WWUTT 1836 King of Righteousness, King of Peace (Hebrews 7:1-10)

The scripture says that Jesus is a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron and the Levitical priests, because the order of Melchizedek is even higher than their priesthood, when we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is committed to teaching sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it. Visit our website at www .wutt .com.

Hebrews 7 and the Priesthood of Melchizedek

Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. In our New Testament study, we're in Hebrews, and this week looking at chapter 7. What a great week to be in Hebrews 7. I'll talk a little more about that in a moment. Let me begin by reading verses 1 -10 out of the Legacy Standard Bible.

This is the word of the Lord. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace.

Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains priest continually. Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the spoils.

And those indeed of the sons of Levi, who received the priest's office, have a commandment in the law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brothers, although these are descended from Abraham.

But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them had collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. But without any dispute, the lesser is blessed by the greater. And in this case, mortal men receive tithes.

But in that case, one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. And so to speak, through Abraham, even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him.

Yeah, kind of some complicated things going on here, which the preacher had prepared us for back in chapter five, verse 11, where he said concerning him, concerning Melchizedek, we have much to say, but you need to grow up.

You need to mature in your faith to be able to handle these deeper doctrinal truths. And that's what we're attempting to do here as we get into Hebrews seven. And like I said, what a great chapter to be in as we are in the week of Christmas, which is coming up on Sunday here in Hebrews seven.

We read about how Jesus is priest and king. We understand that Jesus is prophet, priest and king. But it is Hebrews seven that especially helps us understand the concept of him being priest and king. And Melchizedek is that figure that helps us most understand that as well.

It's interesting how seldom he is mentioned in the Old Testament. Like I said to you earlier, when we were reading about him in chapter five, he's mentioned in only two chapters of the Old Testament, in Genesis 14 and in Psalm 110.

And the most we hear about Melchizedek is here in the book of Hebrews. Now, Psalm 110 is the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament, especially here in Hebrews showing how Jesus is the high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Through this, we come to understand that Jesus has a priesthood that's even greater than the priesthood that was handed down to Aaron and to the Levites. There was a priesthood that preceded the priesthood that was given to Israel through Aaron and the Levites.

And that priesthood is recognized in this mysterious figure named Melchizedek, who blesses Abraham in Genesis chapter 14. Now, to keep all these things in mind and to keep them fresh in our study, let's go back to Genesis 14.

Once again, I'm going to summarize what we read in the first portion of the chapter and then read the narrative where Melchizedek comes in. So just to kind of recap what happens here in Genesis 14, the kings of Shinar, Elassar, Elam, and Goyim make war with the cities of the plains, and that included Sodom and Gomorrah.

So these kings were successful against the cities of the plains and they carried off all their possessions with them. That included Lot. They took Lot captive and made him a slave, I guess is what would have ended up happening to him.

Well, Abraham gathered up from his own household 318 men and went after these kings and defeated them and took back the spoils from war. So picking up in verse 17, when he came back from striking down Chedder-Lammer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abraham in the valley of Sheba.

That is the king's valley. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. Now, he was a priest of God Most High. Then Melchizedek blessed Abraham and said, blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

And then Abram, Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of all. And the king of Sodom said to Abram, give the people to me, but take the possessions for yourself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have raised my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours so that you would not say, I have made Abram rich.

I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten and the share of the men who went with me. Aner, Eshal, and Mamre, let them take their share. So there's the account that we have where Melchizedek comes and speaks and he's got two verses of dialogue right there in Genesis 14, 19, and 20.

That's all we hear about Melchizedek again until Psalm 110. And then he doesn't get mentioned again until we come up here to the book of Hebrews. So who is this Melchizedek and how does he help us understand who Jesus is as priest and king?

Well, recognize once again that in Genesis 14, 18, it says, then Melchizedek, the king of Salem brought out bread and wine and he was a priest of God Most High. So it said right there of Melchizedek that he is a king and he is a priest.

The priesthood did not begin with Aaron or with the Levites. There was a priest unto the Lord even at the time that God called Abraham to go and settle in the land of Canaan. So let's pick up again in Hebrews 7, beginning in verse 1.

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all.

All of that right there was directly quoted from Genesis chapter 14. So we have Old Testament quotation in Hebrews 7, verses 1 and 2, and it mentions as we go on in verse 2, he was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness.

That's exactly what Melchizedek means. It means king of righteousness and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Salem means peace. And as the king priest of Salem, he was also the king priest of what would eventually become Jerusalem.

Salem, Jerusalem, right? That's exactly where Melchizedek was. That's a city that would not come into the possession of the Israelites until David became king. Interestingly enough, there's centuries of Jerusalem's history.

We don't know what was going on there. We know that Melchizedek was the king priest of Salem. And then there's hundreds of years. And we don't read about Jerusalem again until Joshua and the Israelites come into the promised land.

Now, they were supposed to have taken Jerusalem. Joshua was successful in overthrowing Adonai Zedek, who was the king of Jerusalem at that time. He was pagan, though. He wasn't like a king priest unto God most high.

