Who Is Melchizedek? Hebrews 7:1–10
First-century Jewish believers faced some perplexing questions concerning Christ’s high priestly ministry. Why wasn’t He called a priest while here on Earth? How could He be a legitimate high priest and how could His atoning work be efficacious if He was not from the tribe of Levi? The writer to the Hebrews reached back into the Old Testament and, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, preseGet More Articles—Subscribe Today!
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Jesus existed before Mary and Joseph. To whom is God speaking in Genesis 3:22
Shem was Melchizedek.
By Menachem Posner “Who was this Melchizedek? What sort of priest was he, and why did Abraham give him a tithe?
Response:
Taken alone, this tiny anecdote does indeed seem strange. The Torah tells us nothing else about this man and his relationship to Abraham.
The ancient Targumim (Aramaic interpretive translations) identify Melchizedek as Shem—son of Noah. Shem was one of the links in the chain who transmitted the G‑dly traditions that originated with Adam. These traditions were carefully handed down from generation to generation, and Shem—who headed an academy—was a key conductor of these teachings. The Midrash tells us that he was so perfect and so spiritually advanced that he was born circumcised.
So why did the priesthood pass from him to Abraham’s children? The Talmud explains that this happened as a result of his having blessed Abraham before blessing G‑d in the verses above. This is reflected in the only other place in Scripture where Melchizedek is mentioned: in Psalms 110:4, where we read, “. . . you are a priest forever because of the speech of Melchizedek.” Because of Melchizedek’s ill-chosen speech, the priesthood was taken from him and given to the seed of Abraham forever.” This tradition does acknowledges Shem as Melchizedek but in the whole of Psalm 110 “The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
2 The Lord will stretch out Your strong scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
3 Your people will volunteer freely on the day of Your power;
In holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn,
Your youth are to You as the dew.
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at Your right hand;
He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.
6 He will judge among the nations,
He will fill them with corpses,
He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.
7 He will drink from the brook by the wayside;
Therefore He will lift up His head.”
In the translation The Lord is from the original Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw’; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of G-d:—Jehovah, the Lord. In the Septuagint Yehovah is replaced with Kyrios: He to whom a person or thing belongs, about which He has power of deciding; master, Lord
the possessor and disposer of a thing
the owner; one who has control of the person, the master
in the state: the sovereign, prince, chief, the Roman emperor
is a title of honour expressive of respect and reverence, with which servants greet their master
this title is given to: G-d, the Messiah
So no matter who we say Melchizedek was in the end G-d is saying the Messiah will be of this order. As Abraham gave tithe to him to receive acknowledgement from him this line of priest is greater than that who descends from Abraham. They also state G-d will have a time that the Messiah “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” All of this acknowledges an entity who will be the great high priest. Hebrews 7 speaks to a promise completed and speaks to promises kept that we can rest in forever.
Assuming Melchizedek is the Holy Spirit that we are saying He (the Holy Spirit) is LIKE God and I have a problem with that. The Father is God. The Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God. I have a hard grasp that they are LIKE each other? There is ONLY ONE GOD not 3 like God’s.
I also agree,ryans comment on the identity of melchizedek as the holy spirit is 100% true
https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Order-Melchizedek-Johnson-Th-D/dp/B08KWP11G3/ref=nodl_
Fascinating read.
I believe that Ryan’s comment on the identity of Melchizedek posted above is the only one that is Biblically possible. One can explain all of his attributes i.e. “priest forever”, “Like the Son of God”
“No beginning or end” (etc) but “without mother or father” clinches it for me. Everyone mentioned in the Bible had parents except Adam. Even Jesus Christ himself had an earthly biological mother. Although I never really thought about it, Ryan is correct. For all of these references above including no lineage, there can be only one possible answer, The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. All other theories as to his identity fail except this one. This for me is a brilliant deduction on Ryan’s part and I am surprised that theologians have completely missed the mark by not even considering this possibility.
thanks thanks
You are welcome dear friend.
Jesus was Melkezidec. Before Abraham was, I AM. Jesus is the priest above all priests. Jesus is the King of peace. Abraham saw what the religious people of his day should have seen. Those religious people were defiled with the mind of Satan. They needed to be born again, to be of Abrahams seed. They were born of fornication. Muslims need to repent of Islam, for real, changing their name to Melkezidecians saying why.
If Melchizedek is not a chistophany how could he be a priest continuously? Only Christ have immortality
King of peace and king of righteousness
Who could that be besides Christ?
Melchizedek is the Holy Spirit in the flesh. The only other person who had no mother and no father is Adam. Adam was not on this earth when Abraham was alive. So the only possible person that melchizedek could actually be is the Holy Spirit
That was extremely helpful. Thank you!
“Water and bread” is interesting. Not only are both basics for sustaining life, but pure, living water was from God alone in ancient days and not processed and filter with additives, like today.
In contrast, the bread of life was made by man. This is similar to the body of Christ, the Church, which is comprised (usually of flecks of impurities, sinful persons, persons with illnesses and disabilities, vast rangers of psychological and socio-economic differences, from many races and nation, and differences of administration and theological viewpoints) but al amalgamated and baked into one whole to bring sustenance, life, and joy to all who partake.
I really got a lot out of your discussion on Melchizedek. That scripture was a great puzzlement to me. You clarified it so that I now have a better grasp on that portion of scripture. I noticed that he brought out water and bread to Abraham, which to me represents our Lord’s Supper. We will have to wait until we meet in glory and get all the answers to the questions that we have to take by faith. Thank you again for your wonderful input.
The bread and water/wine was to show a better, or Higher way. He brought out a sacrament instead of a sacrifice.