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Genesis chapter 14, Genesis 14 verse 18, Genesis 14 verse 18, the Bible says, And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine. The title for the sermon this morning is Melchizedek, king of Salem. Melchizedek, king of Salem, a very mysterious figure in the Bible in the Old Testament. And we find out more about him in the New Testament. And there are different views as to who Melchizedek was, especially in relation to Jesus Christ. You know, as far as Jesus Christ, how does Melchizedek fit in with Christ, and as a, you know, either was that Christ, or was he a picture of Christ? And we'll get to him later on in the sermon, but let's pick it up in verse number one. And great job, Jason, with reading out those names. I'll try my best now. And he came to pass in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinah, Ariot, king of Elisah, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and title, king of nations. So just with that list of names to begin with, the main king of this story here is the second last one, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam. You'll notice soon as we go through this that he seems to be the main guy. Because these other kings of these other cities seem to be servants, or at least maybe paying taxes to this king. Look at verse number two, that these made war with Berah, king of Sodom. So this is the other group of kings that make war against this first group of kings of war. These made war with Berah, king of Sodom, and Bersha, king of Gomorrah. Now, of course, those two kings, we're not familiar with the kings themselves, but we're familiar with the cities that they ruled over. Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemabah, king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoah. All these were joined together in the veil of Shirim, which is the salt sea. Look at this, 12 years they served Chedorlaomer. So this king Chedorlaomer seems to have some type of authority. He may have conquered these cities, and it says here that they served him. My understanding, while they were living in their cities, the best I can understand, they were probably just paying taxes. It's kind of like, you know, pay up or we'll kill you kind of thing, right? Pay up or we'll kill you, and that's been going on for 12 years. 12 years they served him, and in the 13th year, they rebelled. So 12 years they were doing this, by year 13 they got sick of it. Why are we serving this king? And they rebelled against his authority. And I've heard it used, I know a bit of a joke, I've heard it used that this is where we get the idea that when children become teenagers, they rebel. Because it's their 13th year, right? When they become teenagers, and they rebelled. I've heard that used, of course, that's just a very loose, very loose interpretation and very loose application. But verse number 5, and in the 14th year came Chedorlaomer. So he finally does something about it in the 14th year. And the kings that were with him, and smelt the Rephaims in Ashteroth, Carameum, and the Zizums in Ham, and the Imams in Shavu-Kirithium. And the Horites in Mount Siah, unto Elperan, which is by the wilderness. And they returned and came to Anfeshat, which is Kadesh, and smelt all the country of the Amalekites. And also the Amorites that dwelt in Hazazon-Tamer. And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboyim, and the king of Velah, the same Izoa. And they joined battle with them in the Vale of Shittim. With Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam, and with Tidal, king of nations, and Amrithal, king of Shinah, and Ariot, king of Elazar, four kings with five. So this is the first war that we see in the Bible. You know involving several cities, several kings, and this is just how the world is. I mean, you know, if one nation is going to war with another nation, and we've seen this with World War I and World War II. We see that their friends joined them in the battle. And it affects more than one people, wars like this. So it's four kings versus five. But you'll soon see that it's the four kings that have victory over the five. And verse number 10, it says, And the Vale of Shittim was full of slime pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell there, and they that remained fled to the mountain. So I mean these guys, they rebel against that king Chedorlaomer, but they don't do very well at all. I mean they fail at this battle. They're now fleeing into the mountains. And then it says in verse 11, And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. So this turned out really bad for Sodom and Gomorrah. But these two cities in particular, you know, they get defeated. And all their victuals, that's all their, you know, sort of, you know, important items. You know, things of value. All of that gets taken away as spoils of the war. So these guys end up in a worse place than they were previously. You know, Sodom and Gomorrah seem to suffer the worst in this battle. And verse number 12, You know, Lot was living out there in the plains. He had pitched his tent towards Sodom, which was a bad idea. But why did they take Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom and his goods and departed? So we saw in the last chapter, right, that, you know, Lot wasn't being smart. He pitched his tent towards Sodom. You know, he had looked at those well-watered plains of Jordan. He liked it out there. He started to look at Sodom. He set his eyes on Sodom every day. And where do we find him now in the next chapter? We find him there living in Sodom. Okay, he lived in Sodom. He moved into Sodom now, okay. And this is how it's going to be. I mean, look, the Bible told us in the previous chapter that Sodom and Gomorrah were exceedingly sinful. I mean, these were wicked people. Now, I don't believe at this point in the story that they were reprobates at this point in time, okay, just yet. Because we do see, you know, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah seem to have some sense about them. You know, they don't seem to be with a seared conscience. They seem to be reasonable, unlike reprobates that basically have a seared conscience. And that's, you know, later on we see the Lord destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. I don't believe they were reprobate at this point in time, but they were still an exceedingly sinful city. And Lot, who's a believer, who's a man of faith, who's saved, finds pleasure, finds a place living with the Sodomites there, in Sodom. And then verse number 13. So look, it just doesn't end up well for him, right? And this is the same for you guys. If you start, you know, living amongst sinners, you start making good friends, you start surrounding yourself with exceedingly sinful people, it's not going to turn out well for you. You're going to be brought into their problems, their fights, their battles, the things that's going on with