1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,760 Why don't you go ahead and grab your Bibles and turn to Psalm 110. 2 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:07,080 We're going to jump right in. 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:13,600 No fancy introduction this morning because we have a lot of work to do together this morning. 4 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:16,240 And I'm just going to warn you upfront. 5 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:22,840 I'm going to warn you, this is not going to be your average every Sunday sermon because this 6 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:25,080 Psalm that we're about to study is deep. 7 00:00:25,080 --> 00:00:31,880 It is complex and it is technical and it has massive implications for our faith in Christ. 8 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:38,440 So as my old third grade teacher, Mrs. Greenspoon used to say to me way back in the day, 9 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:43,960 yeah, I don't know what was her name, put your thinking caps on, Jeff, because this is going to be a hard one. 10 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:46,920 So put your thinking caps on and get ready. 11 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:48,440 All right. 12 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,840 If you found your way to Psalm 110, you'll see it's only seven verses long. 13 00:00:52,840 --> 00:01:01,960 Yet catch this, it is the most frequently cited or alluded to section of the Old Testament, 14 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:03,400 cited in the New Testament. 15 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:11,000 More than any section from Genesis or Deuteronomy or Isaiah, this Psalm is cited or alluded to more 16 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:16,600 than any other passage in the Old Testament, which means the Spirit of God wants us, 17 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,600 new covenant believers, to learn something important from what we're about to study. 18 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:28,600 Listen to this, bits and pieces of Psalm 110 are found in Matthew 12, 22 and 26, Mark 14 and 16, 19 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:39,160 Luke 20 and 22, Acts 2, Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 15, Ephesians 1, Colossians 3, and Hebrews 1, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 12. 20 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:41,880 Just these seven verses. 21 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:49,800 Now that is three of the four gospel writers plus Peter and Paul and the author of Hebrews, 22 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:56,440 oh, and Jesus himself uses the logic of Psalm 110 in one of his great doctrinal debates with the 23 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:58,360 Pharisees, which we'll get to in just a moment. 24 00:01:58,360 --> 00:01:59,800 So this is really important. 25 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:03,880 In fact, let me tell you how critical it is for us to understand the depths of this Psalm. 26 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:10,040 In Hebrews 5, the author of Hebrews famously divides his audience, who he's writing to, 27 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:11,000 into two categories. 28 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:16,520 He says, some of you are still on the milk of the word and some of you are ready for solid food. 29 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:22,520 And if you ask the question, well, what is the issue that divides the milk-fed folks from the solid food folks? 30 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:27,240 You look at the previous verses and what is the issue that he's talking about? 31 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,800 He's talking about understanding a portion of the prophecy of Psalm 110. 32 00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:39,880 So the reasoning goes, the grasp that you have on the theology in this Psalm may well be an indication 33 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:44,120 of whether you are ready for the solid food of Christian doctrine. 34 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:45,720 Let that be a challenge this morning. 35 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:46,040 Okay. 36 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:48,440 We want to know and understand this Psalm. 37 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:48,840 Okay. 38 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:50,760 Look at, look in your Bibles. 39 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:53,000 You do see there a superscription, right? 40 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:58,040 It says a Psalm of David, and that is very, very, very important. 41 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,520 And we'll come back to that in just a moment and we'll look at why. 42 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:02,040 Let's read it first of all. 43 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:03,640 And then we've got a whole bunch of work to do. 44 00:03:03,640 --> 00:03:11,720 Verse one, the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. 45 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:19,000 The Lord will stretch forth your strong or mighty scepter from Zion, saying rule in the midst of, 46 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,800 or rule over your enemies. 47 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:29,240 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of your power in holy array or holy garments. 48 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,720 From the womb of the dawn, your youth are to you as the dew. 49 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:38,120 Verse four, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. 50 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:42,280 You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. 51 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:45,160 The Lord is at your right hand. 52 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:47,480 He will shatter kings in the day of his wrath. 53 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:49,720 He will judge among the nations. 54 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:51,720 He will fill them with corpses. 55 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,600 He will shatter the chief men or the leaders over a broad country. 56 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,240 He will drink from the brook by the wayside. 57 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,280 Therefore he will lift up his head. 58 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:03,720 Okay. 59 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:06,440 As we've been doing each and every week, let's look at the broad country. 60 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:10,600 As we've been doing each and every week, let's look at the breakdown, the structure of this particular Psalm. 61 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,680 Unlike some that we've been looking at recently, this one is very, very simple. 62 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:20,600 In verses one through three, we learned that this person who is the subject of Psalm 110 is a king. 63 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:23,320 In verse four, we find out he's a priest. 64 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,920 And then in verses five through seven, we find out he is a warrior. 65 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:29,560 And we'll explain this as we go along. 66 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:33,560 Now, this is obviously a Messianic Psalm, but you have to know this. 67 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,040 It's not an ordinary Messianic Psalm. 68 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:36,920 Why do I say that? 69 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:41,720 Because ordinarily you see a psalmist writing about his own personal experiences. 70 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,280 And then we as an audience get to read what he's written about his life. 71 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:53,160 And we can see in his words something that foreshadows something about the Messiah to come. 72 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:55,160 Something Messianic that's in the future. 73 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:57,400 But we see it in his personal experiences. 74 00:04:57,400 --> 00:04:59,000 That is not the case here. 75 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,280 Psalm 110 really has nothing to do with the life of David. 76 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:05,400 It's not about his life. 77 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,040 This is what we call in theology a divine oracle. 78 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,120 It's a direct revelation from God through the human author, 79 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:16,200 who's being carried along by the spirit of God to write about 80 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,920 something beyond his experience and really beyond his full understanding. 81 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:22,360 It's a divine oracle. 82 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,560 So David is writing here as both a poet and a prophet. 83 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:28,840 Now, let's go back up to verse one. 84 00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:33,400 Verse one and verse four are the critical verses we're going to focus on today. 85 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,120 Those are really the two direct oracles in this psalm. 86 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:39,000 So verse one, you see the Lord. 87 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,200 You see the capital letters there in the Bible, right? 88 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,840 That means that that first Lord is Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel. 89 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:49,400 Yahweh says to my Lord. 90 00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:52,360 And when I use that term oracle, by the way, 91 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:55,880 I'm referring to a Hebrew word that you see in that phrase. 