Genesis 14:17-24 Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

God Provides An Eternal Priest-King For His People. By This Priest King His People Are Themselves Made Priests.

TALK SLOW AND CLEAR

Introduce myself and express gratitude (be personal)

Intro: Today we will be looking at Genesis 14:17-24. The passage just seems like it is a small detour in the life of Abram before God’s covenant with Abram but by looking at all of scripture we will see how this small passage paints a picture for human restoration.

We are going to go back in time just a couple years to 1876. A very important invention was made at this time, one that if not invented our world would not know how to function today…it was the telephone. Of course though at that time telephones looked much different than they do now. You could not play games on them or see someone else’s face. One major change is now when you call someone you do not have to talk to anyone else besides them. There was a time when if you wanted to call someone, this call was mediated by a person called an operator.

This is a little bit how a priests in the bible act. In this illustration the priest is the is the first caller, their sacrifice is the operator, and God is the desired caller. They could not just go straight to God, there were stipulations that had to be met in order to meet with God. We are going to see though how God changes how priests interact with him and this passage shows this.

In the context of what we’re reading, the flood happened, then the tower of babel, and then God calls this seemingly random canonite who is actually worshiping other gods. He tells Abram to leave the place where he lives and he will make him into a great nation. He goes to Egypt, his nephew gets into some trouble so he goes to war to save him and wins. He traveling after this war and this is the setting where we are now:

Let’s read God’s holy word together from Genesis 14:17-24 “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). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’”

Pray

1. A New Priestly Order (v. 17-20)

Sub Point 1-Priest of God Most High

Abram is approached by two kings. One is the King of Sodom and the other is called the King of Salem. Both are real kings of real places. The King of Salem’s name is “Melchizedek” which means king of righteousness and Salem means peace, so this king is the king of righteousness and peace. He is the king of the area of land that would eventually become Jerusalem. He brings out bread and wine to Abram, he provides for Abram and then the scripture tells us something that should be put in all caps. We need to underline, highlight, do whatever we need to so we can see how important this is. Verse 18 says, speaking of King of Salem, Melchizedek, “He was priest of God Most High”. Melchizedek is a priest-king.

Saying he is a priest-king is like if someone was both the president of the united states and a governor, those things just don’t work together. In the Old Testament priests could not be kings and kings could not be priests. Priests had to come from the lineage of Levi and kings through the lineage of Judah. So you cannot really be a priest-king. However, this was before the time of Israel’s sons so this is how Melchizedek was practically able to be a priest-king. This King of Salem was not the only one who would be a Priest-King though, Jesus would also be a priest-king.

So am I really saying that Jesus is shown here in Genesis when his name is not even mentioned? Absolutely I am! How do we know this: Hebrews 7:14-15 “For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek,”.

The author of Hebrews is explaining that Christ is our high priest and king even though he did not come through the right lineage to be a priest. In the same way, this King of Salem here in the passage is a Priest-King like Christ. Melchizedek led his people as they submitted to his kingship as Christ leads his people as we submit to his kingship. You do not have to think too hard about how Jesus is our king. He gives us commands, he provides for us, he loves us, he teaches us, and more. We are so thankful for these things but if were not also our priest his kingship would be illegimtiate. Christ is our priest because he is how we have access to God. As we mentioned, Israel had to have a Priest to communicate with God and this priest mediated with certain stipulations. The rules did not change because of Christ, but Christ did the impossible. The reason priests had to bring sacrifices to be in the presence of God was because of their sin. A holy God cannot be in the presence of a sinner without his wrath appeased.

That is the gospel right? Because of our sin we could no longer have a relationship with the Lord because our sin brings wrath. Christ though took on the wrath of God and became our priest. Those two verses we read in Hebrews, the verse after those explains this: Hebrews 7:16 (Christ)“who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.” This verse explains Christ is our priest not because he descended from the right line but because of his eternal life. He is able to take on the wrath that our sin brings. We see this in Melchizedek, he is a priest king and so is Christ. It is as if God was showing a type or pattern of which Christ would follow.

Imagine if in the early 1900s you picked up your telephone expecting to speak to an operator but you just spoke directly to the person you were trying to call. Then after the call you were told that one day it will be like that, one day you will not need an operator, one day a new technology will come and you will have direct access to the caller. It is the same way here, God gives a picture of what salvation will eventually look like through Christ. One day there will be an eternal Priest-King who will follow the order set by Melchizedek. With a new priest comes a new set of standards, a new kind of law, so when Christ comes this is why the Old Covenant is fulfilled and the New Covenant is put into place. So through Melchizedek being a priest of God Most High we see how God will eventually save his people and bring a better mediator or as we looked at “take the operator away”.

Sub Point 2-The Blessing

Then we get a blessing from Melchizedek. “To bless God means to recognize God’s goodness as shown in the bestowal of divine benefits to his subjects”K. A. Mathews, Genesis 11:27–50:26, vol. 1B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005), 150.

Melchizedek starts by explaining how blessed Abram is by God. This is significant because this was a time where many were polytheists so they worshipped many false gods. Not to say Melchizedek and Abram were the only ones who believed in one God, but I do have to believe Abram would be extremely encouraged to meet another who trusts in the same God as him. Outside of his family I do not know how many other believers of Yahweh he knew and it would not be many if he did know some. So for a King to tell him he has been blessed by the same God both of them put their trust in has to be encouraging. Melchizedek then praises God for how he has delivered Abram from the hand of his enemies. He is grateful for God’s word in the life of another believer.

