Who is Melchizedek? Is he really Christ?

Who is the person mentioned in Hebrews 7 as Melchizedek? Throughout the letter to Hebrews, Melchizedek is a character that is mentioned several times – is he important or of any consequence? Some people say that he is Christ – is that the truth?

STUDY

The topic of today’s video is Melchizedek. To study the Scriptures, one must always rely on questions that must be raised – only then are we able to arrive at and understand the depth that underlies it. In the same way, to understand Melchizedek, today, we will ask four questions:

• Who is he?
• Through the events that mention Melchizedek, what does the Bible tell us?
• In the book of Hebrews, why is there a lot of mention about him?
• Is he Christ?

We are going to look at the answers to these four questions.

1. Who is he?

In Gen 14:1-10, we see these events – four kings surrounding Babylon go to battle against the five kings surrounding Canaan. In that war, the kings of those five kingdoms surrounding Canaan are defeated; the four kings surrounding Babylon, being victorious in the battle, take the spoils of war (servants, wealth, etc.) from the defeated kings of Canaan. But, out of those five kings surrounding Canaan, the kings of Sodom & Gomorrah are able to flee with their lives. Among these two kings – the king of Sodom (Gen 14:2), is mentioned as king Bera.

Next, we look at Gen 14:11-16 – four kings plunder five kings’ possessions and men and leave. Amongst the plundered, Abraham’s brother’s son, namely Lot, is also captured by those four kings and is taken by them. Abraham comes to know of this news, that Lot has been captured by the kings of Babylon. He organizes a group of his servants and people with him, and chases those four kings of Babylon and defeats them – and takes back the spoils along with bringing back Lot.

Gen 14:17-20 Abraham is on his way back after redeeming everything. Now, the king of Sodom comes to Abraham with bread and wine, and blesses him. Then Abraham gives a tithe of everything he possesses. In this place is the very first mention of the name Melchizedek for the king Bera, and we also see that he is a king and a priest.

To summarize our answer to the first question, he is:

• the king of Sodom
• called Melchizedek
• a priest
• not widely discussed – the information about him belonging to any tribe, where he was born, who his parents are, when he was born, when he died, etc. is not mentioned in any detail in the Scriptures.

This was the summary of events surrounding Melchizedek in Gen 14

2. From what we looked at in Genesis 14, we raise our second question: through these events, what do the Scriptures tell us?

• The king of Sodom i.e. Bera is Melchizedek
• He was a king and a priest
• We understand that even before the Mosaic Law was given, priesthood and tithing existed

3. Why is he mentioned so many times in the letter to Hebrews?

After the mention in Genesis, he is mentioned a lot subsequently in Hebrews (and mentioned once in Psalms 110). In this letter, Melchizedek is mentioned 8 times. Out of these 8 times, we see the mention of the term – order of Melchizedek, which is mentioned 5 times. In similitude, the concept of Jesus as a priest is mentioned about 20 times. Therefore, in this letter, the priesthood of Jesus and the order of Melchizedek are mentioned and discussed more categorically. Therefore, we can understand that in the letter, the author is trying to explain how Jesus Christ is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Now, let’s look at how the author of Hebrews compares Mosaic Law and the order of Melchizedek and brings out different points from them. In the Mosaic Law, only the Levites could be priests and receive tithes. In the order of Melchizedek, which predates Mosaic Law and the Levitical priesthood, priesthood and tithing existed. The author is going to compare these two and talk to his Hebrew audience. When it came to the Hebrews, for ages they had been followers of the Mosaic Law (Levitical priesthood) and recognized that priesthood (exclusively) meant Levites (refer Numbers 18:6,7). It is clear that in this law, only Levites must work for this priesthood and anyone else is to be put to death who tries to serve.

But if you read Heb 7:14, 15 – it is mentioned that Jesus is a priest, he belongs to the tribe of Judah, and according to Mosaic Law, anyone from the tribe of Judah cannot be a priest. But here, Jesus is shown as a priest. And the author of Hebrews is talking about this very thing, i.e. how Jesus is a priest. He makes some points. First, he says that Jesus, belonging to the tribe of Judah, is indeed a priest. Second, he says in what way (order) he is a priest – not according to Levitical priesthood, but that he is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Ref: Heb 5:10, 6:20. These two verses say in what way (order) Jesus is a priest.

Next, he says – Jesus is not a priest (or did not become a priest) on his own (or of his own accord). In the manner that Aaronic priesthood is established, i.e. God calls Aaron to priesthood, Jesus is also exalted as a priest by God (Heb 5:4-6)

Read Heb 7:17-20
In these verses, the author is saying to the Hebrews audience that Jesus did not become a priest on his own (or of his own accord), but became one according to the Old Testament scripture in Ps 110:4. Through this, he is trying to tell us that Levitical priesthood does not perfect man, but Jesus who came according to the order of Melchizedek perfects or completes mankind. Ref Heb 7:11

Next, he is saying that if the priesthood is changed, the Mosaic law also needs to change. Before this, he said that Mosaic law/Levitical priesthood does not perfect mankind but Jesus does so according to the order of Melchizedek. Therefore, if priesthood is changed, the law is also changed. Here, we understand that the author of Hebrews is trying to make his audience understand this flow of logic and to show that the law has been changed.

