Sermon Tone Analysis

*Melchizedek *

Perhaps the most mysterious figure in the entire Old Testament is Melchizedek, who met the conquering Abraham with bread and wine after he returned from battling four kings and recovering his nephew, Lot.

He is called “the priest of God Most High,” designating him as worshiping God even as did Abraham.

He blessed Abraham and received tithes from Abraham (Genesis 14).

Then no mention is made of Melchizedek for another thousand years, until David prophesies of the Messiah being declared “a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Psa.

110).

Again, no mention is made for another thousand years until the author of Hebrews writes to assure and encourage this struggling congregation by understanding the substance of Christ as their priest through the shadow of Melchizedek.

While the language and typology might be unfamiliar to our Western minds, the message conveyed in the text is quite clear.

All who will come in faith to Jesus Christ will find Him to be an all-sufficient priest who saves for eternity.

Do you know Jesus Christ as your priest?

Consider the author’s explanation of Christ in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

\\ *I.

The Foreshadowing of Christ’s Priesthood \\ *The Holy Spirit is the ultimate author of Scripture.

Peter reminds us, “For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (II Pet.

1:21).

Our Lord indicated the same when referring to Psalm 110—the same text that the writer of Hebrews bases his exposition—Jesus said, “David in the Spirit” called the Messiah ‘Lord’ (Matthew 22:43).

The early disciples, gathered for prayer after Peter and John had been released from jail, declaring that David spoke of the Messiah “by the Holy Spirit,” with David being only a mouthpiece of the Spirit’s utterance (Acts 4:24-26).

The revelation of Scripture is the record of the utterances of the Holy Spirit through human vessels.

“When the Scripture speaks, God speaks,” as J.I. Packer put it.

So what does that have to do with Melchizedek?

It is a reminder that this mysterious figure in the book of Genesis did not happen along by accident and that out of all the thousands of days and experiences in the life of Abraham, this one was among the few singled out for our benefit by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.

Early readers of Genesis did not know what to make of Melchizedek.

Then came David, setting forth one of several Messianic prophecies in the Psalms, making the rather odd statement of a divine oath, “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek’” (Psa.

110:4).

For another thousand years this psalm was sung in worship of the Lord by the Israelites in both their liberty and captivity.

What did it mean?

Why would the Messiah be declared a priest according to the order of Melchizedek?

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A Devine Revelation \\ *The first consideration is to understand that our writer is using typology to explain the nature and sufficiency of Christ as priest and king.

Typology is “a hermeneutical concept in which a biblical place… person… event… institution… office… or object… becomes a pattern by which later persons or places are interpreted due to the unity of events within salvation-history” [ISBE, vol.

IV, 930].

In this interpretive device you have types and antitypes.

The antitype is the fulfillment of the original person or event.

It serves as prophetic language, explaining in shadowy fashion a future person or reality.

It is more than an illustration; it gives vivid pictures of what will certainly transpire through the antitype.

\\ As an example, the bronze serpent that Moses lifted upon the pole for the perishing Israelites to look upon and be healed was a type of Christ on the cross.

Jesus referred to this in John 3:14, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness (the type), even so must the Son of Man be lifted up (the antitype).”

\\ It is this interpretive device that the author of Hebrews is utilizing when he refers to Melchizedek.

We will spend time analyzing what he has written, but it is important for us to recognize that this biblical author saw the continuity of Scripture.

All of Scripture ultimately points to Jesus Christ—the Redeemer and Lord.

This unity of the biblical writers stretched over a 1500-year period displays a remarkable symmetry as they record events and prophecies that find their fulfillment centuries later in Jesus Christ.

Melchizedek is the shadow of which Jesus Christ is the substance.

We understand this through biblical revelation.

\\ *2.

Representation \\ *There is also the teaching of representation in the figures of our text.

“And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.”

Even though Levi was the great-grandson of Abraham and not even his grandfather had been born, Levi is considered to have paid tithes and expressed his subordination to Melchizedek through Abraham.

The Hebrew idea of Levi “still in the loins of his father” carries the concept of representation.

O. Palmer Robertson asks, “How can the action of a person in one generation be reckoned as the action of another person in a subsequent generation?”

He answers, “As strange as it may seem, this concept fits the pattern of biblical representations.

