INTRODUCTION
The biblical narrative concerning Melchizedek first appears in
Genesis 14:17-24: “After his return from
the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom
went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out
bread and wine. (He was priest of God
Most High.) And he blessed him and said,
‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be
God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’ And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. And
the king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me the persons, but take the good for
yourself.’ But Abram said to the king of
Sodom, ‘I have lifted my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Possessor of heaven
and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is
yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ I will take nothing but what the young men
have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their
share’” (ESV). This article represents a modification/expansion of a sermon
I preached to my congregation on the occasion of the third quarter (2018) LORD'S
SUPPER service. In this article, a humble but bold attempt is made to resolve
one of the mysteries in the Holy Bible - the true identity of Melchizedek, king of
Salem. We will establish His connection with the emblems of the LORD'S SUPPER
and reveal what He communicated to father Abraham by means of those emblems.
Let me quickly define the unfamiliar word "demystify". The WordNet Dictionary defines it as "to
make less mysterious or remove the mystery from; hypernym: clarify, clear up,
elucidate."
There was war between four foreign kings with the five kings of
Canaan (Genesis 14:1-11). It resulted in the capture and captivity of Abraham's
nephew, Lot, all members of his household and their property (Genesis
14:12-13). Abraham raised an army from members of his household and embarked on
a rescue mission to deliver Lot and, by God's miraculous assistance, succeeded
therein (Genesis 14: 14-16). He met Melchizedek while returning from war in
which he was victorious (Genesis 14:17-18).
MELCHIZEDEK: NAME OR TITLE?
"Melchizedek" means "King of Righteousness"
(Hebrews 7:2). Opinions are divided among Bible scholars about whether
Melchizedek is to be considered a personal name or royal title. Those who
believe Melchizedek represents a royal title base their position on reference
to Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem in the time of Joshua (Joshua 10:1-3). In
this connection, S.J. Andrews notes that "Melchizedek and Adonizedek may
have been Canaanite royal epithets." He cites fellow scholar, E. A.
Speiser who "has argued that Melchizedek is the Canaanite equivalent of
the Mesopotamian title Sar Mesarim,
'the just king' (Speiser, 318 n. 24)." Andrews concludes: "this would
suggest that Melchizedek is a royal title rather than a personal name"
(S.J. Andrews, "Melchizedek," Dictionary of the OT-Pentateuch, p.
563). I share the same view.
MELCHIZEDEK: NOTIONS REGARDING HIS IDENTITY
The NET Bible notes that "Salem is traditionally identified as the Jebusite
stronghold of old Jerusalem. Accordingly, there has been much speculation about
its king. Though some have identified him with the pre-incarnate Christ or with
Noah’s son Shem, it is far more likely that Melchizedek was a Canaanite royal
priest whom God used to renew the promise of the blessing to Abram, perhaps
because Abram considered Melchizedek his spiritual superior. But Melchizedek
remains an enigma. In a book filled with genealogical records he appears on the
scene without a genealogy and then disappears from the narrative. In Psalm 110
the LORD declares that the Davidic king is a royal priest after the pattern of
Melchizedec" (NET BIBLE NOTES in
MyBible App).
Bible scholar, John Peter Lange comments
thus: "Melchizedek as priest and king in one person, without genealogy in
his priesthood, which he executed for his people by virtue of a sovereign
individual call, is a type of the Messiah, and is represented as such, Psalm
110:4, but especially in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews 5:6; 7:17). From the
circumstance that Melchizedek was not a worshipper of the Canaanitish Baal, but
was a monotheist, or as Knobel thinks, a worshipper of the Semitic principal
deity, El, Knobel concludes that he belonged to the Semitic tribe, Lud, to
which also the tribes at war belonged. The supposition of a Semitic chief deity
is in an erroneous manner transferred from the relations of a later time, to
the times of the primitive religion. It is the characteristic of the primitive
religion, that in it throughout Heathenism and Monotheism cleave together and
go asunder. Melchizedek might, therefore, well belong to the Hamitic race. He
is not a Christ of the heavenly world, as perhaps the Gnostics would make him,
nor Shem, nor Enoch, as the Rabbins and the Church fathers have thought; he is
a type of Christ, because he is king and priest at the same time, because his
priesthood rests upon his individual personality (. . . Hebrews 7:3), and
because Abram, the ancestor of the Levitical priesthood, gave tithes to him. He
is not ‘perhaps the last witness and confessor of the primitive revelation out
of the night of heathenism’, for that is the splendor of an evening sky which
reaches through all time; but he is the last representative of the period of
the primitive religion, and therefore he blesses Abram in a similar sense to
that in which the Baptist must baptize Christ the Lord, in Jordan. He, in his
way, stands as the last of the first world-period; Abram is one who belongs to
the future, and therefore he blesses Abram, and Abram does him homage. That he
is Melchizedek, is in the first place significant (‘it may be concluded from
Joshua 10:1; Joshua 10:3, where a later king of Jerusalem, Adoni-Zedek, i.e.,
lord of righteousness, is mentioned, that this was a standing name of the old
kings of Salem’. Keil); then, the name of his residence, Salem; further, that
he is priest and king at the same time (‘in the old Phœnician custom’.
