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Abraham met with him and gave him 1/10 of all his goods. Yet, he remains to many a mysterious
person. Can we solve this mystery?
The name Melchizedek
means "King of Righteousness" and appears in
three books of the Bible: Genesis 14, Psalms 110, and Hebrews 5, 6 and 7.
Genesis 14:18-20
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was
the priest of the most high God. 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 hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And
he gave him tithes of all.
To understand it better, we should read the context in which these
verses were written.
Basically, Abraham had gone with some of his hired men to rescue his nephew Lot who
had been taken captive along with Lot's family and a crowd of other people, including the King of Sodom. Abraham successfully rescued all
the people and goods that were taken.
We also read in those 2 verses that
Melchizedek gave Abraham a blessing. Then Abraham
gave Melchizedek tithes (1/10th) of all the goods that he had rescued.
Abraham did this because God gave him victory in battle.
Another thing we gather is that Melchizedek was King of Salem and priest
of the Most High God. This Melchizedek gave Abraham and the rest bread and
wine.
We must
notice the similarity with Jesus giving the apostles bread and wine at
Passover. Notice that bread symbolizes Christ's body and wine his blood
shed for us.
Luke 22:14-20
And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with
him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this
Passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more
eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the
cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the
kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and
brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is
given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after
supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed
for you.
The next reference to Melchizedek is from:
Psalms 110:
1 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make
thine enemies thy footstool.
2 The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in
the midst of thine enemies.
3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of
holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
4 The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever
after the order of Melchizedek.
5 The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his
wrath.
It is from these verses that we realize that King
David, who wrote the Psalms, is talking about 2 lords, "the
Lord said unto my Lord." David also
mentions that this Lord says to his Lord "Sit
at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."
This is a reference to Jesus, who after His resurrection went to heaven
and sat at the right hand of God.
Acts 7:55
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into
heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of
God,
Psalms 110 continues with a reference to Jesus' future rule during the millennium and
to His power. "rule thou in the midst of your enemies."
and "thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Finally it refers to his Lord (Jesus) with the words
"Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."
The last quote from Psalms mentions that the
Lord "shall strike through
kings in the day of his wrath." This happens at the time of Jesus' return to earth during the
Battle of Armageddon.
The next reference to Melchizedek is in the
book of Hebrews.
Hebrews 5:5-6
So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:
“You are My Son, Today I have begotten You” As He also says in another place:
“You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”;
Hebrews 5:10
Called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,”
Hebrews 6:20
where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 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 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.
The preponderance of evidence shows that Melchizedek is Christ.
Therefore Jesus' previous life was as Melchizedek,
King of Salem.
During his rule as Melchizedek, Jesus met Abraham in several occasions:
one of them is the one we just mentioned in Genesis
14, another one was in
Genesis 18 when he visited Abraham again before the destruction of Sodom.
Therefore from all these bible verses we conclude:
1. Jesus was Melchizedek before He was born as a human being -- son of God.
2. As Melchizedek, Jesus was King of Salem.
a. Salem had to be the king's territory.
b. As the word Salem means peace, the kingdom had to be a peaceful territory, therefore we can NOT construe it to be the territory here on earth where the Jebusites lived. The Jebusites did NOT obey God, they were
pagan Canaanites, therefore they could NOT have Melchizedek as their king.
c. The Jebusite area was later conquered by King David where he developed Jerusalem (city of peace), and brought the ark of the covenant, but Melchizedek was never King of Jerusalem.
d. Jesus stated to Pilate that his kingdom was
not of this world.
John 18:36
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from here.
Therefore, Salem -- the territory ruled by Melchizedek -- had to be a kingdom NOT on this earth. That leaves only one option: Salem had to be a territory in
Paradise/the third heaven or on a similar location AWAY FROM THIS EARTH.
3. As Melchizedek, Jesus was also a Priest of the Most High God. This priesthood would last forever.
4. The sacrifice offered by Melchizedek was his own body, given up when Melchizedek became the man Jesus.
5. Melchizedek has been promoted to the right hand of God Most High after his sacrifice here on earth.
a. He now rules from heaven in the midst of his enemies, till all opposition is put down to his universal Kingdom. See
woman with 12 stars.
b. He will come down from heaven with his saints to start a millennial kingdom here on
earth,
c. After the millennial kingdom, the city Holy Jerusalem (Holy
City of Peace) will come down from heaven (the third heaven/Paradise) to be set up on a new earth.
d. Melchizedek/Jesus will be the ruler of the whole universe (every knee shall bend to
him).
