Who was Melchisedec?
People want to know who Melchisedec was. Was he a real person? Was he an Old Testament appearance of Christ? Or was he a prophetic forerunner of Christ?
King of Righteousness
Melchisedec was first the King of Righteousness. That is the Hebrew tsedeq (tseh-dek), which means the righteousness. The first thing that this Melchisedec High Priest must bring to man is righteousness. This "bringing righteousness to man" must be in the sense of making man righteousness before God. Righteousness is the basis for all that follows. That is why justification, which means innocence from guilt or in other words rightness, is the doorway of the Gospel. The righteousness of God is manifest by grace and that grace is extended to us in Christ.
King of Peace
It is not until righteousness has been established that there can be peace between God and the sinner. And so Melchisedec was first the King of Righteousness; but then he was also the King of Peace. Salem means peace. Peace with God is the inevitable result of being righteous. Since man cannot establish either righteousness or peace on his own, there must be a priest, an intercessor to do it for him. Even so, being righteous before God and being at peace with God involves more than intercession by a priest. That person must be a sovereign with power, authority, and ability. Thus Melchisedec was not only the priest of the Most High God, but He was the King of Righteousness and Peace.
430 Years Before the Law Covenant
There is something that very much needs to be understood. You may resist it; you may disagree with it; it may surprise you; you may not yet understand it. But if you do not yield to this biblical truth, no matter what you have to throw out of your thinking to do so, you will never get straight the matter of Abram and the covenants. The Covenant of Promise, made in Genesis 12:3 and 7 and reaffirmed by the appearance and blessing of Melchisedec, was before the Old Covenant with the Nation of Israel. Right here is the place to see the reality of it. The New Covenant, the Eternal Covenant, the Covenant of Promise, the Covenant in Christ for the all nations of the earth, was before the Covenant for the Nation. The National Covenant, which was confirmed in the animal sacrifices in chapter 15, was established in Mount Sinai in Arabia 430 years later. It had the Levitical priesthood and it was a covenant for the nation only. An Allegory Thus, as to the literal fact of the case, it really does not matter who Melchisedec was; it is what he represented that is important. Melchisedec had no history, no tree of decent, no mother, and no father. As such, he represented Christ, the King from Heaven who also had no origin or beginning. In the beginning The Word existed. The Word was with God and The Word was God (John 1:1, 2). He also represented the Covenant of Promise in Christ that was before the Covenant of the Law with Israel in time and history. That was the testimony of Melchisedec.
Copyright: Earl Cripe
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