King of Righteousness and Peace

Bill Russell is a sports legend. Not only was his playing unmatched by anyone in the NBA, including some big basketball names with which we’re familiar. In addition, Russell carries a unique piece of history that continues to baffle many today—he was a player and a coach of the Boston Celtics for a period of three years.

Let me share what Sports Illustrated wrote about him. Russell’s dominant play around the paint changed the dynamic of the NBA for 13 seasons. He was the missing piece that the Celtics – and every other team in the league, for that matter – were missing. Russell would go on to average 15.1 PPG, 22.5 RPG and 4.3 APG during his 13-year career. He grabbed 40 rebounds in two separate NBA Finals games and is one of only two players to grab more than 50 rebounds in a single NBA game (51 rebounds on Feb. 6, 1960 vs. Syracuse).

The level of success Russell experienced during his career was unprecedented, and it hasn’t even been approached since. He won 11 titles and made 12 All-Star teams in just 13 seasons. He also managed to win five MVP awards, and even pulled in an MVP award at the 1963 All-Star game.

His success certainly was not limited to his playing skills, either. Russell doubled as the Celtics’ head coach for his final three seasons and won two championships during that reign.

Though he carried two titles, player and coach, there is someone else who carried two titles, as a type of the Messiah. Those titles were that of Priest and King. Nobody else among the Jewish Levitical or Judaic history was even permitted to fill both roles, no matter how great the king or how righteous the priest.

Let’s take a little time to get the scoop on Melchizedek, though there is very little written about him.

Genesis 14:17–24 NASB95

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). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all. The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself.” Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ “I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share.”

Jesus Christ is superior as both King and Priest.

Before we get into the text, I want to take a bit of time to discuss types found in the Old Testament. We’ve gone over this in Sunday School various times, but I feel it necessary to do this again, as the author of Hebrews does a lot of comparing with the Old Testament and the New Covenant.

A type is an Old Testament person, activity, ceremony, event, etc., that has an antitype or a counterpart found in the New Testament. What is important to remember is that the type, that which is in the Old Testament, is not complete. In other words, it was very real, but not perfect. The antitype, found in the New Testament usually, is complete and perfect. We’ve seen this several times—the sacrificial lambs of the Old Testament were the imperfect, incomplete type which found its perfect fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who was the final sacrifice for the sins of all humanity. That is a bit of background for looking at Melchizedek now.

Uniqueness of Melchizedek - 7.1-3

The writer of Hebrews is about spend some time in this chapter to show how Christ’s priesthood is far superior to that of Melchizedek’s, and how his priesthood was better than that of the Levites. Thus, Christ’s priesthood is the greatest of all.

Hebrews 7:1–3 NASB95

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, 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. 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 first two verses sound very much like the Genesis passage I read earlier, as it should. We have discussed previously in our series how the priesthood was completely separated from the kingly rule. Also, we remember that anyone who tried to take on the office or the role of the priest, was severely judged by God, usually by death.

In these verses, we gather that Melchizedek not only had the role of priest, but he was also a king. This was obviously then, something which Aaron nor any other high priest of Israel had.

Do we dare assume that Melchizedek was a legitimate priest then, since he didn’t follow God’s future Levitical requirement for the priesthood? Well first of all, he was not a Jew; he was not a part of Abraham’s family. Also, you may not have caught this, but back in Genesis 14.18, the Bible says that he was the priest of the most high God. So, then the answer is that Melchizedek was a true priest.

The Levitical priests only ministered to the people of Israel. Throughout their ministry, we read that they were priests of Jehovah. In contrast, we read that Melchizedek was the priest of the most high God. The Hebrew name was not the covenant name in relation to Israel, but a much more universal name that had no national borders. This is incredibly important in that Jesus is the Savior of the world, not just the Jews. So centuries before the Levitical priesthood was even a thing, we see that our Lord truly cared for the whole world and that the plan of salvation would be for all who would believe. This should have made an impact on those that thought they were following a better plan by going back to the Levitical priesthood and the ways of Judaism.

We also discover a little more information about the man himself in the last part of verse 2. As most of you may recall, Jannita & I spent a good deal of time in prayer as we sought for the right name for each of our children. Each of their names has significance, which we discover that as they get older, plays true to their nature. In the Old Testament, in particular, names were incredibly important and significant. Even to the point that we have seen a person’s name get changed as a result of something which was taking place in their lives or that of their family’s.

Let’s look briefly at Melchizedek’s name and the identity of his reign. First, Melchizedek means king of righteousness in Hebrew. The location where he ruled as king was Salem which means peace. You might recall the Jewish greeting of shalom, which originates from Salem.

I can tell that some of you are piecing some things together here. We have bouncing around in our minds that the Bible often has Righteousness and Peace placed in close connection with each other. You and I also realize that a person can never experience true peace in their lives, unless that have been declared righteous in Jesus Christ. The word order is very specific in showing this. Being declared righteous is found in the term justified. Look at Romans 5.1.

