Abram – The Lowedown

Genesis 14

¹⁷As Abram returned from his victory over Kedorlaomer and his allies, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). ¹⁸Then Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought him bread and wine. ¹⁹Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing:

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

Creator of heaven and earth.

²⁰And blessed be God Most High,

who has helped you conquer your enemies.”Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered. (Genesis 14:17-20, NLT)

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hebrews 7

¹This 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 many kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. ²Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had won in the battle and gave it to Melchizedek. His name means “king of justice.” He is also “king of peace” because Salem means “peace.” ³There 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.

⁴Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized how great Melchizedek was by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. ⁵Now the priests, who are descendants of Levi, are commanded in the law of Moses to collect a tithe from all the people, even though they are their own relatives. ⁶But Melchizedek, who was not even related to Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. ⁷And without question, the person who has the power to bless is always greater than the person who is blessed.

⁸In the case of Jewish priests, tithes are paid to men who will die. But Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on. ⁹In addition, we might even say that Levi’s descendants, the ones who collect the tithe, paid a tithe to Melchizedek through their ancestor Abraham. ¹⁰For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s loins when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.

¹¹And finally, if the priesthood of Levi could have achieved God’s purposes—and it was that priesthood on which the law was based—why did God need to send a different priest from the line of Melchizedek, instead of from the line of Levi and Aaron?

¹²And when the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. ¹³For the one we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members do not serve at the altar. ¹⁴What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned Judah in connection with the priesthood.

¹⁵The change in God’s law is even more evident from the fact that a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has now come. ¹⁶He became a priest, not by meeting the old requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. ¹⁷And the psalmist pointed this out when he said of Christ,

“You are a priest forever

in the line of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. ¹⁹For the law made nothing perfect, and now a better hope has taken its place. And that is how we draw near to God.

²⁰God took an oath that Christ would always be a priest, but he never did this for any other priest. ²¹Only to Jesus did he say,

“The Lord has taken an oath

and will not break his vow:

‘You are a priest forever.’”²²Because of God’s oath, it is Jesus who guarantees the effectiveness of this better covenant. (Hebrews 7:1-22, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

One of the great themes of the book of Genesis and really the whole Bible, is the Abrahamic covenant, which is introduced in Genesis 12 and is repeated again in Genesis 15. In this covenant, God promises to bless Abraham, so that he, through his descendants, would be a blessing to the nations. This promise sets the backdrop for God’s biblical redemptive plan, which unfolds throughout the Scriptures.

In the chapters that provide the filling for this Abrahamic Covenant sandwich (Genesis 13 and 14), Moses tells the story of how Abram and Lot decide to separate, mainly because they both had grown their personal wealth so much, there was no suitable land that could accommodate both of them with all of their flocks and herds.

Now that Lot is no longer under Abram’s protection, he finds himself the innocent victim of what amounts to a local political rebellion. The end result is that Lot, along with others, is taken captive by a local ruler who did not take kindly to the uprising of his subjects.

Abram gets wind of the situation and launches a rescue operation, which is highly successful. Not only does he get Lot back, but he retrieves ALL of those who have been captured, along with all of their possessions which had been looted.

On his way back from victory, Abram encounters a local king named Melchizedek. To the unschooled reader, Melchizedek seems like just another insignificant local political leader with a name that’s hard to pronounce. There really isn’t much reason to think this guy is that important to the overall biblical narrative, until of course, you get to the book of Hebrews.

Everything we know about Melchizedek comes from just 3 verses in Genesis 14. Here is what we know:

- Melchizedek was the king of Salem, which means “king of peace.”
- Melchizedek was also “king of righteousness” since the name “Melchizedek” means “my king is righteousness.”
- Melchizedek was a priest of the most High God – he apparently followed the one true God.
- Melchizedek blessed Abram
- Abram gives Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he recovered. He paid a tithe to Melchizedek.

Here’s a guy who gets a mere 3 verses of attention in Genesis but then later, is a major source of discussion for 3 chapters in the book of Hebrews. What is really going on here?

If you know anything about the book of Hebrews, the theme is the idea of “Better”. The author advances a series of arguments to show how Jesus is better.

Better than what?

Better than everything!

