01-49 Melchizedek--Study of a Type

Hebrews 7:1-10

We are at that time of year where all things related to the church are moving toward the observation of the crowning achievement of LJC—His Death and Resurrection. Today is Palm Sunday—the day, traditionally held as the day the Lord rode into Jerusalem on the donkey—marking off what is called the Passion Week. I’ve been asked why my preaching doesn’t correspond to the church calendar: why I don’t preach on the subjects of these days of observation. My answer is this: b/c I am committed to expositional preaching (vs-by-vs), breaking that up according to the calendar would interrupt our studies in books of the Bible on a monthly basis. So there are dates that we will just stick with our book study—Palm Sunday is one of those days. Now, Resurrection Sunday (next week)—we will set our hearts and minds on that profound event…we’ll do that eagerly.

But for today—I want us to come back to the person Moses introduced us to last week—Melchizedek for the reason that this mysterious and strange individual points directly to the superiority and supremacy of the LJC.

Frederic Farrar (19th C British theologian) spoke of a conversation he had with Queen Victoria after she heard one of her chaplains preach on Christ’s 2nd Coming. She said “Oh, Dr. Farrar, how I wish that the Lord would come during my lifetime!” When he asked her why she desired this she replied, “Because I would love to lay my crown at His blessed feet in reverent adoration.”

That should be the response of every believer when we set our hearts on LJC (Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus). When He comes, all things will be brought into subjection to Him—even His enemies will be made a footstool for His feet. 1000 years before the birth of Jesus, another member of royalty expressed this in prophecy—his name was king David.

Psalm 110 NASB95

A Psalm of David. 1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” 2 The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” 3 Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew. 4 The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” 5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. 6 He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. 7 He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head.

This psalm has been called “the crown of all psalms” and has the distinction of being the most quoted psalm in the NT (quoted or alluded to 27x). The centerpiece of this psalm is the eternal priesthood of the one David calls “my Lord” referring to the Messiah. That priesthood is related to this person Melchizedek. He is only mentioned 2x in the OT (Gen & Ps).

He is mentioned on 1 other place in the NT—The context of Hebrews 5-7. The writer quotes Ps 110:4 in Heb 5:6 in order to show why Christ is greater than Aaron and the Levites (what some professing believers wanted to return to) and at that point he wanted to launch into a discussion of this priesthood but he needed to step back b/c some of his readers were not yet ready for such deep doctrine (5:11). At this point he issues a warning against their dullness of hearing and that should they fall away from what they have heard, it would be impossible to renew them to repentance (ch 6).

Ch 7—he comes back to his intent by returning to “this Melchizedek” (7:1). The first 10 vv highlight the greatness of Melchizedek and the rest of ch 7 uses his greatness to show how Christ is superior to everything under the Old Covenant. In this sense Melchizedek is typical of Christ

A Biblical Type

Explanation:

A type is a person, animal, object, event or institution in the OT which has a reality in Biblical history and at the same time specifically intended by God to pre-figure a greater reality in the NT (called the antitype). The type is generally predictive of Christ, His person or work.

Passover Lamb—typical of Christ—the greater Passover Lamb (Jn 1:29) sacrifices were typical of Christ

The brazen serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness (Num 21) typical of Christ being lifted up (Jn 3:14-15)

The tabernacle in various aspects foreshadowed Christ in His person and work (Heb 9-10)

The key to understanding the type is that the antitype always establishes the meaning of the type. In other words, Melchizedek, being the type of Christ is most fully understood when we see him in the light of the person of Jesus.

That’s how Heb understands Melchizedek—as a type. The type is imperfect and temporal while the antitype is perfect and eternal. Hebrews lifts the veil that had shrouded Melchizedek in mystery until the writer penned this letter under the inspiration of the HS.

Let me show you 2 things (ultimately point to Christ):

1) The Significance of Melchizedek

(vv 1-3)

Melchizedek was a worshiper of the true God—“Most High” (El Elyon)

What we see in Mel is the first appearance of the Priest-King. Later on when the Law was given, priests were specifically forbidden from serving as kings and vice-versa. Here we have the king of Salem and Priest of God in one man.

