Happy Riches, answers request by anonymous
Melchizedek presents as an enigma. He appears in the book of Genesis, which is full of genealogy, without any ancestors or descendants.
The book of Hebrews says that Melchizedek “is without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest for ever” (Hebrews 7:3).
As for Jesus of Nazareth, we learn that His genealogy is from the tribe of Judah.
- Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 1:1-4)
The Bible teaches that all humans come from one man.
- The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything. And he made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation. (Acts 17:24-26)
All human beings are the progeny of Adam through their parents’ ancestry. The seed of humans comes from Adam. Women are not able to give birth to children unless the eggs they carry within their ovaries are inseminated by the seed of men. Therefore, every human being has originated, in the flesh, from Adam. The seed of every human being is in the father. However, every human being comes from Adam through the mother. The egg of the mother and the seed of the father come together to form one entity: a fertilized egg that has the potential to develop into a human being.
Most people think that this is also the case of the child to which Mary gave birth that broke the hymen of her vagina. Every other child comes into this world via water, but the Son of God’s body, came into this world with water and blood. The distinction between a child being born of water and a child being born of water and the blood is that of being fathered by a human being naturally or by another means. In the case of the baby to which Mary gave birth, no human seed fertilized her egg. The Holy Spirit initiated the fertilization, which is why the baby was born of blood as well as water. Nevertheless, once the body of the baby had been given birth, the Word of God entered the child.
- Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body hast thou prepared for me.” (Hebrews 10:5)
- This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. (1 John 5:7)
- And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. (John 1:14)
- No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known. (John 1:18)
- Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)
From what the above Scripture informs us, the Son of God did not become flesh until taking on human form as the child Jesus. The mother of the human child was Mary, the husband of Joseph, who also gave birth to Jesus’ brother, James (Galatians 1:19), as well as her other children.
- Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. (Mark 6:3)
Jesus had no human father, but since he entered the body of child given birth by Mary, He had other siblings. Melchizedek has no record of other siblings. In fact, Melchizedek is not mentioned as associated with anyone. He simply appears in chapter fourteen of Genesis and is not heard of again. In the book of Psalms there is mention of an order of Melchizedek, but not of the person by that name.
- The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” Psalm 110:4
This Melchizedek order has to have been a priesthood that had more than one priest, but we only have the one appearance of a priest in the book of Genesis. Melchizedek does not seem to have been the name of the individual but the name pertaining to the order of the priesthood. Although, there are two verses in the book of Hebrews that give the impression that Melchizedek is the actual name of the person whom Abraham tithed, rather than being a priest of the Melchizedek order. A third verse indicates that this might be the case.
- For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him; (Hebrews 7:1)
- For he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchiz′edek met him.(Hebrews 7:10)
- This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 7:15)
Other mention of Melchizedek in the book of Hebrews clearly states that this is a priesthood and not just one person.
- as he says also in another place, “Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 5:6)
- being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 5:10)
- where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:20)
The evidence is that there is an order known as Melchizedek, of which Lord Jesus Christ has been designated the High Priest. Therefore, when Abraham met up with Melchizedek King of Salem, rather than this being the name of the king, this was his title: ”The Righteous King Of Peace”. It appears there is every possibility Shem, the son of Noah, assumed this title, or may have been designated a priest of this order by God. For the evidence is Shem lived 35 years after Abraham died. [1]
- And Melchiz′edek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High (Genesis 14:18)
Abraham gave a tithe of his substance to Melchizedek. We learn that Abraham lived with Issac and Jacob. We also learn that Jacob tithed. Since Levi was yet to be born, Jacob could not have tithed to the Levite priesthood, therefore we have to conclude he tithed to the priesthood that Abraham tithed.
- By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. (Hebrews 11:9)
- Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that thou givest me I will give the tenth to thee.” (Genesis 28:20-22)
Since, God has no need of anything from man to survive, but human members of His priesthood do (Malachi 3:10), Jacob tithing to the Melchizedek priesthood at Salem makes complete sense. This being the case, Shem has a high probability of being the man with whom Abraham broke bread and shared wine. Alexander Hislop’s work The Two Babylons[2] gives a historical account of why Shem stands out as the candidate exalted to the order of Melchizedek.
Footnotes
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