Melichzedek in connection with Dead Sea Scrolls (1)
Melchizedek
1) Issues
- What are the statements about him in the Bible?
- Who has the mainstream of the Christian people interpreted Melchizedek is ?
- What are the statements about Melchizedek in DSS?
- How have the Qumran people or the people at the time of DSS portrayed and interpreted Melchizedek ?
- What are the difference between 2 groups and what are the contribution by DSS in understanding Melchizedek?
- How are the secondary documents or literature in support of Melchizedek and DSS.?
- How is anyone in similitude of Melchizedek in the Bible?
- What are the similarities between Melchizedek and Christ
2) Bible Statements
Gen 14:18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tithe of all.
Psalm 110:4 The Lord has sworn And will not relent, "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek."
Heb 5:
6 As He also says in another place: "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek
10 called by God as High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek,"
Heb 7:
1 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, 2 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," 3 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.
4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.
21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: "The Lord has sworn And will not relent, 'You are a priest forever* According to the order of Melchizedek' "),+
There are several possibilities about the identity of Melchizedek as follows:
1) A Ghost
2) Angel
3) Human Being
4) Pre-Incarnate Jesus Christ having Deity
a. The first argument for a Ghost may be rejected very easily because he was the Priest for the Most High God, King of Righteousness, King of Peace, Abraham would not have paid the tithe to a ghost, Abraham would have not been blessed by a ghost, We can hardly imagine a Ghost provide Bread and Wine to Abraham. Therefore this notion is rejected relatively easily and as far as I know nobody claims this idea.
b. Angel : Could we imagine that Abraham paid the tithe to an angel? Do angels receive the tithe today? Can any angel become a Priest for the Most High God? Did Angel offer the Bread and Wine to Abraham? Can any angel be called King of Righteousness? Or King of Peace? If we limit the angel to the usual and normal angels then they are supposed to serve mankind and therefore Melchizedek cannot be an angel.
c. A type of Human Being in resemblance to Jesus Christ, Son of God.
The strongest argument from the supporter of this notion is that Melchizedek is made like unto Son of God, which means both are different persons because Resemblance means Different nature even though they are similar each other.
However, we notice Revelation 1:13 states “ one like unto the Son of man” mentioning about Jesus Christ, and again in Daniel 3:25 “ the fourth was like the Son of God” Did Daniel know about Son of God? Had he ever seen Son of God before and then said the fourth person in the fire furnace was similar to the Son of God? So, we can understand that Bible explains the same identity starting from the similitude first and saying that both are similar each other.
This view explains that No father,. No mother, No beginning, No ending as we do not know his father, do not know his mother, do not know his beginning, do not know his end of life, even though he actually had a father, a mother, beginning of the days, no end of life. However, this contradicts again that he stays as a continual Priest for the Most High God. (Heb 7:3) We should note that He abides a priest continually, and “ He lives” which is the present tense and very similar to what Jesus said “ I live, and you shall live also” John 14:19. So, if we talk with the people who claim this interpretation we can easily find out the problems and contradictions.
d. Melchizedek, The Pre-Incarnate Jesus Christ
This interpretation is often found among the Christian believers and Jewish sages. Dead Sea Scroll documents portray Melchizedek as forthcoming Messiah, to sit on the Judgment Seat as we read “Coming of Melchizedek”
In the Bible there are 2 kinds of words in Hebrew for angels, one is Elohim which
is usually used for the angels. But sometimes we notice there is another word for a
Special Angel, which is Malack. This Malack is so called Theopanic Angel which
is the appearance of God.
Resemblance can be a way of explaining the same identity in the beginning in this
interpretation.
One interesting points are these:
1) Psalm 76:1-2
1 In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel. 2 In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.
So, the point here is that Salem is the place where God lives.