Melchizedek: A Type of Christ

Hebrews 7:1-10

     Take your Bibles as we begin, and turn to the 7th chapter of Hebrews for our study tonight.  We begin this chapter, and we'll be discussing Melchizedek, a type of Christ.  Melchizedek, a type of Christ, and to begin with, we'll consider Hebrews 7 verses 1 through 10, and I'm sure your heart will be enriched as we really continue all through chapter 7 and 8, and even into chapter 9, and deal with the priesthood of Christ.  Particularly foundational are these first ten verses that we understand carefully the character of Melchizedek. 

     Now there's much in the Scripture that comes under the category of typology.  There are many theological terms that we use in Bible study and in Bible teaching.  One of them is typology.  Whenever we talk about a type, we mean an Old Testament picture of the person and work of Christ.  For example, in the Old Testament, we read about a brazen serpent being lifted up, and all who looked upon the serpent were healed from the snakebites; and then we hear in John chapter 3 that that is a picture of Jesus Christ; and it says, "As the Son of Man was lifted...as the serpent was lifted up, so shall the Son of Man be lifted up, and those who look on Him in faith shall be healed from sin." 

     We read in the Old Testament about lambs being slain, and then we hear the words of John the Baptist, "Behold, the Lamb of God."  Reference to Jesus Christ.  There are many pictures in the Old Testament of Christ.  We call these types, and Christ is the anti-type or the fulfillment of that type.  Now, we've shared this many times in reference to much of our Bible instruction, and that's just a brief word of review.

     But as we come to Hebrews chapter 7, we meet another Old Testament type.  Now, keep in mind that types are always frail illustrations, at best.  A lamb rates no comparison with the Lamb of God realistically.  Nor does a serpent of grass rate a relationship to Jesus Christ realistically.  They are merely humble pictures, meant to give us insight from an illustrative point of view; and we say, at the same time, that Melchizedek in no way deserves an equality with Jesus Christ; but he does serve as a very interesting picture of Christ; and we're going to see that tonight.  I feel that this has to be one of the most graphic types of Christ, if for no other reason than the fact that it is given so much space in the New Testament - all of this area of Hebrews chapter 7. 

     Now, chapter 7 is really the main chapter in the epistle to the Hebrews, because it tackles the key question which concerned the Jews, and that was the question of priesthood.  This was the basic question.  Now, when we talk about a priest today, many people think about a lotta different things.  They think of a little man who's got a funny, little robe, and he goes around blessing people or...or passing out certain little elements or going through certain rituals.  Or maybe you think of a...of a Jewish priest historically who wore all kinds of paraphernalia, had a funny hat on, and so forth and so on.  Or maybe you know some other kind of organization that has priests, and they look a certain way.  We think of priests as kind of offbeat little outside people with backward scholars and...and they really have a rather strange relationship to our society and exist in a kind of a religious world all their own.

     But to the Jew, the priesthood was very exalted, and the priesthood was very intrinsic to Judaism.  The priests really were the ones who connected men with God...and the Latin word for priest is pontifex.  Take it apart, and it means bridge builder.  The priest was the one who built the bridge from man to God; and to the Jew, the priesthood was really very, very important.  To them, you see, religion was access to God; and since they couldn't go directly to God, they had to go through a mediator; and the priests were designed to be mediators.

     For example, on the Day of Atonement, they couldn't go into the Holy of Holies and put the blood on the mercy seat.  The high priest had to do that.  In other words, he mediated between God and men.  He built the bridge.  This was how God designed it, that certain men would be called out, set apart, sons of Aaron and Levi, to minister as priests; and they would build bridges between men and God, according to God's specifications. 

     Later on in Hebrews, in chapter 9, it says, "Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sins."  Now, the priests couldn't have direct access to God except through a sacrifice, because God had designed that sin would be paid for by a blood sacrifice.  So the priest made the sacrifice, carried it all out, and, therefore, was the link between men and God.  He was the one who actually did all of the technicalities of the sacrifice and offered the blood as an atonement for sin.  God had made a perfect law, only men had broken it.  Thus, men's fellowship with God was broken.  They needed to be rejoined again; and when a man repented and made an offering, and the priest went through the ritual, then the genuineness of the man's repentance was shown in his obedience to the sacrifice.

