Christ in the Old Testament

Genesis 14:18-19a

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram … (NIV)

Today’s Reading: Genesis 14:17-20, Psalm 110 and Hebrews 7:1-4, 23-26

If you have time, Genesis 14 is a fascinating chapter. There is a serious battle between nine kings in the area surrounding the Dead Sea. Abraham’s nephew Lot is taken captive by the victorious kings so Abraham sets out one night with his men and takes Lot and all the captives back. The kings whose people had been taken captive meet up with Abraham afterwards to offer him thanks and take their people back. It’s at this meeting that we are introduced to a very unusual character – Melchizedek.

Melchizedek hasn’t been mentioned prior to this meeting and isn’t mentioned again in Genesis after this meeting. However he is mentioned two more times in Scripture – once in the Psalms and again in the letter to the Hebrews. Genesis tells us that Melchizedek was the king of Salem and priest of God Most High. Let’s explore this complex character briefly.

God sets up the Aaronic priesthood after Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt many generations after Abraham. In order to qualify for the Aaronic priesthood a man had to be born of the tribe of Levi and of the family of Aaron. So this Melchizedek was a priest of a special kind because he existed well before Aaron was born. He didn’t inherit his priesthood from his genealogy.  God simply picked him out and designated him as a priest. 

The author of Hebrews tells us that Melchizedek’s name means king of peace and king of righteousness. He has no beginning of days or end of life. He even offers “bread and wine” to Abraham after his victory in battle over his enemies much like Jesus did at the Last Supper establishing the sacrament of communion. In response, Abraham tithes to Melchizedek a tenth of everything reinforcing the idea that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham even resembling the Son of God.

Melchizedek was a Christ-like figure in many ways but in particular because he was both a priest and a king. However Jesus is the true priest and king of peace and righteousness. And as the Psalm declares, Jesus is “a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews tells us that “because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.”

Jesus meets all of our needs in his role as our king and priest. He is holy, blameless, pure, exalted above the heavens and he is able to save us completely. Do you run to Jesus for all of your needs? He didn’t come to condemn us. He came to save us – completely. We simply need to come to him.

Today’s Prayer: Lord Jesus, meet my needs today. I submit all my cares and concerns to you so you can carry my load today. I trust you to lighten my load and meet my needs today.