Philip Dampier's Blog

“See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils!” We have to get to the end of the sentence to find out that the verb rendered “see” is an imperative one. If you read the story in Genesis, it would be easy…

“He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he continues a priest forever.” First of all, this verse is not to be construed as a literal commentary of the physical life of the person known…

“…and to him, Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.” There is significance in what Abraham did with the spoils of the war with the other…

“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,” Because the concept of Jesus being a high priest after the order of Melchizedek would be foreign to the Jewish brethren the writer of Hebrews feels…

“Where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” The priesthood of Jesus is an eternal priesthood, and those who serve as priests in that priesthood also have the quality of eternity. Jesus, as high priest, was able…

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,” In the Hebrew world at the time of the writing of this book, there was much turmoil. Problems existed in the culture which was at odds with…

“So that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” In our world, the thought of something unchangeable is difficult to grasp. We live in flux,…

“So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed  it with an oath,” Make no mistake; the author is not suggesting that God needed to make an oath to ensure that He kept His word. The reason…

“For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes, an oath is final for confirmation.” This is not a practice we are used to. We do some things that are similar in nature like using notary publics or a witness signature. We think in terms of…

“And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” The author has given us God’s point of view on the promise. God is faithful and will do what He said He would do. To make sure Abraham understood God insured His promise with an oath. He swore by Himself. That…