Featured Was Melchisedec the preincarnate Son of God?

Pink:
"...Almost endless conjectures have been made as to the identity of Melchizedek. Questions have been raised as to what order of beings he belonged to. Some have insisted that he was a Divine person, others that he was an angel, still others that he was Christ Himself in theophanic manifestation — as when He appeared to Joshua ( Joshua 5:14), or in Babylon’s furnace ( Daniel 3:25), etc. Others, allowing that he was only a man, have speculated as to his nationality, family connections, and so on.

But as the Holy Spirit has not seen fit to give us any information on these points, we deem it irreverence ( Deuteronomy 29:29) to indulge in any surmises thereon...."

Regardless, at the very least Melchizedek was another one of those many magnificent types of Christ that strikes awe in the hearts of students of His word.

[add]

"Melchizedek was “assimilated to the Son of God” as a type.

First , as priest of the most high God.

Second , as being a royal priest, possessing personal majesty and authority.

Third , as being the king of righteousness.

Fourth , as king of peace.

Fifth , as the one who “blessed Abraham”.

Sixth , as the one who received the grateful gifts of God’s people represented by Abraham.

Seventh, as not owing his priesthood to natural genealogy.

Eighth, as abiding a priest beyond the bounds of the Levitical limitations. “Abideth a priest continually” (verse 3).

Note carefully it is not that the natural life of Melchizedek had no end, but that his priestly life did not cease at the age of fifty; in other words, he continued a priest to the very end of his earthly existence, which shows he had no vicar or successor, deriving a priesthood from his. “The expression ‘abideth a priest continually’, therefore, is the equivalent to saying that he had a perpetual priesthood in contradistinction from those whose office terminated at a definite period, or whose office passed over into the hands of others”..."

 

Nope, was a type of Christ to come!

 

I was taught by some that Melchizedek was a theophany, by others that he was a type of Christ. I think the latter. It is interesting that the first half of the verse is often pressed literally, while ignoring the statement that he was "like" the Son of God (rather than stating he "was" the Son of God). Seems that the first part is to emphasize the point that Melchizedek's "descent is not counted."

 

He came unto the scene to be a type of the High priest Jesus would be in the future for us!

 

There are many types and shadows of Christ in the scriptures, Melchizedek was just one of the many... I surely do love those who write and preach in this manner... Pink is one of my favorites... It just seems to me that they add a little something extra to the word of God, in our daily studies we would probably not have considered... The ones who the Lord has blessed with this talent are telling us this... Brother Glen

2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.

 

Melchizedek is only mentioned briefly in Genesis and Psalms

The author of Hebrews makes a long, extended argument for the superiority of Christ.
He’s greater than the angels,
Greater than Moses and Joshua
Then...
Greater than the Leviticus priesthood

His argument is a Jewish midrash
If Abraham gave tithes to Mel, then since Levi was present within Abraham, Levi gave Melchizedek tithes. Therefore Mel was greater.

This argument has nothing to do with a theophany.

The author even states in Hebrews 7:15, that Christ was ... “the likeness of Melchizedek”... not Mel himself.

A Type? Maybe, depends upon the definition you use.

Rob

 

Rob, what doth hinder you from considering Melchizedek as a solid type of Christ?

 

Good thread and inputs,
He was a type of Christs position, as High Priests of God rather than Levi, Jesus was not of Levi so His Priesthood was not from the Law.

notice Melchizedek was a believer of God not related to Abraham.
This is interesting since we have learned a bias toward the Law

 

Excellent point! Yes, this is interesting but nothing that's not been alluded to in other places in scripture:

16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and they shall become one flock, one shepherd. Jn 10

1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith Jehovah. Isa 54 [ Galatians 4:26-27 ]

1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, Wise-men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
2 Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and are come to worship him. Mt 2

25 But of a truth I say unto you, There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land;
26 and unto none of them was Elijah sent, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian. Lu 4

8 And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.
9 For I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers: and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
10 And when Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. Mt 8