them, you're going to be caught up into that, okay? It's going to bring, you know, a sort of a curse upon you when they are cursed by their actions. And then in verse number 13, verse number 13, And there came one that had escaped and told Abram the Hebrew, this is the first time we see the mention of Hebrew, and I had mentioned to you it's because he was a descendant of Heba. So we see Abram here, a Hebrew, and of course, later on, as time progresses, the Israelites just become known generally as the Hebrews, okay? It says, Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshkol, the brother of Anor, and these were confederate with Abram. So Abram had also developed some friendships with the people that lived in the land. And then in verse 14, Now, look, we see that Abraham was a very rich man, a very powerful man, he had at least, you know, 318 trained men. I believe he had more servants than this, but these were the men that he had trained, these are the men that were ready to battle. And what I like about Abraham, we saw in the previous chapter, we talked about how he was able to train his household in the ways of the Lord, that even his servants saw the hand of God on their master. You know, they had acknowledged God for his wealth and his possessions, but they weren't these weaklings, right? Abraham had already trained, it's not like, you know, there was this war going on, and it's like, well, better train up to battle. Abraham had already trained up his men for the fights, these guys already knew how to fight. So we see that Abraham, as a good master, not only taught them the ways of the Lord, but taught these servants how to fight, or had at least allowed them to be trained or, you know, skilled up in that area of fighting. Let me say this to parents, you know, we've been given authority over our children, of course, we should teach our children the ways of the Lord, but we also need to teach our children that the spiritual life is a spiritual fight. They need to put on the whole armor of God, they need to know how to wield their weapon, the sword, which is the word of God, you know, the sword of the Spirit. They need to know that the spiritual walk will require a fight from time to time, okay, that sometimes this world, you know, obviously this world is a dark spiritual place, and they need to take a strong stand, okay, in the spiritual fight. But I also think, I also believe, and this is something that I would like to do with my sons, as now they're getting a bit bigger and older, I do believe it's necessary to train your children to fight, physically. You know, they can defend themselves, they can become, you know, they can, you know, use their body in a sense where they can be able to, you know, look after themselves, look after their families if they're ever attacked, that they're prepared to just get out there and defend themselves. You know, they wouldn't just cave in, seems like Lot just caved in, right? Lot hadn't prepared himself, Lot hadn't prepared his servants, whoever were under him, but Abraham knew, hey, sometimes, look, I hope I don't have to fight, I hope I don't have to get into a war, but when the war comes to me, I'm ready. Hey, if someone goes and hurts my brother Lot, I'm ready to go and deliver him. You know, look, we see Abraham was well prepared, not only in the spiritual fight, but he was also well prepared to fight in the physical, okay? And I do believe we should train our boys, especially our boys, you know, to be strong, you know, you know, help them to develop, you know, that part of their body. You know, God has made men to be, you know, stronger vessels, you know, God has made men, you know, differently to a woman, and they should be strong enough to defend themselves and to defend their families. So I think we see a really great example here with Abraham. Now, let's go to verse number 15. Oh, first, I don't know if I finished verse 14. He says, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, 318, and pursued them unto them. Verse 15, and he divided himself against them, he and his servants by night and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. So we see that Abraham is very wise. He's also, he knows how to, he knows how to be tactful in his fights as well, okay? Now, I believe, you know, the Bible doesn't really spell this out, but I believe that Abraham is the underdog here, okay? He's got 318 servants. I'm not sure how many of those other, the other confederate that was with him, I'm not sure how many people they had, but he was going against some kings, right? He was going against some battle-hardened kings that had, you know, rule of entire cities, so I assume they were the underdog. I just assume there was less of them than there were of the four kings, but when he says in verse number 15 that he divided himself against them. You know, they didn't take this one army and just, you know, just, you know, fight the battle in one front. No, he divided them up, okay? Not only did he divide them up, but he went at night. You know, he went at night when it was dark, and so what I can see there is that he made the army, he made his servants, his soldiers, his army look greater than what he was, and it was at night, so, you know, there's a lot of confusion. They've got their plans, and that caused the enemy to flee, and then verse number 16. So, you know, we just see Abraham. Abraham is just a very wise man. He even knows how to battle. Verse 16. And he brought back all the goods and also brought again his brother Lot and his goods and the women also and the people. So, you see, these kings not only took possessions for themselves, but they took the people into captivity. Lot and other people that were from those other cities. And verse number 17. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedolamah and the kings that were with him at the valley of Sheva, which is the king's dale. So, I just looked this up. Dale is just another way of saying dale, you know, like a valley. And so we see here that, you know, Abraham meets up with the king of Sodom. This is why I don't believe that they were reprobated at this point in time. Like, if they were just complete reprobates at this point in time, I don't think Abraham, as a godly man, would want to meet up with the king of Sodom. I mean, that's how I see it. And we see, we're going to skip down. Let's skip down to verse number 21 for a moment. We'll just miss the verse about Melchizedek for a minute because I want to get into him later on. But let's skip down to verse number 21. It says, And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons and take the goods to thyself. So, it seems like a reasonable guy because, look, thank you for delivering the people of Sodom. You know, please give me the people. But you know what? The stuff they stole from my city, all those valuable things, you know, Abraham, you keep them. You know, you're the one that went out and went to