"It is witnessed that he liveth.”
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 Gen. 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 Spirit 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 it thus illustrates Christ's priesthood, which really had those features that are here shown to be typically foreshadowed in Melchisedec. For instance, while verse 8 refers to Melchisedec, 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. Each of the following are obviously and eminently typical:
(1) The name, "King of righteousness";
(2) The place, "King of Salem";
(3) His sacerdotal office (especially in connection with so peculiar a title of God), "priest of the most high God";
(4) The circumstances, "met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings";
(5) The character of his actions, "blessed him" (and not merely sacrifice and intercession).
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 persons and not merely mystical.
Two remarks may be made towards the better understanding of this chapter and epistle. The first is that if the order of Christ's priesthood is that of Melchisedec, the exercise is that of Aaron (Heb. 9:1111But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; (Hebrews 9:11)). The second is that in verses 18 and 19 of our chapter, we must take "for the law made nothing perfect" parenthetically. The word "did" is in italics and ought to be left out of the Authorized Version.
Bible Witness and Review
God’s Way of Blessing and Fruitfulness
by Dan Hayhoe
There is one brief episode in the life of Abraham that gives us the pattern for blessing and fruitfulness. Also in the book of Ezra there is a pattern that Satan follows when he attacks God's people to prevent that blessing and fruitfulness. We shall begin with the positive aspect: an example in Scripture which tells us of Abraham who did indeed enjoy blessing in his life. Then we shall see how Satan methodically, step by step, attacks those who seek to go on in faithfulness to God.
First, in Gen. 14, Lot and his family and all his goods were taken captive, but Abram goes out with his armed servants and his household, wins a great victory, and recovers Lot and his household. Now what we are going to see is what happens immediately following that victory. Often in the Christian life, God, by His grace, allows us to win a victory, not through our own power but through the power of God and the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Then there is going to be a test, a major decision and a confrontation with Satan himself immediately after that victory. That is exactly what we find in Abram's life.
The victory has been won and in verses 17 through 20 we read, "And the king of Sodom went out to meet him.... And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand." But notice in verses 21-23, "And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.”
Let us lay this out in very clear terms. The victory has been won. Abram has a desire to go on for God, and now he's met by two opposing forces, the king of Sodom and the king of Salem. A decision is now going to be made. He faces the attraction of family, because Lot had affiliated himself with Sodom by going back there again, and was there just prior to the ultimate judgment upon that city. Now Abram faces these two men, the king of Sodom and the king of Salem.
King of Salem
Let us look first of all at the king of Salem in verse 18, "Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine." I believe this is a picture of what Christ would offer to the believer in his or her Christian pathway. The Lord Jesus Christ is typified by the king of Salem. Salem means "peace" and we read in Isa. 9:66For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6), "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Melchizedek was the priest of the most high God.
We find the Lord Jesus Christ is our great High Priest in the glory for us. He is the Prince of Peace, not perhaps acting in that character towards the world at this point in time, but nevertheless this king of Salem brings Christ before us. And what is it that the king of Salem would bring to Abram's attention? He would give Abram bread and wine. He does not take from Abram; he gives to Abram. That is the Christian pathway; that is what Christianity is. It has often been mentioned that Christianity is not known by what it finds, but by what it brings. The Lord Jesus Christ wants to bring Himself into our lives to give blessing, peace, joy and happiness to us.
The wine would speak of the joy that we find in Christ and the bread speaks of Christ Himself. We could trace that from Genesis to Revelation. In Genesis we find Joseph, a type of Christ, with all around starving for lack of food, but where Joseph was there was bread. (Gen. 41:5454And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. (Genesis 41:54).) Where the Lord Jesus is, there always will be bread. The children of Israel went through the wilderness and they were fed with manna from heaven. This speaks of Christ in His humanity, Christ in His manhood and the privilege of feeding on Christ for the daily pathway.
In the book of Ruth, we find Naomi who had gone from Bethlehem, "the house of bread." She had gone into the world, Moab, and there was famine. Finally, in restoration she comes back to Bethlehem again and hangs her head in shame and says, "Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me." When she returns to Bethlehem, "the house of bread," we find immediately that it's the beginning of barley harvest. And so where there is restoration, there is bread and nourishment.