92 00:05:55,880 --> 00:06:01,800 It's the Hebrew noun ne'um and it's translated says in that very short phrase. 93 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,240 But there's more to it than just, well, he said this, there's more to it. 94 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,200 The Lord says is actually better translated. 95 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:10,680 The Lord declares or the Lord utters. 96 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:11,880 Okay. 97 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:14,440 It's describing a direct utterance from Yahweh. 98 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:17,960 The key question to this, the controversial question is 99 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:23,560 the identity of the person that Yahweh is speaking to or declaring to. 100 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,760 Someone who was called my Lord or in Hebrew, Adonai. 101 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:28,600 Who is that person? 102 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,760 Now, in a lot of the Psalms, we look at the theology in them and we say, well, 103 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:37,640 the authorship doesn't really matter that much, whether David wrote it or Asaph wrote it or the 104 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,600 sons of Korah, it doesn't make a huge amount of difference. 105 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:46,120 But here in Psalm 110, the whole crux of the argument hinges on the authorship. 106 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:51,480 It's very important because if Yahweh is declaring something to David's Adonai, 107 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,320 that's incredibly meaningful because David is the king of Israel. 108 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:59,000 So who would his Adonai be? That's important. 109 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:05,080 By the way, this is why every Jewish rabbi, and you guys know, I always go to my Tanakh, 110 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:09,400 my rabbinical commentary to see what they have to say about this. 111 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:14,680 Every Jewish rabbi and many liberal Gentile scholars will try, they will do everything 112 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:18,120 in their might to deny the fact that David wrote this Psalm. 113 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:20,600 And they will do one of two things to try to do that. 114 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,120 Number one, they'll say, well, perhaps the superscripts of the Bible, 115 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:27,720 perhaps the superscription was added at a later date. 116 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:31,000 By the way, that's the favorite argument of almost every liberal scholar. 117 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:32,200 Well, that was added later on. 118 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:33,400 They don't have proof for it. 119 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:34,760 They just like to make that statement. 120 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,000 I was added later, so it doesn't apply. 121 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:42,360 Or they will say, actually, the author of this Psalm is somebody in David's court, 122 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:43,640 maybe somebody like Asaph. 123 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:44,680 Right. 124 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:50,520 And so Asaph then is writing about my Lord or my boss, which would be David the king. 125 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:52,360 So they try to shrug this off. 126 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:57,080 They try to say, well, this is just a royal Psalm that lifts up the lofty status of the 127 00:07:57,080 --> 00:07:58,200 king of Israel. 128 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,640 There's a whole bunch of problems with taking that position, but I'll give you two really 129 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:02,280 important ones. 130 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:05,080 Number one, that superscription won't go away. 131 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:10,760 In every manuscript that has come down to us, that superscription, a Psalm of David 132 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:11,480 is in there. 133 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:15,480 So it doesn't make any sense from a historical perspective. 134 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,040 Number two, a much stronger argument. 135 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:22,200 Jesus himself says in the gospels that David wrote this Psalm. 136 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:25,160 And for us, that's case closed, right? 137 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,640 Because God in the flesh says David is the author. 138 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:29,960 But let's come back to the big question. 139 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,880 If Yahweh is declaring something to David's Lord, who is that person? 140 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:36,360 Who's greater than David? 141 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:41,080 Who would the king of Israel call my Lord other than God himself? 142 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:46,920 And the obvious conclusion is, and this is Jesus's argument in the gospels, is that 143 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:53,560 in Psalm 110, Yahweh is addressing his chosen servant and David's Lord, the Messiah. 144 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:55,960 It has to be. 145 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:03,400 And David's role in all this as the prophet is to simply overhear this conversation and 146 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:07,640 report this declaration from God the Father to God the Son. 147 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:11,400 That's all he's doing in this, is reporting this divine oracle. 148 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:14,920 Now, what does Yahweh have to say to this son? 149 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:16,680 He says, sit at my right hand. 150 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:18,040 Right? 151 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:22,200 That's what the next statement, sit at my right hand, sit at Yahweh's right hand into 152 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:22,840 our ears. 153 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:27,640 We're like, that sounds a little bit strange, but in the language of the ancient Near East, 154 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:29,400 this was a well known phrase. 155 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:34,920 It was well understood, very specific because the right hand is the position of honor. 156 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:40,760 The one who sits at the right hand of an ancient Near East King shares in his position and 157 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:41,560 power. 158 00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:46,360 It's where the King's heir would sit if he were to rule with his father as a co-regent. 159 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,480 And you see that often amongst ancient Near East Kings. 160 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:53,720 The son, the heir, sits at his right hand as his co-regent, they rule together. 161 00:09:54,680 --> 00:09:59,320 So this is Yahweh telling Messiah to take his rightful place of authority, announcing 162 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:04,760 what we call in theology, his heavenly session, the heavenly session of God the Son. 163 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:09,880 And this session, where Jesus sits down at the right hand of power, covers that position 164 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:15,640 from his ascension from the earth, 2000 years ago, up into heaven, and it will end when 165 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:19,480 he returns to, physically returns to the earth in power and great glory. 166 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:21,080 We call this his session. 167 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:28,200 And Peter describes this to the Jews in his day, in his famous sermon on the day of Pentecost, 168 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:32,600 in Acts chapter two, remember after the Holy Spirit falls on the apostles and the tongues 169 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:37,560 of fire, and it's a wild scene of the Spirit being poured out. 170 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:39,960 This is what Peter says to the crowd. 171 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:41,880 He says to the Jews, this is a Jewish crowd. 172 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:46,680 He says, this Jesus, God raised up again to which we are all witnesses. 173 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:49,480 Oh, witnesses to the resurrection. 174 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:50,200 Good. 175 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:55,480 Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God, that is the beginning of his 176 00:10:55,480 --> 00:11:00,040 heavenly session, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, 177 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:06,680 he, Jesus, has poured forth this work of the Spirit that you see happening in the world. 178 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:08,840 The Spirit that you see happening, these tongues of fire. 179 00:11:09,560 --> 00:11:10,520 Listen to what he says. 180 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:17,560 For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself, meaning David, says, the Lord 181 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:22,120 said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. 182 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:28,280 So now that Jesus has been seated, now that he has sent forth the Holy Spirit into the 183 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:29,400 world to do what? 184 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:34,200 To remind us of all that he did and said, Christ is now in session. 