Type of Christ as Priest-King

Remember, he comes to meet Abraham after the “slaughter” (lit “to cut down” a violent/extensive slaughter). Many people get hung up by the fact that Mel brought out bread and wine to Abraham and soldiers. They believe there must be some connection to communion. Writer makes no mention—perhaps nothing more than giving food to weary men.

That’s not the issue here—Mel is both king and priest—pre-figuring Christ. How is that? Vs 2 translations of his name and function point to Christ.

Mel—“king of righteousness” in Hebrew. (4x called king)—righteousness/justice was the character of his kingdom.

“King of Salem”—“king of peace” Salem is believed to be the ancient name for the city of Jerusalem—“foundation of peace”

Offices of priest and king are brought together and though Israel has not seen it, her prophets predicted the time when her king would serve also as priest.

Zechariah 6:13 NASB95

13 “Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.” ’

As the king of righteousness and peace—that was the character of his kingdom (though no historical record). His kingdom was just and peaceful.

Priesthood accord. order of Aaron was to minister righteousness to the people. Israel’s priest was to bring the people back into a right relationship with God (the definition of righteousness). That was the point of the on-going sacrifices.

Mel could not make a person righteous or give them peace with God. 2 things every person longs for is to be right with God and be at peace with Him (you don’t want to be God’s enemy). In this way, Mel—what he couldn’t do pre-figures what Christ can do and does.

Romans 5:1 NASB95

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Justification is simply “restoration of a sinner to a state of righteousness.” Christ accomplishes righteousness and peace in those who believe in Him.

Type of Christ as Son of God

“made like the Son of God”—“resembling” How does Mel resemble Christ (son of God)?

Without Genealogy—no father or mother. Some conclude this means Mel is an angelic being. It is better to see him as a human who has no historical record of lineage. The Bible is silent in this regard (mysterious)

Without beginning/End—not that he was eternal (some teach this is pre-incarnate Christ) but he was made like the Son of God—not the Son of God. Again, the Bible is silent as to the record of his birth and death.

The writer of Heb mentions these things as if he had no parents and no beginning or end. The assumption as it were, is that he continues on and so his priesthood is perpetual.

Something to be said about the nature of Levitical priesthood:

Priests descended from Levi—Aaron so it was hereditary.

Never functioned as king

Priests only served for a brief time age 25-50 (Num 8:24-25) then passed on to next generation.

Received tithes as means of support from other tribes

“Order” of Mel’s priesthood (what is mentioned in the other places where he is named) is not according to genealogies and perpetual, as it were—it continues on and becomes the greater priesthood of Christ. Without genealogical record or record of birth or death—he typifies Christ as the Son of God—who is eternal.

2) The Superiority of Melchizedek

(vv 4-10)

The greatness of this man (we’re called to give careful attention) shows us how extraordinarily important he was:

Shown thru 2 things: the tithe and blessing:

Thru Tithes

(vv 4-5, 8-10)

Abraham returns from the rescue and before giving the kings back their portion of the spoils, he gives Mel the best of them: “choicest spoils” lit “top of the heap” (common practice).

For the Jews, Abraham was the Patriarch—“The first father” the prime ancestor b/c he brought forth the Hebrew nation. Jews boasted of his greatness: He is called God’s friend

Here’s Abraham, the great ancestor/father of the Jews paying tribute to Mel—which indicates a recognition of Mel greatness above himself.

Under the Levitical priesthood-priests were banned from owning property and instead (OT command—Num 18; Lev 27) received their support from a tithe that was given to the Levites by the other 11 tribes.

Of that tithe—another tithe (tithe of the tithe—Neh 10:37) was given to sons of Aaron who served particularly as priests (high priests) to Israel.

Abraham—under no such law to give a tithe, acknowledged his own inferiority to Mel and gave personal tribute to him b/c of his superiority.

