⁸ God as Spirit has no body.

¹⁰ God as Spirit cannot be tempted or tested (Jam. 1:13), and so God took upon Himself human nature or “flesh” so that He could be; Is. 28:16, Jesus is a “tried stone”; Luke 22:28; Heb. 4:15; Luke 4:2, 13.

¹² Not all the Levites were priests, but all priests were Levites. Cf. Ex. 28:1; 29:9, 44; Lev. 1:5; 1 Chron. 6:48-49; 9:10, 14; 23:13, 28, 32.

³² John 16:32. We again ask the question: How can Jesus be separated from God when He is God? See Chapter Seven.

³⁸ The altar of incense in the Holy Place where the priest ministered, was a type or picture of intercession. Cf. Ex. 30:1-10. Incense is often symbolical of intercession in Scripture – Ps. 141:2; Rev. 5:8, “odours” is “incenses” in the Greek; 8:3-4.

⁴⁶ Cf. Gen. 20:7, 17; 23:8-9 (the NIV in v. 8 says “and intercede with Ephron…on my behalf”); 40:14; Ex. 8:8-13, 28, 30-31; 9:27-33; 10:17-19; 32:7-14 (v. 10b shows that Moses had favor with God); Num. 11:2; 12:13; 14:11-20; 16:20-22; 21:7; Deut. 9:18-20, 24-29; 1 Sam. 7:5, 8-9; 12:19; Ezra 6:10; Job 16:21 (notice how an intercessor is not disinterested, but he pleads for “his friend” – NIV); 22:29-30 (the guilty will be delivered “through the cleanness of your hands” – NIV); Jer. 15:1; 1 Tim. 2:1-4; Jam. 5:16; 1 John 5:16. Assuming we have turned from and confessed our sin, and are now walking in faith and obedience, of course; 1 John 1:9; Prov. 28:13.

⁵⁵ Assuming we have turned from and confessed our sin, and are now walking in faith and obedience, of course; 1 John 1:9; Prov. 28:13.

⁶⁰ Hebrews 7:15 says that Jesus is a Priest “after the similitude [or likeness] of Melchisedec.” The Hebrew scholar Gesenius translated Psalm 110:4 as “Thou art a Priest for ever according to the manner [or mode] of Melchizedek”; and Thayer interpreted Hebrews 5:6 as meaning “after the manner [or character, quality, fashion or style] of the priesthood of Melchisedec.”

⁶⁵ Spiritually speaking, of course. In the spiritual realm, one doesn’t need to speak to communicate.

⁶⁷ Cf. Ex. 28:9-12, 15-21, 29, the high priest represented the whole nation before God. He bore them before Him; 39:6-7, 14; Matt. 10:32.

⁷⁵ Sozo means “to save, heal, deliver, protect, provide for, etc.” Cf. p. 128ff.

⁷⁶ With the exception that He never sinned.