185 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,760 He's fully divine as he's always been. 186 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:37,720 He's eternal. 187 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:38,920 He is all powerful. 188 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:39,960 He is omniscient. 189 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:46,600 He is omnipresent, yet he still maintains his glorified human nature in his session. 190 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:48,920 And he's not resting. 191 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,760 Jesus is ruling, and that's the picture we get here. 192 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:59,080 Sitting at the right hand of the Father, Jesus is exercising his authority as God. 193 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:01,320 You have to know that. 194 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:05,560 And to this very day, to this very minute, he rules over the realm of angels. 195 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:07,160 He rules over his church. 196 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:13,240 He rules over our lives, and he sustains the entire universe, according to Hebrews 1, by 197 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:14,280 the word of his power. 198 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:17,560 That's what he's doing during this heavenly session. 199 00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:19,240 And how long will he do it for? 200 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:26,440 Until I, Yahweh, make your, Adonai's, enemies a footstool for your feet. 201 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:27,720 Now, again, that sounds weird. 202 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:28,440 What does that mean? 203 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:30,440 How many of you guys have a footstool at home? 204 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:31,640 Oh, some of you do. 205 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:32,840 Okay, nice. 206 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:33,800 Talk to me later. 207 00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:40,120 But that phrase meant something in the ancient Near East, and it referred to military conquerors. 208 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:40,920 This is what they would do. 209 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:47,080 When a military conqueror, a king, would conquer a people, he would drag in the king that he 210 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:53,800 had just conquered, make them get down, and he would use their back and their neck as 211 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:54,760 his footstool. 212 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,800 It was a statement of overwhelming victory. 213 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,880 By the way, Joshua does this to Canaanite kings in the book of Joshua. 214 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:04,120 So this is, again, well known, right? 215 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,640 And that day's going to come when Jesus does this, right? 216 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:13,480 When the Father brings all of his enemies under his feet, when all things will be consummated. 217 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:15,400 Paul talks about it in 1 Corinthians 15. 218 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:21,400 He says, then comes the end when he delivers the, just Jesus delivers the kingdom to God, 219 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:26,680 the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and every power, for he must 220 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:30,360 reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 221 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:33,720 And of course, the last enemy to be destroyed is death. 222 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:37,960 So that's who we worship, guys. 223 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:39,000 That's our Savior. 224 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:40,760 All powerful. 225 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:41,720 He is God. 226 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:43,560 Amen. 227 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:48,600 So let's take a quick look at why we can be so confident in this interpretation. 228 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:52,680 And to do that, what I want to do is now fast forward a thousand years. 229 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:57,240 We have Psalm 110, fast forward a thousand years from the time of David to the time of 230 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:04,200 Christ, to the time of the incarnate Messiah being spoken of in Psalm 110, to Matthew chapter 22. 231 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:10,840 Now the setting for Matthew 22, this is the day after Jesus' final triumphal entry into 232 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:11,800 Jerusalem. 233 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,280 And he has just made this bold messianic claim. 234 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:14,840 Remember? 235 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:17,320 He humbly wrote the first verse of the book of Joshua. 236 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:22,760 Remember, he humbly rides in on a donkey and the people are shouting, 237 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:26,440 Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 238 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:31,640 There's this big messianic scene and the whole city is abuzz over the identity of this 239 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:32,840 rabbi from Galilee. 240 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:38,440 And then he amps it up even more by going into the temple and he drives out the money changers 241 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:41,000 and he confronts the chief priests and the scribes, right? 242 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:44,840 Then he teaches the crowd in a whole series of parables. 243 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:48,920 Then the Sadducees come up and try to trip him up with the question about marriage and 244 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:51,400 resurrection and Jesus shuts them down. 245 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:53,720 And then here's what we read after that. 246 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:59,400 It says, but when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered 247 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:00,440 themselves together. 248 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:02,520 And I love how descriptive this is. 249 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:04,360 Remember that this is the rival party. 250 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,000 They're like, ah, those foolish Sadducees got shut down. 251 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,840 Ah, okay, let's pull ourselves together and let's trip this guy up. 252 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:13,000 That's what the Pharisees do. 253 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,840 But as they come up to him, Jesus asks them a question. 254 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,560 He says, what do you think about the Christ or the Messiah? 255 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:24,440 Whose son is he? 256 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:29,960 And they say, they shoot back the answer, the son of David. 257 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:31,480 And that's the right answer, isn't it? 258 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:37,480 The Messiah was prophesied in their own scriptures to be a physical descendant of David. 259 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:40,040 So listen, every Jew in the first century knew this. 260 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:41,320 This was an easy question. 261 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:45,960 But with that stated, now Jesus springs the trap on them, these learned men. 262 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:47,720 And he says to them what he says. 263 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:56,280 Then how does David in the spirit call him Lord saying the Lord said to my Lord, sit 264 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:58,920 at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet. 265 00:15:59,080 --> 00:15:59,480 Yeah. 266 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,760 Jesus himself quotes Psalm 110. 267 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:03,160 One. 268 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:08,120 And the way I picture this scene going down is the Pharisees who are all, they had their 269 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:12,040 own plan to trip them up or all of a sudden staring at him blankly and their minds are 270 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,800 spinning, trying to remember what they know about this particular Psalm. 271 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:19,960 Everybody look, they all would have known Psalm 110 one, but now they're like, uh-oh, 272 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,400 this guy's challenged us and probably in front of a crowd. 273 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:27,000 So they they're likely to look really, really foolish at this moment. 274 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,480 So their minds are spinning around here, right? 275 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:33,080 They're trying to recall their study, but Jesus doesn't give them much time. 276 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:33,720 He goes on. 277 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:38,360 He says, if David then calls him Lord, how is he his son? 278 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:40,040 Crickets. 279 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:46,600 Crickets, because in, in Hebrew culture, a son is always said to be inferior to the father. 280 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,760 But here, David calls his son, his Adonai. 