Fortran

A series on the book of Hebrews:
Christ’s priesthood in the order of Melchizedek
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Hebrews 7:1-28 

[When you first start to follow Christ, often it’s done with great excitement. It’s like falling in love when all you can think about is the other person, and you want to tell everyone you know. But then the day-to-day pressures of living can push out those feelings and dull your enthusiasm. In this series, we will look at how the author of Hebrews tried to counteract falling out of love with Jesus.]

 

In 1971, I took a computer course called Fortran. It’s a programming language that is still used today in scientific and engineering fields. Back then, it involved writing code by hand; transferring the code to punch cards; verifying the cards to catch any errors; then finally, the completed program was stored in stacks of punch cards.

 

The computer itself was massive and expensive. You had to go to a classroom building to use it. Turnaround time for your program could take hours or even days. One single error could mean repeating the whole process. Although it was a far cry from today, Fortran laid the foundation. Though overlooked, Fortran was pivotal!

 

Returning from routing his enemies where he rescued his nephew Lot, Abram was greeted by Melchizedek. Foreshadowing Jesus, Melchizedek was both a king (of Salem) and a priest (of “God Most High”).  His name means “king of righteousness” and he was also known as the “king of peace”. Both are Messianic titles.

 

Melchizedek brought Abram bread and wine with this blessing.

 

¹⁹ and he blessed Abram, saying,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
    Creator of heaven and earth.
²⁰ And praise be to God Most High,
    who delivered your enemies into your hand.”         NIV    Genesis 14

 

Centuries later, referring to the mysterious king/priest from Genesis, David wrote a Messianic psalm that prophesied about Christ.

 

⁴ The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”      NLT   Psalm 110

 

Not including Hebrews, Melchizedek is only mentioned twice in the Bible. Though easily overlooked, Melchizedek was pivotal. The writer of Hebrews clearly states that being a priest in the “order of Melchizedek” was a significant shift.

 

Once Levitical priests were established, only the high priest could enter into the presence of God in the Most Holy Place in the Temple. And then he could only enter once a year. His purpose was to offer sacrifices for his sins, as well as the sins of the nation.

 

But Jesus changed all of that.

 

²⁶ Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 

²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.         NIV

 

“Once for all” means that no more sacrifices are required. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. It means that instead of being in the presence of God once a year, we can enter his presence anytime because our high priest Jesus, is always with him.

 

¹⁸ Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. ¹⁹ For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.     NLT

 

Like Fortran, Melchizedek can be easily overlooked. Yet, he was the precursor to Christ. In turn, Jesus was the fulfillment of Melchizedek’s priesthood. “Jesus has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek”.

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

An Anchor for the Soul

A series on the book of Hebrews:
A call to maturity and hope
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Hebrews 5:11-6:20 

[When you first start to follow Christ, often it’s done with great excitement. It’s like falling in love when all you can think about is the other person, and you want to tell everyone you know. But then the day-to-day pressures of living can push out those feelings and dull your enthusiasm. In this series, we will look at how the author of Hebrews tried to counteract falling out of love with Jesus.]

  

In 2016, I went deep sea fishing off the coast of North Carolina with some family members. We left the dock at sunrise. It was a calm, beautiful start to the day. Leaving the harbor, we headed out to sea – twenty-five miles out to sea!

 

The ocean became a series of nonstop rolling waves… one after the other. Riding the crest of one wave, our boat would go airborne and slam into the next one. The pounding of wave after wave was endless. My stomach began to churn. By the time we stopped, I was in no condition to go fishing.

 

So far, in our study of Hebrews, the writer has shown how Jesus is greater than the prophets, the angels and Moses. In chapter four he introduced the topic of Jesus as the perfect high priest, “in the order of Melchizedek”.

 

He wanted to write more in depth about this, but couldn’t. He couldn’t because he concluded that his readers wouldn’t understand. And they wouldn’t understand because they were spiritually immature. In fact, he compared them to a baby who drinks milk when they should be eating solid food.

 

At this point, he gave them a severe warning.

 

⁴ For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— ⁶ and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.     NLT

 

These were harsh, judgmental words. But there was hope! Not only for those Jewish Christians who were considering rejecting their faith, but also for us today. Maybe we don’t explicitly reject Christ; but implicitly, by our actions, we do. However, God is steadfast and faithful. And because of this, there is hope!

 

¹⁸ So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.  NLT

 

Those who have taken hold of his hope “may be greatly encouraged”. In fact, Jesus offers us a new hope because he’s entered the very presence of the Living God; he’s entered the Holy of Holies. And he’s done this so that we also might follow him into the presence of our Heavenly Father.