Heb takes one step further—b/c Abraham did this, the Levites also paid tribute to Mel even though Levi had not yet been born. Levi who receives tithes also paid tithes b/c he was seminally in Abraham before his birth.

Mel superiority over Abraham and Levi and thus the OT priesthood is proven by this tithe Abraham gave.

Thru Blessing

(vs 6-7)

Mel accepted his exalted status receiving the tithe and in return blesses Abraham. Abraham received the promise of God (how much greater could a person be?) So why is it that Mel blessed Abraham? This is designed by God to show how great Christ is.

It is undisputed saying that the lesser is blessed by the greater. There is no question about this. Mel blessing provides further proof of his superiority.

Here’s the connection:

Melchizedek is better than Aaron (b/c his superiority is acknowledged by none other than the patriarch Abraham). Christ is better than Aaron—and the OT priesthood) b/c he belongs to the superior priesthood by means of God’s eternal decree:

Psalm 110:4 NASB95

4 The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”

Melchizedek stands as a type—pre-figuring a greater person who would follow after his order of priesthood—namely that of JC. Christ’s priesthood/ministry is superior to the Levitical priesthood.

So What? Remember—some being tempted to go back to Judaism, under the old covenant, under the old order to escape persecution. In going back, there would be a rejection of the superiority of Christ which would bring catastrophic judgment.

Heb—Mel is the king of righteousness and peace—but only stands to illustrate the ultimate King of righteousness and peace—JC.

Jesus is the Righteous One

1 John 2:1 NASB95

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

Jeremiah 23:5–6 NASB95

5 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. 6 “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord our righteousness.’

1 Corinthians 1:30 NASB95

30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,

Jesus is righteous and He’s the only one who bestows righteousness which comes on the basis of faith. If you are to spend eternity with God—you must become righteous. But know this that you could never achieve the righteousness God demands on your own.

You must be justified—restored to a state of righteousness as a sinner

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB95

21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

We talk often about righteousness—it is simply a matter of living up to the standard of right that God has set for His creation and revealed in His Word. You have this standard before you. You must be perfect (Mt 5:48). As sinners, we fall short of God’s standard which is why every person here needs someone to bestow righteousness upon us.

How can we become righteous as those who are not righteous? Only by faith in Christ—He is by nature absolute righteousness. God imputes righteousness to us. Which is not just transferring His righteousness to us, but most importantly bringing the 2 together (reconciliation) that we would hold all things in common. Thus as believers, we are said to be “in Christ.”

Jesus is the King of Peace

Ephesians 2:14 NASB95

14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,

Every man needs a priest. You need a priest to represent you before God. Who is your priest? There is no individual on this earth who is capable of serving as your priest. But there is one who Heb 6:20 the one who makes righteous and grants peace with God b/c of His work on the cross.

This is not just about salvation—for the unsaved—you cannot have peace with God without faith in Christ. You cannot secure that peace thru works—you cannot gain approval with God by:

Going to church, giving to charity, doing good, giving your time

Trust Jesus—you will be declared righteous b/c of what His death for you accomplished

If you belong to Him, sometimes we’re tempted to think we can maintain approval with God thru the same:

Going to church, going thru motions of worship, serving (even if it’s not from the heart), carrying out a list of dos and don’ts

Righteousness is and always will be worked out as we live by faith. 4x Scripture says “The righteous one will live by faith.” Salvation by grace thru the person’s faith is God’s plan but faith is not a one-time act. Every true believer has been made righteous and will continue to live by that faith daily.

BTW: this is the case Paul makes regarding Abram’s faith—that he believed God and God reckoned it as righteousness to him. Abram continued to believe (trust) God as we’ll see in our continuing study of Genesis—but we’ll also encounter that the man who lives by faith will on occasion also have failures.

Colossians 1:22–23 NASB95

22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

We don’t have to wait for His 2nd Coming to give him reverent adoration—you do that every moment of your life. That’s what it means “the righteous will live by faith.” To render loving, reverent, adoring praise and worship—b/c He is worthy of all glory and honor.