Hebrews 5.......GREATER THAN AARON part 1
The section chapters 5-10 is dominated by the priestly work of Christ in comparison to the old Aaronic priesthood and establishes Christian worship as vastly superior. This beautiful exposition of the person of Christ is interspersed with warnings of failure to embrace Him.
Chapter 5 Christ greater in His office
Chapter 7 Christ greater in His person
Chapter 8 Christ the mediator of a better covenant
Chapter 9 Christ the minister of a better sanctuary
Chapter 10 Christ the presenter of a better sacrifice
This comprehensive comparison and contrast of the priesthood, calls for perseverance on the part of the readers in the face of opposition.
Chapter 5 Greater in His office
Verses 1-4 The office of high priest was held in great respect among all Hebrew worshippers, since he was their main link to God. We can discuss this office in terms of it’s mediation, it’s compassion, and it’s appointment. Taken together these three aspects cover the liturgy, the humanity and the authority of the high priest. He was very important in their lives.
Mediation
• “Taken from among men...”. He was no superman or witch doctor or part angel/ part man or religious guru, he was just an ordinary man.
• “Ordained for men in things pertaining to God...”. He operated for men as a kind of mediator, overseeing their worship, keeping it in line with Divine requirements. He had to pronounce on things like cleanliness, suitability of offerings/service/ritual of public worship and daily/weekly/monthly/annual services and special feasts.
• “..that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins...”. Gifts are grain and drink offerings, called “sweet savour offerings”; sacrifices were blood offerings and both were for sins. God could not be approached without sins (transgressions and shortcomings) being dealt with. He oversaw the acceptability of the offerings.
Compassion
• “..who can have compassion on the ignorant and them that are out of the way..”. Moses who had lived in the palace was not chosen as high priest, but Aaron who had experienced the hardship of slavery with the people. He must be compassionate and not authoritarian in his demeanour, recognising there was ignorance and also failure on the part of the worshipper. This would involve patient and compassionate instruction in the ways of God. Spiritual leaders should take note.
• “..for that he himself is compassed about with infirmity..”. He must be aware of his own shortcomings and not “lord” it over the people, whether in superiority in knowledge or high-mindedness, in the face of the failure of others. The new testament equivalent is in Galatians 6 v1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness considering thyself lest thou also be tempted.”
• “..as for the people so for himself to offer for sins.”. The high priest is a sinner like the people, so he must demonstrate humility and reverence as he offers for his own sins. This brings us into the realm of confession of sins today, a practice singularly lacking in churches as is evident by the lack of humility and reverence in religious gatherings.
Appointment
• “..no man taketh this honour to himself, but he that is called of God..”. It is an honour to serve God in this way and only Divine appointment will suffice to take on this work. No man should undertake a position in Divine things unless he is called of God. The high priests were appointed by rank of birth into the family of Aaron, it was a birthright, but because of departure, it became a political appointment. Similar patterns can be seen today to the detriment of God’s people.
Verses 5-10 He compares and contrasts the priesthood of Christ in the reverse order, which is a pattern in new testament writing.
Appointment
• “So Christ glorified not Himself to be made an high priest.....” He was called of God to a superior priesthood, the order of Melchisedek, which existed before the order of Aaron, and will outlast it, because it is forever. Also it combines the offices of King and Priest, which was forbidden in the old testament by Divine decree. Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 are cited in support of this claim. In both quotations it was the voice of God the Father, and His appointment is verified. Appointed by God as the great high priest, appointed to a higher order, appointed to perpetuity without the possibility of termination. There was no “order of Melchisedek”, as there was of Aaron, so the only one in the succession, in biblical revelation, were Melchisedek (none before) and Jesus (none after). In the matter of priestly service for God today there is none but Jesus.