He was this pagan king. Joshua destroyed him. But then they were unsuccessful in seizing the city and driving out the Jebusites. So there was this shared occupation between the Benjamites, Benjaminites, and the Jebusites all the way up until the time of David.

It's in 2 Samuel chapter 5 when the Jebusites kind of challenged David. And they said he won't be able to come in here. And David took that as a challenge and said, all right, watch me and drove out all the Jebusites.

And so Jerusalem then came into the possession of Israel and became their capital city. That's where the temple would be constructed. So just outside of whatever was Jerusalem at that time, there was Mount Moriah.

And the temple would be constructed on that mountain overseen by Solomon. That expanded the outskirts of Jerusalem. And then, of course, Jerusalem was much, much bigger at the time that Christ was born.

So this is just kind of a little bit of history of Jerusalem, of Melchizedek being the king priest at Salem at that particular time. And then it would not become a city of Zion again until David is the one who seized it and brought it into the possession of the Hebrews.

So here we're reading about, in Hebrews 7, 1, Melchizedek, the king of Salem, priest of the Most High God. And Abraham gave to Melchizedek a tenth. He was, first of all, Melchizedek was, first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, which is what Melchizedek means, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace.

Salem being peace. And that was Melchizedek. So there's a little bit about his history. And then the author of Hebrews here expounds a little bit more in verse 3. Melchizedek was without father, without mother, without genealogy.

That's why we refer to Melchizedek as such a mysterious figure. We don't know who he was. What was his lineage? From whom was he descended? Who was his father? Who was his mother? No genealogy is given to us in Genesis or anywhere else in the Bible.

We don't know who Melchizedek is or who his offspring were, if there were any or anything like that. He had neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest continually.

Now, here there is a little bit of dispute. Are we talking about Melchizedek in the sense of this is who he truly was? Was he a Christ figure in the sense that he was a Christophany or an appearance of Christ, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ, before he was born the incarnate Son of God in the New Testament?

So we're talking about a pre-incarnate Christ, a Christophany, an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament. Is that who Melchizedek was? Or is the preacher here in Hebrews only referring to Melchizedek symbolically in the sense that we don't know who his parents were?

We don't know his genealogy. Nothing of that is given to us. So he's symbolically made like the Son of God and remains a priest continually. Which is it? Is Melchizedek a Christophany? The appearance of Christ before his incarnation?

Was who Abraham met there outside of Salem? Was that actually Jesus, a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus? Or was it a man, Melchizedek, who we only refer to as being without genealogy and without parentage because none of that is ever given to us in the scriptures?

So is Melchizedek actually the Son of God or is he like the Son of God? And I'm going to argue it's the latter. This is not actually an appearance of Christ as Melchizedek, though some scholars will argue that that is the case, that Melchizedek is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus.

But I'm going to say he's just merely a type in a shadow. He's not actually a Christophany. And I don't think the preacher here in Hebrews is saying that Melchizedek is a Christophany. If Melchizedek is a Christophany, then you actually have several appearances of God to Abraham during the time of Abraham.

That's more than just Melchizedek. Because remember, God came to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre, and it doesn't say there that that appearance of God to Abraham was Melchizedek. So Melchizedek was a man.

Whereas the appearance of God to Abraham at Mamre, that was actually a theophany, or you could even argue a Christophany if that's the appearance of Christ to Abraham. Melchizedek's just a man, though.

And I take that on a couple of things. Verse 3, saying that he was made like the Son of God. So he's not the Son of God. The preacher is not here saying that Melchizedek is a Christophany. He's like the Son of God, remaining a priest continually.

And then you also have this statement in chapter 8, verse 5. So after laying all this out about Melchizedek, it says that these things serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. So this reference to Melchizedek is merely types and shadows.

It's not saying that Melchizedek is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. So once again, coming to verse 3, Hebrews 7, 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 continually.

So here, again, in reference to Melchizedek, because he's such a mysterious figure for us in the Old Testament, we don't have any mention of his genealogy. He's without father. He's without mother. He is a continual high priest.

Melchizedek is being referenced as having a priesthood that's even greater than the priesthood of Aaron and the Levites. And all of this serving as types and shadows that point to Christ, because Christ is a priest in the order of Melchizedek.

He fulfills priestly requirements of Aaron and the Levites, certainly, but Christ's priesthood is even greater than theirs because he's a priest in the order of Melchizedek. And just reminding you one more time about what is said in Psalm 110, which all of this is in reference to.

Psalm 110, verse 4, Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek doesn't have mentioned there any place where his priesthood began, and there's no mention of his priesthood ending.

And so it becomes a type and a shadow of the priesthood that Christ would hold. He does not have a beginning to his priesthood, and there is no end to his priesthood. He is a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.

Verse 4, now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the spoils. So remember what we read in Genesis chapter 14, after Abraham was successful in defeating those kings that had kidnapped Lot.

