Tag: priest

Categories
Psalms Devotionals

A prayer to our Priest and King

Psalms

Jesus, you were David’s Lord, and you are my Lord. (Matthew 22:41-45)

You sit at your Father’s right hand, and you reign. (Hebrews 1:3, 8:1, 10:12, 12:2)

Not only that, you are my priest forever. You are able to save me completely because you always live to intercede for me. (Hebrews 7:24-25)

So Lord, I freely offer myself to you in this spiritual war we are in.

We are not fighting people. But we are fighting spiritual forces that would destroy people. (Ephesians 6:12)

Use me today to touch those around me with your love.

Here I am, Lord. Send me.

In your name, amen.

Categories
Jeremiah Devotionals

Is God punishing us?

Jeremiah

In the midst of this Corona virus crisis, I occasionally hear from Christian circles that this is God’s judgment on people for their sin.

Is that true? Is God punishing us?

I wouldn’t rule out that there is some aspect to God’s judgment in all this. He has used plague in the past as judgment (see Egypt in the book of Exodus, for example), and he will use it in the future (see Revelation).

That said, I wouldn’t dogmatically say, “This is God’s judgment on the world!”

What I will say is that we Christians, as God’s people, should never think that God is punishing us in order to destroy us.

One thing you see in this passage is that there is a clear distinction between judgment to destroy and judgment to discipline. God will sometimes punish his people in order to discipline them. 

That he makes clear in verse 11 where he says,

I will bring destruction on all the nations
where I have scattered you;
however, I will not bring destruction on you.

I will discipline you justly,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished. (Jeremiah 30:11)

Here you see the clear distinction between those who are God’s people and those who are not.

Just as God ultimately judged Israel’s conquerors Assyria and Babylon for all their sins, so he will judge all those who reject him.

But God’s promise to Israel, and to all who are all God’s people, is that though he may discipline us, he will not destroy us. And ultimately, he will restore us. (17)

How is it possible that he shows us such grace? Because of Jesus. And in this passage, we see the promise of his first coming.

God told the Israelites,

Jacob’s leader will be one of them;
his ruler will issue from him.

I will invite him to me, and he will approach me,
for who would otherwise risk his life to approach me?

This is the LORD’s declaration. (Jeremiah 30:21)

The interesting thing about this leader is that he would act not only as king, but as priest.

The language of approaching God is the same that God uses of a priest approaching him.

With rare exception, none but the high priest ever did dare approach God in the Old Testament.

And as the high priest did on the Day of Atonement (Levlticus 17), Jesus approached the Father with blood to atone for all our sins.

But Jesus didn’t come with the blood of bulls and goats. He came with his own blood shed on the cross.

And because of that, God can now say the same thing of us that he said of the Israelites,

You will be my people,
and I will be your God. (Jeremiah 30:22)

One final thing on God’s wrath. Jeremiah said concerning the nations that had conquered Israel,

Look, a storm from the LORD!

Wrath has gone out,
a churning storm.

The LORD’s burning anger will not turn back
until he has completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart. (Jeremiah 30:23-24)

Again, both Assyria and Babylon faced God’s full wrath and were overthrown.

But remember this: the Lord’s burning anger did eventually turn back when he completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart.

God’s wrath turned back after the full storm of it was poured out on Jesus on the cross.

And when it was done, Jesus said, “It is finished. All your purposes have been fulfilled, Father. I have paid the price for sin.”

So as God’s people, even if you may be struggling in these difficult times, remember that God is not punishing you. Jesus took all of the Father’s wrath on himself, and there is no wrath left for you.

God may discipline you, and you may go through the fire of refinement. But remember the words of Job, and hold on to them.

Yet he knows the way I have taken;
when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold. (Job 23:10) 

Categories
Jeremiah Devotionals

A prayer

Jeremiah

O Lord, you chose me before you formed me in the womb.

You knew me, and set me apart before I was born.

You called me as your child, and as your priest, declaring your praises to the nations. (John 1:12; 1 Peter 2:9)

I will go to everyone you send me and speak whatever you tell me.

Fill my mouth with your words.

Use me to uproot and tear down Satan’s strongholds, to destroy and demolish them. (2 Corinthians 10:4:5)

Use me to build and plant your kingdom in the lives of those around me.

For I believe you will watch over your word to fulfill it. What you say, you will do.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

Categories
Hebrews

King of righteousness, King of peace, our Priest forever

Hebrews

Merry Christmas from Japan, everyone.

As we remember Christ today, I suppose it’s only appropriate to read this passage and remember just who he is. And he is far more than a baby in a manger.