Romans 5:1 NASB95

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

A person could never be declared righteous apart from Jesus Christ. Works and keeping the law could not cause us to be righteous. It is only through Jesus Christ.

We also discover something very unique as the author of Hebrews reminds us of what took place with the meeting with Abraham. Verse 2 tells us that Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils. What is so special about this? Later on, when the law was given, which these Hebrews knew a great deal about, the Jews were required to give God a tenth of all their produce—crops, herds, and flocks. This was to be brought to the Levites at the tabernacle or temple. However, for those who lived too far away, they were allowed to sell the produce and bring the money.

Now for those who suggest that tithing was only for the Jewish people under the law, I need to remind you that this was done long before the time of Moses. This was common practice by many nations, according to archaeologists. Thus, we can conclude that Abraham saw Melchizedek as one who represented God.

Verse 3 pops up with some very interesting thoughts; without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. Even ancestry.com would offer no help with Melchizedek. We know that Melchizedek was a man, so he obviously had parents. There was only One individual who was both God and man, that being Jesus Christ. However, what is significant is that even though Melchizedek was a very powerful and prominent individual from history, there is no record about his family tree. That is highly unusual. Especially when you consider that the Jewish priests, that were established later, had to be able to prove their Levitical heritage, or else they could not even be considered for the priesthood. The author of Hebrews is using this fact to show the superiority of Melchizedek to that of the Jewish priests, to which the discouraged Hebrews were wanting to go back.

So, since there is no information about his heritage, nor information about his own birth, and not even any information about his death, he fits into the unique role of being a phenomenal type or shadow or picture of Jesus. This is important, especially in the fact that Jesus is not dead but is alive and continuing to serve as our High Priest and King. Aaron and all the other Jewish high priests had a genealogical record. They all had a beginning and an ending. In addition, the Jewish priesthood ceased long ago, in A.D. 70, when Jerusalem was destroyed. However, Melchizedek’s priesthood states that he remains a priest perpetually. We see the fulfillment or the perfection of this in Jesus, from Hebrews 7:24-25: because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Authority of Melchizedek - 7.4-10

We’ve already established the uniqueness of Melchizedek and how Jesus completely fulfilled this, but what about his authority?

Hebrews 7:4–10 NASB95

Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choicest spoils. And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham. But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater. In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. 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.

The writer of Hebrews has a Holy Spirit led bias as he begins verse 4: Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choicest spoils.

It seems obvious by the fact of what Abraham did, that Melchizedek had the authority to accept the tenth of all the spoils, as the priest of the most high God, and to bless Abraham. By Abraham offering the tithe, he was in agreement that this king-priest was indeed great. In fact, for all who thought Abraham was the greatest, verse 7 undermines that thinking. The writer is stating the Abraham was less than Melchizedek. We observe that Melchizedek blessed Abraham, which continues to show his superiority to Abraham. Abraham also voluntarily gave this tithe in thanksgiving to the Lord. I appreciate how the Holy Spirit moved Abraham to do this, without it being a requirement. In addition, notice that he gave the best of all the spoils.

In the Old Testament Levitical priesthood, they were required to stop their ministry when they turned 50 years old. All of this shows that the individual priesthood was limited in time. Plus, the priests themselves died, so there was a reliance upon succession from the tribe of Levi. However, the author of Hebrews states in verse 8 that he lives on. Obviously Melchizedek did die since he was a man, though there was no biblical record. But his type is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who is eternal. Thus, Christ’s priesthood is far greater than that of those who followed Aaron. Plus, it is better than Melchizedek’s, since we know that he is but a type of the fulfillment found in Christ.

There is a philosophical pause that we give as we look at verses 9-10. Because the Levites were descendants of Abraham, it is as if they were giving tithes to Melchizedek, who is said to be greater than Abraham. So, recalling that in receiving the tithes, in giving the blessing, and noting that the author stated that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham, it is only logical that anything that came from Abraham, including the Levites, would be lesser than Melchizedek, who was a type of the One who is complete and perfect, Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

My friends, there are voices all around telling you that Jesus is really not necessary to get to heaven. Or they will tell you to just believe in yourself and not rely on some character named Jesus to help you become the person you need to be. Still others will tell you that if you just do certain things and avoid certain things, your odds of getting to heaven can be increased or decreased. There are even some who would suggest that you need to follow the law and all of its regulations (or at least the ones you can actually do) so that you can get to heaven. They would even go so far as to state that those people who don’t follow the law are actually less spiritual .

The reality for all of this is found in Jesus Christ alone. He is superior to anything having to do with the law, its rituals, its ceremonies, its celebrations. He is superior to any of the Levitical priests and all that they did in the ministry between the Jewish people and God. Just as Melchizedek was a priest, based on God’s calling and not his genealogy, so is Jesus. Yet even more so, as Jesus was and is fully God and fully man. Just as Melchizedek’s ministry was to everyone and not limited in scope, so is Jesus. Yet Jesus completed this in being the perfect sacrificial lamb and is alive forevermore as our Great High Priest. He is also our King whose reign shall never end, for there is no successor.