Hebrews 7:12
"For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law."
You couldn’t just change part of it; it had to all go. And the whole idea of Hebrews is that the Jewish people had to realize that the Mosaic system had now become moot. It is no longer necessary to practice Temple worship and sacrifices and tithing and all those things that were demanded by the Levitical Law and its systems because we now are under a whole different Priesthood that was not out of Aaron or Levi, but from the Priesthood of Melchizedek (Christ). Because the old only could deal with mans flesh nature or was an external and material realm priesthood which was weak and beggarly because of it. And that this then is into what God places us all at the moment of our conversion or redemption with our having received the deposit or down payment of the Holy Spirit. Which gives us the right then to become sons of God, the condition that Israel could have acquired but refused. By that action of unbelief Israel refused His Salvation as a nation on a national bases only.
Hebrews 7:13
"For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar."
Now that should shake people up! This priest didn’t even come from the Levitical priestly tribe. This priest came from the kingly tribe of Judah. And Judah, of course, was the tribe that was always leading the tribes when they moved, and it was out of Judah that the second king, David, came. Saul the first king, was from the line of Benjamin, but Judah was the designated tribe to produce the kings of Israel. So, it’s out of this kingly tribe that this priest Melchizedek comes, which is Jesus Christ. Verse 13 again.
Hebrews 7:13
"For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar." I took you back to the Old Testament where the Israelite Korah, who thought that Moses and Aaron were just a little bit too big for their own britches said, "After all, why can’t I present a sacrifice at the altar?" Of course, Moses got highly excited, and he said, "Alright, we’ll put you to the test. If you think you have a right to exercise the role of a priest, we’ll do such and such." Remember we read all the verses. And God was so angry that the earth opened up and the families of Korah went down into the pit. Well, what did it show us? Just that no one dared enter into the priesthood except the line of Levi.
We saw another one with King Saul. Oh, what was Saul’s big downfall? He too, exercised the right of a priest and offered a sacrifice. And Samuel told him, "Saul how can you be so foolish? You don’t do that." And we know what happened to Saul. Well, here it is again. No man, unless they were from the lineage of Levi, could possibly exercise the role of a priest. It was forbidden. Verse 14.
Hebrews 7:14-15
"For it is evident that our Lord (Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son as we see Him epitomized here in Hebrews) sprang out of Judah: of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it is even far more evident: for that after the similitude (or the likeness) of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest."
A totally different priest, not of the Aaron's family line, not of the tribe of Levi but out of the tribe of Judah. This being so makes Him a Priest-King just as Melchizedek was. Now verse 16.
Hebrews 7:16a
"Who is made,…"
Here again I feel Melchizedek was a theosophy of Christ in the Old Testament. He’s only mentioned in Psalms but now here we have him exemplified as "our high priest" because of what He accomplished at the Cross and the new Priesthood based on an Endless Life and the New Covenant based on that Endless Life and its power. Of which both Jeremiah and Ezekiel spoke.
Hebrews 7:16a
"Who is made, not after the law of a carnal (or the external, material or fleshly)commandment,…"
That goes back to what we said, that the Levitical Law was beggarly and fleshly. That’s hard for people to comprehend, because they thought and still think the Law was spiritual, it was perfect. It was from God’s point of view and only from His because it reveals mans undone condition and true state in that condition. And that is why He places all who come to Him through redemption into that state but we're not to remain in it. If we were He would not have given us His Holy Spirit which makes us fit to become Holy as He is Holy. For its only through the death of sin, the spirit of the world, that we're sanctified, Holy and put on Godliness in Christ Jesus. We enter the promised New Covenant of God's Grace though in the Old Testament it is not called that until after Christ's resurrection and ascension. Then the secret or mystery is revealed.
But, going back to "it was perfect", from man’s point of view there was no power given to keep it. So what did it become? Fleshly, carnal and it was something that man could not deal with. In fact, Corinthians tells us the same thing, that the Law was a minister of death. The Law was a minister of death? Yes. Because it had no power to help people keep the Law. Let me show you a reference in Romans chapter 3.
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