There is great confusion about
the person, Melchizedek in the Bible. Melchizedek first appeared in biblical canon
when Abraham and his seed were about to perish by the combined forces of the
kings of and around Sodom and Gomorrah. At an interlude in the war, Abraham
faced his adversaries, for a moment of tranquility, everything ceased, and then
this happened:
18 And
Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest
of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, “Blessed be
Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And
blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.”
And he gave him tithes of all. (Gen 14:18-20)
What had happened right there in
the Garden of the Lord? (Gen 13:10). In a previous commentary, I demonstrated
that Sodom and Gomorrah were not as the Garden but was the actual
“Garden of the Lord” — the southern portion that began at the Nile River and extended
to the Euphrates in a bow that is now called “The Fertile
Crescent.”
The Cross would become the
“needle” in the midst of that Garden and it marked the center of the Garden of
God. The Cross on Calvary marked the spot for many things; it marked the place
where Adam was created, the “Tree in the midst of the Garden,” and where Jesus
would regenerate all God’s creatures. I concluded that by finding the Garden in
text of the Bible and was not even surprised when it was revealed to Enoch the
same way.
Why the communion — a time of
peace — in the middle of a war? “After these things the Word of the Lord came
unto Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy
exceeding great reward’” (Gen 15:1).
Melchizedek first blessed Abraham
by giving him the “Body” and “Blood” of the Messiah. If Melchizedek was
pre-incarnate Jesus, then Melchizedek served to Abram His own Body and Blood.
That is imperative because the Body and Blood of Jesus, if that is true, would
serve Abraham the chromosomes of Himself. Abraham would have taken the genes of
the Savior! That was his blessing, but what good would it do if, unlike Noah,
Abraham could not reproduce?
The Word (Jesus; John 3:1-14) blessed
Abraham, “And, behold, The Word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This
(Eliezer) shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine
own bowels (genitalia, symbolized by the thigh as will be shown) shall be thine
heir” (Gen 15:4). With that said, Isaac was born to barren Sarah. That would
not be the first time that mankind had been so blessed! Not only was Abraham a peculiarity,
but so was Isaac, and so was Jesus. As such, just as Abraham was chosen and
made peculiar, so are Christians to this day (Deut 14:2; 1 Pet 2:9).
The “reward” of which Melchizedek
blessed Abraham came from the genes from that Bread and Wine when Abraham was
engendered from above through his mediation with Melchizedek: “For the Lord
hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure” (Psalm
135:4). Hence, not only was Abraham made “peculiar,” but his “son” Isaac was as
well and so was his progeny, Jacob, who would soon be renamed “Israel” as he
received the mark of God on his thigh (Gen 32:25).
Jacob was made “Israel” when
Jesus, “The Angel of God,” wrestled with him, allowing Jacob to win by grace.
Jacob received the mark of God and was made in
the image of Jesus, to wit: “He (Jesus) hath on his vesture and on his thigh a
name written, ‘King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords’” (Rev 19:16). Keep that in
mind for it will be repeated.
John noticed that in his Revelation
from God, but on the Cross, for the most, it went unnoticed. What did Pilate,
Dismas, and Longinus (the thief and centurion, respectively) see that the
others had not? “King of the Jews” was written on the sign, that was noticed
and discussed, but some who were close enough saw “King Of Kings, And Lord Of
Lords,” written on the thigh of the Savior. Pilate must have noticed that because
Jesus claimed Himself to be God, and Pilate found no fault in Him (Luke
23:14).
What made Abraham and his progeny
so peculiar? The remedy was in the Bread and Wine that Melchizedek, “The Peculiar
Priest, served him!
So, what made Melchizedek so
“peculiar”? Eliezer, the servant of Abram, would have been the heir of Abraham,
and as such a priest like his namesake, and merited it for finding
Rebeccah as a bride for Isaac. Thus, the genes of God are not based on works,
or merit, but who have been blessed by engendering from God above.
Melchizedek was “King of Salem”
or “Prince of Peace” but not the city of Jeru-salem. That city was ruled
by Jebusites. Melchizedek was King Of Kings in what would be New Jerusalem in
heaven — the new “foundation of peace,” as the name means.
With original sin, Cain was born
with evil in his heart. He was of the Wicked One (1 John 3:12). Melchizedek
fixed that same genetic condition that had been in Abraham because of his
wicked father, Terah. As such, Jesus is not of the genealogy of Terah but only
the Progeny of Abraham. Therefore, the genealogy of Jesus, the man, was only
back to Abraham, the regenned son of God (Mat 1:1). There was no need
for Matthew to go back any further because Abraham was the Son of Melchizedek
by adoption. “Jesus” in Melchizedek, if He is the Messiah, fixed the genes of
Abram that he had inherited from his progenitor, Terah. No wonder Abram was so
“peculiar”! He had become a child of God and was in Christ, the Messiah!
