Hebrews 7:1-2, 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; 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; In this introduction to Melchizedek, we are brought back to the story of Abraham in Genesis 14, where this mysterious king of Salem meets Abraham with bread and wine, a type of communion. Melchizedek appears suddenly out of nowhere, having never before been mentioned by this name in the book of Genesis. We do know that he was the king of Jerusalem, for Jerusalem means “City of Salem,” or literally “City of Peace.” The fact that Melchizedek was a title, rather than a proper name as such, is shown by the translation of his name, “King of Righteousness.” Melchi means “king,” and Zadok means “righteousness.” Historical sources show that Shem was the builder of Jerusalem and its first king. He took the title of Melchizedek, and even later after his descendants were overthrown by the Canaanites, the official title of the king of Jerusalem was Adonizedek, “Lord of Righteousness.” And so we find many years later that Joshua and the Israelite army fought against Adonizedek, the king of Jerusalem (Joshua 10:1). Even as both Shem and Joshua were types of Christ, so also was Adonizedek a type of “antichrist” opposing the true Yeshua (Joshua) in the conquest of the Kingdom. The 13th chapter of the Book of Jasher records the history of how the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah refused to pay tribute to Chedorlaomer, king of Elam. In the 16 th chapter of Jasher we read how this king came with other kings under his authority to punish the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. They took many people captive, including Lot, who was Abram's nephew. And so Abram pursued these kings as far as Damascus and defeated them in battle, setting the people free, including his nephew. On the return trip, Melchizedek came from Jerusalem to bless Abram and to have communion with him (bread and wine). Jasher 16:11, 12 says, 11 And Adonizedek king of Jerusalem, the same was Shem, went out with his men to meet Abram and his people, with bread and wine, and they remained together in the valley of Melech [Valley of the King].12 And Adonizedek blessed Abram, and Abram gave him a tenth from all that he had brought from the spoil of his enemies, for Adonizedek was a priest before God. The book of Jasher uses the term Adonizedek in place of Melchizedek, showing that the terms were interchangeable, having the same essential meaning. It also clearly identifies this king as being Shem. Shem takes on a greater role later in the book of Jasher when Isaac went to Jerusalem to study the ways of God under Shem for three years (24:17). Isaac returned to his father's house after Abraham sent Eliezar to Haran to find a wife for Isaac. Thus, he was in Beersheba with his father when Eliezar returned with Rebecca. Jasher also says that Jacob also spent many years in Shem's house, because of his conflict with Esau. At any rate, Scripture itself tells us that Shem lived to be 600 years old (Gen. 11:10, 11). If we do a genealogical study, we find that Shem actually outlived Abraham, even though Abraham was nine generations down from Shem. Shem died when Isaac was 110 and Jacob was 50 years old. From the biblical perspective, then, it is likely that Shem knew Abraham personally. Not only were they related by direct lineage, but also Shem was alive during Abraham's entire life time. To be continued...got to go. Logabe
