Melkizidek

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Taking the “Great Adventure” course with Jeff Cavins in our adult faith formation ministry.
When we discussed Melkizidek and I re-read the passages in Genesis and Hebrews chapter 7 - I thought - no geneology, no beginning and no end, offers bread and wine(prefigurement of the Eucharist?) - I thought how fitting that the beginning of the story would have the two ends meet!
Cavins says that Melkizidek is/may be Shem as is supported by Jewish tradition.(Shem is the son of Noah that received Noah’s blessing)

I say I’m not so sure I agree with Cavins and the rabbis.

I know I have not posted for awhile but I can get sidewalk commentary around home. I’d like to hear what some of our frequent posters as well as the Apologists think if they see this.

The reply to me by our teacher in the course is awesome- I told him I would recommend him to Catholic answers as a Apologist.

After a few days with his permission I will post his reply to my
interpretation of those passages, and see why sola scriptura fails.
 
Don’t the scriptures say somewhere that Melchizedek didn’t have a father or a mother?
 
I was doing an online Catholic Bible study and came across an interesting part of the lesson. According to a long tradition - Jewish and Christian - the mysterious Melchizedek is actually Shem, the great patriarch, the righteous inheritor of the blessings promised by God after the Flood. Here is some of the text and a link to it.

salvationhistory.com/onli…_lesson3_1.cfm

d. Shem’s Blessing

God promises to bless Abraham. And we know that those blessings come in his descendants, especially in Jesus. But during the course of Genesis, the only actual blessing that Abraham receives is from the mysterious king-priest, Melchizedek (see Genesis 14:18-20).

We have to do a little background, and even a little math, to understand what that’s all about.

Shem receives a cosmic blessing from Noah - “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem!” - which marks the first time in Scripture that God is identified with any one human being (see Genesis 9:26-27). God is designated as “the God of Shem” - a sign of Shem’s great righteousness and stature before God.

However, then Shem disappears. Unlike the other first-borns - Adam, Cain, Noah - we don’t see him fall into disgrace. In fact, we don’t hear anything more about him - except that he has sons and that ten generations later one of his descendants, Terah, gives birth to three sons, the first-born of which is Abraham (see Genesis 11:26-27). It is very curious, though, that we never see Shem - heralded as the most righteous of the men born after the Flood - handing on his blessing to his first-born or to any one of his children.

This is where the math comes in: Add up the numbers given in the account of the descendants of Shem’s line (see Genesis 11:10-26): Abraham is born 290 years after Shem’s first-born, Arpachshad. Now, if Shem is 100 years old when Arpachshad is born, that means that he’s 390 when Abraham is born. And, if Shem lived five hundred years after Arpachshad’s birth, and Abraham lived to be 175 years old (see Genesis 25:7), that means that Shem outlived Abraham by 35 years.

Who cares? Why does it matter? Well, for the ancient rabbis and for centuries of early Christian interpreters, including probably the author of the Letter to Hebrews, it mattered a great deal. It’s also the key to figuring out what’s happening between Abraham and Melchizedek in Genesis 14.

If Melchizedek, a name which means “king of righteousness” (see Hebrews 7:2), is really Shem, the great son of Noah, then it means that the blessing God gave to Noah and Noah in turn gave to Shem is now being passed on to Abraham. The blessing of the righteous first-born will pass from Abraham on to Isaac (see Genesis 25:5) and to Jacob (see Genesis 27:27-29).

But with Melchizedek this blessing of the first-born becomes something royal and something priestly. And this becomes something crucial for the plot and meaning of the rest of the Bible.

Melchizedek is a high priest and a king. If he’s also the first-born son of Noah, then his blessing upon Abraham is a sort of “ordination,” a consecration, by which Abraham too becomes, not only a righteous first-born son, but a priest of God Most High.

There is probably twice as much material, on this subject, on the link above. I think this is fascinating and would love to have someone add more background to this topic.

Peace,

Ryan
 
I’ve always heard, all my life,
that the Rabbis generally believe Melchizedek to have been
Shem the son of Noah (from which we get the name,
Semites or Shemites).

There is no concrete proof one way or another, unfortunately.

His being “without father or mother” acknowledges that who he was for a certainty is not recorded in scripture, nor is recorded the “beginning” or the “end” of his priesthood.

There are even some who believe that Melchizedek was a theophany of the pre-incarnate Christ appearing on earth for a time in visible form, but there is no proof of this either.

