Hebrews 7

http://www.esvbible.org/Hebrews+7/

The author of Hebrews keeps saying that Jesus is a priest in the way that Melchizedek is a priest. Now, the author finally begins to tell us who Melchizedek is. After God made covenants, or promises, with Abraham , Abraham defeated some kings in war. It was completely the work of God. Later, Abraham, the one person at that time who had a promise from God of being the ancestor of God's people, paid ten percent of everything he got from the kings to Melchizedek.  Melchizedek's name means "king of righteousness," or he is called King of Salem, which means "king of peace." Melchizedek is a great mystery. No one knows much about him. They don't know anything about his family, lineage, when he was born or when he died. The author of Hebrews now reverses the comparison and says that like Jesus, Melchizedek continues to be a priest forever. Like everything else in the Bible, Abraham did not pay Melchizedek a tenth of everything he received by some arbitrary number. This number as it comes to possessions and payment to priests started at this payment and continued. Under Mosaic law, men from the tribe of Levi served as priests, and they were paid a tenth of everything. After Abraham paid Melchizedek, Melchizedek blessed Abraham. Blessing is something that a person of higher importance does to a person of lower importance. Priests from the tribe of Levi received a tenth of everything but dies, but the author of hebrews says we know Melchizedek lives. Later, the people started the Levitical priesthood based on God's instructions. If this system had been perfect, that would be the priesthood we know today, yet there is another priest, Jesus Christ, who the author of Hebrews compares to Melchizedek. Jesus is quickly recognized as a different type of priest because He is not from the tribe of Levi but from the tribe of Judah. Jesus is a priest not because He meets the human requirements to be one but because He came to Earth as God. He is a preist like Melchizedek because the way the Jewish people chose priests was insufficient and flawed for recognizing the priest. Melchizedek was not chosen in the way that other chief priests were chosen. He did not meet any human requirements because the human requirements did not yet exist, but Abraham knew it was the will of God to make a payment to this man, and he did so. There has been a long succession of priests because when the mortal priests die, they are unable to continue to serve, but we know that Jesus never dies; therefore, He is priest forever. We need a priest that is pure, holy, righteous, set apart. In the past, all of the priests made sacrifices of the clean to cover their uncleanliness first, and then sacrificed to save the people. Jesus did not need a sacrifice for Himself, so He sacrificed Himself so that the requirement for sacrifices was complete forever.