The writer of Hebrews calls him a king and priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek was a character who “mysteriously” appears and disappears in Genesis 14.

I say this not in a supernatural way, but unlike most characters we see in the Bible, we see nothing of his genealogy.

We don’t know who his parents or children were. We see nothing recorded of his birth or death. He just appears in the story of Abraham, and then we never see him again.

As far as we know, he could still be living (although he most certainly isn’t).

And in Melchizedek, the writer of Hebrews sees a picture of Christ.

Melchizedek’s name meant, “King of Righteousness.”

He was also the king of Salem, a city whose name means “peace.” (It would later become Jerusalem).

And of course, in Jesus we see him who is the true king of righteousness and peace.

More, just as Melchizedek’s genealogy  and very death is unknown, Jesus himself, though he had an earthly genealogy, lived much further back in eternity before the world even began.

And having been raised from the dead, he will live forever, never to die again.

Why is this important? Because he has also become our priest forever.

Back in the Old Testament under Mosaic law, there were many priests that came from the tribe of Levi. They served under a covenant that God made with the people, that if they would keep his commandments, he would be their God and they would be his people.

Why then do we need another priest if God’s law had already provided one, and not just one, but many throughout the years?

Because the covenant was imperfect.

In what way was it imperfect?

It was imperfect in that nobody could keep it perfectly, and could thus only bring judgment on those who were under it.

The priests themselves were imperfect. Day after day, they had to offer sacrifices for their own sins before they could offer sins for the people.

And even the sacrifices they offered were imperfect. As the writer will point out later, if they had been perfect, we would have had no more need for sacrifices. One would have been enough.

But the priests needed to offer the sacrifices day by day because they were insufficient to cover our sins.

So the writer of Hebrews tells us that we needed a better way to have a relationship with God and a better priest.

And both are found in Jesus. He was greater than all the other priests in several ways.

First, his “lineage.” He was of the spiritual line of Melchizedek, who blessed Abraham himself.

The writer of Hebrews points out that the greater is always the one that blesses the lesser, and so the priesthood of Melchizedek is greater than that which comes through Abraham’s descendant Levi. (4-10)

But more, God made an oath to Jesus that he made to no other priest. He said,

The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’ (21)

In that promise we see a third reason. Jesus was made a priest, not simply based on some law that said he had to be a descendant of Levi, but he was made a priest based on “indestructible life.” (16)

And so the writer of Hebrews tells us that now,

a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. (19)

In what way do we have a better hope?

Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. The writer of Hebrews explains.

Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Such a high priest meets our need–one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. (Hebrews 7:23-26)

Jesus offered one sacrifice for all time by dying on the cross for our sins. And because it was a perfect sacrifice, our salvation is complete. All we need to do now is put our trust in Him. (27)

That’s the hope we have.

So this Christmas, let us praise the King who makes us righteous before God because of his sacrifice, who brings us peace with God, and who remains our priest forever.

Merry Christmas!

Categories
Psalms

Our King and Priest

Psalms

Today, we see one of the most famous Messianic psalms.  Jesus, himself quoted Psalm 110 in posing a puzzle to the Pharisees (Matthew 22:41-45).

And here, Yahweh (the LORD, that is, God the Father) says to the Messiah (David’s Lord),

Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.  (Psalm 110:1)

In ancient times, a victorious king would put his foot on his defeated enemy’s neck.  And so God promises victory to Jesus over his enemies, and that his rule would extend throughout the earth, even over those who would rebel against him.  (2)

But in verse 4, we see that Jesus is not only a king, but a priest as well.

Jesus, however, is not an Aaronic priest.  Rather, God the Father decrees him as a priest in the order of Melchizedek, who was both a king and priest in the time of Abraham.

Although David was a great king, and though at times he did things that priests did (offering sacrifices and blessing people in the name of the Lord) as did his son Solomon, neither were truly priests.

But Jesus is both our King and Priest.  And unlike the Aaronic priesthood, his priesthood will last forever because he himself is from everlasting to everlasting (Hebrews 7:24).

In verse 6, it goes on to say that in the last days, he will judge the nations.  On that day, each person will have to stand before his throne to be judged.

The good news is that as our high priest, he is also the one interceding on our behalf before the Father.  And so we don’t need to come before God with fear.  Rather, as the writer of Hebrews puts it,

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.  (Hebrews 4:16)

Lord Jesus, thank you that not only are you my King and Lord, and not only are you my judge, but you are my high priest as well.  

Thank you that you intercede for me daily, and that by your blood shed on the cross, my sins have been wiped clean.  Thank you for all that you’ve done.  

But more than that, thank you for being who you are.  In your name I pray, amen.