3774 - Melchizedek by E. H.

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jun 11, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 23.

3774 — Melchizedek

By E. H.

Who was Melchizedek as he first appears in Gen. 14:18? Was he Christ Himself, or only an ordinary man?

E. H.

That he was not an ordinary man is indicated by the description given in the 7th chapter of Hebrews, and that he was more than ordinary is also shown by the fact that Abraham offered homage to him. He was greater than Abraham. That he was not our Lord Himself is also shown by the fact that Christ is made like unto him, a priest after the same order. This has led some good Bible students to conclude that Melchizedek was a representative of another world, one of the unfallen worlds, just the same as Adam would have been at the head of this world if he had not sinned. Adam, in the third chapter of Luke, is called "the son of God." He would have been the priest of this world had he not fallen. Other worlds doubtless have their fathers, or the one who occupies the same relation to that world as did Adam to this, and this man who visited Abraham may have been the head of some other world placed here for a little time as an illustration, or object-lesson, for the generations to come. The very name itself means "king of righteousness," in the Hebrew,—"melech," king; and "zedek," righteousness.