And the wonders of an ancient, mysterious figure: King Melchizedek of Salem
In the 10th verse of Psalm 85 we read:
“Lovingkindness and truth have met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
That short and seemingly simple statement is actually startling in its theological importance, its continuing thread in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and its critical importance to you and me today.
Okay, so let’s first set the biblical stage and historical timeline; this matters!
· In the New Testament there is made mention of a King Melchizedek in the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews was written after Christ died, rose, and went back to heaven, estimated to have been written sometime between then and before AD 70. (Hebrews 6:19-7:3)
· The King spoken of in Hebrews is a king Abraham met on the road one day, whose time on the earth was around 2000 BC. (Genesis 14:18-24)
· The psalmist penned the verse above about righteousness and peace kissing each other in the early 1000’s BC. (Psalm 85:10)
And, so, we have this thread spanning a couple of thousands of years. Stay with me, and…
Let’s peel back the layers of this magnificent mystery!
Remember that Abraham lived before there were any tribes of Israel, since Abraham is their father. Abraham was told by God that he would be the father of many nations, that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed, as, ultimately, through him would come the Savior of the world. Abraham’s son Isaac fathered Jacob, and Jacob fathered the twelve sons whose descendants would become the twelve tribes of Israel.
During Abraham’s time there were ongoing wars between the various “kingdoms” which were basically kings of cities or provinces, such as the king of Shinar, the king of Elam, the king of Golam, the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, etc. Abraham’s nephew Lot, you will remember, had chosen to settle in the city of Sodom. During one of the battles, Lot and his family were taken captive, so at that point, Abraham gathered up 318 of men he had trained in his “house” and joined the battle, winning, freeing his relatives and taking back all of their possessions that had been taken by their captors and also taking some other “spoils” of the battle.
Abraham meets a new king
Afterwards, the kings of the cities Abraham helped clinch the victory for came out to meet him, thank him, and negotiate peaceful relations moving forward. However, there was one king who came out to meet Abraham who was not a king of any of the warring cities. We read (note that Abram’s name at this point had not yet been changed by God to Abraham):
“And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine;
now he was a priest of God Most High.
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.’
He [Abram] gave him [King Melchizedek] a tenth of all.” Genesis 14:18-20
All we learn about King Melchizedek here is that he was a priest of the Most High God and that he was the king of “Salem” (think, later, JeruSALEM). Salem means peace.
Fast forward 2000+ years!
In the New Testament the book of Hebrews is largely focused on explaining to the Jewish believers that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ fulfilled the law, that there is no longer any place for the sacrificing of animals, that peace has been made with God through Jesus Christ, and that the veil of the temple separating them from the Holy of Holies – God’s presence – was now open to them because of the once-and-for-all sprinkling on the altar the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, by the ultimate High Priest, also Jesus Christ!
“He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.”
Heb 7:27
Understandable confusion
There were understandably great areas of confusion for the Hebrew people when Jesus Christ came and completed the law entirely through His death and resurrection, so that now the Jewish believers were under a completely New Covenant or, if you will, New Testament. That all deserved detailed explanation, and I encourage you to dig into the book of Hebrews – it is absolutely one of my favorites; so much is explained so well, clearly connecting the Old Testament with the New.
Towards the end of chapter six, God – through the author – is assuring these Hebrew believers in Christ (and us, too) that they can be absolutely positive that God will keep His promises to them, and they are being encouraged to be patient, reflecting back on how He kept His promises to Abraham all those many years ago.
“For when God made the promise to Abraham,
since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying
‘I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU, AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.’
And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.”
The “swearing” spoken of here is what we do when we are about to give testimony in a court of law, for example, and “swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God.” We are “swearing” by God, because God is a higher power than we are ourselves. The passage of scripture here is saying that if God is going to take an oath, He has to swear by Himself, because there is absolutely no one higher than He is to swear by! I just love that (that He is so high and no one higher, and He is my God!).
Anyway, God took this oath not because He had to – His word is His word is His word, and we should just accept Him at His word – but He placed greater emphasis here as reassurance for us:
“So that by two interchangeable things [His word AND His oath] in which it is impossible for God to lie,
we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement
to take hold of the hope set before us.
