@ 2024 Joseph Shulam
Text: Gen. 14, Hebrews 5,8
11Q13
Among the Qumran documents was found a one-page document called
11Q13 Melck. This document shocked the world because it contained the only outside source of the teaching of the letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament. This document gave a parallel picture of the Melchizedek doctrine in the New Testament. In this document, Melchizedek is pictured as an eternal King-Priest figure of the Messiah. The same passages of scriptures are quoted in both the Hebrew letter and the 11Q13 Melck fragment. These are the only known passages addressing the person of Melchizedek in the vast body of Jewish literature. These facts make this fragment of the most significant importance. It shows that the New Testament church had commonality with the Essene community in Qumran and that the doctrine of Melchizedek did exist in Judaism before the New Testament.
The Melchizedek texts and their implications.
Gen. 14:18-20:
"And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the Most High God (EL ELION). And he blessed him, and said, 'Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which has delivered your enemies into your hands.' And he gave him tithes of all."
The text gives us this information cold. In Genesis 14, we hear of Melchizedek for the first and last time in the Torah. The story in Genesis implies that Abram is the only true "believer" in God. Here, all at once, we find Abram giving religious homage and tithes to what would be a Canaanite priest. The name' El Elion" (the Most High God) is not unusual in Canaanite religion since 'El' is the head of the pantheon and father of all the gods.
Does the story imply that other people believed in One God in Canaan? I do not think so. Does the story tell us that Abram was a pluralist religiously and accepted Canaanite deity and worship? It is challenging to reconcile the rest of Abraham's story with that idea. The story of Genesis sets us up for the rest of the picture. God, who knows everything before it happens, hints at a much more profound development that will only be revealed in Yeshua.
Psalm 110:4:
"The Lord has sworn and will not repent; You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."
Here again, we have another disconnected statement. The Lord has taken an oath to make David, i.e., (the Messiah) "priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."
There is no apparent hint of such an occasion. But it could be that it is a reference to 1 Samuel 2:35,36:
"I will raise for myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house; he shall go in and out before my anointed one forever. 36 Everyone who is left in your family shall come and prostrate himself before him for a piece of silver or a loaf of bread and shall say, 'Please put me in one of the priest's places, that I may eat a morsel of bread.'"
Here is a prophecy God gave Eli, the Priest of Shiloh. The prophecy has three parts:
Eli will not be killed in the war.
Eli's sons will die in the war, and his house will be wiped out.
There will be a priest to whom the house of Levi will give homage.
This priest God may be speaking of is Melchizedek.
Psalm 110:4, was written when the Tabernacle in Jerusalem was still standing, and the Levitical priesthood was at its prime. How could the Psalmist give such a promise from God? The implication of this statement was essential for Israel even when it was made. It implies that the Levitical Priesthood is not unique and alone, as would be the impression from the Torah. It also means that the Priesthood of Melchizedek is of a higher status because Abraham, the father of all Israel, submitted and paid tithes to Melchizedek.
Hebrews 5:5,6:
"So also the Messiah glorified not himself to be made a High Priest; but he said unto him, 'Thou art my Son, today have I begotten thee.' As he said also in another place, 'Thou art a priest froever after the order of Melchizedek.' Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared."
Chapter 5 of the letter to the Hebrews deals with the superiority of the Messiah over the Aaronic Priesthood. In this context, the Messianic Priesthood is better for two reasons. One is that Yeshua is called "Son." The second is that he is "after the Order of Melchizedek."
In verse 10, the writer points out the Messiah who suffered to perfection and is both divine and human, who has tasted suffering and obedience to be a perfect Priest "after the Order of Melchizedek."
The writer takes for granted that people accept and understand the doctrine of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 7:
This "Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him," 2 and to him Abraham apportioned "one-tenth of everything." His name, in the first place, means "king of righteousness"; next, he is also King of Salem, that is, "king of peace." 3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever. 4 See how great he is! Even Abraham, the patriarch, gave him a tenth of the spoils. 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the Law to collect tithes from the people, that is, from their kindred, though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man, who does not belong to their ancestry, collected tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had received the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case, tithes are received by those who are mortal; in the other, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. 11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical Priesthood—for the people received the Law under this Priesthood—what further need would there have been to speak of another priest arising according to the order of Melchizedek rather than one according to the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the Priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the Law as well. 13 Now the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests. 15 It is even more obvious when another priest arises, resembling Melchizedek, 16 one who has become a priest, not through a legal requirement concerning physical descent but through the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is attested of him,"You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek." 18 There is, on the one hand, the abrogation of an earlier commandment because it was weak and ineffectual 19 (for the Law made nothing perfect); there is, on the other hand, the introduction of a better hope through which we approach God. 20 This was confirmed with an oath, for others have become priests without an oath, 21 but this one became a priest with an oath because of the one who said to him,
"The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
You are a priest forever."
