Who was Melchizedek?

Melchizedek. — And first of Melchizedek himself. He was a real, not an ideal, personage, a man like any one of us, but a king and a priest together. In the Levitical service and in Israel's history these two offices were quite distinct. The high priest was of the tribe of Levi. The king was of the tribe of Judah. And though on two memorable occasions David first and then Solomon blessed the people (1 Chron. 16:2; 2 Chron. 6:3), an act repeated by no sovereign of the house of David who succeeded them, for none others were types as kings of the Lord Jesus Christ, yet neither did David nor Solomon ever at any time arrogate to himself the priestly office. Melchizedek was, however, priest of the Most High God, and is so described in both Testaments (Gen. 14:18; Heb. 7:1). God owned him as a priest. He was also King of Salem, the city, we believe, known later as Jerusalem, thus uniting in his person these two offices, true of no one else but of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the parallel between them can be still more drawn out, as the sacred writer notices the absence of any information about the parentage, pedigree, birth, or death of this mysterious personage, who "without father," we read, "without mother, without descent (or, genealogy), having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, but made like to the Son of God, abides a priest continually" (Heb. 7:3). Of course he had parents, and could probably have told us of the day of his birth, and men surviving him chronicled his death, for he was a man of Adam's race. But these details have been withheld on the part of the Spirit of God, and purposely, we must say — another instance of Divine superintendence over the Scriptures of truth. Some one perhaps might ask, What use would it be to us to know about his parentage? That may be true. But all omission of it was evidently divinely ordered, though the purpose to be served by that was only disclosed years after the crucifixion of the Lord.

The interrupted argument concerning the priesthood of Christ is now resumed. It connects with chapter 5:10. There we find Melchisedec mentioned for the first time, and here the historical Melchisedec is first of all described. The record is given in Genesis 14:18-20. He met Abraham, who returned from the smiting of the Kings, and blessed him. Abraham gave him the tenth of all. His name means "King of Righteousness"; but he was also King of Salem , that is, "King of Peace." First righteousness and peace after-ward. This is God's order--not peace and righteousness, but righteousness and peace. It is so spiritually for the believer; it will be so in millennial times when "righteousness and peace will kiss each other."

Who was Melchisedec? Some have said he was Shem and not a few maintain that he was the Lord Himself, one of the theophanies, a pre-incarnation manifestation of the Son of God. The latter view is certainly wrong, for Scripture states that Melchisedec is "made like unto the Son of God", that is, he is a pattern, a similitude of Him; Melchisedec was therefore not the Lord Himself. It is vain to speculate on the identity of this King-Priest, for the Holy Spirit on purpose does not mention who he was. When we read, "Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life," it does not mean that Melchisedec had no father and no mother, etc. But it means that Scripture gives no record of these facts; Moses being divinely guided in omitting it all in the book of Genesis, and thus making Melchisedec appear as a man without father and mother, without descent, having no beginning and end of days, who has a priesthood invested in himself. And this for the purpose of furnishing a type of our Lord as the royal priest.

Melchisedec foreshadows fully the millennial glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. See Zech. 6:9-13. He will receive His own throne and be a priest upon that throne. Significantly he appeared suddenly when Abraham was returning from smiting the allied kings. (Genesis 14 gives the record of the first war of the Bible.) And then he blessed Abraham and made known to him God as the Most-High (the millennial name of God), the possessor of heaven and earth. Even so the true Melchisedec will some day appear, and after the smiting of the kings (the battle of Armageddon, Rev. 16:14-16; 19:19) will begin His glorious rule. Nor must it be overlooked that Melchisedec brought to Abraham bread and wine, the blessed emblems of the great sacrificial work of the true Melchisedec, which points us, who are by faith the children of Abraham, to the blessed memorial feast, in which His love and grace, as well as glory, are remembered. Christ is therefore now for His own the Priest after the order of Melchisedec; the full display of His Melchisedec priesthood arrives in the day of His coming glory.

