Melchisedec
: "The generations of Abraham were Shem, begat Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abram who became Abraham. Amongst all the descendants of Shem, there were many that disagreed and even fought over who should be the rightful heir to the blessings of Shem. Shem was rightful king as elder of the family of man and, according to Bible chronologists, Shem was still around when Abraham expatriated from his father and the matrix of the City-State. Since Noah and his wife had died, Shem was a righteous king of peace. He was without Father and Mother and was possessor of all his rights. Shem was sui juris according to the family laws that preceded the codification by kings. Although he had produced many heirs, no one had been chosen. There was no one worthy of the honor and blessing of that royal office of the righteous King of Peace."
Melchizedek a righteous king
- “And Melchizedek [righteous king] king of Salem [peace][1] brought forth bread and wine: and he [was] the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed [be] Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:” Genesis 14:18-19
Shem to Abraham
Shem lived 600 years according to scriptures[2]
According to some versions of the Hebrew version of the Pentateuch The ages of him and his children can produce a chronology that leaves Shem still a lived when Abraham was alive.
Arphaxad begat Salah at age 35 according to the the Masoretic text.[3] The Masoretic Text is the basis for most Protestant translations of the Old Testament such as the King James Version, English Standard Version, New American Standard Version, and New International Version. But the Masoretic Text is not the only source nor was it the earliest copy of the Hebrew text. There is also the Samaritan Pentateuch and of course the Greek Septuagint which was often quoted by Jesus and the Apostles.
Both of which not only predate the Masoretic Text by at least ten centuries but are confirmed by other writings which are much earlier. Each of them record that Arphaxad begat Salah at age 135, showing an additional 100 years attached to the begetting ages in the genealogies of Genesis 11.
The age of Shem and his generation
Many charts show the result of these two recorded accounting for these ages listed in Genesis.
Were they incorrect to record these ages of more than a hundred years old?
Did they think the earlier text were in error?
Why would some want to reduce their ages?
And is the answer important or is it just a distraction?
Craig Olson rejects the long lifespans of these patriarchs as their actual ages outside the Bible.[4]
What is commonly termed as ‘average life expectancy’ is technically ‘life expectancy at birth’. By averaging the number of years that a newborn baby can expect to live in a given society at a given time you can lower the life ‘average life span expectancy’. This is not a helpful statistic if the goal is to compare the longevity of adults. Canaanites life expectancy was very low because of a huge parasite presence among the population. This is one of the reason for food and hygiene laws transmitted to the people by Moses.
According to some studies the potential length of a human lifespan 2000 years ago was the same as now. Approximately 70 to 85 years old. But the longevity of the descendants of Noah is supposedly extended from their family who were righteous in their generation.[5] There would appear to be a line of people that lived longer than others. There are stories that some people have lived a long period of time prior to 3000 BC and the flood.
If they did why would the Masoretic Text want us to think otherwise?
This film, an extract of content put together by Nathan Hoffman, discusses whether or not the Egyptian pyramids were built before the Biblical account of Noah's flood, while dealing with issues around Egyptian chronology and the accuracy of the modern Bible translations based on the Hebrew Masoretic text (11 century CE) verses the Greek Septuagint (2-3 century BCE) which is based on the original Hebrew and the likes of the Dead Sea Scrolls and manuscripts from the 1 century CE. This video may be considered as part 2 to the one titled "How Long were the ISRAELITES in EGYPT? How many years were Israelites slaves in Egypt?" - https://youtu.be/eIaezewuxhU Which are the results of Nathan's work Time 14:05
The earth after the flood was dramatically different and in the Bible speaks of God limiting the life span of mankind to our present expectancy.[6] There is also a reference to the fact that rainbows were a new thing seen in the sky after the flood.[7] The entire atmosphere seemed to be different in some way after the flood if we can interpret these verses like Genesis 2 concerning things before the flood.[8] While a great deal goes unexplained all these things and more were recorded in the text suggesting that things changed drastically at that time and it was only those who were righteous in their generations who may have had this long lifespan that would be diminishing under the new conditions on the earth.
Outside the Bible there is little evidence but you would not expect to find a great deal of evidence if only some people had this long lifespan. There is no evidence outside the Bible that there were not some people that did have a longer lifespan.
There are some biologist that see evidence for a longer development period of growth and therefore a longer lifespan but there evidence is inconclusive.
So what is the truth?
Why is it important to know?
We are warned that we should be careful not to get caught up in "endless genealogies" and debates about who begat who etc.[9] We should be seeking instead "endless life".[10]
One reason for a lack of details and the warnings about immersing ourselves into details concerning genealogies is that it may not be as important as the overall message. In fact, they may be a distraction from the true message the Bible concerning the difference between the way of Cain, Nimrod, Pharaoh who oppressed mankind turning their governments into a city of blood and encouraging the people's appetite for the dainties of rulers. These covetous practices that lead the people back into bondage while they bite one another is contrary to the way of Abraham, Moses, John the Baptist, and Jesus the Christ who set those Captives free.
Is the righteous King Shem
Modern Christians may think that "Equating Shem to the King of Salem and Melchizedek is completely false as the context quickly indicates."
