The Book of Hebrews – Heb 1:1-2 “Kingship and Priesthood” Part 1

[Study Aired May 7, 2020]

Heb 1:1  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 
Heb 1:2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 

The book of Hebrews, as with all the books of the bible, was written for the elect’s sake to help prepare us to be partakers of the kingship and priesthood to which God has called us.

That preparedness happens as a result of being sanctified by God’s word (Joh 17:17, Col 1:24, Rev 19:7-8, Joh 6:44), something that Christ has already experienced and accomplished for our sakes who are called to be cleansed by the blood of the Lamb (Joh 1:29-30, 1Jn 4:17-18) “when he had by himself purged our sins” of Hebrews 1:3. (Rev 1:6-7, Heb 12:1-4, Rev 5:10).

When we are cleansed by the word of God, it becomes more and more spiritually evident how all things are ours (1Co 3:21) and how as He is so are we of (1Jn 4:17) really applies to us. The book of Hebrews is all about helping us understand the liberty we have in Christ and the ongoing continual obligation we have to be bound to the altar as kings and priests who are growing in our ability to minister to one another as we are being prepared to one day cover a “multitude of sin” without which are first being covered within us as we boldly come before the throne of grace (Jas 5:20) to obtain that mercy that we need today (Heb 4:16, 1Pe 4:8, 1Jn 3:20, Rev 7:9-15).

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: [1Pe 4:17] because as he is, so are we in this world.

Jas 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

1Pe 4:8  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

1Jn 3:18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1Jn 3:19  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
1Jn 3:20  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
1Jn 3:21  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God [Heb 4:16].

God the Father is actually the one cleansing us from our sins, through Christ, as we are dragged to Him (Joh 6:44), and Christ is now in the process of cleansing us from our sin as He upholds “all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Because Christ has conquered the world within “when he had by himself purged our sins” (Joh 5:30),  we can have great peace in knowing that through Him we can do the same thing.

(God’s judgment in our lives is the necessary event that must happen to us today in order to have the peace that Christ speaks about in these following verses.)

Joh 16:32  Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
Joh 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Joh 14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Joh 14:28  Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

Being sanctified by His word:

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church [Col 1:24 shows us that the suffering and sanctifying are connected “Sanctify them through thy truth”]:

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice [Php 4:4], and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white [“Sanctify them through thy truth”]: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment [1Pe 4:17]: because as he is, so are we in this world.
1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Fear is overcome through the judgment of putting off our flesh and perfecting love within us as we are healed by His judgments in our earth (Psa 107:20). Those judgments sanctify us in this age as the bride of Christ so we can learn of His righteousness, typified by the fine linen He has granted us (Rev 19:8). The abundance God gives to his elect of His righteousness is typified for us in the story of Joseph, both with the messes of food which was “five times so much as any of theirs” and the “three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment” (Gen 43:34). “To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment” of Genesis 45:22 reminds us that all men will be saved, and that these brothers, who in this instance represent the unconverted masses, are beloved for the gospel’s sake (1Co 15:22, Rom 11:28). That fine linen will be needed (Rev 3:18) so that we can be sent to heal the nations without one day (Isa 26:9, Joh 20:21).

Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Joh 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. [1Jn 4:17]
Joh 1:30  This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

The natural precedes the spiritual (1Co 15:46), and we are like Christ in this world (1Jn 4:17) and John the baptist represents the natural that precedes the spiritual man Christ. Notice however John says “for he was before me” which tells us that our lives were predestined before the foundation of the world to be those saviours who would come up on mount Zion (Oba 1:21)]

Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 1:7  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Our “kingship and priesthood” are connected with our understanding and confident conviction of heart [Php 1:6, Heb 10:35] that God is sending that great cloud of witnesses through the church into our hearts and minds today (Eph 3:10) so that we can begin to see him for who He, Christ is, and by extension who we are with our hope of glory within (Col 1:27) which is being revealed by the brightness of His coming that is destroying our old man of sin who is typified by “all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen” that are within us. Our hearts, like Mary the mother of Jesus, must be pierced in order to be that great cloud of witnesses tomorrow that will be used to judge the mount of Esau. Those saviours that come up on mount Zion are the kingship and priesthood (Rev 5:10) which will be used to reveal many hearts or save many alive (Oba 1:21, Luk 2:35, Gen 50:20).