His genes were of God just as Adam’s. Melchizedek had glorified Abram and
renamed him “Abraham.”
Now consider the origin of
Melchizedek — the story behind the story — which comes from the Second Book
of Enoch, which is canon in Orthodoxy. (Please take the time to read this
condensed version and ponder it, based on the commentary thus far):
(2
Enoch) 68: Methusalam and his
brothers and all the sons of Enoch hurried, and they constructed an altar at
the place called Akhuzan, whence and where Enoch had been taken up to heaven…
And they made a great festival, rejoicing and making merriment for three days,
praising God who had given them such a sign through Enoch,
his own favored servant, even so that they might hand it on to their own sons,
form generation to generation, from age to age. AMEN.
69: And on the third day, in the time of the evening, the
elders of the people spoke to Methusalam, saying, “Stand in front of the face
of the LORD and in front of the face of all the people and in front of the face
of the altar of the LORD, and you will be glorified in your people.”And
Methusalam answered his people: “Wait, O men, until the LORD, the God of my
father Enoch, shall himself raise up for himself a priest over his own people.”
…Methusalam
fell asleep, and the LORD appeared to him in a night vision and said to him,
“Listen, Methusalam! I am the LORD, the God of your father Enoch. Give heed to
the voice of these people and stand in front of my altar, and I shall glorify
you in front of the face of all the people, and you will be glorified all the
days of your life, and I shall bless you.” And Methusalam got up from his sleep
and blessed the LORD who had appeared to him… And Methusalam came up to the
LORD’s altar, and his face was radiant, like the sun at midday rising up, with
all the people in procession behind him. And Methusalam stood in front of the
altar of the LORD, with all the people standing around the place of sacrifice…
And it
happened, when Methusalam had prayed, that the altar was shaken, and the knife
rose up from the altar, and leaped into Methusalam’s hand in front of the face
of all the people. And the people trembled and glorified God.
70: The LORD appeared to him in a night vision and said
to him, “Listen, Methusalam! I am the LORD, the God of your father Enoch. I
want you to know that the days of your life have come to an end, and the day of
your rest has come close. Call Nir, the second son of your son Lamekh, born
after Noe, and invest him in the garments of your consecration. And make him
stand at my altar. And tell him everything that will happen in his days, for
the time of the destruction of all the earth, and of every human being and of
everything that lives on the earth, is drawing near.
For in his
days there will be a very great breakdown on the earth, for each one has begun
to envy his neighbor, and people against people have destroyed boundaries, and
the nation wages war. And all the earth is filled with vileness and blood and
every kind of evil. And even more than that, they have abandoned their LORD,
and they will do obeisance to unreal gods, and to the vault above the sky, and
to what moves above the earth, and to the waves of the sea. And the adversary
will make himself great and will be delighted with his deeds, to my great
provocation… “(said the LORD) Then I will preserve the son of your son Lamekh,
his first son, Noe. And from his seed I will raise up another world, and his
seed will exist forever, until the second destruction when once again mankind
will have committed sin in front of my face.”
And
Methusalam summoned Nir, the son of Lamekh, Noe’s younger brother, and he
invested him with the vestments of priesthood in front of the face of all the
people, and made him stand at the head of the altar of the LORD. And he taught
him everything that he would have to do among the people. And Methusalam spoke
to the people: “Here is Nir. He will be in
front of your face from the present day as a prince and a leader.”
…And when
Methusalam had spoken to the people in front of the altar, his spirit was
convulsed, and, having knelt on his knees, he stretched out his hands to
heaven, and prayed to the LORD. And, as he was praying to him, his spirit went
out in accordance with the will of the LORD. And Nir and all the people hurried
and constructed a sepulcher for Methusalam in the place Akhuzan, very
thoughtfully adorned with all holy things, with lamps. And Nir came with many
praises, and the people lifted up Methusalam’s body, glorifying 〈God〉; they performed the
service for him at the sepulcher which they had made for him and they covered
him over…
And from
that day there was peace and order over all the earth in the days of Nir – 202
years. And then the people turned away from the LORD, and they began to be
envious one against another, and people went to war against people, and race
rose up against race and struggled and insulted one another. Even if the lips
were the same, nevertheless the hearts chose different things. For the devil
became ruler for the third time. The first was before paradise, the second time
was in paradise; the third time was after paradise, 〈and〉 continuing right up
to the Flood.
71: Behold, the wife of Nir, whose name was Sopanim, being sterile and never having at any time
given birth to a child by Nir –
And Sopanim
was in the time of her old age, and in the day of her death. She conceived in
her womb, but Nir the priest had not slept with her, nor had he touched her,
from the day that the LORD had appointed him to conduct the liturgy in front of
the face of the people.
