Table of Contents
Melchizedek Details
We are going to dig deeper than ever before in this article!
"The promises made to Abraham and confirmed to his son were held by Isaac and Rebekah as the great object of their desires and hopes. With these promises Esau and Jacob were familiar. They
were taught to regard the birthright as a matter of great importance, for it included not only an inheritance of worldly wealth but spiritual pre-eminence. He who received it was to be the priest of his family, and in the line of his posterity the Redeemer of the world would come. On the other hand, there were obligations resting upon the possessor of the birthright. He who should inherit its blessings must devote his life to the service of God. Like Abraham, he must be obedient to the divine requirements. In marriage, in his family relations, in public life, he must consult the will of God."
Patriarchs And Prophets, by Ellen G. White, pages 177, 178
Here, we can easily see that the “birthright” was understood by everyone to be the same thing as being a “Melchizedek Priest” as long as the former one had already died. In the Old Testament times, there could only be one Melchizedek Priest on Earth at any moment!
Another Resource: Patriarchs And Prophets
The Melchizedek Priest was also to stand as an “intercessor” for everyone else, being a “type of Christ”! This is why there was a physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit as the King and Priest of Salem to whom Abraham paid tithes! Nobody was interested in being the Melchizedek priest then, so the Holy Spirit needed to fill that position! (See Melchizedek Deeper Dive!) Abraham’s original home was with the Chaldeans (equivalent to warlocks and witches of today)! So when God called Abraham, he was not that special. Why God chose Abraham is not clear, except that God loved him! And God seems to specialize in “hopeless cases”!
But after Jesus came, He called His disciples, and all of His followers, to be “kings and priests” (1 Peter 2:1-10) in the Melchizedek Order (also see Hebrews 5-7)! This includes all of the women, as proven by the story of Mary Magdalene, the only person recorded in history to have “delayed God” (Jesus) because of her loving relationship with Him! Jesus cared enough for Mary to wait and comfort her before ascending to God the Father to ensure His sacrifice was accepted.
We are fairly sure that both Marys (Mary Magdalene and the mother of Jesus) were in the room when the first Pentecost occurred and may have been there the second time, too! The Bible says, “They were all in one accord,” so I’m sure they also received a considerable measure of the Holy Spirit and did their part in evangelizing! This means the Holy Spirit accepted their ministry as Priestesses in the Melchizedek Order!
Who Is Qualified for the Melchizedek Order?
So, what can we say about the qualifications for being a priest or priestess in the Melchizedek Order? First, we know from the story of both Mary’s that they were willing to die for their Master! That much should be evident to even a casual Bible reader. Spreading the Gospel was everyone’s first priority in the upper room, where the Holy Spirit was poured out twice!
Again, from 1 Peter 2:1-10, it is clear that ALL Christians are called to be members of the Melchizedek Order! So, are we doing our job?
What Is Our Job Description?
It is the same as Jesus’ job description! Jesus is the high priest of the Melchizedek Order. Jesus currently intercedes with the Father on our behalf for the forgiveness of our sins. We are not gods, so we can’t do it with the same authority, but we can pray for those around us! We can try to love them like God loves them. And we can cooperate with God to help draw them into a closer relationship with Him!
It is a privilege to be called “sons and daughters of God” with Jesus as our “Older Brother” and to be called priests/priestesses and kings/queens of the Melchizedek Order! There is no higher honor than this that God could bestow upon us! Do we value this gift? Enough to study the details of the Melchizedek Message?
As I’ve said, there are only 11 direct references to the word “Melchizedek” in both the Old and New Testaments. But when you distill the ideas within those references and include references that refer to the same ideas, the list of references to the Melchizedek Message becomes gigantic! This is just like finding a “buried treasure” long forgotten!
"18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
20
And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything."
Genesis 14:18-20 KJV Reference #1
Ideas For Reference #1:
- God Is Most High
- God is The Creator
- God Defends Us
Are you beginning to get the picture? How much is included in the Melchizedek Message?
"1 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
2 The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
4 The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
5 The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
6 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
7 He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head."
Psalms 110:1-7 KJV Reference #2 (See also The Great Mercy Of God!)
Ideas For Reference #2:
- The Father will make the enemies of Jesus “His Footstool.”
- Jesus will rule amid His enemies!
- Jesus’ followers will fight for Him bravely and willingly in the last days!
