Genesis 14.17-18-Abram Meets Melchizedek
Sunday December 4, 2005
Genesis: Genesis 14:17-18-Abram Meets Melchizedek
Lesson # 71
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 14:17.
This morning we will study Genesis 14:17-20 where Abram encounters Melchizedek after his great victory over the Eastern Mesopotamian Kings and his deliverance of his nephew Lot.
Genesis 14:17, “Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).”
A comparison of Genesis 14:17 and Hebrews 7:1 indicates that not only did Abram and his allies defeat the Eastern Mesopotamia Coalition but they “slaughtered” them.
Hebrews 7:1, “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter (Greek noun kope) of the kings and blessed him.”
Genesis 14:17 records that the five defeated Dead Sea kings, who were unbelievers, went out to meet Abram after his defeat of the Eastern Mesopotamian Kings, and Genesis 14:18 records that the King of Salem, Melchizedek, a believer, did as well.
Genesis 14:21 records that the Dead Sea Coalition led by Bera, the King of Sodom came to Abram empty handed and ungrateful and were preoccupied with and pretentiously demanding some of the spoils of Abram’s victory, which demonstrated their extreme wickedness and involvement with evil.
The five defeated Dead Sea kings come out to meet Abram in the sense of “confronting” him since they ungratefully and pretentiously demanding some of the spoils of Abram’s victory instead of thanking him for getting back their possessions and people who were taken as prisoners of war.
“The King’s Valley” was located a quarter of a mile east of Jerusalem and this is confirmed by 2 Samuel 18:18, which records that Absalom built for himself a marble pillar in the King’s Valley and Josephus says that it was built a quarter of a mile from Jerusalem (Antiquities 7.10.13).
As we studied in Genesis 14:13-16, Abram pursued the Eastern Coalition as far as Hobah, which was north of Damascus, Syria.
Now, in Genesis 14:17, Abram returns from this great victory and is heading back to where he started his pursuit, the oaks of Mamre, which was in Hebron and on the way back, he would have stopped at Jerusalem, which in Abram’s day was called “Salem” and would be on his way back.
Genesis 14:18, “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.”
The name “Melchizedek” means, “king of righteousness,” or “my king is righteous” since it is a compound word composed of the noun melekh (El#m#), “king” and the noun tsedheq (qd#x#), “righteousness.”
Melchizedek is identified as the “king of Salem” or literally, the “king of peace.”
The name “Salem” means, “peace” in the sense of security and prosperity and was the older name of Jerusalem according to Psalm 76:2.
Psalm 76:2, “His tabernacle is in Salem; His dwelling place also is in Zion.”
Therefore, since his name means, “king of righteousness” and Melchizedek was the king of Salem, which means, “peace,” he is a type of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is both the King of Righteousness and Peace.
He also foreshadows the result of our Lord’s substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross, which is recorded in Psalm 85:10.
Psalm 85:10, “Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
Melchizedek was both a king and a priest according to Genesis 14:18, which typifies or foreshadows the Lord Jesus Christ who is both a king and our Great High Priest.
The fact that Melchizedek held these two offices and was a priest with a throne foreshadows our Great High Priest who is the king of kings and Lord of lords as well as a Prophet.
Psalm 110:4 teaches that Jesus Christ’s royal priesthood is according to the order of Melchizedek rather than the Levitical order since the Lord was from the tribe of Judah.
Psalm 110:1, “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’”
Psalm 110:2, “The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of Your enemies.’”
Psalm 110:3, “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.”
Psalm 110:4, “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’”
Hebrews 5:6, 10 and 6:20 quotes Psalm 110:4 teaching that Psalm 110:4 speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ whose Great High Priesthood is superior to the Aaronic or Levitical priesthood since it is according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 7 gives us more details concerning Melchizedek and also teaches that Melchizedek and his priesthood typify the Lord Jesus Christ and His Great High Priesthood.
The Scriptures teach that Melchizedek was “not” an angel, or some superhuman creature, nor was he a manifestation of the preincarnate Christ (Christophany or Theophany) but rather, Melchizedek was an historical human being, who was an historical king and priest, who lived in an historical city.
Hebrews 7:1, “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him.”
Hebrews 7:2, “to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace.”
Hebrews 7:3, “Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.”
“Without father” is the adjective apator (a)pavtwr), which means that there was no record of who Melchizedek’s father was and does “not” mean that he did not have a human father as was the case with the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Without mother” is the adjective ametor (a)mhvwr), which means that there was no record of who Melchizedek’s mother was and does “not” mean that he did not have a mother, otherwise, how could he have been born, even the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ had a human mother, Mary.
“Without genealogy” is the adjective agenealogetos (a)genealovghto$) parallels the expression me genealogoumenos (mhV genealogouvmeno$), “one whose genealogy is not traced” in Hebrews 7:6 and indicates that there was no record of the genealogy of Melchizedek.
In Israel, you could not be a priest unless you came from the tribe of Levi and this had to be demonstrated by genealogy according to Ezra 2:61-63 and Nehemiah 7:63-65.
Personal genealogy was a prerequisite for the Aaronic and Levitical priesthood, thus they preserved with great care their pedigree.
But in contradistinction from them, Melchizedek was priest of an order where natural descent was not regarded, an order free from restrictions of the Levitical (Nm. 3:10).
Therefore, Melchizedek was an accurate type of Christ who did not belong to the tribe of Levi but rather of Judah.
Hebrews 7:3, “Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.”
The phrase “having neither the beginning of days nor end of life” means that there was no record of the beginning of Melchizedek’s service as a priest nor the end of his service and does “not” mean that he was eternal like the Lord Jesus Christ.
In order to understand the meaning of this statement we must understand that the writer is making a contrast with the Levitical priesthood.
The Levitical priests began their “days” as priests at the age of twenty-five (Nm. 8:24; cf. 1 Ch. 23:27-28) and at the age of thirty they began their regular priestly duties (Nm. 4:3).
At the age of fifty their priestly “life” ended as indicated by the phrase “But at the age of fifty years they shall retire from service in the work and not work any more” in Numbers 8:25.
The statement “having neither the beginning of days nor end of life” in Hebrews 7:3 indicates that Melchizedek did “not” have these restrictions, therefore, he was an accurate type of Christ.
Hebrews 7:3, “Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.”
The phrase “like the Son of God” indicates that Melchizedek was not the Lord Jesus Christ but rather he was “like” Him since the verb aphomoioo, “to make like” is employed in Hebrews 7:3 to describe Melchizedek.
Being someone and being like someone are two entirely different things.
The meaning of the phrase “he (Melchizedek) remains a priest perpetually” does “not” mean that Melchizedek is still alive and holding the office of priest but rather it means that he served in his priesthood till the day of his death since he had no restrictions on the length of his service as the Aaronic or Levitical priesthood did.
This leads us to the communion service.
So could we have our deacons pass out the communion elements and let us take a few minutes to mediate upon the Lord and prepare ourselves for the Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is a commandment given by the Lord Jesus Christ to every church age believer to bring into remembrance His Unique Person and Finished Work on the Cross, both of which serve as the basis for fellowship with God and each other as members of the Body of Christ.
In the communion service, the bread portrays the sinless humanity of Christ, which was sacrificed for us and the wine portrays His spiritual death as our Substitute, both of which serve as the basis for fellowship with God and each other.
1 Corinthians 11:23, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread.”
1 Corinthians 11:24, “and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’”
1 Corinthians 11:25, “In the same way {He took} the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink {it} in remembrance of Me.’”
1 Corinthians 11:26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”