The Mystery of Melchizadek Part 2
by Ian Michaels
From the first part, we left off showing the prophecy in Zechariah that brings the picture of a priest crowned king. This is an unheard of event in the history of Israel. No where do we see a priest who is king except in Genesis with the mysterious Melchizadek. He shows up with no explanation as to how he is king and priest. He just is!
In order to stay focused on what I’m wanting to convey in this Part 2, let me repeat from Part 1. Melchizadek is not the point! He is merely a place holder for a legal precedent. The point is that there was something greater that Yah put in the Scriptures prior to the coming of the Levitical Priesthood to show us that if something greater existed before the old covenant, then something greater can exist when it ends. It’s as if Yah is saying, “I’ve put this strange figure in here to remind you that when it ends, there was always something greater.
A kingly blessing was imparted to Abraham when Melchizadek blessed him. That kingly blessing was then later imparted to a specific house of descendants, the house of David. After David, Scripture is clear that we need not look anywhere outside this line. Any claim of kingship must come from someone whose pedigree will prove he is David’s son.
(With the destruction of the temple, all records of lineage were destroyed, therefore no one can make this claim today with absolute certainty.)
A priestly blessing was also imparted to Abraham when Melchizadek blessed him. That priestly blessing was then later imparted to a specific house of descendants, the house of Levi. They were to be custodians of the Messiah’s priesthood, but only until the coming of the true Melchizadek(King of Righteousness) was to come with a better covenant and better promises.
Y’shua was the son of David and was therefore fully qualified to be a king. He already had that blessing upon Him. But how was the blessing of the priesthood given back to Him in a smooth and graceful transition? A God of Perfect order isn’t going to just end the old abruptly. Y’shua needed the blessing of the Levitical priesthood to be fully and completely placed upon Him. Did this happen?
In the days prior to Y’shua’s appearance, the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls were stating that Elohim was finished with the corrupt priesthood in Jerusalem where a man could literally buy his way into the priesthood if he had the money. Meanwhile, a voice was crying in the wilderness. In Luke, we read:
There was in the days of Herodes, the sovereign of Yehudah, a certain priest named Zekaryah, of the division of Abiyah. And his wife was of the daughters of Aharon, and her name was Elisheba.
[Luke 1:5]
Not even the High Priest could claim such a pedigree. Yochanan the Immerser was a pure blood doubly qualified Levitical Priest. In verse 13, we read where his birth is announced by an angel at the veil of the Kodesh haKodeshim (the Holy of Holies). No born priest in the history of Israel had ever had this honor. While the temple was in the hands of a corrupt priesthood, Yochanan was Yah’s priest! He was Yah’s son of Aaron with a birth announced at the veil, the threshold of the entering in with YHWH. How incredible is this?
He came baptizing in the Jordan River, but baptism was not some brand new idea. When we read the word “Baptisma” in the Septuagint, it’s about the priests dippings and washings. The priesthood was responsible for pronouncing clean and seeing peoples lives changed. Yochanan’s message was, “Repent” and “Prepare the way for the One who is coming after me.” Think of it. Isn’t this the message of the entire Old Testament? Yochanan was summing up the entire purpose of the Levitical Priesthood. He summed up what every son of Aaron was to do, which is to say, “I’m just doing this in symbols, but one day it’s going to come for real!”
The Jordan River had to be the place where John was baptizing because it was always considered the barrier between the old and the new. It was the barrier that separated the reign of Moses from the reign of Joshua, the wilderness from the Promised Land, the ending of one age and the beginning of a new one. Here in this river, there was a changing of the guards and a passing of the torch. When Y’shua (the King) came to Yochanan (the Priest), Yochanan tries to prevent his blessing Y’shua when he tells Him, “You are greater than me.” (Remember, the greater blesses the lesser.) But, Y’shua tells him, “It is befitting to fulfill all tzadik/righteousness.” So, it was here, in the Jordan River, the barrier of change where the Levitical Priesthood returned the priestly blessing upon the King of Righteousness, the true and eternal Melchizadek. Then, with the words from Yochanan, “I must decrease - He must increase” he is soon after arrested and taken across the Jordan to a prison called “Macharus”; the same side of the Jordan where Moses and Aaron died.
