One of the great things that I love about my church is the inquisitiveness of our congregation. In my sermon on April 1st I mentioned that Abram's encounter with Melchizedek in Genesis 14 could have been an encounter with Jesus Christ. In fact, that's actually what I believe and here's why.
In Genesis 14 Melchizedek is described as a "priest of God Most High" but he's also introduced as the king of Salem which is important to note because of the meaning of both his name and the meaning of Salem. Before we go there let's look back at Genesis 14 real quick. It says that he is a priest and that Abraham gave him a tithe of ten percent. This is long before the tribe of Levi and eventually the priestly order that came through it. At this point in history there is no Levitical Law to tell people to tithe. Melchizedek surpasses all of that!
While that's not enough evidence on its own to indicate that Melchizedek is an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament so consider this. In Psalm 110 David is clearly speaking of the Messiah when he says, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." Did you catch that? Genesis describes Melchizedek as a priest of God Most High and then David says that Jesus is a priest forever!
Now, consider this. To my knowledge the only other place in the Bible to talk about Melchizedek is the book of Hebrews. In chapter seven we are told that the name Melchizedek actually means King of Righteousness and that king of Salem means King of Peace. There is no other King of Righteousness or King of Peace above Jesus Christ. He is the King of Kings!
Then the author of Hebrews goes on to say that Melchizedek is without origin. No beginning or end, no mother or father and without beginning of life or end of days. He then goes on to say that he is a priest forever (the exact same phrase David attributes to Jesus) resembling the Son of God.
How could Melchizedek be anyone other than Jesus?
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