Hebrews: The Bringing of a Better Hope
Hebrews 7:15-19; Revelation 1:17-18 - Knowing what sin is doesn’t keep us from sinning.
“And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. For it is attested of Him,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.”
Hebrews 7:15-19 NASB1995
This is the first devotional I have written since having major eye surgery last Tuesday. I can see fairly well to write (well, maybe not so well, if you envision have one eye looking through the bottom of a beer stein, which is what I see with the gas bubble in my eye), but will rely on my editor (hubby) to ensure that there are no typos or errors. I thank everyone for their prayers and am hoping for full healing and improved vision.
The priesthood of Jesus is in the likeness of Melchizedek, not because of the laws of a physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life. Our eternal Lord triumphed over death at His Resurrection, putting aside the weaknesses and uselessness of the Law and the order of the mortal and flawed Levitical priesthood. A good illustration of this was found on Precept Austin:
Imagine standing in a dark room with a single candle burning. That candle gives real light, but eventually it will burn out. To keep the room lit, you would need to replace it again and again. This is like the Levitical priesthood—generation after generation, priest after priest, each one burning for a time, but then dying and needing another to take his place.
Now picture instead the rising of the sun. Its light does not depend on wax or wicks. It shines with inherent, unstoppable power. Once it rises, darkness cannot overcome it. This is like the priesthood of Jesus. His ministry is not sustained by external law or lineage, but by the eternal, indestructible life of the risen Son of God. He never dies, and His light never fades.
So when we trust Him, we are not depending on a temporary flame but on the sunrise that never sets—a Priest whose power to save and intercede never ends.
The sun itself will eventually cease shining, at some far, far distant time in the future of the physical universe (scientists estimate 5 to 10 billion years). But the light of our eternal priest and Savior will never die and never fade. His power to intercede and save never ends.
A related verse to this is in Revelation:
“When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
Revelation 1:17-18 NASB1995
The law made nothing perfect. It could only point out the flaws, but could not give us the power over that sin. Brian Bell has some good analogies from notes for one of his sermons, as noted on Precept Austin; he also a precautionary statement about the law:
…the Law was Weak and unprofitable/useless – How? Since it cannot cleanse from sin or provide power to obey.
The law is the light that reveals how dirty the room is, not the broom that sweeps it clean.
The law is a dentist’s mirror that shows decay, not the instruments needed to fix the cavity.
The law is a flashlight that guides you in the dark to the electrical panel, but doesn’t help you trip the breaker.
The law is a plumb-line, a framer used to see if something was true to vertical, but he never uses it to square the wall.
So, The law points out the problem of sin; it doesn’t provide a solution.
Addendum: Though the law is not itself sinful (”the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” Ro 7:12+), the Law does have the effect to arouse sin!
“For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.” (Ro 7:5+)
PRINCIPLE - The law by itself arouses within us the desire to disobey. There is something about saying “Don’t” that makes us want to “Do.” There is something about saying “Do” that makes us want to “Not Do.” We all by nature instinctively rebel inwardly against rules and regulations. The sign says, “Wet Paint. Do not touch.” What do you do? You touch it!
That’s a very good insight! From time immemorial (or at least since the Garden), people have been told not to do something and that incites the desire to do the exact thing that is forbidden! It’s not just children who fall into this disobedience trap. God gave Adam and Eve one “do not do” rule in a garden paradise and of course that was the very thing that they had to do, goaded on by the enemy. Ironically, Steve published a devotional for December 9 that talks about the company we keep and sinning. Peer and group pressures have done more in history to cause weak humans to embrace sin than most other “incentives”.
Enduring Word also has excellent commentary on this passage:
b. The law made nothing perfect: Therefore, the law is valuable as it shows us God’s perfect standard, but it was not ultimately intended to be the basis of a man’s walk with God. This is because the law is weak and unprofitable when it comes to saving my soul or giving me power over sin.
i. The law provides expert diagnosis of our sin problem, which is absolutely essential. But the law does not provide the cure to our sin problem. Only Jesus can save us from our sin problem.
c. On the other hand: Since now, in Jesus, we have a better hope, through which we draw near to God, we are wrong to go back to building our Christian walk on the law. Therefore the law is “annulled” or set aside in the sense that it no longer is the dominating principle of our life, especially of our relationship with God.
i. “The Greek word translated disannuling [annulling], athetesis, is the same as appears in Hebrews 9:26 for the putting away of sin ‘by the sacrifice of Himself.’ The disappearance of the Law is as absolute, therefore, as the putting away of sin!” (Newell)
ii. The law does not give you a better hope. The law does not draw you near to God the way God’s grace given in Jesus does. Yet many Christians live a legal relationship with God instead of a grace relationship with Him.
iii. “Although the law performed a valuable function, its essential weakness was that it could not give life and vitality even to those who kept it, let alone to those who did not. In fact its function was not to provide strength, but to provide a standard by which man could measure his own moral status. Its uselessness must not be regarded in the sense of being totally worthless, but in the sense of being ineffective in providing a constant means of approach to God based on a totally adequate sacrifice.” (Guthrie)
d. Annulling of the former commandment… bringing in of a better hope: The writer came to the same conclusion about the law as Paul did in Galatians 3:19-25, but he got there in a totally different way. In Galatians, Paul showed the law as a tutor that brings us to Jesus. In Hebrews the law is associated with a priesthood that has been made obsolete by a superior priesthood.
i. “Cease to think of cleansing, and consider the Cleanser; forbear to speculate on deliverance, and deal with the Deliverer.” (Meyer)
e. A better hope, through which we draw near to God: Because we have a better priesthood and a better High Priest, we also have a better hope and draw near to God. Our hope is in Jesus, not in the Law of Moses or our ability to keep it.
i. This should temper our excitement about the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. The small cadres of dedicated Jews absolutely committed to rebuilding the temple have an exciting place in God’s prophetic plan. But anyone who restores the Aaronic priesthood and resumes Levitical sacrifice (especially for atonement of sin) denies the superior priesthood and ultimate sacrifice of Jesus.
This section of Hebrews 7 provides a warning and a promise to the intended audience of early Jewish believers in Christ. The warning is that they should not go back to the Levitical system of sacrifice because that denies the eternal sacrifice of Jesus. The promise is based on the better hope in this superior priesthood - Our hope is in Jesus!
My next devotional examines Hebrews 7:20-22 - A better covenant with God.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Thank you for the successful surgery and for my recovery so far. I pray for patience as improvement in my vision may take several months.
I also thank you for the insights into the better hope of the superior priesthood of Jesus! Amen.
Credits and Citations:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 12/08/2025 to review commentary for Hebrews 7:15-19.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com
Within the Enduring Word Commentary:
Newell, William R. Hebrews Verse by Verse (Chicago: Moody Press, 1947)
Guthrie, Donald Hebrews (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1983)
Meyer, F.B. The Way Into the Holiest: Expositions of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: Christian Literature Crusade, 1982)
All the references today were truly helpful!
And YAY for surgery success!