Brothers and sisters, Melchizedek here even so long ago was modeling good godly encouragement. Even though he may symbolize Christ, he is not Christ. He is a sinner who has put his faith toward God and repented from his sin. So after seeing the Lord work in Abram’s life he expresses gratitude for God and Abram. Brothers and sisters, as it was encouraging 4,000 years ago to Abram, it is still today. My pastor always says no person is ever walking around over-encouraged. I encourage you all to encourage others as you see God plainly working in their lives. And it does not have to be only when they win a war like with Abram. Ask other brothers and sisters here about their life and see how God has made himself present. If you have a church that you are a member of or a church that has served you faithfully sometime in your life that is a blessing only from the Lord. If you have had the great blessing of raising up children to walk in the way of the Lord and now they trust the Lord that is sweeter than honey friends. I just challenge you to learn more about others around you and encourage them in how the Lord has shown grace in their life. Of course the biggest way God has shown grace in our lives is through the gospel. If you are speaking to an unbeliever tell them God’s grace in their life which is the gospel as well. No matter how we are encouraging each other 2 things must be present, 1. We have to encourage them because of the gospel and 2. We must not encourage them for ungodly things. Encouraging unrighteousness is actually a discouragement brothers and sisters.

2. Submitting to the New Priestly Order

Sub Point 1-What a real king does

After the blessing from Melchizedek, the text says Abram gave a tenth of everything he had to this King of Salem. Then the king of sodom speaking to Abram tells him to not take any of the men he has defeated, only the goods they possess. Abram then answers with a kind of oath explaining that he will not take anything from this foreign king. It is a little hard to see here but what is going on is Abram is being faithful to the Lord and trusting him.

“By his oath the patriarch affirms his faith in the Lord who will bless him; he will not be indebted in any way to the foreign king for his success, lest he boast he “made Abram rich”

K. A. Mathews, Genesis 11:27–50:26, vol. 1B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005), 157.

We might be more familiar with a situation such as this: “You are working a hard honest job that allows you to glorify God, but you find out about this new investment that isn’t exactly legal but will allow you to get rich quick and maybe even pay for your kids college”. In this situation, Abram is choosing the former, he is choosing to trust God and not take money from the wicked. He actually gives his money selflessly to a king who deserves it instead of taking money from the hands of a king who does not deserve his throne. Just to contrast these kings even more the first thing Melchizedek, King of Salem, does in our story is give to Abram (the bread and the wine) but the first thing the King of Sodom does is ask of Abram. Even though the King of Sodom was just defeated by Abram he wants something from Abram instead of giving him everything which would be appropriate when loosing a battle.

Even here friends we see a picture of the gospel. Christ, who sits on the throne gives before he asks. The first part of the gospel is not “hey, you need to submit to Christ and do good works for him”. It is, look at what Christ has done for you. Look at the penalty Christ took on your behalf when he was hanging upon the cross. How Melchizedek gives first, Christ does the same. God does not expect us to have transformed hearts without the power of the gospel. The life of Abram shows this truth as well, he was a sojourner worshipping other Gods but then God transformed his heart and he submitted to God’s reign.

In looking even at the order of salvation we see how God is like Melchizedek and gives before he asks of us: The Holy Spirit convicts us of our original sin, we are given a new nature, brought together with Christ’s work and into his family, looked at as Holy, and then we respond with faith and repentance. Friends if you are a Christian today and have responded towards the gospel with faith, consequentially then responded toward your own sin in repentance then the Lord has worked first. No person on their own can naturally muster up some sort of strength to be saved, so if you are saved, know God worked first. We serve a God who gives salvation and then asks for good works. Not the other way around. I am thankful for how the actions of these two kings are contrasted to show this truth. Let us serve a king who is loving and who provides, friends that king is Christ.

Sub point 2- God’s Revelation

Maybe before this afternoon you did not know how clearly God reveals his plan of salvation in the Old Testament. Through this we learn that the character of God is one of self-revelation. Our God desires to tell us about himself. Does a good father withhold good things from his children? No. A good father tells his children the truth so they will live good lives. Our God desires for us to know about him and his plan of salvation. So we should go to this God who has revealed himself and he has done this through his word. We often treat God’s word as a book only to go to when times are hard and use it for temporary comfort, but let me encourage you to seek out who God is by reading this word. The idea of the bible as only a handbook for how to live our lives is undermining what the bible is. The bible is the very God of the universe, the creator of us, the one who holds the entire world together, telling us who he is. We should desire to learn more about this God and who he is. Of course then we are going to want to change our lives and be comforted but let me encourage you to treat the bible as what it is: The Holy Word of God. That is why all of our bibles say “The HOLY Bible”. This is a set apart book not because it tells us how to live, thousands of books do that, it is a holy set apart book because no other book are the words of God himself. Read this word, talk about it, pray this word, center your life around it.

Conclusion:

I mentioned with a new priest brings a change to the law, as explained in Hebrews 7. What is that change which took place when Christ came? What changed in the law? The law did not just change, it was fulfilled. One came and fulfilled it so we can now have a personal relationship with God himself. Without this new priest-king we would have no access to God or his new testament promises coming true. Have you ever thought about that? If Christ did not come as our priest-king we could not speak to God. I confess one spiritual discipline I have often taken for granted is prayer but why would I? What a blessing it is to pray to the Lord.

We can pray to the Lord because we are now made priests. 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Everything we have looked at points to God’s gift for us to be priests. What was once as illogical as a president also being a governor now makes as much sense as there being horse statues in Louisville. It makes perfect sense are priests now because Christ came before us and he is our great high priest.

We covered many different things this afternoon but I hope you know from all this that our God is one who saves his children by providing a way through Christ. Because of this, let us pray to him, encourage one another, share the gospel with unbelievers, and ultimately submit to the king who gave to us salvation before we did anything to deserve it. We no longer have to look at Melchizedek as one who is a pattern of the coming messiah, we can look at Christ and say “he is the one we have been waiting for and he has come, let us crown him king of our life”.

Let’s pray.