Devotional 26 June 2025

June 26, 2025 • Steve Torres

Hebrews 7:18-19.jpg

"Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God." (Hebrews 7:11-19, ESV)

The book of Hebrews turns a significant corner in chapter 7. After establishing that Jesus is the ultimate and divine revelation of God (Heb. 1:1–3), the writer now moves to show that Jesus brings with Him a better covenant—one that truly changes lives and brings us into the very presence of God.

The argument begins by pointing out that the Levitical priesthood was never able to make people perfect (v. 11). The law demanded righteousness but could not produce it. It exposed sin but could not cleanse it. It instructed the people to love God with all their hearts, yet it couldn’t give them new hearts. As Paul puts it, “Through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20), and even worse, our sinful flesh wants to rebel against the commands of God (Rom. 7:7–13). The law is like a caregiver (Gal. 3:24–25), preparing us until Christ would come.

So God, in His mercy, promised a new day. Even within the old covenant, the prophets looked forward to a new covenant—a time when the law would be written on our hearts (Jer. 31:31–34). That time has come in Jesus. The old system, tied to the priesthood of Aaron and Levi, could not bring us near to God. But now, a new priest has come—not by lineage, but by the power of an indestructible life (Heb. 7:16). Jesus, our perfect High Priest, has ushered in a covenant that actually works—one that not only declares what is holy, but makes people holy.

This covenant does what the old one could not: it changes hearts. It invites us into fellowship with God—not through ritual or repeated sacrifice, but through Jesus, who offered Himself once for all. As Hebrews 7:19 says, “a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.”

So today, be encouraged: you are not under the weight of a system that cannot save. You are under grace, in the hands of a Savior who has already done what we never could. In Jesus, you have access to God Himself. He is better—and He brings a better covenant.