And when
Sopanim saw her pregnancy, she was ashamed and embarrassed, and she hid herself
during all the days until she gave birth. And not one of the people knew about
it. And when 282 days had been completed, and the day of birth had begun to
approach, and Nir remembered his wife, and he called her to himself in his
house, so that he might converse with her.
And Sopanim
came to Nir, her husband; and, behold, she was pregnant, and the day appointed
for giving birth was drawing near.
And Nir saw
her, and he became very ashamed. And he said to her, “What is this that you
have done, O wife? And why have you disgraced me in front of the face of these
people? And now, depart from me, and go where you began the disgrace of your
womb, so that I might not defile my hand on account of you, and sin in front of
the face of the LORD.”
And Sopanim
spoke to Nir, her husband, saying, “O my lord! Behold, it is the time of my old
age, and the day of my death has arrived. I do not understand how my menopause
and the barrenness of my womb have been reversed.”
And Nir did
not believe his wife, and for the second time he said to her, “Depart from me,
or else I might assault you, and commit a sin in front of the face of the
LORD.”
And it came
to pass, when Nir had spoken to his wife, Sopanim, that Sopanim fell down at
Nir’s feet and died…
Noe
hurried. He came with Nir his brother; he came into Nir’s house, because of the
death of Sopanim, and they discussed between themselves how her womb was at the
time of giving birth. And Noe said to Nir, “Don’t let yourself be sorrowful,
Nir, my brother! For the LORD today has covered up our scandal, in that nobody
from the people knows this. Now, let us go quickly and let us bury her
secretly, and the LORD will cover up the scandal of our shame.”
And they
placed Sopanim on the bed, and they wrapped her around with black garments, and
shut her in the house, prepared for burial. They dug a grave in secret.
And a child
came out from the dead Sopanim. And he sat on the bed at her side. And Noe and
Nir came in to bury Sopanim, and they saw the child sitting beside the dead
Sopanim, and wiping his clothing. And Noe and Nir were very terrified with a
great fear, because the child was fully developed physically, like a
three-year-old. And he spoke with his lips, and he blessed the LORD. And Noe
and Nir looked at him, and behold, the badge of priesthood was on his chest,
and it was glorious in appearance. And Noe and Nir said, “Behold, God is
renewing the priesthood from blood related to us, just as he pleases.” And Noe
and Nir hurried, and they washed the child, and they dressed him in the
garments of priesthood, and they gave him the holy bread and he ate it. And
they called his name Melkisedek.
And Noe and
Nir lifted up the body of Sopanim, and divested her of the black garments, and
they washed her, and they clothed her in exceptionally bright garments, and
they built a shrine for her.
Noe and Nir
and Melkisedek came, and they buried her publicly. And Noe said to his brother
Nir, “Look after this child in secret until the time, because people will
become treacherous in all the earth, and they will begin to turn away from God,
and having become totally ignorant, they will put him to death.”
…And Nir
began to worry excessively, especially about the child, saying,“How miserable
it is for me, eternal LORD, that in my days all lawlessness has begun to become
abundant over the earth. And I realize how much nearer out end is, and over all
the earth, on account of the lawlessness of the people.
And now,
LORD, what is the vision about this child, and what is his destiny, and what
will I do for him? Is it possible that he too will be joined with us in the
destruction?” And the LORD heeded Nir, and appeared to him in a night vision.
He said to him, “Nir, the great lawlessness which has come about on the earth
among the multitude {which} I shall not tolerate.
And behold,
I desire now to send out a great destruction onto the earth, and everything
that stands on the earth shall perish.
But,
concerning the child, don’t be anxious, Nir; because in a short while I shall
send my archistratig, Michael. And he will take the child, and put him in the
paradise of Edem, in the Paradise where Adam was formerly for 7 years, having
heaven open all the time up until when he sinned.
And this
child will not perish along with those who are perishing in this generation, as
I have revealed it, so that Melkisedek will be the priest to all holy priests,
and I will establish him so that he will be the head of the priests of the
future.”
And behold,
Melkisedek will be the head of the 13 priests who existed before. And
afterward, in the last generation, there will be another Melkisedek, the first
of 12 priests. And the last will be the head of all, a great archpriest, the
Word and Power of God, who will perform miracles, greater and more glorious
than all the previous ones. He, Melkisedek, will be priest and king in the
place Akhuzan, that is to say, in the center of the earth, where Adam was created,
and there will be his final grave. And in connection with that archpriest it is
written how he also will be buried there, where the center of the earth is,
just as Adam also buried his own son there – Abel, whom his brother Cain
murdered; for he lay for 3 years unburied, until he saw a bird called Jackdaw,
how it buried his own young.
I know that
great confusion has come and in confusion this generation will come to an end;
and everyone will perish, except that Noe, my brother, will be preserved. And
afterward there will be a planting from his tribe, and there will be other
people, and there will be another Melkisedek, the head of priests reigning over
the people, and performing the liturgy for the LORD.”
