RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2020-09-30	Who Is Melchizedek? (Ge.14; Ps.110; He.7)
		There is no doubt Melchizedek is an interesting figure in the Bible. Christians have certainly had different ideas concerning him. Many have seen him as a historical figure. He would make him a Canaanite kingdom priest alive during the time of Abraham. Some Christians have seen Melchizedek simply as a type. Many have seen Melchizedek as an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament. We call this a preincarnate appearance of Christ. This is also called a christophany. In Genesis 14 we see there are 4 kings from the East who expected the people of Canaan to pay tribute. But they did not pay the tribute. The following year the kings from the East came to beat up the Canaanite kings. They wanted to force them to pay tribute toward these kings from the East. This is where Abraham enters the story. Abraham's nephew Lot was living in one of these cities. So when these 4 kings captured the 5 cities of Canaan they took Lot and his family into captivity. So Abraham gathers all his servants and other men (318 men), and he surprises the 4 kings and conquers them. Abraham was able to recover his nephew Lot and his family. When Abraham comes back we are greeted by this person called Melchizedek. He is described as the king of Salem (Ge.14:18-19). Salem is connected with Jerusalem. And he is presented as a king and priest. So he is the king of Salem and the priest of the most High Creator God. We see Melchizedek blessing Abraham. This places Melchizedek as over Abraham. So here we have a Canaanite king-priest who worships the One true God. And of course Abraham worshiped the One true God as well. There were others who likely worshiped the One true God, who did not fall into polytheism. Most in that area and at that time worshiped Baal. Between the period of time of Abraham (2,000 BC) and the 12th century BC, the Canaanites degenerated from worshiping One true God to Baal and polytheism. The author of Hebrews, as well as David in Psalm 110, see Melchizedek as a model or pattern of the Messiah. Why is he seen as a model of Messiah? Because he is both a king and a priest. Psa 110:4  The LORD has sworn And will not relent, "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek." Psalm 110 is divided into two stanza. Verses 1-3 a divine declaration creates a king. In the second stanza a divine oath creates a priest. The king and the priest are the same person. Both stanzas show this coming descendant of David, as king and priest, as conquering the nations. In the book of Hebrews chapter 7, the author is seeing Melchizedek as a model or pattern of the coming Messiah. In the book of Genesis everyone has a genealogy except Melchizedek. So he is presented as if he does not have a mother or father, and thus eternal. It is not that Melchizedek was an eternal person, it is the way the author of Genesis presents him. This makes it easy to use him as a model of the coming Messiah. So he is not a christophany, or pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. Thus, he is an actual historical person who was king of a city in Canaan around 2,000 BC. He was both king and priest. What is important about Melchizedek is that he is the earliest figure in the Biblical record of one who is both king and priest. And so according to Psalm 110 and Hebrews 7:1-10 he is a model or pattern for the coming Deliverer, that finds ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

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