To the People of the Tribes of Wrestles with Creator 7
7
A DIFFERENT KIND OF HOLY MAN
1Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek) was both the chief of a village named Peace (Salem) and a holy man of Creator Most High. When Father of Many Nations (Abraham) was returning from the battle where he defeated many warring chiefs, Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek) met with him and blessed him.#7:1 Genesis 14:17-20 2Then Father of Many Nations (Abraham) gave him a tenth of all the spoils of war. The meaning of the name of Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek) comes first from his being a chief who stands for what is right, and then also from being chief of Salem, which means chief of peace. 3There is no record of his father or mother or a family ancestry of any kind. No one knows when his life began or when it ended. In this way, he is like the Son of the Great Spirit, whose place as a holy man continues without end.
4Can you see how great this man was? Our ancestor, Father of Many Nations (Abraham), gave him a tenth of the best of the spoils of war! 5Our tribal law instructs the descendants of He Brings Together (Levi), who are the holy men of our tribes, to receive a tenth from their own tribal family—even though our tribal family is also descended from Father of Many Nations (Abraham).
6But this man, Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek), received a tenth from Father of Many Nations (Abraham), even though he is not descended from He Brings Together (Levi), and he blessed the one to whom the Great Spirit gave the promises. 7Everyone knows that the one with the power to bless is greater than the one to whom the blessing is given.
8 There is another way to see what I am saying. Our tribes pay a tenth to holy men who die, but here a tenth is paid to a holy man who, we are told, continues to live. 9It could be said that He Brings Together (Levi), the ancestor of the tribe of holy men who receive a tenth, also paid a tenth through Father of Many Nations (Abraham), 10because he was still in the body of his ancestor when Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek) met Father of Many Nations (Abraham).
A NEW KIND OF HOLY MAN AND A NEW LAW
11So then, if Creator’s full purpose was to come through the holy men who are descended from He Brings Together (Levi), for our tribal law was given in harmony with these holy men, why would there be a need for another holy man to appear, one like Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek), instead of one who is descended from Light Bearer (Aaron)? 12For if the way to become a holy man has changed, then it means our tribal law must also change.
13Now Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the one spoken of here, is not from the tribe that holy men come from. He is from another tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the ceremonial altar. 14We all know that our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) is descended from Give Him Praise (Judah), and Drawn from the Water (Moses) never said anything about holy men coming from that tribe.
15So if another holy man appears, one who is like Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek), it becomes even more clear 16that it is the power of a life that can never end that makes him a holy man, not a law about physical ancestry. 17For it says in our Sacred Teachings, “You are a holy man whose days will never end, the same kind of holy man as Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek).”
18Because it was weak and useless, the former instruction had to be done away with. 19For our tribal law could not bring anyone or anything to full meaning and purpose. But the Chosen One has brought to us an even greater hope, and it is this hope that moves us to draw near to the Great Spirit.
20-21Under our tribal law no one was ever made a holy man by a solemn promise. But it was by a solemn promise that the Chosen One was made a holy man, when it was said to him, “The Great Spirit has made a solemn promise and will never change his mind, ‘You are a holy man whose days will never end.’”#7:17, 20-21 Psalm 110:4 22In this way, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) has become the promise keeper of a better peace treaty.
A CHIEF HOLY MAN WHO WILL NEVER DIE
23The holy men who came before were many in number, because death kept them from continuing. 24But since Creator Sets Free (Jesus) will never die, his place as a holy man will never come to an end. 25This means he is able to fully set free and make whole all who draw near to the Great Spirit through him, since he always lives to pray and represent them in a good way.
26This kind of chief holy man is just what we weak human beings need. One who remains holy, blameless and pure. One who differs from weak human beings because he has a good heart with no broken ways. One who has been lifted up to the highest place in the spirit-world above. 27He has no need to make offerings every day like other chief holy men. They make offerings first for their own broken ways, and then for the broken ways of the people. But when Creator Sets Free (Jesus) offered himself on the cross, he performed a ceremony—once for all time—to set people free from their bad hearts and broken ways.
28So you can see that our tribal law chooses weak human beings with broken ways to be chief holy men. But it was a solemn promise, given many winters after our tribal law, that chose the Son of the Great Spirit. His suffering has fully prepared him to be a chief holy man whose days will never end.
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To the People of the Tribes of Wrestles with Creator 7: FNVNT
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