“Who was Melchizedek?”

Saturday, May 03, 2025

“You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Psalm 110:4b

The enigmatic Melchizedek shows up only three times in Scripture but he turns out to be quite an important figure. Let’s look at each passage to see why.

Genesis 14 is an action-packed chapter set in the wake of Abraham’s separation from his nephew Lot. Their herds had grown too large to coexist peacefully, thanks to God’s abundant blessing (12:1-3). Lot chose to settle in the fertile Jordan Valley near Sodom—a place that seemed like paradise but was inhabited by notoriously wicked people (13:10-13). Over time, a coalition of kings launched a campaign against the region, and Lot was taken captive in the conflict (14:1-12). When Abraham heard of Lot’s capture, he gathered his trained men, mounted a daring rescue and defeated the opposing kings. Upon Abraham’s return from battle, he was approached by two contrasting figures: the king of Sodom and the king of Salem (14:17). The text reveals four things about Melchizedek that connect to Abraham and contrast the king of Sodom:

1. His name — Melchizedek means “king of righteousness.” Though Abraham was flawed, God counted him as “righteous” because of his faith in God’s promises (15:6). This stands in stark contrast to Sodom, a city known for its great wickedness (13:13).
2. His place — Salem, shorthand for Jerusalem, means “peace” (Psa 76:2). The next time the root for “peace” appears is in God’s promise that Abraham would live to a good old age and die “in peace” (15:15). Salem represents peace and righteousness, while Sodom would be exposed as a place of corruption and violence (19:1ff).
3. His office — Melchizedek is called “priest of God Most High” (14:18). A priest serves as a mediator between God and people. The God he serves—“Possessor of heaven and earth” (19)—is the same God who had blessed Abraham with wealth (see 13:2, 7 where the same root for ‘possess’ is used of Abraham’s “livestock”).
4. His actions — Melchizedek graciously hosts Abraham with a royal feast (18) and pronounces a blessing upon him (19-20a). His words echo God’s original promise to Abraham (12:1-3). He declares that God has delivered Abraham’s enemies into his hand—a term from the same Hebrew root as “shield” in Genesis 15:1, where God promised to be Abraham’s protection. While Abraham snubs the king of Sodom, refusing to come under any obligation to him (21-24), he readily acknowledges Melchizedek’s priestly authority by giving him a tenth of the spoils of war (20b).

Psalm 110 — Melchizedek doesn’t reappear in the Old Testament again until Psalm 110, a psalm of David. The opening verse, “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool,’” is the most frequently quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament. Jesus applies it to himself (Mt. 22:41-45; Mk. 12:35-37; Lk. 20:41-44) and it is later cited by Peter (Acts 2:34-35), Paul (1 Cor. 15:25) and the Hebrew writer (Heb. 1:13; 10:12-13) to affirm Jesus’ exalted authority.

In the psalm, David recounts a vision of God speaking to David’s “Lord”—a messianic figure greater than David himself—appointing him to rule as king and serve as “priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (4). When David conquered Jerusalem, he sat on Melchizedek’s throne, but as a descendent of Judah, he could not serve as priest under Mosaic Law. Therefore, the psalm looks beyond David to a future descendent—a royal priest not from the line of Levi, but from the mysterious order of Melchizedek. This uniquely positions the Messiah as both king and priest, anticipating the role that Jesus would fill.

Hebrews 5-7 — Hebrews explains all this for us. The main theme of the book is that Jesus is “greater.” He is greater than the prophets (1:1-2), the angels (1:4-14; 2:5-18), Moses (3:1-6), Joshua (4:1-11) and his priesthood is greater than Levi’s (4:14-10). The writer begins to emphasize the contrast between the priesthood of Levi and the priesthood of Jesus “according to the order of Melchizedek” (5:6-10). However, the writer suddenly stops his flow of thought to rebuke his audience for not being spiritually mature enough to understand about Melchizedek (5:11-6:12). In 6:13, writing about God’s faithfulness, he revisits the subject. We can trust God to keep his promises because Jesus has gone into heaven “as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (6:20). Why does it matter that Jesus is of “the order of Melchizedek”?

1. Melchizedek’s priesthood brings righteousness and peace (7:2; cf. Gen. 14:17), two blessings we need from God that the Levitical priesthood could not supply.
2. His priesthood is without beginning or end (7:3). “He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.” The author is not suggesting that Melchizedek is eternal, but that he appeared out of nowhere. No genealogy, such as was required for the Levitical priests under Mosaic Law, is given for him. He suddenly breaks into the story from the outside (no “beginning of days”) and he never explicitly goes away (no “end of life”). In these mysterious ways, Melchizedek resembles Jesus.
3. His priesthood is superior to the Levitical priesthood (7:4-10). The writer deduces that the Levitical priesthood, deriving from a descendent of Abraham, is inferior to Melchizedek’s priesthood because of Abraham’s actions in Genesis 14. Though Levi had not yet been born, he was still “in the loins” of Abraham when Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils and received a blessing from him. Therefore, Levi—through Abraham—acknowledged the superiority of Melchizedek, since the lesser is blessed by the greater.
4. His priesthood is eternal and permanent (7:11-28). Unlike the Levitical priesthood—which was temporary and marked by a succession of mortal, morally imperfect priests who continually offered sacrifices—Jesus’ priesthood is eternal because it is grounded in “the power of an indestructible life” (16). He does not pass on his role to another because he lives forever, and his priesthood never ends. Through him, God has established a better covenant, built on lasting promises. Jesus continually intercedes for us, and he has offered a once-for-all sacrifice that fully and finally atones for our sin.

Melchizedek matters because of the great priest-king he foreshadows. Jesus is eternal, holy and able to save completely those who draw near to God through him.

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