- As a promise to Jesus’ followers, the Father says Jesus is our high priest of the Melchizedek Order forever!
- The Father will kill the evil rulers. He will judge them. He will fill the earth with dead bodies.
- He will act swiftly and without delay in judgment.
"1 For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
2 Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
3 And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
4 And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.
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."
Hebrews 5:1-6 KJV Reference #3
In this case, the KJV is not very clear. So I’m including The Message Bible paraphrase version here:
"1-3 Every high priest selected to represent men and women before God and offer sacrifices for their sins should be able to deal gently with their failings, since he knows what it’s like from his own experience. But that also means that he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as the peoples’.
4-6 No one elects himself to this honored position. He’s called to it by God, as Aaron was. Neither did Christ presume to set himself up as high priest, but was set apart by the One who said to him, “You’re my Son; today I celebrate you!” In another place God declares, “You’re a priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek.”"
Hebrews 5:1-6 MSG Reference #3
Ideas For Reference #3:
- We need to sacrifice ourselves daily as we minister to others!
- We need to be kind and understanding with everyone!
- A Melchizedek Priest/Priestess is always called by God, Never positioned by themselves or by others!
- The Melchizedek Order is a Royal Order!
- Being a Melchizedek Priest/Priestess is a huge responsibility!
"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."
Hebrews 5:7-10 KJV Reference #4 (See also Faith AND Works Simplified)
"7-10 While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though he was God’s Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do. Then, having arrived at the full stature of his maturity and having been announced by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who believingly obey him."
Hebrews 5:7-10 MSG Reference #4
Ideas For Reference #4:
- Jesus Is Our Example!
- He was committed to His Father’s will regardless of the pain and suffering!
- Jesus learned obedience by the things He suffered!
- When we choose to obey God, then despite our lack of perfection, we become partakers in the Melchizedek Priesthood!
- Jesus is the Source of Salvation for those who love and obey Him!
"9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."
Hebrews 6:9-20 KJV Reference #5
9-12 I’m sure that won’t happen to you, friends. I have better things in mind for you—salvation things! God doesn’t miss anything. He knows perfectly well all the love you’ve shown him by helping needy Christians, and that you keep at it. And now I want each of you to extend that same intensity toward a full-bodied hope, and keep at it till the finish. Don’t drag your feet. Be like those who stay the course with committed faith and then get everything promised to them.
God Gave His Word
13-18 When God made his promise to Abraham, he backed it all the way, putting his own reputation on the line. He said, “I promise that I’ll bless you with everything I have—bless and bless and bless!” Abraham stuck it out and got everything that had been promised to him. When people make promises, they guarantee them by appeal to some authority above them so that if there is any question that they’ll make good on the promise, the authority will back them up. When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee—God can’t break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable.
18-20 We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:9-20 MSG Reference #5
Ideas For Reference #5:
- Jesus Is Our Example!
- Jesus Is A Practical and Followable Example!
- Jesus Is Already In God’s Presence, Making Sure To Help Us Succeed In Following His Example!
- His Righteousness Covers Our Sins!
"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."
Hebrews 7:1-7 KJV Reference #6
"1-3 Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of the Highest God. He met Abraham, who was returning from “the royal massacre,” and gave him his blessing. Abraham in turn gave him a tenth of the spoils. “Melchizedek” means “King of Righteousness.” “Salem” means “Peace.” So, he is also “King of Peace.” Melchizedek towers out of the past—without record of family ties, no account of beginning or end. In this way he is like the Son of God, one huge priestly presence dominating the landscape always.
4-7 You realize just how great Melchizedek is when you see that Father Abraham gave him a tenth of the captured treasure. Priests descended from Levi are commanded by law to collect tithes from the people, even though they are all more or less equals, priests and people, having a common father in Abraham. But this man, a complete outsider, collected tithes from Abraham and blessed him, the one to whom the promises had been given. In acts of blessing, the lesser is blessed by the greater."
Hebrews 7:1-7 MSG Reference #6
Ideas For Reference #6:
- Melchizedek, King of Salem, was like Jesus but without ancestors!
- Melchizedek, King of Salem, had to be part of the Godhead, but was NOT Jesus! (See Melchizedek Deeper Dive!)
- The Blesser Is Always Greater!
"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 7:8-10 KJV Reference #7
"8-10 Or look at it this way: We pay our tithes to priests who die, but Abraham paid tithes to a priest who, the Scripture says, “lives.” Ultimately you could even say that since Levi descended from Abraham, who paid tithes to Melchizedek, when we pay tithes to the priestly tribe of Levi they end up with Melchizedek."
