Melchizedek is a wonderful picture of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is the eternally self-existent One, the King of the universe, the priest who reconciles us to God through sacrifice, and the preeminent one over all.
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Christ – Our Great High Priest Like Melchizedek
Genesis 14:18-20
In Genesis chapter 14 we are introduced to one of the most interesting and mysterious people in all the Bible – Melchizedek. We have only 3 verses in Genesis that give this man’s story. He appears out of nowhere, and just as suddenly he disappears off the scene. If that were the only mention of him in the Bible, we would probably not be talking about him today. He would have made an obscure appearance in Genesis 14, and have disappeared just as quickly, and nobody would be preaching about him today. However, he is mentioned once again in Psalm 110, and that makes all the difference because the author to the Hebrews picks up that quotation in Psalm 110:4 and repeats it three times in the book of Hebrews. You see the person and work of Melchizedek is really developed in Hebrews chapter 7. We are going to be bouncing around this morning between Genesis 14, Psalm 110 and Hebrews 7, because those are the three places in the Bible where we are taught about the significance of this man.
Before we dig into the story of this Mystery Man – Melchizedek, let me give you some historical background. In Genesis 14 we have the first mention of war in the Scripture. It is a war of four kings against five. Now, these kings are not like the kings that we envision today. They were not kings of nations, but rather kings of cities. The five city-state kings had been subjugated by the four kings, and had been paying tribute for 12 years, but in the 13th year they decided they would rather fight than pay tribute any longer. So, they banded together into a large military alliance and went out to meet the four kings in battle. Well, the four Kings utterly routed the five kings, taking all the spoil, and prisoners besides. One of those prisoners was Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Well, one of the soldiers who had survived came and told Abraham what had happened. Abraham, a 75 year old man, gathered together all of servants, 318 men, saddled up, and traveled 100 miles to go after those four kings. Now, you have to admire Abraham’s courage! These four kings had been victorious in every military campaign they had engaged in. They were undefeated. Here comes 318 guys who are going to try to destroy a great army of four kings. That’s kind of like a guy who has just been thrown into the boxing ring taking on the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world! Well, Abraham divided his men into several regiments and they attacked from different directions by night and actually routed them! They ended up pursuing them for another 100 miles, driving them out of the promised land. Well, Abraham, the victorious general is now bringing back all the spoils of war, and the women and children, and Lot, when he is met by this mysterious man, Melchizedek.
Who was Melchizedek? Some have thought that he was Shem, or an angel, or a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ Himself. Well, he couldn’t have been an angel, because he is called a man in Hebrews 7:4. He couldn’t have been Shem, because we have Shem’s genealogy in Genesis, but Hebrews 7:3 tells us that Melchizedek didn’t have any genealogy. I don’t believe he could be Jesus either, because Hebrews 7:3 tells us that he “was made like the Son of God.” Well, Jesus isn’t like the Son of God. He is the Son of God. So what was he? Who was he? I believe he was a very real human being who functioned as a king and a priest, whose story was included in the book of Genesis, because he functions as a picture of Jesus Christ.
This morning I want you to look at Melchizedek, so that you can get to know Jesus Christ. That is the whole reason God had these types included in the Bible. The entire Bible is throwing the floodlight on Jesus Christ. God wants us to get to know Jesus. So, this morning as we look at Melchizedek, we are going to examine His Parentage, His Power, His Priesthood, and His Preeminence.
1. His Parentage
You’re probably thinking, “Brian, why in the world are you starting out by talking about Melchizedek’s parentage? Our text didn’t say a doggone thing about his parentage? There wasn’t a word about who is Mom and Dad were, or when he was born.” That’s the point! Hebrews 7:3 says, “Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he abides a priest perpetually.” It is amazing that we are given no information at all about Melchizedek’s background. We don’t know who his father or mother were. We don’t have any record of his birth or death. We don’t have any genealogy recorded of him at all. In the Book of Genesis, anyone who is anyone at all has their whole family tree written up! Think of it. Chapter 4 gives us the family line of Cain. Chapter 5 gives us the family line of Seth. Chapter 10 gives us the descendants of Noah. In later portions of Genesis, we are given the historical family tree of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Yet, here this Melchizedek appears out of the blue, and there is never a word as to where he came from.
