The Order of Melchizedek

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own purchased, special people,that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9 AMPC

Several months ago, I was teaching at a regional school of worship on prophetic and spontaneous worship. I briefly spoke on the Levitical priesthood during the teaching, showing some examples in the Scriptures. One of my dear friends and a fellow leader approached me afterward and said, “That was an excellent teaching. You know…you should add the priesthood of Melchizedek to it.” At that point, I hadn’t really studied anything concerning him or what the Scriptures said, but I decided to start looking. I was blown away by what I saw. The following will be just a small glimpse into what I saw in the beginning, and hopefully it will provoke you to examine the Scriptures yourself.

We were created, in the beginning, to be a priesthood. Adam and Eve in the garden were priests who were intended to rule over creation. Remember when each of the animals was brought to Adam for him to name them? This is an authoritative act and a demonstration of the rule he was intended to have from the beginning. There was a relationship with God.

As we all know, sin separated us from God and stripped us of that authority that we originally were designed to walk in, but God had a plan from the beginning to bring redemption. In this plan of redemption was always the restoration of the priesthood of His people, a new and living way.

What does the order of Melchezidek have to do with this? Everything.

In Genesis 14, Abraham is coming back from a battle, and he is passing by a city (Salem). The king of that city comes out to meet him. Melchizedek.

Let’s read Genesis 14:17-20:

“After his [Abram’s] return from the defeat and slaying of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh, that is, the King’s Valley.

Melchizedek, king of Salem [later called Jerusalem] brought out bread and wine [for their nourishment]; he was the priest of God Most High,

And he blessed him and said, Blessed (favored with blessings, made blissful, joyful) be Abram by God Most High, Possessor and Maker of heaven and earth,

And blessed, praised, and glorified be God Most High, Who has given your foes into your hand! And [Abram] gave him a tenth of all [he had taken].”

From what we know Biblically, Abraham was likely one of the greatest men living at that time in regard to wealth, stature, and spirituality. Yet, as he is returning from this battle, a priest/prophet/king comes out to meet him, and Abraham pays a tithe to this king, and this king blesses Abraham (Abram at the time). This picture shows clearly that both Abraham and Melchizedek understood who was greater in their greeting.

A couple of things to note from this encounter:

1. The name Melchizedek comes from two Semitic roots. One meaning King and the other meaning Righteousness. His name literally means King of Righteousness. And he was the King of Salem. Salem means peace. King of Righteousness, King of peace.

2. It took place 500 years before the Levitical priesthood was established.

3. The author of Hebrews goes even further to say that the Levitical priesthood, being in Abraham’s loins at the time, paid the tithe to Melchizedek and therefore established the superiority of the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:9-19).

So why is this all so important?

Priests came from the tribe of Levi or Aaron, except for Jesus, the Great High Priest, who was of the tribe of Judah. It is also written in Hebrews that Jesus was of the priesthood order of Melchizedek. He defends this position by quoting Psalm 110, which was written by King David, who was also a priest/prophet/king.

In Psalm 110:1-4, King David writes,

The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” The Lord will stretch out Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”

Your people will volunteer freely on the day of Your power; In holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew.

The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind,

“You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

King David uses two Hebrew words for Lord in the first verse. Yahweh says to my Adonai. King David is prophesying about the coming of Jesus Messiah. It is a psalm of what the Father will do for the Son who is High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

This is where it gets exciting.

Everything was pointing forward to a promised “Priest-King,” Jesus, who was going to redeem us and bring us back to our original design as royal priests. Jesus, the cosmic Royal Priest, breaking the power of sin forever so that we can learn to rule and reign with Him now on the earth as we were designed to in the beginning! There is a beautiful picture of this painted in Revelation 5:1-10. In the first few verses, they are asking who is worthy to open the scroll, and they found no one, so there was great weeping. Then John sees the following:

And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation.

You have made them into a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

The Church is now the body of the “Cosmic Royal Priest.” He is the Head. A royal priesthood functioning under the headship of the Great High and Royal Priest, Jesus. No longer does the priesthood function in a temple. Now, we are the temple. We have become a new humanity that follows the Jesus Way.

There are just a few things to note in the difference between the two priesthoods (Levitical and Melchizedek). The Levitical priesthood was a shadow and type of the heavenly/better one. The Melchizedek priesthood is the exact representation seen in Jesus, the perfect example and Great High Priest forever. We are invited into the exact representation seen in Jesus. Let’s take a brief look at some of the differences (these all come from Hebrews):

Levitical Priesthood VS. Order of Melchizedek:

There is an invitation in redemption to our original design and purpose as priests before God. I will quote my friend Joseph Robinson, saying that the role is now son/priest/ king. We have been brought into sonship and will function out of that identity in our roles as priests and kings on the earth. It is essential that we understand this as the ekklesia. If we do not, we will continue to just hang out together until Jesus comes. No, thank you. Jesus showed us a better way, and then He paid for that better way to be accessible to all who desire it.

Many of us know the Greek word ekklesia. As a reminder, its literal meaning is “called out ones” and its English translation is “church,” referring to either local communities, the global Body of the eternal church (including those who have passed away already). It’s important to understand, though, that historically, the word was used by the Greeks in a political context. Anyone in the First Century church would have understood this, especially someone like Paul. He would have understood the historical, political, and judicial implications of choosing this word to describe the church and its role in God’s eternal plan.

In classical Greece, the word was used for a secular assembly of citizens who were invited into a close meeting in Athens, where several specific functions took place. Some of which were: laws being created, governmental decisions debated, key judicial cases were decided, officials were appointed, chief magistrates were elected, etc! All governing types of decisions. The first-century church would have understood this and, in turn, would have understood that meant they were a ruling body. Not to mention, the first time the word is ever used in Matthew 16:18-19 denotes the same significance.

This is what Jesus said to His disciples after Peter had the revelation of Who Jesus is:

And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys (authority) of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind [forbid, declare to be improper and unlawful] on earth will have [already] been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit, declare lawful] on earth will have [already] been loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:18-19 AMP

Jesus clearly was giving them an assignment before the church was born. He was letting them know what was about to come on the earth after His death and resurrection. We were adopted as sons (children of God) with a redeemed role of priest and king in the earth with Jesus as our Perfect Example and the Head and Ruler of all things.

How will we rule and reign as His ekklesia if we don’t understand sonship, priesthood, and kingship? How will we bring His Kingdom into the earth if we never fully come to maturity as His children and engage in the roles/responsibilities that He has given us? We can’t function in them until we understand what they are! Pretty obvious, right?

This is where He is bringing the Church right now. I am a leader of a small community of believers who are connected regionally, nationally, and globally with many other church communities and ministries. The primary directive I hear Him giving all over the globe is this understanding of sonship and priesthood specifically. I have been shocked over the past 6 months as I have studied our role as priests, how many others are being led by the Holy Spirit to study the exact same thing. I have met several who have been in it for 2 years or more at this point.

I want to exhort you to take a look at both your identity as a child of God and your role as a royal priest and seek to understand and practice what the Scripture teaches and what Jesus and His Apostles demonstrated. You will never be the same, and neither will your marriage, family, church community, and region.

Let His Kingdom come!