Who was Melchizedek?

Who is he? Hebrews gives a few clues.

2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

So he was the king of righteousness (forget the caps, it won't work for now). Next he was the king of Salem, which many say means Jerusalem. I'm not going to cover that here. Verse 3 says he has no father, no mother, no record of ancestry, no beginning day, no end of life, made like the Son of God (a copy or facsimile!), and stays a priest for ever.

Now, I know a lot of people just point blank say who they think it is, but I'm just going to throw this out, and maybe someone can use it. Ok, Jesus definitely has a mother (Mary), but at this point he wouldn't have yet. However, he has always had a Father (God). "Thou are my Son, this day have I begotten thee." Furthermore, I just realized that that verse says that Jesus had beginning of days (at least that's what it sounds like). No, Jesus has no end of life (unless you count his crucifixion, which wasn't a permanent end of life).

Next, if he is a copy (made like) of the Son of God (once again, Jesus has a father), he can't also be the Son of God, because then you technically get a circular reference. OK, granted, he could predate the original (nothing's impossible with God)! But he can't be a copy of the original if he is also the original.

To illustrate this point, God is the standard of good. That means that he neither has a copy of the standard as part of his being, or that he "lives by the standard", since he is the standard. [1]

Finally, some people argue that he couldn't be high priest at the same time as Jesus, but the Bible says he is a priest forever. I'm not actually sure that it says he was high priest, but I guess that is implied since Jesus is and he is in the Melchizedek line. So he doesn't have to be a high priest forever.

So now that I have stated why he might not be Jesus, I will mention that some people think he is Shem, since Shem outlived Abraham, and he certainly would have seemed to fit all those things. But I'll leave that at that and just say that it's a bit plausible. Also some say that that was a nickname for shem (no idea about whether that is fact).

Given all that, there are two ideas which they could be, I think. The first would be the Holy Ghost. That may or may not be the case, it's just a thought I have. The second would be an angel who was delegated to fill the role of priest on earth. However I don't think this is the case.

Actually as I'm writing this (and reading some online), there does seem to be some support to the idea of Shem being Melchizedek. Especially if it simply means there is nothing recorded. I don't know. I do believe that scripture is the inerrant, inspired word of God. I also believe that people can misunderstand and mistranslate it (who doesn't?!?!). The Jewish tradition is exactly that, that Melchizedek was a nickname for Shem. And Paul allegedly uses the Jewish tradition quite a few times, so it may have some weight, but I'm not sure.

In a somewhat counter argument, one more thing to note is that all three books of Enoch refer to him as Jesus in different ways. So, all this for what it's worth. I'm not claiming that I know.

1. This is why he says "Thou shalt not kill" and then kills people himself. He knows who to kill and when in order to hurt as little wheat as possible (The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares). People don't know that, and while he uses people to do it sometimes, it's not unknown for him to do it himself.

Melchizedek was the King of Salem and a high priest of God.

Genesis 14:18-20

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,

19 and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.

20 And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Although he was a priest of God, he was not Jesus.

Hebrews 5:6, which quotes Psalms 110:4, is a bit more specific:

6 And in another passage God said to him, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

So if Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek, he's obviously not Melchizedek.

If he is not, how could there be priests of God before God chose himself a nation and defined priesthood after the Hebrews left Egypt?

Hebrews 7, which you quoted, makes it fairly clear: the Order of Melchizedek is a higher order of priesthood than the order of Aaron, which the Levites operated under. It had the power of administering the "schoolmaster law," but not the full power and authority of the higher ordinances of the Gospel, and so by the Aaronic order alone, nothing could be made perfect. But the order of Melchezidek, which predates the Aaronic order, is the priesthood order of Christ himself.

Think back to Exodus, when the Levites, under Aaron and his family, were established as priests in Israel. It's not unreasonable to think that after the fledgling nation of newly-freed slaves demonstrated that God literally couldn't leave them alone long enough for Moses to go up the mountain, get the stone tablets, and come back down again without them falling into rites of heathen fertility-worship, that God decided they were not ready for the fulness of the Gospel. How were they going to deal with the high spiritual concepts taught in the Sermon on the Mount, for example, when they couldn't even grasp basic fidelity to God? So instead he gave them a lesser law to keep them in line, and a lesser priesthood to administer it. ("For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.")

3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

If he is still abiding as a priest, and has neither a beginning nor ending of days, how can he not be Jesus?

I think the answer is pretty clear (simple logic really) - He is Jesus, just in a pre-incarnate form.

Hebrews 5:6, which quotes Psalms 110:4, is a bit more specific:

6 And in another passage God said to him, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

So if Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek, he's obviously not Melchizedek.

Yeah, well no... He prefigures Jesus, the same way lots and lots of OT people do.

• Job/Suffering Servant from Isaiah - for suffering
• Moses - for leadership out of bondage
• Abraham/Noah - for trusting in God's providence
• David - for kingship
• Melchizedek/Aaron - for priesthood

Melchizedek was the King of Salem and a high priest of God.

Genesis 14:18-20

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,

19 and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.

20 And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Although he was a priest of God, he was not Jesus.