Devotional Blog Monday, July 4

Daily Devotional for Monday, July 4

Another Order

Nine times in Hebrews, Jesus is identified as priest after the order of Melchisedec (New Testament spelling) citing the prophecy of Psalm 110:4, “The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” The historical record of Melchizedek (Old Testament spelling) is found in Genesis 14:18-20 where he is identified as the king of Salem, an earlier name for the city of Jerusalem. More importantly, he is called the priest of the Most High God.

Melchizedec is quite a mysterious character leaving us with many questions. Some have suggested that the appearance of Melchizedek in Genesis is a preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. (See his description in Hebrews 7:2, 3.) One thing is clear, Jesus is a superior High Priest to the Levitical priesthood. What the Old Testament priests could not do, forgive sins, Jesus Christ did. Jesus is indeed of another order—the divine order.

You may not be able to answer all the questions about the priest Melchizedek—who he was, why he blessed Abraham, or why Abraham paid a tithe to him. But you do know your High Priest Jesus Christ who “is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). This is what is important. “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec” (Hebrews 5:9, 10).