FBC Morning Light – September 12, 2022

Well, good Monday morning to you. What did you learn yesterday when you attended God's house?

Did you learn something, I hope, about what God is like? Did you learn something about what

God likes? Perhaps you were challenged in what you heard from God's word, convicted a little bit, maybe encouraged.

I hope you always go away from a gathering with God's people encouraged, even if in the course of the hours together the

Holy Spirit convicts you, as that in itself is an act of grace. Well, we're starting off a new week today, and on this

Monday morning we're looking at reading in our Bible reading one of the most interesting passages in the book of Hebrews, and it has to do with this

Old Testament person, Melchizedek. Now, there is a pretty strong division between interpreters of who this

Melchizedek is. Some hold very strongly to the opinion that Melchizedek was simply a pre -incarnate appearance of Christ, and they seem to think that the writer of Hebrews is indicating that.

And then others have a very strong opinion that, no, Melchizedek was a very real person.

He was a man who was the king of the village or city of Salem, and he was also a priest of the

Most High God, and of course this was during the time of Abraham, so this is prior to the establishment of the

Mosaic law and the Aaronic priesthood and the tribe of Levi and so forth.

You know, Levi wasn't even born yet. So who was this Melchizedek?

My opinion is, and my interpretation of this passage, is that Melchizedek was indeed a very real human being.

He was a man. And what the writer of Hebrews is doing is looking at that passage in Genesis chapter 12 and drawing an analogy between Melchizedek and Christ and his priesthood.

And there are a lot of parallels that can be drawn. One of the things that people who hold that Melchizedek was just a pre -incarnate appearance of Christ is that the writer of Hebrews says that he was without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the

Son of God. This idea that he didn't have a father or a mother, he had no genealogy, he had no beginning of days or life, they look at that and they say, well, see, he was eternal.

He was the eternal Son of God in human form. But I think what the writer of Hebrews is doing is simply saying that in the

Old Testament record, there's no record of who Melchizedek's father was or who his mother was, when he began, when he died, that Melchizedek in the biblical record just comes on the scene.

He just shows up. And he draws some other parallels, too. Melchizedek, his name means

King of Righteousness, King of Righteousness. And the city that he ruled over was

Salem, which means in the Hebrew language, peace. So he's the King of Righteousness and the

King of Peace. And of course, Jesus is the Prince of Peace and he's the King of Righteousness.

And another parallel with Melchizedek and Jesus is that he was a priest who was also a king, as is the

Lord Jesus Christ. So you have all of these parallels. I don't think they prove that Melchizedek was a pre -incarnate appearance of Christ, but I do think he proves to be a wonderful type of Christ.

And I think that's what the writer of Hebrews is saying, which is why at the end of verse 3, he says he was made like the

Son of God. He didn't say he was the Son of God, he was made like the Son of God.

So he serves as a type. And you have all kinds of types in the Old Testament of New Testament realities.

There are other things that are the type of Christ and so forth. But the wonderful thing about this priesthood of Melchizedek is it serves as a wonderful picture of the priesthood of Christ.

A priest of the Most High God who is also a king, a king of peace and a king of righteousness.

And this certainly describes our Savior, our Lord, Jesus. So this is why the writer of Hebrews says at the end of verse 20 of chapter 6 that Christ has become the

High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. What is that order of Melchizedek?

That's why he goes on to describe that order in chapter 7. A priest who comes on the scene who is not an

Aaronic priesthood. He doesn't descend from the tribe of Levi, but he transcends it.

He is beyond that tribe of Levi priesthood, that Aaronic priesthood.

This is a different order of priest. A priest who could also be a king.

A king who reigns in righteousness and a king who reigns in peace. This is the

Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful type Melchizedek serves of our

Savior, the Lord Jesus. So I don't know that that necessarily answers all the questions that a person might have related to who

Melchizedek was. But I hope it gets you thinking a little bit at least and perhaps you have been on the fence and maybe confused about this whole thing of Melchizedek.

Who was he and what's the significance of Melchizedek? Well, I think this is helpful if we really just look at him as a type of Christ.

A type that Jesus perfectly, wonderfully fulfills. All right, Heavenly Father, we do thank you today for our

Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for his perfection in the priesthood.

A perfect priest for his people, but also a king, a king of righteousness and a king of peace.

Thank you for our Savior. Bless these thoughts to our hearts today we pray, we ask it in Jesus' name, amen.