And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” [Abram] gave him a tenth of all… Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’”(Genesis 14:18-23)

Enigmatic character that he is, Melchizedek reveals a portal to understanding God in a unique way. To be sure, the Book of Hebrews describes Melchizedek in a way that makes the comparison with Christ unmistakable. He was the “king of righteousness and … king of peace” (Heb 7:2). He had no parentage, is apparently eternal in nature, and was “like the Son of God” (Heb 7:3). Jesus’ priesthood, which the writer of Hebrews makes clear was greater than the Levitical priesthood, was said to be “according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb 6:20). We conclude that Abraham (i.e. Abram) had found himself in the presence of the pre-incarnate Christ.

Now Melchizedek-Christ was a priest of “God Most High,” or in the original Hebrew, “El Elyon.” The Hebrew term “El” is a shortened form of “Elohim,” the generic reference to deity. By combining it with “Elyon,” which means “most high,” Melchizedek identifies with not just a localized tribal deity, but with the God who is Most High, the One of whom no one else can be said to be higher. In other words, Melchizedek is the mediator between the Creator God of the universe and humans.

Of course, Abraham did not fully recognize this, but in responding to the other king, the King of Sodom, he made an interesting expansion on Melchizedek’s reference to God. He added the personal, divine name, Yahweh, and spoke of the LORD (Yahweh) God Most High. Abraham was tenacious to remove any hint of ambiguity; there is one and only one God to whom he gave allegiance, and that was Yahweh, for He is the Most High God over all. So Abraham made an oath to Yahweh that he would not be beholden to the king of Sodom. He took seriously the fact that God had sent him from his home country and led him to the land of Canaan, and would provide for him. As he became wealthy, it was not because of earthly financial support. In fact, Abraham gave 10 percent of his war spoils to Melchizedek. One wonders whether the contrast of the King of Salem (Melchizedek-prefigured Christ) is meant to prefigure Satan as the King of Sodom tempting us to be controlled by earthly wealth.

Lord, help me to remain loyal to You, for You supply all my needs.