Delitzsch); finally, that he represents no legal and genealogical priesthood,
but shines singly and alone as a clear, bright star, in the night of Canaan:
all these constitute him a mysterious, renowned type of Christ (see Delitzsch,
p. 363; Keil, p. 144; Auberlen upon ‘Melchizedek’, in the Studien und Kritiken,
1857, p. 153). As he is the priest of El Elyon, that can only mean, that he
intercedes for his people before the Most High God with prayer and sacrifice,
that he sought either to lead back the Jebusites at Salem to a living
monotheism, or to preserve them in it" (Lange's Commentary in MyBible App).
Rightly understood, Melchizedek was not only a type of Christ but actually
the Pre-Incarnate Son of God in one of His many theophanies on earth, as we
shall see shortly (Micah 5:2).
REGARDING SALEM
Melchizedek is introduced to readers of Genesis as King of Salem. In
the second reference to his kingship, he is so presented (see Hebrews 7:1-4). Many scholars consider "Salem" to be
a short form of "Jerusalem" on the basis of Psalm 76:2. The Complete
Word Study Dictionary explains thus: "Salem ('peace'). The oldest name,
Jebus the next, Jerusalem ('seeing', or 'the foundation of peace') the latest,
of Jerusalem. The cities of the plain were probably South of the Dead Sea; so
Salem is Jerusalem, and "the king's dale" the valley of the Kedron.
The theory of their being North of the Dead Sea is what necessitates its upholders
to seek Salem far north of Jerusalem (Gen 14:17-18). but no king of Salem
distinct from Jerusalem is mentioned among the kings conquered by Joshua.
Moreover, Adonizedek ("lord of righteousness") king of Jerusalem (Jos
10:3) was plainly successor of Melchizedek ("king of righteousness"),
it was the common title of the Jebusite kings. Further, "the king's
dale" (2Sa 18:18), identified in Gen 14:17 with Shaveh, is placed by Josephus
and by tradition (the Targum of Onkelos)
near Jerusalem (Heb 7:1-2). Lastly, Psalm 76 identifies Salem with
Jerusalem" (CWSD in MyBible App).
But the interpretation of "King of
Salem" in Hebrews 7:2 as "King of Peace" indicating
"Salem" as a variant of "shalom," the Hebrew word for
peace, forbids us to think of Salem as a place name, i.e., Jerusalem, over
which Melchizedek reigned in the time of Abraham. It would then mean that
Jerusalem existed as a place name in the time of Abraham. This does seem to be
true. In fact, the idea is disputed by 19th Century Baptist theologian and
Bible scholar, John Gill, who formerly subscribed to it. He writes,
"Salem, of which he was king, is by the above Targums said to be
Jerusalem, and which is the opinion of many writers, Jewish and Christian, and
of which opinion I myself was formerly, [See comments on Heb 7:1]; Jerusalem
being plainly called Salem, Ps 76:2, but it seems clear from hence that it must
be near to Sodom, and lay in the way between Damascus and Sodom; whereas
Jerusalem was in a contrary situation, and lay nearly forty miles from Sodom; for
Josephus says, 'the lake Asphaltites, where Sodom once stood, was three hundred
furlongs from Jerusalem, which is about thirty eight miles'; and Jerom relates,
'that Salem was a town near Scythopolis, which was so called in his times, and
where was showed the palace of Melchizedek, which, by the largeness of the
ruins, appeared to have been very magnificent, and takes it to be the same
place with Shalem in Gen 33:18; and Salim, near to which John was baptizing,
Joh 3:23'."
