My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

Better. A most common word in the book of Hebrews. It pops up so many times, I thought it wise to provide a list for our review prior to focusing in on our verse this morning. • Better revelation (Heb 1:3) • Better name (Heb 1:4) • Better things (Heb 6:9) • Better blessing (Heb 7:7) • Better hope (Heb 7:19) • Better covenant (Heb 7:22) • Better promises (Heb 8:6) • Better sacrifices (Heb 9:23) • Better possession (Heb 10:34) • Better country (Heb 11:16) • Better resurrection (Heb 11:35) • Better provisions (Heb 11:40) • Better word (Heb 12:24) Regarding our verse for this morning, it is good to get a bit of context for our understanding. The author of Hebrews is taking his audience through all the “betters” of Jesus, and in chapter 7 is addressing the priesthood. Jesus is described as of the Melchizedekian priesthood and not of the Levitical priesthood, linking Jesus with the eternal office of priest through the promise found in Psalms 110, Psalm 110:4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” This isn’t the first time our author refers to this passage, as he has mentioned it in Hebrews 5:6 and Hebrews 7:17. He really wants to communicated the eternal priesthood of our Savior. So let us be thankful, since our Savior is not one that will ever die again, and that because of his eternal life, He also has an eternal ministry. But that is not the only aspect of this passage that is making Jesus better in relationship to His priestly duties and office. For that nugget to be understood, it is necessary to consider the two previous verses. Hebrews 7:20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, Hebrews 7:21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever.’” The issue in our passage is not simply that Jesus is our eternal priest, never to pass from His ministry for and to us, but for those in the Old Testament economy, to compare the basis of the preisthoods. For a Levitical priest to serve in the Temple, his lineage was critical, for no priest was able to continue in his service. The priest needed replacements, because of this thing called death. They kept dying. Since the replacements were of the tribal lineage, there was never any oath or promise associated with the installment of a priest into his position. Born a Levite, be a priest. With Jesus, His placement as priest is not only based on His eternal life, but on an oath. An oath taken by God almighty, in which God swore in giving the oath, and added that nothing would change His mind. This is an incredible statement, for it was an oath given from the Father to the Son. Jesus is a priest forever! This is a promise, an oath from the Father to the Son. Not only a positive oath, but also a statement declaring God would never recant. To be a guarantor is to be the One who is responsible in an agreement, in a covenant. So let’s recap. Jesus is a better priest than the Levitical priest due to His eternal state, living forever, always in the priestly position and office, and that the Father has promised His right to Priesthood in an oath that is of the strongest language. On top of all of that, Jesus is the Guarantor, the One who is responsible for the Covenant, the New Covenant that is in His blood. The Levite was simply a religious butcher, cutting an animal provided by someone else. When the author makes this statement of Jesus being better, there is so much more than a simple comparison with a Levite. He is the One who is in charge, Who is our Priest, Who will never be replaced, Who needs not provide and additional sacrifice and Who has been made perfect forever! My oh my – Jesus is better! As believers I think we know deep down that He is better, but it is so good to take a moment sometimes to remember how much better He is! And He truly is so much better. Thank you Lord! You are the Guarantor of a Better Covenant!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

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