WAS THE LOGOS MELCHIZEDEK?
What does melchizedek mean?
It can be broken into two parts, with "melchi" means king,
and "zedek" meaning justice or righteousness.
There has been a lot of
confusion over the meaning of the seventh chapter of Hebrews. The
recent position of most of the Churches of God has been that the Logos
was Melchizedek before his human incarnation as Jesus in the first
century A.D. A close examination of this Scripture is necessary to
understand what the author of Hebrews was really trying to say.
The overall purpose of
Hebrews 7 is to explain that for Jewish Christians, the Levitical
priesthood had been superseded. To illustrate the transition of the
priesthood from the Levites to Yeshua the Messiah, the writer uses
Melchizedek, priest of God in the Old Testament, to typify Christ's new
position as High Priest.
In the book of Genesis all
we know of him is told in three short, very simple verses, wherein is
related the story of Abram's encounter with Melchizedek, king of Salem,
and "the priest of the Most High God." In the Genesis story
Melchizedek is a strange and mysterious figure. He flashes across the
scene like a meteor. There is no heralding his appearance, nor any
mention of its results. He arrives out of the blue; there is no account
of his family; there is nothing about his birth, his descent, his life,
his work, or his death. He simply arrives. We learn only that he was
king of Salem and priest of the Most High God. The priest blessed the
patriarch Abram, and blessed the Most High God. and received from Abram
a tithe of all the spoils of battle. Then he vanished from the stage of
history with the same unexplained suddenness as he arrived upon it. He
was not forgotten, however, for this fascinating individual is referred
to nearly a thousand years later by King David (Ps. 110:4) and one
thousand years later than that by the writer of the Epistle to the
Hebrews, where he is mentioned by name no less than nine times!
In the events that lead up
to this visit from Melchizedek, Abraham's brother Lot is taken captive
by four kings (Gen 14:11). Abraham then attacks them and recovers Lot,
his family, and his possessions (Gen 14:14-16).
The first biblical
reference we find to Melchizedek is in Genesis 14:18-20.
GENESIS 14:18 Then
Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: 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 a tithes of all.
(KJV-Original)
Genesis 14:18 And
Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he
was the priest of the most high God. (KJV-Original)
Nelson's New
Illustrated Bible Dictionary says the
following about Melchizedek:
A king of Salem
(Jerusalem) and priest of the Most High God (Gen. 14:18-20; Ps.
110:4; Heb. 5:6-11; 6:20-7:28). Melchizedek's appearance and
disappearance in the Book of Genesis are somewhat mysterious.
Melchizedek and Abraham first met after Abraham's defeat of
Chedorlaomer and his three allies. Melchizedek presented bread and
wine to Abraham and his weary men, demonstrating friendship and
religious kinship. He bestowed a blessing on Abraham in the name of
El Elyon ("God Most High"), and praised God for giving
Abraham a victory in battle (Gen. 14:18-20).
Abraham presented
Melchizedek with a tithe (a tenth) of all the booty he had gathered.
By this act Abraham indicated that he recognized Melchizedek as a
fellow-worshiper of the one true God as well as a priest who ranked
higher spiritually than himself. Melchizedek's existence shows that
there were people other than Abraham and his family who served the
true God.
In Psalm 110, a
messianic psalm written by David (Matt. 22:43), Melchizedek is seen
as a type of Christ. This theme is repeated in the Book of Hebrews,
where both Melchizedek and Christ are considered kings of
righteousness and peace. By citing Melchizedek and his unique
priesthood as a type, the writer shows that Christ's new priesthood
is superior to the old Levitical order and the priesthood of Aaron
(Heb. 7:1-10; Melchisedec, KJV). Attempts have been made to identify
Melchizedek as . . . an angel, the Holy Spirit,
Christ, and others. All are the products of speculation, not
historical fact; and it is impossible to reconcile them with the
theological argument of Hebrews. Melchizedek was a real, historical
king-priest who served as a type for the greater King-Priest who was
to come, Jesus Christ (p. 819).
The caves where the Dead
Sea Scrolls were found yielded a series of thirteen fragments on
Melchizedek. From these, it appears the belief that Melchizedek was the
Messiah was a strongly held conviction among the Qumran community, as
well as among some other Jewish and Gnostic sects in the first century
A.D.
Some branches of the Church
of God have also held this view. They have used the depiction of
Melchizedek in Hebrews 7 not only to connect him to Christ but also as
support for the co-eternality of Christ with God the Father in the
Binitarian model of the Godhead.
In Hebrews 6:20 we find the
premise of chapter 7 established, which is that Jesus Christ is now our
High Priest in heaven. As such, he is of the order of Melchizedek,
which is contrasted with the Levitical priesthood.
The writer to the Hebrews
indicates the Priest(s) of order of Melchizedek were to last forever,
that the system of priests through the tribe of Levi would eventually
come to an end.
The issue at hand in this
passage is priesthood. We today can hardly understand the importance of
this office to the Jewish people for whom the book of Hebrews is
written. Based on Old Testament teaching, these people were raised with
firm convictions that a priest was absolutely necessary in their
relationship with God. The priest was a go-between or an intercessor
between man and God. Such a person was necessary because of the
Holiness of God. Holiness means God is totally separate from fallen man
and, in a real sense, unapproachable. For this reason, God ordained
that certain men who were ritually cleansed in a special way should
approach him on behalf of the people. These men were chosen by God for
the office. They would give sacrifice to God which symbolically atoned,
or paid for the people's sins. We see this principle at work very early
in the story of Job (42:7-9).
When God established His
covenant with the Jews at Sinai, he chose one family to act as priests.
This family was the family of Aaron and in addition, Aaron's tribe, the
Levites. The book of Leviticus is written to instruct the "levitical"
priests on how to perform their service. One example of their service
is the day of atonement. On this day, among other things, the priest in
charge would give an animal sacrifice for the forgiveness of the
people's sins. He then would take some blood (a symbol of death) from
the sacrifice and enter the small cubicle where God dwelt in a special
way. There he would display the blood symbolically to God(1) thus
demonstrating that the sacrifice had been given--a life had ended,
implying that the wages of sin (death) had been paid. (See Leviticus
17:10) Only the high priest could come into this cubicle in the temple.
If any one else came in, he would be struck dead. This rule was so
steadfast that, according to later tradition, a rope was tied around
the priest's ankle so that, if he collapsed or died while in the
cubicle, he could be pulled out by rope rather than have someone else
go in for him.
You can see how this
demonstrates the un-approachability of God. At the same time, it shows
the definite need for a priest to represent us as sinners before God.
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