72: And when the child had been 40 days in Nir’s tent,
the LORD said to Michael, “Go down onto the earth to Nir the priest, and take
my child Melkisedek, who is with him, and place him in the paradise of Edem for
preservation. For the time is approaching, and I will pour out all the water
onto the earth, and everything that is on the earth will perish.”
…“Don’t be
frightened, Nir! I am the LORD’s archistratig. The LORD has sent me, and
behold, I shall take your child today. I will go with him and I will place him
in the paradise of Edem, and there he will be forever.
…And when
the twelfth generation shall come into being, and there will be one thousand
and seventy years, and there will be born in that generation a righteous man.
And the LORD will tell him that he should to out to that mountain where stands
the ark of Noe, your brother. And he will find there another Melkisedek, who
has been living there for 7 years, hiding himself from the people who sacrifice
to idols, so that they might not kill him. He will bring him out, and he will
be the first priest and king in the city Salim in the style of this Melkisedek,
the originator of the priests. The years will be completed up to that time – 3
thousand and 4 hundred and 32 – from the beginning and the creation of Adam.
And from that Melkisedek the priests will be 12 in number until the great
Igumen, that is to say, Leader, will bring out everything visible and
invisible.” And Nir understood the first dream and believed it.
…And
Michael took the child on the same night on which he had come down; and he took
him on his wings, and he placed him in the paradise of Edom. And Nir got up in
the morning. He went into his tent and he did not find the child. And there was
instead of joy very great grief, because he had no other son except this one.
Thus Nir ended his life. And after him there was no priest among the people.
And from that time great confusion arose on the earth.
73: And the LORD called Noe onto the mount Ararat,
between Assyria and Armenia, in the land of Arabia, beside the ocean. And he
said to him, “Make there an ark…”
After considering the account
from the Book of Enoch, Melchizedek becomes very significant, and is the
importance of the genetics. From chapter sixty-eight, “Enoch, his own favored
servant, even so that they might hand it on to their own sons, from generation
to generation, from age to age.” Enoch was favored. He was not only
shown mysterious scientific knowledge, but neither would he ever die.
Enoch had been taken up to
heaven, came back and wrote it down, and then returned to heaven without ever
experiencing death. The people celebrated at Akhuzan where Enoch was translated
into Paradise. Hence, for them, Akhusan was made a holy place as demonstrated
by the alter there in front of which they celebrated three days. They surely
celebrated Akhuzan as the entryway to heaven, and that because Enoch went to
heaven, their hope forthwith was that access to heaven would be right there at
Akhuzan.
The hope from Enoch’s experience
in heaven and defeating death was that it would be genetic for all generations,
or that his sons would be engendered from above (born again) in the same
fashion.
Joseph, as supposed, was the
father of Jesus. Luke wrote the genealogy of Joseph back to God, and it was
through Enoch (Luke 3). It was supposed that Enoch passed down his genes many
generations to Joseph, the alleged father of Jesus, but it was through Mary.
Thus, Jesus was the generation
that would experience translation in the same manner as Enoch. However, Jesus,
unlike Enoch, experienced death, but after he was Resurrected, He arose from
that same City of Enoch, Zion. Akhusan is likely Zion, and hence, Jerusalem was
not the City of Enoch but a celestial city above that was later called “New
Jerusalem:”
Him that overcometh will I
make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will
write upon him the Name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is
New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write
upon him my New Name.” (Rev 3:12)
It appears that God’s old Name
was Melchizedek, and His new Name was Jesus! Now back to Enoch.
What did Enoch do? He overcame
the world when he was taken to heaven without suffering death. Because Enoch
did so, so can the living children of God at the rapture; after the dead in
Christ are glorified, those still alive in Christ will be translated to heaven
(raptured like Enoch).
Enoch had parents and as such he
was not the Messiah. However, with Enoch gone, God did supply a replacement on
Earth for him. His name was Melchizedek. He came from the City of God, the same
great city of Zion — the City of Enoch that truly exists nowhere but in heaven.
Rather than the people
celebrating Enoch, in effect, they were celebrating Melchizedek, who can be
deduced as an appearance of God in the Flesh. He was as much “Jesus” as Jesus
himself because he was God manifested in the flesh. However, there was one big
difference; Melchizedek was a God in imperishable flesh, but Jesus wore
perishable flesh so that He could feel the “sting of death.”
Good Friday was good for
several reasons: (1) Satan lost his host, Judas, that day when he suffered
death as well, (2) mankind was supplied with new genes that day and with a new
name — Christians, and (3) The flesh of Jesus experienced the “sting of death.”
When anyone thinks of a “sting,”
they think of bees or perhaps pricking of some sort. Paul was accused of Jesus
of some act, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? it is hard for thee to kick
against the pricks” (Acts 26:14).
On a personal note, I thought
about the sting of death. Before, I thought of death as a sting that
would hurt terribly, but it occurred to me out of the blue, that the sting of
death, for some, would be pleasant. Since “to die is gain,” for Paul (Phil
1:21), that implies that the sting of death for Paul and others in Christ
is pleasant.
Then it struck me; the sting of
death is experiencing the Divine Impulse as the person is regenerated at rebirth.
I had always thought that born again was on Earth, but discovered that
for those in Christ, rebirth is at death: “Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for
ever” (1 Pet 1:23). Hence rebirth is when the new flesh is acquired after
death. The “sting” is when the genes of God are Divinely acquired which should
be quite joyful!
Enoch was “born again” without
ever dying. The Divine Impulse of God made his flesh incorruptible, and that condition
has been passed down genetically to this day. Those who trust God need not
fear, like Enoch, if Jesus would come down again, like Melchizedek, the sting
would not kill but overcome death.
Enoch could not save others
because he was not the Messiah. He did not even save himself. God provided the
Divine Impulse as Enoch was “stung” by God but never died. There was a need for
a Messiah, and before the Earth would be destroyed, the Messiah came to save
the world!
In chapter sixty-nine, the people
asked Methuselah to be glorified — to put on incorruptible flesh. Although that
man would live longer than any other, 969 years, so long as that is; it is not
eternal life. Methuselah lived as long as it would take, and it would be
Melchizedek who would save mankind.
Melchizedek would arrive glorious
from another realm just in time to prepare Noah for the crucial event; that God
“gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Only Noah found grace (Gen 6:8) but
like Adam long before, he provided his own virtue to his sons, genetically.
Noah had felt the Divine Impulse without dying like Enoch and passed it along
genetically to his sons, just as the people worshipping at Akhusan had requested
of Noah.
And God was faithful — Noah, and
his brother Nir were the progeny of Enoch. Each would serve a purpose: for
Noah, “his same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands,
because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed” (Gen 5:29). “And Methusalam
summoned Nir, the son of Lamekh, Noe’s younger brother, and he invested him
with the vestments of priesthood in front of the face of all the people, and
made him stand at the head of the altar of the LORD … He will be in front of
your face from the present day as a prince and a leader.”
So, there were two bothers with
two purposes: Noah was to build the ship to safety and Nir had a special,
princely-priestly assignment. Nir was the priestly offspring of Enoch, but he
was not meant to be the Prince of Peace but one of dissension.
Like Abraham and like Joseph
years later, Nir would be the reason for the genes of Enoch to be passed down.
The biogenetics would be passed down through Noah but the Divine Impulse,
through Nir, as the supposed father of Melchizedek.
What is in that name? It is
theophoric, just as the Name, “Jesus.” The name Melchizedek means, “My King Is
[the god] Sedek.” Sedek was the god of the Phoenicians, not the God of Nir by
any means.
Why is that significant? The true
God, Jesus, was not a “carpenter” per se, but a “tekton” (Greek).
Jesus is the “Technician,” having the ability to do all things, one of which
may have been carpentry. Noah was essentially the “hands of God” who would
build the Ark to save mankind, but Melchizedek was the “Technician.” What would
Melchizedek do? He would take care of all things, even designing the Ark.
Sedek was the “god of ship
building” as described in literature, “Sydyk is described as the father of the ‘Dioskouroi
or Kabeiroi or Korybants or Samothracians’ who are credited with the invention
of the ship” (Fandom 2004-2022).
So not only was Sedek the King of Righteousness but the King of
Shipbuilding. Who gave Noah the technicalities to build the Ark?
13 And God said
unto Noah, “The end of all flesh is come before me; for the Earth is filled
with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the Earth. 14
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt
pitch it within and without with pitch. 15 And this is the fashion
which thou shalt make it of… (Gen 6:13-15)
Now add two plus two: Melchizedek
was a ship-building God, was from out there, and was righteous. He was there
for Noah. What purpose would Melchizedek serve? He would be the “Technician”
that designed the Ark. He was the Almighty God who instructed Noah, not Sydyk
of the Phoenicans. Who would need a God of ship-building alone when right there
was a Righteous King and Priest whose role was to be the Voice of God!
As such, God came to save mankind
in the flesh of Melchizedek. Just as Melchizedek means “King of Righteousness,”
Jesus means “Yahweh saves” and in this case, Yahweh saved mankind
by providing the instructions to build the ship! Note that it was God who
saved, and neither the boat nor the water. If it was the boat, then credit
would be given to Noah, and if it was the water, credit would have been given
to the “God of Water,” Poseidon. Like Poseidon, Sydyk had nothing to do with
saving mankind.