Jesus is better than angels. Jesus is better than Moses. Jesus is a better priest because He belongs to a better priesthood. Jesus offers a better sacrifice because Jesus’ sacrifice is built on better blood.

Everything about Jesus is better. Including the fact that Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant.

Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who were beginning to forsake their new faith in Christ in favor of reverting back to their Jewish religious practices. The author pens his letter to demonstrate why that is not advisable. I’ve written about that in my blog post “Better Than…” as well as another post “A Better Sacrifice”.

In this section of Hebrews, the writer uses Melchizedek as an illustration to make the argument that Jesus is the author of a better covenant.

How exactly does he make his case?

The author first demonstrates that Melchizedek was greater than Abram. He does this by pointing out that Melchizedek blessed Abram and also received a tithe from Abram. He argues that the person who blesses is always greater than the person being blessed and the person who receives a tithe generally has a higher status than the person paying the tithe. Hence, Melchizedek is greater than Abram.

If Melchizedek is greater than Abram, then he’s also greater than Levi, who came from Abram. The writer points out that even though Levi, who is the basis for the Old Testament priesthood, was not yet born, his seed was within Abram when Abram paid the tithe to Melchizedek.

We know also that Melchizedek was a priest of the most high God just as Levi was. But since the Levitical priesthood had not even been implemented yet, Melchizedek’s priesthood must be of a different order. This order is different in one very obvious respect – this priesthood allowed kings to function as priests. This was not allowed in the Levitical priesthood which kept the roles of priests, who were the mediators, separate from the roles of kings, who were the rulers. (See my post, “Whatever Became of Sin?” to see an example of what happens when a king tries to perform priestly functions in the Levitical priesthood system.)

The author then gives another reason for the superiority of Melchizedek’s priesthood over Levi’s – Melchizedek’s priesthood is eternal while Levi’s was temporary.

The author reasons that alhough Melchizedek was a real person, his genealogy is not mentioned anywhere. We don’t know where he came from and there is no mention of him after these few verses in Genesis 14. It’s as if he never died.

The writer uses this as an analogy of sorts. Melchizedek appears on the scene out of nowhere and since we have no record of his death, it’s as if he lives on forever. Melchizedek, therefore, is a priest forever.

The argument then is that Jesus’ priesthood is more like Melchizedek’s priesthood than it is like Levi’s. How?

Jesus descends from Judah, not from Levi. Therefore, Jesus is not even eligible to be a priest within the Levitical system.

Also, Jesus is a priest AND a king, just as Melchizedek was.

Finally, Jesus’ priesthood is eternal, just like Melchizedek’s appeared to be. Unlike Levitical priests, who died and had to be replaced by new priests, Jesus lives on forever and therefore is NEVER replaced.

We’ve already established that Melchizedek is greater (better) than Levi and since Jesus’ priesthood resembles Melchizedek’s not Levi’s, it logically follows that Jesus’ priesthood is better than Levi’s.

And because Jesus’ priesthood is better, the covenant which He introduces must also be better. So why would you then go back to the Old Covenant which was clearly inferior?

So there you have it. Melchizedek, who is just a blip on the screen in the Old Testament, becomes a central figure of the New Testament.

In theological terms, we say that Melchizedek is a “type” of Christ, which simply means that his existence and what we know of him figuratively resembles what we know to be true of Jesus. Hence, even though it may seem, on the surface, like Melchizedek is just a hired extra in the background of a major Hollywood movie scene, he turns out to be much more important than that. His mention is made to prefigure the coming of Jesus.

Now you know.

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Reflection

What has been your understanding of Melchizedek before reading this blog? Who did you think he was and what importance did you think he had to the overall message of Scripture?

What do you think are some of the reasons the audience of the book of Hebrews may have been forsaking their faith? What are some things that can tend to draw you away from the faith and back into your former lifestyle?

Of the characteristics of Melchizedek that resemble Jesus, which one stands out to you the most and why?

Jesus is the author of a better covenant. The old covenant was based on the Law. How would you explain to another person that the new covenant is better than the old covenant? What are some of the ways that it is better?

AI image of Abram paying a tithe to Melchizedek created by Grok

Genesis 20

¹Now Abraham moved south to the Negev and settled for a while between Kadesh and Shur at a place called Gerar. ²Abraham told people there that his wife, Sarah, was his sister. So King Abimelech sent for her and had her brought to him at his palace.