The chief object of bringing forward the person of Melchisedec and his connection with Abraham is, to show first, the superiority of Melchisedec to Levi and his priesthood as better and higher than the Levitical priesthood. Abraham gave him the tenth part of all the spoil. The whole Levitical priesthood was then not in existence, inasmuch as Levi, unborn, was in the loins of Abraham; in Abraham, Levi, therefore, gave tithes to Melchisedec. Melchisedec, as priest, blessed the father of the nation, and therefore he was greater than Abraham, for "without controversy, the less is blessed of the greater." The priesthood of Melchisedec was therefore superior to that of the sons of Levi, the Aaronic priesthood.

While Melchizedek is confessedly a mysterious personage, his typical significance is clear from the inspired explanation in the epistle to the Hebrews. In Genesis we learn that he was king of Salem (undoubtedly Jerusalem, see Psalm 76) and priest of the most High God, and that, bringing forth bread and wine, he blessed Abraham on returning from the slaughter of the kings. This is all the information the history affords. When we come to the Hebrews, the apostle tells us how, and in what manner, he was a figure of the priesthood of Christ. First, his name, Melchizedek, means king of righteousness, and then king of Salem, which is, king of peace. Now these are the two characters in which Christ will reign in the kingdom; first as David, and then as Solomon, though He will ever combine the two; for He will reign throughout the thousand years in righteousness, and the effect of this will be peace, according to that word, "The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness." (Psalm 72:3; compare Isaiah 32:17.) But Melchizedek was also a priest, and it is of Christ, as the royal priest, that he is specially the shadow, even as we read in the Psalm, "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." (Psalm 110:4.) It is this of which the apostle writes in Heb. 7, where he is showing the superiority of the priesthood of our Lord to that of Aaron; and in doing this he tells us that Melchizedek was "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." Some, pressing the literal meaning of these expressions, have raised difficulties; but the term "without descent," or without genealogy, makes all plain. It simply means that Melchizedek has no recorded genealogy in the Scriptures; that in this sense he is without father or mother, and that his birth and death are left unnoticed, to the end that he might be a type of the everlasting priesthood of Christ. In this way he is "made like the Son of God," he appears on the scene as God's priest, and, inasmuch as there is no account of his having ever passed away, he is regarded as being a priest continually, and he is so regarded that he might be a more perfect type of the glorious and unchangeable priesthood of our Lord and Saviour. He was not, as some have ventured to assert, the Son of God, but only a figure of Him in the character of His priesthood. It may be added, that the present service of Christ as the Priest is after the pattern of that of Aaron; but when He comes forth in His robes of glory and beauty, He will assume the Melchizedek character; for He will then be a Priest on His throne. But if He is king and priest, all believers, through virtue of association with Him in the grace of God, will also be kings and priests (See Rev. 1:5-6); and hence the twenty-four elders are seen seated on thrones, robed with priestly garments, and with crowns of gold on their heads." (Rev. 4.)

The record as to Melchisedec is "he liveth" (v. 8). Some have thought that Melchisedec was an angel, but we are left in no doubt that he was a man (v. 4). Others have said it was the Son of God Himself, but again we read, "made like unto the Son of God" (v. 3). Melchisedec was neither the Son of God nor an angel, he was a man with a priesthood which was entirely his own.

But this gives the occasion now for a closing scene of the deepest possible interest in another way, and for one of our grandest types of that which will be displayed in our Lord Jesus at the end of the age. The New Testament makes grave and interesting use of it. "And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter … and Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine; and he was the priest of the most high God." It will be observed, there is an intentional abruptness in the introduction of the royal priest. It is with distinct design that the Holy Spirit introduces him without the slightest previous mention. He comes forward and he disappears from the scene in a like mysterious way. What are we to gather from this? That Melchizedek was an angel? That Melchizedek was an apparition of the Son of God? No more than it is Shem under a new name. There is no hint of such a disguise here or in any part of the scripture. Melchizedek was a priest, as he was also a king; scripture says so. But there is no ground to suppose that the peculiar manner in which he is here named indicates that there was more than a real and royal and priestly personage in Melchizedek himself. It is the way in which he is introduced by the hand of the Spirit of God that is so remarkable. There is no hint of anything angelic or divine in his person. And one whose ancestry or descendants are expressly hidden stands in full contrast with Shem. Again, he who met Moses on his coming out of Egypt, and who, under very important circumstances, counselled him in the wilderness, was both a priest and king. It was therefore in early days, by no means so uncommon a combination. Prophecy shows that it will be so again in our Lord Jesus, when He reigns over the earth. We may see the principle of it at any rate in David when he wears the linen ephod and dances before Jehovah. This was of course short of the reality; but it showed that even in the days of his throne in Israel, the glory of Jehovah was dearer to him in that which concerned the sanctuary than anything which touched his own person, about which Michal showed jealousy of unbelief fatal to herself. All these might be shadows; but the great and abiding reality is coming for the world, and the Lord Jesus is the One who alone will display it unfailingly. But still, as a matter of fact, there were men who were both kings and priests in those days of yore, and Melchizedek is one. Further, I see no reason to doubt that he was then living, a real king and priest, at this very time, and in this very quarter; but the Spirit of God introduces him in a way that becomes typically most striking, appearing on the scene and vanishing from it after a singular sort.

