I decided to study more about the somewhat mysterious figure, Melchizedek, to see what I could learn. In part 1 and part 2, we looked at the covenant explained in JST of Genesis 14 when Melchizedek met Abraham. In part 3 we saw how the title, prince of peace, connects to this covenant and the priesthood administering it. There is another post about "the covenant meal" that provides background and context for this post, where we will have a closer look at the meal and blessing that we read about as Melchizedek and Abraham meet.
As mentioned in the post about the covenant meal, there is another high priest, Alma, who
- Eats together with Amulek
- Blesses Amulek and his family
- Alma's blessing becomes the Lord's blessing upon Amulek
18 And king of brought forth : he was the of the most high God...
25 And Melchizedek lifted up his voice and blessed Abram...
37 And he lifted up his voice, and he blessed Abram, being the high priest, and the keeper of the storehouse of God...
40 And it came to pass, that God blessed Abram, and gave unto him riches, and honor, and lands for an everlasting possession; according to the covenant which he had made, and according to the blessing wherewith Melchizedek had blessed him.
There is a lot between verses 25 and 37 that we have already discussed in this series. We see that these two verses have a common phrase creating a repetitive resumption. All the discussion of the covenant, peace and righteousness is therefore sandwiched between the mentions of Melchizedek blessing Abraham. I therefore think that Melchizedek played a central role in the Abrahamic covenant, perhaps formalizing the promises that God already had given him by a priesthood ordinance. Just like Alma, Melchizedek can pronounce a blessing in the name of the Lord, and representing him as high priest, Melchizedek's blessing becomes God's blessing.
We also see another example of a covenant meal as Melchizedek brings bread and wine. Paul spends much of his letter to the Hebrews to make a case for Jesus Christ as the great high priest after the order of Melchizedek. The bread and wine that Melchizedek offers Abraham surely reminds us of the bread and wine that Jesus Christ offered to his disciples who were the seed of Abraham.
In his commentary on the Hebrew scriptures, Jewish thinker Philo points out that Melchizedek brought bread and wine instead of the expected hospitality gift of bread and water (see e.g. Deuteronomy 23:4). Based on that, Bible scholar Margaret Barker interprets Jesus' first miracle where he turned water into wine as a Melchizedek sign. This is speculative of course but an intriguing thought. By turning water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana and giving his disciples bread and wine at the last supper, Jesus is confirming his identity as high priest after the order of Melchizedek. As John 2:11 states, Jesus "manifested forth his glory" with this miracle.
The main responsibility of the high priest was temple service. As Paul argues, Jesus went into the holy of holies sacrificing himself (instead of an animal) of which the sacramental bread and wine were reminders. At the wedding feast in Cana, "there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the of the Jews" (John 2:6). Jews had cleansing rituals where they washed their hands before meals. That is a funny thing to write since most of us also wash our hands before eating without considering it anything remotely close to a religious ritual. These same cleansing rituals where performed by the priests who entered into the temple. There were waterpots outside the temple and shewbread and wine (for libation) inside. But there is also the concept of a temple meal that Lord Wilmore wrote about and that is contextualized by the covenant meal post.
This is another obscure source but the Testament of Levi (that is Levi, son of Jacob/Israel) tells about his vision where he finds himself in the temple visited by seven men in white raiment. He is clothed in sacred vestments, served bread and wine and promised to be a priest forever. So in a sense, the water belongs outside the temple and the wine inside. As I mentioned, this is speculative, but Jesus turning water into wine moves the wedding feast from outside the temple to inside the temple and Jesus thereby establishes his role as the high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
In any case, there is a relationship between Melchizedek, Abraham and Jesus Christ, as also the previous post demonstrated (linking "Prince of Peace" to all three). There is also a strong case to be made here for a covenant meal between Melchizedek and Abraham. This meal with associated covenants and blessings is a foreshadowing of the "meal", covenant and blessings between the priest after the order of Melchizedek and Abraham's seed.
Today we drink water instead of wine for practical reasons at the sacrament as a reminder and renewal of our covenants. The sacrament is also administered by the Aaronic priesthood. But the Lord has promised that the hour cometh when he will drink the fruit of the vine with us once again. This is the "small meal" and "big meal" symbolism from the video in Lord Wilmore's post that I linked.
5 Behold, this is wisdom in me; wherefore, marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will of the fruit of the with you on the earth, and with , whom I have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fulness of my everlasting gospel, to whom I have committed the keys of the of the of
10 And also with Joseph and , and , and Abraham, your , by whom the remain;
11 And also with Michael, or , the father of all, the prince of all, the of days;
12 And also with Peter, and James, and John, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have you and confirmed you to be , and especial of my , and bear the keys of your ministry and of the same things which I revealed unto them;
13 Unto whom I have the of my kingdom, and a of the for the ; and for the of times, in the which I will gather together in all things, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth;
14 And also with all those whom my Father hath me out of the world. (D&C 27)
As both priests after the order of Melchizedek and Abraham's seed, we are fathers and sons, kings and princes and thereby the covenant is perpetuated throughout the generations. The covenant is renewed by a small meal at the sacrament table but will be realized in full in a grand meal in the future.
I set out to learn more about Melchizedek with this study and ended up learning little about the person and much about related doctrine and symbolism. That is fine as far as I'm concerned. With the limited information we have, Melchizedek will always remain a bit mysterious, but the priesthood that he held is among us today blessing millions of Abraham's seed. And the blessing by the priesthood holder becomes the blessing of God.