     Lemme clear that up so you'll understand it.  I believe God.  How do I know I believe God?  By what I do.  That's the Book of James.  In the Old Testament, when a man repented of his sin, he proved the validity of his repentance by offering a sacrifice, and the priest administered the sacrifice and, thus, was the bridge between God and man.  But human priests were frail, and human priests were sinful.  Before they could ever offer sacrifices for anybody else, they had to offer sacrifices for themselves because of their frailties. 

     So in the Book of Hebrews, the writer wants to prove to us that there's a greater high priest than any Jewish one.  That there's a greater priest than any Hebrew priest, one who doesn't need to make atonement for his own sins; and the problem with the Jewish priesthood was that it was so inadequate.  That what they did today wasn't worth anything tomorrow.  They had to do it over and over and over again, constantly, constantly, constantly.  There was never any final satisfaction.  Every time a man sinned, he had to go all the way over there; do it all over again.  Then he'd sin again, and go over and do it all over again.  It was a constant going on.  The priests never ceased.  They were bathed in blood incessantly, offering sacrifices. 

     So the Holy Spirit in the Book of Hebrews shows that what we need is a new and better priesthood, a new and better sacrifice and points out that both of those are realized in Jesus Christ, who Himself is a better sacrifice and a better priest.   Now, we have already seen in our introductory thoughts about Hebrews that the Hebrew...the Book of Hebrews is a presentation of the preeminence of Christ.  That it presents Jesus Christ as the exalted one; and it talks about the fact that He is the mediator of a better covenant with a better hope.  He's the bringer of a better promise and a better sacrifice, better substance, a better country, a better resurrection, a covenant not earthly but heavenly, a heavenly Christ, a heavenly calling, a heavenly gift, a heavenly country, a heavenly Jerusalem, and on and on you find these phrases in Hebrews. 

     In chapter 8 verse 1, we have a summary.  "Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum:  We have such an High Priest, who is seated on the right hand of throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man."  In other words, we have a High Priest in the heavenlies not like any earthly high priest.  Men needed a high priest because they needed somebody to build a bridge to God; but those men were inadequate, because of their own sin; and what they did, they had to do over and over and over again.  And finally a great glorious Priest has come along.

     Now, you see, to the Jew, this is very important, because he knows of no way to get yourself connected with God apart from a priest; and so the Holy Spirit says, "Christ is that perfect Priest."  Not only does He fit the qualifications of a priest, but He supersedes any qualifications of any priest you've ever seen.  He's far beyond...

     So the Holy Spirit writes all of this about the priesthood of Jesus Christ, because this is the very heart of Judaism.  He has talked about the fact that Jesus is superior to prophets, superior to angels, superior to Moses, superior to Joshua, in order to show them the importance of turning to Christ and the new covenant.  He shows how Jesus is superior to everything in the old covenant; but the heartbeat of Judaism is the priesthood; and if Jesus is really who He claims to be, then He must supersede Aaron.  He must be better than Aaron, and He must be better than every other priest. 

     Now, in chapter 4 verse 14, the Spirit declared that He was.  Listen to it.  "Seeing then that we have such a great High Priest that has passed into the Heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our profession.  For we have not an High Priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

     Now, here, the Holy Spirit introduces the priesthood of Christ and says, "We have such a great High Priest.  We have a great High Priest.  You don't need the priests of Judaism anymore.  You don't need the old system.  There is a great High Priest.  There is a bridge builder whose bridge stays, whose bridge remains; and once you cross that bridge, you remain eternally in the fellowship of God.  There is such a bridge builder, and it is Jesus Christ."

     So in chapter 4 verses 14 to 16, he introduced Jesus as a priest.  In chapter 5 verses 1 to 10, he showed that Jesus was better than Aaron.  He pointed out that Jesus was better than Aaron, and that was an amazing thing.  And then he was going to go on and compare Melchizedek to Jesus, but he stopped in chapter 5 verse 11, and we've been studying that; and in 5:11 to 6:20, you have a parenthesis; and in that parenthesis, he says, in effect, "I wanna tell you about Melchizedek, but you're too spiritual stupid to handle it." 

