Who Was Melchizedek?
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 2:17 pm
He was a man just as the text states. The Hebrews believe this to be Shem (since he was still alive and the greatest patriarch of that lineage.
History records another sucessor of Melchizedek. One of the Tel Amarna Tablets is from "Ebed-Tob" , a king of Jerusalem, the successor of Melchizedek, in which he cleam the very attributes and dignity gen to Melchizedek.
" Archaeology has shed light on the enigmatic expression "without father, without mother, etc." A.H. Sayce, who served as professor of Assyriology at Oxford, called attention to an inscription from the famous Tell el-Amarna tablets (discovered in 1887 in Egypt). These tablets describe the conditions of Syria and Palestine about 1400-1360 B.C.
Several of the Tell el-Amarna tablets are letters written to the Pharaoh by Ebed-tob...the king of Uru-Salim [Jerusalem ], who begs for help against his enemies. He tells the Pharaoh that he was not like the other Egyptian governors in Palestine , nor had he received a crown by inheritance from his father or mother; it had been conferred on him by "the Mighty King..." (1906, 3:335).
So, observing the similarity of language, we conclude that Melchizedek's kingship/priesthood had not been derived genealogically; He had received his commission directly from God Himself. Indeed, as the Scriptures affirm, his was an appointment "of God Most High" (Genesis 14:18). Accordingly, by way of analogy, we are forced to affirm that the current reign/priesthood of our Lord is a direct and divinely authored administration. We are grateful to archaeology for this bit of assistance in understanding what otherwise might be perceived as an obscure reference. "
History records another sucessor of Melchizedek. One of the Tel Amarna Tablets is from "Ebed-Tob" , a king of Jerusalem, the successor of Melchizedek, in which he cleam the very attributes and dignity gen to Melchizedek.
" Archaeology has shed light on the enigmatic expression "without father, without mother, etc." A.H. Sayce, who served as professor of Assyriology at Oxford, called attention to an inscription from the famous Tell el-Amarna tablets (discovered in 1887 in Egypt). These tablets describe the conditions of Syria and Palestine about 1400-1360 B.C.
Several of the Tell el-Amarna tablets are letters written to the Pharaoh by Ebed-tob...the king of Uru-Salim [Jerusalem ], who begs for help against his enemies. He tells the Pharaoh that he was not like the other Egyptian governors in Palestine , nor had he received a crown by inheritance from his father or mother; it had been conferred on him by "the Mighty King..." (1906, 3:335).
So, observing the similarity of language, we conclude that Melchizedek's kingship/priesthood had not been derived genealogically; He had received his commission directly from God Himself. Indeed, as the Scriptures affirm, his was an appointment "of God Most High" (Genesis 14:18). Accordingly, by way of analogy, we are forced to affirm that the current reign/priesthood of our Lord is a direct and divinely authored administration. We are grateful to archaeology for this bit of assistance in understanding what otherwise might be perceived as an obscure reference. "