Bread of Life
We go on to John 6:4848I am that bread of life. (John 6:48) and the Lord Jesus Christ says, "I am that bread of life." Christ is the bread. We could go right on through to the book of Revelation and find in Pergamos that the Church and the world are united, a particular temptation to the believer. The privilege of the overcomer is to eat of the hidden manna, feeding secretly on Christ in his own soul regardless of the state of the Church around us, and regardless of the difficulties and the problems in our families. In Gen. 14 Abram's own nephew had gone off into the world and he had to go out physically and bring him back again. He is met by the king of Sodom trying to entice him back into Sodom. With all these difficulties arising in our lives and families, the hidden manna and feeding on Christ in our own soul are what will keep us.
The king of Salem does not ask for anything from Abram; he gives. And the Lord Jesus Christ gives; He gives everything. He gave Himself. "The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." He gave everything for us and all He wants in return is our affection and to have us walking in communion with Him. If, by His grace, He gives us a little service to do for Him, it is a wonderful privilege to be involved in that, but He does not demand it of us.
King of Sodom
What about the king of Sodom? Sodom means "an abundance of dew." It also means "their secret" and "burning." It was a wicked and sinful place. We look around and we see what appears to be blessing in this wicked world around us, an abundance of dew, perhaps, but don't forget He "sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Do not let that fool us because Sodom also means "their secret." The secret sin of Sodom soon spilled out into the open and then what happened? Burning, the judgment of God upon that city. And what does the king of Sodom say? "Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.”
Satan says: Give me the souls; you take the goods. In fact, I will help you get them Go ahead with your education; go ahead with your plans for advancement in the business world. Go ahead with your plans for accumulating wealth. Take it all, but give me the souls.
Here is the decision: maybe you've won a great victory, a spiritual victory in your life. Maybe you have been used for the restoration of someone in your own family like Abram was for Lot. But now the decision comes: are you going to go on for Christ, the King of Salem? Or are you going to be drawn by Satan, the king of Sodom who says, "Give me the souls, and take the goods to thyself." v. 21, margin. That is the challenge for all of us. Satan says: Give me the souls; you take the goods. In fact, I will help you get them. Go ahead with your education; go ahead with your plans for advancement in the business world. Go ahead with your plans for accumulating wealth. Take it all, but give me the souls. We have fallen into that trap of accumulating "goods" while millions of souls are perishing without Christ.
What was Abram's response? Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine." A thread speaks to us of our clothes, how we present ourselves to the world and those around us at work and school. The shoe-latchet would speak to us of our walk, our association with this world and our pathway through this world. Abram says that he would not take anything; he would be completely separate, sanctified, and meet for the
“After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." What is the prize? Christ! "For to me to live is Christ." Phil. 1:2121For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21). "I... count them but dung [refuse], that I may win Christ." Phil. 3:88Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, (Philippians 3:8). Every link formed with the world weakens the testimony and saps spiritual strength.
Steps to Fruitfulness
First Step
In Gen. 17:11And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. (Genesis 17:1), we see several specific steps leading up to verse 6, which says, "I will make thee exceeding fruitful." I know that every one of us wants fruitfulness for Christ. The primary evidence of divine life is fruit. The pattern for fruitfulness is in Gen. 17:11And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. (Genesis 17:1), "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God." The first step is a revelation and the realization of who God is.
Second Step
The next step is, "Walk before Me, and be thou perfect." We begin with a knowledge of God as revealed in Christ and go on to a walk in communion with God. "Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." 1 John 1:33That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:3). That is fellowship and communion. There is no true fellowship apart from the fellowship that is based on a knowledge of Christ as revealed from God the Father.
Third Step
The third step is, "Be thou perfect"; the margin says, "Be thou sincere." The word "sincere" comes from two Latin words—sine cera—"without wax." Phil. 1:1010That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; (Philippians 1:10) says, "that ye may be sincere... till the day of Christ." In the days when this scripture was written at the time of the Roman empire, the potters would make their clay pots and sometimes the pots would crack during the firing process. A potter who was not honest would take wax and seal up the crack and color it so that when you looked at it you could not see the cracks unless you held it up to the light. Then you would find that there was actually wax filler in it. A potter who was honest and did good work would turn his finished product upside down and stamp on the bottom "sine cera"—without wax. That's what "sincere" means.
