Hebrews 7:11-15
 
Heb 7:11 (KJB)
If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
 
Perfection - Completion or finishing of anything
 
A major question to the readers in that if the Levitical priesthood was able to effect salvation in the lives of who it interceded for, then there would have been no further need for another priesthood. The priesthood of Aaron could have continued in perpetuity and would have been sufficient to bring salvation to all those who brought sacrifices and obeyed the dictates of the law by bringing the proper thank offerings or sin offerings. If the law was able to be an end in itself, bringing people to perfect standing before the Lord, then an eternal priesthood would not have been necessary since there would always be someone to fill the shoes of a priest when one would die.
 
Heb 7:12 (KJB)
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
 
Being changed - Translate, transpose, or carry over
Changed - Change of position or transfer
 
The Mosaic law is very intimate with the Levitical priesthood and now since the priesthood is being changed from the earthly priesthood to one that was akin to the eternal nature of the priesthood of Melchisedec. With this type of change, the new priesthood could not be legislated from the old order of Aaronic priesthood but a new method would have to be installed. It is going back to the Lord’s statement of putting new wine into old wineskins. (Mat 9:17 KJV) Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. The new priesthood must have a new foundation and this we will see shortly.
 
Heb 7:13 (KJB)
For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
The tribe in question here is the tribe of Judah. All the priests came from the tribe of Levi but now there is going to be a change in the priestly tribe. This also signals the end of the Levitical priesthood forever. No longer will those who are being saved go to the priest and offer an animal sacrifice as those were nothing but a foreshadow which could not save anyway. The High Priest was of Aaron’s line but now the Lord Jesus Christ being our High Priest was of the tribe of Judah, of which no one in the past came forth to be a High Priest.
 
Heb 7:14 (KJB)
For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
 
Evident - Open, manifest, or clear
 
When the genealogies are looked at in both Matthew and Luke, it becomes very clear that the Lord Jesus Christ did not come from the priestly tribe of Levi but came from the tribe of Judah. (Gen 49:10 KJV) The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. The prophecy of the Lord coming from Judah went back as far as Genesis. The Lord being in the line of David was qualified to be the Messiah but because He was not born in Levi, this disqualified Him from holding any type of priestly office. He had to be born outside of Levi because if a change of priesthood was evident, then if He came from within Levi, then no change would take place. Since He came through the tribe of Judah, the change was complete including a change of tribe and priesthood.
 
Heb 7:15 (KJB)
And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
 
Evident - Very clear or quite plain
The similitude - Likeness or in the same way
Ariseth - Raised up or appears
 
The writer continues the thought from the previous verse that even though Moses had mentioned nothing about any priests coming from the tribe of Judah, yet it is extremely evident that the Lord Jesus Christ, who was an eternal priest after the order of Melchisedec, sprang out of the tribe of Judah thus effecting a change in the priesthood forever. No longer is the temple system valid, it has been done away with since it was an earthly priesthood and replaced by the eternal.

Back