Evidence
Will you move because God has spoken?
What if you obey God completely and still do not see the promise fulfilled in your lifetime?
Hebrews chapter 11 begins with a familiar line:
“Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Then Scripture shows us what that looks like in real lives.
Noah built before rain came. Abraham left home without knowing where he was going. Genesis 12:1-4 tells us God simply said, “Go,” and Abraham went.
Sarah trusted God with what seemed impossible. Moses chose God’s people over the privilege of Egypt.
They all acted before they could see how the story would end.
But then the chapter gets uncomfortable.
Some conquered kingdoms, escaped danger, and received what had been promised.
Others were imprisoned, tortured, mistreated, and killed.
Same trust in God.
Very different outcomes.
That changes the conversation.
Trusting God does not mean being certain He will arrange everything the way we want. It means believing His character is solid enough to obey even when the outcome remains hidden.
Some of these people “were still living by faith when they died.”
Why?
Because they were looking beyond immediate circumstances toward what the book calls “a better country, a heavenly one.”
2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “We live by faith, not by sight.”
Sometimes obedience has to keep moving when sight has nothing new to report.
And chapter 11 ends with another surprise: none of their stories was complete on its own. God had something greater ahead.
Their lives were pointing beyond themselves.
Reflect on this:
Where might God be asking you to obey before you know how the story ends?
Let’s declare this truth:
As you close this moment, remember:
Hebrews 11 (NIV)
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[c] 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones.
23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days.
31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.[d]
32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning;[e] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Supplementary Scriptures
Habakkuk 2:4 (NIV)
“See, the enemy is puffed up;
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness[a]—
Romans 8:24–25 (NIV)
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
I will trust God’s character beyond what I can see and remain obedient even when the outcome is still hidden.
Once
One sacrifice. Finished.
Imagine doing the same thing year after year and knowing, before you even begin, that you will have to come back and do it again.
That was the rhythm of Israel’s sacrificial system.
The priests kept serving. The offerings kept coming. Year after year, sin was remembered and the work continued.
And that repetition was telling a story.
Something more was still needed.
Then Jesus enters the picture.
The writer reaches back to Psalm 40:6-8, where the coming One says, “Here I am… I have come to do your will, my God.”
And then Scripture gives us an image I do not want us to rush past.
The priests stood day after day as they carried out their ministry.
Jesus offered Himself, and then He sat down at the right hand of God.
One is still standing.
The other is seated.
That posture tells us something.
There was nothing left for Jesus to add to what He had accomplished.
Then the book returns to Jeremiah 31:33-34, where God promised a new covenant and said, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
This is where “once” becomes personal.
Many of us believe God has forgiven us, yet we keep returning to the same failure as though we still owe something.
We carry shame. We punish ourselves. We try to prove that we are sorry enough.
But repentance is turning back to God.
It is not paying Him back.
You cannot improve on what Jesus has already completed.
Reflect on this:
What would receiving His forgiveness fully change about the way you live today?
Let’s declare this truth:
Now let us pray:
As you close this moment, remember:
Hebrews 10 (NIV)
1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
I have come to do your will, my God.’”[a]
8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”[b]
17 Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”[c]
18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
A Call to Persevere in Faith
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[e] 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,
“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”[f]
38 And,
“But my righteous[g] one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”[h]
39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
Supplementary Scriptures
Leviticus 16:34 (NIV)
“This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.”
And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Psalm 40:6–8 (NIV)
Jesus has dealt fully with my sin. I receive His forgiveness and refuse to make shame my payment.
Behind the Curtain
God was present, but almost everyone had to stay outside.
To understand chapter 9, you have to picture the room.
Inside the tabernacle was the Holy Place.
Then Exodus 26:33 describes a curtain separating it from the Most Holy Place, the place associated with God’s presence.
You could not simply walk through it.
In fact, Leviticus 16:2 says even the High Priest could not enter whenever he wanted.
One priest.
One day each year.
Blood had to be carried in.
Everyone else remained outside.
The curtain was preaching something:
God is holy. Sin has created distance. The way in is not yet open.
Then the book tells us something remarkable.
The Holy Spirit was using that entire arrangement to show that “the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed.”
Think about that.
The restrictions were not random religious rules.
They were revealing the problem.