The context of what?
It certainly contradicts what some churches are teaching today to promote their private interpretation of the Bible. What may really determine the accuracy of interpretations is are the people still free or have they hone back into the bondage of Egypt becoming entangled again in that yoke of bondage again?
Has that happened because of covetous practices and an abandonment of the practice of a daily ministration of Pure Religion?
The Spirit of Shem and Melchizedek
"The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." Psalms 110:4
The word "order" in the Hebrew is dibrah[11] and is only translated order this one time but is said to mean cause or reason. The reason of a righteous king can only be Right Reason. Right Reason, Natural Law, and Divine Will which is the Will of God are convertible phrases.
"Thy people [shall be] willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth." Psalms 110:3
The phrase "Thy people [shall be] willing" is ‘amməḵā nəḏāḇōṯ (עַמְּךָ֣ נְדָבֹת֮). The word nedabah[12] means "voluntariness, freewill offering" and is not the root NunDaletBeitHey nor NunDaletBeit but NunDaletBeitTav including the idea of a freewill offering by faith. What makes a ruler righteous is that he is not foolish like Cain, Nimrod, and King Saul nor King Herod and the Pharisees who all made the word of God to none effect because of their use of force in the collection of their Corban.
"Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually." Hebrews 7:3
The phrase "Without father, without mother, without descent[13]" is not that someone never had a father or a mother but is about holding a position as priest not because of an inherited genealogy but because the righteously divide the freewill offerings of the people from house to house in Pure Religion.
We see this repeated in verse 7:
"But he whose descent[14] is not counted[14] from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises." Hebrews 7:6
Is the genealogy of Melchizedek absent from the Bible text because it was never important?
Melchizedek was only important because Abraham freely gave a tithe to this man of righteousness. This was because like Abraham and the Altars of Clay and Stone he did not force the offerings of the people like Cain and Nimrod, or the king of Sodom.
While modern Christians seeks to turn the righteous king of peace, Melchizedek, into a mystical Jesus who was called the Son of God because Melchizedek was "like" the Son of God or that unnamed individual was not identified granted his position of Priest to Abraham by the lineage of a father or mother when the author seems to be simply referring to the principle that the "genealogy" is not important just as Paul did.[9] The important thing was he was a doer of The Way of righteousness only, which is the way of faith if you are seeking eternal life.[10]
Evading righteousness
Many Jewish scholars before and after Christ believed Shem and Melchizedek were one and the same and wrote about them as the same individual.[15]
We can also see, “In Rabb. exegesis it was often conjectured that Melchizedek was another name for Shem, the son of Noah”.[16]
Professor Fred Horton observes that from “an early time Melchizedek was identified by the Rabbis with Shem, the son of Noah”[17] He went on to point out that Shem was identified as Melchizedek “by the first third of the second century A.D., as is shown by several quotations from R. Ishmael ben Elisha”.
Saint Epiphanius of Constantia[18] and later the bishop of Salamis did assert that “at present some people have different ideas about who Melchizedek is. Some think that he is by nature the Son of God who appeared to Abraham back then in human form.”
Dr. R. Larry Overstreet in his attempt to identify Melchizedek states, "The title “Son of God” is crucial in this context since it points to the eternal nature of Christ. "[19] But the phrase or the title of "the Son of God" had also been applied by the people for centuries to the Caesars among others who sought to be the rulers of the world.
If Shem was a descendant of Noah who was righteous in his generations then he was the heir to the world as a descendant of Adam. And if he remained faithful to The Way of righteousness i.e. depending on the freewill offerings of tithes rather than the taxes of Nimrod or Cain then he could be considered both the righteous king of peace and priest to the faithful who sought the Kingdom of God.
It is often modern church goers and some seminary graduates who are unaware of this context and connection.
In most of the copies of the Masoretic Hebrew text the word "malki zedek" is written as two words. It was the Septuagint that had the two terms together. But even that does not make it a name as we might think of it today.
Both the Epistle to the Hebrews and Josephus interpret the word "malki" as meaning "the king", and "tzedek" as meaning "righteous" or "just". It was a description of an office or status like the word Augustus which was not the name of Octavius but his title. Even the term Caesar was an office, not a name of the individuals who held the office.
Anyone who thinks the king's name just happened to be the Hebrew word for righteous King is being wishfully naive.
Just research the words Melchizedek and Shem and you will see a wealth of information that corroborates the fact that it has always been well accepted and common knowledge that Shem and Melchizedek were the same. [1] [2] [3]
Even Wikipedia [4] along with stacks of ancient Hebrew texts from the Targums to the Talmud write of them being one and the same.
Parallels between this righteous King of peace and Jesus of Nazareth should be clear. Both Melchizedek and Jesus serve God as the righteous firstborn son. Both were priest and king. Both were princes or kings of peace with Jesus actually being the king of Jerusalem physically and spiritually. Jerusalem means double peace. Both brought offerings of bread and wine which we call the Eucharist which symbolized the benefits of God's kingdom on earth from generation to generation. They were able to feed the people because they both received tithes and offerings.[20]
The priesthood of all these nations had the responsibility of welfare for society and there were always two types of welfare which defined the nature of religion and the methods used by the altars and temples.