Fourth Step
The fourth step is in verse 3, "Abram fell on his face." It tells us in 1 Peter 5:66Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: (1 Peter 5:6), "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time." If we start the pattern of our early life in stubbornness and self-will, in refusing to bow under the hand of God, it will plague us for the rest of our lives. And then when we are older and someone in the assembly says something that hurts us, or is not true about us, we will react in self-defense and self-vindication. That will bring sorrow and sadness into our lives and our families' lives, and division and sorrow among the people of God. If we can do like Abram did and fall on our faces and humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, there will be blessing.
Fifth Step
The next step is that God talked with him in communion. That may go beyond our selfish thoughts about what is God's will for our life; it is really an understanding of God's thoughts for His people. Perhaps you say, "I wonder why I cannot understand prophecy?" Those are God's thoughts with respect to His people. If we do not understand it, one of the reasons may be because our thoughts are so selfish and narrow that they don't include the purposes of God.
Sixth Step
The next step is in verse 5, "Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham." A new name really brings before us a complete change, leaving behind everything that was before. We become a new creature [creation] in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:1717Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17).) That happens when we are born again. But I believe there is a time in our lives, too, as we go along for the Lord, that we have to remind ourselves to walk in the good of that position in which we have been placed.
Satan's Pattern for Attack
We have seen God's pattern for blessing. Now we're going to see Satan's pattern for attacking God's people. In Ezra's day the Lord stirred up the hearts of some of His own people who had been in captivity. There was a restoration and they began to rebuild the temple. And when that happens, Satan always attacks. We have seen the positive side-the pathway to blessing in the life of Abraham. Now we're going to see the negative side and how Satan attacks in the time of Ezra.
The temple, which was being rebuilt, was God's center on earth. God's Church, the assembly, is how God manifests Himself on earth today. Those who are willing to put their heart, soul and energy into identification with God's assembly are going to face a tremendous onslaught of Satan. "Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel; then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do." Ezra 4:1, 21Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel; 2Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. (Ezra 4:1‑2). The answer is in verse 3: "Ye have nothing to do with us.”
First Tactic
Satan's first attack is to introduce those who were really Samaritans, who would say, "We are with you; we are one of you," but they were enemies and adversaries. Take that as a warning not to join hands with the world even if it is to accomplish something that may seem to be for the glory of God. If it is not done according to the Word of God, it cannot have the blessing of God in our lives. The children of Israel were faithful; they refused that.
Second Tactic
The second tactic of Satan is in verse 4: "Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building." Satan is going to weaken our hands; he is going to trouble us and bring all kinds of things into our lives that are going to sap our energy and take away our strength.
In the book of Haggai we find they left building the temple; instead they went back to building their own houses. If we turn to Ezra 6:1111Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this. (Ezra 6:11), we find the result. "Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this." If we turn our energies to ourselves rather than God, it is going to bring down God's judgment on our own heads.
Third Tactic
Let us see Satan's next tactic in Ezra 5:3, 43At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shethar-boznai, and their companions, and said thus unto them, Who hath commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall? 4Then said we unto them after this manner, What are the names of the men that make this building? (Ezra 5:3‑4). They had questioned God's authority. "Who hath commanded you to build this house?... What are the names of the men that make this building?" There is a tremendous movement in Christendom to question the inerrant authority of the Word of God. And there will be many who will come to us and say, "Who gave you the authority to meet in that simple way around the Person of Christ?" The authority comes from God Himself and the Word of God, and from the Holy Spirit who has the liberty to guide and direct our thoughts to Christ in the midst. The authority does not come from man.
Fourth Tactic
We will find Satan's last tactic in Ezra 9:22For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass. (Ezra 9:2). "For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass." That was Satan's final tactic and the one that worked. That was the one that wrought havoc and brought in this awful mixture. The command in 2 Cor. 6:14,1514Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? (2 Corinthians 6:14‑15) is so clear: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.... What concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel [unbeliever]?”
May the Lord preserve us from Satan's tactics and give us the courage to follow the pattern for blessing and fruitfulness.