If you have your Bibles, share
them with me to Genesis chapter 14. I'm going to read verses
18 through 20. I'm going to take my text from
the last phrase of verse 20 tonight. The title of my message is Tithes
to Melchizedek. Verse 18, Genesis 14. And Melchizedek, king of Salem,
brought forth bread and wine, And he was the priest of the
Most High God. And he blessed him, that is,
Abram, and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor
of heaven and earth. And blessed be the Most High
God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he,
that is, Abram, gave him Melchizedek, tithes of all. Let us pray. Our Father, we come into your
presence purely by the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ
the Lord and nothing else. We have no righteousness of our
own save that you have made Christ to be our righteousness, wisdom,
sanctification, and redemption. We rejoice in the fact that we
who are born in sin, conceived in iniquity, we who drink iniquity
like water, were born with hearts that hated you, born enemies
against you, were objects of your grace and your mercy, ruined and undone and unclean,
and unworthy. Yet you saved us by your grace.
We never get too far from that concept and knowing what we are
and rejoicing in who you are and what you've done for us. We pray for those who are accompanying
and those around the world who are suffering during this time
of virus. We know that Thou art God, and
we do bow to your wisdom in these things, and we thank you. For for every child of God, we
know that this trial has one specific design, and that is
to bring us to the feet of Christ, realizing that even the invisible,
small, minute, microscopic world is beyond our control. We do
bow, knowing that you control all things. Remembering that Israel in the land of Goshen,
that murrain that infected the cattle of Egypt, that plague
of murrain did not cross that invisible wall that you'd put
up and did not land on one of the cattle of Egypt. We don't understand your ways.
They're higher than our ways. Your thoughts are beyond us.
But we know this, that you do all things for your glory and
for the good of your people. And we do bow in thanksgiving
for that knowledge. It gives us peace and comfort
in these days. Help us tonight as we look at
your word to be thankful for the glory and the wonder of it.
the beauty of this great tome that You have left for us, that
we might understand and know Your doings in this world. Help us now, we pray in Christ's
name. Amen. Now this person whose name means
King of Righteousness and King of Peace is said to be a priest
of the Most High God, and that is of extreme importance. These offices and titles can
truly only and actually be applied to one person, and that is the
Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is King of Kings and Lord
of Lords, who is the Great and the Good High Priest, who is
also the King of Peace or the Prince of Peace. Melchizedek
is a very unique and singular character in Scripture, first
mentioned in Genesis when he appeared to Abraham. after the
slaughter of the five kings. Then in Psalm 110, where he is
at first connected with Jesus Christ, as David listened, as
it were, to an eternal conversation between God and the Father, God
the Father and God the Son, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool,
for thou art forever a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Then again he's mentioned in
Hebrews in chapter 5 and verse 6 and verse 10 and in the last
verse of chapter 6 and in chapter 7 which we'll look at tonight.
There's a great deal of conjecture about this person Melchizedek. Some think that he was a son
of Shem. Others think that he was a Canaanite
priest and king in a lineage of Ham. Some hold that he was
an angel appearing in the form of a man. Many assert that he
was the Christ, a pre-incarnate manifestation of Christ, called
a Christophany, which seems to fit how he is presented in the
Word of God. Many who hold this view, thinking
they are defending the glory of Christ, balk at the phrase,
after the order of Melchizedek, the order of priests after the
order of Melchizedek. This chafes some, because Christ,
being God, being the beginning, the Alpha, disallows the possibility
of Him being in the order of anyone, because that would suggest
that Christ was made like unto someone else. If the subject
were the singularity of Christ and His deity, then this would
be a reasonable and a sound argument. The manner in which Melchizedek
is presented in scripture is that of the priest of the Most
High God, and that representation is in opposition to the Levitical
priesthood. Christ then, in this context,
is after the order of Melchizedek in kind. His priesthood was not
the same kind as that of Levi. The epistle to the Hebrews proves
that. It was a better priesthood, a priesthood that the priesthood
of Levi did not and could not accomplish. And this is the wonder
of the Word of God. its marvelous agreement, its
continuity, its singularity in setting forth Christ in His offices
and His work is the power of this Word. So here in Genesis
14 with the employment of a single little phrase we see the dissolution
of the Old Covenant before the Old Covenant or the New Covenant
is even revealed in the Word of God. The phrase is found in
the last line of verse 20, and it says this, and he, Abraham,
gave tithes, gave him, Melchizedek, tithes of all. Now to understand
this, we must find it in its illumination and explain to the
Hebrew children, as Paul wrote to the book, Paul wrote the book
of Hebrews over in Hebrews chapter seven, in verses one through
11. To understand this, we must look
there, where Christ is shown to be the great high priest,
The result of which is declared the dissolution of
the Old Covenant. It is it being subservient to
the New Covenant. One might ask why God even gave
the Old Covenant if it was destined to be dissolved. Paul said in
answer to that question in the book of Galatians, the law of
the Old Covenant was added because of transgression. What does that
mean? Simply stated, As far as our
experience of salvation goes, the elect must be taught that
by the works of the law, that is the old covenant, shall no
flesh be justified in the sight of God, long before they glory
in the salvation by grace alone, which is the new covenant that
Christ established the first and took away the second. Now
since the high priest was a central figure of the old covenant or
the old economy, it is here that the first fusillade must be launched. When Levi is shown to be inferior
to Christ, then the entire structure of the old covenant is likewise
seen to be inferior. Paul introduces the superiority
of Christ by declaring that Melchizedek blessed Abraham. In verse one of this chapter
it says, Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High
God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings
and blessed him. In the remainder of this chapter,
the writer teaches us what it means to say that Melchizedek
blessed Abraham, and to understand this blessing bestowed is to
see the preeminence of Christ over that of Levi in the matter
of priesthood. The first comparison or contrast
between the priesthood of Melchizedek and that of Levi is that Abraham
paid tithes to Melchizedek. Verse 2 of Hebrews 7 said, In
whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all. A tenth part of
all. First being by interpretation
the king of righteous, and after that the king of Salem, which
is the king of peace, speaking a description of who Abraham
gave the tithes to. Now Abraham was the father of
the Hebrews. They often said that. We have
Abraham to our father, and he was held in high esteem by all
Hebrews. He was a recipient of the covenant
of promise, not the covenant that was handed down to Sinai.
He had already left this world and gone on to be with his maker
when that took place. he was a recipient of the covenant
of promise found in Genesis chapter 11 which pictures the covenant
of grace of which Christ is the mediator of the antestator of
that covenant. Melchizedek received tithes of
Abraham and is in itself a revelation of the greatness of this high
priest. To show this fact, Paul addresses
the uniqueness of the high priest in verse 3 of this high priest,
this priest of the Most High God, this Melchizedek, he's without
father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning
of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God,
and abideth a priest continually, or forever. The description is amazing, and
it certainly points to the glory of Jesus Christ. Remember, however,
the writer is asserting a particular point here, the uniqueness described
in this capacity of priest of the Most High God. There's never
but one priest that could be described as Melchizedek is. This could no way apply to Levi
or any other priest in that lineage of Levitical priesthood. Levi,
at the writing of this, was dead, as well as all the rest of priesthood. Now he was yet to come, when
the words were spoken of of Melchizedek and Abram in Genesis chapter
14. But their lineage, the lineage
of the Levitical priesthood, was meticulously cataloged in
the Old Testament, and so was the place where they were buried.
They're all dead. There is no Levitical priesthood
now. The language employed to describe
Melchizedek's priesthood speaks in terms of eternity or continuing. Whether this is a declaration
of a Christophany is not important to the context except as it reveals
the true person pictured by Melchizedek. Paul is teaching that the priesthood
of Christ, unlike the priesthood of Levi, was eternal and that,
by reference, he's referring back to Genesis chapter 14 and
verse 20. Now the greatness of Melchizedek
is seen in the fact that the priesthood of the Old Testament
paid tithes to him when Abraham gave him a tenth of his spoils.
It says this, now consider how great this man was, in verse
four of Hebrews, unto whom even the patriarch gave tenths of
the spoils, and verily that they that are the sons of Levi, who
received the office of priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes
of the people according to the law, that is of the brethren
though they came out of the loins, of Abraham. So tithes, according
to the future law of Sinai, belonged to the Levitical priesthood.
They were given for support of the ministry of the tabernacle.
