Who is Melchizedek?

Jan 5th, 2024 Who is Melchizedek?

Today’s Passages – Genesis 13 – 16 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Matthew 9 – 10; Proverbs 5; Psalms 21 – 25)

Read the “0105 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Scripture Song – Psalm 119:105

Read previous posts from today’s passage – “Plain Stupid;” “Back to Square One – Almost;”“Balanced and Biblical Separation;”“Relationships are More Important than Riches;” “Gardens and Green Grass or God’s Will?;”and “Good Friends are Hard to Come By.”

“18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.” (Genesis 14:18-20)

“4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4)

“10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. 11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.” (Hebrews 5:10-11)

“1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; 2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; 3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. 4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. 5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: 6 But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. 7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. 8 And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. 9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. 10 For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.” (Hebrews 7:1-10)

What do we know about Melchizedek? (Note – the New Testament spelling is Melchisedec)

Genesis 14 gives us our initial glimpse of this mysterious character who is mentioned in only one more verse in the Old Testament (Psalm 110:4), but the New Testament unlocks the door of understanding who He was.

A His name means king of righteousness. (Hebrews 7:2)

His name is derived from two Hebrew words: melek, which means king; and tsedek, which means right.

Jeremiah 23:5 – 6 refers to Christ and gives us one of the names for God – Yĕhovah tsidqenuw, which means “The Lord Our Righteousness”:

“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Jeremiah 23:5-6)

B He was the king of Salem. (Hebrews 7:1 – 2)

Salem means peace and is also an older name for the city of Jerusalem:

“In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.” (Psalm 76:2)

Note – righteousness and peace work together:

“And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.” (Isaiah 32:17)

“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” (Psalm 85:10)

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”(James 3:17-18)

“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” (Hebrews 12:11)

C He was the priest of the most-high God. (Hebrews 7:1)

He was both priest and king. This distinguishes him from the kings of Judah, for they could not serve as priests. (2 Chronicles 26:16 – 21). It is also a contrast from the Levitical priests who did not serve as kings. Note – Christ is Prophet, Priest, and King.

D His lineage is unknown, and he had no known descendants. (Hebrews 7:3)

Some would say that Melchisedec is actually a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is certainly a type of Christ. The language used here merely indicates that we know nothing about where he came from and we also know nothing about the rest of his life and priesthood. Some believe that he is Noah’s son Shem who was still alive during this time.

Vernon McGee stated this regarding Melchisedec:

Here Melchizedek is a picture of Christ and a type of Christ in another way. The Lord Jesus comes out of eternity, and He moves into eternity. He has no beginning and no end. He is the beginning. He is the end. You can’t go beyond Him in the past, and you can’t get ahead of Him in the future. He encompasses all of time and all of eternity. Now how can you find a man who pictures that? Melchizedek is in the Book of Genesis, a book that gives pedigrees—it tells us that Adam begat so-and-so, and so-and-so begat so-and-so, Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob and Esau, and you follow the genealogies on down—it is a book of the families. Yet in this book that gives the genealogies, Melchizedek just walks out onto the pages of Scripture, out of nowhere, then he walks off the pages of Scripture, and we do not see him anymore. Why did God leave out the genealogy of Melchizedek? Because Melchizedek was to be a type of the Lord Jesus in His priesthood. From the prophecy given in Psalm 110 we see that Melchizedek is a picture of Christ in that the Lord Jesus is the eternal God, and He is a priest because He is the Son of God, and He is a priest continually. That is, He just keeps on being a priest—there will be no change in His priesthood because He is eternal.^[1]

The Bible is very specific regarding genealogies. It was important that a priest be able to prove his lineage. (Ezra 2:61 – 63; Nehemiah 7:63 – 65) Yet, Melchisedec has no genealogy. He appears mysteriously and suddenly on the pages of Scripture and leaves the same way.

