1: For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; 2: To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; 3: Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. 4: Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. 5: And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: 6: But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. 7: And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. 8: And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. 9: And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. 10: For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him. 11: If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 12: For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. 13: For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. 14: For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
The writer now goes on to show that the priesthood of Melchisedec was superior to the Aaronic priesthood. He says, this man, who was king of Salem (the site of Jerusalem) and priest of ‘the most high God’, met Abraham after his battle with the five kings of Canaan. He came to Abraham to bless him and Abraham gave to him a tenth of all he had. Then he goes on to say that, this man has no recorded mother or father, nor any ancestors - recorded, nor is his death recorded. In this sense he is a type of Christ - a living parable. He was like Christ in that he had no recorded end to his priesthood. While Melchisedec has no recorded end to his priesthood, Christ himself will have no actual end to his priesthood. Now consider how great this man was - Melchisedec was. He was honoured by Abraham before Abraham's children were born. The tribe of Levi take a tenth of the income of the other tribes to enable them to continue in their work of the priesthood. But in contrast Melchisedec whose descent is not recorded, receive tithes from them (The Levitical priests) because they were the sons of Abraham. And it goes without saying that 'the less is blessed by the greater'. Therefore the priesthood of Melchisedec was greater than the Levitical priesthood. Levi paid his tenth to Melchisedec - in Abraham. If therefore perfection (salvation) could come by the Levitical priesthood then what need would there be for another great priesthood to arise. In the Aaronic priesthood there was no salvation (as Christians have it) offered to Israel. Now because the blessing of God comes only from a change in the priesthood from Aaron to Christ there must therefore be a change in the Law, because it was clear that Christ came from the tribe of Judah and there was no priesthood associated with that tribe. Christ is therefore a priest after a different order than that of the Aaronic priesthood. He has a superior priesthood - like that of Melchisedec.
Steve
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