     Now he says, "Mature," and we've...we believe and are committed to the fact that he's talking here to unbelievers, and he's saying, "Come on to Christ.  Wake up from your spiritual sluggishness.  Accept the new covenant, that you might have the understanding to comprehend what I'm gonna say to you."...They must understand that Jesus is a priest of a higher order than Aaron, that Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek.  That's 5:10.  He just introduces that statement, and he says, "Oh," verse 11, "I'd like to say some things, but you're spiritually stupid."  Then he urges them to leave Judaism to come all the way to Christ.  They're right on the verge in order that, in the maturity that comes with salvation, their minds and hearts might be open to understand how Jesus relates to Melchizedek; and so he warns them all the way through chapter 6 to come to Christ; and then in verse 20, he gets right back to his point.  "Jesus made an high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."  And then immediately in chapter 7 verse 1, he launches into this comparison. 

     Now, it's interesting to me that he would say, "I can't say this to you till you get mature," and then immediately say it to them.  If he was talking to Christians who needed to grow up, he would have had to wait a long time before he ever started chapter 7; but since the maturity that he's talking about is the maturity that comes in salvation and is a momentary maturity, he can then say, "Now I'm going right on for those of you who know Christ."...

     And so he introduces Melchizedek, and he says, "Jesus is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek."  Now, there's all kinds of conjecture about who Melchizedek is.  Some insist that he is an angel, and this is a common thought.  However, in chapter 5 verse 1, I think that is done away with, because it says, "Every high priest is taken from among men."  Therefore, he couldn't be an angel.  Others suggest that he is Jesus Christ, and the reason they say that is because there is so much mystery around him.  However, it says in verse 3, "He was made like unto the Son of God."  It does not say, "He was the Son of God."  A rose is not like a rose.  A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose, you know.  There's a difference between being like something and being that thing, and I think, clearly, that, in my own heart and mind, Melchizedek is neither angel or Christ, but he is a type of Christ, a man...whom God designs to use as a picture of Jesus Christ.  But it's not for us to play with that anyway.  The secret things belong to the Lord, so we don't wanna spend a lotta time on that.

     All we know about Melchizedek comes out of three verses in the Old Testament, and we'll look at those in a minute; but the whole place that Melchizedek occupies in sacred history is one of the most remarkable proofs of inspiration, and the unity of the Scripture as written by the Divine Spirit.  The whole concept of Melchizedek is an amazing insight into the fact that God wrote the Bible.  For example, in the Book of Genesis, we have these three little verses about Melchizedek.  A thousand years later, we find a Psalm with just a single verse about him; and, in that, God Himself swears to His Son that He will be a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.  That's Psalm 110:4.  

     Another thousand years passes by, and another...another verse becomes the seed of this wonderful exposition...about Melchizedek; and, you know, you can see nothing less than the divine order of the mind of the Spirit guiding Melchizedek and guiding Abraham with a view through all of these thousands of years to coming up to a perfect picture of Jesus Christ...

     Melchizedek and Abraham had no idea what was gonna happen 2,000 years, at least, after them; and that's a...that's easily 2,000 years.  The Psalmist had no conception, and, yet, God knew exactly what He was doing with the person of Melchizedek.  You know what that tells me?  That tells me the same God that wrote the Book of Hebrews also wrote the Book of Genesis.  That's what inspiration is all about. 

     Now in verses 1 to 10, he tells us about Melchizedek.  Now, I realize that's a whole lot of introduction, but I had to give it to you.  All right, let's look at two things:  the superiorities of Melchizedek presented and the superiorities of Melchizedek proven.  First of all, they're presented in verses 1 to 3; and the Spirit unfolds this fascinating character for us.  Look at verse 1.  "For this Melchizedek...just coming right off of verse 20...For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him."  We'll stop right there. 

     Now here we meet this guy, Melchizedek.  We learn a few things.  King of Salem, priest of the Most High God, he met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed Abraham.  Now, this comes directly from Genesis 14:17.  You might look at it for just a moment.  In Genesis 14 verse 17, we read this.  "And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer."  Now this is Abraham coming back after he's slaughtered Chedorlaomer and his three cohort kings, "And the king of Sodom goes out to meet Abraham on his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him at the Valley of Shaveh (which is the King's Dale); and Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine; and he was the priest of the Most High God.  And he blessed him...that is Abraham...and said, 'Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be the Most High God, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hands.'  And he gave him tithes of all." 