The bread and wine that Melchizadek brought forth is a beautiful foreshadowing of the bread and wine we see which Y’shua brought forth at the Passover where He announced the New Covenant to be ratified by His sacrifice.
Like the veil that would soon be rent from top to bottom, the High Priest tore his garment, unwittingly symbolizing the end of the priesthood as Aaron’s priesthood came together at the sewing of the priestly garments.
It was recorder in the Talmud that 40 years before the temple was destroyed, strange things began to happen. Yah was showing that something had changed and that He no longer accepted the old priesthood.
1. The scarlet cord no longer turned white at Yom Kippur
2. The Western most lights stopped turning on
3. The doors of the temple opened by themselves
Also, the Talmud states that at this time in history, the Sanhedrin was exiled. They were removed from their place of authority and lost the power to judge capital crimes.
The sceptre shall not turn aside from Yehudah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him is the obedience of peoples.
[Genesis 49:10]
The guard had changed! The torch was passed!
Summary points:
1. We have inherited the True Faith of our Fathers. It is Ancient, meaning Eternal and therefore forever New! We are the keepers of something very deep and glorious.
2. YHWH doesn’t leave any loose ends
3. The New Covenant is based on blessings. We are to bless each other. No bitterness is to be in this New Covenant.
4. We are actually the priests of this Melchizadek priesthood and of a New Covenant that is so much greater than the old.
5. The power of this priesthood is based on His Atonement, His death and Resurrection.
6. There is no end to the mysteries of Elohim. We come to an end and deaden things, but He is always opening and making things alive again.
7. This New Covenant is always new. If it ever gets old, then it’s not the right covenant.
8. We can only have the new as much as we leave the old. The ego dies in the Jordan. We must continue to say, “I must decrease – He must increase.”
9. We have the Highest Blessing upon us and a holy legitimacy to what we’re about. It is an anointing that is not of this world. It is the blessing of Melchizadek upon us.
10. This calling of Yah is something very great, holy and heavenly; to reconcile others to Him, bring forgiveness, open doors.
11. This is not something to be taken lightly
12. We serve an awesome God! His power, love and forgiveness to change lives is REAL!
(Special thanks to Jonathan Cahn of Beth Zion in Garfield, NJ)
In order to stay focused on what I’m wanting to convey in this Part 2, let me repeat from Part 1. Melchizadek is not the point! He is merely a place holder for a legal precedent. The point is that there was something greater that Yah put in the Scriptures prior to the coming of the Levitical Priesthood to show us that if something greater existed before the old covenant, then something greater can exist when it ends. It’s as if Yah is saying, “I’ve put this strange figure in here to remind you that when it ends, there was always something greater.
A kingly blessing was imparted to Abraham when Melchizadek blessed him. That kingly blessing was then later imparted to a specific house of descendants, the house of David. After David, Scripture is clear that we need not look anywhere outside this line. Any claim of kingship must come from someone whose pedigree will prove he is David’s son.
(With the destruction of the temple, all records of lineage were destroyed, therefore no one can make this claim today with absolute certainty.)
A priestly blessing was also imparted to Abraham when Melchizadek blessed him. That priestly blessing was then later imparted to a specific house of descendants, the house of Levi. They were to be custodians of the Messiah’s priesthood, but only until the coming of the true Melchizadek(King of Righteousness) was to come with a better covenant and better promises.
Y’shua was the son of David and was therefore fully qualified to be a king. He already had that blessing upon Him. But how was the blessing of the priesthood given back to Him in a smooth and graceful transition? A God of Perfect order isn’t going to just end the old abruptly. Y’shua needed the blessing of the Levitical priesthood to be fully and completely placed upon Him. Did this happen?
