t of God. Let us reflect on how God has been faithful to send someone into our lives to help us, by giving us the life giving words of God and showing us the way, when the way was not clear. In other words, who has been a Melchizedek to you? If you can not recognize the times when people were brought into your life to give you counsel, then ask God to open your eyes. There have been many! You must thank God for sending them. Maybe send them an e-mail. It will be much appreciated.
Who was this Melchizedek? Look at Hebrews 7:1-3, “ This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means ‘king of righteousness’; then also, ‘king of Salem’ means ‘king of peace.’ 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.” The Bible says that he was the king of Salem. The city of Salem means the “city of Peace.” It is the name of ancient Jerusalem. The oldest part of the city was settled in the 4th millennium BCE, making Jerusalem one of the oldest cities in the world. A city called the “Foundation of Shalem” appears in ancient Egyptian records as the first two references to Jerusalem. In c. 2000 BC and c. 1330 BC a city was founded by a Northwest Semitic people, descendents of Shem, with organized settlements from around 2600 BC. (Wikipedia) They were a people who worshipped the God of Noah and had their own unique religious practices.
Melchizedek ruled over a theocracy. He was the king and also a priest. Apparently in those days there was no separation of church and state. Cities could be ruled by a person that was a political leader and also a spiritual leader. We can see glimpses of this in today’s world. For example who is the symbolic head of the Anglican Church? Not the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is the Queen of England. In the eighties, who was the leader of Iran? It was the Ayatollah Khomeini, a dual spiritual and political leader. One day we may have a Pastor/president.
He is a priest of God Most high. Some of us tend to think that Abram was the first person to believe in one God. But there were other people groups who worshipped God Most High, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Think of Noah and his descendants. They were believers in God Most High. Archeologists believe that the people who pioneered Jerusalem were Semites, decedents of Shem. Melchizedek simply did not worship God as Abram did. Abram is a pioneer of sorts for he pioneered a certain expression of faith. Abram’s faith tells us to believe in God’s promises and decide to live by faith; following God’s leading in our lives, ways that are tough and filled with faith building events. Melchizedek was a spiritual leader of a religion that worshiped the God of Noah and Abraham. But it did not involve living by faith as Abram was doing. Yet, he was a sincere servant of God and God was working though him.
There are times when we don’t respect other followers of Christ, if they do not worship like our own congregation or denomination. But Abram recognized Melchizedek as a servant of God and learned from him and submitted to him. We need to realize that God is not just working through evangelical, non-denominational Protestants. He is working through many denominations and expressions of faith. I am not saying that God is working through all world religions or purveyors of false gospels, but if there are Christians out there that are not like us and who worship differently in their churches we need to respect them as servants of Jesus Christ and acknowledge that God is working through them.
Melchizedek was a great man and yet very humble. He was a king. He was also a priest. He had great power and authority. And yet he came to meet old Abram, out in the desert. He came and brought the bread and wine. He came to encourage and bless and share spiriitual fellowship. This is very humble. He reminds me of Jesus. The attitude of Christ Je