All this combination of facts was ordered of God for the purpose of making him so much the better a shadow of the glory of the Lord Jesus as the sole royal priest. The very meaning of the word is "king of righteousness," as the apostle Paul insists in Hebrews 7 and after that "king of peace," referring to his place of reign. The person, of course, was before the place. The name of the person was Melchizedek, that is, "king of righteousness," and his relation to the place was king of Salem, which means "peace." These facts the Spirit of God, by the apostle Paul, uses beautifully as a prefiguration of the glory of our Lord. It is true of His person, of that which is come and seen now; and this was particularly telling to a Jew, because the story is introduced in that part of scripture which every Jew acknowledged to be divine. If there was indeed any part which to his mind had supreme place in point of authority, it was the five books of Moses; and here in the first of them, in the earliest section of the word of God, stands out this marvellous intervention of a person who appears after the stirring scenes of the defeated kings, and blesses returned and victorious Abram. Now the father of the faithful was no small personage in a Jew's estimation; he had naturally and rightly a very great place; but here comes one who, suddenly and strangely appearing, occupies an incontestably greater. To him Abram pays tithes, as he also confers blessing on Abram; and, beyond controversy, the sacred homage from the one and the blessing from the other alike imply the stranger's superiority over the patriarch.

The record of the first war is here foreshadowing the last great warfare still to come. Amraphel, King of Shinar, has been historically located by excavated tablets in 1901. The code of Amraphel (Khammurabi) was discovered in Susa. It dates back to 2139 B.C. Some 800 years the laws of Amraphel governed the people of Central Asia. The discovery of this code was a severe blow to higher criticism which claimed that writing before Moses was unknown. What interests us most is Melchizedek. He is mentioned as a type of Christ in Psalm 110 and Hebrews 7. This chapter in Hebrews must be read with Genesis 14.

Melchizedek was a human being. We do not believe that he was a supernatural being manifested in the form of man. He was king of peace and king of righteousness and priest as well, uniting the office of priest and king and prophet in himself. The way he is introduced in this first book, where genealogies abound, without descent, having in this sense neither beginning of days nor end of life (Heb. 7:3), makes him a very strong type of Christ, the Son of God.

King of Salem and priest of the most high God. He came forth to meet Abraham after he had rescued Lot and those taken with him. Melchisedec brought forth bread and wine, and blessed Abraham, and Abraham gave to him tithes of all. He was a type of Christ as a royal-priest: "King of righteousness and king of peace," as He will be in the Millennium. Melchisedec was a priest of an entirely different order from that of Aaron, which passed from father to son. There is no mention of his progenitors, nor of any descendant: "without father, without mother, without genealogy; having neither beginning of days nor end of life:" being thus a beautiful type of the Son of God, who has been called by God to be "a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." Nothing is said of any sacrifice being offered by Melchisedec to God: he rather brought forth from God that which symbolises life and joy (cf. John 6:51; John 2:1-10), and blessed him that had the promises. So when Christ comes it will not be to put away sin by sacrifice; but to refresh and bless His people. Blessing characterises the Melchisedec priesthood of Christ. Gen. 14:18-20; Ps. 110:4; Heb. 5:6, 10; Heb. 6:20; Heb. 7:1-21.