³But one night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are a dead man, for that woman you took is married.”

⁴But Abimelech had not slept with her yet, so he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent man? ⁵Abraham told me, ‘She is my sister,’ and she herself said, ‘Yes, he is my brother.’ I acted in complete innocence!”

⁶“Yes, I know you are innocent,” God replied. “That is why I kept you from sinning against me; I did not let you touch her. ⁷Now return her to her husband, and he will pray for you, for he is a prophet. Then you will live. But if you don’t return her to him, you can be sure that you and your entire household will die.”

⁸Abimelech got up early the next morning and hastily called a meeting of all his servants. When he told them what had happened, great fear swept through the crowd. ⁹Then Abimelech called for Abraham. “What is this you have done to us?” he demanded. “What have I done to you that deserves treatment like this, making me and my kingdom guilty of this great sin? This kind of thing should not be done! ¹⁰Why have you done this to us?”

¹¹“Well,” Abraham said, “I figured this to be a godless place. I thought, ‘They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.’ ¹²Besides, she is my sister—we both have the same father, though different mothers—and I married her. ¹³When God sent me to travel far from my father’s home, I told her, ‘Wherever we go, have the kindness to say that you are my sister.’”

¹⁴Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen and servants—both men and women—and gave them to Abraham, and he returned his wife, Sarah, to him. ¹⁵“Look over my kingdom, and choose a place where you would like to live,” Abimelech told him. ¹⁶Then he turned to Sarah. “Look,” he said, “I am giving your ‘brother’ a thousand pieces of silver to compensate for any embarrassment I may have caused you. This will settle any claim against me in this matter.”

¹⁷Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and the other women of the household, so they could have children. ¹⁸For the LORD had stricken all the women with infertility as a warning to Abimelech for having taken Abraham’s wife. (Genesis 20, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

In Genesis 20, we find Abraham resorting to one of his old habits – deception. Abraham, fearing the locals, convinces his wife to go along with his story that Sarah is his sister, which is technically true, but still deceptive because Sarah is actually Abraham’s wife.

If you’ve followed the story of Abraham, you know that he did the same thing with the Egyptian Pharaoh in Genesis 12:10-20.

In both cases, Abraham feared for his life, thinking that if people knew Sarah was his wife, they would kill him to get her.

Throughout the Bible, Abraham is regarded as a great man of faith, and yet we see him resorting to deception on multiple occasions in order to protect himself.

What are we to make of this?

First of all, Abraham is not innocent. Abimelech pleads his innocence to the Lord, to which the Lord replies, “I know you are innocent….that is why I kept you from sinning against me.”

Secondly, Abraham does not demonstrate much faith in this situation or the situation in Genesis 12. In both cases, Abraham resorts to deception because he’s afraid that the locals will kill him because of Sarah’s beauty.

Yet Abraham had been promised by God that he would become the father of many nations. In fact, God changes his name from Abram, which means “exalted father”, to Abraham, which means “father of many”. In addition, God had promised that his wife Sarah would bear him a son and it would be through that son that his covenant promises would emerge (see Genesis 17).

If Abraham was such a great man of faith, why does he resort to deception to save himself? Wouldn’t a man of faith tell the truth and trust that the Lord would provide? Wouldn’t a great man of faith trust the Lord to save him from the locals instead of taking matters into his own hands?

The reality is that Abraham was just like us. We often see Abraham taking matters into his own hands, as he does in this situation and also when he decided to father a child through his wife’s maid, Hagar, instead of trusting the Lord to provide a child through his wife.

The story of Abraham gives me hope to know that I don’t need to be perfect in order to receive God’s blessing. Abraham doesn’t always demonstrate faith and he often falls into old sinful habits, but he’s regarded as a great man of faith, not because of these incidents, but because of how he responds to the Lord’s leading and direction and how he finishes his life.

Reflection

What are some of your old habits that you are prone to fall back into?

In what kinds of situations do you find it difficult to trust God for the outcome?

What steps or habits can you implement in your life to ensure you are regarded as a person of faith?

Photo by Basil MK from Pexels