Hebrews 7:8 Commentary and Bible Study

Two further arguments are added to show the superiority of Melchisedec to Levi, and the superiority of his priesthood to the priesthood of Aaron. The first compares the mortality of the Levites with the immortality (in typical form) of Melchisedec. The same reasoning will be used in verse 23 to characterise the entire ministry of the Aaronic priests, but here the comparison is between two different classes of men who received tithes. The tribe of Levi which received tithes from their brethren, and the priests who came from that tribe, were mortal men who came on the scene only for a time, and then died and passed away. But Melchisedec was altogether different, being the possessor of life continually. How does Scripture witness that he lives? First it says it in the way that Melchisedec is introduced onto the pages of the Bible. No mention is made of his birth or his death, and though he was certainly born in the normal way and he certainly died at the end of life – for he was only a type of the Son of God and not himself the Son – he is presented in Scripture in this way to allow him to be a fitting picture of the eternal Son of God who lives for ever. But secondly, Scripture says it explicitly in Psalm 110:4 which has been twice quoted already, once when Melchisedec is first introduced (Hebrews 5:6) and then again when, after a digression in chapter 6, he gets back to the subject in Hebrews 6:20. There in the psalm it is declared that Christ has an everlasting priesthood, and this priesthood is after the order of Melchisedec who also had a priesthood for ever (though in type only). The writer of Hebrews therefore witnesses that he lives, that is, he lives forever.