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with Glory, Praise, Raised, Kings, Priests,so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us [how this is done! Heb 10:22-25, so we can all do this 1Ti 3:9], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, [Luk 21:19]
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds [Rev 12:9-11, Rom 8:1].

Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Resisting unto blood

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood [how this is done! Heb 13:13, Col 1:24, Luk 13:33, Eph 2:6, 1Co 15:31, Heb 10:22], striving against sin.

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach [Gal 6:2].

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Luk 13:33  Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Heb 10:22  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Rev 5:10  And hast madesup^{G4160 [G5656]} us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the  earth.

The book of Hebrews will reveal to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear (1Co 2:9-10, Mat 13:16-17) that the things revealed to those prophets of old “at many times and in many ways” of vs 1 [ESV] throughout the old covenant, and more specifically the book of Leviticus, are clearly connected with the book of Hebrews. God’s elect today help us to be sober in these last days, which have been the last days for all those since that post-resurrection Pentecost of Christ who have been given the gift of grace and faith through God’s holy spirit so that we can understand how all these ancient rituals of the Jewish priesthood are connected to the inward Jew that we are today (1Pe 1:12-13, Rom 2:28-29).

1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see [“at many times and in many ways” ESV], and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. [“at many times and in many ways” (ESV)]

1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
1Pe 1:13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1Pe 1:14  As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Heb 1:1  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

The prophets of old typify the elect and were a type and shadow of the first fruits who are the first to hear Christ’s voice in this age (Jas 1:18). We are now able to see and hear as we are saved – “by grace are ye saved through faith” (Eph 2:8) – and learn from those patient prophets of old (Jas 5:10 Luk 21:19-20, 2Th 2:8) who were not prophesying unto themselves but to us. All these events of old were types and shadows of God’s elect, His kings and priests, read in Hebrews 11:1-40 and recorded for our benefit. The very few who would be called and chosen in this age and given to understand that the sanctification process we’re going through comes as a result of much tribulation which, in this instance, is very clearly detailed in Hebrews 11:1-40. (Mat 22:14, Act 14:22).

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.
Luk 21:20  And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Heb 1:2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

The manifold knowledge of God is made known through the church in these “last days” (Eph 3:10) through the many or manifold parts of that body, each joint supplying in love (Eph 4:16), typified by how “In the past God spoke to our people through the prophets. He spoke to them many times and in many different ways” (ERV).

The new heaven and the new earth (Rev 21:1), or the new world, are being fashioned within the body of Christ today, so when we read “by whom also he made the worldsG165″ it is speaking of an age of becoming a new creation for God’s people as all the sins of world within us are overcome through Christ (1Jn 2:16) and is typified through those worlds of old that were already created by Christ “by whom also he made the worlds“.

G165 aiōn ahee-ohn’
From the same as G104; properly an age; by extension perpetuity (also past); by implication the world; specifically (Jewish) a Messianic period (present or future): – age, course, eternal, (for) ever (-more), [n-]ever, (beginning of the, while the) world (began, without end). Compare G5550.

Christ is the One whom our Father “hath appointed heir of all things” to the end that through the church of which Christ is the head (Col 1:18) we can all go on to perfection on the third day or first resurrection (Luk 13:32, Rev 20:6), and then be used of God as kings and priests who will be instrumental in bringing about the “all in all” spoken of in 1Corinthians 15:28.

1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

We are also joint heirs with Christ if we suffer with Him (Rom 8:17), and that heritage of the saints was typified in the promises passed down through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Gen 22:17, Gal 4:28, Gen 32:28, Gal 6:16, Pro 22:1).

Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Gen 22:17  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed [Gal 3:16] shall possess the gate of his enemies;

Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

Gen 32:28  And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Pro 22:1  A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the next four verses of this chapter which are primarily concerned with giving us some perspective as to how great Christ is and what He can and has and will accomplish through those who have been called in this age to be part of this holy “kingship and priesthood”.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Heb 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Heb 1:4  Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Heb 1:5  For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
Heb 1:6  And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.