But if someone wants to read the books and only hear verification of what they have already accepted as true, they will be disappointed. The books by their nature are iconoclastic. Just as the Pharisees had misinterpreted the Torah, so also do many modern Christians misinterpret the truth expressed with in the Biblical texts.
Just as an example, Modern Churches tell their supporters that it is okay to desire benefits from governments and the dainties of rulers who call themselves Benefactors but exercise authority one over the other.
This is contrary to the doctrine of Jesus the Christ who instructed very clearly that it was not to be so with us[21] and so did Moses and all the Prophets. Those who follow the pernicious ways[22] of unrighteousness.
As for what Romans 13 is actually saying there is a whole book that deals with the Modern interpretations and confusions: The Higher Liberty. And the belief in the Constitution as something sacred and/or designed around biblical principles is shattered in the book Contracts, Covenants and Constitutions.
Appearance
Old Testament
- Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
- Psalms 110:4 The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order[11] of Melchizedek.
New Testament
- Hebrews 5:6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
- Hebrews 5:10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
- Hebrews 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
- Hebrews 7:1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
- Hebrews 7:10 For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.
- Hebrews 7:11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
- Hebrews 7:15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
- Hebrews 7:17 For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order[23] of Melchisedec.
- Hebrews 7:21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
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Footnotes
- ↑ Hebrews 7:2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
- ↑ Genesis 11:10 These [are] the generations of Shem: Shem [was] an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
- ↑ Genesis 11:12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
- ↑ "There is no evidence of anyone at any time in history living these types of lifespans, and a chronology based on a face value reading does not match the archaeological evidence we find in the ancient Near East." “These extended lifespans clearly contradict all known evidence. The evidence from skeletons and tooth wear shows that the average lifespan in antiquity was around forty years” “How Old was Father Abraham” Craig Olson
- ↑ Genesis 6:9 These [are] the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah walked with God.
- Genesis 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
- ↑ Genesis 6:3 ¶ And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
- ↑ Genesis 9:13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
- ↑ Genesis 2:5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and [there was] not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 1 Timothy 1:4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: [so do].
- Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Hebrews 7:16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 01700 דִּבְרָה dibrah [dib-raw’] fem. DelathBeitReishHey of 01697 DelathBeitReish word; n m; [BDB-184a] [{See TWOT on 399 @@ "399e" }] AV-cause 1, order 1, estate 1, end 1, regard 1; 5
- 1) cause, manner, reason
- ↑ 05071 ^הבדנ^ nᵉdabah \@ned-aw-baw’\@ NunDaletBeitHey from 05068 NunDaletBeit offer willingly; n f; {See TWOT on 1299 @@ "1299a"} AV-freewill offering 15, offerings 9, free offering 2, freely 2, willing offering 1, voluntary offering 1, plentiful 1, voluntarily 1, voluntary 1, willing 1, willingly 1; 26
- 1) voluntariness, free-will offering
- 1a) voluntariness
- 1b) freewill, voluntary, offering
- 1) voluntariness, free-will offering
- ↑ 35 ἀγενεαλόγητος agenealogetos [ag-en-eh-al-og’-ay-tos] from 1 (as negative particle) and 1075; adj; TDNT-1:665,114; [{See TDNT 152 }] AV-without descent 1; 1
- 1) one whose descent there is no record of, without genealogy [{#Heb 7:3 }]
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 1075 γενεαλογέω genealogeo [ghen-eh-al-og-eh’-o] from 1074 generation and 3056 logos; v; TDNT-1:665,114; [{See TDNT 152 }] AV-count (one’s) descent 1; 1
- 1) to recount a family’s origin and lineage, trace ancestry
- 2) to draw one’s origin, derive one’s pedigree
- ↑ The Jewish rabbi Rashi (born 1040), “The Midrash identifies him [Melchizedek] with Shem.” A. Cohen, The Soncino Chumash: The Five Books of Moses with Haphtaroth (London: The Soncino Press, 1983), 69.
- ↑ O. Michel, “Melcisedek,” Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed.. Gerhard Kittel, trans. Geoffrey Bromiley, vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), 569.
- ↑ The Melchizedek Tradition, 114.
- ↑ born c. 315, author of the Panarion (374–377), died May 403, at sea
- ↑ THE SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST: THE IDENTITY OF MELCHIZEDEK IN HEBREWS, Dr. R. Larry Overstreet
- ↑ Abraham gave tithes to Shem who was the rightful head of his family being the eldest Father. Genesis 14:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
- ↑ Luke 22:25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so:
- ↑ 2 Peter 2:2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
- ↑ 5010 ~τάξις~ taxis \@tax’-is\@ from 5021; ; n f AV-order 10; 10
- 1) an arranging, arrangement
- 2) order
- 2a) a fixed succession observing a fixed time
- 3) due or right order, orderly condition
- 4) the post, rank, or position which one holds in civic or other affairs
- 4a) since this position generally depends on one’s talents, experience, resources
- 4a1) character, fashion, quality, style