Compassion
• His humanitarian qualifications are in perfect order as demonstrated when He was here. “Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death and was heard in that He feared (or for His piety)....” His compassion and true humanity are expressed here and the writer used the time of supreme suffering, the agony of Gethsemane, to prove His unparalleled worth to succour God’s people. All His life He was a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”, but here His suffering reached depths unknown as He contemplated the horror of Calvary and all it would mean. This was the culmination of His training for the priesthood, where He must fathom the depth of human sin. The record is of one, who, in the extremity of His soul, sought fellow human comfort and found none, prostrated Himself before His God, in the absolute weakness of His body, and anguish of soul. Strong crying and tears, which flowed at the grave of His friend Lazarus, and again over the eternal loss of Jerusalem, that privileged, but destitute city; now tears for Himself as He moved into “uncharted territory”(if we can respectfully say that of the omniscient one). He was heard “for His piety” (reverential fear of God). He was facing death (the life-giver), and so He prayed to the only one who could save Him. The astonishing conclusion of all this is “...though he were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things that He suffered.” The one who was commander of all heaven, in the days of His flesh learned obedience by humble submission to the will of God. All His life here was a preparation for His priesthood on our behalf. He knew weakness, fear, tears, dependency, suffering, all the things common to man, but His was magnified because of His mission on our behalf. As a result He is fully equipped to succour us through life’s trials.
Mediation
• His appointment was greater, His compassion was greater, and now His mediation is greater. The mediation of Aaron was effective for a while; it was not without flaws, and it had to be repeated daily, weekly, monthly, annually, and on special holy days. It finally fell into disrepute and disorder. The mediation of Christ is greater...”and being made perfect he became the author of eternal salvation unto all that obey Him...” Aaron’s priesthood was partial and temporal, and confined to Israel. Christ’s is complete and eternal and universal. He is the author (the originator) of eternal (never-ending) salvation (redemption and glorification). He is the high priest of impeccable character and incomparable glory. He is King-Priest, the order of Melchisedek, combining perfect authority with perfect humanity as no other could do.
Verses 11-14 Warning against lethargy
It is an outstanding feature of this sermon to the Hebrews, that the high and holy and beautiful teaching is interspersed with warnings, and these few verses continue that trend. The lovely expositions of the supremacy of the Son of God are in the overall context that God is speaking and because of the majesty of this revelation, the practical implications must not be taken lightly. We are not to become “sermon tasters”, but zealous hearers of this full and final word from God. There is a progression downward indicated in the book of the propensity within us to ignore the word of God, and the warning that we do so at our peril spiritually. In chapter 2vv1-4, the warning is against drifting... neglect of the word; in chapter 3v7-4v13 the warning is against disobedience.... hardness of heart; here in chapter 5 v11-6 v20 the warning is against dullness..... stagnation and lethargy; in chapter 10 v26-39 the warning is against disdain...wilfully reducing the work of Christ to the commonplace; in chapter 12 vv15-27 the warning is against defiance....turning away (apostasy) outright rejection of the word with eternal consequences. Departure from God is slow and progressive and the ultimate will prove the reality of each heart. Such is the nature of this revelation that none of us can afford to be half hearted, and the case here with the Hebrew believers appeared to be a dullness of hearing and consequent lack of growth. Once again the link between the word of God and growth in spiritual life is established. Once again it is clear that God wants His people to grow to full maturity. The clear indication from these verses is that we are either going forward or regressing.
These closing verses of chapter 5 deal with the danger of spiritual immaturity, and , while the immediate context applies to the ideological adherence to Judaism, the application is to all Christians to maintain spiritual growth.