Hebrews 7:8-10 MSG Reference #7
Ideas For Reference #7:
- We pay tithes to mortal, sinful people
- Melchizedek lives forever!
- We really pay our tithes to God!
11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
13 For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood."
Hebrews 7:11-14 KJV Reference #8
11-14 If the priesthood of Levi and Aaron, which provided the framework for the giving of the law, could really make people perfect, there wouldn’t have been need for a new priesthood like that of Melchizedek. But since it didn’t get the job done, there was a change of priesthood, which brought with it a radical new kind of law. There is no way of understanding this in terms of the old Levitical priesthood, which is why there is nothing in Jesus’ family tree connecting him with that priestly line."
Hebrews 7:11-14 MSG Reference #8
Ideas For Reference #8:
- We needed a better priesthood, the Order of Melchizedek!
- The Law cannot make anyone perfect!
- Jesus was NOT a Levite
15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
17 For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God."
Hebrews 7:15-19 KJV References #9 and #10 The words "law" and "commandment" are referring to the ceremonial law, written by Moses, which is why they are called "carnal" or "man's creation".
"15-19 But the Melchizedek story provides a perfect analogy: Jesus, a priest like Melchizedek, not by genealogical descent but by the sheer force of resurrection life—he lives!—“priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek.” The former way of doing things, a system of commandments that never worked out the way it was supposed to, was set aside; the law brought nothing to maturity. Another way—Jesus!—a way that does work, that brings us right into the presence of God, is put in its place."
Hebrews 7:15-19 MSG References #9 and #10 Please note that I don't agree with this particular translation! The law was never "set aside", but was given a new place - our hearts! In the KJV it says "carnal commendment" which I believe refers to the 613 laws, not the 10.
Ideas For References #9 and #10:
- Jesus became our Melchizedek High Priest!
- He replaced the Aaronic and Levitical Priesthood!
- The Ceremonial Law doesn’t work.
- We have a better hope in Jesus!
"20 And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:
21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
23 And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:
24 But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
28 For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore."
Hebrews 7:20-28 KJV Reference #11
"20-22 The old priesthood of Aaron perpetuated itself automatically, father to son, without explicit confirmation by God. But then God intervened and called this new, permanent priesthood into being with an added promise:
God gave his word;
he won’t take it back:
“You’re the permanent (Melchizedek) priest.”
This makes Jesus the guarantee of a far better way between us and God—one that really works! A new covenant.
23-25 Earlier there were a lot of priests, for they died and had to be replaced. But Jesus’ priesthood is permanent. He’s there from now to eternity to save everyone who comes to God through him, always on the job to speak up for them.
26-28 So now we have a high priest who perfectly fits our needs: completely holy, uncompromised by sin, with authority extending as high as God’s presence in heaven itself. Unlike the other high priests, he doesn’t have to offer sacrifices for his own sins every day before he can get around to us and our sins. He’s done it, once and for all: offered up himself as the sacrifice. The law appoints as high priests men who are never able to get the job done right. But this intervening command of God, which came later, appoints the Son, who is absolutely, eternally perfect."
Hebrews 7:20-28 MSG Reference #11 Please note that the author of this translation forgot to put in the word Melchizedek where it belongs.
Ideas For Reference #11:
- Levites were priests by birth, not by oath.
- The oath of the Father made Jesus The Melchizedek High Priest!
- Jesus has an eternal and unchanging Priesthood!
- Jesus makes intercession for us to cleanse our character, and He can do this for anyone!
- The Ceremonial law (not the 10 Commandments) makes sinful men high priests by birth.
- But the Father, by His oath, makes Jesus the Melchizedek High Priest forever!
Please notice that the 613 laws began with the Ceremonial Law, written by Moses, and were added to by the Pharisees. The context of Hebrews 7:28 (KJV) tells you that the 613 laws are being referenced, not the Ten Commandments! And I’m sure the same is true for the other mentions of the “law” in the rest of Hebrews 7!
OK! We’ve completed the elementary outline! As you can see, this is just a taste of the treasures in God’s Word! There’s far more to discover! My next article, “More Melchizedek Details,” will begin to explore related Bible references. Although it will be much longer, it will still only begin to scratch the surface! Happy digging!
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