The history of Jerusalem itself does not
support the view that Melchizedek's Salem was Jerusalem. During the time of
Abraham, that area of Canaan was called "land of Moriah" (Genesis
22:1-2). Jewish and Church tradition says our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified
at the very spot where Abraham attempted to sacrifice Isaac. Before the death
of Abraham up to the time of the Exodus of his tremendously multiplied
descendants from Egypt to the Promised Land, what became Jerusalem was known as
Jebus, and the inhabitants called Jebusites, one of the Canaanite tribes
(Genesis 10:16; 15:21; Exodus 2:8; 3:17; 13:5; 23:23; 33:2; 34:11; Deut 20:17;
Joshua 3:10). Both at the time of Joshua
and the Judges it was still called "Jebusi" (see Joshua 18:16, 28;
cf. Joshua 15:8, 63). Later on, during the monarchical period, David raised an
army and conquered Jebus and rechristened it "Zion," "the City
of David" (2 Sam 5:1-8; cf. 1 Chron 11:1-6; 2 Chron 3:11). I think the
placename "Jerusalem" should be dated from sometime after David's
conquest and takeover of the city from the Jebusites, most likely after the
completion and dedication of his royal palace there (Psalm 76:1-2). An
important point to note is that we are dealing here with historical
material/record. The implication is that there is clearly a timeframe
difference between the occurrence of events recorded and the precise time of
recording. Accordingly, the fact should be acknowledged that prior to David,
Jerusalem was known as Jebus/Jebusi, but from the time David conquered the city
and made it the headquarters of his government, it assumed three names, namely,
the city of David, Zion, and Jerusalem (city of peace). The same historical
principle applies to the land of Nod where Cain fled to and settled after
murdering Abel, his sibling (Genesis 4:16). Definitely, at the precise time of
his flight there, the place had no name, he (along with his twin sister, if the
narrative in the apocryphal Book of Adam
and Eve is to be believed) being the only inhabitant. But when Moses penned
the Pentateuch, the place was populated and bore the place name of
"Nod." Another point to buttress the probability of nonexistence of
Jerusalem as a place name during Abraham's lifetime, so that Melchizedek was
not the ruler of Jerusalem, is the manner of his appearance to Abraham. A close
reading of Genesis 14:17-18 and Hebrews 7:1 with special emphasis on the words,
"brought forth bread and wine" and "met him," will show
that Abraham's meeting with Melchizedek was literally an encounter, a chance,
unexpected meeting. Apparently, Melchizedek was not confederate with the five
kings, nor was he under the sovereignty of Chedorlaomer. One can say that
Melchizedek came out of the blues, that he met Abraham from nowhere. Abraham
did not expect him. He expected the King of Sodom, not Melchizedek. He was a
mysterious figure very much like the one Joshua encountered prior to his siege
against Jericho (Joshua 5:13-15).
MELCHIZEDEK AS PRIEST OF
THE MOST HIGH
The priesthood of Melchizedek provides another sound basis for
arguing that He was not a ruler of a place called Salem/Jerusalem, but a
mysterious figure that encountered Abraham to fulfill a divine mandate in
Abraham's life. Normally, designating someone a priest presupposes existence of
a religious or worshipping community that he presides over or offers spiritual
guidance. Accordingly, a question becomes pertinent: Was there a community in
Canaan which worshipped the true God prior to the call of Abraham from Ur of
the Chaldeans? If there was, why would the Almighty go to Chaldee and fetch
Abraham who, along with father, siblings and kindred, were worshippers of the
moon deity, Nnana and the moon goddess, Sin? Since He wanted one through whom
He would raise a race through which the promised Seed of the Woman would be
born, He could have easily chosen one from among the Canaanites who worshipped
Him through the priestly guidance of Melchizedek.
Truth be told, Melchizedek was never a
priest of a worshipping community in Canaan. Rather, He came as the
Representative of the True and Living God, Maker of Heaven and Earth, Who had
called Abraham to walk with Him; He came in the role of a priest to Abraham
specifically to provide opportunity for him to fulfill a solemn religious
obligation - PAYMENT OF TITHES - a very common practice even in the pagan
religions of the ancient world. Tithe represents "a tenth part of one's
income consecrated to God" (Davis' Dictionary of the Bible, p. 828). John
D. Davis explains that "the separation of a certain proportion of the
products of one's industry or of the spoils of war as tribute to their gods was
practiced by various nations of antiquity. The Lydians offered a tithe of their
booty (Herod, i.89). The Phoenicians and Carthaginians sent a tithe annually to
the Tyrian Hercules. Those tithes might be regular or occasional, voluntary or
prescribed by law. The Egyptians were required to give a fifth part of their
crops to Pharaoh (Genesis 47:24)" (Ibid). Abraham was a tither while a
worshipper of Nnana. He was aware of the universality of the practice of
tithing. He wished to pay his tithe not to the demonic gods and idols whom the
Canaanites, with whom he dwelled, worshipped, but to the Great God, Maker of
Heaven and Earth, Who had called him out of his kindred to the Promised Land.