Now, why did God inspire Genesis to be written in this way? Why no background information on Melchizedek? Was it because he didn’t have a father or mother? Did God create him in heaven and just plop him down on the earth one day? Of course not! Hebrews 7:6 says, “But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham.” Yes, he had a genealogy, but no one knows what it is, because it is not recorded in Scripture. Therefore, he can serve as a beautiful and accurate picture of Jesus Christ. Melchizedek is a type of Christ, not only in what is said about him, but what is not said about him! Jesus Christ is the One who has no beginning, nor will have any ending. He is the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and was and who is to come, the Almighty (Rev.1:8). He is the first and the last (Rev.22:13). Jesus could say, “Before Abraham was born, I am” (Jn.8:58). He is the self-existent one. He had no beginning. In fact in Micah 5:2 the prophet said, “But as for you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, to little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
And not only does Jesus have no beginning, He will have no end. As the self-existent creator, he is the fountain of life. Everything else depends on Him for its existence, but He depends on no one. He is life itself. And because He never dies, His priesthood abides forever. We’ll look into that truth more a little later.
2. His Power
The power of Melchizedek is seen in the fact that he is a king. Hebrews 7:2 says, “by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace.”
King of Righteousness: This is what the name Melchizedek means. He was a righteous king, who loved righteousness, and enforced righteousness within his kingdom.
King of Peace: He was a king of Salem, which means peace. The word “Salem” is closely related to “shalom”. The word “Salem” appears to be just a shortened version of “Jeru-Salem.” So, Melchizedek was both a king characterized by righteousness, but also by peace. All the inhabitants in Salem experienced righteousness within the kingdom, and also peace which flowed from that righteousness.
The Holy Spirit highlights righteousness and peace in Melchizedek, because He wants to throw light on the fact that Jesus is a King of righteousness and peace as well.
First of all Jesus is a King. He was born the king of the Jews. Paul says of Christ in 1 Timothy 1:17, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” Then in 1 Timothy 6:15 he writes, “which He will bring about at the proper time — He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.” Jesus Christ is a sovereign, royal, ruler. He is the undisputed king of the universe. He is God Most High!
Not only is Jesus a king, but He is a righteous king. Psalm 89:14 says, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne.” Jesus is not like so many kings, presidents, and rulers today, who are evil men, who thrive on greed and power, willing to butcher others to extend their kingdoms. Rather, Jesus administers the kingdom of God, in which righteousness reigns. He is perfectly righteous, and He insists that His subjects live by His own righteous laws.
Jesus is also the King of peace. As a Great King, He administers peace between all His subjects and Himself. “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore” (Is.9:7). He is the King who has made peace through the blood of His cross (Col.1:20).
3. His Priesthood
Before we go any further, we’ve got to ask the question, “What is a priest?” A priest is a mediator who reconciles guilty men with a holy God by offering a sacrifice. That is a beautiful description of Jesus Christ isn’t it? 1 Tim. 2:5 says, “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time.” Jesus is the mediator, the go-between, that reconciles men to God. How does He do it? He offers a sacrifice – the sacrifice of Himself!
The first thing we see about Melchizedek as a priest was that he brought out bread and wine to Abraham and his army. After this exhausting battle, Abraham and his hired servants were tired and weary. They needed refreshment, food and drink. Melchizedek meets their need with bread and wine. So too, Jesus Christ meets us when we are weary from the battle, and He supplies us with spiritual refreshment. Christ told his disciples that the bread and wine at the Last Supper represented his broken body and shed blood offered for them. When we have been slugging it out with sin and Satan all week, oh how sweet it is to enter into true fellowship with Jesus, and for Him to refresh us by giving us the spiritual food of the gospel. As we feed by faith on his broken body and shed blood, we receive His life and strength. Have you ever experienced Christ as your High Priest bringing spiritual refreshment to you by reminding you of His sacrifice on your behalf?
Notice also that because we have no record of Melchizedek’s death, we really can’t say that his priesthood came to an end. The Levitical priests would begin to serve at age 25, and continue until they reached the age of 50, and then they would retire. However, no such regulation would have applied to Melchizedek. Likewise, Christ as our great High Priest abides forever. In fact, God the Father took an oath to this effect. David says in Ps.110:4, “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’” There’s something you can be absolutely sure about – if God Himself takes an oath, you never have to wonder if it’ll come to pass! Now, who is God talking about in this oath? Well, verse 1 says he is David’s Lord. This is of course, Jesus Christ. What exactly is God swearing here? That Jesus will be a priest forever! Notice how the author of Hebrews sees this oath in Heb.7:20-22, “And inasmuch as it was not without an oath (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, “THE LORD HAS SWORN AND WILL NOT CHANGE HIS MIND, `YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER´”); so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.”
