sorry, just saw this:
FaithfulServant said:
What would you consider Melchizedek then? He was a priest of the Most High G!D AND the king of Salem and He is certainly what we consider a "type" of Christ. He didnt have a geneology no parents to speak of and was a priest continually. I know that means something to ya'll.
the midrash (targum Jonathan, Ned. 32b, Mid. Ps. 76:3) says that melchizedek was actually shem, the son of noah. our tradition says that shem had a yeshiva (religious academy) which jacob also learned in (so he lived quite a long time by the sound of it. of course melchizedek was not actually jewish, nor was he a descendant of jacob, so the question of tribe doesn't enter into it. he was, in our terms, a "righteous noahide" who worshipped G!D before the Torah was given and had prophetic foreknowledge of the Temple rites (as he was king of salem, where the Temple would eventually be built.
i suppose we might understand the idea of being a priest "of the order of melchizedek" as being someone who is, independently of judaism, a worshipper of G!D and a follower of holy ways. it's an interesting concept as applied to non-abrahamic civilisations, because it implies that worshipping G!D can be done in many different ways even if one is not in receipt of an abrahamic Revelation. abram, here, honours him as a "kosher" priest (but not a jewish one - the word for priest, "kohen" is used both of joseph's father-in-law, potiphera and of jethro, neither of whom were jewish, although jethro is definitely a worshipper of G!D) because although abram is not yet officially jewish (because he has not yet received his new name) recognises that this is a valid form of worshipping G!D. actually the status of melchizedek is far more universal than christianity, unless of course the stated universalism of christianity is a way of implementing the melchizedek approach to religion.
interestingly, it is immediately after the melchizedek episode that abram receives a new name at the "covenant between the parts", where he gets a Revelation for the second time. his first (go to a land I will Show you) is a sense of mission and a confirmation there is Someone out there, the second is about the exodus and promised land and the third (after he circumcises himself) is when he has finally become jewish. we can therefore characterise melchizedek as the link between "three-faiths" monotheism and universal G!D-belief. abraham clearly learned this lesson because he sent the sons of keturah "to the east with gifts", traditionally understood to be the origin of Divine wisdom in the mysticism of the east.
however, i don't think this is the way you guys think of it. your approach will be based on psalm 110 where someone is described sitting at G!D's Right Hand and "of the order of melchizedek" - now, obviously this would be "christ" for you and, certainly, this is understood by us as being a davidic vision of the messiah, who certainly must be a king, but if he is also a priest, must be of "the order of melchizedek", in other words, not a regular priest, who would be a descendant of aaron from the tribe of levi, whereas the messiah would have to be from the tribe of judah. clearly these are not the regular duties of a cohen-priest in the Temple, but rather the duties of the king - i believe he had some cultic functions not to be confused with that of the high priest; he could for example sacrifice in the Temple.
Jesus said this ins Luke 24:44 "Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."
or what He said in the book of John "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me."
i'm sure you understand that i do not agree that although this might indeed refer to the messiah, it does not of course mean jesus to our way of thinking.
b'shalom
bananabrain
