In chapter seven of his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul begins to address those things that are “hard to be uttered” that the Jews had such difficulty in understanding, because they had become “dull of hearing” (Hebrews 5:11). Here in Hebrews 7 Paul begins to unveil a priesthood that is superior to that of Aaron. It was superior in five ways. First, Abraham, Levi’s great ancestor, submitted himself to this priesthood. Secondly, its coming was prophesied; thirdly, it was more solemn than that of Levi in that the Lord confirmed it with his oath. Fourth, it continues forever; that is, its High Priest never dies, so it is an unchangeable priesthood. Finally, the High Priest’s sacrifice, offered only once, was sufficient to make mankind perfect in righteousness, unlike the Levitical priesthood, which couldn’t make anything perfect, in that its priesthood had to offer sacrifices continually.
The importance of Melchizedek is seen in the fact that Abraham gave him tithes of all the spoils (Hebrews 7:4). Didn’t Abraham, on other occasions offer sacrifices to God (Genesis 12:7-8; 13:4, 18; 22:9, 13)? If Abraham offered sacrifices to God, then he, too, was a priest, and a priest to the Most High God, just like Melchizedek, if, indeed, Melchizedek was a human figure who lived alongside the kings of Canaan. As a priest of the Most High God, why didn’t Abraham, himself, offer the tenth to God as a burnt offering? Nevertheless, he recognized Melchizedek as THE Priest of the Most High God, and gave him, Melchizedek, a tenth part of all the spoils. Thereby, it was through Melchizedek that Abraham honored God in publicly recognizing the Most High God, as the one who gained the victory for him over the four kings of the east, concerning whom scripture tells us the five kings of the plain couldn’t defeat!
Paul then compares the tribe of Levi with Melchizedek. Of the twelve tribes of Israel, the Levites were to be the teachers and priests of the land (cf. Nehemiah 8:5-8). They were able to draw near to God and perform the sacrifices to him on behalf of their brethren, the other eleven tribes (Numbers 18:7, 21-26). They were empowered by the commandment of God to take tithes from their brethren, thereby being acknowledged by their brethren as the ones called by God to perform the duties of priest to him and being the caretakers of the altar and the Tabernacle (Hebrews 7:5).
After this Paul mentions that Abraham, the father of Israel, gave the tithe to Melchizedek, thus, showing he recognized Melchizedek as the Priest who stood between him and God (Hebrews 7:6-7), just as all the tribes of Israel recognized the sons of Aaron stood between them and God. In the same way, therefore, that the Levites’ office as priests to God and caring for the Tabernacle was higher than that of their brethren, so Melchizedek’s office as Priest to the Most High God was higher than that of Abraham.
In comparing Melchizedek with the Levites, however, Paul seems to say the difference between the two is as different as life is from death. In Hebrews 7:8 Paul shows that the Levites who received tithes from their brethren died, but Abraham tithed to Melchizedek, concerning whom the Scriptures say he lives.
Many scholars assume Melchizedek was simply a man who lived during the days of Abraham, and they conclude that Paul simply made some fancy, rabbinical interpretations of the available text (Hebrews 7:8), which, if true, implies Paul didn’t write the word of God. I don’t wish to take anything away from those who have pursued degrees in an effort to understand the ancient Biblical period, but it seems to me that folks who have so much information often have difficulty in using that information to draw good conclusions on their own. In other words, they’d rather not go out on a limb among their peers in order to declare something is true, if the information they have doesn’t specifically say it is true. The problem with this philosophy is that much of the New Covenant Scriptures make declarations taken from the Old Covenant Scriptures that don’t specifically and clearly state what the New Covenant authors say they do.
Now, consider for a moment that Melchizedek is the only righteous patriarch in Genesis whose genealogy isn’t mentioned. Why would that be so, if he was truly, merely, a righteous man living during the days of Abraham? Moreover, why wouldn’t the **King** of Righteousness and **King** of Peace be mentioned in Hebrews 11 with the other men of faith? Finally, why would Abraham, a priest in his own right, give this man tithes, whom the Scriptures never mention for another 1000 years and are silent once more for another 1000 years concerning him. In other words, if Abraham was a priest to the Most High God, why was Melchizedek more so that he received tithes from Abraham, the friend of God?
None of these questions are even addressed by these scholars who find it difficult to conclude anything different from what their peers say about the text. I mean no disrespect, and perhaps I don’t have the appreciation I should have for the gravity of the problems they have in identifying Melchizedek. Nevertheless, I believe I am able to conclude from the information provided in the text that Paul wasn’t naïve in his interpretation of the text.[1] Either Paul was writing the word of God or he wasn’t. It’s a matter of what we think the Bible actually is, and if the word of God, Paul can’t be naïve. If it is true that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham, what can we conclude about his identity? In Hebrews 7:9-10 Paul shows that since Abraham submitted to Melchizedek, Levi also submitted to him giving him tithes, because Levi was yet in Abraham’s loins when he performed the rite.
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[1] See ICCNT’s portrayal of Paul’s naiveté in its exposition of Hebrews 7.
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