The Everlasting Covenant's Great High Priest : Part II

           In the most recent past article, this question was anticipated and posed; why was Melchizedek chosen to be a priest and to prefigure the Lord Jesus Christ? This is to be the subject of this article. I beg the reader’s patient indulgence as this important issue is addressed.

Why Melchizedek? Briefly it is because Melchizedek is in some respect better than Abraham. That principle is declared in Hebrews 7:7. There it is written” And without all contradiction the less (Abraham) is blessed of the better (Melchizedek)”. Now in Genesis 14:17-20 is the history of the event. “And the King of Sodom went out to meet him (Abram whose name was later changed to Abraham who is the patriarch of many nations including the nation of the Hebrews) after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the Kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the King’s dale. And Melchizedek King of Salem brought 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.” In the actions of both men (Melchizedek and Abraham) the superiority of Melchizedek to Abraham was acknowledged. Melchizedek acknowledged his superiority to Abraham when he blessed him. Abraham acknowledged his inferiority to Melchizedek when he received the blessing from Melchizedek and when he gave him tithes of all. Melchizedek was superior to Abraham in the office he held, he was the priest of the most high God. In the office of priest Melchizedek stood as intermediary between God and Abraham.

Abraham acknowledged the superiority of Melchizedek in his priesthood as he stood the patriarch and head of the Hebrew nation, and so as the father of the family of Levi from whom came the Aaronic or Levitical priesthood. In that relation the superiority of the priesthood of Melchizedek to the priesthood of Aaron was demonstrated. Since Melchizedek was the acknowledged superior of Abraham, and Abraham the acknowledged superior of Levi and Aaron because the father of their nation, then it is clear that Melchizedek is the superior of Levi and Aaron.   

             It is because of the demonstrated superiority of Melchizedek to Abraham, Levi, and Aaron that Melchizedek was chosen to be the old testament type of  Jesus Christ the Great High Priest of the everlasting covenant of grace. Now to summarize what has been said before; Abraham was the patriarch of the Hebrew nation, he was chosen of God to be the progenitor of that nation and so most highly revered by the Hebrews. Both in Melchizedek’s blessing Abraham, and in Abraham paying tithes to Melchizedek, in both actions, is shown the superiority of Melchizedek to Abraham, for the less is blessed of the better Hebrews 7:7. And that is not all, for Levi also paid tithes to Melchizedek while he was yet in the loins of Abraham, Hebrews7:10, so that the Levitical priesthood is shown to be inferior to the priesthood of Melchizedek.

Now the priesthood of Melchizedek was given to be a type of the everlasting priesthood of Christ, and the priesthood of Christ Jesus (who is the God-man) is infinitely more superior to the priesthood of Melchizedek than that of Melchizedek to the priesthood of the sons of Levi. For Melchizedek was a mere man and no more, Hebrews 5:1 “ For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins:” To officiate in the office of priest for men it is required that the candidate must be a man. In this it is certain that Melchizedek was a mere man and no more than a man. Now in the case of Our Lord Jesus Christ, He is one person who is God-man. This truth is made clear as we compare John1:1 with John1:14; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, John. 1:1. And the Word was made flesh, (and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth, John. 1:14. The Word being made flesh; is the act of The Son of God in taking the human nature prepared in the womb of the virgin into union with his divine person. In this act our Lord became man, antecedent to that he was God and remains God and as God-man is qualified to officiate in the office of the great high priest for men. The God-man is one person who has two natures, He is very God of very God, and he is very man of very man in one person. It is the person of Christ that is vested with priesthood as He is God-man; and in the person of Jesus Christ God purchased his church with his own blood. Acts 20:28 “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Now the time of reformation had come upon the Church of God, and that form of worship which was under the Old Testament was to be abolished, along with its priesthood and ceremonies. The Old Testament priesthood and form of worship had been God’s appointed way for fifteen hundred or more years, and now the time which was foretold in that testament was come upon the Church.

The Hebrew nation and that Church State was to abandon the mosaic institutions which they had followed for generations and worship God (the God of their fathers) according to the form of worship which should be declared by Messiah. This demanded alteration was far more extensive than we moderns can imagine, yet it was foretold in the Old Testament, they should have been aware of the change that was come upon them, and should have been willing to receive that which was ordained of God for the time to come. The Old Testament system of worship was “a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation, Hebrews 9:9,10.

The time of reformation was now come upon them, and now they must forsake the Old Testament institutions of divine worship, and worship God in spirit and in truth, which is the acknowledgement of the person and offices of Jesus Christ. They were called upon to forsake the weak and beggarly elements of the law and cleave to Christ alone for all of their salvation, Galatians 4:9.

To show the Hebrews the necessity of this change the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews points to the superiority of the priesthood of the New Testament as it is compared to the priesthood of the Old Testament. The Great High Priest of the New Testament is God in human flesh, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the high priests of the Old Testament were men, who were made priests by carnal ordinances of the law. In order to  show that superiority, the writer of the epistle lights upon Melchizedek and shows his superiority to Abraham, and his superiority to the  Levitical priesthood in Abraham (for Levi was in the loins of Abraham when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek) Hebrews 7:9,10. By showing the superiority of Melchizedek to Abraham and to Levi, and by stating that the Priesthood of Christ (by oath of God the Father) is after the order of Melchizedek, he proves the superiority of the priesthood of Christ to the Priesthood of Levi. This is easily understood when it is considered that Jesus Christ is the God of Melchizedek, Abraham, Moses, Aaron and Levi. It is also clear from this that the Son of God, Jesus Christ is the eternal Great High Priest of the everlasting covenant of Grace.

A.J. Ison