Tis a mystery !!
Jaypeeto4
+JMJ+
 
Angels don’t have fathers or mothers–why couldn’t God create Melchizidek without a father and a mother?

If Jesus’ priesthood is after the order of Melchizedek and is forever maybe the Trinity created him to serve Them–they created angels to serve Them–why not Melchizedek?

The Shem explanation appeals to Jews who don’t think that Jesus is a priest forever and can’t comprehend a priest being forever–if he is Shem and Earthly and finite that is much easier for them to accept!
 
In the Jewish tradition, all priests had to be Levites and they demonstrated Levitical authenticity through their genealogy. Melkizidek was without mother or father and thus could not have been a priest of the Jews. Same thing with Jesus Christ, our high priest, who not without a mother, was certainly not a Levite. He was of the tribe of Judah but his ancestral connections did not really matter. What matters is he is the son of God.
 
Here’s a question / issue I have:

I can accept that “Without father or mother,” Could mean that he was simply without any family at the time that Abram met him. However, the next passages in Hebrews 7 are what give me trouble, “without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life,”

How is it that we can contend that it is a mere man who has no genealogy? Perhaps we can suggest that the text intimates that this just meant it was unknown? and that he was just really old and seems to have been around forever?

I dunno… maybe the ancient writers of Hebrew wrote in such ways but to me, in English, this REALLY seems to indicate a state of eternalness. It also seems that the writer went out of his way to make this clear.

Thus, to me it doesn’t make sense to attribute this person a human nature in history. It makes more sense to me that this is a theophany or a Christophany.
 
2008GOD’S FINAL WITNESS by Ronald Weinland

MELCHIZEDEKPeople have speculated on the meaning of the story of Melchizedek, but noone has been able to really understand it. However, by learning the truthregarding this story, a person can actually begin to better understand howGod worked in and through Jesus Christ for the purpose of accomplishing Hiswill to create Elohim—the God Family. How God Worked With AbrahamMuch can be learned about how God can dwell in mankind by understanding howHe revealed Himself to Abraham. Let’s focus first upon the occasion whenGod and two angels visited Abraham. It was at this time that God first toldAbraham that Sarah would give birth to a son, even though she was wellbeyond the years for childbearing. The entire story does not need to berepeated here, but only that portion that begins to reveal understanding:The ETERNAL ONE [Yahweh] appeared to him [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre,as he [Abraham] sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. He lifted uphis eyes and looked, and there before him were three men that stood outbefore him. When he saw them he ran from before the tent door to meet them,and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, “My Lord, if now I havefound favor in your sight, do not continue on, but please stay here a whilewith your servant.” (Genesis 18:1-3)The purpose in looking at these verses is to make several points. All threewho appeared before Abraham appeared as physical men. Angelic beings areunable to appear to humans unless God grants them the ability to do so.When God reveals Himself through a physical manifestation (in the form of ahuman body), the conditions are unique. A physical body cannot containAlmighty God, but in some of His earlier encounters with man God did use aphysical body through which to communicate. It should be understood, as theBible clearly teaches, that no one (no human) has ever seen God. When sucha statement is made, it is speaking of the literal sense because mankind isincapable of seeing anything in the spirit world where God resides. Mancannot see spirit. Only when a physical manifestation (of that which isspirit) is given can man see something. This is not to be confused withthose things Jesus Christ taught when He spoke of the ability to see theFather (John 4) and Himself (after His resurrection). In those examples,Christ as speaking of things that are of the spirit, which have to do withunderstanding (seeing spiritually) and the revelation of God seeing theways of God, mind of God, truth of God, and identity f God—to know God).When Jesus explained such things it ever concerned a person’s physicalability to see God. here was an occasion when God revealed a glory to Moseshat was beyond simply seeing a physical manifestation of a human body (likeGod used to speak with Abraham). Moses saw manifestation of light and ashape of a body that was a greater glory than the appearance of a man, butMoses did not see the Spirit appearance of Almighty God.Returning to the story of Abraham, the scripture makes it clear that it wasthe ETERNAL who spoke to him. Again, God did this by making a physical bodyappear before Abraham through which God spoke. This physical body was notGod. Once God was finished with His visit with Abraham, the physical bodythrough which He manifested Himself no longer existed. After Jesus Christdied and was resurrected, He appeared to some of his disciples on differentoccasions. At one point, He appeared to the disciples in a room that wascompletely closed (Luke 24 and John 20). After being resurrected, He wasfully spirit and no longer human in a physical body. Christ was in a spiritbody. Yet, even in this, Jesus Christ chose to manifest Himself as heappeared when He was in His physical body, but now with the wounds in Hisside, feet and hands. Indeed, if God so chooses, He can make a physicalbody appear before others and communicate to them through that body; butthat body is not God.
 
