Question
Who is actually Melchisedec. Is He also God?
Answer
Melchizedek is first mentioned in Genesis 14:17-20. Abram was returning from rescuing his nephew Lot by defeating Chederlaomer, King of Elam, and the other kings with him, who had conquered the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela and carried off spoils of war and captives, including Lot. On his return, Abram came to Salem (later Jerusalem), where its king, Melchizedek, who was also “priest of God Most High,” met him and blessed him (Genesis 14:18-20). Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth (tithe) of the best of the spoils he had rescued (verse 20).
David declares of the Christ, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110 :4). It is to this prophecy that the Hebrew writer refers (Hebrews 5:6,10; 6:20). The author of Hebrews spends the entire seventh chapter arguing the superiority of this priesthood (order of Melchizedek) to the priesthood of the order of Aaron.
Melchizedek was a real person, and the Hebrew writer makes an allegorical argument
based on him, just as Paul did about Sarah, Isaac, Hagar, and Ishmael in Galatians 4:21-31. In several regards Mechizedek is a type of Christ. This means he was a “model” or “pattern” (Mounce. 1295), “a figure or representation of something to come” (Dungan. 359) for Christ (cf. Romans 5:14). As the entire Old Covenant was a “shadow” of the New (Hebrews 8:5), Melchizedek foreshadowed Christ. This foreshadowing pertains to their offices.
The inspired record says nothing of the genealogy of Mechizedek, nor does it mention his
death. This doesn’t mean he literally had no parents or didn’t actually die. But so far his offices as priest and king, there is no record of his genealogy or death. In this regard He is like Christ. The Lord’s priesthood does not depend on descent from Aaron as did the priesthood of the Law of Moses (Exodus 28:1-3). In fact, Jesus was of the tribe of Judah (Hebrews 7:14). And Christ abides a priest forever (Hebrews 7:23-24).
No, Melchizedek is not God. He was a human king and priest. The intentional silence of
the divine record concerning his parentage and death, whereas he exercised both the offices of king and priest, makes him an ideal type of Christ.
Works Cited
Dungan, D.R., Heremeneutics.
Mounce, William, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words.
