“Melchizedek”

Thursday, June 18, 2020

      What is the meaning and relationship between Christ and "the order of Melchizedek" in Hebrews 6:20, 3:1?

Sincerely,
Seeking Order

Dear Seeking Order,

Heb 3:1 says that Jesus is our high priest, but a special type of high priest.  The high priest was the one man in the nation of Israel who had the ability to go to God and ask the Lord to forgive the people of their sins (Heb 9:7).  The problem was that under the Old Covenant, Jesus had no right to be the high priest because He was from the tribe of Judah, and all high priests came from the tribe of Levi (Deut 18:1).

Jesus was from the tribe of Judah – the tribe that kings came from (Gen 49:10).  However, before the nation of Israel existed, there was a king that was also a priest named Melchizedek (Gen 14:18).  Heb 7:1-3 says that Jesus is a king like Melchizedek.  Jesus is both king and priest under the New Covenant.  Jesus changed the law from the Old Testament to the New Testament and became forever both king and priest to the church (Heb 7:17).

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