The Melchizedekian Priesthood

Melchizedek in the Context of Genesis 14

Genesis 14 records Abraham’s¹ successful military defeat of Chedorlaomer’s coalition of kings, and his interaction with the king of Salem (Melchizedek) and the king of Sodom. Chedorlaomer’s army swept through the land of Sodom taking Abraham’s nephew Lot captive in the process. Upon getting word of his nephew’s captivity, Abraham assembled 318 of his trained men, divided his forces at night, and rescued Lot by defeating Chedorlaomer’s powerful army. 

Upon Abraham’s successful return from battle, two kings came out to greet Abraham at the valley of Shaveh: the king of Sodom and Melchizedek, the king of Salem (Gen. 14:17–18). Melchizedek, priest of “God Most High,” brought Abraham bread and wine and blessed Abraham:

And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. (Gen. 14:19–20)

After blessing Abraham, Melchizedek’s role in the story is over. His time on the stage of redemption’s drama spans three verses. Melchizedek, however, is not insignificant. Several important observations about Melchizedek and his priesthood surface from his role in Genesis 14. First, Melchizedek’s name means “king of righteousness,” and his jurisdiction is over the city of Salem, which means “peace” (cf. Heb. 7:2). Psalm 76:2 identifies the city of Salem with Zion (Jerusalem). Melchizedek’s (Jeru)Salem is David’s Jerusalem. “Righteousness” and “peace” are characteristics that later biblical authors associate with Davidic kingship (Ps. 72:7; Isa. 9:7; 48:18–19). 

Second, Melchizedek’s priesthood is not attached to the Mosaic law covenant because the Mosaic covenant had not yet been given at this point in redemptive history. Instead, Melchizedek’s royal priesthood hearkens back to Adam’s regal priesthood in the garden. Alexander observes that Melchizedek’s kingship is “divinely instituted” in that “it seeks to re-establish God’s sovereignty on the earth in line with the divine mandate given to human beings when first created.”² 

Third, Melchizedek’s gift of bread and wine suggests that God will overturn the sins of Adam and Noah through the Abrahamic covenant and the Melchizedekian priesthood. Prior to Genesis 14, the only other mention of bread is in connection with Adam’s sin—“By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread” (Gen. 3:19). The only other mention of wine is in connection with Noah’s drunkenness (Gen. 9:21, 24). The two elements associated with Adam and Noah’s failures become sources of blessing from Melchizedek to Abraham. Through Abraham, God will reverse the failures of the previous two covenantal heads of humanity. 

Fourth, Genesis 14 contrasts two kinds of kingship: Melchizedek’s righteous kingship and the king of Sodom’s worldly kingship. The king of Sodom offered Abraham the spoils of war but wanted the people for himself. The king of Sodom’s strength is in numbers. He represents corrupt human kingship and kingdoms that clamor for power at the expense of others. Melchizedekian kingship, however, is servant-kingship. Melchizedek blessed God and attributed Abraham’s success in battle to God’s sovereign provision. Melchizedek knows that God rules the world and fulfills his purposes for his people. Melchizedek’s kingship represents God’s authority and righteous rule on earth. When the king of Sodom offered Abraham the spoils of war, Abraham refused. At a time when Abraham could have used his military prowess and political alliances to take possession of the land, Abraham rejected the offer of the king of Sodom and aligned himself with Melchizedek and Melchizedek’s God (Gen. 14:22, cf. 14:19). By rejecting the king of Sodom’s offer, Abraham reaffirmed his commitment to receive God’s promises by faith. Like Melchizedek, Abraham believed God Most High, the possessor of heaven and earth, would give him his reward. 

Lastly, Abraham’s solidarity with Melchizedek ties Melchizedek’s priesthood to the Abrahamic covenant. A gentile priest-king of (Jeru)Salem blessed Abraham, the recipient of the covenant promises. Melchizedek’s priesthood is the order of priesthood that can bring blessing to Abraham and his offspring. Furthermore, Melchizedek’s role in the narrative is, in part, to indicate that God’s purposes for Abraham are bigger than Abraham and his biological family. When the biblical storyline narrows in on one man (Abraham) and his family, Melchizedek functions as a reminder that God’s redemptive blessings will extend to all nations. The gentiles, typified by Melchizedek, will participate in the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant.

David’s Messianic Hope: A Priest-King After the Order of Melchizedek

The only other place that Melchizedek’s name appears in the Old Testament is in Psalm 110:4: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Psalm 110 is a psalm of David. It reflects David’s messianic hopes and expectations. The Psalm begins with Yahweh’s speech to David’s future Lord (the Messiah):

The Lord [Yahweh] says to my Lord [Adonai]: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool” (Ps. 110:1).

The promises of the David Covenant inform Yahweh’s speech. God promised to give David a son and establish the throne of his kingdom forever (2 Sam. 7:12–16). David’s greater son would build God’s temple and relate to God in a Father-son relationship, echoing God’s relationship with the first priest-king Adam (Lk. 3:38). David’s Lord (Adonai) in Psalm 110:1 is the same son promised to David in the Davidic covenant. He will mediate God’s reign over the earth from God’s own “right hand.”

According to Psalm 110:2, David’s greater son will fulfill the creation mandate to “rule,” but he will do so in the midst of his enemies. He will stretch forth his scepter from Zion to reclaim dominion for humanity in a world filled with forces of evil. He will fight his holy war with a priestly army in holy garments on the eschatological “day” of his power (Ps. 110:3). 