battle. You're the one that delivered these things out of the hands of the enemy there. How about you keep those things as a prize? You know, as a spoil of the wars, you keep that. So, it seems like to me, the king of Sodom, even though these were wicked, sinful people, it seems at this point in time that they weren't reprobate, okay? They seem to have some sense about them, okay? Now, keep your finger there and let's go to Matthew chapter 11, please. Matthew chapter 11 verse 22. And we're going to obviously when Christ was walking the earth and Christ was doing a lot of, you know, amazing miracles. He was doing great works, casting out devils, you know, healing the sick. He was preaching amazing sermons. You know, he had thousands of disciples, people following him that believed on him. He had the enemies around him as well and he was doing great miracles, great works. But sometimes he would enter into a city, you know, that could have been Gentile cities or even Jewish cities and the people would reject him, okay? And this was a portion here in Matthew 11. We have this in a few of the gospels where Christ brings judgment upon those cities, okay? And he says this, he says this very interesting thing here in Matthew 11 verse 22. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon. Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities at the day of judgment than for you. So he's comparing cities from one from another. And then verse 23, and thou Capernaum, and that's a Jewish city or a Jewish town, which are exalted unto heaven. So they're full of pride, they exalt themselves, shall be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day, okay? Now just to get our thoughts around this is obviously we know later in the book of Genesis that gods, you know, see Sodom and Gomorrah filled with their iniquity. I mean they get even worse, you know? And these cities are basically reprobate cities, you know, where they're full of homosexuality and gods, you know, he really destroyed the earth with a flood, all right? And he promised that he's not going to destroy the earth again with a flood, all right? But he, you know, he can't help it because they're so sinful, they're so reprobate that god rains down fire and brimstone upon these wicked cities, you know? And of course you see the story that one of those reasons is their homosexuality. And I've seen people point to this verse here in Matthew 11 because, you know, we believe in the reprobate doctrine. We believe these people are beyond saving to the point where, you know, God just rains fire and brimstone upon them. He doesn't give them any more time, you know, to find, to sort themselves out. He doesn't give them any more time to turn, you know, from the judgment of God. God just utterly destroys them. And I've had people turn to this passage and say, well, look, if Jesus had done the works that he did when he walked the earth in Sodom, it would have remained till this day. And they point, well, they couldn't be reprobates. You know, there's a thing called time, all right? We're now in the present, in the past, okay? But at this present time, it looks like these kings of Sodom and Gomorrah seem to be normal people, just wicked sinful people, extremely sinful people, okay? They have a sense about them, okay? Then further time elapses before God destroys those cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. So of course, you know, this is a time, I believe, where if Jesus Christ was literally walking the earth, doing these amazing miracles, doing these amazing works, and the people of Sodom saw that, yeah, I believe they would have repented. I believe that city would have remained until this day, just as Jesus Christ said there in Matthew 11, okay? But of course, Jesus Christ was not walking the earth during that time. And they continued in their wicked sinful ways. I mean, they even, you know, they even acknowledge Abraham, you know? They give him the benefit of that, or they offer him the possessions. So, you know, they seem to be people with some common sense, right? Not with their conscience completely seared. But anyway, I just wanted to give you that explanation there in Matthew 11, in case anybody comes to you with that argument, saying, look, look, sodomites, homosexuals can still be saved. No, they're reprobate, okay? It's just that these cities had not gotten to that place just yet, all right? Now, verse, back to Genesis chapter 14, verse 22. Genesis 14, verse 22. And Abraham said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord. So this is kind of like he's saying, I've lift up my hand like this. It's like he said, look, I've made an oath. I've made a, I've sworn something to the Lord. It says, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchlet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest I should say I have made Abraham rich. He says, look, king of Sodom, I don't want anything that belongs to you, not even a shoelace, all right? Not even that. I don't want anything from you, just in case you turn around and tell people that the reason Abraham's rich is because of me, because of the king of Sodom. Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't want, you know, the Sodomites to turn around and say, look, the reason you're wealthy and the way you are is because of us, all right? No, of course, you know, Abraham, you know, wants to make sure that the Lord is acknowledged and not some kingly person. And then verse number 24, save only that which the young men have eaten, so the things that they've already eaten in their journeys that belong to those of Sodom, and the portion of the men which went with me, Anah, Eschol, and Mamre, let them take their portion. So the things that they've gathered in the fight, these other people, let them take their portion. He goes, but I'm not going to take anything from you, okay? So we see the heart of Abraham. He's, you know, he's kind of learned the lesson about going into Egypt. Remember that? When he went into Egypt and then he was able to take possessions from Pharaoh, you know, and then he, you know, he became a more rich man, a more wealthy man because of the things that were given to him by Pharaoh. And he's kind of like, you know what, I don't want to go through that again. You know, King of Sodom, I don't want your things. You know, I don't want your things. You know, I want to make sure that the Lord is acknowledged for the wealth that I have, not some other man, okay? So that gives us an idea of this story. We see that Abraham, you know, definitely loved his nephew a lot. I mean, he could die in battle. You know, he could lose many of his servants. I'm not sure, you know, the Bible doesn't really tell us necessarily the loss on Abraham's side. But of course, I mean, anytime you go into battle, you're going to lose men. You know, obviously, anytime you go into battle, you go into, it's, you know, no one like, you know, war doesn't help