The Royal and Eternal Priest
Introduction: A Better Priesthood
The book of Hebrews is written to a group of beleaguered Christians, Jewish converts who were feeling the immense pressure to return to the shadows of the old covenant. The temple was still standing, the sacrifices were still being offered, and the Levitical priests were still going about their duties. It all looked so solid, so permanent, so real. And the author of Hebrews is laboring to show them that what they had in Christ was not less real, but more real. It was the substance to which the entire Old Testament system was pointing. It was the reality, and the temple was the shadow.
The central argument of the book is that Jesus is better. He is a better messenger than the angels, a better leader than Moses, and He brings a better rest than Joshua. And now, in chapter 7, we arrive at the heart of the matter. Jesus provides a better priesthood. This was a significant hurdle for these Jewish believers. Jesus was from the tribe of Judah, not Levi. He had no Levitical pedigree. So how could He be a priest? The author's answer is that He is a priest, not according to the temporary, fading order of Aaron, but according to the ancient, mysterious, and superior order of Melchizedek.
This chapter is a masterful piece of biblical theology. The author is not inventing something new; he is connecting the dots that were already there in the Old Testament, in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110. He is showing that God had telegraphed the coming of this superior priesthood long before the Levitical law was ever given. Melchizedek steps onto the pages of history for a brief moment, receives tithes from Abraham, blesses him, and then vanishes. But his appearance is a foundational type, a foreshadowing of the eternal priesthood of the Son of God. To understand who Jesus is and what He has done, we must understand this mysterious king-priest, Melchizedek.
The Text
For this MELCHIZEDEK, KING OF SALEM, PRIEST OF THE MOST HIGH GOD, who met ABRAHAM AS HE WAS RETURNING FROM THE SLAUGHTER OF THE KINGS and BLESSED HIM, TO WHOM ALSO ABRAHAM APPORTIONED A TENTH PART OF ALL, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest continually.
(Hebrews 7:1-3 LSB)
The Historical Man (v. 1)
The author begins by grounding his argument in the historical account from Genesis 14.
"For this MELCHIZEDEK, KING OF SALEM, PRIEST OF THE MOST HIGH GOD, who met ABRAHAM AS HE WAS RETURNING FROM THE SLAUGHTER OF THE KINGS and BLESSED HIM," (Hebrews 7:1)
The author is not dealing with a myth or a phantom. Melchizedek was a real man, a historical figure. He was the king of Salem, which is the ancient name for Jerusalem. And he was a priest of the Most High God. This is astonishing. Here we have a Gentile king, before the establishment of Israel, before the Levitical priesthood, who is a true priest of the one true God, El Elyon. This immediately shatters any notion that God's grace was confined to the lineage of Abraham. God has always had His people, in every place.
He held two offices simultaneously: king and priest. This was forbidden in Israel. King Uzziah tried to usurp the priestly office and was struck with leprosy for his presumption (2 Chron. 26). But in Melchizedek, these two offices are united perfectly. He is a royal priest, a priestly king. This is a direct foreshadowing of the Messiah, who would sit on David's throne as king and also serve as our great high priest.
The occasion of their meeting is significant. Abraham, the great patriarch, is returning from a military victory. He has just defeated a coalition of kings and rescued his nephew Lot. And it is at this moment of triumph that Melchizedek meets him. And what does he do? He blesses Abraham. The author will make much of this later, but for now, the point is established: the greater blesses the lesser. Abraham, the father of the faithful, the recipient of the covenant promises, submits to the blessing of this priest-king. This demonstrates Melchizedek's superiority from the outset.
The Tithe and the Translation (v. 2)
The superiority of Melchizedek is further demonstrated by Abraham's response to him.
