Melchizedek

Context

• In reading this past week, a few topics kind of bubbled to the top and certain words stuck in my head, two of them were
  • Judgement (insofar as obeying the Law)
  • Melchizedek
• Of the two, while both are important, Melchizedek is interesting
• Melchizedek (מַלְכִּי צֶדֶק) is a combo of two words - melechi (מֶלֶךְ (H4428)), “my king”, and “zedek” (צֶדֶק (H6664)), righteousness - so the word translates to “My righteous king” or, more commonly, “king of righteousness”
• From scripture:
  • Gen 14:11-24 (context: several kingdoms have been battling for the better part of 12 years, ultimately, Abram’s nephew Lot is taken captive while living in Sodom)

    The four victorious kings took all the possessions and food of Sodom and Gomorrah and left. They also took Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions when they left, for Lot was living in Sodom. A fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty with Abram.) When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he mobilized his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders as far as Dan. Then, during the night, Abram divided his forces against them and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. He retrieved all the stolen property. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of the people. After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram in the Valley of Shaveh (known as the King’s Valley). Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.) He blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth.

    Worthy of praise is the Most High God, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything. Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and take the possessions for yourself.” But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I raise my hand to the LORD, the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, and vow that I will take nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal. That way you can never say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’ I will take nothing except compensation for what the young men have eaten. As for the share of the men who went with me - Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre - let them take their share.”

  • God’s reward for this interaction is the covenant with Abram that leads to his name change and the birth of Isaac
  • Psalm 110

    A psalm of David.

    Here is the LORD’s proclamation to my lord:

    “Sit down at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool!”

    The LORD extends your dominion from Zion.

    Rule in the midst of your enemies!

    Your people willingly follow you when you go into battle.

    On the holy hills at sunrise the dew of your youth belongs to you.

    The LORD makes this promise on oath and will not revoke it: “You are an eternal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.”

    O sovereign LORD, at your right hand

    he strikes down kings in the day he unleashes his anger.

    He executes judgment against the nations;

    he fills the valleys with corpses;

    he shatters their heads over the vast battlefield.

    From the stream along the road he drinks;

    then he lifts up his head.

  • Heb 5:1-11

    For every high priest is taken from among the people and appointed to represent them before God, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal compassionately with those who are ignorant and erring, since he also is subject to weakness, and for this reason he is obligated to make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. And no one assumes this honor on his own initiative, but only when called to it by God, as in fact Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming high priest, but the one who glorified him was God, who said to him, ” You are my Son! Today I have fathered you,” as also in another place God says, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” During his earthly life Christ offered both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered. And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, and he was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek. On this topic we have much to say and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish in hearing.

  • Heb 7

    Now this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him. To him also Abraham apportioned a tithe of everything. His name first means king of righteousness, then king of Salem, that is, king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, he has neither beginning of days nor end of life but is like the son of God, and he remains a priest for all time. But see how great he must be, if Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe of his plunder. And those of the sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have authorization according to the law to collect a tithe from the people, that is, from their fellow countrymen, although they too are descendants of Abraham. But Melchizedek who does not share their ancestry collected a tithe from Abraham and blessed the one who possessed the promise. Now without dispute the inferior is blessed by the superior, and in one case tithes are received by mortal men, while in the other by him who is affirmed to be alive. And it could be said that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid a tithe through Abraham. For he was still in his ancestor Abraham’s loins when Melchizedek met him.

    Jesus and the Priesthood of Melchizedek

    So if perfection had in fact been possible through the Levitical priesthood - for on that basis the people received the law - what further need would there have been for another priest to arise, said to be in the order of Melchizedek and not in Aaron’s order? For when the priesthood changes, a change in the law must come as well. Yet the one these things are spoken about belongs to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever officiated at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord is descended from Judah, yet Moses said nothing about priests in connection with that tribe. And this is even clearer if another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest not by a legal regulation about physical descent but by the power of an indestructible life. For here is the testimony about him: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” On the one hand a former command is set aside because it is weak and useless, for the law made nothing perfect. On the other hand a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. And since this was not done without a sworn affirmation - for the others have become priests without a sworn affirmation, but Jesus did so with a sworn affirmation by the one who said to him, “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind__, You are a priest forever’” - accordingly Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. And the others who became priests were numerous, because death prevented them from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently since he lives forever. So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need to do every day what those priests do, to offer sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this in offering himself once for all. For the law appoints as high priests men subject to weakness, but the word of solemn affirmation that came after the law appoints a son made perfect forever.

The High Level

• First, what on earth? So random!
• Melchizedek was both a person and a priestly order outside of the Levitical one
• He was not Jewish - the term didn’t even exist yet - but believed in the one true God
• He was the king of Salem (meaning “peace”) — most sources believe this was Jerusalem
• He leads a somewhat mysterious existence, having no back story and no future account
• Abram has just defeated multiple kingdoms on the backs of his 318 warrior friends and is going to meet with a war king
• Melchizedek intercepts the King of Sodom - giving praise to God instead of focusing on the earthly plunder
• Abram responds, in turn, by setting his eyes on things above and offering a type of tithe in response
• Abram, now focused on God, rejects any plunder from the king, opting instead to break even and move on, trusting in God for his reward
• God does reward Abram’s righteousness in chapter 15 with the promise of Isaac

Tying that back to Jesus

• The author of Hebrews does most of the leg work here
• Citing Psalms 110, the author reveals how Jesus fulfills this scripture in several ways:
  • The LORD said to my lord — that is God said to Jesus
  • Just as Melchizedek’s back story is unknown, only that he was called by God, so was Jesus
  • Just how Melchizedek pointed toward the Father, so did Jesus
  • Jesus was not a Levite - he was of Judah - so could not be a “real” high priest, but he DOES serve as a fulfillment of the shadow picture set forth by Melchizedek
  • As Abram understood that Melchizedek was greater than he was, so too should we recognize the role of Jesus as THE high priest - the one that offers intercession on our behalf to God

Some Application

• We are called to respond in the same way that Abram responded
• Recognize Jesus’s role in our lives through our response to Him: tithing and keeping our eyes fixed on the heavenly instead of the earthly

Important

Question: What do y’all think? What can we learn from the story of Melchizedek