Study Desk

For 40 years in the desert, your people saw what I did. But they tested me and my patience.

And who was God angry with for 40 years? He was angry with those who sinned. And their dead bodies were left in the desert.

So the opportunity is still there for some to enter and enjoy God's rest. But those who first heard the good news about it did not enter, because they did not obey.

We know that Joshua did not lead the people into the place of rest that God promised. We know this because God spoke later about another day for rest.

This shows that the seventh-day rest for God's people is still to come.

Every Jewish high priest is chosen from among men. That priest is given the work of helping people with the things they must do for God. He must offer to God gifts and sacrifices for sins.

He offers sacrifices for their sins, but he must also offer sacrifices for his own sins.

To be a high priest is an honor. But no one chooses himself for this work. That person must be chosen by God just as Aaron was.

While Jesus lived on earth he prayed to God, asking for help from the one who could save him from death. He prayed to God with loud cries and tears. And his prayers were answered because of his great respect for God.

This made him the perfect high priest, who provides the way for everyone who obeys him to be saved forever.

You have had enough time that by now you should be teachers. But you need someone to teach you again the first lessons of God's teaching. You still need the teaching that is like milk. You are not ready for solid food.

But solid food is for people who have grown up. From their experience they have learned to see the difference between good and evil.

Some people are like land that gets plenty of rain and produces a good crop for those who farm it. That kind of land has God's blessing.

We want each of you to be willing and eager to show your love like that the rest of your life. Then you will be sure to get what you hope for.

Abraham waited patiently for this to happen, and later he received what God promised.

These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he says something, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. So these two things are a great help to us who have come to God for safety. They encourage us to hold on to the hope that is ours.

This hope is like an anchor for us. It is strong and sure and keeps us safe. It goes behind the curtain.

Jesus has already entered there and opened the way for us. He has become the high priest forever, just like Melchizedek.

Melchizedek was the king of Salem and a priest for God the Most High. He met Abraham when Abraham was coming back after defeating the kings. That day Melchizedek blessed him.

The people were given the law under the system of priests from the tribe of Levi. But no one could be made spiritually perfect through that system of priests. So there was a need for another priest to come. I mean a priest like Melchizedek, not Aaron.