281 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:53,400 His son is his Lord. 282 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:57,880 So in their blindness, the Pharisees had never considered this, this really core 283 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:03,000 tenant of Old Testament prophecy that Israel's Messiah would not just be the son of David. 284 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:04,520 But also David's Lord. 285 00:17:06,360 --> 00:17:06,920 Hmm. 286 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:11,880 And if that physical descendant of David was also going to be Lord, what does that mean? 287 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:16,360 And this is why Matthew goes on to say that they, they stopped asking him questions after this. 288 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:18,760 Because they're stumped by this. 289 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:25,480 If the coming of Messiah was both David's son and David's Lord, he would have to be both human. 290 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:30,280 According to the descendants, uh, the, you know, being a descendant of David, but also divine to 291 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:31,320 be his Adonai. 292 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:33,240 There's no other way to fulfill this. 293 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:35,000 There's no other way. 294 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:40,440 And so this is what trips these guys up and, and subtly beneath the surface, what Jesus was 295 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:45,480 basically claiming was, look, I am that divine Lord and the Messiah is speaking to you now. 296 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:47,480 But they're blind. 297 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:50,360 They don't see it, but that's, that's what's going on. 298 00:17:50,360 --> 00:17:51,960 So listen, praise the Lord. 299 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:58,120 We have, we have Jesus's own commentary on Psalm one 10 one, which is really cool. 300 00:17:58,120 --> 00:17:58,680 Isn't it? 301 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:01,480 I mean, could you imagine like, wouldn't that be cool for every song? 302 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:03,320 We just, let's see what Jesus says about it. 303 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:04,120 That'd be really cool. 304 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:08,200 Three things Jesus confirms in this little story. 305 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:10,440 Number one, that yes, David authored Psalm one 10. 306 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:11,720 There's no question about that. 307 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:15,480 Number two, that David wrote in the spirit. 308 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:16,280 Do you see that? 309 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:22,040 Divinely inspired by the Holy spirit, meaning he wrote in Psalm one 10, wrote exactly what 310 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:23,640 God wanted him to write. 311 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:27,640 Whether he had full understanding of it or not is not the issue. 312 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:32,760 He wrote in the spirit and number three, he states that David wasn't writing about just 313 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:39,160 any Israelite King, but Jesus affirms that Psalm one 10 is indeed messianic. 314 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:40,200 It's about him. 315 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:41,960 Okay. 316 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:46,600 So that's a lot on just first one, but understanding that is the solid food. 317 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,000 So beginning of that solid food of the Christian faith. 318 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,720 Now, what about the rest of this first section? 319 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:56,440 Verses two and three, what does it tell us? 320 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:57,960 About this Messiah? 321 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:00,280 Well, here we learn more about Messiah is King. 322 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:06,040 Look at verse two, the Lord will stretch forth your strong or mighty scepter from Zion saying 323 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:07,720 rule in the midst of your enemies. 324 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:14,280 This is obviously a prophetic picture of a future time when God's Messiah will rule over 325 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:15,480 all of Israel's enemies. 326 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:16,920 And this is not a new teaching. 327 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:21,480 This would not have been surprising because the old Testament is filled with this promise 328 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:26,920 of a reborn Israel and a Messiah who will come in and rule the entire world and rule 329 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:28,360 over Israel's enemies. 330 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,320 Every, every Jew in the first century believe this. 331 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:34,360 What's interesting here is the language about the scepter. 332 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:39,720 Again, that's not a word we're familiar with, but a scepter was the symbol of a King's 333 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:41,800 authority to rule. 334 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,440 And that language gets picked up in Hebrews one. 335 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:48,360 We heard it already this morning in our call to worship in Hebrews one. 336 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:49,400 Here's what it says. 337 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:55,720 After making purification for sins, and that's a reference to the cross, Jesus sat down at 338 00:19:55,720 --> 00:20:02,520 the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name 339 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,640 he is inherited is more excellent than theirs. 340 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:11,560 Skipping ahead, he asked this rhetorical question for to which of the angels has he ever said, 341 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:15,240 sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. 342 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:18,920 And the obvious answer is which angels? None. 343 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:20,920 God would never say that to an angel. 344 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:23,160 He'll only say that to his one and only son. 345 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:30,520 But, and this is a quote from another Psalm, Messianic Psalm, Psalm 45, but of the son, 346 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:37,720 he says, of the son, he says, your throne, oh, God is forever and ever. 347 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:41,160 And the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom. 348 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:42,360 I love that. 349 00:20:42,360 --> 00:20:46,520 Scepter is the scepter of your kingdom. I love when the old and the new Testament 350 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:50,360 come together, right? We'll see it all over the place in this sermon, 351 00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:53,480 the old and the new Testament melding together so beautifully. 352 00:20:54,280 --> 00:21:01,720 God the father here refers to his son, first of all, as Elohim in the original Psalm 45, 353 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:06,040 but here in Hebrews one as theos, the Greek word for God. 354 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:13,080 God the father refers to the Messiah as God and then speaks of his royal scepter and his kingdom. 355 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:17,800 And there is coming a day, and I think we're getting close to it, a day when God the father 356 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:23,880 will be the one who stretches forth the rule, the scepter of Christ across the entire world. 357 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:29,000 And he will be the one who brings every enemy in subjection to King Jesus. 358 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:35,240 What that means is the entire world is going to acknowledge the kingship and the rule of Jesus. 359 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:37,880 And this too has been prophesied. Isaiah said it. 360 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:44,680 Isaiah 45, I am God and there is no other to me every knee will bow and every tongue will 361 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:49,400 swear allegiance. And then Paul picks that up in Philippians 2 and applies it to who? 362 00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:56,120 To Jesus, the Messiah. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 363 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:02,520 A lot going on here, right? And then verse 3 tells us your people will volunteer or offer 364 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:07,720 themselves freely in the day of your power. And that can be translated on the day of your army. 365 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:12,120 Ooh, how many guys are excited about being part of the Lord's army? 366 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:17,400 Right on the day of your army in holy array or holy garments. 367 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,880 This is so cool. The picture is poetic, obviously, but it's simple. 