In the first three verses of our chapter we are given a most graphic summary of all that is recorded of Melchizedec in the latter part of Genesis 14. We learn that he is introduced there with the design of furnishing us with a type of the Son of God. His very name had a meaning, as is so often the case with Biblical names, and interpreted, it means, King of righteousness. He is presented as King of Salem, which interpreted means peace. In the coming millennial age the Lord Jesus will be manifested in just that double character.

Moreover, in the Old Testament story Melchizedec is introduced abruptly; no genealogy is given, no mention is made of his birth, his death, nor of the number of his years, no hint is given of another arising to succeed him in his priestly office. This is the more remarkable inasmuch as Genesis is exactly the book which does furnish us with just those details in regard to the other striking characters that pass across its pages. Why then were these details omitted as regards Melchizedec? Just that he might be a more accurate type of the Son of God. We believe this to be the meaning of the third verse, and not, as some have imagined, that he was some kind of supernatural personage.

In Gen. 14 we have the last notice of the public life of Abraham as chosen and called out to walk in faith of God's promise; for Gen. 15 begins the dealings of God with him personally. The occasion was the rescue of Lot carried away, family and goods, with the rest of his neighbours whose worldly advantages he had coveted. The man of simple faith and self-sacrifice, of whom Lot had taken advantage (Gen. 13), unhesitatingly pursues and vanquishes the victorious kings of the east. Thereon appears Melchizedek, the more unexpectedly as there seems scarcely any ground to doubt that he was a prince akin to the guilty race that soon after were punished by the most solemn judgment of God. Yet was he not an idolater but priest of the most high God. "And Melchizedek, king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the most high God, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all" (verses 18-20).

The all-important truth to grasp is that the Epistle reasons solely on "the order" of Melchizedek in contrast with that of Aaron. When it speaks of the exercise of priesthood, Aaron is the type and not Melchizedek; and then we hear of sacrifice and intercession, of blood-shedding and a sanctuary, with the Levitical ritual in general. Self-evidently all this has no relation to Melchizedek, only to Aaron as typifying the Lord's present action above grounded on His atoning work for sin.

But more. The statement of the Psalmist predicted a change in the priesthood. What he knew and shared in was the service of a priesthood after the order of Aaron; but he wrote of One to arise after the order of Melchisedec, made priest, "not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life" (7:16). For the priesthood of Melchisedec was peculiar in this — that there was no predecessor to the King of Salem in that office, nor was there any successor. He stands forth in the Book of Genesis as the sole representative of his order. Aaron died, and Eleazar came down from Mount Hor, clothed in his father's garments, in token that he had succeeded Aaron as High Priest, but no one succeeded Melchisedec. When he entered on his priesthood is shrouded in mystery; when he ceased to exercise it is a fact unrecorded in history. As a fact, he passed away, but of the beginning or ending of his priesthood we never read. We hear of him only as priest and king. So after his order is the Lord Jesus Christ a Priest, continuing ever, because He has an unchangeable Priesthood (7:24). Differing, then, as the order of the Melchisedec priesthood does from that of Aaron and his successors, it surpasses it also in dignity and to this point the sacred writer likewise calls attention, as he dwells on the significant fact that Abraham, from whom Levi, Aaron's ancestor, was descended, paid tithes to Melchisedec, and received from the royal priest a blessing. To Abraham was the promise made, not to Melchisedec; yet Abraham was blessed by Melchisedec, the priest of the Most High God. Thus the superiority of the Melchisedec priesthood over that of the Aaronic is demonstrated. Levi, as it were, paid tithes to Melchisedec, and the ancestor of Aaron was blessed by the King of Salem. "And without all contradiction," as the sacred writer affirms, "the less is blessed of the greater." Thus, that otherwise mysterious passage in Abraham's history receives elucidation, as the Holy Ghost, who directed Moses to write it, was pleased, centuries afterwards, by the Apostle to explain it, the name of the king, and the order of his priesthood finding but once only a place in the sacred volume, between the history of the days of the patriarch and the writing of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which was years after the Lord had been crucified.