Genesis 14

Psalm 110

Hebrews 7



"The Order of Melchizedek"



Read Heb 6:13-7:10



Why should you care that Jesus was a priest according to the order of Melchizedek?

Because you need a priest that does not die.

The Levitical priesthood was good,

but the Levitical priests kept dying off.

Every generation there was a new high priest.

You need a priest who lives forever.



In other words, you need a priest who is a Son of God.



This is the central message of the Book of Hebrews.

In Jesus Christ, we see that the Son of God

has become the merciful and faithful High Priest.

Hebrews began with a ringing statement of the superiority of the Son

over the angels and over Moses.

In chapter 1 we heard that he is the radiance of the glory of God and the stamp of his nature.

He is the eternal Son of God.

He is also the eschatological Son of God.

He was Son from all eternity,

but he has also inherited the name of Son,

through his ascension to the right hand of the Father.

And as the eschatological Son he sits on the throne of his father, David,

at the right hand of God the Father,

ruling over all things.

Then chapter two explained that this eschatological Son

is not only the king who rules over all things,

but is also the merciful and faithful high priest

who makes propitiation for the sins of the people.

And in chapters 3-5 that statement was fleshed out,

as we saw that Jesus is faithful like Moses,

but also greater than Moses-

because Moses was faithful as a servant in the house,

but Jesus is faithful as a Son over the house.

Jesus is also a merciful high priest like Aaron,

but greater than Aaron-

because Aaron had to offer sacrifices for his own sins,

but Jesus was tempted in every way like us, yet without sin.



5:8-10 set forth the theme for the rest of the book

(Read)



That last statement tantalized us.

Why Melchizedek?

But before explaining this,

Hebrews exhorted us against the dangers of apostasy.

The exhortations of chapters 6 and 10 bracket the central section of Hebrews.

There are those who partake of the blessings of the covenant

only partially and temporarily.

But as we saw last time, God's elect will never falter,

because he has confirmed the "unchangeable character of his purpose"

by his promise and his oath, so that "we who have fled for refuge

might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us."



And chapter six concludes with another tantalizing reference to the order of Melchizedek.



Now we are ready to see what this order is.



Here in chapters 7-10 Hebrews sets forth the central theme of the book.

Jesus, the Son of God, has brought about

a new priesthood, a new covenant, and a new sacrifice-

but not just a new priesthood, covenant and sacrifice-

but a better priesthood, a better covenant, and a better sacrifice.



In Hebrews 6:13-20 the focus was on God's promise and oath-

especially the oath that God swore to Abraham in Genesis 22,

after Abraham had believed God and offered his son Isaac on Mt Moriah.

Not only has God promised to bless Abraham-and bless the nations through Abraham-

but now God has sworn it by an oath.



And in Jesus God has brought to pass what he swore to Abraham.



But now Hebrews moves back to Genesis 14.

Having tantalized us for the second time regarding Melchizedek,

Hebrews finally explains how Melchizedek relates to his message.



He had cited the first part of Psalm 110 back in chapter 1-

"Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"--

but in chapter 5 he had introduced Psalm 110:4 which refers to the

"order of Melchizedek."

Psalm 110 is a fascinating song.

If it weren't for Psalm 110, Genesis 14 might have stood simply

as a somewhat strange episode in the life of Abraham.



Lot, Abram's nephew, was taken captive by Chedorlaomer,

and Abram came to his rescue.

And when Abram returned, the king of Sodom came to meet him,

and with him came this enigmatic figure, Melchizedek,

the king of Salem, and a priest of God Most High.

And Melchizedek brought bread and wine-for a covenant meal-

and blessed Abram, saying

"Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;

and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand."



Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, disappears from the scene as quickly as he appeared,

and except for a reference to an "Adoni-Zedek" king of Jerusalem in Joshua 10,

(Melchizedek means King of Righteousness,

while Adoni-zedek means Lord of Righteousness)

there is no further trace of Melchizedek until you get to Psalm 110.



Psalm 110 speaks of the kingly rule of the Son of David.