368 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:27,560 The people who belong to Christ in that day, the ones who are found in Christ by faith, 369 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:33,560 we will be his soldiers. We will willingly embrace his kingship. The language here is we will be 370 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:39,480 freewill offerings to him. Remember what Paul calls us living sacrifices. That's what we will 371 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:45,800 be in that day, gladly serving our King under his authority and power. And then you have the military 372 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:51,800 aspect. We will be an army of priests wearing holy garments, which by the way is also prophesied in 373 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:59,320 Revelation 19, that we will wear holy garments as we serve as his priests. I'm excited about being 374 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:04,200 part of the Lord's army. The only thing for me is this, I don't want to get ahead of Jesus, right? 375 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:10,680 Like I'll be that guy. Jesus goes, Hey, Jeff, behind me, right? Because I'm anxious for this, 376 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:15,960 right? Don't we want to see Jesus's rule established and justice, divine justice and 377 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:22,200 righteousness brought to the earth? Okay, so that's the first section. We've already done some heavy 378 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:28,200 lifting here, but we have a whole second oracle and it's actually more complex than the first one. 379 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:32,920 Okay, so, and it's mysterious. So let's look at the second section. It's just one verse, 380 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:42,200 verse four, and it refers to the priesthood of Christ. Now, deep breath. Verse four is an oracle 381 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:50,200 plus. Verse four is an oracle with a oath attached to it, which amps up the interpretation and the 382 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:56,600 importance. The same persons are involved. This is still Yahweh speaking to David's Lord, to his 383 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:05,320 Adonai, right? And it says the Lord has, the Lord Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind. And 384 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:12,040 in the Hebrew that can be translated and will not be sorry or repent of this. He'll never change 385 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:20,360 his mind. You Adonai, you Messiah, are a priest according to the order or the pattern of Melchizedek. 386 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:27,480 Now, when the Lord says anything, it's important. But when he swears to something and says, I will 387 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:34,280 never change my mind, we should all sit up and take notice. This is very, very important. And the truth 388 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:40,200 of this oath is so important to biblical theology that the author of Hebrews devotes three entire 389 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:45,880 chapters to various parts of this, of this one verse. It's amazing. So a couple of things we 390 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:49,960 have to know. We're going to get into the life of Melchizedek. And as I promised in my video 391 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:56,520 yesterday, just for Father's Day, we do have a map. Now I know, I know some of you ladies love maps too. 392 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:00,040 Don't get me wrong. That's fine. But this is for the dudes. We have a map coming up. 393 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:07,000 Couple of things we got to know right off the bat. The priestly order in Israel at the time of David 394 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:13,400 was purely ancestral, right? You couldn't just go, Hey, I want to be a priest. I want to volunteer 395 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:20,440 to be a priest. You had to be from a particular tribe, right? The tribe of Levi. And more 396 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:26,440 particularly, you had to be a descendant of Aaron, who was Moses' brother and the great grandson of 397 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:33,080 Levi. So you had to be in that line. But with this oath, God reveals through David that he is always 398 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:41,400 reserved for himself another order of priests, right? And it's an order of priests that predates 399 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:48,360 Levi. It comes before both Levi and Aaron. You have to know that. That's very important. 400 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:54,200 The second thing you need to know is that according to the Levitical law in Israel, which was 401 00:25:54,200 --> 00:26:00,360 established later in the days of Moses and Aaron, the two offices of king and priest could not be 402 00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:06,440 held by the same man. It was the ancient version of America's separation of powers, right? You 403 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:10,440 couldn't be both king and priest. They had to be separate. And by the way, we have examples in the 404 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:17,080 Bible. At least two kings tried to act as high priest, right? One was Saul and the other was 405 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:23,000 Uzziah, and they both suffered for it. Saul actually was put to death soon after that. Uzziah was 406 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:29,080 struck with leprosy for trying to combine these two offices. That's important to know. But now in 407 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:36,280 Psalm 110, David says of his Lord that this coming Lord will, he will be both king and priest. 408 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:42,920 So in that day, you would have had to say, well, hold on a second. How is that possible? Is God 409 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:48,120 contradicting himself here? Well, in order to establish the precedent, what David does is he 410 00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:54,520 reaches way back in history and presents to us this mysterious guy called Melchizedek and says, 411 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:59,720 this is the basis for this. So here's the journey. We're going to go on a journey here about 412 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:04,600 Melchizedek, right? And there's so much, we can do a whole series on this, Adam, but I'm going to, 413 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:08,680 I'm going to be, I'm going to try to be focused on this because this is so important to the argument 414 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:12,680 because you know, some of you know already Melchizedek is a bit of a mystery, right? He's a 415 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:18,600 shadowy character. He's found only twice in the Old Testament, once here in this Psalm and once in 416 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:23,640 Genesis 14. And then he's found in only one New Testament book, which is the book of Hebrews. 417 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:30,360 Yet he turns out to be this absolutely essential part of the glories of Jesus Christ. And so we 418 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:38,680 have to know who he is. His story in Genesis 14 is only three verses and it's really mysterious. 419 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:45,560 So let's talk about this. Now what's the setting of, think about how early Genesis 14 is. Okay. 420 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:51,320 Remember it's Genesis 11, we're at the Tower of Babel. That's how early this is. It's, it's only 421 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:56,840 two chapters before there were even introduced to this man named Abram, who later becomes Abraham, 422 00:27:56,840 --> 00:28:03,000 right? The father of the Jewish people. So at the time of Melchizedek, you have to know this, there 423 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:10,120 is no Israel. There's no nation of Israel. There's no people of Israel. There is no Ten Commandments. 424 00:28:10,120 --> 00:28:15,400 There is no law. And most importantly, at the time of Melchizedek, there is no priesthood. 425 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:20,680 Got to know all that. All we know at this point in the story is that Abram has been called from his 426 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:25,880 homeland, which was in Mesopotamia, to come all the way around the Fertile Crescent and down into the 427 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:32,520 land of Canaan, right? He was called to do that. And by this time, Abram has turned away from his 428 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:39,880 pagan religion back in Ur, and he has become a monotheist who worships and walks with Yahweh, 429 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:45,320 and walks with Yahweh, the Lord. And he's settled in a particular place, they're called the Oaks of 430 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:53,000 Mamre, which is synonymous with the city of Hebron, map's coming, the city of Hebron, which is in the 431 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:58,680 hill country of what later would be called Judea. Here's the thing most people don't know about 432 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:04,440 Abram at this point. He's become a wealthy man. He's a landowner. He's an owner of flocks, 433 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:10,920 and he's something of a local chieftain. He has an army of men who serve him. Those are all things 434 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:17,640 that you have to know. Okay, map time. Ancient Israel. What are the first two landmarks you 435 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:24,200 always look for? The two bodies of water, the Sea of Galilee in the north, and the Dead Sea in the 436 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:30,120 south. That's important to get your bearings. And the blue dot is, ah, trick question, there is no 437 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:36,840 Jerusalem yet. I got you. I knew I was going to get you, but I'm so glad you guys are on that. 438 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:43,080 That's wonderful. It's not, there is no Jerusalem yet. It's called Shalem, right? But it's not 439 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:49,240 Jerusalem, not yet. The yellow dot is Hebron. So that's where, the yellow dot is where Abram has 440 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:56,520 settled. Okay? And he's not far from