¹⁹ We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, ²⁰ where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.          NIV

 

I’m not sure that an anchor would have helped me to deal with those rolling waves off the coast of North Carolina. However, like an anchor, the hope we find in Jesus gives us stability during the turbulent waters of life.

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

He Gets Us!

A series on the book of Hebrews:
Jesus as the great high priest
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Hebrews 4:14-5:10 

[When you first start to follow Christ, often it’s done with great excitement. It’s like falling in love when all you can think about is the other person, and you want to tell everyone you know. But then the day-to-day pressures of living can push out those feelings and dull your enthusiasm. In this series, we will look at how the author of Hebrews tried to counteract falling out of love with Jesus.]

  

In 2022, an advertising campaign was launched titled, “He Gets Us”. According to Wikipedia, the purpose of the ads, are “to reintroduce people to the Jesus of the Bible”. And to do this with “an emphasis on inclusion, compassion, and radical forgiveness".

 

This should raise a question for us. Who is this Jesus of the Bible?

 

At Mount Sinai, God directed Moses to set up a priestly sacrificial system that would model God’s holiness. With that in mind, the high priest was the only person who could enter the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle, and then only once a year.

 

The Most Holy Place was where the presence of the Holy God was. In a way, it was His home. The purpose of the high priest was to offer a sacrifice for his own sins, as well as the sins of Israel.

 

As the author of Hebrews points out, a high priest was chosen to represent the people of Israel to God. He was their mediator. Also, the high priest understood their weaknesses because he too was human and had the same weaknesses.

 

In these verses in Hebrews, you may be surprised to read that Jesus learned obedience through the things he suffered. In other words, through his weakness of being human. Verse seven is a reference to Jesus pleading with God in the Garden of Gethsemane, to “take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done”.

 

⁷ While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.

⁸ Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. ⁹ In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.        NLT

 

Because we have a high priest who is the Son of God, and because he is also fully human, he understands us. As the commercials state: “He gets us”.

 

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.                       NIV

 

For the Jewish Christians who received the letter to the Hebrews, the above verses brought out an important distinction for them to understand. They were considering rejecting their Christian faith to return to their Jewish roots. But Jesus was clearly the superior High Priest.

 

For us today, these verses teach us an important lesson. Unlike the Jews of that day, we don’t have to wait once a year for the Day of Atonement. And our sins have been wiped clean once and for all by Jesus. He now sits at the right of God the Father, and we can approach him anytime, anyplace.

 

He gets us!

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

The Promise of Rest

A series on the book of Hebrews:
Christ is greater than Moses and leads to a better rest
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Hebrews 3:1-4:13 

[When you first start to follow Christ, often it’s done with great excitement. It’s like falling in love when all you can think about is the other person, and you want to tell everyone you know. But then life settles in and can push out those feelings. The day-to-day pressures of living can dull your enthusiasm. In this series, we will look at how the author of Hebrews tried to counteract falling out of love with Jesus.]

  

In 2022, my wife and I went to Disney World with our daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren – seven of us total. Because it was during Disney’s Halloween celebration, we dressed up as the “Seven Dwarfs”. I was “Sleepy”.

 

Someone in our family observed that each of the Seven Dwarf characters fit the person portraying them. Even though I’ve been known to fall asleep almost anywhere, I have no idea what they’re talking about.

 

Throughout Scripture, God has promised rest to his people. Moses led Israel out of slavery to the border of Canaan, the Promised Land of rest. But they were afraid to take possession because of the people already living there. They didn’t believe that the Lord could defeat them, so they rebelled.

 

As a result, they never entered God’s rest of the Promised Land.

 

¹⁸ And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹ So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.     NIV

 

Just like the Israelites who didn’t enter God’s rest, the Jewish Christians that Hebrews was written to, were about to do the same thing. All they could see were the struggles they had to face and the problems that seemed insurmountable.

 

Therefore, the author reminded them that the Lord still offered his rest to those who have faith and believe. So, he called on them to do everything that they could to enter God’s rest. Then he admonished them to be careful and to help one another.

 

¹² See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.       NIV

 

Finally, he reminded them who God was; that God knew what was in their heart; that it was impossible for them to hide their thoughts or struggles. The same is true for us today.

 

¹² For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.             NLT

 

We face the same pressures, temptations and decision today as the Jewish Christians did back then. Will we decide to enter into his rest? Will we keep our eyes on the prize? Will we finish well? Here is Jesus’ promise of rest for us.

 

²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.              ESV    Matthew 11

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com