anybody, really. You know, it just destroys people. But he was able to deliver a lot out of the hands of the enemy there. And so what we're going to do now is basically just go back to chapter, sorry, verse 18 and talk about Melchizedek. You know, that's the main thing that I wanted to talk about today, Melchizedek. And when it comes to the topic of Melchizedek, you basically have two, there's only really two options out there that I'm familiar with. Number one, that he's a pre incarnate Christ. That is Jesus Christ, literally Jesus Christ walking the earth at this time. Some people call this like Christophany. Have you heard that term before? Christophany is basically Old Testament appearances of Jesus Christ. Okay. That's the opinion of some, that's not my opinion. I do believe Melchizedek was just another man. Okay. But he typified Christ. He was a type of Christ. And I'll give you the reasons, I'll show you the arguments on both sides and I'll give you my reasons why I believe that. And, but let's look at verse number 18 first. Verse number 18, it says here, and Melchizedek king of Salem. Now Salem, we can't really know this 100% for sure. Okay. There's no real, you know, anything outside of the Bible that affirms this. Not even the Bible really affirms this. But it appears that Salem, the city of Salem was probably Jerusalem. Okay. It was probably Jerusalem. Okay. And Salem means peace. Okay. So we see Melchizedek king of Salem or the king of peace. And that's very similar to a name that's how that's given to Jesus Christ as the prince of peace. Right. As the prince of peace. But this king comes and says, and he brought forth bread and wine and he was the priest of the most high God. Okay. So not only was he a king, but he was also a priest. Now when it comes to Old Testament Israel, when it comes to the kings and the priests, if you were a king in those days, you weren't allowed to be a priest. And if you were a priest, you couldn't be a king. Okay. But what's special about this king is that he was both priest and king. Okay. And of course, that's a picture of Christ. Jesus Christ is both priest and king for us. Keep in mind, this is long before, this is centuries before Moses, before the Israelites, before the Levitical priesthood. We see that there was already a priest operating, you know, in the days of Abraham here. And this was Melchizedek, the king of Salem. Now one thing is, he says that he brought forth bread and wine. Now as I read this story, it appears to me that he's bringing bread and wine. Not, you know, look, this is very symbolic, obviously, of communion. We had communion this last week. You know, and of course, when we did that, we took off the bread and the wine. The bread representing the body of Christ and the wine with the grape just representing his shed blood. Okay. So I believe it's very symbolic. It's, you know, some very strong pictures here of Christ and his body, you know. But it doesn't seem like this is sort of this, like an Old Testament, or not Old Testament. It doesn't seem like it's a Lord's Supper that they're having or like a communion. It seems like he's bringing forth this food to feed, you know, these many people that fought in the war here. All right. So I don't believe the Lord's Supper has been observed, but it's definitely symbolic of that. And it says here that he's the priest of the Most High God. Okay. So it's not like other kings, other people, other nations had their false gods. They worshiped their false idols, their false gods. No, this king of Salem worshiped the same God of Abraham. Okay. It's the same true God of the Bible. And then in verse number 19, it says, and he blessed him. So the king of Salem blesses Abraham and said, blessed be Abraham of the Most High God. So he acknowledges that Abraham is his brother in the faith, that they believe in the same God, possessor of heaven and earth. And of course, God is possessor of heaven and earth. Verse 20, and blessed be the Most High God, which have delivered thine enemies into thy hand, and he gave him tithes of all. So Melchizedek recognizes that the reason why Abraham won this war, won this battle, is because the Most High God delivered Abraham, you know, from the hands of the enemies, or, you know, defeated the enemies on behalf of Abraham there, had helped him win that battle. And it says here, and he gave him tithes of all. So Abraham, you know, from the spoil of the war, you know, instead of taking anything for himself, he gave a tenth, a tithe of that to Melchizedek. And this is the first time you see the doctrine or the principle of tithing, where you give a tenth of what you have to the work of God, right? And we see that playing out here long before, you know, the Levitical priesthood, long before the laws of Moses, we already see many things about Melchizedek that's very interesting. You know, that pictures things that we still do today, and especially like a picture, a great picture there of Jesus Christ. Now, that's all, in that chapter, that's all we get about Melchizedek. So a very mysterious person, definitely. So let's have a look at the other references that are in the Bible about Melchizedek. Let's try to get a better picture of what he's about. So let's go to Psalm 110 now. You don't need to keep your finger in Genesis now. We'll jump around to some other passages. But let's go to Psalm 110 verse 1. Psalm 110 verse 1, and I believe this is an important passage to look at in regards to Melchizedek, and especially about the Lord Jesus Christ. This Psalm is very strongly about the Messiah, very strongly about Jesus Christ. Psalm 110, look at verse 1. The Lord, now that's the Father, said unto my Lord, that's the Son, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. That's definitely about Jesus Christ. If you know your Bibles well, this is referenced quite a number of times. And we see, when do you think these things were said of Jesus? When did God the Father say this to Jesus Christ? This would have been after the resurrection. You know, when Christ went and ascended up to heaven, you know, the Father says, look, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. I think that we're all in agreement with that. Drop down to verse number 4. The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. So we see that the Father says to the Son that thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. You see, Jesus Christ was not a priest after the order of Aaron or the Levitical priesthood. Because the only way you could enter as a priest in that sense was you'd have to be born from the tribe of Levi. And you would have to be basically a descendant of a son of the high priest and follow that family lineage basically. And of course, Jesus Christ, what tribe did he come from when he was born? He came from the tribe of Judah. So he would not fit the requirements to be under the Levitical priesthood. But he did fit the requirement there from God the Father. He