Hebrews 7:1-3 "For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; (2) To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; (3) Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually."
I confess to you these verses may be dry to some; yet, they are in the Bible
and we must address them. Much is thought and said about this Melchisedec.
There are those who believe him to be Jesus, Himself. Some would ask,
"How can it be Jesus when He was born a couple thousand years later?"
Well, to address that question, it is my belief that Jesus appeared to Joshua
just before the Israelites went against the walled city of Jericho. He came to
Joshua as the captain of the Lord's host. It is also understood that when the
three Hebrew children were cast into the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar that
Jesus was the fourth man walking in the fire with them. It could have been a
possibility that this Melchisedek was Jesus, but that is not my belief.
I do believe that Melchisedek was a type (picture) of Christ in the Old
Testament. He was king of the city of Salem. In the original Hebrew
language, the name, Salem, means peaceful and just. In that meaning, it
can be said that he was "King of peace." Then we read in verse 3 that
he was "without father, without mother, without descent, having neither
beginning of days, nor end of life." It is possible to take that to
mean he was some supernatual being or even the epiphany of Christ. But let's
take it as it is recorded. Let me put it this way, in reading your Bible what
do you think when you come to the chapters that say, "so and so BEGAT so
and so"? Are you tempted to skip past them? To the people of Israel,
those chapters are very important. They give the lineage from which an individual
was born.
If you are interested in genealogy, you know the importance of the family
line. In searching the Bible, if you type in the name of Melchisedec (it
is spelled Melchizedek in the Old Testament), you will find the name is only
mentioned once in the book of Genesis, once in the book of Psalms with the Old
Testament spelling. His name is mentioned in 9 verses in the New
Testament, all of which are found in the book of Hebrews. This is not to say he
is not important, but it seems to me the greater importance is to the people of
Israel. There is no mention of his father or mother nor is it understood that
his father was a priest or that his priesthood was passed down to one of his
sons. There is no record of when he was born, who he was born to, or when
he died. Hence we read verse 3, "Without father, without mother, without
descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life". His
priesthood continues because no one took up that office at his death.
Now, what does that have to do with the book of Hebrews? The writer is
showing the truth of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. As we mentioned back in
chapter 5, using the truth of the one account we have of Melchisedec in the Old
Testament, they could not use the argument that Jesus was not of the Levitical
line of Israel. If they deny Him as High Priest due to his coming from another
tribe than Levi, then they also have to deny the truth of Melchisedec who was
king and priest of Salem and unto whom Abraham paid tithes.
Is this dry reading? I admit it probably is, in one sense. But it is important
in the scheme of the Book of Hebrews because the entire point of this book is
to show Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born of the lineage of David from the
tribe of Judah, is indeed Prophet, Priest, and King. Melchisedec was the
literal king of Salem. Jesus Christ is indeed the King of Peace who is able to
keep our hearts and minds in perfect calmness.
(Isaiah 9:6) "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is
given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace."