Who is Melchizedek?

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

Who is Melchizedek?
Is he a real human born of woman?
He seems to live during Abraham's time, and Abraham honored him.
Is Melchizedek the pre-incarnate Son of God?

 

[Daniel9v9]

The short answer is that we don't know. We know very little about him other than he was clearly important in the ancient world in that he served as king and priest. His name signifies something about his office as well, as he is called "Melchizedek" which is "the king of righteousness" and the king of "Salem" which is "peace". However, the New Testament makes it clear to us that he foreshadows Christ in that Christ is both king and priest (which is a riddle in the Psalms for they are two different orders), yet Christ fulfils both, just like Melchizedek, only that Jesus is the supreme King and Priest.

Some early Church Fathers as well as Luther theorised that Melchizedek is Shem, the son of Noah. Maybe there's something to that, but we don't know. However, I don't think we can confidently assert that he is the pre-incarnate Son, for when the Son does appear in the Old Testament, it's typically made more explicit.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Who is Melchizedek?
Is he a real human born of woman?
He seems to live during Abraham's time, and Abraham honored him.
Is Melchizedek the pre-incarnate Son of God?

He was the king and priest of Salem. No, he wasn't the pre-incarnate Son of God.

If you read the passage in Hebrews, the whole point in comparing Jesus to Melchizedek is that, even as Melchizedek was a priest of God though not a descendant of Aaron, so Jesus Christ is our Great High Priest, though He isn't of the Aaronic line. Jesus stands as a priest outside of the Aaronic line, and is therefore compared in this way to Melchizedek.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

Is Melchizedek a prophet too?
Did he have family?

 

[Daniel9v9]

Is Melchizedek a prophet too?
Did he have family?

Well, he certainly foreshadows Christ, so in this respect, we may call him a prophet, though I think king and priest is better for those are the terms explicitly used by God's Word.

If you have in mind Hebrews 7:3, this doesn't mean that Melchizedek is from eternity, for only God is from eternity. As he was a man, he must have had parents at least. But the point of the text is to draw a contrast between the Levitical priesthood, which is by lineage, versus the priesthood in the order of Melchizedek, which is one without lineage. So, the point the writer of Hebrews is making is that Jesus is both king and priest, and that this is possible, for He is a priest in a different and higher order. In fact, He is our great King and High Priest, which Melchizedek foreshadows.