Jesus the Superior Priest

January 8th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

Hebrews 7:4-10 Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choicest spoils. 5 And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham. 6 But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. 7 But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8 In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. 9 And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

When Abraham met Melchizedek in Genesis 14, without any law that required him to tithe to the priest-king, Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of the choicest of the spoils he had gained in the battle where he rescued his nephew Lot. Hebrews notes how great Melchizedek must have been in the sight of Abraham who tithed to him, paying homage to this priest-king.

Now in keeping with the author’s purpose, which was to shame his Jewish audience who were considering a return back into Judaism from Christianity, beginning in v. 5 the author draws a comparison of the inferior Levitical priesthood with Melchizedek’s superior priesthood. It was the tribe of Levi who received tithes from the Israelites who came to them for mediation as priests unto God. They did this because they were descendants of Abraham put in charge of God’s tabernacle. Moses put the Levites’ responsibilities in the Law which made it binding.

In v. 6 the author shows how peculiar Abraham’s actions were when he tithed to Melchizedek. After all, Melchizedek was not a descendant of Abraham, and as far as Israel knew, God had not ordained a priesthood through him. But here he was receiving a tithe from Abraham! Moreover, Melchizedek then blessed Abraham—the great patriarch blessed by God being blessed by another. No wonder v. 7 notes Melchizedek’s superiority to Abraham in that he blessed him, the lesser (Abraham) being blessed by the greater (Melchizedek).

In the expression “mortal men receive tithes” (v. 8), the word “mortal” is a participle that means “dying,” and it describes men. In other words, though Israel’s priests and Levites are mortals, dying and being replaced by others, they still receive tithes as part of God’s Law. Now the record concerning Melchizedek does not record his death like the record in Israel records the deaths of its priests. So, Melchizedek’s priesthood never passed to another. Without a recorded death, his historical priesthood is interpreted as being perpetual. So too is Christ’s.

Verses 9-10 bring the argument to a conclusion showing that when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, his unborn great-grandson Levi, still in his loins, was himself paying tithes. So, Melchizedek was superior to Levi in this respect. And since Melchizedek is superior to Levi, he was superior to the Jewish priesthood who descended from the tribe of Levi. Therefore, if the Levitical line is inferior to Melchizedek’s order, and since Christ is of Melchizedek’s priestly order, then His priesthood is superior to Israel’s. This means that the new covenant (Heb. 8; cf. Jer. 31:31-34) is better than the old. This is in keeping with the entire theme of Hebrews.

Food For Thought
The whole NT was written and inspired by God, handed down through time as an infallible document. This was to show the superiority of one thing over another. Like a side-by-side comparison laid out for consumers to make the best choice, the NT presents Jesus Christ as better than anything or anyone. One might assume that He comes with high price tag, but in actuality Jesus enters our life by grace, through faith, with no works. All we do is trust Him.