Thursday, August 26, 2010

Who Is Melchizedek?

“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…abideth a priest continually” Hebrews 7: 2-3
The book of Hebrews is about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Why does the writer repeatedly
invoke the name of a city preacher who made a country visit two thousand years before? Why
didn’t the visitee receive a local pastor? How much “was the tenth of the spoils?” But most
importantly: How well will we know Jesus from studying this figure’s brief appearance ? We
start with his only appearance in Genesis 14. Eleven hundred years later in Psalm 110 God
inspired David to honor his name. Chapters describing Melchizedek in Hebrews in the New
Testament will give us a unique perspective of the Son of God. He came to give us access to our
Holy Father in heaven.


Priest of the Most High God

Abram was a worshiper of many Gods when he lived in Ur of the Chaldees.(Joshua 24: 2) God
called him to be the father of His chosen people: the Hebrews. He told him to move his family
and business, but he didn’t tell him where. Abram obeyed. He asked him to toil in a land that
his descendants would one day own. In the end Canaan became his final resting place.


Abram and his nephew, Lot, had acquired so many livestock that they had to divide central
Canaan between them to insure adequate pasture for both. Lot chose to move to the fertile
land near the city of Sodom. Abraham pitched his tent on the plain of Mamre “in Hebron and
built there an altar unto the Lord.” (Genesis 13: 18 KJV) Their neighbors were warring kings.
Sodom was among the losers in the battle. At that point the victors made a big mistake. They
captured Lot. Abram armed 318 of his employees, caught up with the offending kings, and
soundly defeated them. This reminds us of Gideon’s 300 and their victory in Judges.
The spoils of war were great, but all Abram wanted was his nephew and family safe and sound.
Melchizedek’s arrival must have been very welcome. The hundreds of men and women were
probably hungry and thirsty, and this King of Salem (possibly Jerusalem)[1] brought bread and
wine. There is no mention of sacrifice of animals on an altar here. This first priest in the Bible
was a type of Christ when he introduced the elements of Holy Communion to the ancestor of
Christ.[2] Picture Jesus turning the water into wine, in part, to save the wedding in Cana.
Remember His compassion when He fed the thousands the bread and fish for nourishment.
The visiting priest recognized “the possessor of heaven and earth.” (Verse 19) He thanked the
most high God for delivering Abram from the enemy. Abram gave Melchizedek ten per cent of
all the goods that they had brought back from their raid in the north as an offering. This
probably included herds of livestock.



THE Lord Said Unto My Lord

“THE Lord said unto My Lord, ‘Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy
footstool.” In Psalm 110: 1 (KJV) David recognized Messiah as “MY Lord” (Adonai) and God as
THE Lord (Jehovah).[3] Because He had never sinned, Jesus could enter God’s presence boldly as
our high priest. “When the Son ascended and appeared in the sanctuary on high, God saluted
Him or addressed Him as a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek…This was His reward for
His suffering and obedience.[4] This was the answer to His anguished prayers. He went to make
atonement for our sins. Unlike the temple priests who entered the Holy of Holies once a year,
Christ presented His own sinless blood once, for all, forever. This duty completed, He sat down
at God’s right hand. (Hebrews 1: 3) It is interesting that He stood up to welcome Stephen into
heaven (Acts 7: 55).
.
Jesus is seated at the right hand of God to make intercession for us. When Satan accuses us
to the Father, Jesus Christ defends us and wins every case. It’s not that we didn’t do the crime;
It’s His righteousness that covers our sin, and God forgives us, and He forgets (Romans 8: 1-4).

“Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father…
For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet’ or footstool (1 Corinthians 15: 24-
25 KJV). Verse 28 continues “And when all things shall be subject unto Him, then shall the Son
also be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”


David wrote that his Lord, the Messiah to come, was “a priest after the order of Melchizedek.”
Melchizedek was a priest of God before there were any Jews. This means that Jesus was not
a Jewish priest. He was a priest as Melchizedek was, and He reigns forever. “The Lord hath sworn and
will not repent ” (Psalm 110: 4 KJV). God himself took an oath to appoint Jesus as our high priest.
The only reason for a man to take an oath is because someone might not believe him. William Barclay
pointed out that a statement that God confirms by an oath must be “so utterly unchangeable that it is
woven into the very fibre of the universe and must remain forever. [5]














Without Father, Without Mother

God kept His promise. Hebrews 6: 20 confirms. “...even Jesus made an high priest for ever after the
Order of Melchizedek.” Barclay believed that this letter was from a scholar writing to a small group of
scholars. Possibly they were separated, and he believed that they were drifting away from their Faith.[6]
They must have asked how a descendent of the Tribe of Judah could be our great high priest.

