In order for you to clearly see these parallels, here then
is the short account of the "Last Supper", taken from the
Gospel of Luke:

"And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve
apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have
desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I
say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be
fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and
gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among
yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the
fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And
he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto
them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this
do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper,
saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is
shed for you."
(Luke 22:14-20, KJV)

Thus we see that just as Jesus had done with His Disciples,
so likewise He had done with Abraham several thousands of
years before. It is my belief that it is because of this
event found in the Book of Genesis, that the Lord made the
following mysterious comment to the unbelieving Jewish
Elders:

"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it,
and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet
fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I
am."
(John 8:56-58, KJV)

In his old age, Abraham was indeed blessed to see Jesus
Christ ruling as the eternal Melchizedek; the King of Salem,
and the High Priest of God. Only four chapters later, in
Genesis chapter eighteen, we again discover that the Lord
appeared to Abraham with two of His Angels in the plain of
Mamre, just prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
You will find this incident discussed in more detail in such
articles as "Homosexuality And Lesbianism: To The Point!".
Returning to Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, Paul then goes
on to explain the unique status of Melchizedek; for you see,
He was a Hight Priest when as yet the Levitical priesthood
had not even come into existence! That event wouldn't occur
until three generations later when the twelve sons of Jacob
would be born; which of course would include Levi, the
Patriarchal Father of the Levitical priesthood:

"Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the
patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. And verily
they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of
the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the
people according to the law, that is, of their brethren,
though they come out of the loins of Abraham: But he whose
descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham,
and blessed him that had the promises . . . And as I may so
say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in
Abraham. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when
Melchisedec met him."
(Hebrews 7:4-6, 9-10, KJV)

It is following the previous explanation that the Apostle
Paul finally reveals the gist of the matter; that of course
being that the Levitical priesthood, and the keeping of the
Mosaic Law, is by no means a sufficient cause for making us
worthy of Eternal Salvation:

"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? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of
necessity a change also of the law."
(Hebrews 7:11-12, KJV)

Paul then provides us with an answer and a solution by
saying that the Levitical priesthood and the Mosaic Law were
simply foreshadows of better things to come; those things
being a new High Priest with a New Covenant, which would
disannul, or void, the former priesthood and the Old Law:

"And it is yet far more evident: for that after the
similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, Who
is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but
after the power of an endless life. For he testifieth, Thou
art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. For
there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going
before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For
the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a
better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God."
(Hebrews 7:15-19, KJV)

Further on in this same chapter, Paul again emphasizes that
our new High Priest, Jesus Christ, has introduced a better
Testament, or Covenant; and an unchangeable, or immutable,
Eternal Priesthood; and that by offering up Himself as the
Ultimate and Final Sacrifice, He has voided the need for any
further sacrifice for sin; for through belief in Him alone,
we can now inherit Eternal Life:

"By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
And they truly were many priests, because they were not
suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man,
because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that
come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them. For such an high priest became us,
who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and
made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as
those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own
sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when
he offered up himself."
(Hebrews 7:22-27, KJV)

To sum up the main points of his discourse concerning
Melchizedek, the Eternal High Priest of God, Paul then
offers the following comments:

"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We
have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of
the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; . . . But now hath
he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he
is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established
upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been
faultless, then should no place have been sought for the
second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the
land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant,
and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their
mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them
a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not
teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least
to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath
made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old
is ready to vanish away."
(Hebrews 8:1, 6-13, KJV)

Having revealed these wonderful truths to us, in the ninth
chapter of his Epistle to the Hebrews, Paul continues to
reiterate the fact that the Mosaic Law and the old Levitical
priesthood have been done away with, and replaced by the
final Blood Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Eternal High
Priest of God, who is the Mediator of the New Testament, or
agreement, between God and man:

"For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an
heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying
of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to
God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new
testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the
transgressions that were under the first testament, they
which are called might receive the promise of eternal
inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of
necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is
of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength
at all while the testator liveth . . . Nor yet that he
should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into
the holy place every year with blood of others; For then
must he often have suffered since the foundation of the
world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is
appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and
unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time
without sin unto salvation."
(Hebrews 9:13-17, 25-28, KJV)

Having now firmly established without a shadow of a doubt
the Divine Sonship of Jesus Christ, and the Priestly Office
which He holds, we are now going to leave aside the issues
of Melchizedek and the Sacrifice of Christ, and discuss
another issue which is directly related to some of the
Scriptures and topics I have already covered in this series.

Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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