Then, notice how the author continues this thought in Hebrews 7:23-25, , “And the former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers, because they were prevented by death from continuing, but He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Christ’s priesthood will last for all eternity. The Old Testament priests could not abide forever, because they just kept dying off. But if a priest could come along who would never die, then he could hold his priesthood forever. Guess what? That’s who Jesus is! We never have to fear that Jesus will fail in some future day to be able to intercede for us. Since He never dies, His priesthood never dies, and our salvation will be safe and secure in His capable priestly hands for all eternity! Hallelujah!
4. His Preemince
There are two things in the account of Melchizedek which clue us in on his preeminence: 1) what he gave, and 2) what he received. Melchizedek gave a blessing and received tithes.
We see Melchizedek’s preeminence in the fact that he gave a blessing. Now, you’ll recall from last week, that God had told Abraham, “in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen.12:3). In other words, it would be through Abraham, that God would bless the whole world. But this one who would bring blessing to the whole world, is not the blesser, but the blessee. Melchizedek is the blesser. Hebrews 7:7 says “Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the greater.” The Jews considered Abraham as the greatest man who ever lived. He was the Father of the Jewish nation. From him came all of the prophets, priests and kings of Israel. However, even he was blessed by Melchizedek. Thus, Melchizedek is greater than Abraham, who is greater than everyone in the Jewish nation. Therefore, Jesus who is the substance that the shadow was pointing toward is far greater than even Melchizedek. He must have the preeminence!
Secondly, Melchizedek received tithes from Abraham. When Abraham was returning from battle, victorious over the enemy, he met Melchizedek and gave him a tithe of all. Abraham was very aware that God had given him this great victory. After all, how else could he ever have pulled off a great victory over four enemy armies with only 318 men?! So, in order to give thanks and praise to God Most High for this incredible victory, Abraham freely gave a tenth of all the spoils of war to Melchizedek, because as the priest of God Most High, he was God’s representative. The person who receives tithes is considered to be greater than the one who pays the tithes. So too, Melchizedek pictures for us the Lord Jesus Christ, who is so great, that we willingly come and give him our lives, our possessions, and our money to be used in the advancement of His kingdom. At The Bridge, we don’t believe in tithing as a law for Christians. The New Testament never tells us to give a certain percentage of our income. If you want to give to the work of God and don’t know where to start, ten percent is a good starting place. But think of it as training wheels to help you learn to ride the bike of giving. Certainly don’t stop at ten percent. Our goal should be to increase the level of our giving as God prospers us. Why not aspire to give 15 or 20 or 30 or even 50 percent of your income to the work of God? As you do so, you are laying up treasure for yourself in heaven! Jesus, as one far greater than Melchizedek is worthy of all we are and all we have.
In fact, the author of Hebrews uses this fact to teach his readers that Jesus’ priesthood is greater than the Aaronic priesthood. The way he does this is a little complicated, so tune in. You see, the Hebrew Christians were being tempted to return to Judaism. That’s why the book of Hebrews was written – to show that Jesus is better than anything Judaism has to offer. Jesus is better than the angels (chapters 1-2). Jesus is better than Moses (chapters 3-4). Jesus is better than Aaron (chapter 7). He is the mediator of a better covenant, with better sacrifices. We receive better possessions, a better country, and a better resurrection. Here in chapter 7 the author is letting these Jews know that Jesus is greater than Levi. Therefore Jesus’ priesthood is greater than the Levitical priesthood. So, how does he establish that fact? He does so, by telling us that Levi was in Abraham, his great grandfather’s loins, so that when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek (Heb. 7:9-10). Why? Because Levi was in Abraham’s loins. It would be like your great grandfather who died in World War II. Let’s suppose he died before he had any children. What are the ramifications for you? You don’t exist. You see, you are in the loins of your great grandfather. So, if Levi was in the loins of his great grandfather Abraham when he paid tithes to Melchizedek, that means that Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek in the person of Abraham. Conclusion? Jesus is greater than Abraham, and Levi, and Aaron. Thus, Jesus is a greater priest than Aaron, and it would be foolish to go back to the Levitical priesthood, when you’ve got an infinitely superior priesthood in Jesus Christ!