Humanity could not simply enter the presence of a holy God.
Then Jesus comes.
Not merely as someone standing outside asking God to let us in.
He enters on our behalf.
Christ goes into what Scripture calls the greater and more perfect sanctuary, carrying not another sacrifice, but the value of His own life given for us.
And what He accomplishes reaches deeper than outward cleansing.
His sacrifice cleanses the conscience so we can serve the living God.
The geography has changed.
The curtain once said, Stay back.
Jesus makes access possible.
Reflect on this:
What would change if you approached Him believing Jesus has already gone in on your behalf?
Let’s declare this truth:
As you close this moment, remember:
Hebrews 9 (NIV)
1 Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 2 A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, 4 which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.
6 When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. 9 This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. 10 They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
The Blood of Christ
11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here,[a] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining[b] eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[c] so that we may serve the living God!
15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
16 In the case of a will,[d] it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 19 When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”[e] 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Supplementary Scriptures
Exodus 26:31–33 (NIV)
31 “Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. 32 Hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold and standing on four silver bases. 33 Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the covenant law behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
Leviticus 16:2–3 (NIV)
2 The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.
3 “This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place: He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering[a] and a ram for a burnt offering.
Jesus has gone before me into the presence of God. Through Him, I am no longer kept at a distance.
Something Better
The New Covenant was never God’s Plan B.
Chapter 8 begins by pulling everything together:
“We do have such a high priest.”
Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, serving in the true sanctuary established by the Lord.
And Scripture adds something important: the earthly sanctuary was only a copy and shadow of a greater heavenly reality.
That prepares us for what comes next.
The book now introduces another word we need to understand:
Covenant.
A covenant is a binding relationship established by God.
In Exodus 24:7-8, Israel entered covenant with God at Sinai. Moses read the Book of the Covenant, the people pledged obedience, and blood confirmed the relationship.
That covenant was not a mistake.
God gave it.
But it was never the end of the story.
Centuries before Jesus, Jeremiah 31:31-34 recorded God saying:
“The days are coming… when I will make a new covenant.”
Think about that.
The promise of something new was already inside the Old Testament itself.
And what would be different?
“I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.”
In the new covenant, God promised to do inwardly what written commands alone could never accomplish.
He would write His truth within His people.
Then comes one of the most tender lines in the chapter:
“I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Jesus is the mediator of this better covenant, established on better promises.
Better does not mean God failed the first time.
The earlier covenant served its purpose in God’s unfolding story.
But by calling the covenant new, Scripture shows that the former arrangement was giving way because fulfillment had arrived.
Reflect on this:
What truth of God needs to move from something you know into something written deeply on your heart?
Let’s declare this truth:
Now let us pray:
As you close this moment, remember:
Hebrews 8 (NIV)
1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”[a] 6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said[b]:
“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”[c]
13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
Supplementary Scriptures
Jeremiah 31:31–34 (NIV)
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to[a] them,[b]”
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
Ezekiel 36:26–27 (NIV)
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Jesus is the Mediator of a better covenant. God writes His truth within me and remembers my sins no more.
No Genealogy
When God wanted to guarantee His promise, there was no higher name to swear by.
A God who cannot lie. A Priest who cannot die.
The book takes us back to Abraham.
God had promised to bless him and give him descendants. Then, in Genesis 22:16-18, God confirmed that promise with an oath.
But an oath normally appeals to someone greater.
There is no one greater than God.
So Scripture says:
“He swore by Himself.”
God made the promise, and God Himself became its guarantee.
That is why the passage says it is impossible for God to lie. His character gives us reason to hold firmly to hope.
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
And where does that anchor reach?
Behind the curtain, into the presence of God, where Jesus has already entered for us.
That brings us to a man named Melchizedek.
In Genesis 14:18-20, long before Israel had priests, Abraham met Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High.
Scripture records no genealogy for him. No family line establishing his priesthood.
That matters because Israel’s priests normally came from the tribe of Levi.
Jesus came from Judah.
So by the old family-line system, Jesus should not qualify.
But Psalm 110:4 had already announced another order:
“You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
Jesus did not become Priest because of ancestry. His priesthood rests on “the power of an indestructible life.”
And the book goes even further.
If the Levitical priesthood could have brought people fully into what God intended, there would have been no need for another kind of Priest.
