t this is not enough to
show that the priesthood after the order of Aaron has passed away. The
Hebrew Christians may still maintain that the Messiah perfected the
Aaronic priesthood and added to it the glory of kingship. Transference
of the priesthood must be proved; and it is symbolised in the history of
Melchizedek. But transference of the priesthood involves much more than
what has hitherto been mentioned. It implies, not merely that the
priesthood after the order of Aaron has come to an end, but that the
entire dispensation of law, the old covenant, is replaced by a new
covenant and a better one, inasmuch as the Law was erected on the
foundation[122] of the priesthood. It was a religious economy. The
fundamental conceptions of the religion were guilt and forgiveness.[123]
The essential fact of the dispensation was sacrifice offered for the
sinner to God by a priest. The priesthood was the article of a standing
or a falling Church under the Old Testament. Change of the priesthood of
itself abrogates the covenant.

What, then, is the truth in this matter? Has the priesthood been
transferred? Let the story of Melchizedek, interpreted by the inspired
Psalmist, supply the answer.

_First_, Jesus sprang from the royal tribe of Judah, not from the
sacerdotal tribe of Levi. The Apostle intentionally uses a term[124]
that glances at the prophet Zechariah's prediction concerning Him Who
shall arise as the dawn, and be a Priest upon His throne. We shall,
therefore, entitle Him "Lord," and say that "our _Lord_" has risen out
of Judah.[125] He is Lord and King by right of birth. But this
circumstance, that He belongs to the tribe of Judah, hints, to say the
least, at a transference of the priesthood. For Moses said nothing of
this tribe in reference to priests, however great it became in its
kings. The kingship of our Lord is foreshadowed in Melchizedek.

_Second_, it is still more evident that the Aaronic priesthood has been
set aside if we recall another feature in the allegory of Melchizedek.
For Jesus is like Melchizedek as Priest, not as King only. The
priesthood of Melchizedek sprang from the man's inherent greatness. How
much more is it true of Jesus Christ that His greatness is personal! He
became what He is, not by force of law, which could create only an
external, carnal commandment, but by innate power, in virtue of which He
will live on and His life will be indestructible.[126] The commandment
that constituted Aar