| Author | Message | ||
| Bskillet Registered user Username: Bskillet Post Number: 212 Registered: 8-2008 |
So I was reading Gen. 14 the other day. I like using my copy of The Books of the Bible. This is a TNIV translation that removes chapter and verse numbering and section headings, which did not appear in the original text. I have enjoyed reading the OT with this Bible, since you get a much better feel for the passion in the underlying text. In the case of the story of Abraham, I really came away this time with much more of a realization of Abraham's underlying trepidation and struggle, learning to walk by faith and not by sight. Anyway, I was reading Gen. 14, which contains the story of Abraham rescuing Lot from imprisonment. As Abraham comes back, he meets up with Melchizedek, King of Salem and Priest of the Most High God. The Book of Hebrews points to Melchizedek as a type of Christ (some say he was actually an appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ, but I'm not sure I agree). Jesus is High Priest of the order of the Melchizedekian priesthood, not the Aaronic or Levitical priesthood, according to Hebrews 7. This fact is central to understanding the Old and New Covenants. The Aaronic priesthood mediated the Old Covenant. If, as SDAs and other Judaizers, affirm, the New Covenant is merely the re-statement of the Old Covenant of Sinai, then Jesus could not be our High Priest. But I digress. What stood out at me for the first time in this chapter is what Melchizedek feeds Abraham: Bread and wine. These, of course, are the components of the Lord's Supper. It was that night that Abraham is promised a son of his own flesh, and we read for the first time the words of the Everlasting Covenant: "Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness" (Gen. 15:6). Paul writes in Romans, and especially Galatians, that it is central that the Everlasting or Abrahamic Covenant of imputed righteousness from faith, preceded the Sinaiatic Covenant of righteousness by works. He says in Galatians 3:15-18: My point is this: The New Covenant is not derived from, or dependent upon, the Old Covenant, but as Paul shows, the Old Covenant is dependent on the New/Abrahamic Covenant of imputed righteousness, with the Old Covenant of the Law being in place to guard us until the New Covenant could be inaugurated fully in the blood of Jesus Christ. Likewise, this meal of bread and wine between Abraham and Melchizedek made me realize something: The Lord's Supper was not derivative from the Passover, but the other way around. Just as a meal of bread and wine was eaten before the introduction of the Abrahamic Covenant, so a meal of bread and wine was eaten shortly before the inauguration, in blood, of the Covenant, which was the death of Christ on the cross. Today, we eat the Lord's Supper to symbolize Christ's act in sealing the New Covenant with His blood, and thus providing, by His action and not ours, our complete and completed redemeption, the removal of our sins, and the imputation of His righteousness, so that in Him we have peace with God. Likewise, Abraham paid tithe to Melchizedek after, not before, he ate the bread and the wine, indicating that the tithing systems and religions rituals of the Levitical system came after, not before, the Everlasting Covenant, and were never a basis for, or means of, salvation for mankind. We are saved only by Jesus Christ, our Everlasting Passover, who was slain for us. (Message edited by bskillet on February 21, 2009) | ||
| Jrt Registered user Username: Jrt Post Number: 73 Registered: 10-2008 |
BSkillet, WOW, thank you for taking the time to put all this down . . . Amazing . . . I am going to have to reread this over again. . JRT | ||
| Jeremiah Registered user Username: Jeremiah Post Number: 424 Registered: 1-2004  |
This is Ignatius of Antioch in his letter to the Magnesian Christians, chapter 10 verse 3. It is quoted from the translation found here; http://www.amazon.com/Apostolic-Fathers-Jack-N-Sparks/dp/0840756615 Jeremiah | ||
| 8thday Registered user Username: 8thday Post Number: 716 Registered: 11-2007  |
Very sweet insight bskillet. I have seen a glimpse of that too, but you developed it further. Awesome, and I will be tucking this away for future reference. Sondra |