If Melchizedek was just an Old Testament
priest and king, why would Paul refer to such an obscure person in three chapters
of the Book of Hebrews. A Christian is a Jew inwardly, as Paul wrote
(Rom 2:29). With that thought, was Melchizedek a Jew outwardly but a Christian
inwardly? In fact, a Jew in the flesh, but Christ inside? Was the flesh of
Melchizedek just a vessel for Christ to travel onto Earth? It appears so, just
as Christ described His earthly flesh his “Cup,” or literally, His “Vessel” (Mat
26:39.42).
Christ, the Messiah, throughout
the Bible had many vessels: Abel, the Ark of Noah, the Ark of God, a Burning Bush,
a Cloud if by day or a Fire if by night, perhaps the man Isaac, the man who wrestled
with Jacob, and perhaps even Melchizedek; not to forget the fourth Man in the
fiery furnace seen by Nebuchadnezzar. Christ was always “With Us” as Emanuel, who
is also called ”Jesus.”
Jesus is the manifestation of God
revealed as a man with flesh to better identify with God’s creatures. Speaking
of Jesus, John the Baptist said:
30 After me
cometh a Man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. 31
And I knew Him not: but that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am
I come baptizing with water. 32 And John bare record, saying, “I saw
the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him.” (John 1:30-32)
John saw the man, Jesus, but he
also saw the “Ghost” of Jesus, then a Spirit, but after glorification a Ghost
(John 7:39) since a “ghost” is the spirit of a dead person. Melchizedek never
died! He was the Spirit, it seems, that abode upon Jesus. That Spirit did not resemble
a dove except in motion. The Spirit with which Jesus was baptized would be the
same Spirit as Melchizedek’s!
John mentioned an animated
Spirit, but Luke added to that description… “the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily
shape” (Luke 3:22). Both John and Luke witnessed the same event, but one saw a “Spirit”
and the other a “Ghost.” As it turns out, both saw the “Pneuma” of God,
and the King James translators only saw it differently. The writers both saw
the Living Soul of an “Adam” — not the “Second Adam” as theologians propose but
“The Last Adam,” to wit: “The first man (Adam) was made a living soul; the Last
Adam was made a Quickening Spirit” (1 Cor 15:45).
When Paul wrote that, he was delineating
between Adam and Jesus who were both “Adams” in that they were both men. (Adam
is not a name but a species — technically a “family” (genus), and in taxonomy homo
sapiens — “wise men.” Mankind not only walks erect but have the
ability of cognition; they can reason beyond instinctive levels, not just to obey
commands, but consider whether it is in their best interests or not to survive.
Mankind have become as beasts
because it is reasonable that they should want to never perish. To that end,
they once sacrificed animals, as Abel did, but now they are to sacrifice
themselves: “…by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom
12:1). Beasts do that but for survival on Earth. They have not the insight to
apply that to an afterlife.
Jesus was like Adam because Adam
was like Him; made in the Image of Jesus. However, Paul was pointing out to the
Hebrews that Adam was the “creature” and Jesus the “Creator.” That would be
imperative to the Jews because Yahweh was their Creator, and now the
Creator took on the appearance of the creature. Adam was made a Living Soul by
God, and Jesus was the One who “quickened the Spirit” in the soul of Adam. Quickening
is making an inanimate object alive. God did that with Adam, with Jesus, and
with Melchizedek. In other words, in the same manner that Jesus was the “Last
Adam” Melchizedek was a subsequent “Adam” before the last one.
Speaking of Jesus, Paul wrote, “And
being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them
that obey him; called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec”
(Heb 5:9-10). Methusalah was made a high priest by men, and he lived a long
life for that reason. However, all those hundreds of years would not exhaust
God’s Virtue. So, what did God do? He made His own High Priest, Melchizedek.
That Jesus was after the order of Melchizedek implies that He and Melchizedek
were made in the same manner.
How was Jesus made? First off, “made”
implies created but neither Jesus nor Melchizedek were created. The birth of
Jesus is well-known and it compares well with Melchizedek’s:
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; 3 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. 4 Now consider how great this man
was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. (Heb 7:1-4)
Melchizedek was an old Name of Jesus.
Isaiah saw the day which the LORD GOD would have a new name and that would be when
the gentiles turned to the LORD GOD, to wit: “The Gentiles shall see thy
righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name,
which the mouth of the Lord shall name” (Isa 62:2), then the LORD GOD did that
very thing: “His Name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before
he was conceived in the womb” (Luke 2:21). The LORD GOD named His “Angel” that
Name. Hence, “The Angel of the Lord” in scripture was always Jesus. Jacob
wrestled with that Angel and hence he wrestled with Jesus!
Perhaps the new Name referred to
in Revelation is “LORD GOD” as it is used extensively in that book.
However, LORD GOD was the “Name” of God all along: Yehova Elohim in the
Hebrew (Kyrios Theos in the Greek.)