Adam acted as the representative for the whole human race, and the high priest of Israel acted for the whole nation on the Day of Atonement.

In a simple way, Abraham acted for Aaron in acknowledging the superiority of Melchizedek” [The Israel of God, 65].

The solidarity of a family, tribe, or race of people is bound up in the representative.

It is through this interpretive instrument that the writer can make his claim that the priesthood of Jesus Christ is greater than that of the Aaronic priesthood; as such His priesthood is altogether sufficient for the eternal salvation of all who come by faith to Jesus Christ.

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Substance of Christ’s Priesthood \\ *We must not stay in the shadows if we are to understand this text.

For the focus of this text is really not on Melchizedek, but rather on Jesus Christ.

Through explaining the details of this Old Testament character we come to a clearer understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ, and why He is greater than all of the Aaronic~/Levitical priesthood.

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Intrinsic character \\ *The second verse utilizes the name and position of Melchizedek to help us understand the natural, intrinsic character of Jesus Christ.

“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem…was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace.”

The combination of the Hebrew terms for king and righteousness produce the name, Melchizedek, literally, “my king is righteousness” [Robertson, 61].

This was not happenstance.

His name was given as a shadow of One who was to come 2000 years later.

In Jewish thought, a name was to represent one’s character.

So when a person would go through a significant change in his life, his name might be changed to reflect it.

In the case of our text, “Melchizedek” explains the essence of Christ as one who rules over creation and the redeemed in righteousness.

“Righteousness” refers to the moral character, attitude, and behavior of our Lord.

Jesus Christ alone incarnated righteousness.

He is declared to be “the Righteous One” (I John 2:1), and the essence of righteousness for the believer (I Cor.

1:30).

Jesus displayed righteousness in all of His dealings with others.

He never contradicted the revelation of His righteousness in the Law.

Here the emphasis is upon his righteousness being displayed in the way He rules over His people.

There is great comfort in this truth as we realize that Jesus Christ will never contradict His character in the way He works in our lives.

Do you fear his rule over your life and all the details it encompasses?

Then see Jesus Christ as your King of righteousness.

History records a multitude of kings and dictators and presidents who lacked the righteous character in their reigns, and thus terrorized their people.

But our Lord is never like that!

We are secure in his righteousness.

For a people under the strain of persecution it was vital that they knew that their Sovereign rules in righteousness.

\\ “King of Salem,” is explained to mean “king of peace.”

The ancient city of Jerusalem was likely the place referred to in this title of Melchizedek.

There he exercised a godly rule and the city was blessed with peace.

But his title was simply a shadow of the lasting, eternal peace that comes through Jesus Christ.

Isaiah prophesied that He would be called, “the Prince of peace” (9:6).

Paul declared Christ to be our peace who through His own death delivered us from being at enmity with God (Eph.

2:14-16).

The need for peace has never changed.

Circumstances may be different, but the struggle of humanity to live at peace with God has existed since Adam.

It is only through the justification that is in Christ, received by faith, that “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom.

5:1).

\\ Let’s go back to our first century audience for a moment.

All of life was coming unglued for them.

Threatened by persecution on one hand, and fear of having embraced the wrong religion on the other, they were distraught and needed assurance.

The entire Epistle breathes an air of assurance for these embattled saints.

They could count on the reign of Jesus Christ to be righteous.

He would exercise his rule in demonstration of the perfections of his character.

And they could count on the rule of Christ over their lives eventuating in peace.

Their peace was threatened.

So this pastoral writer uses the shadow of the ancient Melchizedek to show them the substance of Jesus Christ as their king of peace.

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Effective mediator \\ *The primary emphasis of Hebrews 7 is upon Jesus Christ being a better mediator than the Aaronic priests.

They served for hundreds of years and none of them adequately mediated the way to God for the people.

Their priestly duties were temporary, serving for 30 years if spared death, and then being replaced by someone else.

They offered sacrifices that could not take away sin (10:4) based upon a covenant that could not make the people righteous (8:6-7).

But the type prefigured the antitype who would never be replaced and whose work would be eternally effective.

“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.”

\\ Some have taken this text as an indication that Melchizedek was an angel or even a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ.

The Genesis 14 text does not tell us anything about the genealogy of Melchizedek.