Pastor’s Bible Reading Schedule: Proverbs 30-31; Hebrews 5
Devotional Thought:
Chapters 5-9 of this great book of the Bible deal with Jesus as the great high priest. The high priests of that day were simple mediators, day by day, to usher men into the presence of God. Man could not come directly into God’s presence. Jesus Christ, our great high priest, made a way for man to come boldly before the throne of grace at any time. Our perfect High Priest has offered sacrifice for our sins. He does not confine Himself to an earthly temple, nor does He have to sacrifice yearly, much less daily. He made one sacrifice that atones for the sins of the whole world, from the beginning to the end of time. How great a high priest He is and how magnificent His sacrifice was. Our High Priest is now seated at the right hand of God and continually intercedes for His children. This chapter goes to great lengths to prove that Jesus Christ did not just act on His own, but rather was appointed to this role by His Father. Verse 4-5 says “And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, today have I begotten thee.” The last part of this chapter and the following chapters has been subjects of great debate. They are difficult passages to navigate; however, I believe they are very important. It is critical that proper hermeneutics are used as we interpret scripture. One principle of hermeneutics is to find out the over arching theme to the book and tie each principle back to that theme. The central theme and message of the book of Hebrews is the superiority of the New Covenant to the Old, that is, of Christianity to Judaism. Within this theme are the subthemes of the superiority of the new priesthood to the old, the new sacrifice to the old ones, the new Mediator to the old ones, etc. This is the key that unlocks every section of this great book. The last part of this chapter, I believe, is dealing with unbelieving Jews, who have come close to believing the gospel, but is yet so far away. In chapter 2 they are warned to not neglect the gospel. In chapter 3 they are warned to not let their hearts become hardened to the gospel. Here in the end of chapter 5 they are being warned about holding unto the elementary truths of the old covenant and refusing to embrace the reality of Christ in the new covenant. They have been given the real sacrifice to embrace, but they are still holding unto the pictures of the sacrifice. These Jews were exposed to the truth of the new covenant long enough that they should have embraced it. They had the truth in a certain factual and superficial way, but the truth did not have them. I do believe there is a good application to Christians in this text, but the interpretation is dealing with the unsaved that have heard the gospel and may even be familiar enough to share it, but have never received it for themselves.
Personal Requests:
• Lord, please help me to help those who are so familiar with the gospel that they think they are saved. I will need your help and discernment to know who to help and how to help them.
• Lord, please help America. We have so many in our country who know the Christmas story, the Easter story, etc but they do not know you. Please help us to let our light so shine before me…
• Lord, help me to never be content with the basics of truth. May I desire more and more each day to study to show myself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed.
• Lord, thank you for being my great high priest. You have made atonement for all my sin and I stand in the presence of God today perfect. Thank you so much for the love gift of salvation.