Welcome to Day 36! Today’s reading is Hebrews 6:13-13:25

Posted by: Susie Jones

This was a big section of scripture to absorb all at once. The two things that stood out to me as being important that I took from this were on Melchizedek and Faith of course.

Let’s begin first with Melchizedek. Melchizedek is not so much a name as it is a title or designation of honor. It is a position or office that has to be filled by a worthy candidate. The term is a transliteration of two Hebrew words, melek and tsedeq. The Hebrew melek means king, and tsedeq means righteousness… Therefore the term “Melchizedek” means literally, “king of righteousness.” Since “Melchizedek” was the epitome of righteousness, and no human including Noah, Daniel, and Job is inherently righteous, it is evident the King of Righteousness could not have been human. Had He been human, Melchizedek would have been the same as Aaron or anyone else, a sinner. As the King of Righteousness, Melchizedek was the image of God’s Spirit, see Colossians 1:15 and Hebrews 1:3. In Hebrews 7:3 Paul says the Melchizedek was without father or mother. Paul’s statement can be taken as emphasizing the deity of Melchizedek. Every human, including Adam, has had a father (Luke 3:38). All the angels have the same father as Adam, and they are referred to many times in Scripture as sons of God. The One who became Jesus Christ (Luke 1:32). But God was not the father of Melchizedek. Paul is clearly saying that Melchizedek, like the Most High God, was without parents. Neither of them had beginning of days nor end of life. The two of them had always lived and there had never been a time that each of them had not lived. Melchizedek had always possessed life inherent. Life was not given to Him; He was not anyone’s son. In order to serve as God’s Priest, Melchizedek presented Himself in a form similar to what would later be His human form (Hebrews 7:3). Before His birth however, He was not the Son of God. He looked like the Son of God would later look, but He was not the Son of God until He became human. The contact (anointing) is described in Luke 3:22 as the Holy Spirit (the One who fathered Jesus, Luke 1:35) descending upon Him in a bodily shape like a dove. The Son was anointed to become the author of salvation to all who obey Him, being called of God as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:9-10). Jesus Christ became God’s High Priest after Melchizedek because perfection and salvation were not attainable through the Levitical priesthood (Hebrew 7:11). Christ was made a Priest forever by an oath of the Most High God (Hebrews 7:20-21). It is His righteousness, which is manifested in God’s saints (Romans 8:4). The church shares in the priesthood of Christ and the resurrected saints will, like Him, forever be kings and priests after the order of Melchizedek (Revelation 5:10).

Chapter 11 is the best, wondering if you’re alive or not? Read this chapter! Your Spirit should leap for joy listening to it. It begins with how faith is how we can expect the existence of things we cannot see yet. Faith enabled Enoch to be taken instead of dying. Faith led Noah to listen when God warned him about the things in the future that he could not see. Faith led Moses parents to hide him for three months after he was born. Faith led Moses to leave Egypt. Faith led the walls of Jericho to fall, and so it goes on and on with examples. Chapter 12 tells us then since we are surrounded by so many examples of faith we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially sin that distracts us. We must never give up. Interesting how immediately following the examples it goes right into receiving discipline from our Father. Did you know that worry is a sin and that not to have faith is also a sin? Chapter 13 has one of my favorite scriptures, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” That should cast away any doubts as to what His will is for us today. If we see it in His word, we can trust and believe it is still for today – all the promises! We must run the race that lies ahead of us and never give up; press on to the high calling of Christ, press towards the mark. Pressing on often times means to wait, and that is what most of us are not good at, not in this era of the microwave mentality. We want everything and we want it now. One thing is certain: Before God moves suddenly, we will wait. Waiting for answers is a fact of life—nobody gets out of it. So the question is not if we’ll wait, but rather how we’ll wait. And I believe how will determine how long.

There are two ways to wait: One is to wait passively, and the other is to wait expectantly. A passive person hopes something good will happen and is willing to sit around waiting to see if it does. After a short time, he gives up, saying, “That’s it! I’ve waited and waited and nothing’s happened.” The passive person has a lot of wishbone but not much backbone!

The expectant person, on the other hand, is hopeful, believing the answer is just around the corner, due to arrive any minute. His belief is not a passive thing. His heart is full of hope, expecting his problem to be solved at any moment. He wakes up every morning expecting to find his answer. He may wait and wait, but suddenly what he’s been waiting for happens.

It’s just like when a woman is pregnant; it’s said that she is expecting a baby. She carries inside her the promise of a baby, and even though she can’t see it, she knows it’s there. The moment she learns of her pregnancy, she begins to plan for her baby’s arrival. She starts collecting items she’ll need and busily gets the nursery ready. She actively prepares for the arrival of the baby because she knows the promise will be fulfilled—it’s just a matter of time. She is expectant and she’ll wait as long as it takes.

We know the word wait means “to expect” or “to look for.” But remember, it also means, “to serve”—just like a waiter waits on your table at a restaurant. Our act of waiting isn’t supposed to be spent sitting around passively hoping that something will happen sometime soon.

When our hearts are eager to hear from God, He loves to rush in suddenly with His solution. In many cases this waiting period actually serves as a time of preparation for the answer. If God answered right away, many of us would be ill prepared to handle His solution.

So how do we cultivate faith, well the Bible says, “Faith comes from hearing and hearing the word of God.” So while you are waiting why not bone up on the promise your waiting for. What does the Word say about it – not what well intentioned Christians would say, but what God says!