Jesus in the Old Testament: 006 Jesus and Melchizedek

Jesus and Melchizedek

Genesis 19:17-24; Psalm 110; Hebrews 7:1-10

Thesis: Melchizedek provides a very controversial prophetic illustration of Messiah.  There are two dominant ways to view this episode.  Both lead us to the same points of conclusion--Christ is our greater High Priest and our soon-and-coming King. He alone is worthy of our ultimate reverence and worship.

1. Nutshell with Kids (>5 min)
1. Do you trust your parents? 
2. Why? What about your parents makes you trust their leadership?
3. What do we need to trust Jesus to do for us? (Lead us, protect us, take away our sin)
4. The OT has three very important “offices,” or jobs that people have.  All of them were important to the lives of the people of Israel in Bible times, and all of them are still important to God’s people today.
1. Prophet: Hear what God wants to say to you.
2. Priest: Represent you to God, help you worship Him, and help you take care of your sin.
3. King: Tell you what to do and lead your government.
5. Jesus is all of these.  He is our prophet, priest, and King (one day, he’ll even lead the world’s governments).
6. There is a picture of someone who was like this in the OT.  Melchizedek. 
7. Read Gen 14:17-24.
8. Jesus will be all of these roles as well but in an even greater way. 
9. Abraham honored Melchizedek.  We worship Jesus.

2. Deeper With Adults

1. Context: Gen 14:17-24
1. Melchizedek is a priest of the Most-High God
1. El Elyon God Most High, God of Gods. 

1)    The first time this is used in the Bible

2)    It is how God is described by Melchizedek

3)    In contrast to YHWH, the covenant name of God given to Moses, this title sets him apart as the God of all nations, not just the Jews.

4)    Abraham immediately adopts the title and uses it in vs 22.

2. Abraham acknowledges that this God of Melchizedek is His God as well.
3. There are no priests of God at this time.  About 500 years before Aaron is born.
4. We are only 340 years after the flood in this story. While we are not told of any other people besides Abram who is following the Lord at this time, we should not be surprised that there are some.  Shem is still alive. 
1. His name: King of Righteousness
1. Melek: King
2. Tszidek: righteousness
2. Melchizedek is “King of Salem.”
1. Salem might be the (then) Jebusite city of Jerusalem, and the city’s name is shortened in the reference here (Psa 76:2) (John MacArthur, James McDonald, J. Vernon McGee).

1)    Problem: Why does the king of Jerusalem worship God Most High and none of his subjects do and never will as long as they live there?

2)    Problem: Jerusalem’s ancient name was Jebus, not Salem. 

a)    No known city of the time was called Salem. 

b)    There was a Shalem, in Gen 33:18, which later was called Salim in John 3:23, but this is much farther north, in what is later Samaria.  Too far.

2. Salem shares the same consonants as “Shalom,” which is all that matters in Hebrew.  Shalom= peace.  King of peace. 
3. Priest and King is an unprecedented combination.
1. The word “Priest,” כֹּהֵן [kohen /ko·hane].  The normal word for a priest in Hebrew.  “Sanctified, set apart for a purpose.”  Also could be appointed to an office of authority.  750 times in OT.  744 times “priest.”  Also “ruler, prince, chief leader, royal advisor.”  No real reason to make the word mean something special here.
2. In Israel, the kings are from Judah and the Priests from Levi.  Kept separate.
3. Obviously, this is 500 years before the law, before Aaron, and even before Levi and Judah. So Melchizedek is obviously neither a Levitical priest nor an Israelite King.
4. Saul and Uriah both were judged for trying.
5. Samuel refused to be King
6. Under the law, it is impossible to be a priest and King. However, that is kind of the point.
7. Prophesied that Messiah will be both Zech 6:13
4. Melchizedek blesses Abram in the name of God Most High and brings bread and wine
1. Symbols of his passion and a foreshadowing of communion.
2. This 500 years before Passover is instituted!
3. When Jesus re-packages Passover into the Lord’s Supper, he returns it to what it was here.
4. Interesting side note: There is a record of a battle involving the city-states in this area in the spring of 1802 BC, although the names of the kings involved are different in their own historical records, the same cities are involved.  This is the time when Abraham was thought to have been sojourning in the area.  If this is the same event, then it happened in the Spring.  Did it happen on what would later become Passover?  We don’t know, but it would be cool!
5. Abraham gave him a tithe of all of his spoils.
1. Again, 500 years before the law.  Tithing was a pre-law part of the culture of God’s people. 
2. Even though we have been freed from the law, we are still expected to tithe as a minimum.  The NT actually asks more of us in this area, not less.
3. A Tithe is an act of worship.  Not that Abraham was necessarily worshipping Melchizedek, but he was worshipping God through Melchizedek and acknowledging that Melchizedek’s God was his God.
1. Psalm 110:4
1. The entire psalm is Messianic. 
2. Messiah is an eternal king.  Two oracles of God, two interpretations, but it doesn’t fit nicely in an outline.  The whole psalm focuses on his Kingship, except vs 4.
3. Messiah will be a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
1. Not that Melchizedek’s priesthood is eternal.

1)    Careful reading, Messiah has an eternal priesthood. 

2)    His priesthood, like Melchizedek’s, is not under the law, as the Levitical priests are.  His priesthood is before, beyond, above the law. 

3)    There would be no “second” High Priest to fill the office after Messiah. 