     Abraham tithed to Melchizedek.  That's the beginning and the end of the all you'll ever hear about Melchizedek.  You say, "Boy, how in the world could that signify anything?"  It does, very much.  Now listen to the what...to what happened in the record.  In Genesis chapter 14, we...we get all the detail leading up to this.  Chedorlaomer, incidentally, at that time, there were little pockets of land which were ruled by tribal chieftains many times who were really kings.  There was the king of Sodom, and there was the king of Elamites, and there was the king of...of this little group and that little group, and they all had their own little establishment; and Abraham was a very important man who ruled over his own people of the tribe that was his; and all of these individuals had their little dominions, all in that area of Jordan. 

     Now, Chedorlaomer was an Elamite king; and he got together with three allied kings and raided this area.  He came over to Jordan, and he raided TransJordan.  Then he raided the Negev; and he defeated all these little city-states, as they were, around Jordan, including Sodom.  He defeated that area and carried off a large number of captives, as well as Lot, Abraham's nephew.  You remember that Lot had gone to live in Sodom.  Well, Lot got carried away.  Now, news of this reached Abraham at Mamre.  Abraham lived up further north near Hebron, and Abraham decided to get some forces together and chase Chedorlaomer and these other kings.  So he did, and he overtook them at Damascus, launched a surprise attack, and they fled, leaving all the captives and all the spoil; and you can't really get a better deal than that. 

     So Abraham gathered up all the captives and all the spoil, and he took off for home.  Well, on the way, he ran into the king of Sodom, who was rejoicing over what had happened; and he said to Abraham, in effect, "You oughta keep all the spoil for what you've done," and Abraham said no, because Abraham had promised the Lord that he wouldn't do such a thing, so he didn't.

     Now, immediately before Abraham ran into the king of Sodom, he met this man, Melchizedek, who was the king of another little area called Salem.  We'll say more about that in a minute.  And this guy was not only the king, but he was the priest of the Most High God; and when he met Abraham, he blessed him, and then Abraham took of the spoils and paid it to Melchizedek, and then he fades away, and that's all we ever hear...

     You say, "Well, I don't understand what's so significant about this guy."  Well, that's what we're gonna see.  Now, I want to illustrate this to you if I might.  On the left-hand of the screen is Aaron's priesthood.  On the right-hand is Melchizedek's priesthood.  Now, Aaron's priesthood was national to begin with.  In other words, it was strictly Judaistic.  The priests that were under Aaron were priests of Israel.  Secondly, the priests were subject to the kings in a measure.  They were not kings themselves.  They were subjects in a kingdom.  Thirdly, Aaron's priesthood offered no permanent righteousness in peace.  Only that continual, continual, continual sacrificing, nothing ever permanent.  It never established a permanent righteousness for a man nor permanent peace with God.  That peace and that righteousness were shattered every time they sinned.  Constant repetition. 

     Fourthly, Aaron's priesthood was hereditary.  It didn't matter how good of a guy you were.  If you were born in the right family, you were automatically a priest, no matter what you were.  Now that poses some problems, obviously.  Fifthly, it was a timed priesthood.  They only existed in it from the year...from the age of about 25 to 50, and it was over.  It was limited by time.  So Aaron's priesthood was a national one subject to kings, no permanent righteousness in peace, hereditary, and limited by time.  Now, this is very important for us to understand because Melchizedek's priesthood supersedes Aaron's in every single point.  "Therefore," says the Holy Spirit, "Christ is a better priest than Aaron."

     You say, "So what?"  So to the Jew that means a lot, because if Christ is a greater priest than Aaron, then they need to turn to Christ.  Then the new covenant is better than the old covenant, and that's the whole point.  God is trying to reach Israel, trying to get Israel to turn from Judaism to Christ and Christianity.  So it's important they understand that Christianity is superior in its priesthood...

     Now, we'll take these one by one.  These five areas are given to us right here in verses 1 to 3, and we see the comparison with Melchizedek.  The first one is this, Melchizedek's priesthood was universal.  It was not national.  It was universal.  Notice verse 1, "For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God."  Now, this is a rich concept; and we could easily pass it by; but lemme give it to you.  Stay with me.  In relation to Israel, God took the name of Jehovah.  If I had a little pencil here, I'd diagram it for you.  God's name is I Am, right?  Yahweh in the Hebrew, but no Jew would say the name of God; and so, since the Jews didn't wanna say the name Jehovah, they took the consonants of Jehovah and the vowels out of Adonai which means Lord, and stuck 'em together and got Yehowah, which is Jehovah.  So Jehovah's not really the name of God.  It's only that name which Israel came up with in an effort not to say Yahweh, and yet express who they wanted to express.  So it's a combination word, Jehovah, and it deals strictly with Israel; and watch this.  Aaron's priests were priests of Jehovah. 