Maranatha - may His Kingdom come.
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To many it might seem something completely new to hear that Jesus was "King of Salem." It has been in the Bible all
this time, but it is just a topic that is not preached very often.
This has to do with who was Jesus before he was born as a human being. The book of John tells us that he was in the beginning with God, that he was the creator of everything that exists and that he was the word of God.
See John 1:1-3
We know that Jesus -- before being born from the virgin Mary -- appeared to Abraham several times. He looked like a man, but Abraham was aware he was the Lord, capable of doing anything that the Almighty God could do. Look at the account in Genesis 18.
Genesis 18
Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold,
three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, 3 and said, “MY
LORD, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. 4 Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.”..13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14
Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”..16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to
do?..20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
It is only when we start to delve deeper into the roles that Jesus had before he was born as a man, that we get a deeper grasp into who he really was.
Although being God, Jesus before his birth as a human, was different from his Father -- the Almighty God. Jesus could appear in human form, although he was always recognized as the Lord, and not as an angel. Just by the reason of being able to be visible to other humans and able to converse with them, we realize the difference between him and the father. No human being can be in the presence of God Almighty; he would die. In contrast, Abraham could converse in the presence of the Lord (Jesus in his
prehuman form.) Jesus acknowledged this difference when he stated "my father is greater than I."
John 14:28
Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
Jesus had the capability of growing in his Godlike qualities. The bible mentions that he was perfected by his sufferings.
Hebrews 2:10
For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many children to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
After Jesus became a human being and gave his life for his disciples who would accept his sacrifice, he was promoted to the right hand of God to become the ruler of the entire universe.
Philippians 2:10
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
Luke 22:69
"But from now on THE SON OF MAN WILL BE SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND of the power OF GOD."
The expression "from now on" conveys that Jesus did NOT seat at the right hand of God before his human sacrifice.
We mentioned previously that Jesus was Melchizedek, the King of Salem, and showed by the preponderance of evidence from the bible, that Salem had to be a territory in Paradise.
John 18:36
Jesus said, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If it did, my servants would fight so that I would not be handed over to the Jewish leaders. No, my kingdom is not an earthly one.”
Christ is a real king with subjects.
This is not allegorical, but literal. After the Battle of Armageddon, he
will establish his kingdom here on Earth.
John 18:37
Then Pilate said, "So you are a king!" Jesus replied, "You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world--to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
At that time, the kingdom of God had NOT yet been established on this earth, but the kingdom of God existed -- in
Paradise.
It is impossible to suppose that Jesus would be king of a Canaanite pagan nation who God commanded to be destroyed by the Israelites as they came to take over the land of Canaan.
Once we establish that Salem had to be a territory inhabited by the people who
live in Paradise, we can begin to understand that the promise of the rapture {to
Paradise} is real, and that Jesus return for the rapture is closer than what most people think.
After the rapture, Jesus will come to
this Earth with his saints
(subjects)
to establish the millennial kingdom. These
saints that are coming with Christ are the subjects of his kingdom.
Jude 1:14-15
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his
saints.
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against them.
Enoch was the the great grandfather of Noah and he was taken from Earth to
not see death.
Hebrews 11:5
By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: "He could not be found, because God had taken him away." For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
This did happen before the flood and
the Bible does not tell us where Enoch is. However, we know that he is not
in heaven (the throne of GOD) because the Bible tells us that only Jesus has ascended to
heaven.
John 3:13
And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven,
the Son of man.
Therefore, the most probably place for Enoch
to be is Paradise. To clarify this concept see Heaven.
In Paradise grows the tree of life. Enoch
probably ate of the tree and is alive right now. Also, he probably
had many children and these are in the Kingdom of Salem, which
Christ/Melchizedek was ruling over when he met Abraham.
Enoch is not the only person taken
from Earth. The Bible says that Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind to
heaven.
2KINGS 2:9-11
When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." He said, "You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so."
As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.
Enoch and
Elijah were probably both taken
to Paradise. This
is a place where people are flesh and blood, not spirits. Well, is
Paradise
a real place? What did Jesus say to the thief on the cross?
Luke 23:43
And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to you this day, you shall be with me in PARADISE.
Yes, the promises of our Lord are real.
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