Thu May 21

Listen up, little ones

Especially for the littles in your household.

Listen for the words Melchizedek and priest.

Reading

Hebrews 7:1-10—This Melchizedek

Optional Reading

Genesis 14:17-24

Keys for kids

Also for the littles. Young households might choose, after Keys for Kids, to go directly to praise and prayer.

Melchizedek is an OT priest/king.
We don’t know much about him.
We do know he pointed to Jesus as our priest/king.

Questions

(Some read the ?s before the notes/ ask them after.)

What are we told about Melchizedek?
In what ways is Melchizedek like Jesus?
How do we know Melchizedek is greater than Abraham & Levi?

Notes

(See Saturday for authors.)

Hebrews has introduced this priest Melchizedek briefly so far. The author realized that his audience—these Hebrew Christians—weren’t ready to grasp Jesus being a high priest in the order of Melchizedek. After calling them to maturity and warning them against falling away, he now tells them more about this priest.

The Old Testament tells us very little about Melchizedek. Genesis 14:17-20 gives us the same information our reading here begins with. He is identified as a priest to God most High. He blesses Abraham and declares God’s praise. Finally Abraham gives Melchizedek a tenth of all the plunder of his battle. Levi—the father of all the OT priests, in a figurative sense, paid a tithe through his great grandfather Abraham’s tithe.

Hebrews tells us more. This priest/king is both king of righteousness (that is what the name Melchizedek means) and king of peace. Further the Holy Spirit inspired the writer of the Genesis record to leave out any details of Melchizedek’s birth or death or parentage. Gooding notes that all this information is withheld, so the writer believes, by the Holy Spirit in order to make the record of this priestly prototype of our Lord point to actual features in the Son of God who in reality had no beginning of days nor end of life.

So we have a priest resembling the Son of God. And, we have the Son of God, a greater priest whom we need and the king of righteousness and peace. Is He your priest? Your King?

Swedish Method questions

See the Sunday notes for meaning of the symbols.

Praise

Psalm 90a, 111a

Prayer

Give thanks for Jesus as King of righteousness and peace.
Pray for the preparation for preaching God’s Word this Lord's Day.
Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.