The Mystery of Melchizedek

Melchizedek is known as being a high priest of God unto Abraham. In thebook of Hebrews, Jesus Christ is spoken of as being made a High Priestafter the order of Melchizedek. First, let’s notice what the Book ofHebrews has to say concerning Melchizedek:For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who metAbraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, blessed him, to whom alsoAbraham gave a tenth part of all (tithe), and who first being byinterpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem,which is, King of peace, and being without father, without mother, withoutdescent, and having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, but madelike [Gk.–“modeled after, to copy like, to produce a facsimile, to rendersimilar”] unto the Son of God, now continually [forever] abides a priest.(Hebrews 7:1-3)This story of Melchizedek is introduced on an occasion whenAbram (whose name God later changed to Abraham) went to rescue his nephew,Lot, who had been taken captive by invading kings (Genesis 14). At thispoint, Melchizedek met Abram as he was returning from the victory he hadover the kings. Lot returned with Abram, along with all the people andgoods that had been taken away. It says that Melchizedek met Abram andblessed him, and that Abram paid his tithes to Melchizedek.The story is very general in nature, but Paul used it to teach some veryimportant lessons to the Hebrews concerning the importance of Jesus Christ,who was now the High Priest of God forever, after the order of Melchizedek.The story is important for reasons other than what Paul addressed. As itsays in Hebrews 7, this Melchizedek was without father, without mother andwithout descent. He was a man in physical appearance, but it is clear hewas not born of mankind, since he had no father or mother, and he had nolineage of mankind. Some have speculated he may have been an angel or evenJesus Christ, but neither is true.It states that this Melchizedek had “neither beginning of days, nor end oflife.” Angels were created, and therefore, they had a beginning. JesusChrist died and was placed in the tomb for three days and three nights, socertainly He had an “end of life,” and, as we have already covered, He didnot have life until He was born of His mother, Mary.It should be easy to understand who Melchizedek was. There is only onebeing that has never had a beginning of days or an end of life, and sincethis is the definition of eternal life, then Melchizedek could only be theETERNAL God. But how is this possible?This is similar to what we read earlier, where God manifested a human bodyfor Abraham to see, through which God then visited with him. Melchizedekwas another means through which God worked with Abraham, and Melchizedekwas a representation of what Jesus Christ would become. Rather thanspeaking directly to Abraham through a physically manifested body, Godworked through a physically manifested man who was presented to others asthe priest of God. Abraham’s attitude and respect toward a physicalappearing priest of God was an important part of Abraham’s training andtesting. Abraham regarded Melchizedek with the honor he should have shown arepresentative of God, but in this case, it was God who was workingdirectly with him. Again, this physical manifestation of Melchizedek couldnot contain the ETERNAL God, but God did work through this Melchizedek tofurther accomplish His work with Abraham, through whom He (God) would bringabout great things in His plan. Hebrews 7:3 states that this Melchizedek was modeled after the likeness ofwhat Jesus Christ would become. At the time of Abraham, there was no onewho would continually abide as God’s high priest in direct service to Him,but since the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is one who willcontinually abide before God as High Priest—His very Son! Melchizedekfunctioned only as God lived through him.Melchizedek was not a separate individual living being, but only a vesselthrough whom God worked. Melchizedek functioned (in physical appearance asa priest) as a representative of God.Notice what is said of Christ who became High Priest:So also, Christ did not glorify Himself to be made a high priest, but Hewho said to Him, “You are My Son, today have I begotten you,” and as Hesaid also in another place, “You are a priest for ever after the order ofMelchizedek.” (Hebrews 5:5-6)It would be good to notice from where both of these scriptures were quoted.The first quote is from a Psalm that is a prophecy about something thatChrist would later declare:“I will declare the decree,” the ETERNAL ONE [Yahweh] has said to Me, “Youare My Son, and this day have I begotten you.” (Psalms 2:7).The second quote is a prophecy David wrote concerning Jesus Christ:The ETERNAL ONE [Yahweh] has sworn, and will not change, “You [the Messiah]are a priest forever after the order [Heb.–manner] of Melchizedek.” (Psalms110:4)Jesus Christ has become God’s High Priest forever, and He will continuallyabide in this office for mankind.
 
The Dead Sea Scroll community seemed to place a very high value on him, basically Messianic.
 
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