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NASB | Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem (ancient Jerusalem) brought out bread and wine [for them]; he was the priest of God Most High. |
Bible Question:
In Hebrew 7 chapter who is Melchizedek? What was his roll in bible? Why is Jesus following the order after Melchizedek? |
Bible Answer: Melchizedek is first introduced in Genesis 14:18 But we see references to him many other places. Psalm 110:4 Hebrews 5:6 Hebrews 5:10 Hebrews 6:20 Hebrews 7:1 Hebrews 7:17 Hebrews 7:21 MELCHIZ´EDEK (mel-kiz´e-dek; “king of righteousness”) or MELCHIS´EDEC. The king of Salem (i.e., Jerusalem) and “a priest of God Most High,” who went out to congratulate Abraham on his victory over Chedorlaomer and his allies. He met him in the “valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).” Melchizedek brought bread and wine for the exhausted warriors and bestowed his blessing upon Abraham. In return the patriarch gave to the royal priest a tenth of all the booty taken from the enemy (Genesis 14:17-20), about 1970 B.C. Giving the tenth was a practical acknowledgment of the divine priesthood of Melchizedek, for the tenth was, according to the general custom, the offering presented to Deity. Melchizedek is mentioned in Psalm 110:4, where it is foretold that the Messiah would be “a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,” and in Hebrews 5:7, where these two passages of the OT are quoted and the typical relation of Melchizedek to our Lord is stated at great length. “According to the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4) is explained by Gesenius and Rosenmüller to mean “manner,” i.e., likeness in official dignity—a king and priest. The relation between Melchizedek and Christ as type and antitype is made in the epistle to the Hebrews to consist in the following particular: each was a priest (1) who is not of the Levitical tribe; (2) who is superior to Abraham; (3) whose beginning and end are unknown; (4) who is not only a priest, but also a king of righteousness and peace. “Without father,” etc. (Hebrews 7:3), refers to priestly genealogies. Melchizedek is not found on the register of the only line of legitimate priests; his father’s name is not recorded, nor his mother’s; no evidence points out his line of descent from Aaron. It is not affirmed that he had no father or that he was not born at any time or died on any day; but these facts were nowhere found on the register of the Levitical priesthood. Melchizedek offers an expressive type of Christ, the King-Priest, especially of the Messiah’s work in resurrection, inasmuch as the ancient character offers bread and wine, memorials of sacrifice. The writer to the Hebrews beautifully describes the everlasting continuance and kingly authority of Christ’s high priesthood by the phrase “according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:20; cf. Hebrews 7:23-24). The priesthood, as handed down through the line of Aaron, was often set aside by death. The Melchizedek aspect of Christ’s priesthood portrays Christ in the perpetuity of His priestly office. “He always lives to make intercession” (Hebrews 7:25). Although the Aaronic priesthood could typify Christ’s priestly work, it was limited in portraying the full scope of His priestly ministry. The Melchizedek type supplements the Aaronic type. As “king of righteousness” and “king of . . . peace” (Hebrews 7:2; cf. Isaiah 11:4-9), Christ will in the coming Kingdom age assume both offices in His Person. The prophet Zechariah graphically sets this forth in the symbolic crowning of Joshua (Zech. 6:9-15). This significant event foreshadowed the millennial period when Messiah the Branch will “sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices” (Zech. 6:13); that is, both kingship and priesthood will be united in one Person. M.F.U. BIBLIOGRAPHY: H. H. Rowley, Festschrift für A. Bertholet, W. Baumgartner, ed. (1950), pp. 461ff.; A. R. Johnson, Sacral Kingship in Ancient Israel (1955), pp. 31-46, 120-23; O. Cullmann, The Christology of the New Testament (1959), pp. 38ff.; J. A. Fitzmyer, Essays on the Semitic Background of the New Testament (1971), pp. 221-69; B. A. Demarest, A History of the Interpretation of Hebrews 7:1-10 from the Reformation to the Present (1976); F. L. Horton, The Melchizedek Tradition (1976). |