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This Information About Melchizedek is Hard to Ignore · Off The Kirb Ministries

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  There is one guy from Jerusalem who is easily the most
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  mysterious man whoever lived. Some say he's an Angel, others
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  say he was a real person, and some would even go as far as to
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  say that he is Jesus Christ himself.
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  But the Bible only gives us 2 clues about his identity.
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  It says he was a priest and he was a king.
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  And oh by the way, he was the man to conduct the first ever
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  communion service in history. And then everything goes silent.
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  Why? Well, because the man just
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  disappears. We don't hear anything more
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  about him. We don't even know where he came
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  from, where he went, or who his parents were.
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  We know nothing about him, is all we know is that his name is
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  Melchizedek and that he's very, very important to God.
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  So how are we going to untangle all of this?
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  Well, as you can imagine, I've spent the last few days digging
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  into every possible theory on who Melchizedek really is.
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  I've delved into the sane and the insane theories and I'm
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  going to share it all with you and then tell you who I
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  personally think this very mysterious man might be.
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  But first we need to begin with the only concrete information
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  that we do know about Melchizedek and that's found in
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  Genesis 14. You see, there are a lot of
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  firsts in this chapter of the Bible.
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  We've got the first ever war mentioned, We've got the first
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  ever tithe mentioned, and of course we've got the first ever
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  communion mentioned in the Bible.
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  So the story goes like this. Abraham comes back victorious
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  from a battle and he meets 2 kings.
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  There's the king of Sodom and then there's King Melchizedek,
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  which literally means king of righteousness.
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  It's also worth noting that he was the king of Salem, which
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  means peace and which we also understand to be ancient
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  Jerusalem. So the king of righteousness was
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  also the king of peace at the same time.
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  Now listen to me, it's absolutely crucial to remember
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  this. Abraham didn't just randomly go
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  into a battle to expand his territory or to plunder
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  resources like many wars that happened today.
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  No, he went for a very just reason.
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  You see, there was a war between 4 kings led by Kurda, Loma and
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  five kings from Sodom and their allies.
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  The Four Kings had previously ruled over the others, and when
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  the other five rebelled, well, war broke out.
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  The four kings ended up winning that battle and as a result,
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  they took people and goods captive.
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  And Lot. Do you remember a lot from the
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  Bible? Abraham's nephew?
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  Well, he was one of those who was taken.
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  So Abraham, when he hears of this, he takes 318 trained men
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  from his household, he arms them, and then he goes after
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  these 4 kings. Are you imagining this right
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  now? Because he launches what is
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  essentially night attack, a surprise strike, and because God
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  is with him, even though they were outnumbered massively, he
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  defeats them. He rescues lots, and he brings
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  everything back that has been taken.
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  And this is where we meet this rather peculiar character called
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  Melchizedek. He's introduced us for the very
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  first time because here he is. He's a representative of the
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  most high God. And he comes out and meets
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  Abraham and gives him a blessing.
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  OK, what I'm about to say, I'm going to put in capital letters,
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  and I want to underline in red. It is absolutely critical that
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  you remember as I give you each theory of whom Melchizedek could
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  be. I am merely sharing this
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  information with you. And I want you to know some of
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  them start out pretty bonkers, but they get more and more
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  rational as I go on until I eventually give you my
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  conclusion of who I think this man could be.
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  All right, theory #1 the Book of Enoch view.
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  It's no secret that the Book of Enoch is growing in popularity
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  again. But this unusual tradition found
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  in the Second Book of Enoch talk about Melchizedek's origin is
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  something that I think we should all be very wary of.
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  In this version, his mother is a woman called Sapanim, the wife
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  of Nur, who is described as a relative of Noah.
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  She is said to be barren and advanced in age, yet she
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  miraculously conceives. The story takes a dramatic turn
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  when she pays the ultimate price as she gives birth, and at that
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  point the child emerges from her body after death, not as a
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  helpless infant, but as a fully formed, physically developed, an
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  astonishingly already clothed person.
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  The text describes him as bearing the appearance of a
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  priest from the very beginning, even with a kind of divine aura
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  around him. Now, because of the coming doom
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  in the days of Noah, there is an urgency to preserve him.
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  The Archangel Michael is then said to take the child away and
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  place him in the Garden of Eden or in some interpretations, in a
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  protected heavenly realm, so that he is kept safe from
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  destruction. This explains within this
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  tradition why there is no earthly genealogy tied to him.
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  His life is effectively removed from the normal human timeline
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  and preserved by divine intervention.
