Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Heb 5.1 and following. Indeed, what a contrast between the Holy Son of God and the priest taken from among men, forced to be indulgent because of his own infirmity! Another contrast emerges: becauseasfar as we are concerned, we need to learn obedience because we are by nature disobedient. The Son of God had to learn this for a very different reason. Sovereign Creator, He is not subject to anyone. Obeying was for Him an entirely new thing. But this is how He is an example and now imposes Himself on “those who obey Him.” Who in a community is the chief who has the most authority? Itwas hewho began bycarrying out himself, under the most difficult conditions, the tasks which he then ordered from his subordinates. Let’s learn obedience to the school of the Lord Jesus. But what kind of students are we? Don’t we often deserve the reproach of verse 11: lazy to listen? The Word of God is not here as in Hb 4:11-16 the sword discerning the intentions of the heart, but the solid food that strengthens the child of God and makes him capable of discerning good from evil himself. This is the great progress of the Christian: to become more and more sensitive to what pleases the Lord… and to what does not please Him.
And so, he was consumed, consecrated, brought to perfection in the place of glory where he is, and thus made perfectly fit for all that he had to accomplish; became first “the author of eternal salvation” for all who obey him, and second, “greeted by God high priest according to the order of Melchizedek”. “Eternal salvation” here is in contrast to the temporal deliverances of the Jews; one is saved forever, without anything that requires another salvation, just as he sits in perpetuity at the right hand of God. But this eternal salvation belongs only to “those who obey it.” It is worthy of remark that it does not say: “those who believe in him”. It is that, as it has been spoken of the sufferings and obedience of Christ that brought him to glory, the Holy Spirit shows us that those who believe in him have to follow the same way. Moreover, one cannot obey Christ, submit to him for salvation, except by believing in him. Then, consumed, arrived in glory, Savior for the eternity of those who cling to him, God greets him, declares him high priest “for eternity” also, according to the order of Melchizedek, and there in heaven he accomplishes for those who belong to him all that relates to this priesthood.
Things about Melchizedek, as a type of Christ’s priesthood, were difficult to explain, not because of the things themselves, but because of the spiritual state of the Hebrew believers. They had become – they hadn’t always been – lazy to listen. In the previous days, “having been enlightened”, they had supported a great struggle of suffering; but their attachment to forms and ordinances had prevented them from progressing; they were tempted to return to the shadows of the better goods that Christianity had brought them. Christians today have to ensure that the forms to which they would have been attached do not stop them in their spiritual development. Generally speaking, we all have to be careful that after the zeal and ardor that characterize conversion and entry into the wonderful truths that have been revealed to us, we do not become lazy to listen, full of languor and apathy for what should always be new and full of freshness.
From the time Christianity had come to them, they should have progressed and been “doctors”, suitable for teaching others, while they needed to be taught again the first rudiments of the oracles of God. Doesn’t this reproach addressed to them also concern a large number of Christians today? Indeed, one has been converted, one is part of an assembly, and often the most elementary truths, “the first rudiments of the oracles of God”, seem to be little or not even known! How much we need to shake off that spiritual laziness that prevents us from listening to what is, not the word of man, but the word of God. In 1 Peter 2.2, the word of God, that word of which the apostle spoke at the end of chapter 1, is represented as pure intellectual milk, as pure and unmixed nourishment intended for the spiritual intelligence of the Christian so that he may grow in salvation. He must desire this food, just as a newborn child desires his mother’s milk, and this applies to every moment of his spiritual life. The apostle does not reproach those to whom he speaks for still being only children, as is the case in the Corinthians and the Hebrews. For the latter, the state of childhood for which they are blamed consists in their attachment to the ordinances and regulations of the law (Gal 5:1), which made them lose sight of the heavenly Christ and what relates to him in this position. They therefore needed milk, a teaching that related to their state, not however to keep them there, but to bring them out of it, in order to become made men, capable of taking solid food, of grasping the truths that the Holy Spirit wanted to present to them.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
The sealed book of seven seals given to the Lamb:
- Human weakness manifested by all men
Nb 11:14 I cannot, on my own, carry all this people, for it is too heavy for me. Mt 26:40 And he came to the disciples, whom he found asleep, and said to Peter, “So you could not watch an hour with me! Jn 16:12 I still have a lot to tell you, but you can’t wear them now. 1 Cor 3.2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you could not bear it; and you cannot even now, because you are still carnal.