Shalem at this point. Now, in Genesis 14, we're given the story 441 00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:03,640 of a man who has the hardest biblical name to pronounce it. It's just the hardest one. It is 442 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:12,520 Kedur la-Omer. Anybody done? No, you haven't done a study on him. He is, he's a, again, this is very 443 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:20,040 early on in the story, right? He is the king of a place called Elam. Now Elam at this point is pre- 444 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:25,720 Persian Empire, but it's off to the east, the east of the Persian Gulf. It would be in an area today 445 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:33,320 we would call Southwestern Iran. He's from Elam. And this guy aligns himself with four other chieftains 446 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:38,920 and he decides that he is going to expand their horizons. And he comes around the Fertile Crescent 447 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:45,880 and down into this area to the east of the Jordan River. And he begins to conquer people group after 448 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:51,560 people group. So this is basically the path he takes that this king of Elam and his, and his allies 449 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:56,360 take this right coming down from the north of Fertile Crescent along the east side of the Jordan 450 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:02,440 River. And he's conquering nation after nation. And again, at this time it's, we say nations, it's not 451 00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:07,000 a lot of people. It's more like tribe after tribe, right? And he comes all the way down through here. 452 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:12,600 He's conquering. He goes all the way down to the tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, which is modern day Eilat 453 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:18,040 in Israel. And then he comes back up to a place called Kadesh. And then he ends up, see where that 454 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:25,240 red dot is? South of the Dead Sea. And there are two important cities located in that area, the red 455 00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:31,880 dot. Sodom and Gomorrah. Okay, now this is obviously before God destroys those two cities. Sodom and 456 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:40,200 Gomorrah. Okay, so it's here at that red dot that this contingent from Elam is confronted by the 457 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:45,240 kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. And they go to battle with each other. And Sodom and Gomorrah are 458 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:51,400 absolutely smashed. The Elamites loot their cities and they take a whole bunch of prisoners. 459 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:55,960 And then they're going to head back up north. Now one of the prisoners was a man named Lot, 460 00:31:55,960 --> 00:32:03,240 because Lot lived in Sodom. Now Lot is Abram's nephew, right? So he's taken prisoner. So the 461 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:08,200 Elamites continue on their way after this victory in battle. And they start heading up north. 462 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:14,760 Somebody escapes the battlefield and runs to Hebron, the yellow dot, and says to Abram the Hebrew, 463 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:21,800 the Bible says, hey, these guys took your nephew Lot. So what does Abram do? Well, again, he's a 464 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:30,200 local chieftain. He's got guys. So the text goes on. Oh, sorry. And where are they going to head to? 465 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:35,960 You see the red dot, the red arrow? That green dot is Dan. The Bible's going to tell us that this 466 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:41,720 contingent from Elam heads up to Dan, and Abram grabs his guys, and they also head up to Dan. 467 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:46,200 And that's where they're going to fight a battle. Here's what it says. Abram divided his forces 468 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:53,800 against them by night, he and his servants, and he defeated them at Dan. Now this is quite a feat, 469 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:59,960 because I think I can go backwards. Yeah. From Hebron to Dan's about 120, 130 miles, 470 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:08,920 and they didn't have cars. So he marched his guys that far to rescue Lot, and he catches up to this 471 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:13,720 Elamite army in Dan at that green dot. And actually the text is going to tell us they go as far as 472 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:19,560 Damascus later on. So this is a serious thing. Abram divided his forces against him by night, 473 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:24,840 he and his servants, and he defeated this army from Elam and pursued them as far as Chobah, 474 00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:30,520 which is north of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods and also brought back his relative Lot 475 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:37,560 with his possessions and the people. Now that's an amazing story. An amazing story. It's very 476 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:43,880 understated in the text. Again, understand this. This army from Elam is winning battle after battle. 477 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:50,840 They are conquering and conquering. But Abram, with 318 of his dudes, goes up there and defeats 478 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:55,960 them. There is something supernatural happening here. You have to know that. So then Abram and 479 00:33:55,960 --> 00:34:01,720 his guys make this long trip back. And Abram, the Bible says, meets with the very grateful King of 480 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:08,200 Sodom to return his people. Right? And they meet in a valley just outside of what would someday 481 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:12,920 become Jerusalem. And this is what the Bible says. The King of Sodom said to Abram, thank you, bro. 482 00:34:13,720 --> 00:34:20,360 No. He might have said something like, thank you, bro. I mean, but thank you for going up there and 483 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:25,240 whipping this army and getting my people back. That's pretty good news. But he says, give the 484 00:34:25,240 --> 00:34:30,840 people to me. And you know what? You take the goods for yourself. But look what Abram says to the King 485 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:36,760 of Sodom. I have sworn to the Lord God most high, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take 486 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:43,800 a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say I have made Abram rich. 487 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:51,000 Now, the King of Sodom was actually not being generous here. This was standard custom. Look, 488 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:56,760 you're a mercenary army. You deserve the spoils of war. Just give me my people back. But you have to 489 00:34:56,760 --> 00:35:04,040 know this. Abram completely rejects that offer. He has sworn to his Lord who he calls God most high. 490 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:09,800 I will not take a thing from this pagan King. Okay. Abram has distanced himself from paganism 491 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:14,600 here. I will not take anything from him. Now, that's just the context because here's where it 492 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:19,640 gets weird. As if it has been weird enough. Right in the middle of this historical account, 493 00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:27,560 another King comes to Abram just outside of this place we call Shalem. His name is Melchizedek. 494 00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:31,160 The very same time. Here's what it said. Here are the three verses about this guy. 495 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:38,520 And Melchizedek, King of Shalem, brought out bread and wine. Now, he was a priest of God most high. 496 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:45,240 He blessed him and said, blessed be Abram of God most high, possessor of heaven and earth, 497 00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:51,960 and blessed be God most high, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And Abram gave him 498 00:35:51,960 --> 00:36:01,160 a tenth of all. That's it. That is super mysterious. Right. But there's a ton of meaning here. 499 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:07,000 And this is what David picks up in Psalm 110. Okay. What do we discern about this guy? Well, 500 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:13,800 Melchizedek is a Canaanite King. He settled in this place called Shalem. Right. Apparently, 501 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:20,040 though, he knows Yahweh in the same way that Abram does. Calls him God most high. They share 502 00:36:20,040 --> 00:36:25,960 that same name. Now, Melchizedek may not have been his real name. It may have been an honorary title 503 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:32,920 because in Hebrew, it's a combination of two words, melech, which means King, and tzedek, 504 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:38,760 which means righteousness. He is literally called the King of righteousness. And he rules over this 505 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:44,360 place called Shalem, which is the same root word for shalom, which means peace. And while there were 506 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:50,280 a whole bunch of Shalems in the ancient world, based on the geography in Genesis 14, high 507 00:36:50,280 --> 00:37:00,920 probability that he is the King of the very place that will later be called Jerusalem. Right. All 508 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:06,600 these pieces coming together is really amazing. But what's really important here is look at what 509 00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:11,880 Melchizedek does and says and how Abram reacts to it. This is the mystery. It tells us everything. 