Thanks for a couple of good questions on Sunday. Here are a couple more that we didn’t get to…
Question 1 “Why was it only the line of Aaron that was to be priests?”
This question refers to Hebrews 5:4 “No-one takes this honour upon himself; he must be called by God just as Aaron was”. The honour being referred to is that of being High Priest, the first of whom was Moses’ brother Aaron (see Leviticus 8-10). The fact is that all descendants of Levi were eligible to be priests in Israel. Aaron was a great grandson of Levi. According to Leviticus 8-10 Aaron was chosen and ordained (set apart) as the first High Priest and his sons were also set apart. Leviticus 16:32 makes it clear that future high priests were to be chosen from among Aaron’s descendants. As for why God chose Aaron for this role, sorry, no clear answer is given.
Question 2 “Hebrews 2:7 says “you crowned him with glory and honour…” Does this refer to the believer as well as Jesus and man before the fall?”
Good question. “Bruce” is quoting Psalm 8 – a Psalm that reflects on the glory of creation and of mankind as the “jewel in creation’s crown”. But of course Bruce’s point is that because of sin “at present we do not see everything subject to him” (Hebrews 2:8). But we see Jesus “now crowned with glory and honour” (Hebrews 2:9). Your question though is “what about us? Are we also crowned with glory and honour?” The answer is “Yes/but not yet!” The Yes part of the answer is due to our connection with Jesus. Just as he has gone through the heavens (Hebrews 4:14) and has brought many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10) so there is a sense in which we are already seated with him (Ephesians 2:6-7). But experience tells us that there is also a “not yet” dimension to this truth! The key for us (as it was for the Hebrews) in this “now but not yet” time is to fix our thoughts on Jesus and hold on to the hope we profess (Hebrews 3:1-6). If we do that then our corown of glory and honour is “in the bag”!
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