Who was Melchisedech?

Question

We are currently exploring this person in church. What is your opinion?

Answer 1

Melchisedec was a preist of the Old testament. His liniage and order of preisthood seems to be linked to the ventual preisthood posititon Christ would hold. hebrews says "But christ did not glorifie Himself to become High priest, but God ordained him as such, for it is written:Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. melchesidec is clearly associated with the messianic.
God Bless

Answer 2

The Christ was not Melchizedek and vice-versa.

To the man Melchizedek goes the honor of having his name used to identify the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God, thus enabling men to avoid the too frequent repetition of the name of Deity.

Alma, a prophet in the Book of Mormon, said that of all God’s ancient high priests “none were greater.”

So exalted and high was the position of Melchizedek in the eyes of the Lord and of his people that he stood as a prototype of the Son of God himself, the Son who was to arise “after the similitude of Melchisedec.” (Heb. 7:15).

Both bore the titles, Prince of Peace and King of Heaven–meaning King of Peace and both were joint-heirs of the Father’s kingdom. “For this Melchizedek was ordained a priest after the order of the Son of God, which order was “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life.” And all those who are ordained unto this priesthood are made like unto the Son of God, abiding a priest continually.” (D. & C. 84:14.)

The Apostle Paul knew much more about Melchizedek than he happened to record in his epistles. (See Heb. 11:33-34.)

There is an unsupported tradition to the effect that Melchizedek was the same person as Shem the son of Noah. That this could hardly have been the case is seen from the revelation which says: “Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah.”

In other words, there seem to have been at least two generations between Melchizedek and Shem.

For such an elevated prophet of God, biblical mentions of Melchizedek are too few to fully understand him and his holy calling. It was not he that was “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; . . .” but it was the holy priesthood after the Order of the Son of God that is eternal.

Answer 3

He is mentioned in Genesis 14:17-20
He was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. Helped Abram by giving him bread and wine. His name means king of righteousness and Salem (short for Jerusalem) means peace. He is a symbol of Christ who is the true King of righteousness and peace, and our Great High Priest. More about him in Hebrews 7.

Answer 4

I haven't done much research into him but there isn't much in the Bible about him - he was a friend of Abrahams and a leader of the community - who knows maybe an angel from God to lead Abraham in the right direction

Answer 5

Melchizedek, is Christ. He came in to scripture and disappeared in the Old Testament. Then in the New Testament, we are told that Christ is a High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek. He is a mystery of the Bible, but I think it is Christ who appeared in the Old Testament.

Answer 6

Hi, Deadhelen.

The bible doesn't give a lot of info about Melchizedek but read Genesis 14, Hebrews 7.

Melchizedek wasn't Christ, he was LIKE Christ in some ways - a type of Christ to come.

god bless

Answer 7

Melchisedech was a priest in the days of Abraham. God always had a spiritual figure throughout generations like Enoch. The man was rightous before God until God would accept his offerings. Those who sought God's mercy in those days would go to him to pray and burn offerings on their behalf. He was also a spiritual ruler, by spiritual ruler I mean he was a judge to the rightous sect of his days. When he met Abraham, Abraham saw it worthy to give to him tithe because he knew that by giving to him he was giving to God the same way when you bless your spiritual leader knowing that you seek God to bless you in return.

Answer 8

HIGH PREIST IN ABRAHAMS TIME THE ONE ABRAHAM GAVE 10 %OF HIS SPOILS OF THE WAR HE TOOK HE IS A HIGHLY RESECTED AND HONORED PREIST TO THE MOST HIGH GOD

Answer 9

I was going to give you a link but i figured that you wouldn't want to go to a link. So i copied and pasted the info for you.
Hope this helps you. it is from wikipedia.



Melchizedek's name can be translated (from Hebrew) either as Zedek is my king or as My king is righteous. The former, which treats Zedek as a proper noun, is the translation favoured by most biblical scholars,[citation needed] and refers to a Canaanite deity with that name. In Genesis, Melchizedek is also referred to as king of Salem (generally believed to be ancient Jerusalem), and priest of El Elyon. Though traditionally El-Elyon is translated as most high God, and interpreted as a reference to Yahweh (by tradition) or El (by some scholars), other scholars believe that it refers to Zedek - regarding El Elyon as referring to a most high god, and using Melchizedek's name as the indicator of who the deity was. [1]

If the majority of scholars are right in taking the name as a reference to Zedek, then it would imply that Zedek was the main deity worshipped at Salem (i.e. Jerusalem) at that time. It is certainly the case that Jerusalem is plausibly referred to as city of Zedek (ir ha-zedek) in the Book of Isaiah[2], as well as home of Zedek (neweh zedek) in the Book of Jeremiah[3] and as gates of Zedek (sha'are zedek) in the Book of Psalms[4], though it is also true that in each of these cases zedek is traditionally translated as righteous (as in city of righteousness).[5]

[edit] Biblical Narrative
Statue of Melchizedek. Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome.
Statue of Melchizedek. Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome.