22 accordingly Jesus has also become the guarantor of a better covenant. 23 Furthermore, the former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his Priesthood permanently because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the Law appoints as high priests humans, who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the Law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
In Chapter 5, Melchizedek was mentioned in the context of human suffering. Now, we get the full picture of Melchizedek in the special context of Genesis. This is a Melchizedek Midrash.
A historical survey of the Genesis story with enlargements of midrashic character.
Melchizedek is the King of righteousness and the King of Salem. Since he came into the story of Genesis suddenly and disappeared suddenly, the midrash says that he had no father and mother, no earthly origin. Melchizedek is a priest forever. He is like a son of God.
These points are not brought into the story in vain. They point to the fact that Melchizedek is a messianic figure. Abraham gave a tithe to Melchizedek, which shows that Abraham considered Melchizedek a more excellent priest than himself and his seed. Verse 7 is clear: The Levitical Priesthood, being from Abraham, is giving honor to Melchizedek through their forefather Abraham. The mortal Levitical Priesthood received tithes from Israel, which is a great thing, but it is a more excellent tribute to give tithes to an immortal priest, Melchizedek. The change of Priesthood is an a priori argument when considering Melchizedek's experience with Abraham. The end of the Levitical system is a forgone conclusion because of the Melchizedek experience with Abraham.
There are difficulties in understanding these points in light of other Biblical teachings:
1. The Levitical Priesthood is forever.
2. The Levitical Priesthood is inferior to Melchizedek because of the priest's nature and Abraham's acceptance of his tithes.
3. The change of the Priesthood and the change of the Law.
4. The Old Testament already indicates the change of the Order of Priestly affairs. Isaiah 66:21:
" And I will also take some of them as priests and as Levites, says the Lord."
There will be priests from among the nations. How could there be a Levitical priesthood with priests from other countries if the status of the Levitical Priesthood had not changed?
5. There was no stability in the Levitical priesthood's history, which is undoubtedly true in the second temple period. But, even earlier, several "priestly houses" changed hands after being deposed. The writer of Hebrews sees these constant changes as a point of weakness. He sees that there will be a stable, once and for all, priesthood in the Messiah.
6. The quotation in Psalm 110 indicates that a better priestly order should be established in Israel.
7. The Qumran community and the Pharisees objected to the Jerusalem priesthood at different times and in various ways. So, the attitude of the early church expressed in Hebrews is not a unique phenomenon in the first-century Judean landscape.
8. The Levitical priesthood was received because of Levi and Simeon's sin against Shechem's inhabitants (Gen.34,49:5, Num. 3:12,41, Judges 13:33, 18:7).
Philo identifies Melchizedek as the Logos
Who as a priest, brings peace and righteousness to the soul. He comes up with these qualities from the name Melchizedek and the contextual difficulties in the Genesis story. The writer of Hebrews does the same but ensures that Melchizedek is not identified as the "Son." Melchizedek is only "like the Son" and in "his likeness."
Hebrews 7:11-20 contains the central point that the writer of Hebrews is attempting to tell his readers. There is a change in the Priesthood and the Law. The Messiah is supposed to be from the tribe of Judea. The argument is that the Priesthood had to be changed to accommodate this fact; it could not remain in the tribe of Levi. This is why Psalm 110:4 states that God will give David Priesthood according to the Order of Melchizedek.
An oath of God strengthens the Priesthood of Melchizedek. The oath is that He will "be a Priest forever." The Levitical Priesthood is a system forever, but it is only in reference to Israel. It is a system "forever" and not a priest (individual) who is "forever."
Hebrews 7:25 is the conclusion and point of this chapter. "Consequently, he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
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