Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. – Genesis 14:18-20
After God told Abram (who would later be named, Abraham) to move to a land He would give Him, God did not leave Abram to go it alone. God went with Him. He guided and protected Abram. Abram and his family, including his nephew, Lot, became very wealthy in livestock, silver, and gold. After a while, the land where Abram and Lot were staying could no longer support them if they remained together. So, they split.
Abram, kindly, gave Lot the first choice of where to settle. He chose the valley of the Jordan near Sodom. Abram had settled in Canaan, what he was then told by God would be the future Promised Land of Israel.
At one point, some kings and their armies sacked Sodom and took everything. This included Lot and all his possessions. When Abram heard what had happened, he took 300 trained men and attacked those kings and defeated them. It is after this battle that meet an interesting person, Melchizedek.
The Strange Case of Melchizedek
Melchizedek’s name means, “king of righteousness.” He was both a king and priest. He was king of Salem, which means “Peace.” Unlike every other priest in that area that we know of Melchizedek was not a priest of some local god or idol. He was priest of God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. This is long before Israel and the priestly tribe of Levi.
Melchizedek comes out to Abram, brings him bread and wine, and blesses him. Abram responds by giving Melchizedek a 10th (tithe) of everything.
Then Melchizedek disappears. I don’t mean he vanishes from site, but we don’t learn anything else about his life. He shows up out of nowhere and then disappears just as quickly. In fact, he would probably be a bit of a non-story except that he is mentioned again twice in the Bible, Psalm 110 and in the book of Hebrews several times.
In Psalm 110 it says:
The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” – Psalm 110:4
Jesus the Priest
This Psalm, written by David, is about Christ’s rule.
Jesus is a priest, but for some there was a problem with that. He was not from the tribe of Levi. So, Jesus wasn’t qualified to be a priest under the Levitical tradition. Both Hebrews and Psalms address that issue. Jesus isn’t a priest from the Levitical tradition. He is a priest in the order of Melchizedek.
If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?…The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. – Hebrews 7:11, 18-19
The account of Melchizedek just amazes me every time. It’s so rich how God foreshadows Jesus in Melchizedek, the king of righteousness and king of peace who comes to us bringing His Body and Blood in bread and wine and blesses us.
Jesus is our high priest. He is not a priest of Law, but one of grace and mercy and through whom we are cleansed of our sins and we become righteous by faith, not works.
Praise the Lord!
Dear Jesus,
You are the great high priest who intercedes for us before the Father. You offered Yourself as the one true sacrifice for all sin and have brought us forgiveness and righteousness by Your grace. Thank You for coming to us. Thank You for blessing us.
Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
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