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  And thus Melchizedek, according to them, was set apart from
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  birth. I did tell you some of these
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  theories were a little wild. Well, let's visit #2 the Dead
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  Sea Scrolls theory. It all started in 1947 when a
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  young shepherd boy was looking for his lost goat near the Dead
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  Sea. He tossed a rock into a dark
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  cave and heard a crack and discovered jars filled with
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  ancient scrolls that had been hidden for 2000 years.
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  One specific scroll, known as 11 Q 13, or the Melchizedek scroll,
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  was found later in 1956 in cave 11.
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  When scientists finally translated it in 1965, they were
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  shocked. Melchizedek wasn't just a
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  regular king. He was described as a powerful
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  supernatural being. You're not going to believe
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  this. But also in this ancient scroll,
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  Melchizedek is portrayed as the leader of the heavenly host.
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  That's God S army of angels. Instead of just being a man who
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  met Abraham, he is shown as a massive cosmic hero who leads
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  the sons of light into a giant end of World battle against
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  Bailey Al which was another name for Satan and his dark spirits.
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  The text even uses the word Elohim for him, a name which is
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  usually reserved for God to show that he has the power to judge
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  everyone and forgive sins. Now between you and me I am a
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  little bit uneasy about this theory and I'm not overly over
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  the moon about the next one. But before we come to that, I
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  have noticed something a little peculiar.
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  YouTube gives us Youtubers information about who's watching
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  the video. It's either one of three
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  categories, new viewers, casual viewers, or regular viewers.
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  And what's crazy is for me, the largest lump of people who are
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  watching my videos at the moment are casual viewers.
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  So if you do find these videos interesting and you like the
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  fact that we run them ad free, please do consider crossing that
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  invisible barrier from being a casual viewer to becoming a
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  committed viewer #3 the Archangel Michael theory.
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  Take a look at this. There are many people who lived
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  in the Qumran community, the ones who wrote the Dead Sea
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  Scrolls. These guys actually believe that
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  Melchizedek was the Archangel Michael in disguise.
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  They saw him as a sort of angelic high priest who serves
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  in a temple in heaven rather than on one that's on earth.
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  I'm not going to lie to you, I kind of messed up here because
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  our 4th theory should be way higher up the list as it truly
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  is very unbiblical. And yeah, there is an entire
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  sect who named themselves after Melchizedek, so brace yourself.
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  Here is the Gnostic view. Some of you will already know
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  about the ancient writings buried in the Egyptian desert,
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  because in 1945 a collection known as the Nag Hamadi Library
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  was discovered, and inside were texts that painted a radically
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  different picture of Melchizedek.
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  To the Gnostics, who were a group of mystical thinkers.
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  They saw Melchizedek as a sort of cosmic figure, described as
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  the Great Receiver of Lights, a divine priest whose role was to
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  gather the scattered fragments of human souls and guide them
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  back to a higher spiritual realm, which they called the
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  Treasury of Light. In their world view, the
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  physical world itself was not something good, but a kind of
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  prison, a flawed creation ruled by lesser spiritual beings known
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  as Archons, and Melchizedek stood as a Redeemer figure
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  moving through that darkness. What makes this theory terrible,
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  to be quite honest with you, is that the Gnostics, they elevated
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  Melchizedek so highly that they wrongly placed him above Jesus.
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  They argued that if Jesus is described in Scripture as a
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  priest after the order of Melchizedek, then logically they
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  say the original must outrank the one who follows, flipping
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  the entire biblical narrative on its head and turning this
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  mysterious supporting figure into the main character.
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  Right, Sir? This wasn't a small side belief
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  either. As mentioned before, there are
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  sects that are actually called the Melchizedekians who built
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  their theology around this idea, reshaping the identity of Christ
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  and redefining salvation itself as something that is gained not
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  through faith, but through hidden spiritual knowledge that
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  only a few could access. So let's stop here and remember,
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  there is a word that describes all of this, and it's called
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  heresy. The Bible could not make it any
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  clearer that for us to be saved, for us to come to the Lord Jesus
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  Christ, you have to come to him empty handed.
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  There is nothing you can do to contribute to his perfect work
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  that he completed at the cross when he satisfied God's wrath by
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  dying there in our place for our sins.
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  All right, now that's out of the way.
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  We've now reached the land of sensible theories theory #5
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  Melchizedek was a real person. The fact is this guy's, It's
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  very likely that Melchizedek was a historical and he was also a
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  very real priest. Check this out in Psalm 110.
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  It shows that he was a model or a pattern for the coming Messiah
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  because yes, he was both a priest and he was a king.
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  You could argue that from that passage he was very much a real
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  person. I do find it fascinating as well
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  that he was a Canaanite priest. That's where he was living.
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  And you want to see something else really cool.