was given the priesthood of Melchizedek. And I believe this Psalm 110 is important because it tells us when this is given to him. And I believe this is given to him when he's ascended up into heaven. Now let's go to Hebrews chapter 5, please. Hebrews chapter 5. So the book of Hebrews is where we're going to get the primary teachings about Melchizedek and what he represents or who he is. Hebrews chapter 5, verse 5. Hebrews chapter 5, verse 5. I'll give you a minute to turn there. Hebrews chapter 5, verse 5. And this basically just affirms what we read in Psalm 110. It says, so also Christ glorified not himself to be made in high priest, but he that said unto him, thou art my son, to they have I begotten thee. Now when were these words said? What is this about? I've covered this before. This is at his resurrection. At his resurrection, the father said to Christ, thou art my son, to they have I begotten thee. You know, he's the first begotten from the dead. All right. And then verse number 6. As he saith also in another place, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So we see the same truth. Where after the resurrection, these things are said of Christ, thou art my son, you know, you say have I begotten thee, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. And also in Psalm 110, it says, you know, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Again, after the resurrection, where he's given that priesthood. Okay. Now look at, drop down to verse number 10. It just says he called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek. It just affirms that the father is the one who gave Jesus Christ that priesthood. All right. Now let's go to Hebrews chapter 6, verse 20. We're just looking at all the passages that mention Melchizedek. Hebrews chapter 6, verse 20. The Bible says here, whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus. So Jesus is our forerunner being made in high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So just again, the Bible just keeps reaffirming the fact that Christ is the great high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 7, verse 1. Now Hebrews chapter 7 is where it's, you know, we really get, you know, a good amount of information about Melchizedek and the relationship to Jesus Christ there. Hebrews chapter 7, verse 1. Hebrews chapter 7, verse 1. The Bible says, for this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, this is what we read in Genesis 14, who met Abraham, returned from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all. So that's where we get the definition. In Genesis 14, it mentions a tithe. In Hebrews chapter 7, it defines a tithe as the tenth part, or ten percent of all. First being by interpretation, king of righteousness. So let's stop there for a moment. So Melchizedek, the interpretation of his name is king of righteousness. And then it says there, and after that, also king of Salem, which is king of peace. So again, we have the Bible, we didn't have to go back to the Greek or the Hebrew. The Bible just defines for us that Salem means peace. The fact that it was the king of Salem means that he was the king of peace. And as I mentioned to you, one of the titles given to Jesus is the prince of peace. Now here, verse number three is where those that say, well, Melchizedek was a Christophany of Jesus Christ. This is where they get this teaching from, is, let's read it, and it says here, without father, speaking of Melchizedek, without father, without mother, so he doesn't have an earthly father, or he doesn't have an earthly mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. So he's never started, he never ends, okay? So look, I mean, that seems really, that's really strong. I think that's a really, these are really strong passages for those that believe Melchizedek was a Christophany of Christ, that he was literally Jesus Christ there walking the earth at this point in time. And then it says here, but made like unto the son of God, abideth a priest continually. Now my argument for him being a type, not being Jesus Christ, is I would say, well, he was made like unto the son of God. He wasn't the son of God, but he was made like unto him. But I'll go into that a bit later on, okay? Verse number four, now consider how great this man was, this is Melchizedek. Look, consider how great Melchizedek was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils, okay? So we know Abraham was a great man of faith. He was the father of faith, and even Abraham, you know, gives a tithe to this priest. Verse number five, and verily, they that are the sons of Levi, those are the priests, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham. So just a reminder there that in the Levitical priesthood, the way that the tribe of Levi would sustain or provide for themselves, because they weren't given an inheritance of land, was that the people would bring their tithes into the storehouse, they'd bring their tithes to the temple, and the Levi's would live off the tithe, okay? It was their provision. And then verse number six, but he whose descent is not counted from them, received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. So Melchizedek is not from the descent of Abraham, basically. Verse number seven, and without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better. And here, men that die receive tithes, but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. And as I may so say, Levi also, who received tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. This is interesting. It says that the Levitical priesthood, they received tithes, but they also paid their tithes. So how did they pay their tithes? It says they paid the tithes in Abraham, all right? So even though the Levitical tribe didn't have to pay their tithes, they did so spiritually, or they did so through Abraham. When Abraham gave his tithes to Melchizedek, that was a picture of the Levi's giving their tithes to Melchizedek, all right? So not even the Levites got away with not paying the tithes. They paid for it, okay? But symbolically through Abraham to Melchizedek. Verse number ten, for he was yet in the loins of his father, that's the Levites, you know, when Melchizedek met him. If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek and not be called after the order of Aaron? So just something I want you to pause and see there in verse number eleven. It says what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek? This is this other priest is Jesus Christ. So this is one reason why I believe Melchizedek was not Jesus because the Bible refers to Jesus as another priest after the order of Melchizedek, okay? We'll keep going. Verse number twelve, for the priesthood being changed, there is made a necessity, a change also of the law, for he of whom these things are spoken, pertaineth to another tribe of which no man gave attendance at the altar. Jesus Christ was from another tribe, that being the tribe of Judah, what is he in verse fourteen. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. So those of Judah were not supposed to be priests, okay? But of course, yes, he could be priest after the order of Melchizedek. Verse fifteen, and it is yet far more evidence. Now look at this. This is what draws me to believe that Melchizedek was a type. He was just a king, a man, all right? For that after the similitude of Melchizedek, so after the similitude, after the likeness, if you want to put it that way, after the likeness or similar, you know, when you think about a simulator, you know, a simulator is not the real thing. You know, it just simulates that which is real, okay? And it seems like here that after the similitude of Melchizedek, there arise of another priest, again, that term another priest and the similitude who is made not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life, for he testifieth thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So a few things here that I want you to consider. You know, and look, if you believe it's a Christophany, if you believe in me because that was Jesus Christ, you know, it's not a big deal, in my opinion. I don't think it's a huge deal, but I do believe you're going to be a little bit handicapped and I'll show you later on when it comes to the eternal subject of Christ, okay? We'll talk about that in a moment. I don't want to confuse you too much, okay? But we see that the Bible uses the term similitude and another priest when it's referring to Jesus Christ. So for me, that's enough to think, well, Melchizedek can't be the same as Jesus Christ if it's calling him another priest or the similitude and the likeness of, okay? It just doesn't seem to fit with me, but also that the order, when it speaks of Christ, that he's given thou art a priest forever, forever after the order of Melchizedek, and what we see is that Christ received the order of Melchizedek, the priesthood, at his resurrection. So again, that doesn't really go well with my thinking that if he had the priesthood of Melchizedek, which is forever, why would he then leave it and then pick it up later on? I mean, maybe we can make some excuses for that, but it seems like this is a priesthood that he holds forever. So once he has it, Jesus Christ has it, he always has it. And, you know, if he always had it, if he had it back in Genesis, then I'm not sure why it would be given to him later on at his resurrection, unless, you know, you sort of take the thought, maybe he put it down and picked it up later on. I mean, you can make that sort of thought. But anyway, let's talk about Christophanies for a moment. So what's the difference between a Christophany and typology? And I don't want to use any big words, make me sound smart, but these are the terms people use, just so you're familiar when you hear these terms used. So Christophanies in the Bible is basically Old Testament appearances of Jesus Christ, where he's literally walking the earth, not just a vision, but he's literally walking the earth. Now let's have a look at a few examples of this. Let's go to Genesis chapter three, please. Genesis chapter three, verse eight. Genesis chapter three, verse eight. It says here, this is obviously the Garden of Eden. It says, and they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. So we see that the Lord God is walking in the Garden of Eden. Okay. And we know that no man have seen the Father. So this is obviously Jesus Christ here that's appearing to Adam and Eve. In Genesis 18, verse one, Genesis 18, verse one, the Bible says here, and the Lord appeared unto him, this is to Abraham, in the plains of Mamre, and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day, and he lift up his eyes and looked and lo, three men stood by him, and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the front door and bowed himself toward the ground. So Abraham, he sees the Lord walking and he bows himself, right, to the Lord there. So we see a Christophany there. And let's go to chapter 32, Genesis chapter 32, verse 24. Chapter 32, verse 24. This is another interesting story. Genesis 32, verse 24, it says, and Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the break-in of the day. I mean, all night, Jacob's wrestling with this guy. And then look at verse number 30 there. And Jacob called the name of the place Penuel, for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. It's like, man, I saw God and I still lived. You know, life is preserved. So there we see, you know, Jacob was actually wrestling Jesus Christ. You know, Jesus Christ. So that's another Christophany. And I won't get you to turn to these other passages. I'll just read them out to you. Joshua 5.13, it says, and it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man over against him with a sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went unto him and said unto him, Thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord, am I now come? And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship. So this man receives worship. And he said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loost thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. I believe that's an appearance there of Jesus Christ to Joshua. And I'm going to read to you, this is a more familiar one, Daniel chapter three, verse 24. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. And he answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Okay, so these are references there of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, literally just walking the earth. Jesus Christ there in the fiery furnace, and Nebuchadnezzar saw that fourth man there. And so the reason I wanted to show you, those are Christophanies, just to teach you guys a few things. But the other thing I want you to notice about Christophanies is that they're very short lived events. Okay, it's like, you know, God appears, Jesus Christ appears, and then he's gone. It's not like this long drawn out thing, okay. And one reason why I don't believe Melchizedek is a Christophany is because he was ruling over Salem. He was a king over Salem. So he had authority, he had power, he was ruling over a city, okay. And he was also serving as a priest. So he was there, you know, acting as a sort of a mediator, I guess, with the people and with the Lord God, okay. That would require him to be there, I think, a substantial amount of time, to rise in power, to be given that authority, to be leading this entire city. It just seems different to the other Christophanies that we see in the Bible, where Christ comes, he's there for a period of time, you know, a short period of time, and then he's gone, okay. Whereas it seems that Melchizedek would need to be ruling a city for a decent period of time. So it just seems contrary to the other Christophanies that I'm aware of, okay. So I'm just helping you go through my thought process here, okay. Now, the second