A High Priest Forever According to the Order of Melchizedek: Hebrews 6:19-7:3
“1) For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2) to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. 3) Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.” Hebrews 7:1-3
We now have the mystery of John 8:56-59 solved. Jesus told the Jewish people, “56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my days, and he saw it was glad. 57) The Jews therefore said to Him, “Your are not fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58) Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I Am.” So what was Jesus talking about?
It appears that Melchizedek was non other than the pre-incarnate Christ. Jesus is the king of righteousness. He is the King of peace. He has neither beginning of days nor end of life. He alone is the Son of God. He is priest of God Most High. He has always been the mediator between God and man.
So how glad was Abraham to see the pre-incarnate Christ? Very glad. He gave him a tenth of all of the spoil. The full story is recorded in Genesis 14:17-24. This means the priesthood of Levi and Aaron was predated by the priesthood of Melchizedek.
More on this in the next section. For now, I encourage you to ponder Hebrews 6:19-7:3. The author is making some very profound points.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global