510 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:17,160 First of all, Melchizedek and presumably his servants bring these guys bread and wine, which 511 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:23,000 if you've made a 150 mile trek, you'd be happy to get some bread and wine. So that's good. But he 512 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:30,760 gives Abram a blessing in the name of El Elyon, God most high. Again, the same name that Abram 513 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:37,000 uses for the God that he worships. And then he says, bless El Elyon who has given Abram this 514 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:44,760 victory over these Elamites. So Melchizedek recognizes the miraculous nature of Abram's 515 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:50,040 victory, that it was a supernatural act of grace on the part of God most high. Now here's the thing. 516 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:56,600 As a general rule of thumb in the ancient world, the one who blesses another is the superior man. 517 00:37:56,600 --> 00:38:02,760 The one who gives the blessing is greater of the two. And again, Abram is an important guy. 518 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:10,120 He's a wealthy man. He's got an army, but he seems to welcome this blessing from this mysterious guy, 519 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:14,920 Melchizedek. And then in return, he goes, by the way, here's a tenth of everything I have. 520 00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:22,840 Oh, what do we make of this? Right? First of all, there's a catch the contrast here. First, 521 00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:27,560 you have the king of Sodom saying, you know what, keep all this stuff. And Abram says, uh-uh, 522 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:32,920 I don't want anything to do with that. Total cold shoulder pushes him away. I don't want anything 523 00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:39,480 from you. But with Melchizedek, he not only receives the blessing, recognizes him as a 524 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:43,720 superior man, both as a king and a priest, and says, here's a tenth of what I have. 525 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:50,600 There's a contrast being driven here. Clearly Abram would not have received a blessing or given 526 00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:57,240 a tide to a pagan king, only to one who knows and worships God most high like he does. 527 00:38:59,720 --> 00:39:04,840 Okay. So there's two things to keep in mind now about Melchizedek as we go forward. Number one, 528 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:10,600 as you see in the text, he is both a king and a what? And a priest, not allowed under Levitical 529 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:17,880 law, right? But remember, this predates the law by 400 years. This is the more ancient, the more 530 00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:23,000 preeminent order of priesthood. And this is going to come up in the book of Hebrews, but notice 531 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:30,040 there's no genealogy given to Melchizedek. He just pops up and disappears. And I know it's, 532 00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:35,400 we say it's an argument from silence, but D.A. Carson is famous for saying arguments for silence 533 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:41,160 are good when you expect some noise. And with anybody important in the Bible, there's usually 534 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:46,200 a genealogy given to them, but not this guy. He just disappears. We have no evidence of 535 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:53,560 that guy. He just disappears. We have nothing to connect him to. Now, I know some of you maybe 536 00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:57,720 hear, you want to hear my opinion on a debate that has raged in the church for hundreds and 537 00:39:57,720 --> 00:40:05,240 hundreds and hundreds of years. Is Melchizedek a pre-incarnate manifestation of Jesus? Or is he 538 00:40:05,240 --> 00:40:12,440 just a guy who God used as a type of Christ to come? I'm not going to answer that question. I 539 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:16,520 know some of you want it, but if you grab me after the service or buy me coffee this week, 540 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:22,040 I'd be happy to share my opinion on that. By the way, just can I slide in for the men 541 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:30,920 a little bit of archaeology? Forget it. No. There's a famous Israeli archaeologist named Eli 542 00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:36,760 Shukran who is doing an excavation right now. He's the same guy who discovered the pool of Salom 543 00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:41,800 in the last 10 years or so. Very famous guy. He's digging in the city of David right now, 544 00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:48,440 which is the most ancient part of Jerusalem. And he has found a very, very, very, very old altar 545 00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:54,440 that has pottery shards in the vicinity that date back to the time of Abraham. 546 00:40:55,240 --> 00:40:59,960 And he's building a case. Now, this is not open to the public yet. I'm waiting. He's building a case 547 00:40:59,960 --> 00:41:05,960 that he believes he has found a very worship site that Melchizedek would have used as an altar, 548 00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:11,000 which would be amazing. See, that's what the Bible just keeps getting confirmed by archaeology. So 549 00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:17,320 that's more than that as it gets developed, but that would be fascinating. So why does all this 550 00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:23,880 matter about Melchizedek? Well, the answer is, is because of Yahweh's oath in verse four of Psalm 110, 551 00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:30,600 right? That his Messiah and son will be a priest in the order of this mysterious guy. So we should 552 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:36,760 know what that means. Again, under the Levitical system, a king could not be a priest, but here in 553 00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:43,960 Psalm 110, a thousand years before Jesus, David prophesies that Messiah will come and he will be 554 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:51,240 both a king and a priest and not a Levite. This is what the Jews should be looking for. This is what 555 00:41:51,240 --> 00:41:56,600 they should have been looking for for a long time, even today. Yahweh is sworn that this is going to 556 00:41:56,600 --> 00:42:02,760 happen, David says. The Messiah will come to his people, not as a Levite, but in this pattern of 557 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:09,720 a man who was both a priest and a king and a man who has no genealogy, right? It's as if he 558 00:42:09,720 --> 00:42:14,920 transcends earthly existence. He's like an eternal priest who lives forever. He is a type of Christ. 559 00:42:17,080 --> 00:42:23,560 And Hebrews seven, man, go home tonight, read Hebrews seven. It expounds so much on this story. 560 00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:28,520 I'll just summarize it with a few thoughts. First, the author of Hebrews says that Melchizedek order 561 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:34,600 is superior to the Levitical order. It's a better order. And here's how he makes the case. He says, 562 00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:41,480 look, if perfection had been possible through the Levites, what need would there be to raise up an 563 00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:46,920 order outside of it? If the Levites could purify you, we don't need another order. 564 00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:54,280 True. So long before Jesus arrives, already David's Psalm is saying, basically, we need more than this. 565 00:42:54,280 --> 00:43:01,800 This Levitical priesthood is not sufficient to purify man from sin. In fact, Hebrews calls the 566 00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:07,880 Levitical priesthood weak and useless because it couldn't purify anybody. But through the Melchizedek 567 00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:15,240 order, he says, we have a better hope, a better hope through which we're actually purifying the 568 00:43:15,240 --> 00:43:20,520 people, a better hope through which we're actually able to draw near to God. You couldn't do that 569 00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:26,120 through the Levites, but you can through this other order. Not only is the pattern of Melchizedek 570 00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:32,280 better, Jesus himself is far superior to any Levitical priest in many, many ways. For one, 571 00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:39,720 his priesthood is not based on ancestry. It's based on actual merit, which the author says 572 00:43:39,720 --> 00:43:45,800 is the power of his indestructible life, his resurrection. It's based on his merit, not who 573 00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:53,400 he was born from. That makes him superior. Second, every Levitical priest was temporary. He died, 574 00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:59,400 but not Jesus, right? He lives forever. He's an eternal high priest and therefore far superior. 