Idleness in relation to the word of God v10-11 “Melchisedek, of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered seeing ye are dull of hearing”. The word for “dull” is northros which is repeated in chapter 6 v12 and translated “sluggish”. This word only appears in these verses in the new testament and thus we can see a particular literary segment under this description. The burden is of laziness in our attitude to the word of God. This is a common problem in the church today. There is a lethargy in our approach to God’s word, where we seem only to want to know the simpler, more basic aspects of the word, when difficult concepts of the word like Melchisedek, the symbolism of the tabernacle, the offerings, the prophesies, not to mention the great doctrines of salvation, etc. are neglected. It has been said that “there is a premium put on ignorance” today with the persistent clamour for simplicity, thus denying the Lord His right to bring His people to full maturity. This is nothing short of idleness and unworthy of the Lord. It is constantly overlooked the fact that we are to be diligent in the things of God (as enjoined in chapter 4 v11). In 1st Timothy 5 v17 Paul speaks of those who “labour in the word and doctrine”...that is labour to the point of exhaustion, the opposite of idleness. Such is the nature of God’s word to us we are encouraged in Proverbs 2 vv1-4 to “incline our ears to wisdom, to apply our hearts to understanding, to cry after knowledge, to lift up our voice for understanding, to seek her as silver, to search after her as for hid treasures.” Hardly the language of idleness. The appetite of the people of God is waning and will inevitably lead to loss of health.
Inability to teach the word of God “When for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God”. No doubt he is addressing the leaders of the communities to whom he is writing and reveals local knowledge of the state of things. They have gone backward in the time that has elapsed since their conversion, and instead of teaching they need to be taught the elementary principles. The term “oracles of God” reminds us of the reverence due to His word, in that they are more than just any words they are authoritative words which proclaim the very character of God and thus must be taken seriously. Spiritual leaders ought to be “apt to teach” and enough time has passed and enough enlightenment has been given, but indolence has eroded the zeal for the word. In 1st Corinthians 4, Paul had a similar complaint against the church there. He had spent 18 months teaching the word of God among them, and Apollos had followed him giving them a further grounding in the scriptures; yet four years or so on they had not grown, they were still babes, unable to be fed with meat. How easy do we forget, how much we need the oracles of God to be expounded, repeated time and again, how quickly we depart from the knowledge of God. The word for teachers didaskolos in it’s various forms occurs 176 times in the new testament and the Spirit of God is serious about the teaching, necessary for spiritual growth. No teaching, no teachers, no growth, this is the pattern which sadly is all too familiar today.
Inexperience in the word of God “For every one that uses milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness for he is a babe”. The word for unskilful is apeiros which is inexperience. Those who partake only milk just as in life are babes spiritually, and therefore lack the maturity of experience. Vine’s dictionary points to Zechariah 11 v15 of a shepherd unable for the task; to Jeremiah 2v6, of a land unoccupied as yet. They are untried, literally without testing, they cannot be trusted as yet for any task, they are in modern language “apprentices”. They are inexperienced in the word of righteousness, they are not ready to communicate this mighty doctrine as yet. The point is they should be, but have opted to remain babes feeding only on the milk the basic things of Christianity. Later in chapter 6 he will illustrate this, but for now they need the word of rebuke that they are not where God wants them to be. The challenge today is how many have chosen to remain babes, when real progress is open to us? Are we content to perpetuate kindergarten churches, instead of what we should be, universities of excellence where the deep things of God are enjoyed?
Insensitivity to the word of God “Strong meat belongs to them that are of full growth, who by reason of use have the senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” The Christian life is not about gaining information only; it is about putting that information into hard practice. It is about living it out in real life situations, it is about gaining experience in discerning good and evil, first in myself, then in others for the good of all. It is about exercising my understanding in practice, and proving God, putting the principles to the test. It is not about living in a fog. Not knowing where to go or what to do next. This is way beyond a mental exercise and equips a believer for true service and usefulness to God. It is to go beyond the spoon feeding stage and search for ourselves and prove the living God more and more. There will be no end to this process as we seek an unsearchable God. The ability to discern between good and evil requires a maturity that comes from feeding on strong meat, putting it to the test, exercising it, and finding the wisdom that comes alone from God’s word. This was evidently absent with these believers. Only the word defines good and defines evil and the practice of it enables the hearer to know the difference.