But the former arrangement could not bring perfection.
Jesus introduces what Scripture calls “a better hope, by which we draw near to God.”
This is not simply a better Priest inside the old system.
It is a better way of coming to God.
Other priests died and had to be replaced.
Jesus lives forever.
So His priesthood is permanent, and He “always lives to intercede” for those who come to God through Him.
Reflect on this:
How does knowing that Jesus permanently represents you before God change the way you approach Him?
Let’s declare this truth:
Now let us pray:
As you close this moment, remember:
Hebrews 7 (NIV)
1 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
4 Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5 Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. 6 This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8 In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. 9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10 because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.
Jesus Like Melchizedek
11 If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12 For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. 13 He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is declared:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”[a]
18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
20 And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:
“The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
‘You are a priest forever.’”[b]
22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.
23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely[c] those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
Supplementary Scriptures
Genesis 14:18–20 (NIV)
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Psalm 110:4 (NIV)
The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
God cannot lie, Jesus lives forever, and my hope is anchored in Him.
Beyond Milk
You can hear truth for years and still remain unchanged by it.
Grow up. Let the truth produce something.
The writer has just begun explaining Jesus as High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, a priesthood we will look at more closely next.
Then he suddenly stops.
Why?
“You have become dull of hearing.”
By this point, he says, they should have understood enough to help teach others. Instead, they still need someone to go back over the basics with them.
He calls it needing milk instead of solid food.
The problem is never moving beyond it.
The passage says solid food is for those who have trained themselves, through practice, to distinguish good from evil.
In other words, truth is not simply something we hear.
It is something we learn to use.
Then chapter 6 gives a serious warning. People can experience the things of God and still fail to respond faithfully.
Scripture gives us a picture:
Rain falls on the land.
One field produces a useful crop.
Another produces thorns.
Same rain. Different fruit.
James 1:22 says something similar: do not merely listen to the Word. Do what it says.
That is the challenge.
Continued exposure to God without response is not harmless.
But this section does not end in condemnation. The writer says he has seen their love, their service, and evidence of better things.
So the call is not to give up.
It is to keep going.
Keep learning. Keep practicing. Keep trusting God with patience.
Reflect on this:
Where is God calling you to move from knowing something to living it?
Let’s declare this truth:
Now let us pray:
As you close this moment, remember:
Hebrews 6 (NIV)
1 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites,[b] the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen[c] away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
The Certainty of God’s Promise
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”[d] 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Supplementary Scriptures
1 Corinthians 3:1–3 (NIV)
1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?
Ephesians 4:13–15 (NIV)
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
God’s Word will not merely inform me. I will allow it to shape how I live.
The Priest
Being the Son did not give Jesus a shortcut around suffering.
Hebrews 5 takes us deeper into what it means for Jesus to be our High Priest.
Under Israel’s priesthood, a high priest did not simply choose the position for himself. He was called by God to represent the people before Him.
Hebrews says the same is true of Jesus.
He did not appoint Himself.
God declared in Psalm 2:7, “You are my Son,” and in Psalm 110:4, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
Jesus is both Son and Priest.
Then Hebrews says something startling:
“Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered.”
That does not mean Jesus had ever been disobedient.
It means He lived obedience fully within the human experience.
Hebrews describes Him offering prayers with “fervent cries and tears.”
And He was heard.
But being heard did not mean the hard path disappeared.
Jesus remained faithful through it.
Then Hebrews says He was “made perfect.” Not morally improved, but brought to the completion of His mission.
And having completed that path, He became “the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.”
That is the deeper picture of our High Priest.
He was appointed by God, He obeyed fully, and He completed the work entrusted to Him.
Reflect on this:
Let’s declare this truth:
Now let us pray:
As you close this moment, remember:
Hebrews 5 (NIV)
1 Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.
5 In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.”[a]
6 And he says in another place,
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”[b]
7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Warning Against Falling Away
11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Supplementary Scriptures
Psalm 110:4 (NIV)
The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
Isaiah 53:3–4 (NIV)
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
Father, thank You for Jesus, who obeyed You fully. When I do not understand Your answer, keep me faithful. Teach me to trust that You hear me and give me strength to obey You with confidence. Amen.
Jesus is my God-appointed High Priest, and I will trust Him when obedience is costly.