575 00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:06,760 David says it himself in Psalm 110. He is a priest forever, which is better than any human being who 576 00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:13,160 dies. Third, because of his sinless life, Jesus doesn't have to do what all the other priests did, 577 00:44:13,160 --> 00:44:17,640 which was to make sacrifice for his own sins before he makes a sacrifice for you and I, 578 00:44:18,440 --> 00:44:25,000 because he has a sinless life. And finally, the fact that God swore an oath to make Jesus a permanent 579 00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:29,720 high priest puts him far above all other priests, because they didn't get that oath. They didn't get 580 00:44:29,720 --> 00:44:35,240 an oath from God, but Jesus did. And the author summarizes then, therefore that makes Jesus the 581 00:44:35,240 --> 00:44:41,240 guarantor of a superior covenant. And you have to understand that with a better priesthood comes a 582 00:44:41,240 --> 00:44:46,840 better covenant. And the whole argument of the next chapter in Hebrews chapters eight is that Jesus 583 00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:53,960 has rendered the old covenant obsolete. Now again, that's a whole preaching series I did in like seven 584 00:44:53,960 --> 00:45:01,080 minutes. So go home and read Hebrews seven and see if you can connect more of these dots. Guys, this 585 00:45:01,080 --> 00:45:09,320 is the solid food of Christian doctrine. If we want to get off milk, we got to go deeper and start to 586 00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:14,840 understand these things. Okay, we got, oh boy, we got to finish. Okay, third section, we're going to 587 00:45:14,840 --> 00:45:21,080 do this really fast. Verses five through seven. Let's take a look at this. Here's the thing, as 588 00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:27,320 you read verse four, the second oracle, the reader might suspect, well, okay, give us more details 589 00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:32,200 about this priesthood. We want to know more. Give me more commentary on it, but that's not what David 590 00:45:32,200 --> 00:45:38,360 does, right? Where does David go? More information about the power and dominion of the priest king, 591 00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:42,920 right? He's already established, king and priest. He's the great priest king. 592 00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:48,360 More about his power. In verses five through seven, what we get are echoes of what John is going to 593 00:45:48,360 --> 00:45:54,360 describe for us in Revelation 19. Remember what John says in Revelation 19? I saw the beast and 594 00:45:54,360 --> 00:46:00,280 the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against him who sat on the white horse 595 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:09,160 and his army. That's us. Well, look at David says in Psalm 110, he will shatter kings in the day of 596 00:46:09,160 --> 00:46:18,200 his wrath. He will judge among the nations and fill them with corpses. Hmm. It's bloody. 597 00:46:18,200 --> 00:46:25,240 It's a slaughter. It's an overwhelming victory. Can you imagine what a divine being, a divine being, 598 00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:33,880 omnipotent who comes to earth, what he can do to those who have blasphemed his name and opposed his 599 00:46:33,880 --> 00:46:41,640 rule. He'll fill the nations with their corpses. He's a warrior. And look at how verse five begins. 600 00:46:41,640 --> 00:46:47,560 The Lord is at your right hand. So there's a interesting switch in verse one, and in verse 601 00:46:47,560 --> 00:46:52,680 one, it was the Messiah seated at the right hand of Yahweh in his session. Now in verse five, 602 00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:59,320 it's Yahweh who comes to the right hand of his Messiah to act through him as the day of the Lord 603 00:46:59,320 --> 00:47:06,200 unfolds. And that's what's going on here. Remember it's Yahweh who promised, I will make your enemies 604 00:47:06,200 --> 00:47:12,840 a footstool. He says, I will extend your scepter from Zion. And so Yahweh comes to the right hand 605 00:47:12,840 --> 00:47:18,200 of his Messiah and acts through him to do this. Now it's fascinating to see how David describes 606 00:47:18,200 --> 00:47:24,680 this. He's already made the case that his Adonai is divine, but now he adds, and it looks so useless 607 00:47:24,680 --> 00:47:31,880 and so out of place, but it's so important. He adds a human dimension to what this warrior king 608 00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:41,880 is going to do. He says, he will drink from the brook by the wayside or by the road. What? Messiah, 609 00:47:41,880 --> 00:47:48,840 this warrior figure, he's a physical man, although he's divine, but he's so human, so physical that 610 00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:54,280 as he's on the march to pursue his enemies, he stops to refresh himself in a stream 611 00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:59,880 and then lifts his head and moves forward to finish the slaughter. 612 00:48:01,400 --> 00:48:06,680 Again, I know it's subtle and it seems useless, but it's a combination of both divine and human. 613 00:48:06,680 --> 00:48:12,040 And the order is so important to recognize. First, Messiah King is enthroned at the right hand of the 614 00:48:12,040 --> 00:48:17,800 father and there he functions as our high priest. And that's all wonderful, but it's not the end of 615 00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:23,240 the story. What's the end of the story? The final chapter in the story of Messiah, which we read in 616 00:48:23,240 --> 00:48:29,480 Revelation 19 and 20 is actually not his reign in heaven. The final chapter is his physical return 617 00:48:30,040 --> 00:48:35,080 for the purpose of conquest and judgment and the establishment of his kingdom for a thousand years. 618 00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:41,080 That's what David is describing in Psalm 110. That's the final chapter in the story. And in that day, 619 00:48:41,080 --> 00:48:47,080 David's Adonai will be for you and I and for every human being on earth, either one of two things, 620 00:48:47,080 --> 00:48:54,600 our high priest and our advocate or our adversary and our judge. And that's what separates mankind, 621 00:48:54,600 --> 00:49:01,160 right? He's either going to be your high priest and your advocate or he's going to be your adversary 622 00:49:01,160 --> 00:49:10,360 and your judge. You guys did really good. So as we wrap up, how do we respond to this prophecy? 623 00:49:10,360 --> 00:49:17,720 Like, what do we do? Well, how should we respond? Two words, very seriously, because first of all, 624 00:49:17,720 --> 00:49:25,560 the full measure of this still is in the future. It's still in the future. And secondly, we can be 625 00:49:25,560 --> 00:49:31,240 certain that it will come to pass. In fact, the fact that that Yahweh has fulfilled a portion of 626 00:49:31,240 --> 00:49:37,560 Psalm 110 by sending his son makes it so much more certain that he'll fulfill the rest of it. 627 00:49:38,840 --> 00:49:43,880 Right? We judge the faithfulness of God based on his faithfulness in the past. He's always faithful. 628 00:49:43,880 --> 00:49:50,680 He will fulfill this. And so we would do well to pay close attention. But then consider in a more 629 00:49:50,680 --> 00:49:56,520 sort of general and grand sense, the immensity of what David tells us here. We have a savior who is 630 00:49:56,520 --> 00:50:03,400 not only a king, but he's a good king and a loving king and a kind king and a long suffering king 631 00:50:03,400 --> 00:50:10,600 who rules over the church, our church and the lives of his people, us. Aren't you glad that we have a 632 00:50:10,600 --> 00:50:16,440 good king to rule over us? He's a king that will confront the enemies that come against us that 633 00:50:16,440 --> 00:50:23,000 seek to do us harm. We have a king who promises to consummate this, this present age as our warrior 634 00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:28,360 and to establish a kingdom on earth that is so magnificent that we cannot even fathom it. And 635 00:50:28,360 --> 00:50:33,960 all of those things about our king should cause us to joyfully submit to his rule. But I think 636 00:50:33,960 --> 00:50:39,480 even more importantly is this idea of our great high priest. Don't we love this? Right? A high 637 00:50:39,480 --> 00:50:45,160 priest who was steadfast love can sympathize with all that we're going through down here on the 638 00:50:45,160 --> 00:50:50,360 earth because he's walked in our shoes and he can sympathize with us. He is the perfect mediator 639 00:50:50,360 --> 00:50:56,200 between us and the father. He is our advocate at the throne of grace. He's infinitely greater 640 00:50:56,200 --> 00:51:02,440 than any Levitical priest you could ever hope for. We sing this song, right? We sing before the throne 641 00:51:02,440 --> 00:51:11,800 of God above. I have a strong and perfect plea. A great high priest whose name is love, whoever lives 642 00:51:12,280 --> 00:51:18,440 and pleads for me. Such a beautiful song. And there's actually even more. He's not only our 643 00:51:18,440 --> 00:51:25,480 great high priest, he's our sacrifice. He's our lamb of God. He's our temple too. The place where 644 00:51:25,480 --> 00:51:31,000 we meet with God and his body is the veil through which we have access to the kingdom of God. 645 00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:35,240 He is the veil through which we have access to the throne of grace. He is our all in all. 646 00:51:36,200 --> 00:51:41,640 And this is why we worship as we do. This is why we need a king, a righteous king to rule over us. 647 00:51:41,640 --> 00:51:47,480 Why we need a warrior who defeats our enemies. Why we need a perfect high priest who offers 648 00:51:47,480 --> 00:51:55,480 himself up for us. Because if he hadn't, we would still all be in our sins. This is the Messiah that 649 00:51:55,480 --> 00:52:04,280 David spoke of, guys, 3000 years ago in Psalm 110. And this is the Messiah that today we proclaim 650 00:52:04,280 --> 00:52:12,600 and look forward to his return. Wonderful, merciful Savior, precious Redeemer and friend, 651 00:52:12,600 --> 00:52:24,520 who would have thought that a lamb could rescue the souls of men? That's our Savior. Let's pray. 652 00:52:24,520 --> 00:52:35,400 Father, I am just so overwhelmed and blown away by your incredible wisdom. Your ways are so much 653 00:52:35,400 --> 00:52:42,760 higher than our ways, Lord. And the way that you spoke through your servant David so many years ago 654 00:52:42,760 --> 00:52:51,880 in this Psalm, giving us this amazing promise that so many people were blind to, but you have opened 655 00:52:51,880 --> 00:52:57,800 our eyes and you have removed the veil so that we can see the beauty of your word and we can see 656 00:52:57,800 --> 00:53:04,840 what you promised and how you have fulfilled it and how there's even more to come. God, I am 657 00:53:04,840 --> 00:53:13,240 just blown away by you, blown away by your love, by your grace, by your amazing wisdom. 658 00:53:14,600 --> 00:53:21,880 Father, I pray for our church family now that we would strive to keep digging into the solid 659 00:53:21,880 --> 00:53:29,000 food of your word, to understand the depths of all the things you've written. We'll never plumb the 660 00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:35,240 end of it, Lord, but help us to want that, to desire, to plumb the depths of your word 661 00:53:36,120 --> 00:53:40,520 so that we might understand all that you're doing in our world and all that you're doing in our lives. 662 00:53:40,520 --> 00:53:45,480 So thank you for this morning. Thank you for this word. Continue to work these truths deep into our 663 00:53:45,480 --> 00:53:59,480 souls for your glory and for our good, we pray. Amen.