Welcome 2 SYNxronisation

by J.Preston Eby

Part 1 ; Part 2 ; Part 3 ; Part 4; Part 5 ; Part 6 ; Part 7

That mysterious historic figure Melchizedek - who was he? Some things are certain. He was not a Hebrew. He was not an Israelite. He was not a Levite. He was not a Jew. Certain questions suggest themselves. How was it that a man like Melchizedek could become king of a city in a land settled by idolatrous descendants of Canaan, and how could he come to be recognized as the priest of the one true God? If Salem, his city, is actually the same as Jerusalem, as most scholars are convinced, then both the Bible and arch. Geology indicate it to have been inhabited at this time by the Jebusites, one of the Canaanite tribes from whom it was eventually taken by David (II Sam. 5:7). There is no reason to suppose the Jebusites were different in their paganism from the other Canaanites; so it hardly seems likely that Melchizedek could have been a Jebusite. Furthermore how did he come to be recognized as the priest of the Most High God, especially by Abram, Abram had been called to go to Canaan to establish a new nation that would serve the Lord Abram recognized Melchizedek as his spiritual superior, giving a tithe to him; so why was not Melchizedek himself chosen to establish such a nation? The priesthood which he represented was later acclaimed as superior to the Aaronic priesthood established in Abram. Melchizedek also recognized himself as superior to Abram, because he gave him his blessing, though he recognized also that God had already blessed Abram in giving him a miraculous victory.

Such questions as these do not seem to be answered by the usual interpretation that Melchizedek was simply a local chieftain who was chosen, because of his dramatic appearance in the Genesis narrative at this point, to be a type of Christ. Ah, but he is more than that! The Levitical priests were "after the order of Aaron." Aaron was thus not a mere type, he represented an ORDER OF PRIESTHOOD. The mystery is intensified when we find the Holy Spirit, almost a millenium later, through king David, speaking of "my Lord' (Hebrew ADONAI) as "a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek" (Ps. 110:1,4). Melchizedek was not alone as a non-Levitical; there was an "order" of Melchizedek, and this Order was an ages-enduring Order!