If anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink. -John 7:37

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

The next view Isaiah gave us of the End times is found in chapters 11-12 and concerns the Messiah.

Isaiah 11, The Branch From Jesse

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. (1 Samuel 18:3-4)

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

Even the short summary of the impact people of great faith have had on mankind makes Hebrews 11 one of the most encouraging chapters in the entire Bible. Would that each of us could manifest that kind of faith in our lives.

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

The overarching principle of the Epistle to the Hebrews is that our position before God is based on our belief that the once-for-all-time sacrifice of our Great High Priest was sufficient for our salvation. Some have said that this letter can be seen as a commentary on Habakkuk 2:4 “The just shall live by faith.”

Levitical priests were sinners themselves and had to keep offering sacrifices day after day and year after year, and then they died and another one took their place to do the same thing all over again. We need a high priest who isn't a sinner, who only needs to offer one sacrifice, who lives forever and can save us forever.

Having made reference to Jesus as a priest in the order of Melchizedek, (Hebr. 5:10 & 6:26) the author now explains how this connection came to be and why His priesthood is superior to the Levitical priesthood of the Old Covenant. Think of chapter 7 as a commentary on Genesis 14.

We've come to the place in our study of Hebrews that's familiar even to those who haven't read any other part of the letter. Did the writer intend to warn us that our salvation is subject to loss? And even more frightening, did he say that once lost it could never be regained?

In our last installment we learned that because the Israelites refused to enter the Promised Land by faith, God declared that they would never enter His rest. We begin this one by learning the spiritual meaning behind the weekly Sabbath.

In our last study we saw the author give proof that Jesus is as superior to the angels as His name is to theirs. The Son of God is the exact representation of His being, His prophet for the Last Days, the sole provider of our purification. Now we'll see that in the process He descended lower than the angels for a little while to become a man in order to save mankind.