The section chapters 5-10 is dominated by the priestly work of Christ in comparison to the old Aaronic priesthood and establishes Christian worship as vastly superior. This beautiful exposition of the person of Christ is interspersed with warnings of failure to embrace Him.
Chapter 5 Christ greater in His office
Chapter 7 Christ greater in His person
Chapter 8 Christ the mediator of a better covenant
Chapter 9 Christ the minister of a better sanctuary
Chapter 10 Christ the presenter of a better sacrifice
This comprehensive comparison and contrast of the priesthood, calls for perseverance on the part of the readers in the face of opposition.
Chapter 5 Greater in His office
Verses 1-4 The office of high priest was held in great respect among all Hebrew worshippers, since he was their main link to God. We can discuss this office in terms of it’s mediation, it’s compassion, and it’s appointment. Taken together these three aspects cover the liturgy, the humanity and the authority of the high priest. He was very important in their lives.
Mediation
• “Taken from among men...”. He was no superman or witch doctor or part angel/ part man or religious guru, he was just an ordinary man.
• “Ordained for men in things pertaining to God...”. He operated for men as a kind of mediator, overseeing their worship, keeping it in line with Divine requirements. He had to pronounce on things like cleanliness, suitability of offerings/service/ritual of public worship and daily/weekly/monthly/annual services and special feasts.
• “..that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins...”. Gifts are grain and drink offerings, called “sweet savour offerings”; sacrifices were blood offerings and both were for sins. God could not be approached without sins (transgressions and shortcomings) being dealt with. He oversaw the acceptability of the offerings.
Compassion
• “..who can have compassion on the ignorant and them that are out of the way..”. Moses who had lived in the palace was not chosen as high priest, but Aaron who had experienced the hardship of slavery with the people. He must be compassionate and not authoritarian in his demeanour, recognising there was ignorance and also failure on the part of the worshipper. This would involve patient and compassionate instruction in the ways of God. Spiritual leaders should take note.
• “..for that he himself is compassed about with infirmity..”. He must be aware of his own shortcomings and not “lord” it over the people, whether in superiority in knowledge or high-mindedness, in the face of the failure of others. The new testament equivalent is in Galatians 6 v1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness considering thyself lest thou also be tempted.”
• “..as for the people so for himself to offer for sins.”. The high priest is a sinner like the people, so he must demonstrate humility and reverence as he offers for his own sins. This brings us into the realm of confession of sins today, a practice singularly lacking in churches as is evident by the lack of humility and reverence in religious gatherings.
Appointment
• “..no man taketh this honour to himself, but he that is called of God..”. It is an honour to serve God in this way and only Divine appointment will suffice to take on this work. No man should undertake a position in Divine things unless he is called of God. The high priests were appointed by rank of birth into the family of Aaron, it was a birthright, but because of departure, it became a political appointment. Similar patterns can be seen today to the detriment of God’s people.
Verses 5-10 He compares and contrasts the priesthood of Christ in the reverse order, which is a pattern in new testament writing.
Appointment
• “So Christ glorified not Himself to be made an high priest.....” He was called of God to a superior priesthood, the order of Melchisedek, which existed before the order of Aaron, and will outlast it, because it is forever. Also it combines the offices of King and Priest, which was forbidden in the old testament by Divine decree. Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 are cited in support of this claim. In both quotations it was the voice of God the Father, and His appointment is verified. Appointed by God as the great high priest, appointed to a higher order, appointed to perpetuity without the possibility of termination. There was no “order of Melchisedek”, as there was of Aaron, so the only one in the succession, in biblical revelation, were Melchisedek (none before) and Jesus (none after). In the matter of priestly service for God today there is none but Jesus.
