#DailyDevotion Melchizedek Is Greater Than Abraham And?

Heb. 7 This Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, met Abraham coming back from defeating the kings, and he blessed Abraham. ²And Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. His name, in the first place, means king of righteousness, but then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. ³He is without father, mother, or line of ancestors. His life has no beginning or end. Like God’s Son he continues a priest forever. ⁴See how great he was! Abraham, the father of the people, gave him a tenth from the best of the spoils. ⁵And the Law orders those descendants of Levi who become priests to receive a tenth from the people, that is, from other Israelites, although they, too, have descended from Abraham. ⁶But this man, who was outside their line of descent, received a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. ⁷No one can deny that the higher one blesses the lower one. ⁸And here those who receive a tenth are people who die, but there we are assured it is one who lives. ⁹And we may say that Levi, who receives a tenth, in Abraham gave a tenth, ¹⁰since he was in the body of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

Melchizedek. The Bible doesn’t say a whole lot about him. He is mentioned once in Genesis, once in the Psalms, and then he is talked about extensively here in Hebrews. There is speculation about him in extra-biblical texts. But the point of bringing him up is comparing him to the Levitical priesthood and Jesus, according to the fulfillment of Psalm 110, Jesus’ possessing this priesthood, which is better than the Levitical priesthood.

So he blessed Abraham and Abraham gave him a tenth of the best of the spoils from the battle freeing Lot, his nephew, and those of the cities captured with Lot. His name means king of righteousness. Jesus is our righteousness and as such He is our King of righteousness. Melchizedek was king of Salem, which is likely early Jerusalem, Salem meaning peace. Jesus most certainly is our King of peace. Jesus being King of these two attributes distributes these things to us in our lives as we put our trust in Him.

The author notes Melchizedek has no father or mother and his life has no beginning or end. This is not in the absolute sense. He is making much of the fact the Bible doesn’t mention any of these things. The lack of genealogy he will use to show he is not in the genealogical line to be a priest. Jesus, like Melchizedek, is not of the priestly line of Levi or Aaron. So he compares Melchizedek to God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who continues as a priest forever.

If Melchizedek blesses Abraham and Abraham gives him tithes, then of course, he is greater than Abraham. Quite a tall order for a Jewish person to say. Some ancient Jews thought he was the Logos manifesting himself in human form. Some ancient Christian commentators think he may have been a manifestation of the pre-incarnate Son of God. In any case, he is greater than Abraham and by this reasoning, when Abraham offered to him the tithe, all of his descendants, including Levi and Aaron offered to him the tithe. So this priesthood is therefore greater than Levi’s or Aaron’s priesthood. Jesus, as we shall see in a few more verses, is a better priest than the Aaronic priesthood. He is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, to whom they offered their tithes. He has made a better offering than the Aaronic priesthood as He offered Himself.

Heavenly Father, Your appointed Your Son, Jesus Christ, to be our great High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, to intercede for us with His blood. Grant us faith to put our trust in Him so we may glorify You forever. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.