Good Insight Chris
Submitted by Compassion on January 21 2000 at 02:30:30
In reply to Re: Praise God! Submitted by Chris on January 20 2000 at 10:34:20
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Chris, that is it! If we go back to Genesis 14 we find Abram [father of our faith] going out to rescue Lot his nephew from five kings and their armies. On his return he meets Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God [the only true God]. On a close analysis of this event their is here much nugets of the meat of the word of God. In the book of Hebrews 7 we find that it describes Melchizedek as a type of Christ. Now I must mention if he was an actual pre-incarnation of Christ, or just a type is not overly important here. Hebrews 7 states some obvious things about Melchizedek. His name means 'king of righteousness'. He also was the king of Salem, which interpreted means 'king of peace'. Now this Salem, was latered called Jerusalem which means the 'city of peace'. And he was the priest of the 'most high God'. Now a priest was a mediator or go between man and God because of man's sinfulness he wasn't allowed to come before God, therefore the need for a priest. Today to make note we as believers do not require a priest as Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice and is our go between us and the father. That is why one sacrifice, and one mediator, Jesus our Saviour. Now Jesus was and is the 'king of righteousness', 'king of peace', and our 'mediator between us and God'. It is significant that Melchizedek brought bread and wine to Abram, and proceeded to tell him that it was God who gave him the victory. You see Abram saw the need to rescue Lot his nephew [and brother in the Lord] and went out to do it with no thought of future consequences. Now to give you my personal opinion here, I think after the victory over the five kings and their armies, that Abram started to realized what had just occured. He had taken 318 men to defeat armies of much greater number than his own, and what if they regroup and come back to take him on. I clearly believe this based on Genesis 15:1, where God says to Abram in a vision "Fear not, I am thy shield, and exceeding great reward." Now what is significant of the bread & wine that Melchizedek offered. First we must know in those days that when two or more people came together to make a covenant that blood was required to be shed. We might remember that in Barbarian lands the actual sliting of the rists with the blood mingled together was a sign blood [covenant] brothers. In more civilized places covenants were made by using bread & wine to represent the body and blood of those coming into covenant. Today the common marriage feast has those emblems still used to remind of the convenant being made that day between the two being married. Those items are the wedding cake and the drink being offered for a toast [wether wine or not]. So when Melchizedek offers bread and wine he is offering that Abram come into a covenant with the 'most high God'. This is also why Abram offers a tithe [tenth] to God. It was a way of saying I commit myself to God and offer a gift of thanksgiving. It is also significant to notice after the king of Sodom offers Abram a tenth [tithe] to signify that Abram was deserving of the praise. Abram responds by saying it was the LORD [this is the first time in the bible we see this name used of God by man], the most high God who gave the victory, and he refused the tithe. Now we also most notice something else in Genesis 15. Another significant mark of a covnenant being made in the day of Abram was that when two or more parties would come together and commit themselves to a unbreakable covenant. They would cut animals in half, remove their shoes, and proceed to walk through the bloody entails of these animals arm in arm saying, "May it be done to me, as it is done to these animals, if I break this covenant between me and you.". In verses 8 through 21 we see that this is what is exactly happening between Abram and God, except one detail is changed. Now this is quite significant! When Abram is waiting for God to appear to make the covenant, a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And a 'smoking furnace' and 'burning lamp' go between the pieces of flesh [verse 17] and yet it says God made a covenant with Abram [verse 18]. What is the significance of this passage? It is this, think about it. God was saying if you or I break this covenant it would God who would pay the price. He would be put to death, even if Abram or his seed broke the covenant. What a Saviour!!! Now when Jesus offers bread and wine to his disciples at the last supper, he signifying that he would fulfill this covenant. It is also interesting when Jesus tells those following Him that they must eat His body and drink His blood [John 6:53-69], that many found this hard saying. Those following were not willing to commit themselves to this covenant with Jesus. Yet what we find so amazing is that when Jesus asks the twelve if they also would leave, Peter speaks and says, "Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." So you see to believe on Jesus is to commit yourself to His word, and love the brethern [now this is a whole study in itself]. Another interesting study is names in the bible, especially the names of God. I will come to an end now. Love in Christ, Compassion....:=) |