Audio Tapes # 44,    Oct 8, 2000       (Notes Updated Oct 8, 2000)

Don't miss the pictures of the zoo days. The Lord willing, Creation Creature Features soon.

Review: (Gen 1-13) See the notes on the Web -
Creation - Rebellion - Global Greenhouse Canopy - Violence - Flood - Noah's Ark - Tower of Babel
     Remember that God's primary punishment in Gen 3, and all throughout History (His Story) is that He withdraws His Hand that holds all things in order. The rebellion of Adam (Gen 3) and the subsequent escalation of "entropy" (disorder, death, & decay - dysfunctional 2nd law of thermodynamics) is the reason for imperfections as well as the selfish competition, violence, pain, suffering, fear, and death we see in the "wild kingdom" now.  *  The second law of thermodynamics was functional before Adam sinned, such as in the process of digestion, chemical processes, etc., but death and disease were not.

Yet God's sovereign mercy and grace always makes a way to fulfill His plan and its promise (Rom 8:28-29)! God will bring out of this dying world, a remnant of followers, by grace alone through faith alone in the person and sufficient work of Messiah, the seed of a woman.

The Text: Genesis 14:18-24 (emphasis added in bold) (also Strong's numbers)
see also, Gen 13:12-13; 14:2; Psa 110:4; Heb 7 . . . .

^{Gen 13:12-13} ". . .  and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. 
¹³But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord."
Gen 14^{:2    ". . . . that they made war with Bera (1298 = "Son of Evil") king of Sodom . . . ."
Gen 14:18-24  
18}Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 
¹⁹And 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."

And he gave him a tithe of all.

21Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself." ²²But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, ²³"that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— ²⁴"except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion."

^{Heb 5:5}So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:

"You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You."

6As He also says in another place:

"You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek";

^{6:19- 7:4 "}This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, ²⁰where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.  ^{Heb 7:1}For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ²to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated "king of righteousness," and then also king of Salem, meaning "king of peace," ³without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. ⁴Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils."

^{Heb 7:17 "}For He testifies:

"You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek."

18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, ¹⁹for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. ²⁰And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath ²¹(for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:

"The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
‘You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek’ "),

22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant."

---

Brief Outline, Exposition, and Commentary - 
(Gen 14:18-24)

Note that the background to this meeting of Abram and Melchizedek is the history of generations of God's faithful remnants.  Their strategic vision was long-term, training and discipling households (extended families) with the goal of producing future generations of godly seed.  Modern "Christians" however tend to be short-sighted, impatient, and unwilling to sacrifice self in order to disciple their families for the sake of long term goals.

What is your vision for your family and for your church?
A day?  A week? Year? 10 years or a 100?

The King of Sodom when Lot was captured was "Bera", which means "Son of Evil".  And "Sodom" means "burning".  
1298 Bera` { beh’-rah} of uncertain derivation; a king of Sodom; AV - Bera 1; 1 GK - 1396 { [r'B,
Bera = "son of evil".  
The Vice President of the United States is in line to replace the President because they both have the same political and moral philosophy.  Bera was killed in the battle when Lot was captured, but his successor, the King of Sodom who came out to thank Abram, was a king of the kind of Bera.  He and his interaction with Abram stands in stark contrast to that of Melchizedek.

"Melchizedek" is a title or name that means "righteous king".  Salem means peace (shalom), and is the short form of Jerusalem (City of Peace) Psa 76:2; 132:14.   Jerusalem, a term used over 800 times in the Bible, refers to the city God has sovereignly chosen as the capital of His created universe.

Melchizedek was at least a man who worshiped the true God, YHWH, and served as a type, a prophetic picture of the coming Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Priest, and King of God Most High.  
Some scholars, and Jewish tradition says that Melchizedek may have been, Shem, who lived so long that he died 35 years after Abraham died (if the geneaologies in the Bible have no gaps).
Other scholars believe he was more than a "type", but was actually the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, in a preincarnate manifestation.  Each of these possible identities of Melchizedek are supported by a reasonable set of Biblical evidences.  

Whoever he truly was as an individual, his role as prophet, priest, and king is used by the Holy Spirit in Scripture to teach us more about our Savior, the God-Man, Jesus.
1,000 years after Abram met Melchizedek, King David wrote about him in Psalm 110.
1,000 years after David wrote of Melchizedek, the author of the epistle to the Hebrews wrote even more about him in Hebrews 5-7.  These brief, but powerful messages reveal the good news that:

Melchizedek & Jesus
Righteous Kings of Peace Are
Six Ways Better
than the OT Levitical Priesthood

1. Royal not Subordinate:  Four times in two verses Melchizedek is called "king".  Jesus priesthood is of the order of Melchizedek and Jesus is the High Priest of that order.  He like Melchizedek is also the King, and therefore not subject to any other ruler.  Jesus is the absolute LORD, sovereign over all, so His priesthood better than that of the Aaronic, Levitical priesthood.  (Zech 6:13; Psa 110)

2. Personal not Hereditary:  Hebrews says that Melchizedek is recorded without reference to any parentage or lineage.  The language does not demand that he had no parents, but merely that his priesthood and kingship is not recorded on the basis of human parentage.  His right to rule and serve as priest was personal appointment by God Most High.  He is described as "made like" (or presented like) the Son of God.  Jesus' right to rule and serve is based on his personal relationship to God the Father.  Jesus is God the Son.  He was not qualified to be a Levitical priest, based on lineage, and he didn't need to be.  His right came directly from the pinnacle authority of all - God the Father.

3. Universal not National:  Melchizedek was the priest of "The Most High God, Possessor of Heaven and Earth".  Most nations back then and even today in the modern "new age" world view, think of many gods who rule over various geographic regions of the world.  But Jesus, the High Priest of the Order of Melchizedek, is not limited to any nation.  The Jews understood that Messiah would be a Jew, but misunderstood the full scope of Messiah's universal role (John 3:16).  The new age modern world understands the universal role of Messiah, but fails to accept that Israel is God's chosen nation, with Jerusalem as its capital, through which Messiah will come and rule.  The new world order that is spreading across the world is rooted in the luciferic lie (Rom 1; 2 Th 2) of pantheisitc self-deification.

4. Righteous & Peaceful:  (Psa 85:10; Rom 5:1; 2 Cor 5:17-21)  Levitical high priests were sinful men who had to offer sacrifice for their own sins.  In fact, they entered the Holy of Holies with a rope tied to them so that if they died inside, they could be pulled out.  Peace with God is only possible when one is fully righteous in His sight.  Jesus became sin that we might become the righteousness of God.  
Melchizedek brought out bread and wine to Abram, not to refresh him, but as a picture of the passover and Lord's supper.  Abram and his men had already eaten of the spoils of war (Gen 14).  This gift preceded the passover picture, and forshadowed the gift of God through the new and final covenant of Jesus (John 6) that is infinitely better than the sacrifice of animals (Heb 5-7).

5. Eternal not Temporary:  (Psa 110:4; Heb 7:24-25)  Jesus, Messiah, is of the order of Melchizedek, a priest forever.  He being God cannot die and intercedes for use perpetually and eternally. 

6. Available to You: (John 3:16; 1 Pet 2:9)  Through the covenant of blessing in His life blood, through His self-sacrificial love, we can become a holy nation, a royal priesthood, serving with Him together in the order of Melchizedek forever.

How does all of this apply to me?
(The final question to ask yourself, whenever you study God's Word)