Thought from today’s Bible reading from Hebrews 7-10.
As the Hebrew writer explained to his readers that Jesus was the new high priest (Hebrews 2:17; 3:1; 4:14-15; 5:8-10; 6:20), he made it clear that the priesthood of Jesus after the order of Melchizedek would be different and better than the Levitical priesthood. But the fact that the priesthood would be better did not provide authority for the new priesthood. The law would have to change for the new priesthood to be authorized. The Hebrew writer explained:
“For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests” (Hebrews 7:12-14).
Priests coming from the tribe of Levi was not a matter of tradition but a matter of divine law (Numbers 3:5-7). The reason given by the Hebrew writer as to why Jesus, being from the tribe of Judah, was prohibited from being a priest under the Old Law teaches us a fundamental point about Bible authority.
The reason why Jesus could not be a priest under the Old Law was because He “was descended from Judah.” Why was this not allowed? It was not because there was a specific prohibition against priests coming from the tribe of Judah. If you read through the Old Testament, you will not find any passage that explicitly states that those from Judah could not serve as priests. So why was this not allowed? It was because God’s law specified that priests would come from the tribe of Levi and “spoke nothing” about priests coming from Judah or any other tribe.
Many today want to justify their religious practices by arguing that what they do is not explicitly condemned in Scripture. They believe that if God never said not to do a thing, then it must be alright to do it. Yet we learn here that when God specifies something, everything else is excluded. Notice some examples:
- God’s word specifies singing as the type of music used when offering psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19). Therefore, things like humming, clapping, and instrumental music are unauthorized.
- God’s word specifies the first day of the week as the day in which Christians assemble to partake of the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7). Therefore, partaking on any other day of the week is unauthorized.
- God’s word specifies the local church as the institution through which Christians work collectively to spread the gospel (1 Timothy 3:15). Therefore, every human institution that seeks to spread the gospel is unauthorized.
Many people do not believe that respecting the silence of the Scriptures in these areas is important. Yet we see in this passage that when God specifies something, everything else is excluded. Furthermore, this rule was not bent, changed, or set aside even for the Son of God! We should not be so arrogant then to presume that we may practice things which God has not authorized in His word.
Tomorrow’s reading: Hebrews 11-13
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