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  Well, in 2010, archaeologist Eli Shukran discovered a 4000 year
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  old rock cut out ritual complex in the city city of David,
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  Jerusalem. It was known as Temple 0, which
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  dates to the Middle Bronze Age, the era traditionally associated
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  with Melchizedek. It's located near the Gehon
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  Spring and the site features a standing stone and altar with a
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  carved drainage channel and evidence of grain and oil
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  production. Mirroring the biblical account
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  of Melchizedek S offering of bread and wine, this complex
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  provides a rare archaeological glimpse into the Canaanite
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  foundations of Jerusalem, or Salem as it was known back then.
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  It was then eventually sealed and buried during the religious
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  reforms of King Hezekiah in the 8th century BC.
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  So over to you. Do you think that's evidence
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  that Melchizedek was a real person?
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  But what about the whole part about not having parents?
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  Well, there is an answer for that as well.
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  Some Jewish traditions identify Melchizedek as Noah's son.
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  Shem and other theologians, for instance, view his lack of
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  record genealogy as a deliberate literary choice.
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  By admitting his ancestry, the text presents him as a type or a
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  shadow of Christ whose priesthood relies on divine
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  appointment rather than on family lineage.
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  This allows the author of Hebrews to illustrate that just
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  as Abraham, who was representing all believers, honoured
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  Melchizedek, so the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ is
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  bigger than just a simple human heritage because it lasts
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  forever. I am going to choose my words
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  very carefully now, but I'm not completely sold on this answer.
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  And that is why our final theory for me probably is the most
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  likely. Again, when people come to
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  Hebrew 7 verse three, they often pause at that very striking
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  description of Melchizedek without father or mother,
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  without genealogy. It's a line that does cause
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  debate, doesn't it? Because taken at face value, it
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  sounds like he exists outside of the normal human story.
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  And honestly, for me, myself and I, it seems that the most
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  logical thing to say about Melchizedek was that he wasn't
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  an ordinary man at all, but a supernatural, bigger, possibly
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  even a pre Incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Because truthfully, if this was just a stand alone occasion,
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  nothing like this had ever happened in the Bible, I
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  wouldn't take this viewpoint that seriously.
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  But that's not the case. The Bible is literally full of
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  pre Incarnate appearances of Jesus, and I'll give you proof
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  of that in a second. But right now, if Melchizedek
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  truly had no birth, no ancestry, and no recorded death, it places
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  him in a category beyond humanity.
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  Which is why many Christians, including myself, would say that
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  Melchizedek is a very strong example of a Christophany.
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  Can you put that in simple terms, Joe?
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  Well, in other words, Melchizedek, it does appear, was
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  a type of Christ. He is a king of peace and he is
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  a king of righteousness. And in a greater way, King Jesus
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  Christ himself was not only the priest, but he was the sacrifice
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  too. He sacrificed himself once and
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  for all. There was no more sacrifices
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  that were needed once Jesus died.
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  And so now we can safely, boldly approach the throne of God,
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  because we have one who is a High priest, whoever intercedes
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  for us in heaven, who pleads our case before the throne because
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  he died and shed his blood for us.
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  But do not find that incredible that the priest himself was also
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  the sacrifice. The Lamb of God took away the
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  sins of the world 2000 years ago.
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  OK, now I wonder whether I should share this with you,
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  because we can't say that this is 100% the meaning behind this
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  line. But if Melchizedek was a pre
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  example of the Lord Jesus Christ, well, when Jesus said to
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  the Pharisees talking about Abraham, Abraham would rejoice
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  to see my day, could that be hinting that their encounter in
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  Genesis was way more significant than it first appears?
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  Then there's this as well. You can't trace Melchizedek's
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  priesthood from Levi, which of course would have ruffled quite
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  a few feathers among the Jews because here was this man who
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  was a priest and yet he was not from the Levitical priesthood.
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  That was how they did things back then and yet he here he is,
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  he remains a priest forever. And so Jesus Christ, he was not
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  from the tribe of Levi. He was from the tribe of Judah.
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  And so he also was not a Levitical priest.
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  He, like Melchizedek had a superior priesthood, which again
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  is food for thought isn't it? All right guys.
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  But as I've already said previously, Melchizedek might
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  have just been a real person and he might be just used as a
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  pattern to point people to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  He might not be an actual pre Incarnate appearance of Jesus.
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  So I guess what I'm saying is I give the evidence to you, the
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  viewer right now and I ask you to make a decision on who do you
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  think this man Melchizedek really is?
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  However, if you do need proof of these pre Incarnate appearances
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  of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you do need proof that Jesus Christ
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  really did appear before coming as that little baby in the
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  Manger, I made a video documenting every appearance of
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  Christ in the Old Testament. Click here to learn more about
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  it.