The writer goes to some length in Chapter 7 to show them and us who Jesus Christ is. Who is “without
father, without mother”? J. Barmby wrote that these are “omissions from the narrative ...arranged by
Holy Spirit.”[7] Melchizedek did not need a priestly pedigree as did a priest of the Order of Aaron. God
appointed him His first priest, and his order is to last forever. His name means king (Melchi..) of
righteousness (Zedek). His title was King of Salem (king of peace). His ultimate successor is Jesus Christ,
who is our priest and king.
God ordained the descendants of Levi to be the priests of His chosen people. In order for a man to
become a priest, he had to prove his linage all the way back to this son of Jacob (Israel). The Levitical
priests sacrificed the animal offerings for the sins of the people, but they could not give the people a
“perfectly adequate” access to God.[8] Only Jesus Christ can do that. “The whole Paraphernalia of the
sacrificial and ceremonial law is wiped out in the priesthood of Jesus.”[9] When the Levitical priests
passed on, the younger men took their places. Jesus does not need a successor; He lives forever.


The author of Hebrews cites another evidence of the superiority of the Order of Melchizedek over that
of Levi. Abram, the Friend of God and patriarch of the nation, presented tithes to Melchizedek and
received a blessing from him. Only the lesser can receive the blessing from the greater.[10] Further more,
Levi, even though he was not born until hundreds of years later, was deemed to have paid tithes to
Melchizedek because his ancestor paid them on his behalf.

Better or Unique?

The Book of Hebrews seems to say that because the Order of Melchizedek is superior to the Order of
Aaron, Jesus Christ is a better priest than they are. This is a great understatement. Our Savior and Lord,
Jesus Christ, is unique. There are no adverbs or adjectives to accompany unique. We have access to
God through Him alone. Jesus appeared to John that day on the Island of Patmos dressed as
our high priest. The Seven Lamp Stands that He was standing among are the Seven Churches. As Aaron
lighted the lamps in the Tabernacle, Christ now does this with His present lights, the local churches.[11]







Bibliography

Aquinas, Thomas, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews South Bend: St. Augustine’s Press 2006
Barmly, J., “Hebrews” The Pulpit Commentary, William B. Erdman’s Publishing, Grand Rapids, 1950
Barclay, William, The Letter to The Hebrews, Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1957
Cotton, J. Harry, “The Epistle to The Hebrews” The Interpreter’s Bible, New York: Abington Press, 1955
Heen, Erik, Editor, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Intervarsity Press, Downer’s Grove 2005
Hobbs, Herschel, Studies in Hebrews , Nashville: Southern Baptist Convention 1954
Kelly, Jack, GraceThruFaith.com
Thompson, James, Hebrews Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008
Wilmington, Harold, Great truths From God’s Word, 2003
[1] Harold Wilmington, Great Truths from God’s Word, 1975, 285
[2] Erik Heen, Ancient Christian Commentaries on Scripture, Inter Varsity Press, Downers Grove Illinois 2005 96
[3] Woodrow Kroll, “Psalms” Liberty Bible Commentary, The Old time gospel Hour, Lynchburg, 1982, 1135

[4] J. Harry Cotton, “The Epistle to The Hebrews” The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume XI Abington Press, New York, 646
[5] William Barclay, The Letter to the Hebrews, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1957, 85
[6] Barclay XX
[7] J. Barmly, “Hebrews” The Pulpit Commentary, William B. Erdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids, 1950 , 188
[8] Herschel Hobbs, Studies in Hebrews, Southern Baptist Convention, Nashville, 1954, 61
[9] Barclay, 84
[10] Hobbs, 61
[11] Wilmington, 381