What is the meaning of Hebrews 7:20? And none of this happened without an oath The writer points back to Jesus’ appointment as High Priest. Scripture insists that God Himself ratified that appointment with a sworn promise: “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: ‘You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek’” (Psalm 110:4). • An oath from God is His unbreakable guarantee (Hebrews 6:16-18). • Because the oath comes from the unchanging Lord, the priesthood it secures can never be revoked (Hebrews 7:21). • That oath anchors the “better hope through which we draw near to God” (Hebrews 7:19), tying Christ’s priestly work directly to the believer’s daily access to the Father. • The same sworn word undergirds the “better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). For others became priests without an oath By contrast, every Levitical priest entered office merely because he belonged to Aaron’s lineage (Exodus 28:1; Numbers 3:10). No divine oath ever accompanied their installation. • Their ministry rested on ancestry, not on an irrevocable promise from God (Hebrews 7:11). • Death kept them from continuing in office, so Israel needed “many priests” (Hebrews 7:23). • Their sacrifices could “never take away sins” (Hebrews 10:11); the system itself anticipated something greater. • Without an oath they served under a provisional arrangement that pointed beyond itself to the sworn, eternal priesthood of Christ (Hebrews 9:8-10). summary Hebrews 7:20 spotlights the decisive difference between Jesus and every priest who preceded Him. Levitical priests came and went without an oath; Jesus was installed by God’s own sworn word. That oath makes His priesthood permanent, His covenant superior, and our salvation absolutely secure. |
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