22 And behold, a Canaanitish woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a demon.
23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
24 But he answered and said, I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
25 But she came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
26 And he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children`s bread and cast it to the dogs.
27 But she said, Yea, Lord: for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters` table.
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it done unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed from that hour. Mt 15

9 After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 and they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God who sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb. Rev 7

(and I'm sure there's many more examples that could be found)

 

The Jewish Encyclopedia tell of the Jewish tradition of Melchisedec being Noah's son Shem.
MELCHIZEDEK - JewishEncyclopedia.com

 

"...The rabbis of later generations, rather antagonistic to the cosmopolitan monotheism of Alexandria, identified Melchizedek with Shem, the ancestor of Abraham (Ned. 32b; Pirḳe R. El. xxiii.; Targ. to Gen. xiv. 4). A singular story is told of Melchizedek in the Ethiopian Book of Adam and Eve, which, before it was turned into a Christian work, seems to have presented a strange combination of Jewish and Egyptian elements emanating from a sect afterward known as the Melchizedekites. There (iii. 13-21) Noah tells his son Shem before his death to take "Melchizedek, the son of Canaan, whom God had chosen from all generations of men, and to stand by the dead body of Adam after it had been brought from the ark to Jerusalem as the center of the earth and fulfil the ministry before God." The angel Michael then took away Melchizedek, when fifteen years of age, from his father, and, after having anointed him as priest, brought him to (Jerusalem) the center of the earth, telling his father to share the mystery only with Shem, the son of Noah, while the Holy Spirit, speaking out of the ark when the body of Adam was hidden, greeted Melchizedek as "the first-created of God." Shem went, carrying bread and wine, and, assisted by the angel, brought the body of Adam to its destination. Melchizedek offered the bread and wine upon the altar they built near the place where Adam's body was deposited, and then Shem departed, leaving the pure lad in his garment of skins under the sole protection of the angel, no one on earth knowing of his whereabouts until, at last, Abraham met him. Compare also "Die Schatzhöhle" (Bezold's transl. 1883, pp. 26-28), where the father of Melchizedek is called "Malki" and the mother "YoẒedeḳ"; and see the notes to Malan's "Book of Adam and Eve" (1882, pp. 237-238). Against the opinion of Roensch (Das Buch der Jubiläen," 1874, p. 502), that the story of Melchizedek has been intentionally omitted from the Book of Jubilees, see Charles in his Commentary to Jubilees (xiii. 25). A remnant, probably, of these Melchizedekites appears in early Christian literature as a heretic sect which regarded Melchizedek as a great heavenly power and as a son of God, superior to Jesus (Epiphanius," Hæresis," lv. 1-9; Hippolytus, "Refutatio Hæresium," vii. 36, x. 20; pseudo-Tertullian, 48; Augustinus, "De Hæresibus," 34; see also Herzog-Hauck, "Real-Encyc." s.v. "Monarchianismus")…."

Yuck.

8 This people honoreth me with their lips; But their heart is far from me.
9 But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. Mt 15

13 This testimony is true. For which cause reprove them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,
14 not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. Titus 1

 

The author of Hebrews certainly uses typology in his discussion of Melchizdek's royal priesthood but to be specific he is using a common Jewish interpretive method of that period, a midrash.

Scripture does not enlighten us regarding Mel's ancestry or heritage, the author of Hebrews uses this absence to make his argument. If used today we might call this eisegesis, interpreting a text in a way that the uses one's own presuppositions or biases.

Rob

 

I believe it was Christ Himself.

 

I believe Melchizidek was a type, not an actual theophany of Christ. In a similar way we have the passage concerning John the Baptist "being" Elijah - "if you are willing ". Clearly typology, unless one believes in reincarnation. Elijah and John were two separate persons typologically linked. So were Melchizidek and Christ.

 

The comparison for the one case does not guarantee the other.

The name itself - Melkisedeck - the King of Righteousness is a clue "if you are willing".

 

BTW, no barbs was intended with my use of that phrase. I was only fixing the passage in the reader's mind.

 

Not a barb Tom but my sick sense of humor - I have no shame.