5:10
“Being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.” So we have another reference to Melchizedek. Melchizedek is mentioned in only three verses of the Old Testament Gen 14:17,18, and Psalm 110:4. Given that Psalm 110 was widely acknowledged as messianic psalm, it is likely that people wondered why he was mentioned there. We have to wait until chapter 7 before the writer expands on Melchizedek’s importance.
5:11
There is over a chapter to go before we get into the teaching on Melchizedek, and here we get part of the reason for that delay. The teaching on Melchizedek is not simple, it requires us to think, but the recipients of this letter have become “dull of hearing” (ESV), or they “no longer try to understand”. God wants us to use our minds. Now there is, of course, a danger of becoming too full of our own ideas, of thinking we can decide what is right and wrong, and can tell God what He should be thinking! Even some who do believe the Bible can get so immersed in pure intellectual stuff. As a reaction to this the opposite error is to discount thinking, to reject or undervalue any academic approaches. Neither of these extremes is good. We should prepare our minds for action.
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