Hebrews 7:1-3 KJV
For this
Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham
returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
To whom also
Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of
righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
Without father,
without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of
life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
Melchisedec has been an
underlying subject throughout chapters five and six but rises to the surface as
the focal subject of this chapter. Though there is considerable debate as to
exactly who he was, it is without question that both the Psalmist and Apostle
meant him as a figure of Jesus Christ. Speaking of Christ as being a priest
after the order of Melchisedec there are at least three things we know about
this order:
It is not the after the order of the Old Testament priesthood
Thus, it precedes it and then
replaces it. The modern Messianic Jews, as were the Judaizers of early
Christianity, very much mistaken in attempting to marry the two.
It is better than the Old Testament priesthood
It is not merely an
alternative. It us not intended that those who prefer to worship their Messiah
may do so under a form of Judaism and those who understand Him to be Christ may
worship Him in church. New Testament church theology is the perfection of the
weak Old Testament law theology.
It is an eternal and not temporal priesthood
The Aaronic priesthood was
given for a specific time. The Melchisedec priesthood existed previous to
it and survives after it. The Aaronic priesthood was to be done away (though
unbelieving Israel had yet to put it away) but the Melchisedec priesthood, like
Melchisedec himself, has no end of days.
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