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, 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,” 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. Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. (Hebrews 07:01-04, NKJV).
Melchizedek is mentioned eleven times in the Bible, twice in the Old Testament (Ge 14:18; Ps 110:4), and the rest in Hebrews (Heb 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:1,10,11,15,17,21), explaining the significance of the Old Testament citations.
Every word, every diacritical mark, every nuance and subtlety of the Word of God has meaning. It is exceedingly abundantly comprised of treasures, both obvious and hidden. That is why devoting yourself to the study of it can change your life… forever.
Two thousand years before Christ, Abraham, the Father of the Faithful, encountered a mysterious figure to whom he gave tithes and from whom he received blessing. We know virtually nothing else about this Priest-King of Salem. Not his genealogy, nor anything about his time of birth or death, nor anything about other events in his life.
We do know that his name means King of Righteousness, and that he was sovereign over Salem, meaning that he was also King of Peace (which is what Salem or Shalom signifies). We know that he blessed Abraham, and that in doing so, showed his superiority to him (since the lesser is blessed by the better (Heb 7:7).
If nothing else, this godly priest of the Most High God is included in Genesis for the precise purpose of foreshadowing and prototyping the non-Levitical priesthood of Christ, and establishing it's superiority and precedence over the Aaronic priesthood upon which the Jews were relying, and because of which they were held back from full commitment to the gospel.
Do you see how brilliant this is? How utterly comprehensive the Father's plan of redemption is, how it anticipates every heresy, objection, and stumbling block?
The Book of Amos declares: Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7, NKJV).
Thus, this singular encounter in the ancient desert of the Middle East was part of God's revelation of His plan to replace the yet-future works-based Judaic practice with the superior faith-based salvation offered through the Gospel of Christ.
Melchizedek's role as the Priest-King of Salem prior to the establishment of Judaism through Abraham, his very existence, eliminates foundation for the Jewish belief that only through allegiance to the Mosaic Law could a human being escape the fires of Hell. This set the precedent for opening the door of salvation to the Gentiles, as well, long before the establishment of Judaism.
Now some believe and teach that this mysterious ruler was a Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus, similar to the Captain of the Lord of Hosts in the Book of Joshua, but I do not think this is a necessary conclusion. Joshua ended up worshiping this Angel of the Lord after the battle of Ai, and was not forbidden. Plus, Joshua was also instructed to remove his sandals since he was on Holy Ground, echoing the very command given by God to Moses when He spoke from the Burning Bush. No such similar occurrences or intimations are provided in the account of Abraham and Melchizedek.
But Abraham did pay undoubted homage to Melchizedek, therefore we are told to consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.
As a prophetic picture of the superiority of Messiah over all else, the Melchizedek incident is a wondrous hidden jewel, shining forth from the ancient Hebrew scriptures to be definitively interpreted 2000 years later by the divinely inspired author of the New Testament letter to the Hebrews, and spanning yet another 2000 years to further illuminate our understanding in the church.
Consider the astounding magnitude of God's planning evidenced by these historic threads, and stand in awe at the immeasurable intelligence displayed.
This is who we serve and worship.
One final thought, and it's this: God always preserves a remnant. Although the descendants of Noah largely turned away from God after the deluge, requiring that God call the pagan Abram from the land of Ur to establish an unmistakable witness to the world by making of him the Jewish nation, the Priest-King of Salem shows that some remained faithful to His word no matter what. Whatever else he was and did, the presence of Melchizedek in human history should encourage us in the world today, where faithful witness seems fewer and farther between with each passing day.
