MELCHISEDEC.
Hebrews 7:88And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. (Hebrews 7:8). —There is really no solid ground for denying that Melchisedec was a man, as simply as Abram, Lot, or any other personage that figures in the description of Genesis 14.
The mystery consists not in the person, but in the way in which the Spirit of God records his appearance and action in the scene, so as to make of him a suitable type of the Lord Jesus. Thus not a word is said of his birth, or of his death; there is total silence as to his ancestors; and no hint is given of the lapse of his office, or of any successor. The Holy Ghost, by Paul, argues from this silence (which is so much the more striking as contrasted with the well-known pedigree and succession of Aaron), and thus illustrates Christ’s priesthood, which had really those features that are here shown to be typically foreshadowed in Melchisedec. For instance, while verse 8 refers to Melchisedec, all that is meant of him is that the testimony Scripture renders is to his life, not to his death; whereas it frequently speaks of the death of Aaron and his sons. The same principle applies to his “abiding a priest continually.”
The Bible does not speak of his institution, nor of his resignation. When first we hear of Melchisedec he is a priest, and as such we leave him; no son, no successor, appears. The name, “King of righteousness,” the place, “King of Salem;” his sacerdotal office, especially in connection with so peculiar a title “priest of the Most High God” (which, in its full import, implies the possession, de facto as well as de jure, of heaven and earth); the circumstances (“met Abram returning from the slaughter of the kings”); the character of his actions (“blessed him,” and not merely sacrifice and intercession), —are all obviously and eminently typical.
There is scarcely more difficulty as to Melchisedec than as to Jethro, priest and king of a later day; though of course the latter could not furnish so apt an illustration, in the circumstances of the case, as the former. Both were real, historical, and not merely mystical persons.
Two remarks may be made towards the better understanding of this chapter and epistle. The first is that, if the order of the Lord’s priesthood is that of Melchisedec, the exercise is that of Aaron, as is most plain in Hebrews 9:1010Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. (Hebrews 9:10). The second is, that in verses 18, 19 of our chapter, we must take “for the law made nothing perfect parenthetically and omit the word “did.”