eChurch Blog

I love this series of posts from the Rosh Pina Project written by Levitt, a Messianic Levite, sharing his thoughts on the priesthood:

Melchizedek as a type of Moshiach

As a descendant from the priestly tribe of Israel, I find the person of Melchizedek fascinating, I can understand why people think of him as mythological, but I don’t see him as a half-truth or fictious person. I see him as real person who was a forerunner for Moshiach. The first mention of him in scripture is in Bereshit (Genesis 14:18):

v18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. v19 And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; v20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.

The writer in Bereshit is short and sweet on the description of Melchizedek. Just three verses! The writer of Hebrews gives us more tantalising clues:

Hebrews 7:1 For this Melchizedek, King of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, v2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” v3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

There are some striking similarities between Melchizedek and Yeshua HaMoshiach. Here are some observations.

Firstly in Hebrews 7:1 and Bereshit 14:18 Melchizedek is shown to be a priest-king, that is, he was both priest and king. He was King of Salem, and Priest of the Most High God.  Melchizedek means King of  righteousness, and Salem means peace. This is interesting as these two descriptions are used in Isaiah 9:6-7 to describe Moshiach; “Prince of Peace” and “To order it and establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever.”. Those of us who believe in Yeshua HaMoshiach believe he is righteous, attributing righteousness to us. Further He will establish a Kingdom of peace and give us peace with God.

Secondly, Melchizedek blessed Abraham (Bereshit 14:19; Hebrews 7:1). Likewise, we who believe in Yeshua as a Priest of the Most High God receive spiritual blessing from Him.

Thirdly, Abraham offered a tithe to Melchizedek (Bereshit 14:20; Hebrews 7:2).  The giving of tithes by Abraham is an acknowledgement of submission to a superior. Those of us who believe in Yeshua as the Priest of the order of Melchizedek recognise and acknowledge the superiority of Yeshua’s Priesthood over the previous Levitical Priesthood.

Fourthly, Melchizedek’s priesthood had no beginning or end. In Bereshit there is no mention of Melchizedek’s genealogy. The writer of Hebrews continues this theme in v3 writing that he had no mother, or father, with no beginning or end. The Priesthood of Melchizedek was not based on ancestral claim, unlike the Levitical Priesthood which was of the Aaronic and Levitical descent. The Melchizedek priesthood is timeless, without beginning or end. Those of us who believe in Yeshua HaMoshiach accept that His Priesthood had no ancestry and that he was not descended from an Aaronic or Levitical line, and that His Priesthood is eternal from ever lasting to ever lasting.

Fifthly, it should be noted that Levitical Priesthood only ministered to the nation of Israel, the Jewish people. The Melchizedek priesthood ministered to those who were outside of Israel, as Abraham existed before Israel. Those of us who believe in Yeshua HaMoshiach accept that His Priesthood is universal to all who will accept Him, and not just national.

Interestingly, Melchizedek brought bread and wine. Unleavened bread and wine are the components Yeshua took on the night of Pesach before his crucifixion, and associated with His Body and Blood. Those of us who believe in Yeshua HaMoshiach accept Him as Priest and as the sacrificial lamb of Passover (Korban Pesach) represented in the communion by bread and wine. In His death he overcame all our enemies, the Serpent of old was overthrown.

To conclude there are striking similarities between the Priesthood of Melchizedek and the Priesthood of Yeshua HaMoshiach. Yeshua HaMoshiach brings us a universal, eternal, superior Priesthood. But how much more amazing is the Priesthood of Yeshua HaMoshiach, is to find that the Priest was also the Korban Pesach cleansing us of our sin once and for all and giving us righteousness and peace with God forever and ever!

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Tags: Theology Doctrine Philosophy

This entry was posted on Friday, March 19th, 2010 at 2:43 pm and is filed under Webmaster's Ramblings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.