2. Priesthood an “oath” of God.  Cannot be broken (Heb 6).
2. Hebrews 7:1-3
1. Significance of his names is rehearsed. King of Righteousness and King of Peace
1. Righteousness comes before peace.  There can be no peace without righteousness (Rom 5:1)
2. Isa 9:6-7; 11:4-5; 16:5
3. Isa 32:1, 16-18
4. Jer 23:5
5. Psalm 85:10
2. Without genealogy, father or mother, beginning or end of days.
1. Two views:

1)    Melchizedek was a Christophany

a)    Strengths:

                                                                                      i.        Heb 7:1-3 is literally true.

                                                                                     ii.        Ps 110 is read to mean that Messiah is actually Melchizedek, so there is only one priest forever in that role.

                                                                                    iii.        John 8:56 is in reference to the Gen 14 encounter.

                                                                                    iv.        Dead Sea Scroll Midrash 11Q13 speculates that Melchizedek was in some way an eternal spiritual being: Highest angel, a manifestation of God’s glory, one guess is even a “son of the Highest”

                                                                                     v.        Explains why there can be a priest/king who worships the right God long before God’s revelation to the Israelites on Sinai.

b)    Weaknesses:

                                                                                      i.        Psalm 110:4 and Hebrews 7:3 say that Messiah is “like” Melchizedek, not that he “is” Melchizedek.

                                                                                     ii.        Why would Jesus show up, live an entire earthly life, be king of a town and priest, and then come back again in the manger and fulfill his role as Messiah? Gen 14 not literally true but prophetic?

2)    Melchizedek is a type of Christ, not a Christophany

a)    Majority view

b)    Strengths:

                                                                                      i.        Gen 14 literally true.

                                                                                     ii.        Comparison language in Psalm 110:4 and Heb 7:4 valid.

                                                                                    iii.        Simplifies the understanding of Christ’s incarnation once for his role as Messiah.

                                                                                    iv.        Still provides an adequate basis for the declaration of Psalm 110:4.

                                                                                     v.        Provides a valid prophetic sketch of Messiah.

c)    Weaknesses:

                                                                                      i.        Makes Heb 7:3 an argument from silence, which the author of Hebrews does nowhere else.  Very uncommon in NT.

                                                                                     ii.        Does not adequately explain why there is a God-fearing Priest/King in Canaan before the Exodus. Shem is the only conduit of right knowledge that might serve the purpose.

2. In either case, the same points can be drawn.
3. “The Levitical priesthood was entirely hereditary, through Aaron.  Melchizedek’s was personal.  From the beginning of the Aaronic priesthood, genealogy determined everything, personal qualification nothing.  If you descended from Aaron, you could serve; if you did not, you could not.  Consequently, the priests often were more concerned about their pedigrees than their holiness…  The point is that Melchizedek’s parentage and origin are irrelevant to his priesthood.  Whereas to the Aaronic priesthood genealogy was everything, to the Melchizedek priesthood it was nothing.”  John MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Hebrews (1983: The Moody Bible Institute, Chicago)
2. He [Melchizedek] continues as a priest forever. 
1. Levitical priests individually had discrete years of service, from 25 as assistants (30 years old at ordination) to 50 (mandatory retirement).
2. Collectively, the entire order of priests had a definite origin (Ex 32:29) and a definite end (AD 70). 

1)    Genealogical records all destroyed with the temple. 

2)    Today, Jews claiming to belong to Levi or the priesthood (Kohen) claim to have kept meticulous genealogical records since the destruction of the temple, but all records from that point back were lost, so it is a matter of faith.

4. Heb 7:4-10 The greatness of Melchizedek is set as greater even than Abraham on the basis of the tithe and the blessing. 
1. Tithes:
1. Tithes are paid by the lesser to the greater as an act of worship.
2. Tithes are prescribed by the law, but the principle is older and universal.
3. The tithes paid by the children of Israel to the Levites validated their call by God and their role as priests.
4. Abraham’s Tithe to Melchizedek validates Melchizedek’s call by God and his role as a priest that is even greater than that of Levi.

1)    Levi is lesser than Abraham as his descendant

2)    Levi is “in” Abraham and therefore pays a Tithe to Melchizedek.

5. Vs 8: Mortal men vs. “One of whom it is testified that he lives.”  Messiah is still alive. 
1. Blessing: Melchizedek blesses Abram, and the greater blesses the lesser.
1. To a Jew, the Priest was the center of their spiritual life
2. To a Jew, Abraham is the most revered character in History.
3. Melchizedek was greater than both, a type of Christ.
4. Application:
1. Salvation will not come through the Law. Look to Christ.
1. Messiah will be a Priest/King.  This is impossible under the Levitical system
2. Melchizedek as a type of Christ is greater than the greatest personages and offices in Judaism
2. Jesus is a more perfect King.  His leadership in your life can be trusted.
3. Jesus is a more perfect Priest.  His atonement for your sin is worthy of your faith.

Discussion Questions

1. What does it mean that Jesus is our:
1. Prophet?
2. Priest?
3. King?
2. Are there any of these kinds of leadership ones that you haven’t understood Jesus to have before?
3. Is there any kind of leadership that you haven’t let Jesus have over your life before?
4. Abraham honored Melchizedek and gave him a large portion of his wealth.  Do you give some of what you earn to God as he did? If not, would you consider doing so?
5. If Abraham, who is a very important person in history and faith, honored Melchizedek and we know that Jesus is even greater than Melchizedek, how should we treat Jesus?  Do you?