NOW ABOUT MELCHISEDEC
Thursday – October 5, 2017
The wonder of our God really is beyond the capacity of human language to fully describe. God is so good. We are continuing our Bible Study from the wonderful Book of Hebrews and we are drilling down on the character Melchisedec, spelled Melchizedek in the Old Testament. Let’s start with our primary text in Hebrews then move to the secondary text in Genesis. As we set out to read Scripture let God know that you have chosen to have ears to hear and eyes to see and implore His help to be more and more in His image and likeness and to show His goodness to all who observe our lives.
Hebrews 5:5-10 (KJV)
5 So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
I am still dealing with the sixth verse and this king and priest of Salem, Melchisedec. As a reminder Jesus is King of kings and our High Priest. We are the kings of which Jesus Christ is the first in rank and order. Jesus Christ is the High Priest forever between us and the Father, however we are priests (not high priests) in matter concerning God and others. We are intercessors who stand in the gap for others just as Jesus stands with us in the Most Holy Place. Let’s take a look at this Melchizedek king of Salem and priest of the most high God.
Genesis 14:17-23 (KJV)
17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.
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.
21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
As you may recall Sodom and others had been attacked and the peoples and their goods taken captive including Lot, Abrams nephew. When Abram receives this news, he goes to war which he wins handily and we pick up where he is returning with the people (including Lot) and the goods. Verse eighteen above is where we find the first mention of this person named Melchizedek. Chedorlaomer and the kings with him had taken the peoples into bondage and had stolen their stuff, a type and shadow of what the Serpent did in the Garden of Eden. Along comes Abram like Jesus and sets not only the people but their stuff free. We are introduced to the information that Melchizedek is the king and priest of Salem. Salem is an early name for Jerusalem and means to be complete or whole. Salem is basically the word peace which is our wholeness in Christ Jesus which is a oneness with God. Eighteen is the number of bondage however our King and High Priest has obliterated the works of the devil for those who will receive Him as Lord and Savior and allow Him to be King and High Priest. We commemorate this with the bread and the wine (Communion).
Here is where we see some further imagery of the coming Messiah and how we will memorialize His work. As we know from the New Blood Covenant and prophesied in the Old blood Covenant, the broken bread represents the broken body of Jesus (Messiah) whose body is broken for us. The breaking of His body purchased our life (Bread of Life), our wholeness. The wine represents the shed Blood of Jesus which ratified the New Blood Covenant causing it to be eternally binding on God and all peoples who choose to enter into Covenant. As we finish out todays study lets briefly look at some of the other images present in our secondary text from Genesis. As mentioned we see the birth of the Eucharist. We see a clear description and performance of the tithe and what the tither can expect as a result of tithing. We can expect to be rich, we can expect the Blessing to be active in our lives, and we can expect to be joint-heirs with God of Heaven and earth and all those assets to work in our behalf for the glory of God. We have a choice in life to tithe or not. When we don’t tithe it is clear that we have chosen another king and priest, another god. Is that wise?
Until our next publication, I speak blessing into your life right now, receive it in the name of Jesus, confess it, and walk it out with thanksgiving.
Numbers 6:24-26 (KJV)
24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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