New names in the Roman system
were cognates that are sort of nicknames. For instance, the nickname of Gaius
Octavius was “Augustus Caesar” — in English, “Majestic Dictator,” and his stature
was king of kings, as emperor. His family name (gens) was Julii and from
that came “Julius.” Julius was from whom be descended in genealogy.
Roman culture had much ado with
scripture because not only was Judea Hellenized but Latinized. As you can see, the
old name of citizen Gaius Octavius, when he became Dictator, was changed to
Julius Caesar. He was of the family of Julii but his title was Caesar, and the
latter became the family nickname, or new name.
In like manner “The Angel of God”
was called “Jesus.” His gens was Yehova and his cognate was God. The
Angel of God was generally called Elohim which was even shortened to “El”
because El is singular and God is One Being.
After He was named Jesus (Ya Saves),
that became the cognate of God, or His nickname. With that explanation, to
Abraham, God explained “I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by
the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them”
(Exod 6:3).
Hence, “El Saday” (El
Shadai transliterated to English) is the old Name of God, or at least what He called
Himself to Abraham because as a citizen of Shinar perhaps he would not understand
Yehova. But again, that is not the Name of God but that He is “God
Almighty,” and that describes both His Existence and His Power. It also
contrasts with just plain “el” which refers to any individual god.
With that background, what was
the old Name of God? Perhaps His Name was Melchizedek which means “King of Righteousness”
and as such His Authority, just like Caesar’s, became His Name. We think of “righteousness”
as character but perhaps it refers to Salem, or New Jerusalem in heaven
as proposed earlier. So, what will be the new Name, not cognate, of Jesus? It
seems we will know when we get there:
He that hath an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; “To Him that overcometh will
I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the
stone a new Name written, which no man knoweth saving He that receiveth it” (Rev 2:17)
Jesus is the “One that Overcometh”
(John 16:33). In the pseudepigraphical book, Joseph and Arseneth, pre-incarnate
“Jesus” was the one who ate hidden manna with Arseneth to overcome her pagan
beliefs. That could be any Christian even the Christ Himself — another anointed
position that became a surname of Jesus. Perhaps all Christians will have a new
name just as those subsequent to Caesar who became imperators got that
name.
Caesars did get another new name,
known by only a few nowadays — Pontifex Maximus — “Supreme Chief Priest.”
Again, that is a title and not a name. It does, however, better describe Jesus
Christ than it does the Pope who now claims that title! We just do not know and
will not until we are there to receive it.
With that said, Melchizedek seems
to be an ancient Name of Jesus. Referring back to Heb 7:1-4, Melchizedek was “king
of Salem” and as explained it is not Jerusalem but the City of God in Paradise.
Enoch wrote, “and I (God) will
place him in the paradise of Edem” referring to Melchizedek. Of course, first
thought is paradise on Earth in Eden but as it turns out Melchizedek, just as
Adam, “having heaven open all the time up until when he sinned.” Therefore, the
Garden of Eden was the access point to the realm of heaven, meaning that Adam,
Eve, and Melchizedek could translate from here to there at will.
Edom was perhaps the place of
Jacob’s Ladder, and perhaps it was the Holy Cross of Jesus that he saw angels
ascending and descending upon. That makes Calvary the “Celestial Axis” between
the physical and spiritual realms. Melchizedek was king in the real “Place of
Peace” (Salem) in New Jerusalem, and that would be the old name of the GOD
ALMIGHTY.
Why was Melchizedek placed on
Earth? To save mankind. He was the real El Shaddai who stood up for
mankind. He, as the ship-designing Tekton (Technician), would have
designed the unsinkable ship that Noah built and perhaps pilot it to safe harbor.
Noah was on the Ark forty-days but
in the end, he started in Eden and ended in Eden. He did not travel far but it
took along time. During that time, Noah went from one realm to another, so to
speak; from one that was depraved to one that was righteous. Upon landing, Noah
was the “husbandman,” but Melchizedek was King of Righteousness… at least until
it soon became unrighteous; then he was never heard of again by that
name until he came to save Abraham and his genes from peril! Abraham surely
tithed to Melchizedek because only He could make wrong things right again.
According to Paul, Melchizedek blessed
(Greek; eulogeō ) Abraham. Melchizedek “prospered” Abraham.
Just what is prosperity? Was it
inheriting the land of Canaan, once in Eden? The inheritance of which God
prospers is Paradise in Heaven. The King of Salem gave to Abraham his inheritance.
Abraham would become king without a country in the world, but his final reward
would be “Peace” in heaven; in another realm where he would still tithe to
Melchizedek.
Paul continued to speak to the
Hebrews about that Man, “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.” Now recall the words of Enoch — that
Melchizedek was transported from somewhere to somewhere else. His supposed
father, Nir, had not had sexual relations with his wife, and his wife, Sopanim,
was as barren as Sarah. Just what was the “blessing” that Melchizedek blessed
Abraham with? Perhaps his genes!
