When Abraham Met Melchizedek

I. In GEN 14, Abraham’s nephew, Lot, had been taken captive during a campaign by a confederation of kings that overcame and plundered Sodom. vs. 1-12. A. Abraham raised up a small army of 318 men from his own household and cleaned up on those kings, recovering Lot. vs. 13-16. B. Curiously, this was a case of a righteous man’s war against forces of darkness which even wrought salvation for Sodomites. c/w 1CO 6:9-11. II. After returning from the slaughter of the kings, Abram was met AND BLESSED by Melchizedek. GEN 14:17-20. A. Mind that “The LORD is a man of war...” (EXO 15:3). B. Military service is not forbidden in Scripture. LUK 3:14; ACT 10:1. C. Blessing came after judgment had been executed. 1. Christ, having executed judgment upon Satan and sin, was then worthy of blessing. REV 5:12-13. 2. We are blessed because God executed judgment on our sins in Christ. GAL 3:13-14. 3. Those who execute judgment upon themselves for sin and acknowledge it to God are blessed. PSA 32:1-5. III. Melchizedek appears suddenly with no mention of his pedigree and disappears as suddenly with no record of his death and transfer of his priesthood. A. Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of the most high God. B. Salem is an abbreviated form of Jerusalem. PSA 76:2. C. Christ was made an high priest after his order. HEB 5:5-6 c/w PSA 110:4. D. Abraham was less than Melchizedek. HEB 7:6-7. 1. Thus, Levi (from whom Israel’s priests came) was also less. HEB 7:7-10. 2. This shows that appeals to Abraham for favor have limitations. LUK 3:8. 3. This also shows that perfection could not come through any descendant of Abraham other than the One Who was conceived by God. Perfection came not from a sinner or a system of mediation by sinners. HEB 7:19. IV. Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine. GEN 14:18. A. Here was strength and refreshment provided after the battle. PSA 104:14-15. B. Christ brings forth bread and wine to His servants in the Lord's Supper which also refreshes them. LUK 22:14-20. 1. Melchizedek’s supper refreshed a victorious Abraham. 2. Christ’s Supper refreshes us even when we are not so victorious. It reminds us that: a. the victory is His, for us. HEB 9:12; EPH 5:1-2; GAL 1:4. b. He died for our failings and came to save sinners. 1TI 1:15. C. When God's saints have been avenged on mystery Babylon, they shall be provided with the marriage supper of the Lamb. REV 19:1-9. V. Melchizedek blessed Abram and blessed God. GEN 14:19-20. A. To bless (when referring to blessing a man) means to declare to be supernaturally favoured; to pronounce or make happy. B. To bless (when referring to blessing God) means to hold or call holy; to extol as holy, divine, gracious. C. As a priest he mediated blessing between God and Abram. D. He blessed Abram in keeping with the holiness and glory of God, the same as Christ blesses us. E. In blessing God he called Him “...the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth.” 1. There can be none higher than the most high. 2. This God is the absolute sovereign of the universe and thus owns and controls it all. DAN 4:17, 34-35. F. It was this Sovereign that gave Abram victory over his enemies. 1CH 29:11; PSA 47:2-3. G. Without the blessing of the Most High, Abram's astute military strategy would have availed him nothing. PRO 21:31; JOS 7:1-12. VI. Compare what transpired between Abram and Melchizedek and what transpires in a Christian worship service today. A. As Melchizedek the priest of God brought forth bread and wine, so did Christ, our great high priest, in the Lord's Supper. B. Melchizedek blessed God. God is blessed in the Lord's Supper. LUK 22:19-20 c/w 1CO 10:16. C. Abram, the servant of God, was blessed. So are we blessed in the Lord's Supper. MAT 26:28 c/w ROM 4:7. D. Abram gave a gift to the minister of God as we give to the minister of God. GAL 6:6. E. When God says believers are blessed WITH faithful Abraham (GAL 3:9), He means it! F. Indeed, Christianity is the religion of Abraham. JOH 8:56. VII. Mark the significance of righteousness and then peace. A. Christ is our High Priest after the order of Melchisedec. HEB 6:20. B. Paul explains that Melchisedec = “King of righteousness,” and secondly, he was the King of Salem (peace). HEB 7:1-2. 1. The King of righteousness IS the King of peace. 2. Righteousness / purity precedes peace. JAM 3:17. 3. Peace is the work and effect of righteousness. ISA 32:17. 4. For Christ, the serenity of glory could only come after He was obedient unto death. PHIL 2:8-9; HEB 12:2. 5. Being justified, or made righteousness, by Christ we have peace with God. 2CO 5:21; ROM 5:1. C. Peace for a faithful Abraham and a compromising Lot came only after righteousness. D. Melchizedek’s supper spoke of righteousness, then peace. E. Christ’s supper speaks of the same. F. Contrast this with the communion of the wicked. PRO 4:14-17.