Page 12 - September 2026 - Truth & Tidings

he Lord Jesus Christ, who saved us fellowship was maintained by offerings of
through His finished work upon thanksgiving and praise; fellowship was
Tthe cross, has not left us to travel restored by confession and the sacrificial
to heaven on our own. He now supports shedding of blood to cover sin.
and sustains us on the journey home. This The sacrifice of Christ upon the cross
is His present and ongoing work at God’s was the once-for-all perfect answer to sin
right hand. and sins (Heb 9:26-28), the root and the
When we stray, we need a shepherd; fruit of man’s disobedience before God.
when we struggle, we need a priest; when The Old Testament Levitical system fore-
we sin, we need an advocate; and when shadowed that which was to come. In the
we sorrow, we need a friend. He is our Epistle to the Hebrews, it is made clear
Great Shepherd, our Great High Priest, that the recurrent sacrifices and shedding
our Righteous Advocate and our Faithful of the blood of bulls and of goats could
Friend. Truly, Christ is all of these and never take away sins, “but this man, after
more. he had offered one sacrifice for sins for
The Priesthood of Aaron ever, sat down on the right hand of God”
(Heb 10:12). Christ’s sacrifice completely
1
Whereas the Old Testament prophet satisfied God. He was both the sinless of-
represented a holy God before man, the ferer and the perfect offering for a sinful
priest represented sinful man before God. world.
Aaron was the first high priest appointed
in Israel. As such, he typifies Christ as our The Priesthood of Melchisedec
Great High Priest with several significant The writer to the Hebrews introduces
differences and human limitations. Aaron his readers to another person of note
at times revealed that he was carnal and called Melchisedec. (All Scripture refer-
he sinned (Exo 32:2-6,22-25); he was also ences in this section are from the Hebrews
mortal and died (Num 33:39). His term epistle, unless stated otherwise.) Melchi-
of office was temporary and another re- sedec is described historically in the book
placed him. In his service in the tabernacle, of Genesis, when he strengthened the
particularly on the annual Day of Atone- battle-wearied patriarch, Abraham, at a
ment, Aaron acted exclusively on behalf time of need and vulnerability (Gen 14:17-
of the nation of Israel. In broad terms, his
duties showed a pattern of service and sac- 1 Bible quotations in this article are from the
rifice as a way of approaching a holy God: KJV.

268 TRUTH kTidings Sepember 2026