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.

HIGH PRIEST OF GOOD THINGS

Hebrews 9:11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)

We have considered Jesus as our HIgh Priest, in Hebrews 3:1, specifically in relation to His apostleship. When the Hebrews author spoke of this Name of God, he directed our thoughts to the dual mission of Jesus, that of being sent out as an apostle to mankind, and of the priestly ministry of facing God the Father for mankind. Two missions wrapped up in one glorious Messiah.

But the author of Hebrews spoke of the faithfulness of the Messiah in his dual missions, and used this description in comparision with Moses, a servant of God who was faithful to God.

In our verse this morning, we find the author speaking of another characteristic of Jesus in His priestly role before the Father. He speaks of God as the HIGH PRIEST OF GOOD THINGS.

The author is directing our attention, or should I say the original readers attention to the High Priest of the good things that have come. For the original readers of this letter, the author spoke of present realities. This is where I, in my initial glimpe of the verse, fell down, for my mind authomatically though of end times, of our eventual entering into His presense at the end of our days.

But if we read this passage slowly, this is not the timeframe he is referrring to.

Note that his audience, being Hebrews, were inextricably linked to the earthly temple, and as the author takes these Hebrews through this letter, he is constantly comparing thier sources of religious comfort and security with the Greater One. He has compared Jesus with angels, Moses, Joshua, Aaron, the Levitical priesthood, the sabbath and now the Temple.

The precious temple every faithful Jew could boast of, cling to, rely on and glory in. He spends 10 verses, prior to our passage, describing the temple/tabernacle, along with the priest who performed thier earthly ministries only to make little of it in comparison with the current tent/tabernacle Jesus has brought to the faithful.

When the Lord is described as the HIGH PRIEST OF GOOD THINGS, the author is speaking directly to the faithful Jew who was placing thier trust in an earthly temple, along with the ritual duties of the priests. He is the HIGH PRIEST OF GOOD THINGS that have come through the flesh of Jesus, through His incarnation. Jesus is our temple, and He is the HIGH PRIEST OF GOOD THINGS each believer has access to every minute of the day.

The author is reminding the faithful Jew, the believer in Jesus, that as the HIGH PRIEST, no further sacrifice is required, the existing temple is no longer required and that Jesus, through His own body (the perfect tent/tabernacle), provided our redemption. He is the Temple. He is the Sacrifice. He is the HIGH PRIEST OF GOOD THINGS. He is everything for the believer.

The author is also reminding the faithful Jew, that in previous times prior to the Savior’s appearance, the high priest could not enter the holy place without blood. This provided a symbolism Jesus has fully accomplished in His shedding of His own blood. In His entering once for all the Holy Place of the eternal temple with His own blood, He abolished any efficacy of the earthly temple, the earthly priesthood and the earthly sacrificial rituals.

For the faithful Jew, and the modern Christian, we have in Jesus that which the earthly temple, priesthood and scarifices merely pointed to.

For we have Jesus, the HIGH PRIEST OF GOOD THINGS now!

How could I have thought this verse was speaking of times to come, when the very passage speaks of all we need having come!

For Jesus is our HIGH PRIEST OF GOOD THINGS.

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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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