In my previous post, I invited us to look for the Messiah in the Old Testament and this next reflection was initially meant to be part of that text, for Melchizedek is another example where we see Yahusha (Jesus) in human form, however this Biblical episode is so interesting that it deserves a post of its own.
'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, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “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, remains a priest continually.
Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. (Hebrews 7:1-10)
One of the most mysterious persons in the Old Testament is without any doubt the High Priest and King Melchizedek. He is mentioned only a few times, in Genesis 14, in Psalm 110 and indirectly in Psalm 76. There is no further mention of him until the book of Hebrews. Very little is known about this Old Testament figure, it’s unknown whether he ever died, or where he went after his encounter with Abraham. Given Paul's description, it's quite obvious that Melchizedek was not human. Melchizedek most likely was not even a name, but a title.
Where was Salem?
From the 'Bible Atlas': 'To all appearance it lay near "the Vale of Shaveh," described as "the King's Vale." The general opinion among the Jews was that Salem was the same as Jerusalem, as stated by Josephus (Ant., I, x, 2), who adds (VII, iii, 2) that it was known as Solyma (Saluma, variants, according to Whiston, Salem and Hierosolyma) in the time of Abraham. It was also reported that the city and its temple were called Solyma by Homer, and he adds that the name in Hebrew means "security." This identification with Jerusalem was accepted by Onkelos and all the Targums, as well as by the early Christians. The Samaritans have always identified Salem with Salim, East of Nablus, but Jewish and Christian tradition is more likely to be correct, supported, as it is, by Psalm 76:2.'
'In Salem also is His tabernacle, And His dwelling place in Zion.'
‘Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And 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.”
And he gave him a tithe of all.’ (Genesis 14:18-20)
The magnitude of this episode is described in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. The official priesthood of Yahuah - the Levi tribe - was not even born yet (though already in the loins of Abraham) and yet Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of his spoils. And Melchizedek blessed Abraham, because ‘Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.’ (Hebrews 7:7)
One of the reasons orthodox Jews don’t accept Yahusha as their Messiah is due to the fact that he was of the tribe of Judah instead of the tribe of Levi. It's therefore explained by the Apostle Paul in Hebrews that Yahusha didn’t need to be a Levite because he was of the order of Melchizedek, an eternal priesthood that blessed the Levites even before they existed.
And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 7:20-21)
As a recap of the Law dictated to Moses, the high priest was of the tribe of Levi and the only one allowed to enter the 'Holy of Holies', or the innermost part of the Temple, where the Ark of the Covenant dwelt behind a rich curtain. The Israelites were terrified of Yahuah and in their fallen condition before the Renewed Covenant, they needed intermediation (and so do we now). This intermediation during the Old Testament took place through the high priests and Moses. Important to state that even the high priest could not go inside the Holy of Holies at his will. Only once a year, during the Feast of Atonement, after a complex purifying process could he go behind the curtain. After Yahusha's atonement, the human priesthood of the Levite is obsolete and replaced by the perfect High Priest. He is the intermediation we need towards the Creator of all:
“He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.” (John 12:44-50)
With his perfect sacrifice, Yahusha restored our relationship with the Father, allowing us to pray directly to our Abba, or 'our Father who art in Heaven'.
And because you are sons, Yahuah has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of Yahuah through Mashiach. (Galatians 4:6-7)
Before Yahusha, the only passage where Yahuah is called Father in the Old Testament is in Isaiah, in his prayer of penitence in chapter 63:
Doubtless You are our Father,
Though Abraham was ignorant of us,
And Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, O Elohim, are our Father;
Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.
For this reason, all we ask our Father must be 'in the name of Yahusha/Jesus'. Yahusha, our High Priest of the order of Melchizedek, is our eternal and perfect High Priest, the one who intercedes for us and goes beyond the veil of the Holy of Hollies. Our Messiah came to bring us closer to our Maker and to torn down - through his sacrifice - the veil which separated us.
Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:51-53)
And what was the Holy of Hollies that was so out of reach? it was the Ruach Ha'Qodesh, or the Holy Spirit. In his loving message to his sheep, Yahusha promises that when he departs to Heaven, a 'Helper' will come. The Helper, or the Holy Spirit, who was only available to a handful in the Old Testament, now dwells in all reborn believers because the veil of the Temple was torn.
“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. (John 16:5-15)
Abba, Father!
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