Some thought that since the OT so clearly separates

the office of king from the office of priest

that Psalm 110 must refer to two different figures-

the royal king and his faithful high priest

(like king David and Zadok the high priest--or like Zerubbabel

the Davidic governor and Joshua the high priest after the Exile).

But Psalm 110 does not speak of the Aaronic priesthood.

It speaks of a king who will also be a priest after the order of Melchizedek,

and Melchizedek was both King of Salem and a priest of God Most High.

David saw with the eyes of faith, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that Melchizedek

signaled the future of his own line.

This obscure event in the life of Abraham reveals God's plan for the salvation of the human race.

There must be a priestly king who never dies.



This is the point of Hebrews 7:1-10.



Verses 1 and 10 both speak of the meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, with a chiasm in between:

meeting (1a)

Blessing (1b)

Tithe (2)

The resemblance between Melchizedek and the Son of God (3)

The following verses explain these things in greater detail, but in reverse order:

Tithe (4-5)

Blessing (6-7)-including the superiority of Melchizedek to Levi

Meeting (10)



While the focus is on Genesis 14 here, do not forget about Psalm 110!



1. Melchizedek...remains a priest" (7:1-3)

Hebrews 7:1-3 is all one sentence in Greek.

The sentence is "For this Melchizedek...continues a priest forever."

The first words of verse one and the last words of verse three are the main sentence.

Everything else is modifying "Melchizedek."



Verses 1-2 simply remind us of the key points in the story.

Melchizedek met Abraham and blessed him,

and Abraham gave a tithe to Melchizedek.

Hebrews also reminds us that Melchizedek's name means "king of righteousness,"

and that his title (king of Salem) means "king of peace."



Verse three then highlights the most important point:

"Without father, without mother, without genealogy,

having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God,

he continues a priest forever."



Second Temple Judaism gave Melchizedek a high place.

One of the Dead Sea Scrolls 11QMelch portrays Melchizedek as a heavenly figure

who executes eschatological judgment upon Belial and his evil spirits.

The year of the final judgment was called the Year of Melchizedek

But there was no association of M. with the priesthood.

Philo also speaks of M, but does not connect him with a non-levitical priesthood.

Some rabbis argued that M was considered unworthy as a priest,

and so the priesthood was transferred to Abraham in Gen. 14.

In this respect the blessing of Abraham was seen as the end of M's priesthood.



Hebrews does not appear to have any interest in all this speculation.

He stays firmly rooted in the historical narrative of Genesis 14,

with the commentary of Psalm 110 in the background.



The church has not lacked in speculation regarding Melchizedek either!

Some have thought that this means that Melchizedek was never born and never died.

But that is not what the terms "fatherless" or "motherless" mean.

A person is called "fatherless" in Greek, when his father is unknown.

We have a similar usage in English.

We say, "poor motherless child" when referring to an orphan.

The point is that in the book of Genesis, everyone fits into the story somewhere.

The genealogies in Genesis 10 tell you where everyone fits-

everyone except Melchizedek.

Melchizedek comes out of nowhere and disappears whence he came.

Who was this "priest of God Most High" who ruled in Salem?

We don't know.

But there is another reason to point out that he is without genealogy.

In Israel, how did you become a priest?

Did you go to seminary and study theology?

Did the king simply appoint his best friends?

No.

You became a priest because you were born a priest.

It was all about genealogy.

If you were descended from Aaron, then you would be a priest.

So the fact that Melchizedek has no genealogy gives him a unique status.

In fact the very phrase "order of Melchizedek" is somewhat ironic,

given the fact that the "order of Melchizedek" is an order of one.



But that's the point!



The order of Melchizedek, by its very nature, can have only one member.

Because a priest in the order of Melchizedek can have no priestly genealogy.

If your son becomes a priest after you, then you are not in the order of Melchizedek!

This is especially poignant because the word translated "forever" (you are a priest forever)

is a dynastic word, suggesting an uninterrupted lineage

(Your priesthood will continue without interruption).



Some have suggested that Melchizedek was a theophany-

or that he was a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God.



But verse 3 does not lend itself at all to that view.