Life Application:
What I really want you to see this morning is that Melchizedek was both a king and a priest at the same time. He is King of Salem, priest of the Most High God. Now, that may not seem like a big deal to you, but believe me, it would have been huge deal to a Jew hearing this letter to the Hebrews read to him! Now, this was completely unprecedented in the history of Israel. In Israel, you never had a man who functioned as a king and a prophet. Under the Old Covenant, you could be a priest and a prophet like Samuel. Or you could be a king and a prophet like David. But you could never be a king and a priest. Now, a couple of guys tried to do it. King Saul offered a burnt offering and a peace offering before going into battle against the Philistines because Samuel was late in showing up (1 Sam. 13). Do you remember what happened? Samuel told him that his kingdom would have endured forever if he had obeyed the Lord, but now the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart to rule over His people. Later we find King Uzziah going into the temple to burn incense, and God strikes him with leprosy to the day of his death (2 Chron. 26). There was something that a king dare never do under the Old Covenant, and that was to intrude into the office of a priest.
The job of a king was quite different from that of a priest. The king’s job was to enforce the law, while the priest’s job was to offer sacrifices to reconcile those who had broken the law. It’s very similar to what we have in our courtrooms today. You have a Judge whose job it is to enforce the law and see that lawbreaking is punished. You also have a defense attorney whose job it is to clear the accused of the crime. Melchizedek was both the Judge and the defense attorney! He was the King of righteousness to enforce the law, and the King of peace to reconcile men to God. In our case the same One who is my Lord, is also my Savior. He’s both my king and my priest. Imagine going into the courtroom, having been convicted of a serious crime, and seeing the prosecuting attorney, but your own defense attorney is nowhere to be found. The Judge gets up and says, “The court is now in session. It’s time for the defense to present their case.” However, there is no one to defend you – your attorney is not there. Right about then, the Judge gets up off his bench, and comes and stands down next to you and says, “I will present the defense.” What’s going through your mind right about then? A big old smile breaks out on your face and you say to yourself, “I think I’m going to be OK!” That’s what happens when your Judge becomes your Mediator and Intercessor. The reason Jesus, your Advocate, can justify you before God and clear your name, is not that he’s a smooth talker and can falsify the facts to make it look like you are innocent even though you are guilty. No, it is because He Himself has paid for your crime. He has borne the punishment due you and I for our sin, so He can justly plead “Not guilty!” on your behalf.
In Zechariah 6:11-12, the Lord came to Zechariah and told him to take silver and gold and make an ornate crown, and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold a man whose name is Branch.” The name “Branch” was a nickname for the Messiah. 500 years before Jesus was born God was saying, “This is what the Messiah’s going to look like when He comes. He’ll look like this guy who is called Branch.” God was saying that he was going to give them a preview of coming attractions, a foreshadowing of the Messiah. The whole Old Testament is simply saying, “Someone’s coming!” Did they see him? No, but they saw his shadow. Joshua was another shadow of Jesus Christ. Well, what did Joshua look like? He was a high priest, but he was wearing a crown. In other words he was a Priest and a King at the same time. The Lord goes on to say, “Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.” This coming Messiah will be a King-Priest. He will be a priest on his throne! That’s why the psalmist could write, “Lovingkindness and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Ps.85:10). How can righteousness and peace kiss each other? God’s righteousness demands the sinner’s punishment. God’s peace accepts the guilty sinner. How can God require the punishment of the sinner and at the same time be at peace with him? That has always been God’s problem. It’s no problem at all for God to throw a sinner in hell! After all, that’s exactly what the sinner deserves. God’s problem is putting a sinner in heaven. His sins condemn him. How can God be just, and at the same time justify the ungodly? Jesus Christ is God’s answer to that dilemma. In His sacrificial death, He bears the righteous wrath of God against the sinner, and fulfills the righteous demands of the Law, so that God can now pardon and accept the sinner on a righteous basis. God can be at peace with sinners through the death of Jesus Christ! “Therefore, having been pronounced righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom.5:1).
Oh, my friend, my advice to you is you better come to this King-Priest, while you can. If you let Him pass you by, you’ll never find another like Him. Oh, come to Jesus Christ and trust Him today to save you! Saints, come to Jesus Christ and worship Him today, for He alone is worthy. He is the Preeminent One!
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