Genesis 14:17–20 — Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. 19 He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all.
Psalm 110:4 — The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
Melchizedek is a mysterious but very important person in the Bible. In the Old Testament he appears only in the verses quoted above, and in the New Testament, only in Hebrews chapters 5-7, where the writer explains his significance more fully.
We are to understand that the priesthood of Jesus Christ is not in the order of the Levitical priests. The ceremonial law is abolished and under the New Covenant, there is a new priesthood which, as God swore to Christ in Psalm 110:4 above, would be in the order of Melchizedek instead. What else may we know about Melchizedek, so we may know about the order into which Christ has been designated high priest?
He was a great man. He had no genealogy (so we know he was not related to Levi), no beginning of days or end of life, but like Jesus he remains a priest perpetually (Hebrews 7:1) and holds his priesthood by the power of an indestructible life (Hebrews 7:16).
He was great also, because although Abraham was a mighty prince, possessing the promises of God, yet he unquestioningly gave a tenth of all to Melchizedek in the account from Genesis above, and was blessed by Melchizedek. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that the lesser is blessed by the greater, so Melchizedek is greater than the mighty Abraham (Hebrews 7:7).
The similarities between Melchizedek and Jesus lead most people to believe that Melchizedek was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, and some consider that he was Jesus Himself, appearing in Christophany as a man but before His incarnation.
The appearance of Melchizedek, then, informs us that the Levitical priesthood, yet to be established by God, would not be lasting, but that, failing to make the people perfect because of their sin, it would give way to another priesthood established in perpetuity and resting on the power of an indestructible life. The prophecy in Psalm 110 tells us that it is Jesus Whose priesthood in the order of Melchizedek will render the Levitical priesthood obsolete.
This is really interesting information, and very important to a correct understanding of the transition between Old and New Covenants, but what does it have to do with the Lord's Supper? Did you note what Melchizedek brought with him when He appeared to bless The possessor of the promises concerning the Covenant of Grace? Bread and Wine. When was it, precisely, that the Old Covenant was eclipsed by the New, when all its types and shadows were wonderfully fulfilled? It was at the cross, where the Pascal Lamb laid down His life and ransomed His people from sin. So the emblems that we hold in the Lord's Supper are the very ones Melchizedek brought out when He blessed Abraham.
Next time we take the Supper, then, remember Jesus, High Priest Forever in the Order of Melchizedek (by the power of an indestructible life), Fulfiller of the types and shadows of the Old Covenant and the One Who makes perfect those who draw near to God through Him in faith.