"TO WHOM ALSO ABRAHAM APPORTIONED A TENTH PART OF ALL, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace." (Hebrews 7:2)
Abraham gives Melchizedek a tenth of all the spoils. This is the first instance of tithing in the Bible, and it occurs centuries before the Mosaic Law commanded it for the support of the Levites. This was a voluntary act of worship and recognition. Abraham recognized Melchizedek's authority as a priest of the Most High God. In doing this, Abraham, the father of Levi, is in effect causing his descendant Levi to pay tithes to a non-Levitical priest. The author will draw this conclusion out explicitly later in the chapter. The Aaronic priesthood is subordinate to the Melchizedekian priesthood before it even begins.
But the author is not just interested in the historical event; he is interested in the theological meaning embedded in the names. He acts as a divinely inspired linguist. "Melchizedek" means "king of righteousness." "Salem" means "peace." So he is the King of Righteousness and the King of Peace. And the order is crucial: first righteousness, then peace. This is the unalterable sequence of the gospel. There can be no true peace with God that is not founded upon His perfect righteousness. Our modern world seeks peace at any price. It wants peace without righteousness, which is nothing more than a temporary ceasefire with sin. But God's peace, the shalom of God, is the result of righteousness being satisfied. This is what Christ accomplished. He met the full demands of God's righteousness on the cross, and having done so, He made peace by the blood of His cross (Col. 1:20). He is our Melchizedek, our King of Righteousness who brings us into the kingdom of peace.
The Typological Portrait (v. 3)
Verse 3 is where the author moves from the historical man to the typological picture. This verse has caused a great deal of confusion, but the key is to understand how the Old Testament Scriptures function typologically.
"Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest continually." (Hebrews 7:3)
This does not mean that Melchizedek was a celestial being who materialized out of thin air. He was a man; he had parents and a birthday and a day he died. The point is not what was true of him personally, but what is true of him in the biblical record. The Genesis account is silent about his origins and his death. It records no father, no mother, no genealogy. The Levitical priesthood was obsessed with genealogy. To be a priest, you had to prove your lineage from Aaron. Your entire qualification was based on your father. But Melchizedek's priesthood is not based on descent. He appears in the record without any recorded priestly pedigree.
In the same way, the record is silent about his birth and death. He simply appears and disappears. The silence of the Scripture is intentional. By omitting these details, the Holy Spirit was crafting a type, a deliberate foreshadowing. Melchizedek, in the biblical account, has no recorded beginning or end to his priestly office. In this way, he is "made like the Son of God."
Jesus' priesthood is not based on His earthly genealogy; He is from Judah. His priesthood is based on who He is: the eternal Son of God. He has no beginning of days because He is from everlasting. He has no end of life because He is the resurrection and the life. Death could not hold Him. And because He lives forever, He "remains a priest continually." The Levitical priests were a series of dying men. Their ministry was constantly interrupted by death. But Jesus holds His priesthood permanently, because He lives forever. Melchizedek's priesthood, as it is presented in the inspired record, is a picture of this. The silence of Genesis speaks volumes about the eternal nature of Christ's priesthood.
Conclusion: Our Unchanging Priest
So what does this mean for us? It means everything. The entire system of the old covenant was built on a temporary, hereditary priesthood. It was a placeholder, a shadow. It could cover sin, but it could never take it away. The priests were sinful men offering animal sacrifices for their own sins and the sins of the people, and then they would die and be replaced.
But we have a priest of a different order altogether. Our priest is not a son of Aaron; He is the Son of God. His qualification is not His lineage but His very nature. He is the King of Righteousness, who has fulfilled all righteousness on our behalf. He is the King of Peace, who has reconciled us to God. His priesthood is not temporary; it is eternal. He has no successor because He never dies. He "remains a priest continually."
This is the anchor for our souls. When we are tempted to think that our access to God is precarious, that it depends on our performance, we must look to our Melchizedek. He is there, at the right hand of the Father, perpetually representing us. His work is finished. His life is unending. His priesthood is unchanging. Therefore, our salvation is secure. Because He remains a priest continually, we can draw near with confidence, knowing that our great King-Priest has opened the way into the presence of God, once and for all.