     You remember that all the line of Aaron, the Levite line of Aaron were...and, incidentally, within the line of the Levites, you still had to be a son of Aaron; but all of those who came from Aaron were priests only of Jehovah.  That is, they were related to God only in connection with Israel.  They couldn't run over here and minister over there and there and everywhere else.  They were tied to Israel's economy...but, watch this, it does not say that Melchizedek was the priest of Jehovah.  It says he was the priest of what?  The Most High God.  Now, that is a universal name for God, El Elyon; and it reaches everywhere and everything in heaven and earth.  It is the universal name of God that includes Jew and Gentile - far broader than the Jewish term Jehovah. 

     So whereas Aaron's priesthood related just to Israel, Melchizedek's was broader than that and related to all men.  Now, when the Holy Spirit says Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, do you see the significance?  The significance is this.  Jesus is not just the Messiah of Israel, but of the world; so it is very important to establish Melchizedek's priesthood as universal if you're going to say Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. 

     Now, you see, the Jew, in the Jewish mind, there had to be historical reason for everything or a historical foundation; so God chooses Melchizedek as His perfect foundation to teach this truth.  There have been priests who've been broader than Israel before.  There's no reason to believe there can't be some more, and there is one, Jesus Christ.  So it transcends Israel.

     Now, Abraham understood this concept, because in Genesis 14:22, he said, in response to Melchizedek, "I have lifted up my head unto Jehovah...and then he said comma...God Most High."  See he understood Jehovah in the covenant relationship.  He also understood Jehovah in the sense that He was God of everything.  In Deuteronomy 32:8 and 9, we read this.  "When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.  For Jehovah's portion is His people."  You see?  The Most High God deals with the nations, but Jehovah's portion is Israel.  You see?  Jehovah is a covenant name for God dealing with Israel.

     Aaron's priesthood dealt in the covenant with Israel.  Melchizedek's was broader than that, for Israel had not yet been spawned from the loins of Abraham; and so his priesthood was broad. 

     In Daniel, for example, where the first great king of the Gentiles, Nebuchadnezzar, is brought through seven years of humbling until he finally acknowledges the facts of God.  He says this.  He knew that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men.  Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "The Most High doeth according to His will in heaven and in earth."  And here was a Gentile acknowledging the Most High.  That's a term that has reference to Gentiles.  That's a broad term for God; and you'll remember that even the demons, when our Lord cast them out, cried, "What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of the Most High God?"  And they, again, used the universal term for God.

     In fact, Jesus says, for those of us who come into His relationship, He promised that we shall be called the sons of the Most High; and so the term the Most High is then a universal name for God in...in the sense of His universal rule and character as it involves all men; and this means that Melchizedek's priesthood is not limited to a nation.  He is not just priest of Jehovah.  He is priest of the Most High God, El Elyon, possessor of heaven and earth, above all national, and above all dispensational distinction...

     Now, you see, this is very important, my friends, because Judaism was a closed system; and they didn't really seek converts.  Remember Jonah?  The most horrible thing that ever happened to him after his short ride on a long fish was the fact that Nineveh repented; and after Nineveh repented, he went out and said, "God, I'd rather be dead than have Gentiles horning in on my God."  Was a very closed system and had no room for Gentiles.  Today, there are 14 million Jews in the world, and I heard one rabbi say, "We don't want any more, either.  We're not interested in proselyting anybody."  They're locked in to their system, not by the design of God, but by their own failure to be the witness God intended them to be; and so their own Messiah is not even their own, but a priest after the order of Melchizedek.

     And this, I think, is illustrated in what - 1 John 2:2, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but...what?...for the sins of the whole world."  Certainly, we understand that.  "He's the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world," John 1:29.  I'm thinking of John 4:42, isn't it, that said similar things.  Yes, "And we know that this is indeed the Christ...these are the Samaritans