Genesis 14:18-20 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread
and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) (19) And he blessed him and said,
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; (20) and
blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!" And
Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Melchizedek is one of the most mysterious characters in all of Scripture.
We know very little about him, and yet he is held in high regard. When it comes
to passages and characters such as these, we need to submit ourselves to the
sovereign knowledge, wisdom, purposes and plans of God. We need to remember that
the book of Genesis, is just that, a book about beginnings. The beginning of
creation, of mankind, of the Gospel and of the means and ways through which God
will work all things so as to bring this Gospel to pass. Melchizedek appears at
this point in accordance to the sovereign purposes of God. He appears to
establish another priestly line, apart from the Levitical priesthood. He also
appears so as to show that this priestly line is superior, this is made clear by
the fact that Abram “tithes” to Melchizedek, which as we learn later in the New
Testament, Hebrews 7, is a symbol that demonstrates this superiority. All this
is done in preparation for the coming of Jesus some 2000 years later. Jesus we
are told comes in the line, the priestly line of Melchizedek, for Jesus like
Melchizedek is not just a priest but is also a king. As a result of this Jesus
is the great high priest, who can do a work that no other priest could do, offer
up his life as a once for all offering for sin. In doing this Jesus fulfils all
the promises, covenants and prophecies made about him, for they spoke of a King
who would reign forever, but also of a Priest, who would make a great atonement
for sin and of a Prophet who would reveal God to us in the fullest manner. Jesus
is all three.
Our many questions with regard to Melchizedek are never answered, he
remains shrouded in mystery. When we come to such passages, events and people,
our role is not to try and answer all the questions, but to rather in faith
accept the fact that we cannot understand all the ways of God. As Moses would
later say in Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the LORD
our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children
forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” We may not
understand Melchizedek, but we should thank God that He has worked through human
history so as to bring about a salvation that is perfect in every manner and is
therefore able to save us completely and eternally. We should also realise that
as finite humans, we will never be able to fully understand God and His ways.
God is infinitely higher and wiser than us, and that is exactly the way it
should be. Melchizedek may be mysterious to us, but he is not mysterious to God,
God know for what reasons he established Melchizedek as a priest and king and it
was God who purposed that Abram and Melchizedek should meet. It is all a part of
God’s will and work, which has led to a great salvation for us and glory to His
name.
Sovereign Father, You are higher than the highest heaven, Your thoughts
are above ours, Your ways unsearchable and at times unknowable. We praise You
today that even though we do not understand Your ways, will and works, You have
carried them out in wisdom and to their perfect end. We thank You that because
of these sovereign and mysterious works You have established a perfect, complete
and eternal salvation for us through the Lord Jesus Christ. May we through
passages such as these learn to trust You and Your will for us, even when we do
not understand it. Amen.
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