This chunk of Hebrews is one of those "stump the pastor" sections that, if not dealt with carefully, can cause some serious issues. For example, in 6:2, a number of good things to think about are blasted and in 6:4 there's a claim that it is impossible to return to faith once you fall away. So, what's the deal in these verses? While I can't find anyone who agrees with me, here are my thoughts.

First, we need to look at what was said both before and after this section. Both sides deal with Melchizedek and the priesthood of Christ. With this in mind, we see in verse 11 that the author, who's just introduced the topic of Christ's priesthood, wants to say a whole lot more about it, but the people aren't inclined to listen to what he has to say, rather, they want to move on to what they perceive to be more important issues.

While discussing the April 6, 27-Hour Service on the fshbwl (http://fshbwl.com), another image of seemingly inconsequential dots coming together to make a much larger picture came to mind. It links to the Stephen Sondheim musical based on a Georges Seurat painting.

The painting itself is made up of individual dots, with each dot, in and of itself, having little importance. Yet, when all of the dots are put together, the form a complete picture.

In the same way, while many of the experience of our life don't seem to have meaning or significance in the moment, because of the resurrection, we know that they are part of a much larger and much more powerful story that God has been unfolding since before the world began.

Kim, who's come to Genesis before, sent me this prayer request this morning:

For the past couple weeks, the group that meets in the Burnham home on Monday night has been using the video piece from the Fishbowl's 27-Hour Service as the basis for our discussion.

In time, we'd like to see multiple small groups meeting all around Denver, using the video piece for discussion, and then gathering as a large group once a month or so for a larger corporate worship service. If you'd be interested in leading one of these smaller groups, please contact us.

While Hebrews 3:7-4:13 focused on what happens when we fail to head God's Word to us, 4:14-5:10 moves on to the positive side of the equation and the benefits of trusting God in faith, namely having an eternal high priest who stand before God on our behalf.

To make the point the author of Hebrews compares Jesus to the Old Testament priestly orders of Aaron and Melchizedek.

Christ is similar to both these orders in that, other priest were selected by God from among the people to be set apart as those who would stand before God and deal with sins on behalf of all the people. You get a taste of this in Exodus 28 & 29.

At the same time, there are some major differences between Christ and other priests. First, other priests would have to go through a long process of cleaning their own sins before they could stand before God on behalf of others. The best example of this would be the high priests preparation for Yom Kippur in Leviticus 16.