Episode 795: How do we tie Abraham to Lot to Melchizedek to Christ

The reason why Melchizedek is important is because in Psalms 110:4 Jesus is called a Priest after the order of Melchizedek. “Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.” And in Hebrews 7 that is confirmed. The only place in Scriptures where Melchizedek comes is in 14:18-20...three verses...that's all. Melchizedek appears, fulfils his ministry and disappears. And God said to his Son, "Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Not a priest after the order of Levi- the old covenant priesthood. How did this man Melchizedek, who appears in only three verses in the Bible, become so important? It is good for us to know the reason.

Although Melchizedek remains an elusive figure in the Scripture, He appears in the Roman Canon at Mass; today’s priests are ordained to “the Order of Melchizedek,” and his appearance in Genesis forms the basis of some of our theology of the priesthood.

His appearance in Genesis 14 is quite minimal and set at a point very early in Abram’s faith journey. Identified in the Scripture as “King of Salem,” ancient Jewish sources see him as the leader of the entire area, a wise sage of a man whom the rest must respect. But this does not answer the question of his identity. We must look back even further.

As Abram presents Melchizedek with a tithe, Melchizedek gives him a blessing in return. Here is the hint we’ve been looking for! The last person to receive a blessing was the oldest son of Noah: Shem. Adding up the dates of Shem’s life, we learn that he was actually still alive during Abram’s time, and in fact outlived Abraham!

Blessings at this time in history were not things that could be easily exchanged, once they were given, they could not be taken back.
As an example we have Jacob’s stealing of Issac’s paternal blessing from his older brother Esau. Blessings are tangible things, so Melchizedek/Shem must still have the one given to him by his father, Noah; and he now passes it on to his descendant Abram or Abraham, the one chosen by God to be the father of many nations.