In the Tanakh, Melchizedek brought bread and wine to Abraham (then called Abram) after Abraham's victory over the four kings (led by Chedorlaomer) who had besieged Sodom and Gomorrah and had taken Abraham's nephew Lot prisoner. Melchizedek is also described as blessing Abraham in the name of El Elyon (see name and titles section for identification of El Elyon), and in return for these favours, Abraham gave Melchizedek a tithe, from the spoils gained in the battle.[6]

Proponents of the Documentary hypothesis view the Melchizedek narrative (Genesis 14:18-20) as a fragment from a once independent tradition concerning Jerusalem, that the Yahwist inserted awkwardly into the surrounding narrative concerning the battle. They believe that it would be more historically realistic for Melchizedek himself, as the king of Jerusalem, to have been involved in the battle, and to have had a legitimate right to the portion of the spoils by virtue of this, rather than just by virtue of the favours given to Abraham as the Genesis narrative would have it. They also believe that the Yahwist inserted Abraham into this tradition to symbolically portray the king of Jerusalem as being inferior to Abraham, by it being Abraham who gives a portion of spoils to the king rather than the other way round.[7]

[edit] Classical Rabbinical interpretation

In the Midrash, the Rabbis identified Melchizedek with Shem son of Noah. (E.g., B. Talmud Nedarim 32b; Genesis Rabbah 46:7; Genesis Rabbah 56:10; Leviticus Rabbah 25:6; Numbers Rabbah 4:8.) Rabbi Isaac the Babylonian said that Melchizedek was born circumcised. (Genesis Rabbah 43:6.) Melchizedek called Jerusalem “Salem.” (Genesis Rabbah 56:10.) The Rabbis said that Melchizedek instructed Abraham in the Torah. (Genesis Rabbah 43:6.) Rabbi Eleazar said that Melchizedek’s school was one of three places where the Holy Spirit manifested itself. (B. Talmud Makkot 23b.) The Rabbis taught that Melchizedek acted as a priest and handed down Adam’s robes to Abraham. (Numbers Rabbah 4:8.) Rabbi Zechariah said on Rabbi Ishmael’s authority that God intended to bring forth the priesthood through Melchizedek’s descendants, but because Melchizedek blessed Abraham before he blessed God (in Gen. 14:19-20), God brought the priesthood forth from Abraham’s descendants. (B. Talmud Nedarim 32b; see also Leviticus Rabbah 25:6 (crediting Rabbi Ishamel).)

Rabbi Judah said in Rabbi Nehorai's name that Melchizedek’s blessing yielded prosperity for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Genesis Rabbah 43:8.) Ephraim Miksha'ah the disciple of Rabbi Meir said in the latter's name that Tamar descended from Melchizedek. (Genesis Rabbah 85:10.)

Rabbi Hana bar Bizna citing Rabbi Simeon Hasida identified Melchizedek as one of the four craftsmen of whom Zechariah wrote in Zechariah 2:3. (B. Talmud Sukkah 52b; see also Song of Songs Rabbah 2:33 (crediting Rabbi Berekiah in the name of Rabbi Isaac).) The Talmud teaches that David wrote the Book of Psalms, including in it the work of the elders, including Melchizedek (in Psalm 110). (B. Talmud Baba Batra 14b-15a.)

The Zohar finds in “Melchizedek king of Salem” a reference to “the King Who rules with complete sovereignty,” or according to another explanation, that “Melchizedek” alludes to the lower world and “king of Salem” to the upper world. (Zohar 1:86b-87a.)

[edit] Gnostic Revelations

A collection of early Gnostic scripts found in 1945, known as the Nag Hammadi Library, contains a tractate pertaining to Melchizedek. Here it is revealed that Melchizedek is Jesus Christ (Robinson et al, 1978, "The Nag Hammadi Library"). Melchizedek , as Jesus Christ, lives, preaches, dies and is resurrected.

[edit] Representative of the priestly line

In some translations, Psalms names Melchizedek as representative of the priestly line through which a future king of Israel's Davidic line was ordained. Alternatively, it may be more accurate to treat this term as an agglutinated improper noun, to be translated as rightful king rather than left as Melchizedek; this interpretation is taken by some modern translations, such as the New JPS Tanakh.

[edit] The Melchizedek Priesthood and Christianity

Main article: Melchizedek Priesthood (Christianity)

Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah spoken of as "a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek" (Ps. 110:4), and so Jesus plays the role of High Priest once and for all. Jesus is considered a priest in the order of Melchizedek because, like Melchizedek, Jesus was not a Levite, and thus would not qualify for the Levitical priesthood (Heb. 7:13-17).

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the New Testament discussed this subject considerably, listing the following reasons for why the priesthood of Melchizedek is superior to the Aaronic priesthood:

1. Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek; later, the Levites would receive tithes from their countrymen. Since Aaron was in Abraham's loins then, it was as if the Aaronic priesthood were paying tithes to Melchizedek. (Heb. 7:4-10)
2. The one who blesses is always greater than the one being blessed. Thus, Melchizedek was greater than Abraham. As Levi was yet in the loins of Abraham, it follows that Melchizedek is greater than Levi. (Heb. 7:7-10)
3. If the priesthood of Aaron were effective, God would not have called a new priest in a different order in Psalm 110. (Heb. 7:11)
4. The basis of the Aaronic priesthood was ancestry; the basis of the priesthood of Melchizedek is everlasting life. That is, there is no interruption due to a priest's death. (Heb. 7:8,15-16,23-25)
5. Christ, being sinless, does not need a sacrifice for his own sins. (Heb. 7:26-27)
6. The priesthood of Melchizedek is more effective because it required a single sacrifice once and for all (Jesus), while the Levitical priesthood made endless sacrifices. (Heb. 7:27)
7. The Aaronic priests serve (or, rather, served) in an earthly copy and shadow of the heavenly Temple, which Jesus serves in. (Heb. 8:5)

The epistle goes on to say that the covenant of Jesus is superior to the covenant the Levitical priesthood is under. Some Christians hold that Melchizedek was a type of Christ, and some heterodox Christians hold that Melchizedek indeed was Christ. Reasons provided include that Melchizedek's name means "king of righteousness" according to the author of Hebrews, and that being king of Salem makes Melchizedek the "king of peace." Heb. 7:3 states, "Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he (Melchizedek) remains a priest forever." Melchizedek gave Abraham bread and wine, which Christians consider symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the sacrifice to confirm a covenant.