Hebrews 7:16

Who hath been made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life; for it is witnessed of him, Thou art a priest forever After the order of Melchizedek.

The Levitical priests were made after the law of a carnal commandment, being subject to sin and death like all others, nor was there in them any special excellence of character. Contrasted with their appointment is that of Christ which was after the power of an endless life, and that combined with the utmost excellence and perfection of character. The shade of meaning implied by "carnal commandment" seems to be accurately stressed by Bruce who said,

The law which established the Aaronic priesthood is called a carnal commandment because it is a system of earth-bound rules; it is concerned with the externalities of religion - the physical descent of priests, a material shrine, animal sacrifices, and so forth.[19]

In this place, the author of Hebrews focuses on a certain word in the great prophecy of Psalms 110:4, to which so much attention has already been directed, and that word is "forever." Thus, he introduces the description "endless life" or "indissoluble life" (English Revised Version margin). But how is it that Christ is a priest "forever"? In exactly the same way that Melchizedek's priesthood was forever, namely, in the sense that there is no record of either the beginning or the ending of it. Melchizedek's priesthood was not said to have begun on such and such a date at this or that place in some formal ceremony; just so, in the Holy Scriptures, people are not allowed to see either the beginning or the ending of Christ's priesthood. Milligan rightly discerned this, saying,

The precise time when he (Christ) was fully invested with the royal and sacerdotal honors and prerogatives of the new dispensation IS NOT KNOWN TO MORTALS.[20]

Furthermore, it is the same with the end of his priesthood when he shall deliver up to the Father the kingdom and all that pertains to it (1 Corinthians 15:24ff); but when is that? No man knows. Again, from Milligan, "But that epoch, like the beginning of his administration, is concealed from the eyes of mortals."[21] Amazingly, therefore, the great Antitype conforms in this unlikeliest particular of all to the type Melchizedek, in that his priesthood has no beginning or ending, but is truly "forever."

In all that has been said relative to the abrogation of the Law of Moses and the fact that it made nothing perfect and did not provide true forgiveness, it should not be doubted that worthy and faithful persons of the Old Testament did enjoy peace of conscience, a sense of forgiveness, and a feeling of unity and identity with the purpose of God, as witness such words as "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity" (Psalms 32:1ff) and "It is good for me to draw near unto God" (Psalms 73:28). How were they able to have such convictions? Exactly as we do, that is, by faith; the difference being this, that in their case it was faith in what God would do, and in our case, faith in what God has done. This does not vitiate the fact that no sin was ever truly and finally forgiven except at Calvary. From Hebrews 7:11 to this place, the author's text has been Psalms 110:4, and appropriately he now quotes it again, as he will do another time in Hebrews 7:21.

[19] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 148.

[20] R. Milligan, op. cit., p. 207.

[21] Ibid., p. 208.