- Melchizedek, King of Salem
Gen 14:18 Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought bread and wine: he was the priest of the Most High God. Ps 110:4 The Lord has sworn him, and he will not repent of it: You are a priest forever, in the manner of Melchizedek. Hb 5:6 As he says elsewhere: You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Hb 6:20 where Jesus entered for us as a forerunner, having been made high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Hb 7:1 In fact, this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who went before Abraham when he returned from the defeat of the kings, who blessed him,
- Power of God, special references
-To deliver Dn 3:17 Behold, our God whom we serve can deliver us from the fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
To raise up children from the stones Lk 3:8, therefore, produce fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say in yourselves: We have Abraham as our father! For I declare to you that from these stones God can raise children to Abraham.
-To fulfill His promises Rom 4:21 and having the full conviction that what He promises He can also fulfill.
-To make grace abound 2 Cor 9:8 And God can fill you with all kinds of graces, so that, always possessing in all things enough to satisfy all your needs, you may still have in abundance for every good work,
-To do infinitely beyond what we ask Eph 3:20 Or, to him who can do, by the power that acts in us, infinitely beyond all that we ask or think,
-To subjugate all things Phil 3:21 which will transform the body of our humiliation, making it like the body of its glory, by the power it has to subjugate all things.
-To keep the rest of the soul 2 Tim 1:12 And it is because of this that I suffer these things; but I am not ashamed of it, for I know in whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he has the power to keep my deposit until that day.
-To completely save Hb 7:25 This is also why he can perfectly save those who approach God through him, always being alive to intercede on their behalf.
-To prevent the believer from falling Jude 24 Gold, to the one who can save you from any fall and make you appear before his irreprehensible glory and in joy,
- Spiritual immaturity
-Inability to receive a solid doctrine 1 Cor 3:1-2 For me, brethren, it was not as spiritual men that I have been able to speak to you, but as to carnal men, as to children in Christ. 3 I have given you milk, not solid food, for you could not bear it; and you cannot even now, because you are still carnal.
-Necessity of being taught Gal 4:1-3 Now, as long as the heir is a child, I say that he is in no way different from a slave, although he is the master of everything; 2 but he is under guardians and administrators until the time marked by the father. 3 We too, in the same way, when we were children, were under the slavery of the rudiments of the world;
-Instability of faith Eph 4:14 so that we may no longer be children, floating and carried away in every wind of doctrine, by the deception of men, by their cunning in the means of seduction,
-To continue the elementary principles Hb 5:12 You, in fact, who for a long time should be masters, still need to be taught the first rudiments of the oracles of God, you have come to need milk and not solid food. 1 Pet 2.2 desire, like newborn children, spiritual and pure milk, that through it you may grow for salvation;
From all of the above, we note that “God’s oracles” are the revelations that God has given us and that we have in His Word. The entire Scriptures are these oracles, and the rudiments are the first and simplest truths they contain. Their spiritual laziness had made them such that they needed milk and not solid food: they were children. In relation to Christians, we are talking about childhood and milk in two passages that should not be confused with this one. In 1 Cor 3:1-2, the apostle pits spiritual men against carnal men. He names them little children in Christ, to whom milk must be given to drink. He does not mean that they were natural men, men who were not Christians, but they were Christians who behaved in a carnal way, in the manner of men. This state, which came from their pride, prevented them from being able to grasp the spiritual teachings relating to the mystery of God’s wisdom – they were children to whom, despite their high pretensions, milk was needed, a teaching appropriate to their state The One who is still in milk, who therefore is still a child, is inexperienced (or not exercised) in “the word of justice”. This word of justice (practical justice) expresses the “true practical relationship of the soul with God, according to his character and his ways”, and one is exercised in it to the extent that Christ is revealed to the soul and is known to it, for he is the revelation of God’s character and the center of his ways. But for the Christian it is the glorious Christ in his heavenly position, and not simply the Messiah for the Jews. Solid food, then, is that “word of righteousness” that makes known the position of Christ glorified according to God’s righteousness and connects us with God. It is for men made – or the perfect. These, by habit, by exercise, by practice in this word of justice, have their spiritual senses exercised to discern good and evil, to separate what is according to God, in the position they have as participants in a heavenly Christ, from what is not suitable for this position. Our prayers support you all in your efforts to become perfect men.
PRAYER Of ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the terrible consequences of abandoning the faith.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Lord of Hosts.