Compassion
• His humanitarian qualifications are in perfect order as demonstrated when He was here. “Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death and was heard in that He feared (or for His piety)....” His compassion and true humanity are expressed here and the writer used the time of supreme suffering, the agony of Gethsemane, to prove His unparalleled worth to succour God’s people. All His life He was a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”, but here His suffering reached depths unknown as He contemplated the horror of Calvary and all it would mean. This was the culmination of His training for the priesthood, where He must fathom the depth of human sin. The record is of one, who, in the extremity of His soul, sought fellow human comfort and found none, prostrated Himself before His God, in the absolute weakness of His body, and anguish of soul. Strong crying and tears, which flowed at the grave of His friend Lazarus, and again over the eternal loss of Jerusalem, that privileged, but destitute city; now tears for Himself as He moved into “uncharted territory”(if we can respectfully say that of the omniscient one). He was heard “for His piety” (reverential fear of God). He was facing death (the life-giver), and so He prayed to the only one who could save Him. The astonishing conclusion of all this is “...though he were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things that He suffered.” The one who was commander of all heaven, in the days of His flesh learned obedience by humble submission to the will of God. All His life here was a preparation for His priesthood on our behalf. He knew weakness, fear, tears, dependency, suffering, all the things common to man, but His was magnified because of His mission on our behalf. As a result He is fully equipped to succour us through life’s trials.
Mediation
• His appointment was greater, His compassion was greater, and now His mediation is greater. The mediation of Aaron was effective for a while; it was not without flaws, and it had to be repeated daily, weekly, monthly, annually, and on special holy days. It finally fell into disrepute and disorder. The mediation of Christ is greater...”and being made perfect he became the author of eternal salvation unto all that obey Him...” Aaron’s priesthood was partial and temporal, and confined to Israel. Christ’s is complete and eternal and universal. He is the author (the originator) of eternal (never-ending) salvation (redemption and glorification). He is the high priest of impeccable character and incomparable glory. He is King-Priest, the order of Melchisedek, combining perfect authority with perfect humanity as no other could do.
Verses 11-14 Warning against lethargy
It is an outstanding feature of this sermon to the Hebrews, that the high and holy and beautiful teaching is interspersed with warnings, and these few verses continue that trend. The lovely expositions of the supremacy of the Son of God are in the overall context that God is speaking and because of the majesty of this revelation, the practical implications must not be taken lightly. We are not to become “sermon tasters”, but zealous hearers of this full and final word from God. There is a progression downward indicated in the book of the propensity within us to ignore the word of God, and the warning that we do so at our peril spiritually. In chapter 2vv1-4, the warning is against drifting... neglect of the word; in chapter 3v7-4v13 the warning is against disobedience.... hardness of heart; here in chapter 5 v11-6 v20 the warning is against dullness..... stagnation and lethargy; in chapter 10 v26-39 the warning is against disdain...wilfully reducing the work of Christ to the commonplace; in chapter 12 vv15-27 the warning is against defiance....turning away (apostasy) outright rejection of the word with eternal consequences. Departure from God is slow and progressive and the ultimate will prove the reality of each heart. Such is the nature of this revelation that none of us can afford to be half hearted, and the case here with the Hebrew believers appeared to be a dullness of hearing and consequent lack of growth. Once again the link between the word of God and growth in spiritual life is established. Once again it is clear that God wants His people to grow to full maturity. The clear indication from these verses is that we are either going forward or regressing.
These closing verses of chapter 5 deal with the danger of spiritual immaturity, and , while the immediate context applies to the ideological adherence to Judaism, the application is to all Christians to maintain spiritual growth.