David’s Lord is not only a powerful king, but he is also a priest after the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4). David recognized the Messiah’s unique relationship to the Melchizedekian priesthood. Melchizedek ruled (Jeru)Salem (Ps. 76:2) and blessed Abraham, the recipient of the covenant promises, after Abraham’s conquest of kings. The Messiah too would rule from Jerusalem, bless the offspring of Abraham, and “shatter kings on the day of his wrath” (Ps. 110:5). The remainder of Psalm 110 describes the Messiah’s conquest. He will fill the nations with corpses and shatter the “head” over the broad earth (cf. Gen.3:15) when he lifts his own head in victory (Ps. 110:6–7). The allusion to Genesis 3:15 in Psalm 110:6 indicates that the Messiah will defeat Satan himself. David recognized that even though the Messiah’s regal priesthood recaptured Adam’s office and overcame Adam’s failure, it was Melchizedek’s priesthood, not Adam’s, that served as the model for the ministry of his future Lord. Melchizedek’s significance in redemptive history is tied to his association with Abraham and the Abrahamic covenant. God’s plan to bring blessing to the nations through a “seed” of Abraham would come through a “seed” of David holding Melchizedek’s priestly office. The offspring of Abraham would be blessed through a new Melchizedek.

 The Messianic son of David could not be a priest according to the stipulations of the Mosaic Law, for the law required that only those of the tribe of Levi could serve as priests. Since David was from the tribe of Judah, his greater son and Lord would hold the office of a regal priesthood superior to the priesthood established at Sinai. Unlike the Levitical priesthood, Melchizedek’s priesthood was a permanent priesthood grounded in God’s sovereignty over the earth. David’s son would therefore be a priest “forever” not after the order of Levi, but after the order of Melchizedek. By anticipating a permanent Melchizedekian priest, it seems that David also anticipated an end to the Mosaic covenant and its sacrifices. 

Jesus’s Superior Melchizedekian Priesthood

Hebrews is the only New Testament book that explicitly refers to Jesus’s Melchizedekian priesthood. The author of Hebrews wrote his epistle to Hebrew Christians on the verge of abandoning Christ to go back to inferior old covenant institutions like the Levitical priesthood and animal sacrifices. Hebrews 7 contains the most thorough argument for the superiority of Christ’s Melchizedekian priesthood. In Hebrews 7:1–10, the author appeals to the narrative details of Genesis 14 to demonstrate that Melchizedek’s priesthood is a permanent priesthood, and that Abraham himself recognized Melchizedek as a superior figure. Melchizedek is, according to the author of Hebrews, “without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life” (Heb. 7:3). The point is not that Melchizedek lived forever or that he was a pre-incarnate Christ. Instead, the author of Hebrews is commenting on Genesis. The book of Genesis gives us no genealogical information about Melchizedek’s birth, death, or ancestry. His priesthood, unlike the Levitical priesthood, is not grounded in genealogical descent. The Levites were mortal men who served a limited term in the priestly office before they were replaced by another man from their tribe. Melchizedek had no successors. The only testimony we have about Melchizedek is that he lives (Heb. 7:8). Melchizedek did not live forever, but his literary profile resembles the Son of God because Genesis presents his priesthood as a permanent priesthood—“he continues a priest forever” (Heb. 7:3). Furthermore, Melchizedek blessed Abraham, the recipient of the promises and patriarch of Israel, and Abraham paid Melchizedek a tithe. Melchizedek’s blessing and the tithe both point to the superiority of the Melchizedekian priesthood (Heb. 7:7–9). 

Hebrews 7:12–28 builds on Hebrews 7:1–10 to show how Jesus qualified for the Melchizedekian priesthood and why his new covenant mediation is superior to the priests of the old covenant. The old covenant was insufficient to deal with sin because the mediators of this covenant were sinful, mortal men (Heb. 7:18–19; cf. 9:11–14; 10:1–4, 11–14). They had to offer animal sacrifices for their own sins and the sins of the people (Heb. 7:27). The old covenant law appointed men in their weakness (Heb. 7:28). 

The inadequacies of the old covenant are overcome by the work of Christ and his Melchizedekian priesthood. Jesus was not appointed a priest according to the stipulations of the Mosaic Law covenant because he was not of the tribe of Levi. Instead, he was made a priest by the Lord’s oath. The oath ensured that David’s greater son would be a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7:20–21). The “order of Melchizedek” is an order of permanence—“you are a priest forever.” What exactly qualified Jesus to hold the office of a permanent priesthood? Unlike the sinful, mortal Levites, Jesus had no need to offer sacrifices for himself because he was sinless (Heb. 7:27). He offered up his sinless life as a sufficient sacrifice for sinners to make full atonement for sin (Heb. 7:27; cf. Heb. 1:3). After making purification for sins, he rose from the dead never to die again. He qualified for Melchizedek’s permanent priesthood because he lives forever as the resurrected Son of David. He “became a priest not on the basis of legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life” (Heb. 7:16). In other words, Jesus qualified for the Melchizedekian priesthood because he rose from the dead never to die again—his life is indestructible. The former priests (Levites) were many in number because death prevented them from continuing in office, but Jesus holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever (Heb. 7:24). Thus, Jesus is “able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25, emphasis mine). Through his sinless sacrifice and resurrection from the dead, Jesus has fulfilled and “set aside” the old covenant (Heb. 7:18), and simultaneously unleashed the promises of the Abrahamic covenant on the nations. He now “lays hold” of the offspring of Abraham as their great high priest. (Heb. 2:16). Jesus mediates the better and biding blessings of the new covenant because he holds a better and abiding priesthood. The Melchizedekian priesthood helps us understand how the Bible fits together and the glory of Christ’s saving work in his life, death, resurrection, and ongoing intercession for us in heaven.