The Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[b] with groanings which cannot be uttered

Romans 8:26
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[b] with groanings which cannot be uttered

The Holy Spirit does prayer Himself in us, this is the unutterable prayers that can be manifested outwardly in tongue. This is indeed a glorious occasion that God can use us as a praying vessel, praying for us when we don't know what to prayer. The other aspect of this is to remember that the Holy Spirit is living in our bodies which are regarded as the Temple of God. This is more reason for us to maintain purity in our bodies and not forget that our physical body is also called to be holy.

And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit

Romans 8:34,27
Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yes rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Our Lord Yshua, died for us, seated at the right hand of God in glory and is our intercessor. Moreover those believers who examines themselves are in tune with the Holy Spirit who makes intercession for us. So both Jesus and the Holy Spirit are our intercessors. And if we are to live with Jesus as our examples, we too are supposed to be intercessors for others.

None of us are perfect and pure like Jesus, but yet this does not disqualify us from being intercessors. When we live a life with Jesus at the centre, a life in which is in the process of being transformed to be like Him, then we could intercede for others. In fact, this could be a natural result since as we become more like Christ, we are naturally concerned with others and therefore able to serve their needs and intercession is one of these needs.

In the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life

The order of Melchizedek is referred to here in more detail. Melchizedek was first documented as the priest-king who blessed Abraham and received tithes from Abraham. Melchizedek is compared to Jesus, even though Melchizedek was a mortal. The basis of the comparison comes from the emphasis that the role of priest, tithes and service to God, predates the Law set up after Moses which include the priesthood of Aaron and the Levitical priesthood. Hence there is a priesthood that is older and greater than the Levitical priesthood - which is the priesthood of our Lord Yshua.

One of the main points here is that the priesthood of Jesus, like Melchizedek, is separate from the Law. The Levitical priesthood is not completely effective, especially in guaranteeing salvation, hence the need for another priesthood. The priesthood of Jesus is established by God forever. Also the Levitical priests consist of mortal men who die, whereas Jesus lives forever and is our eternal priest. Finally, unlike human priests, Jesus is completely perfect without sin, and is our perfect priest.





Hebrews 7
The King of Righteousness

1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. 5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; 6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. 8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

Need for a New Priesthood

11 Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. 13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.

14 For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.[a] 15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 17 For He testifies:[b]

“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”[c]
18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

Greatness of the New Priest

20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath 21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:

“The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
‘You are a priest forever[d]
According to the order of Melchizedek’”),[e]
22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.

23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men

Believers are encouraged to pray for all men, evidence that God is all inclusive and desires that everyone knows about the truth of Christ. Specifically we are also called to pray for our leaders, for the practical purpose that good leadership will ensure a peaceful society so that believers can promote living godly lives. History have shown that leaders who are hostile to faith in God naturally results in persecution of believers.

Paul encourages the male gender especially to pray outwardly with lifted hands. He also suggests the female gender to dress appropriately to be consistent with their professed faith. A somewhat more controversial discussion seem to indicate that Paul was teaching that women should not be teaching nor placed in authority over men. Certainly there have been women leaders and teachers in the very early church but it is not clear if Paul viewed this as an exception to the rule. Also it is interesting to note that Paul mentioned it was Eve who was deceived, not Adam.




1 Timothy 2
Pray for All Men

1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, 7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ[a] and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Men and Women in the Church

8 I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; 9 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, 10 but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. 11 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. 12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. 15 Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father"

Paul continues with the difference between flesh and spirit. Sin and flesh are together and they lead to death. Only by the Spirit that we can overcome sin. The carnal mind leads to death while the spiritual mind leads to life and peace. This is the same Holy Spirit who raised Christ from the dead and now lives inside the believers.

The Holy Spirit is the one that tells us that we belong to God. Through Him we can put to death the sinful desires. The sons of God are those who are led by the Holy Spirit.

Paul talks about hope that eternity will be glorious compared to the trials of this life. Since the Fall, creation itself is in pain as well as individuals. But the hope helps us to persevere. The Holy Spirit also helps us pray and make intercessions to God when we do not know how to pray.

When God is with us, nothing can stand against us. Knowing God is on our side and knowing Jesus is already victorious puts many things into perspective. We are called more than conquerors and nothing can set us apart from God.





Romans 8
Free from Indwelling Sin

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Sonship Through the Spirit

12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

From Suffering to Glory

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[b] with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

God’s Everlasting Love

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”[c]
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

They shall be Carried to Babylon

God told Jeremiah to give a message to the kings of the surrounding lands of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sidon via their messengers who were in Judah. The message will be delivered with a physical symbol; Jeremiah was given the bonds and yokes and to put around the neck for the messengers. The message was that all these nations need to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon because this was God's judgment. If they try to fight this, then God will destroy them with the sword, famine and pestilence instead of letting them live under the rule of Babylon.

Jeremiah also brought the same message to Zedekiah, king of Judah. It appears God's judgment was not to destroy all the people but instead to teach them the consequences of their wicked ways. As long as they agree with God's judgment of living under the rule of the Babylonian oppressors, then their lives will be spared. Jeremiah told the kings and priests and the people not to listen to the prophets who kept preaching that everything was well. Jeremiah also challenged the false prophets by prophesying that even those who are not taken away now, will soon be taken captive by the Babylonians. But it is promised that God will one day bring His people back and restore them to their land.




Jeremiah 27
Symbol of the Bonds and Yokes

1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim[a] the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,[b] 2 “Thus says the Lord to me: ‘Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, and put them on your neck, 3 and send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 And command them to say to their masters, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel—thus you shall say to your masters: 5 ‘I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. 6 And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. 7 So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, until the time of his land comes; and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. 8 And it shall be, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish,’ says the Lord, ‘with the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9 Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon.” 10 For they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land; and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 But the nations that bring their necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will let them remain in their own land,’ says the Lord, ‘and they shall till it and dwell in it.’”’”

12 I also spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live! 13 Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you; 15 for I have not sent them,” says the Lord, “yet they prophesy a lie in My name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you.”

16 Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, “Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon”; for they prophesy a lie to you. 17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live! Why should this city be laid waste? 18 But if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon.’

19 “For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, concerning the Sea, concerning the carts, and concerning the remainder of the vessels that remain in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21 yes, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem: 22 ‘They shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall be until the day that I visit them,’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.’”