Idleness in relation to the word of God v10-11 “Melchisedek, of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered seeing ye are dull of hearing”. The word for “dull” is northros which is repeated in chapter 6 v12 and translated “sluggish”. This word only appears in these verses in the new testament and thus we can see a particular literary segment under this description. The burden is of laziness in our attitude to the word of God. This is a common problem in the church today. There is a lethargy in our approach to God’s word, where we seem only to want to know the simpler, more basic aspects of the word, when difficult concepts of the word like Melchisedek, the symbolism of the tabernacle, the offerings, the prophesies, not to mention the great doctrines of salvation, etc. are neglected. It has been said that “there is a premium put on ignorance” today with the persistent clamour for simplicity, thus denying the Lord His right to bring His people to full maturity. This is nothing short of idleness and unworthy of the Lord. It is constantly overlooked the fact that we are to be diligent in the things of God (as enjoined in chapter 4 v11). In 1st Timothy 5 v17 Paul speaks of those who “labour in the word and doctrine”...that is labour to the point of exhaustion, the opposite of idleness. Such is the nature of God’s word to us we are encouraged in Proverbs 2 vv1-4 to “incline our ears to wisdom, to apply our hearts to understanding, to cry after knowledge, to lift up our voice for understanding, to seek her as silver, to search after her as for hid treasures.” Hardly the language of idleness. The appetite of the people of God is waning and will inevitably lead to loss of health.
Inability to teach the word of God “When for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God”. No doubt he is addressing the leaders of the communities to whom he is writing and reveals local knowledge of the state of things. They have gone backward in the time that has elapsed since their conversion, and instead of teaching they need to be taught the elementary principles. The term “oracles of God” reminds us of the reverence due to His word, in that they are more than just any words they are authoritative words which proclaim the very character of God and thus must be taken seriously. Spiritual leaders ought to be “apt to teach” and enough time has passed and enough enlightenment has been given, but indolence has eroded the zeal for the word. In 1st Corinthians 4, Paul had a similar complaint against the church there. He had spent 18 months teaching the word of God among them, and Apollos had followed him giving them a further grounding in the scriptures; yet four years or so on they had not grown, they were still babes, unable to be fed with meat. How easy do we forget, how much we need the oracles of God to be expounded, repeated time and again, how quickly we depart from the knowledge of God. The word for teachers didaskolos in it’s various forms occurs 176 times in the new testament and the Spirit of God is serious about the teaching, necessary for spiritual growth. No teaching, no teachers, no growth, this is the pattern which sadly is all too familiar today.
Inexperience in the word of God “For every one that uses milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness for he is a babe”. The word for unskilful is apeiros which is inexperience. Those who partake only milk just as in life are babes spiritually, and therefore lack the maturity of experience. Vine’s dictionary points to Zechariah 11 v15 of a shepherd unable for the task; to Jeremiah 2v6, of a land unoccupied as yet. They are untried, literally without testing, they cannot be trusted as yet for any task, they are in modern language “apprentices”. They are inexperienced in the word of righteousness, they are not ready to communicate this mighty doctrine as yet. The point is they should be, but have opted to remain babes feeding only on the milk the basic things of Christianity. Later in chapter 6 he will illustrate this, but for now they need the word of rebuke that they are not where God wants them to be. The challenge today is how many have chosen to remain babes, when real progress is open to us? Are we content to perpetuate kindergarten churches, instead of what we should be, universities of excellence where the deep things of God are enjoyed?
Insensitivity to the word of God “Strong meat belongs to them that are of full growth, who by reason of use have the senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” The Christian life is not about gaining information only; it is about putting that information into hard practice. It is about living it out in real life situations, it is about gaining experience in discerning good and evil, first in myself, then in others for the good of all. It is about exercising my understanding in practice, and proving God, putting the principles to the test. It is not about living in a fog. Not knowing where to go or what to do next. This is way beyond a mental exercise and equips a believer for true service and usefulness to God. It is to go beyond the spoon feeding stage and search for ourselves and prove the living God more and more. There will be no end to this process as we seek an unsearchable God. The ability to discern between good and evil requires a maturity that comes from feeding on strong meat, putting it to the test, exercising it, and finding the wisdom that comes alone from God’s word. This was evidently absent with these believers. Only the word defines good and defines evil and the practice of it enables the hearer to know the difference.
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