In high school, I (nearly) idolized Contemporary Christian music artist Michael W. Smith.
If he wrote it, sang it, played it, or even thought about it, I was interested in it. Then at a concert, I actually got to meet him. I was in heaven. I could have died right there and been happy. He was so gracious and nice. Of course, he doesn’t remember me, but I will never forget him.
Have you ever met someone famous or someone you looked up to?
In today’s passage, we witness the meeting of two famous people. They were excited to meet each other. Overshadowing that meeting is the larger picture: the tale of two kings. We read in Genesis 14:17-24:
17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
Genesis 14:17-24, New International Version
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.”
Who is Melchizedek?
While he’s not mentioned much in the Bible, much is said of him!
Abram and his world certainly knew about him, but Scripture doesn’t say much. His name means “King of Righteousness,” and his title “King of Salem” also means “King of Peace.” It is remarkable for an individual to have such a name in Canaan. The place was filled with wickedness and demonism.
Salem was the city-state that became Jerusalem. At this time in history, however, it was controlled by the Jebusites. They were pagan. How odd that these pagan people would have a king who is so righteous. Abram even acknowledged Melchizedek as his spiritual superior.
About 900 years later, King David refers to him in Psalm 110:4, stating, “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
About one thousand years after that, the book of Hebrews adds to this mystery by stating in Hebrews 7:3 that he was “Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.”
Where did Melchizedek, this priest and king, come from? How did Abram know he was a priest of the Lord? How did Abram even know who he was, and why wasn’t someone of this importance ever mentioned before? AND, what happened to him??
We just don’t know. Perhaps John Calvin was right when he spoke of Melchizedek saying, “Melchizedek was simply a man who alone in that land was an upright and sincere cultivator and guardian of religion.”[1]
Often, when people of any position get together, competition follows. But not here.
Abram had just returned with the thrill of victory. The King of Sodom, fresh from the tar pits, “came out” to meet Abram in the King’s Valley (near Jerusalem). Melchizedek brings bread and wine for Abram and his men.
In doing so, he was making peace with Abram. This doesn’t mean there was war between them. It would be the same as we do when a missionary comes to town: we house them and provide for them. We care for them. The Lord was using Melchizedek to bless Abram physically and spiritually.
In return, and in an act that eventually became part of Israel’s requirements for the provision of the priests, Abram gave 10% of these provisions back to Melchizedek.
Abram doesn’t get much of a break before the King of Sodom approaches him. The King demands the people back, including Lot, the women, and the others Abram and his 318 men rescued. Abram only accepts the provisions already eaten on the campaign by his retainers and the payment to his allies who had earned their part of the spoil. The people, by implication, were not Abram’s to bargain.
The King of Salem, Melchizedek, represents the ways of the Lord. This is the path of blessing, hope, and life. The King of Sodom represents the ways of the world. Although more alluring, this path leads to cursing, hopelessness, and death.
The man of growing faith, Abram, chooses to remain on the path of the King of Salem instead of the King of Sodom.
When your choice comes, and you are faced with the choice of Salem or Sodom, which King will you choose?
[1] Calvin, Commentaries on Genesis, 1:388 in James Montgomery Boice, Genesis: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1998), 501.
Life Meets Theology 