Abraham wondered how he would perform the solemn act or ritual of thanksgiving,
considering the fact that his new God did not have a Temple with Priesthood
into which he would enter and pay his tithes. In the midst of his wondering,
the Celestial Council dispatched the Pre-Incarnate Wisdom and Word of YAHWEH to
materialize as Melchizedek, King of Peace, to Abraham, introducing Himself as
Priest of El Elyon (God, the Most
High One; God, the One Distinguished from and Incomparable to the gods of the
nations, Incomparable to the gods of the Chaldeans and the Canaanites). With
his delivery of the tithes to Melchizedek, Abraham's devotional need was
satisfied. Thenceforth, Abraham became aware that this new God of his also has
a Priesthood that is founded on Righteousness and Peace. He quickly or
instantly adopted El Elyon as the
name of his God. He discerned a fundamental difference in spirituality and
morality between Nnana's corrupt priesthood and the holy and
righteousness-promoting priesthood of El
Elyon.
THE PROPHETIC SIGNIFICANCE
OF MELCHIZEDEK'S GIFTS
Genesis 14:18-20. The true
identity of Melchizedek was revealed to Abraham through the gift of Bread and
Wine. Hebrews 7:1-4 clearly reveals Melchizedek's identity to be a divine
personality. Through the Bread and Wine, Melchizedek prophesied and intimated
to Abraham the fact that in the later days, He will incarnate as Son of El
Elyon to die or shed His blood to provide redemption for sinful mankind (Luke
1:32-35; 8:28). There is certainly a veiled reference by our Lord to His
meeting with Abraham in the person of Melchizedek in John 8:48-59; precisely in
John 8:56 where it is written: "Your
father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." Clearly and emphatically speaking, our Lord
Jesus Christ was Melchizedek Who met Abraham as he returned from the slaughter
of the heathen kings. The prophetic revelations of Isaiah and Jeremiah suggest
that our Lord Jesus Christ was indeed the One who met Abraham as Melchizedek
(Isaiah 9:6; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Isaiah 11:1-5). Melchizedek's blessing of Abraham
and praise of God reveal the principal functions of the priesthood, and
corresponds to the blessing of the Aaronic priesthood in Numbers 6:25-27 and
the High Priestly prayer of our Lord in John 17. Both in His pre-incarnate and
incarnate days on earth, it was a consistent manner of our Lord to make Himself
and His redemptive mission known through the act of breaking of bread and
sharing of wine (see Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:17-22; 24:30-35). Think about
it.
WHAT DOES THIS SAY TO US?
In His incarnate life, the Son repeated precisely what He did with
Abraham during the last Passover Feast He observed before His arrest, trial,
and crucifixion, on which occasion He instituted the New Covenant (Matthew
26:26-30). Prior to that, and referring to His death, He had told the Jews that
unless they eat His flesh and drink His blood, they would never live forever
(John 6:47-58). What did the Lord Jesus Christ mean by such scary statement?
Was He preaching or promoting cannibalism? Not at all; He was preaching saving
faith, justifying faith, believing in and receiving Him into one's heart as
one's personal Saviour, Lord and Master. That is what He meant as the context
of that statement indicates (see John 6:27-29, 35-40, 47, 54, 58; 1:12-13).
This then is what the LORD our God requires of you: to repent of your sins and
invite Jesus, the Son of God, into your heart, to enthrone Him as King of
Righteousness and King of Peace in your heart. Then and only then will you
receive the assurance, the inward testimony, of your inheritance and possession
of everlasting blissful existence with God in this world and the world to come.
CONCLUSION
Having now known who Melchizedek was and the prophetic significance
of His encounter and gifts to Abraham for our redemption, which has been
fulfilled by the Incarnate Son of God, let me assure you that if you give your
hearts to Jesus, the joy which swept through the soul of father Abraham when he
saw the day of Christ at his meeting with Melchizedek, will sweep through your
soul also. May it be so in the mighty Name of Jesus Christ.
For solution of the
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