It says that he "resembles" the Son of God.

And more importantly, it says how he resembles the Son of God:

his priesthood has no end.

But note how Hebrews sets this up.

He doesn't say that Jesus resembles Melchizedek!

No.

Melchizedek resembles Jesus.

You can only fully understand what Melchizedek is doing in Genesis 14

after you have seen the Son of God revealed in his full glory in Jesus.





So with our great high priest, Jesus, the Son of God, in view,

we are prepared to understand Genesis 14 better.



2. The Tithe and the Blessing (7:4-10)

Now Hebrews turns to look more closely at the tithe and the blessing in Genesis 14,

in order to establish the superiority of Melchizedek to Levi.



Abraham the patriarch is the greatest man of the OT,

the father of nations and the heir of the promises.

But Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek.

Therefore Melchizedek must be greater than Abraham.

Likewise the Levitical priests were honorable and they received tithes from all Israel,

demonstrating their exalted status.

But while the Levites were exalted above their brothers in receiving the tithes from them,

nonetheless the Levites themselves paid tithes to Melchizedek

through their father, Abraham.



Not only that, but Melchizedek blessed Abraham.

And without dispute, the lesser is blessed by the greater.

Abraham had received the promises of God.

No one in all of the history of the OT was more favored by God than Abraham.

But Melchizedek blessed Abraham,

thereby demonstrating that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham.



Why does Hebrews say that M was superior to A?

Not on account of the promise-that was given to Abraham.

Nor on account of the covenant-that too was made with Abraham.

No, we must stick to the point.

M is superior to A simply and solely with respect to the priesthood.

Abraham is the father of the Levitical priesthood,

but the Levitical priesthood pays tithes to Melchizedek,

thereby demonstrating the superiority of the Melchizedekian priesthood.



In short, Hebrews is saying that if you read Genesis 14 in the light of Psalm 110,

you get the surprising result that the Levitical priesthood must be replaced.



Why do I say surprising?

Because God made a covenant with Phineas, the grandson of Aaron,

saying that he would grant to his descendants a perpetual priesthood

(Num 25:12-13),

the same word that he used when he told David that he would

"establish his throne forever."



Both are perpetual/eternal covenants.

Both use the same word-"olam" which means "forever" or "a long time."

Why is the covenant with Phineas temporary, but the covenant with David eternal?

Or to ask it another way,

why was the Messiah from the tribe of Judah, but not from the tribe of Levi?



Because long before the covenant was made with Phineas,

back in the days of Abraham,

God had revealed a priesthood that was greater

than any that would come from Abraham.

In order for the final sacrifice to truly remove the sins of his people,

the sacrifice must have the power of an indestructible life.

In other words,

only the Creator could be the Redeemer.



Conclusion



There are some incidental things we learn in this passage.

One is the significance of "blessings."

I used to be fairly indiscriminate in my use of blessings.

I would even bless my father.

Now I wait for him to bless me, and then I respond accordingly.

Now the only time I bless him first is when I stand here

and bless him as a part of the congregation.

It is a part of my calling as your pastor to bless you.

This is more than a prayer.

I am not simply asking God to bless you,

I am declaring God's blessing upon you.

I would encourage you parents to consider the biblical teaching on blessing,

and use that language in your blessing of your children.

There are some things that should be reserved for a unique blessing

for special occasions (think of Jacob's blessing of his sons),

but as you bless your children with their daily bread,

consider your role as their superior.



We also learn that the principle of tithing goes far deeper than the Mosaic law.

It's exact application to the modern day is not in view in this passage,

but the point is that if we belong to Christ,

then all that we have belongs to him,

and we should devote a portion of our income to him.



But both tithing and blessing are spoken of in a way that draws our attention beyond themselves

to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Melchizedek, after all, is superior to Abraham and Levi

only because he resembles Jesus.

He resembles the Son of God.

And he resembles the Son of God precisely because he has neither

beginning of days nor end of life.



Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, and sits now at the right hand of the Father.

He has offered that perfect sacrifice that has removed our sin and brought us near to God.