Tithes are not yet a matter of law, but that was according to
the law of Moses that tithes were established. Now Abraham
didn't have the law, though Sinai was many years down the road
after the captivity of Israel in Egypt. At the time that Abraham
paid tribute to Melchizedek, the tribes of Israel did not
exist. Moses had not yet appeared on
the scene and the law, including the law of the tithe, had not
been handed down from Sinai. Melchizedek could not have been
a descendant of Levi or of that priesthood, yet he blessed Abraham
who had received the promises, it says in verse six. But he
whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of
Abraham and blessed him that had the promises. Now if Abraham
received blessings from Melchizedek, then Melchizedek is greater than
Abraham. And it says in verse seven, and
without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better. Now think of the impact of this
statement on the Hebrew mind. The mind of the person who was
raised and born a Jew. Think of what this saying, or
what's said here, had on their very mind. Think of the impact
of this statement. This is a profound statement,
but is yet not the place where the writer is headed here in
Hebrews. Verse eight says this, and here
men that die receive tithes, but there he receiveth them of
whom it is witnessed that he liveth. He liveth. Now, is He talking about Melchizedek?
Yes, He is. He's talking about Melchizedek.
He's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a plain reference
to Christ. The phrase, It is witnessed that
He liveth, is a direct reference to Psalm 110. Look over at Psalm
110, verse 4. This is the second mention in
Scripture of Melchizedek. Psalm 110 in verse four says
this, the Lord has sworn and will not repent, thou art a priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. So this is what he's talking
about here. The writer is so fixed on that subject that he
speaks of it also in Hebrews and in other places, like in
chapter five and verse six, he says, and he saith also in another
place, that is in Psalm 110, thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. So the difference between this
priesthood and the priesthood of Levi was simply this. The priesthood of Levi ended. It ended. It doesn't exist anymore. But this priesthood is that the
priest is one who ever lives. Whoever lives. The writer is
so fixed on the subject of the preeminence of Christ that Melchizedek
here seems intrinsically interchangeable with the Lord Jesus Christ. The
reference is, however, to the difference between the Levitical
priesthood and the priesthood of Christ, the former being temporal
and the latter being internal. Christ is our great high priest. tempted and tested in all points
like we are yet without sin and because he is the man Christ
Jesus he is able to succor or to comfort those who are going
through trials as he went through testing and trials in all points
like as we are. The reference is the difference
between The Levitical priesthood and the priesthood of Christ,
the former being temporal, the latter being internal. So the
superior to oriented Christ is seen in our text here in Hebrews
in verse nine and 10. He says this in verse nine and
10. He says, and as I may say, Levi
also, who received a tithe, paid tithes in Abraham. Now this is
an interesting phrase. And he was yet in the loins of
his father when Melchizedek met him. Though this passage is a
beautiful example of imputation. The message is plain. Levi paid
tithes to Melchizedek because he was in the loins of Abraham,
showing that before Levi, before Aaron, there was an eternal and
a superior and a successful high priest. His name is Jesus Christ
the Lord. And the proof of this is that
the Levitical priesthood paid homage and tithes to Melchizedek,
though it did not yet exist, it played homage because Abraham
gave tithes unto Melchizedek. The priesthood of Aaron was subservient
to that of Christ. In verse 11, it says, if therefore
perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, for under it the
people received the law, what further need was there of another
priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek and not
be called after the order of Aaron? And this reveals that
Christ as our High Priest accomplished something that could not be accomplished
by the law and by the Levitical priesthood. Though the blood
of ghouls and goats form a veritable river that flows down through
time and finally ends up in a coagulate finger pointing to the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing that the priest did ever
did what was absolutely necessary. They never accomplished perfection,
a thing that the Levitical priesthood could not do, and indeed was
not designed to do. According to Hebrews chapter
10, it says, for the law was merely a shadow. That was its
design. It was merely a shadow of good
things to come, and not the very image of the things. And it can
never, with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then, had they been made
perfect, would they not have ceased to be offered? Because
that the worshippers once purged should have no more conscience
of sins. If it had been able to perfect
the comers, then another priesthood would have been redundant. the
fact that the Aaronic priesthood was redundant, not in the sense
of uselessness, but in the terms that for centuries it repeatedly
pointed to an already existing eternal priesthood, and that
priesthood of Jesus Christ, which was pictured by this person,
this King of Salem, this King of Peace, this King of Righteousness,
the Lord Jesus Christ. It was He to whom Abraham gave
tithes of all that he had. Father, bless us to understand
Him. We pray in Christ's name.