reason why I believe Melchizedek is a type is that we're going to do a bit of a study in the book of Hebrews quickly, okay, guys. So let's go to Hebrews chapter three, Hebrews chapter three, verse one, Hebrews chapter three, verse one, is because the book of Hebrews, out of all the other books of the Bible, one of the major themes of Hebrews is types. Typology, okay. Types of Christ, but even types of other things that are found in the Bible. And I just quickly, I mean, I didn't have much time, I just went through the entire book of Hebrews last night just trying to find certain types of Christ and just show you this, show this to you. So if you go to Hebrews chapter three, verse one, it says here, wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him that appoints him as also Moses was faithful in all his house. So we see that Moses' faithfulness to his house is a type of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, okay. So we see the type of Moses, you know, Moses being a type of Jesus Christ when it comes to his faithfulness to his house. Now go to Hebrews chapter five, verse four, Hebrews chapter five, verse four. Not only is Moses a type of Christ, but also Aaron, you know, Moses' brother Aaron as the high priest is a type of Christ. Aaron's calling of God is a type. Hebrews chapter five, verse four, the Bible says, and no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron. So also Christ, so as Aaron, so also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest, but he that said unto him, thou art my son, to thee have I begotten thee. So just as Aaron was called by God to be a high priest, so too was Jesus Christ. So the calling of Aaron is typified as the calling of Christ as well. Go to Hebrews chapter 10, verse 11, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 11, and this is one that we're obviously all very familiar with, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 11, the Bible says, and every priest standeth daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins, but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. So obviously the offerings and the sacrifices of the Old Testament are types of Christ. Hebrews chapter nine now, Hebrews chapter nine, verse 13, Hebrews chapter nine, verse 13, which goes hand in hand with obviously the offerings and the sacrifices, Hebrews chapter nine, verse 13, for if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifying, sanctifier to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ for through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. So that we see the blood of bulls and goats being a type of the blood of Christ. Okay, Hebrews chapter four, please, Hebrews chapter four, verse three, Hebrews chapter four, verse three, for we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world, for he spake in a certain place of the seventh day, that's the Sabbath day, on this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all his works. So the Sabbath day is a type of Christ. It's a picture of us entering into the rest of the Lord by believing, by faith, okay. Go to Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19, the Bible says, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, from the holy of the holies was covered by that veil in the Old Testament tabernacle or temple, but then in verse number 20, it says, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. So the veil in the temple was a type or pictured the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ, okay. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 11, Hebrews chapter 13, verse 11, Hebrews chapter 13, verse 11, after a sacrifice would be offered in the temple, then the leftovers would be taken outside. Look at this in Hebrews chapter 13, verse 11, for the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought to them whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp or outside of the camp, wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate or outside the gates. So Jesus Christ being led outside of the gates of Jerusalem to be crucified is a picture of the leftovers or the sacrifice that was burnt outside of the camp, burning outside of the camp, typified there. And just finally, Hebrews chapter 11, verse 17, and there's probably other types, okay. Again, I just rushed through this as I was going through the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 17, by faith Abraham, when he was tired, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure. A figure is like a type, you know, it's a picture. He saw that Isaac would be a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, okay, a type. So, why do I believe that Melchizedek, why is another reason why I believe Melchizedek is a type is because that's what the book of Hebrews is all about. I mean, just chapter after chapter after chapter about the types of Christ. And it would seem fit to me that Melchizedek would follow that same thing. I mean, the book of Hebrews, I try to have a look, but I don't see any other Christophanies. It's not like Melchizedek is being compared to other Christophanies in the book of Hebrews, but rather the book of Hebrews really focuses on typology, okay. And it would make sense. You know, it's not just elements of practices, but also people that were seen as types of Christ that would make sense to me that Melchizedek as a person is also being seen as a type of Christ in the book of Hebrews, all right. So, let me just summarize a few reasons and I'll keep going through some of this. Let me just summarize the reasons why I believe Melchizedek is a type of Christ. That he's just a man, a king, a good man. You know, that God had used and I'll give you my reasons here. Number one, that Jesus is referred to as another priest or in the similitude or in the likeness of Melchizedek, okay. Number two, those references that we saw. Let's go back there in Hebrews chapter seven, please. Hebrews chapter seven. Let's just go back there for a minute and let me give you my explanation of Hebrews chapter seven. Hebrews chapter seven, verse three, when it says, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, is my belief for this is sort of two main reasons, okay. Number one, that we don't know anything else about Melchizedek in the Bible, okay. So, when it comes to us as reading the Bible, we see that he is without mother, without father. We don't know anything about Melchizedek. We don't know about his beginning. We don't know about the end of his life. We don't know anything about Melchizedek. So, you know, not in a literal sense, but as a figural sense, you know, we could say these things about Melchizedek, okay. Not that he was without literal father and mother, is that we don't know anything about the mother and father. We don't know anything about his beginning. We just see, he just turns up on the scene. You know, he blesses Abraham. He receives the tithes and that's all we ever see