Consider Wiersbe’s comments on Melchisedec:

Melchizedek was not an angel or some superhuman creature; nor was he an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ. He was a real man, a real king, and a real priest in a real city. But as far as the record is concerned, he was not born, nor did he die. In this way, he is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. Though Jesus Christ did die, Calvary was not the end; for He arose from the dead and today lives in “the power of an endless life” (Heb. 7:16). Since there is no account of Melchizedek’s death, as far as the record is concerned, it seems that Melchizedek is still serving as a priest and king. This is another way in which he is like the eternal Son of God.^[2]

The New American Commentary presents many of the different historical interpretations of Melchisedec:

The identity of Melchizedek has been the source of considerable discussion and debate. At least seven major views can be delineated. He has been identified by some as a divine being. There are four variations of this view that developed during the Patristic era. A second century Gnostic text identified him as Jesus himself. A sect known as the Melchizedekians arose early in the third century AD. Composed mainly of Jewish converts, it affirmed Melchizedek was a heavenly being superior to Jesus since Jesus was a mediator of men, but Melchizedek was considered a mediator of angels. In the third century, according to Epiphanius (fourth century bishop of Salamis), Melchizedek was identified as the Holy Spirit by the Coptic heresiarch Hieracas. Others understood Melchizedek to be a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus.

A second interpretation suggests Melchizedek is an angelic being, perhaps Michael the archangel. A third view, suggested by some Jewish rabbis in the time of Jerome, was that Melchizedek was Shem, the son of Noah. Philo took Melchizedek to be an actual human high priest who represented nous (mind) in an allegorical fashion. Carmignac suggested Melchizedek is a symbolic name for the human Davidic Messiah.⁵⁵¹ Kobelski regarded Melchizedek as a historical and a heavenly figure, but not an angel. He was superior to angels but inferior to the Son. Davila suggested he was a tutelary deity of the Davidic house along the lines of ancestral deification in West Semitic royal cults.⁵⁵³ A seventh view takes Melchizedek to be a Canaanite king-priest of Salem (Jerusalem) who was a worshipper of the true God.^[3]

E He was honored by Abraham. (Hebrews 7:2; 4 – 10)

Melchisedec came out to bless Abraham and Abraham gave him a tenth of the spoils from the battle. This passage points out that since Abraham honored this man, then so did Abraham’s seed. The Nation of Israel looked to Abraham as their greatest patriarch, yet Abraham submitted to one who was even greater.

Note – the practice of tithing was commanded under the Old Testament Law (Leviticus 27:30 – 32) and was to be given to the Levites (Numbers 18:21 – 25). However, we see from this passage in Hebrews and from Genesis 14 that tithing commenced before the Law. (also Genesis 28:20 – 22 regarding Jacob, also before the Law) Tithing was also commended by the Lord Jesus:

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”(Matthew 23:23)

Note also that Melchisedec met Abraham with bread and wine which foreshadow the Lord’s death and shed blood. It appears that Melchisedec and Abraham observed something similar to the Lord’s Supper that we observe today, only their observance foreshadowed and prophesied the death of Christ, and our’s remembers it.

Was Melchizedek a Christophany or a type of Christ?

The verse that seems to be the main source of controversy is Hebrews 7:3

“Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.” (Hebrews 7:3)

Of the many theories put forth by good men on this subject, I have concluded that there are really only two strong arguments:

Melchisedec is a type of Christ

The description given of Melchisedec here in Hebrews, and also in Genesis 14:18 – 20 indicates that the mysterious Melchisedec was a person recognized by Abraham as being superior to him. Remember, Abraham was a priest himself, in that he interceded for others and offered up sacrifices to God. (Genesis 12:7 – 8) He also was a king, though the title is never used in reference to him. He ruled over 318 servants (Genesis 14:14), and their families. Abraham had no respect for the kings that he rescued in Genesis 14, nor for the kings that he conquered, but he did have respect unto Melchisedec (meaning king of righteousness), the King of Salem.

The phrase in Hebrews, “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life”, means that there is nothing recorded about them in the Genesis record. Again, it is important to note that Genesis is a book of genealogies, but there is no genealogical record of Melchisedec because he is a type of Christ. We no nothing of where or who He came from, nor do we no anything about his descendants. Notice again the phrase “without father, without mother”. Taken these words literally, we could not possibly understand them to refer to any human being, but neither could we perfectly attribute them to Christ, who certainly had a Father, and even in terms of His humanity, had a mother.

The phrase, “like unto the son of God”, is also very interesting. “Like unto” always indicates a comparison; comparing something to something else that is similar in some respect. If Melchisedec was, in fact, the Son of God, the wording is very unusual. The oft repeated statement in Scripture that “there is none like unto the Lord our God” does not refute the fact that Melchisedec, though not God, was like Him in a limited way. There are many people in the Old Testament who are types of Christ, and as such are like Him in a limited way, though no human being could be completely, or even close to completely like God. Melchisedec, as recorded in Genesis and Hebrews is said to be like Christ, in that he did not descend from Levi, and in that his priesthood had had no recorded beginning or ending.

