New Living Translation
Melchizedek
Is Greater Than Abraham
1This
Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High.
When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the
kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. 2Then
Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to
Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem
means “king of peace.” 3There
is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or
end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.
4Consider
then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of
Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. 5Now
the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must
collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel,a who are also descendants of Abraham. 6But
Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from
Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had
already received the promises of God. 7And
without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater
than the one who is blessed.
8The
priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than
they are, because we are told that he lives on. 9In
addition, we might even say that these Levites—the ones who collect the
tithe—paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to
him. 10For
although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s
body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.
11So if
the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection
God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a
priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?b
12And if
the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. 13For
the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members
have never served at the altar as priests. 14What I
mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned
priests coming from that tribe.
Jesus
Is like Melchizedek
15This
change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like
Melchizedek, has appeared. 16Jesus
became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the
tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. 17And
the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied,
“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”c
18Yes,
the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak
and useless. 19For
the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better
hope, through which we draw near to God.
20This
new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became
priests without such an oath, 21but
there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him,
“The LORD has taken an oath and will not break his
vow:
‘You are a priest forever.’”d
22Because
of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.
23There
were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from
remaining in office. 24But
because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. 25Therefore
he is able, once and forever, to savee those who come to God through him. He
lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
26He is
the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained
by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest
place of honor in heaven.f 27Unlike
those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day.
They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But
Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the
people’s sins. 28The
law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the
law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made
the perfect High Priest forever.
OK
Now Back to Melchizedek...
Few mysteries of the
Bible have been as intriguing as the mystery of the identity of Melchizedek.
Who is he? Some have speculated that
Melchizedek is Jesus (or Yeshua in Hebrew). There is little said about him in the
Bible, but we are given several clues.
The first time he is
mentioned is in Genesis 14. Abraham had just returned from his defeat of king
Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him; and having rescued his nephew
Lot and his possessions, he met with the king of Shalem in the King's Valley
(the valley of Shaveh). Here is the account:
And Melchizedek king of Salem
brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. And he
blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of
heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your
enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tenth of all. (Genesis 14:18-20)
Who
was this Melchizedek, whom Abraham honored and acknowledged; to whom Abraham
gave a tithe of all he had gained in battle?
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"WHAT?"
This past week I was assigned a
Montreal area "working" weekend.
So Andrea flew down to join me and together we enjoyed a great weekend
driving through rural Quebec in the Laurentian Hills region. As we rounded a curve, much to our delight
we suddenly found ourselves in front of an old long red covered bridge
constructed in 1918. As I immediately
hit the brakes, we both together exclaimed, "WHAT?" We soon had the car parked and began to
investigate the old 145 foot long bridge.
We hadn't expected
an encounter with anything this grand, and it definitely was surprising to
see something so exquisite in such a rural setting. That
is exactly the sort of reaction one gets, soon after opening Hebrews Chapter
7.
"WHAT?"
you exclaim as you hit the brakes. "Who
was Melchizedek?"
Given that our Hebrews study centers on
Christ's function as our High Priest, perhaps we should look at this passage
closely and at least attempt to unravel this mystery. In the Old
Testament, religion and priests go hand in hand. Moses had carefully laid out
all the rules for the Levites, the priestly clan of Israel. But the Hebrew
Christians had departed from their old religion that was centered on priestly
functions. Yet some of them hankered to return to their old ways. "Don't turn back," the Hebrews
writer appeals. (I think it was Paul). "You have something far better in Christ." In
chapters 7—10 the author tells of Christ's superior priestly origin, his
better covenant and his sufficient-for-all-time sacrifice of himself. So to start with ...the "order of
Melchizedek" came before the "order of Levi" or the levitical
priesthood, and it was a higher "order".
·
The dictionary defines
"order" as: "the arrangement or disposition of people or
things in relation to each other according to a particular sequence, pattern,
or method."
·
Melchizedek came
"way-before" the priest-hood established at Mt. Sinai by Moses and
Aaron (on which the Old Testament law was based).
·
Christ came from the tribe of
Judah; Levi was the tribe that served as the Old Testament priests. i.e.
Christ was a distinctly different "order".
There are a number of times in the OLD
Testament that bible scholars point out the pre-incarnate (before he came in
the flesh) appearance of Jesus, often considered by another less-obvious
name, like "the Angel of the Lord" or seemingly in this Hebrews
passage as "Melchizedek"? OK so let's go slightly off our Hebrews track
to get our learning-juices flowing; sort of like "thinking outside the
box".
The Bible contains phrases
like “the Angel of the Lord”
and “an angel of the Lord” which appear in the Old Testament and
New Testament respectively.
(Note:
One should not automatically assume that these necessarily refer to the same
individual).
