whole Jewish/Hebrew law, its ordinances and priesthood, are regarded as potentially in Abraham. When Abraham paid tithes, Levi paid tithes. When Abraham was blessed, Israel was blessed. It is a kind of reasoning which would appeal to Hebrews, who so strongly emphasized the solidarity of their race." Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of this verse, "Now Levi received the office of the priesthood from God, and was to take tithes of the people, yet even Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek, as to a greater and higher priest than himself; therefore that high priest who should afterwards appear, of whom Melchizedek was a type, must be much superior to any of the Levitical priests, who paid tithes, in Abraham, to Melchizedek. And now by this argument of persons doing things that are matters of right or injury in the loins of their predecessors we have an illustration how we may be said to have sinned in Adam, and fallen with him in his first transgression. We were in Adam's loins when he sinned, and the guilt and depravity contracted by the human nature when it was in our first parents are equitably imputed and derived to the same nature as it is in all other persons naturally descended from them."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…