seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Hebrews 7:1 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
4 Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5 Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. 6 This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8 In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. 9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10 because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.
This is where I got today's commentary.These Christians from a Jewish background were interested in Jesus as their High Priest, but had a significant intellectual objection to the idea. This is because Jesus did not come from the priestly tribe (the tribe of Levi) or the priestly family in that tribe (the family of Aaron).
The writer to the Hebrews wanted to remove these intellectual problems the Jewish Christians had with the gospel. These intellectual hang-ups kept them from continuing on to maturity in Jesus.
In the same way, many Christians are hung up on intellectual issues that could be resolved, allowing them to move on with Jesus. If a Christian is hung up on issues like creation and evolution, the validity of miracles, or other such things, they should get the issues resolved so they can move on with Jesus.
Who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings: After Abraham defeated the confederation of kings who took his nephew Lot captive, he met with a mysterious priest named Melchizedek, who was also king over the city of Salem (an ancient name for the city of Jerusalem).
History shows the danger of combining religious and civic authority. Therefore God did not allow the kings of Israel to be priests and the priests to be kings. Melchizedek, who was the king of Salem and priest of the Most High God was an unique exception.
Without father, without mother: There is nothing said about the genealogy of Melchizedek in the Genesis 14 passage or anywhere else. As far as the Biblical record is concerned, he has no father or mother, no beginning of days nor end of life. “We see but little of him, yet we see nothing little in him.” (Spurgeon)
Though virtually all the commentators disagree with each other on this point, some think that without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God means that Melchizedek was a heavenly being, if not a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Himself.
Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him: Because the whole tribe of Levi was genetically in the loins of Abraham when he did this, we see the Old Testament priesthood paying tithes to the priesthood of Melchizedek. This shows Melchizedek is in a position of authority over Abraham and his descendent Levi.
Every Priest or Preacher since Moses was a Levite. It was set up that way by Moses... reportedly under direction from God. HOWEVER, Abraham lived long before Moses. So, this king of Salem, was a priest before there were priests! Abraham paid a tithe before the tithe was required under the rules set by Moses.
So, there had been two types of priests by the time Jesus took His first steps on earth. There was Melchizedek in the days of Abraham.... who didn't have a genealogy chart. Then there were the Levites who showed up in Genesis 14. Jesus was like Melchizedek, because Jesus was not a Levite. His mother's cousin was a Levite.... but neither His mother, nor Jesus, was of the clan of Levi.
Jesus was a game changer. Melchizedek was a predecessor of the Levites and Jesus was even better at the Priesthood than the priests who came before Him.
Back in the days of Jesus.... the priests were surprised that Jesus knew the scriptures so well. They were amazed because Jesus was not a Levite. He should not be expected to know any of the scriptures as well as any priest... but He did.
And that's why they say Jesus was on the order of Melchizedek. He was not a Levite. Melchizedek was a priest long before the Levites came along.... and Jesus was a High Priest even though He wasn't from the Levite clan.
I hope that explanation helped clear some of the Melchizedek Mystery.