Let’s take a look at some of these passages, referred
to as a "theophany"
(appearance
by God) or "Christophany" (appearance
by Christ):
·
Gideon
and Manoah thought they would die because they saw the “Angel” face to face (Judges 6:22; 13:22).
·
The
“Angel” accurately foretold future events (Judges 13:3).
·
He
destroyed 185,000 soldiers of the Assyrian army in one night (2 Kings 19:35).4
·
The 4th man in the fire ~Some believe another theophany
occurred in the fiery furnace when Nebuchadnezzar claimed to see four men
walking in the midst of the fire. According to the NKJV, Nebuchadnezzar said
that “the form of the fourth is like the Son of
God”
(Daniel 3:25). This may seem
like an obvious reference to Jesus, and it may have been Him, or it may have
been an angel.
·
Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled
with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail
against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip
was out of joint as He wrestled with him. . . . And He said, “Your name
shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God
and with men, and have prevailed.”Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your
name, I pray.”And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He
blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have
seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” (Genesis
32:24–25, 28–30)
·
The
Old Testament also mentions “the Angel of the Lord” on several other occasions.
For example, this “Angel” appeared to Manoah’s wife to tell her that she
would give birth to Samson.
"And the
Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to
her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall
conceive and bear a son. Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine
or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall
conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child
shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver
Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
So the woman
came and told her husband, saying, “A Man of God came to me, and His
countenance was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I
did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name". (Judges 13:3–6)
·
While
angels have occasionally performed some of these actions, such as miracles
and prophecy, there are clear examples when “the Angel of the Lord” cannot be viewed as a
normal angel. He is occasionally identified as God, accepted worship, and at least
two people who saw Him thought they would die for seeing Him face to face.
These same attributes and activities are clearly attributed to God elsewhere
in Scripture.
·
There
are a few other statements to consider. In Zechariah 3:1–2, “the Angel of the Lord” is distinguished from
Yahweh because He talks to Yahweh.
·
John 1:18 states, “No one has seen God at any
time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has
declared Him.” So man has only seen the Son of God, not the Father or the
Holy Spirit.
·
Also,
the “Commander of the army of the Lord” (Joshua 5:14) is likely the same individual as
“the Angel of the Lord.”
Joshua saw this “Commander” holding a sword, and He accepted Joshua’s
worship, something the holy angels refuse to do (Revelation 19:10, 22:8–9).
·
Finally,
“the Angel of the Lord” does not
make any appearances after the birth of Christ in the New Testament, although
...
Then Melchizedek is mentioned again in Psalm
110, which is clearly speaking of the Messiah (Yeshua?) that will come to
reign on the earth; and that this Messiah will judge the nations on the day
of the Lord.
The Lord has sworn and will not
change His mind, "Thou art a priest forever according to the order of
Melchizedek." (Psalm 110:4)
·
Why is the priesthood of Melchizedek
special and why does it last forever?
In the New Testament, the entire 7th
chapter of the book of Hebrews is devoted to the priesthood of Jesus, and to
the Melchizedek connection. There are some very interesting details in
Hebrews 7, which clue us into who Melchizedek was, and together with this
matrix, I believe this mystery has clues pointing to Jesus. Melchizedek very well could be Jesus! He is
the second in the trinity, the righteousness of Yahweh, which is Jesus (Yeshua
in Hebrew). Here are some of the basics:
If you look at his name or title, Melchizedek is translated as King
of Righteousness.
·
Who could be king
of righteousness, but Jesus our Messiah?
·
Melchizedek was the king of Salem, which is king
of peace. Jesus is
known as the prince of peace. Who
could be king of peace over Jesus? No one!
·
Melchizedek
was without father or mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of
days nor end of life. Who could this be said of, other than God himself? No
one!
·
Melchizedek has an
indestructible life and abides a priest perpetually. No human could fit this bill. And could there be two who
abide as a priest to God forever (a man and also Jesus)?
·
It was also said
that Melchizedek was made in the image or likeness of the Son of God. This
could be taken as the image of the son of God (the second in the trinity) or
as the image of the begotten son of God, when the Lord took on a fleshly
body. But they are one and the same.
·
Q's: What was there about Melchizedek that made
him so great (vv.1-3)?
·
Jesus inaugurated a new era and set aside the
old because he was not of the priestly tribe (vv. 11-14). On what does his
priestly authority rest (vv. 15-17)? What is there about Christ's character
and sacrifice that sets him far above other earthly priests (vv. 26-28)
I cannot conclusively say that Christ and Melchizedek are one and the same, however the possibility is there. He is at least a foreshadowing of Christ in the Old Testament. We have discovered a bit more about Christ and so at least it is a fascinating study. In Hebrews, Jesus is my High Priest!
Footnotes:
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