Next, he is saying that since the law has changed, and since Jesus is the priest, being from a different tribe, as a frontrunner has entered the throne of grace – and not just him alone, but he has given all of us access so that we too can enter this throne of grace. In the old Law, i.e. in Levitical priesthood, the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies and the mercy seat only once a year. This was cyclic every year. Through the order of Melchizedek, Jesus Christ has entered once, but directly to the true mercy seat . He also made us priests and tells us that we too can enter that mercy seat (ref 6:20 and 4:16). Through Jesus, we ALL can enter this, is what the author is telling the Hebrews audience.

To summarize the answer to the 3rd question – why is Melchizedek mentioned so many times in Hebrews?

It’s because Jesus Christ, being a priest NOT according to the order of Levitical priesthood but according to the order of Melchizedek, is able to make us all enter the mercy seat. This is something the author is trying to explain to his audience. We understand from this that priesthood was changed through Jesus Christ. To explain this clearly to the Hebrew audience, he is quoting from Ps 110 so that they can understand this.

4. Is Melchizedek Christ?

We’ve seen 3 questions so far. Now the 4th question, which is important – is Melchizedek Christ? This confusion exists among many. Let’s examine this.

Those who say Melchizedek is Christ use Heb 7:3 as a reference. They use “resemblance to Son of God” or “Likeness to Son of God” to say that he is indeed Christ. What do other things in this verse mean – i.e. “3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.”

When we read the whole letter of Hebrews, we understand that in the Levitical priesthood one can only be a priest, and not be a king in addition to that. If someone is a king, he cannot be a priest simultaneously. Melchizedek, however, was a priest as well as a king. And he is being spoken about until this day – right from the days of Abraham until this day.

The Hebrews writer is saying that since he is mentioned in Psalms, he is still “alive” in that sense, which is what this forever means. In the same way, Jesus Christ is also a king and a priest, and lasts forever which is mentioned. We need to be careful – when it says “in the likeness” it doesnt mean Melchizedek is equal to Christ or is Christ, or that Jesus Christ made an appearance in the times of Abraham as Melchizedek. Secondly, for anyone born in the flesh, they must have had a father and a mother.

The absence of that indicated in these verses only points to the fact that it was not recorded who Melchizedek’s parents are. The “likeness” between Jesus Christ and Melchizedek refers to – being a king, being a priest, and being mentioned forever. The writer of Hebrews is simply making a point that because Ps 110 mentions Melchizedek, they remain forever.
Let’s look at Heb 7:15 which makes this point. It mentions “likeness” and not “equality”.

Therefore, we can say that Melchizedek was indeed a human – he was a priest, he was a king, and his mention in Psalms by the Psalmist makes him an “eternal” or “forever” figure.

Melchi – King
Zedek – Justice, i.e. king of justice

This name simply mentions the way this king ruled – he ruled with justice. Now one might ask – if this king ruled with justice, why was Sodom so bad in its deeds. This is not difficult to answer – in this modern day Jesus Christ reigns as a king of justice, but we see the way Christians live despite that. The reign points to attributes of justice, but the people that follow have their own attributes/characteristics. In the same way, the king Melchizedek, or Bera, was a king that reigned with justice – but his people did what was right in their own eyes.

What we understand is Melchizedek was a king – a king that was defeated in war. Can Jesus Christ be defeated in war? Can he be someone who fled after defeat as it mentions in Gen 14:10? That does not make sense. We conclude therefore, that Melchizedek was a human king of Sodom, and not Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is mentioned as someone who comes only twice to Earth – once as the son of man, and again, as the son of God, as someone who will come to judge. This is what the Bible teaches.

The way Jesus is present in the Old Testament is a different topic which we will look at later.

Some additional points:

Tracing Genealogy:

Under Mosaic Law, a person needs to have a genealogy that traces back to Aaron, else he cannot serve as a priest. Without the written record, he cannot serve as a priest. When Judah returned from its Babylonian captivity, certain men could not serve as priests since they could not prove that their genealogy could be traced back to Aaron (Ezra 2:62). That makes Melchizedek unique, because he is the only recorded priest in the Old Testament that has no record of their genealogy.

What makes him to be a “priest perpetually/continually”

The writer of Hebrews says in 7:3 that Melchizedek is a “priest perpetually/continually”. He is a “priest perpetually/continually” because there is no record of his birth or death. In Israel, a Levitical priest’s service is limited by his lifetime, i.e. when he dies. The Scriptures, by having no record of his death, makes it so that he is a priest forever. This is to give a precedent for Jesus since he serves as a priest forever as well – he has no end of days and therefore, no end of priesthood.

What can we learn from Melchizedek?

E.g. Since Abraham pays tithes to Melchizedek, the priesthood of Melchizedek supersedes that of the Levites – and in comparison, we see that that means that the whole Levitical system itself is superseded by Jesus Christ. Hebrew Christians were attached to the temple system and were in danger of losing the eternal reward. We are not different from them. We have a tendency to revert to our former life, where we are comfortable in our lifestyle. Are we following our eternal priest daily?