Study Desk

God is fair; he will not forget the work you did and the love you showed for him by helping his people. And he will remember that you are still helping them.

We do not want you to become lazy. Be like those who through faith and patience will receive what God has promised.

God made a promise to Abraham. And as there is no one greater than God, he used himself when he swore to Abraham,

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

God wanted to prove that his promise was true to those who would get what he promised. And he wanted them to understand clearly that his purposes never change, so he made an oath.

These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things encourage us who came to God for safety. They give us strength to hold on to the hope we have been given.

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

No one knows who Melchizedek's father or mother was, where he came from, when he was born, or when he died. Melchizedek is like the Son of God; he continues being a priest forever.

The law of Moses could not make anything perfect. But now a better hope has been given to us, and with this hope we can come near to God.

It is important that God did this with an oath. Others became priests without an oath,

but Christ became a priest with God's oath. God said: "The Lord has made a promise and will not change his mind. ‘You are a priest forever.'" Psalm 110:4

This means that Jesus is the guarantee of a better agreement from God to his people.

So he is able always to save those who come to God through him because he always lives, asking God to help them.

Our high priest serves in the Most Holy Place, the true place of worship that was made by God, not by humans.

Every high priest has the work of offering gifts and sacrifices to God. So our high priest must also offer something to God.

If our high priest were now living on earth, he would not be a priest, because there are already priests here who follow the law by offering gifts to God.

The work they do as priests is only a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven. This is why God warned Moses when he was ready to build the Holy Tent: "Be very careful to make everything by the plan I showed you on the mountain."

But the priestly work that has been given to Jesus is much greater than the work that was given to the other priests. In the same way, the new agreement that Jesus brought from God to his people is much greater than the old one. And the new agreement is based on promises of better things.

But God found something wrong with his people. He says: "Look, the time is coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and the people of Judah.

This is the agreement I will make with the people of Israel at that time, says the Lord. I will put my teachings in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.