Sarah had laughed at the thought
of Abraham siring a child, so perhaps she understood that the old man was
sterile. He surely was, and Melchizedek would have provided the seed to plant
Isaac in the barren womb of Sarah, much like his own birth in Sopanim.
On his deathbed Abraham may have
revealed his “success:”
1 And Abraham
was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all
things. 2 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house,
that ruled over all that he had, “Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: 3
And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the Earth,
that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites,
among whom I dwell…” (Gen 24:1-3)
Abraham had indeed “prospered” — his
vitality had been restored, but it was perhaps not his seed that provided life
to Isaac, but Melchizedek who had blessed him long before. His inheritance was
for his children and children’s children and beyond. The Abrahamic Covenant was
that blessing — the sterile old man would provide a new beginning, and Melchizedek,
would indeed get a new name! Jesus is not the seed of Abraham but possibly the
seed of Melchizedek that he provided to Abraham.
Abraham asked his servant to put
his hand under his thigh, as he was on his deathbed. That had perhaps two
meanings: (1) It was a custom for the seed from the pudenda of a person to be
blessed by touching the thigh. It would be crude to touch the genitalia, so the
thigh was symbolic, and (2) it would also represent Abraham’s Bosom (his
genitalia) as Abraham’s share of Paradise in heaven. The first meaning will be
examined.
The thigh significance was
for the servant: “that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters
of the Canaanites” — that he would assure that Melchizedek’s blessing remains
intact, according to the Covenant, and as such, the servant did find Rebecca
for Isaac from among Abraham’s relatives.
His hand was to protect Abraham’s
blessing from Melchizdek — clean, pure genes from God himself. Implied in
scripture, is that Isaac was from God and barren Sarah, just like Melchizedek;
not that Isaac was a reincarnation, or even a resurrection of Melchizedek, but
that Isaac was another “Adam” made in the image of God. Abraham would regenerate
the Earth, according to the promise that water would not be used again. Hence,
the “Shipbuilder” Melchizedek would be the “Biogeneticist” just as He was in
the beginning! Father Abraham, like Noah before him, and Adam in the beginning,
would be the husbandman and Melchizedek, rather than Nimrod, their King!
Jesus was not only “The Son of
David” but also the Son of Abraham, using the same reasoning. That would be the
gens of David and Abraham. Jesus is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
so the gens of Jesus was from that family.
If this commentary is accurate,
then Abraham was not “father” to all Jews and Christians, but Melchizedek was.
As such, the “Masters” are Lucifer and Melchizedek of which one or the other must
be chosen as our “Father” from where our image was derived. Although Christians
would have the genes of Lucifer from original sin, in Christ is a
blessing such as Abraham’s wherein, we too are engendered from above (born
again).
Isaac was Adam’s kind “reborn” as
he was engendered from above. Then, along came “The Angel of God” who wrestled
with Jacob, Abraham’s grandson and Isaac’s son. His mother was a fertile
Rebecca who had fraternal twins that fought for their birthright in the womb.
The Angel of God (now called “Jesus”)
wrestled with Jacob all night, and Jacob seemed to win the match. That
was by grace Jacob was blessed as well. Jacob would not let the “Man” leave, “I
will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me” (Gen 32:26). Jesus had just blessed
him tactfully, “He touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's
thigh was out of joint, as He wrestled with him” (Gen 32:25).
The “Man” had blessed him already
and so mightily that his thigh was out of joint. Jacob had received the Divine
Impulse from the Almighty God, and Jacob was a changed man. So changed that his
name was like that “Angel” — They both became “Israel” so to speak. Jacob had
been infused with the genes of that Angel who was God in the flesh, as Jacob detected,
“I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (Gen 32:30). Not only
was his life preserved but through his “thigh blessing” all who would wrestle
with Jesus can be preserved.
That “something” that was missed
on the Cross was what? What was the thing that those close by saw that others
failed to see? Speaking of the One with the new Name, John saw it: “He hath on His
vesture and on His thigh a name written, ‘King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.’”
(Rev 19:16). The vesture of Jesus had been removed when He was crucified. Most
of them failed to see that! On the thigh of Jesus was that He is “King Of Kings,
And Lord Of Lords.” Perhaps that is His “new Name,” whereas when He was with Abraham,
it was “King of Peace.”
That concludes the commentary
about Melchizedek. However, Jesus remains “Jesus” by any other Name. Hopefully,
the reader now understands that Jesus was there in the beginning (John 1:1-14)
and He was there with Noah and Abraham. Most importantly, “Melchizedek” finally
suffered death on the Cross, but like Paul wrote, “Having neither beginning of
days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest
continually” (Heb 7:3). He remains Melchizedek, we call Him “Jesus” but He is “God
With Us” (Emanuel) with maybe the new Name “King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.”
(picture credit: Dreamstime)
