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Who was Melchizedek?Melchizedek makes a very brief appearance in Genesis. He shows up after Abram returned from battle. Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth (Genesis 14:18-19 NIV).
From this, we know that he was both a king and a priest. Very little else is revealed about him in Genesis. The writer of Hebrews expands on this brief passage to connect Jesus Christ with Melchizedek. First, citing Psalm 110, the author of Hebrews states that Jesus did not become a high priest on his own, but was chosen by God. "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek" (Hebrews 5:6b NIV).
Hebrews continues through chapters 6 and 7 making reference to the parallel between Jesus and Melchizedek. |