He brought back all of those possessions. And the king of Sodom said, hey, keep all of that stuff. It's yours. And Abraham said, I'm not taking any of it, because I don't want you to be able to say I'm the one who made Abraham rich.

So he gave a tenth of those spoils back to Melchizedek, the king-priest at Salem. And then the rest of it he gave back to the king of Sodom. And then what the men that were along with Abraham, whatever they wanted to keep, they kept.

But all that stuff Abraham gave back to the king of Sodom so that he wouldn't be able to say that I've made Abram rich. Now, Abram didn't need anything. God had already richly provided for Abram. But those things that he claimed from war, he gave a tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek.

And it's because of that, because Abram gave a tenth, that's where the tithe comes from. So then the tithe that's implemented for Israel, that they would be giving a tenth to the priests, to Aaron and to the Levitical priests.

Israel would have to pay that tenth or practice that tithe, because it was what Abraham did when he gave a tenth to Melchizedek, the priest. So therefore, Israel needed to pay their priests in the service that they rendered unto the Lord.

So then verse 5, those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest's office have a commandment in the law to collect a tenth from the people that is from their brothers, although these are descended from Abraham.

In other words, they're all on the same level. The Levitical priests or even Aaron and his sons, they were not greater than any other Israelite because they were all descended from Abraham. But they collect the tenth from the people because that is the instruction.

That's the order that was given by God in light of Abraham having given the tenth to Melchizedek. Verse 6, but the one whose genealogy is not traced from them had collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.

So Melchizedek, not descended from Abraham, he has an independent genealogy, yet he collects the tenth from Abraham, all of this pointing to the fact that the order of Melchizedek is greater than the order of the Levitical priesthood.

Verse 7, but without any dispute, the lesser is blessed by the greater. Abraham, who's the lesser, is blessed by the greater. Even though Abraham gives a tenth to Melchizedek, the blessing comes from Melchizedek to Abraham.

Remember the blessing that Melchizedek gave. Blessed be Abram of God most high, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God most high who has delivered your enemies into your hand. So Melchizedek gives the blessing to Abraham, and this is to show us how the blessing has been given to us.

We who are the lesser have been blessed by the greater. That is Jesus Christ. He is the one who holds the priesthood in the order of Melchizedek, but we're the ones that get the blessing from it. Because we as followers of Jesus Christ, we have our sins forgiven, atoned for.

And notice something else about the way that Melchizedek comes out and greets Abraham. I brushed over it very briefly, but I don't want to ignore it, certainly. Genesis 14, 18, and Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out what?

Do you remember? If you're not following along in your Bible with me, what did Melchizedek bring out to Abraham? He brought out bread and wine. What is that a type and shadow of? Communion. This high priest, who is a type and a shadow of Christ who is to come, who would hold the priesthood of Melchizedek in his order, this high priest brings out a type and a shadow of communion, of the Lord's table, of bread and of wine.

And it's Jesus who brings us to that table, with the bread symbolizing his body that is broken for us and the wine that symbolizes the cup of the new covenant, his blood that was poured out for the forgiveness of sins.

And it's in these things that we receive the blessing. We are forgiven our sins and we are in covenant with God by his blood so that we have fellowship with him. We receive all the blessings from the greater.

We who are lesser are blessed by the greater, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Wonderful to consider these things as we look into the type in the shadow that was Melchizedek. Let me finish up this portion and then we'll pick up in verse 11 tomorrow.

And so then, verse 8, in this case, mortal men receive tithes, but in that case, one receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. And so to speak through Abraham, even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, remember that?

So this is talking about, once again, comparing how the Levitical priests are lesser than the Melchizedek priests. Even the Levitical priests had to pay tithes. Even they were commanded to give a tenth of everything that they received.

But Melchizedek doesn't pay to anybody. Who does Jesus pay tithes to? He doesn't pay tithes to anyone because he's of the order of Melchizedek. Again, showing that the Melchizedek priesthood is greater.

Levi, Aaron, Levi, that priesthood was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. So Melchizedek doesn't pay a tithe to anybody. I'm going to draw one more point out of that tomorrow when we pick up, and then we'll continue on in our study of Christ being a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for the good word that we have read here, and I pray that it just helps us to see Christ all the greater, and how wonderful and magnificent he is, and how we have received the blessings of the Lord through faith in Jesus Christ.

Our sin's forgiven, and we have fellowship with God through this priest who enters into the holy places on our behalf, who intercedes for us, who advocates for us before the Father. And so we lift up our prayers to you, and we are comforted by this priesthood that Jesus fulfills on our behalf.

Teach us as we go, and may we live according to your ways, doing all that is pleasing unto our Father in heaven. It is in Jesus' name that we pray, amen.

You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Gabriel Hughes. Pastor Gabe is the author of 25 Christmas Myths and What the Bible Says, examining some of our most common Christmas beliefs and traditions, and bringing them back to the truth of Scripture.

You can find this and other books at our website, www .wtt .com. Join us again tomorrow for more Bible study, When We Understand the Text.