Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 18

                           Hebrews 7:1-10

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, ² and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” ³ Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
⁴ Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! ⁵ Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. ⁶ This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. ⁷ And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. ⁸ In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. ⁹ One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, ¹⁰ because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.


       I've always been intrigued by Melchizadek because he comes out of nowhere as priest of the true God. This fascinates me because it seems that the only ones following God, at this point, are the line of Abraham and he isn't from that line. Truth is, unless he is a preincarnate Christ, he probably is from the line of Shem and there was a pocket of worshippers of the true God out there that we never read about. It makes you wonder, what if God made the same offer to one of them that He made to Abraham but they refused to "go"? We assume God just made it to Abraham but what if Abraham was the only one willing to step out of his comfort zone and say yes to God, and because of that we all have salvation? It makes me wonder, what am I saying "no" to God because it is too radical of an ask? Who is He having to raise up to do what I won't do? Who gets an opportunity to change the world instead of me?  Just some convicting thoughts which may or may not come from this passage but I find it interesting to ponder.

       The next thing I learn is that when I think I am the only one out there, like Elijah running from Jezzabel, God has others going through the same thing. A lot of times, they are too afraid to stand up and are just looking for an "Abraham" to stand up and fight and then they will come out of hiding.

       The other thought that comes to my mind is the whole argument, "What about those who die and have never heard"? Hebrews 11 says God rewards those who diligently seek Him. I think it is possible that even though this priest is not from the line of faith that we are saved through, that he diligently cried out to know God and God revealed Himself to Melchizadek or his band that he was priest over. God is not willing that any should perish apart from knowing Him. Certainly this does not relieve us from the duty of missions and evangelism but it does remind us of God's mercy and love

     Obviously, Melchizadek is being used in this passage to develop the type and legitimacy of Christ as our High Priest but he does challenge me to says "yes" to God, to stand up and be bold, to realize that I'm not alone but other believers are out there, and to support missions because there are those out there who are seeking God and need to hear.