Melchisedec may have been a Christophany (or Theophany) – Christ (or God) in the flesh

Below are some of the views of good men regarding the subject of Melchisedec.

Here is what Spurgeon writes regarding Melchisedec:

“Consider how great this man was” as to the singularity of his person, “without father, without mother, without descent”: that is to say, we know nothing as to his birth, his origin, or his history. Even this explanation hardly answers to the words, especially when it is added, “Having neither beginning of days, nor end of life.” So mysterious is Melchizedek that many deeply-taught expositors think that he was veritably an appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. They are inclined to believe that he was not a king of some city in Canaan, as the most of us suppose, but that he was a manifestation of the Son of God, such as were the angels that appeared to Abraham on the plains of Mamre, and that divine being who appeared to Joshua by Jericho, and to the three holy ones in the furnace. At any rate, you may well consider how great this man was when you observe how veiled in cloud is everything about his coming and going-veiled because intended to impress us with the depth of the sacred meanings which were shadowed forth in him. How much more shall this be said of him of whom we ask- “Thy generation who can tell, Or count the number of thy years?”[4]

Harry Ironside takes this position:

There is no reason to think of Melchisedec as in himself a mysterious personage, possibly supernatural, or even as some have supposed a pre-incarnate appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. If any ask, “Who is Melchisedec?” the only proper answer is “Melchisedec.” He was not Shem the son of Noah, nor Job of the land of Uz, nor Cheops the builder of the great pyramid, as some have endeavored to prove. He was, as is distinctly stated, Melchisedec, King of Salem. All that we know of him is given us in the book of Genesis, chap. 14:18–20. This historical account depicts him as a royal priest reigning in Salem, the city that was afterwards known as Jerusalem. Long before the Levitical economy had been established and a special family set apart for the priesthood he, like Job and Abraham, offered sacrifices as a priest of the Most High God. In the divine providence he met Abraham and his triumphant band as they returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and his allies. It is noticeable that the King of Sodom was on his way to meet Abraham when the latter was intercepted by Melchisedec, who came to bless him in the name of the Most High God, and whose spiritual authority Abraham recognized by giving him tithes of all the spoils. Strengthened by the bread and wine administered by Salem’s king-priest, Abraham was prepared to refuse the blandishments of the King of Sodom, representative of the world in all its impurity and debasement.^[5]

The Bible Knowledge Commentary has this to say:

To begin with, the writer set forth the personal greatness of the Old Testament figure Melchizedek. As a fit prototype for Christ Himself, Melchizedek was both a king and a priest. He both blessed … Abraham and received his tithes. Melchizedek’s name and title suggest the messianic attributes of righteousness and peace. So far as the Old Testament record is concerned, he was without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life. In saying this, the author is often taken to mean that the silence of the inspired record presents Melchizedek as typologically like the Son of God. But though this is possibly true, the statements do not sound like it, particularly the assertion that Melchizedek remains a priest forever. The word “forever” translates a phrase (eis to diēnekes) that occurs only in Hebrews (here and in 10:12, 14) and means “continuously” or “uninterruptedly.”It seems more natural that the author meant that Melchizedek belonged to an order in which there was no end to the priesthood of those engaged in it. (He later said in 7:8 that Melchizedek “is declared to be living.”) If this is correct, Melchizedek may have been an angelic being who reigned for a time at Salem (i.e., Jerusalem). If so, the statement that he was “without beginning of days” would not mean that he was eternal, but simply that he had a pretemporal origin. Nor would this concept of Melchizedek as an angel elevate him to the same level as God’s Son, since the author painstakingly asserted the Son’s superiority to the angels (1:5–14). There is indeed evidence that, at Qumran, Melchizedek was regarded as an angelic personage. If this is the case in Hebrews, then the Son of God is the HighPriest in an order in which Melchizedek is simply a priest.^[6]

^[1] McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed., Vol. 5, p. 552). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

^[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 300). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

^[3] Allen, D. L. (2010). Hebrews (pp. 408–410). Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group.

[4] Spurgeon, C H – from a sermon preached at The Metropolitan Tabernacle on April 12, 1885.

^[5] Ironside, H. A. (1932). Studies in the Epistle to the Hebrews (pp. 85–86). Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers.

^[6] Hodges, Z. C. (1985). Hebrews. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, pp. 797–798). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.