Who Was This Person Named Melchizedek?

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament salute Melchizedek. He has been discussed by scholars for many centuries. He was a shadowy figure simply described as “a priest of God Most High.”

We first see him after Abram (later Abraham) had defeated the armies who had ravaged the countryside and captured Lot—Abram’s nephew—and his family, along with other people. As he returned with the freed captives and the items that had been stolen, he met this person of so much interest only briefly, but it was a meeting that would set the stage for centuries to come.

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Genesis 14:18-20

These three short verses are profound. First, we must note that Melchizedek was “king of Salem,’ a name meaning ‘Peace.’ Later, Salem would change be renamed “House of Peace,” or “Jerusalem.” This is a firm statement that Jerusalem had already been selected by God for His kingdom’s home.

Melchizedek was a priest of an order that existed at least four hundred years before the Jewish nation or the Aaronic Priesthood were established. This King of Salem was ordained directly by God Himself to present an active, powerful priesthood to interact with mankind since time immemorial.

This presence of a priesthood greater than any other priesthood should not go unnoticed. The writers of the Old and New Testaments were intensely aware of its eternal presence, and even presented to Jesus (“my Lord”) by God the Father (“the Lord”) as being of the same priestly order:

Here is the Lord’s proclamation to my Lord: “Sit down at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” The Lord extends your dominion from Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people willingly follow you when you go into battle. On the holy hills at sunrise the dew of your youth belongs to you. The Lord makes this promise on oath and will not revoke it: You are an eternal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.”

Psalm 110:1-4

The New Testament Book of Hebrews teaches that earthly priests, because of their human imperfections, do not have the power to grant forgiveness that will cannot be overwhelmed by our own natural, human failings. Consequently, their forgiveness must be constantly repeated to cover the sins of people since their last purification. This is not so with Melchizedek or Jesus.

The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he [Jesus]holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Hebrews 7:23-28

Everything has changed about our dependence upon human priesthood. The Aaronic priesthood and the Law of Moses were pre-enactments portrayed throughout the Jewish Tanakh pointing to a greater priesthood that forever stands as a permanent, source of atonement for the failings of our fallible human nature. Melchizedek was such a portrayal.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain, where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since He became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 6:19-20

This mysterious High Priest demonstrated the everlasting “once for all” salvation becomes individually available to those who believe in the Christ, the Redeemer. He came to be among us to show that we cannot achieve salvation by works or any other earthly process—so He did it for us. We can now subscribe to a higher, never-ending Order of Melchizedek, one that began long before we can understand, and one that will remain intact forever.