Melchizedek – Moment to Moment (Bible blog)

King of righteousness, King of peace, our Priest forever

Merry Christmas from Japan, everyone.

As we remember Christ today, I suppose it’s only appropriate to read this passage and remember just who he is. And he is far more than a baby in a manger.

The writer of Hebrews calls him a king and priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek was a character who “mysteriously” appears and disappears in Genesis 14.

I say this not in a supernatural way, but unlike most characters we see in the Bible, we see nothing of his genealogy.

We don’t know who his parents or children were. We see nothing recorded of his birth or death. He just appears in the story of Abraham, and then we never see him again.

As far as we know, he could still be living (although he most certainly isn’t).

And in Melchizedek, the writer of Hebrews sees a picture of Christ.

Melchizedek’s name meant, “King of Righteousness.”

He was also the king of Salem, a city whose name means “peace.” (It would later become Jerusalem).

And of course, in Jesus we see him who is the true king of righteousness and peace.

More, just as Melchizedek’s genealogy and very death is unknown, Jesus himself, though he had an earthly genealogy, lived much further back in eternity before the world even began.

And having been raised from the dead, he will live forever, never to die again.

Why is this important? Because he has also become our priest forever.

Back in the Old Testament under Mosaic law, there were many priests that came from the tribe of Levi. They served under a covenant that God made with the people, that if they would keep his commandments, he would be their God and they would be his people.

Why then do we need another priest if God’s law had already provided one, and not just one, but many throughout the years?

Because the covenant was imperfect.

In what way was it imperfect?

It was imperfect in that nobody could keep it perfectly, and could thus only bring judgment on those who were under it.

The priests themselves were imperfect. Day after day, they had to offer sacrifices for their own sins before they could offer sins for the people.

And even the sacrifices they offered were imperfect. As the writer will point out later, if they had been perfect, we would have had no more need for sacrifices. One would have been enough.

But the priests needed to offer the sacrifices day by day because they were insufficient to cover our sins.

So the writer of Hebrews tells us that we needed a better way to have a relationship with God and a better priest.

And both are found in Jesus. He was greater than all the other priests in several ways.

First, his “lineage.” He was of the spiritual line of Melchizedek, who blessed Abraham himself.

The writer of Hebrews points out that the greater is always the one that blesses the lesser, and so the priesthood of Melchizedek is greater than that which comes through Abraham’s descendant Levi. (4-10)

But more, God made an oath to Jesus that he made to no other priest. He said,

The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’ (21)

In that promise we see a third reason. Jesus was made a priest, not simply based on some law that said he had to be a descendant of Levi, but he was made a priest based on “indestructible life.” (16)

And so the writer of Hebrews tells us that now,

a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. (19)

In what way do we have a better hope?

Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. The writer of Hebrews explains.

Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Such a high priest meets our need–one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. (Hebrews 7:23-26)

Jesus offered one sacrifice for all time by dying on the cross for our sins. And because it was a perfect sacrifice, our salvation is complete. All we need to do now is put our trust in Him. (27)

That’s the hope we have.

So this Christmas, let us praise the King who makes us righteous before God because of his sacrifice, who brings us peace with God, and who remains our priest forever.

Merry Christmas!

Where blessing and success come from

“Abram and the battle of the kings.” Sounds like some kind of movie set in the middle ages or something like that. 🙂

Anyway, after Abram and his allies gained victory over the kings that had captured his nephew Lot and his family, it would’ve been pretty easy to let pride rise up.

“Here we are, just 318 men, and we rout these kings and their men. What a great military strategist I am! What a great leader I am!”

But Abram didn’t fall into that trap.

Instead, when Melchizedek came, pointing out that his victory came from the Lord, Abram acknowledged it by giving a tenth of the plunder to Melchizedek.

And instead of taking the rest of the plunder as his due for his great victory, he kept none of it—only dispersing some of it to his allies who had helped him and then giving the rest back to the king of Sodom and (assumedly) the king’s allies.

His reason? He remembered where true blessing came from, and would not receive anything from men whose lives were so ungodly. He said in verse 23,

I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’

How often do we fall into the trap of pride?

We begin to think that it’s only because of our own talents, abilities, and efforts that we find success in our lives, and forget that it was God who gave us the talents, abilities, and the strength to do those things in the first place.

And when we forget that, it’s so easy to forget God himself and to start seeking blessings in our lives apart from him, whether it be money, pleasure, or whatever.

That’s what happened to the Israelites when they came into the promised land. Within but a few generations, they quickly forgot that it was God who had brought them there.

As a result, they started seeking blessings from other gods, and in the process, they left God on the side.

It’s worth noting that in a lot of cases, they didn’t completely leave him behind; they just put him on the side while pursuing these other things.

That’s often how it is with us. We don’t really leave God behind. He just ends up on the side somewhere.

How do we avoid this trap when things are going well for us?

First, remember who God is. That he is, “God most high, Creator of heaven and earth.”

An alternate reading for “creator” in the NIV is “possessor.” In other words, because he is the creator, he owns everything, and he is the one who gives us all that we have.

In 1 Corinthians 4:7, Paul wrote,

For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

In Jeremiah 9:23–24, God adds,

“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.

As we boast in him and not in ourselves, it helps us to maintain perspective on where the blessings and success in our lives come from.

The second thing to remember is to give thanks to him for the blessings we’ve received—as Melchizedek did through his words, and Abram did through his giving.

Once in a while, I hear people say, “Christians don’t have to tithe. That was Old Testament law. We are not bound by that anymore.”

That’s true. But it’s worth noting that before the law came, Abraham—not Moses—set the precedent for tithing. And that he gave it as a sign of gratitude for what God had done.

I believe it is the same with us. We don’t give because of the Old Testament law or out of obligation.

Rather, it’s a way to acknowledge where we got our blessings from and to thank God for them. And in doing so, it helps us avoid the trap of pride.

Lord, help me always remember where my blessings come from. Help me always remember where my success comes from.

I know that they don’t come merely from my own talents or efforts. Rather, they all originate from you.

Help me to always keep a heart of gratitude towards you, to never push you to the side in pursuit of other things, and to always keep you at the center of my life.

In Jesus’ name, amen.