dear brother. please explain me about Melchizedek king of Salem. i need full details about him.
Melchizedek is a biblical character in the times of Patriarchy (before Judaism and Christianity) who mysteriously appears and then as mysteriously disappears from the biblical text. With slight variations in spelling, Melchizedek’s name appears in just a few verses in both testaments of the Bible (Genesis 14:18-20; Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6, 10; 7:1-2, 11-12, 15, 17, 21). Though every male under Patriarchy could act as a family priest and perform ritual worship of Jehovah (Genesis 4:3-4; 22:5), Melchizedek was a patriarchal priest in some way superior to family priests and at the same time king of Salem (later called Jerusalem); Melchizedek’s priesthood was superior to Abraham’s priesthood (Hebrews 7:7). “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life” (Hebrews 7:3) means that Melchizedek neither received his priesthood from his forefathers nor passed the priesthood to his descendants, as was the case with Levitical priests under Judaism; Melchizedek’s family tree was immaterial to his priesthood, as is true regarding the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
The following three quotations from various resources provide some useful points to remember about Melchizedek. Essentially, the rest of what can know about Melchizedek is limited to what we can read in the passages in which his name appears.
…the Melchizedek priesthood was prior to the Levitical temporary law…(Fausset’s)
Melchizedek’s existence shows that there were people other than Abraham and his family who served the true God. …Melchizedek was a real, historical king-priest who served as a type for the greater King-Priest who was to come, Jesus Christ. (Nelson’s)
The relation between Melchizedek and Christ as type and antitype is made in the Epistle to the Hebrews to consist in the following particulars: Each was a priest, (1) not of the Levitical tribe; (2) superior to Abraham; (3) whose beginning and end are unknown; (4) who is not only a priest, but also a king of righteousness and peace. (Smith)
