365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 305: Priest Forever in the Order of Melchizedek

Priest Forever in the Order of Melchizedek

"This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means 'king of justice,' and king of Salem means 'king of peace.' There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God. Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied, 'You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.' " (Hebrews 7:1-3, 16, 17 NLT)

I'm going to go out on a limb and on the record today.

The limb is that if someone asked you, "What is your favorite name of Jesus?" I'm guessing "Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek" wouldn't be what rolled off your tongue. But I'm asking (okay, begging) you to stay with me here, because I promise you will soon love this name (even if it never does roll off your tongue).

As for the record: I'm going on it as saying that the seventh chapter of Hebrews is my new favorite buried treasure in the Bible. Of course, it wasn't buried at all; rather, God just recently led me to unearth it for myself. The entire chapter paints for us a gorgeous contrast between the human priests of old and our Great High Priest Jesus, with Melchizedek as something of a bridge from one to the other. This chapter of God's story is jam-packed with spiritual gold—and I'm inviting you to mine it with me the next few days.

We meet Melchizedek rather out of nowhere in Genesis 14. Abram (Abraham before his divine name change) has just won a victory in battle when he encounters Melchizedek, both the king of Salem and a priest of the one true God. In Melchizedek, we see a king and priest who foreshadows THE King and Priest, Jesus. But more than that, we see a striking example of how Jesus is the most perfect (complete, lacking nothing) representation of every good thing.

Melchizedek collected an offering from Abram; Jesus, a Priest in the order of Melchizedek, is the Offering.

Melchizedek was a priest though he was not a descendant of Levi, as the other priests were; Jesus, the Lion from the tribe not of Levi but of Judah, was a priest "by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed" (Hebrews 7:16).

Melchizedek means "king of justice;" Jesus will "reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness" (Isaiah 9:7).

Melchizedek's title "king of Salem" means "king of peace;" Jesus is the Prince of Peace and is, in fact, Himself our peace (Ephesians 2:14).

All that Melchizedek foreshadowed, Jesus brought fully into the light. 

All that Melchizedek was part of, Jesus was the whole of. 

All that we might look for in any earthly example, we find exemplified and embodied in Jesus. If only we will not settle for less than all of Him. If only we will not be satisfied with "some" but with the whole Savior. If only we will not stop when we've found a trinket...but will keep searching until we've opened the whole Treasure.