about him, you know, in the Old Testament, you know, besides those references there in the book of Psalms. But, so that's one explanation. The other explanation that I believe we can have in verse number three is that in order for you to be a priest in the order of the Levites, you had to be of the family lineage. You have to have a father and mother that was in that line. You had to be born through the tribe of Levi. So you had to prove your descendants that you had to be someone that was related to that. So that's one of the key differences there between the Levitical priesthood is that you needed the lineage of your parents to be in that tribe. Whereas after the order of Melchizedek, you don't need that lineage of father and mother in that sense. So I do believe, number two, the reason I believe Melchizedek is a type is because there are other explanations of those references, okay? Number three, I've listed this here, that Jesus was given the priesthood after his resurrection and that he would hold it forever. That seems kind of unusual to me that he would hold it temporarily, let go of it at some point in time and then receive it later on. I mean, you could make an argument for that. It just doesn't seem much sense to me in that sense, okay? Number four is that the typology or Christ's typology is a major theme in the book of Hebrews and it just makes sense that Melchizedek would follow after that same theme in the book of Hebrews. Number five is that all other Christophanies in the Bible make brief appearances, okay? And Melchizedek, it seems to me, he would have to be on the scene for many, many years in order for him to accomplish his role as king and priest there in Salem, all right? And it's just difficult for me to see Jesus operating in that way. I think if that was literally Jesus there for a long time, it just seems to me, like obviously this is my thoughts, but that, you know, we would have more about Melchizedek in the Bible than what we're given, all right? And lastly, if you take the position that Melchizedek is a type of Christ, it's a powerful verse to prove the eternal sonship of Christ. Let's look at this again. Hebrews 7, verse 3. Hebrews 7, verse 3. This is only something that's become apparent to me over the last sort of several months. You know, ever since some of that controversy, you know, I won't go into all, you know, the names and the people there, but obviously controversy with people that denied the eternal sonship of Christ. They believe that he became the son of God at his incarnation. They believe he became the son of God at birth in the manger, but prior to that, he was not the son of God at birth. He was the son of God at birth in the manger, but prior to that, he was not the son of God. Some people teach that. Okay. Let me show you how. Now, look, I personally don't think there's any sort of, if you still believe it's Christophany, you know, so be it. I don't think there's any major issues. I just think you let go of a very powerful verse that proves the eternal sonship of Christ. Now, let me show you how those that denied the eternal sonship of Christ, let me show you how they use this verse to prove that he was not always the son of God. Okay. So, let's say this is a Christophany that Melchizedek was literally Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Okay. So, it says here, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made, so Melchizedek in the Old Testament, made like unto the son of God. They say, see, he wasn't, see, Melchizedek was Jesus, they'll say, but he wasn't the son of God. He was made like unto the son of God. Okay. So, they'll say, see, he wasn't the son of God at this point in time, but he was like the son of God. He was made like that. Okay. As the son of God. So, they'll use that reference there to prove that Jesus Christ before his incarnation, he was not the son of God, but made like the son of God. Okay. Does that make sense? Now, let's say this is a Melchizedek is a type. Let's say he's not Jesus Christ, but he's just a type. He pictures Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. How would we interpret that? Okay. Well, if Melchizedek is not Jesus and is in the Old Testament days, okay, and I believe in the eternal sonship of Christ, and I believe in the time of Melchizedek, Jesus Christ existed, obviously, is eternal, and even in his eternal past, he was always the son of God, then I could say that Melchizedek in the Old Testament was made like unto the son of God. Meaning that Melchizedek was like the son of God. Meaning that Jesus Christ in the Old Testament was the son of God, okay, because he was made like unto the son of God. And then you might say, no, hold on, maybe, you know, because God is outside of time, so maybe, you know, the argument is, well, maybe he's just looking at the son of God in the New Testament and Melchizedek is kind of being made like the son of God in the New Testament. Well, that's where verse number three is very powerful. Again, the beginning of verse number three, look at this. Remember, when it says without father, without mother, he was made like unto the son of God. How was he made that way? It says here without father, without mother, okay, so he's the son of God because he's without physical mother and without physical father, okay, now think about that. If Jesus Christ became the son of God at his incarnation, he became the son of God because he had a physical mother, right? That, you know, those that deny the eternal son ship of Christ, they'll say he became the son of God because he had a physical mother. Well, the Bible says that he's without the physical mother. That's what makes him like the son of God. You see? And so the fact that, you know, we can say then, well, Jesus Christ existed prior without a physical mother. Prior to that, he was the son of God. So what makes him the son of God is that he's without physical father or mother, meaning that he was always the son of God before he was even born of the manger because before he was born of the manger, he had no physical father or mother. But then, you know, obviously, those that say, well, no, you know, he became the son of God, then they can use the argument that he was, you know, with a physical mother when he was born as the son of God, all right? So I wasn't aware of this until, you know, like I said several months ago when I started to realize, hold on, this proves the eternal son ship of Christ. This is one of the most powerful passages, but it only makes sense if you take Melchizedek as a type, I'm not saying you believe in, you don't reject the eternal son ship of Christ. I'm just saying that those that believe, that reject the eternal son ship of Christ can use this passage to prop up their false doctrine, all right? So those are my key points. Sorry, probably I went through a lot of things today. If you have any questions for me after the service, please feel free to ask. Let's pray.