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast
and one which enters within the veil,
where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us,
having become a high priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.”
What? “A high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek?” Hmm…
Thankfully, the text doesn’t leave us hanging there. It goes on to explain:
“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God,
who met Abraham as he was returning from
the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
to whom Abraham gave a tenth part of all the spoils,
was first of all, by translation of his name,
king of righteousness,
and then also,
king of Salem, which is king of peace."
First, let’s take a look at this king/high priest's name:
MELCHIZEDEK
Meaning
King Of Righteousness
Etymology
From (1) the noun מלך (melek), king, and (2) the verb צדק (sadeq), to be just.
Then: He is the King of SALEM – which, again, means PEACE.
So we have here a king embodying peace with God obtained through the high priestly action of satisfying God’s standard of righteousness and justice.
The Significance of the High Priest
Forgive me, but I have to back up once again just to make things a bit more clear. In the Old Testament under the Old Covenant, there were many priests who offered up lesser sacrifices according to the Jewish laws all throughout the year, but there was one high priest who performed an annual sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. The Jewish temple was set in four sections; the outermost was the Gentile court – not actually part of the temple but just outside the outer court. As the Israelites entered the temple, they were in the section containing the brazen altar - the outer court - and there, the priests would assist them in offering various sacrifices throughout the year. Then, there was the inner court, where the high priest would kill the sacrificial lamb for the Day of Atonement. He would then carry the blood into the final section of the temple, the Holy of Holies, which contained the ark of the covenant, sprinkle the blood of the sacrificial lamb on the altar as atonement for his own sins and the sins of all the people, and then leave. This was a foreshadowing of the future sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who, as John the Baptist explained, "Takes away the sins of the world." (John 1:29)
The high priest was the only one who could enter the Holy of Holies and, then, only following a very precise protocol. Anyone else who entered would die instantly! In fact, the high priest would be tethered with a cord so that should he die while within the Holy of Holies his body could be dragged out, preventing anyone else dying in an effort to retrieve it.
Back to King Melchizedek. Who do you think he really is?
Thankfully, the text in Hebrews doesn’t leave us hanging there, but goes on with a few more mysterious and revelatory clues.
“Without father, without mother, without genealogy,
having neither beginning of days nor end of life,
but made like the Son of God,
he remains a priest perpetually.”
What? King Melchizedek is…Jesus Christ!
Doesn’t that just send shivers down your spine? It does mine, as well as a big smile to my face! Think of this. Abraham, years ago, following a sweaty, bloody battle to free his nephew and help out the neighboring kings, is met on a dusty road by none other than JESUS CHRIST, HIMSELF, who blesses Abraham and offers him “bread and wine” – ah! the Last Supper. “My body broken for you; My blood shed for you.”
Christophanies
This is one of several of what are called “Christophanies” – or preincarnate appearances of Jesus Christ on the earth – that we read about in the Bible. King Melchizedek, Jesus Christ, without father or mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, remaining a priest perpetually. After this monumental and extraordinary exchange with Abraham, you can be sure he didn't return to a city called "Salem" in the middle east but simply vanished into thin air!
When Jesus Christ offered Himself as the once-and-for-all Sacrificial Lamb, He also performed the duty of the High Priest, spiritually speaking, entering beyond the veil that separated the inner court from the Holy of Holies and sprinkled His own blood on the altar of God, and it was there, at that very moment, that:
Righteousness and Peace Kissed Each Other!
For those of us who believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross, rose again from the dead, and satisfied His Father’s requirement of righteousness – justice when it comes to OUR own personal sin – and have accepted that “unspeakable gift,” there remains no veil between us and God.* We are now at peace with God and have full access to Him at all times. As the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, also remains our High Priest “perpetually” according to the order of Melchizedeck!
And that brings us straight back to the words of the psalmist we started out with in Psalm 85:10:
“Lovingkindness and truth have met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
Yes, it is finished. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Interested in knowing how to enter into a personal relationship with God through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Say a Salvation Prayer and Receive Jesus Christ Today. Of course, the saying of a prayer is the reflection of a monumental and life-changing heart decision, but this is a good guide. Feel free to contact me with any questions: rebecca.montrone@gmail.com
Comments