In the days prior to Y’shua’s appearance, the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls were stating that Elohim was finished with the corrupt priesthood in Jerusalem where a man could literally buy his way into the priesthood if he had the money. Meanwhile, a voice was crying in the wilderness. In Luke, we read:
There was in the days of Herodes, the sovereign of Yehudah, a certain priest named Zekaryah, of the division of Abiyah. And his wife was of the daughters of Aharon, and her name was Elisheba.
[Luke 1:5]
Not even the High Priest could claim such a pedigree. Yochanan the Immerser was a pure blood doubly qualified Levitical Priest. In verse 13, we read where his birth is announced by an angel at the veil of the Kodesh haKodeshim (the Holy of Holies). No born priest in the history of Israel had ever had this honor. While the temple was in the hands of a corrupt priesthood, Yochanan was Yah’s priest! He was Yah’s son of Aaron with a birth announced at the veil, the threshold of the entering in with YHWH. How incredible is this?
He came baptizing in the Jordan River, but baptism was not some brand new idea. When we read the word “Baptisma” in the Septuagint, it’s about the priests dippings and washings. The priesthood was responsible for pronouncing clean and seeing peoples lives changed. Yochanan’s message was, “Repent” and “Prepare the way for the One who is coming after me.” Think of it. Isn’t this the message of the entire Old Testament? Yochanan was summing up the entire purpose of the Levitical Priesthood. He summed up what every son of Aaron was to do, which is to say, “I’m just doing this in symbols, but one day it’s going to come for real!”
The Jordan River had to be the place where John was baptizing because it was always considered the barrier between the old and the new. It was the barrier that separated the reign of Moses from the reign of Joshua, the wilderness from the Promised Land, the ending of one age and the beginning of a new one. Here in this river, there was a changing of the guards and a passing of the torch. When Y’shua (the King) came to Yochanan (the Priest), Yochanan tries to prevent his blessing Y’shua when he tells Him, “You are greater than me.” (Remember, the greater blesses the lesser.) But, Y’shua tells him, “It is befitting to fulfill all tzadik/righteousness.” So, it was here, in the Jordan River, the barrier of change where the Levitical Priesthood returned the priestly blessing upon the King of Righteousness, the true and eternal Melchizadek. Then, with the words from Yochanan, “I must decrease - He must increase” he is soon after arrested and taken across the Jordan to a prison called “Macharus”; the same side of the Jordan where Moses and Aaron died.
The bread and wine that Melchizadek brought forth is a beautiful foreshadowing of the bread and wine we see which Y’shua brought forth at the Passover where He announced the New Covenant to be ratified by His sacrifice.
Like the veil that would soon be rent from top to bottom, the High Priest tore his garment, unwittingly symbolizing the end of the priesthood as Aaron’s priesthood came together at the sewing of the priestly garments.
It was recorder in the Talmud that 40 years before the temple was destroyed, strange things began to happen. Yah was showing that something had changed and that He no longer accepted the old priesthood.
1. The scarlet cord no longer turned white at Yom Kippur
2. The Western most lights stopped turning on
3. The doors of the temple opened by themselves
Also, the Talmud states that at this time in history, the Sanhedrin was exiled. They were removed from their place of authority and lost the power to judge capital crimes.
The sceptre shall not turn aside from Yehudah, nor a Lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him is the obedience of peoples.
[Genesis 49:10]
The guard had changed! The torch was passed!
Summary points:
1. We have inherited the True Faith of our Fathers. It is Ancient, meaning Eternal and therefore forever New! We are the keepers of something very deep and glorious.
2. YHWH doesn’t leave any loose ends
3. The New Covenant is based on blessings. We are to bless each other. No bitterness is to be in this New Covenant.
4. We are actually the priests of this Melchizadek priesthood and of a New Covenant that is so much greater than the old.
5. The power of this priesthood is based on His Atonement, His death and Resurrection.
6. There is no end to the mysteries of Elohim. We come to an end and deaden things, but He is always opening and making things alive again.
7. This New Covenant is always new. If it ever gets old, then it’s not the right covenant.
8. We can only have the new as much as we leave the old. The ego dies in the Jordan. We must continue to say, “I must decrease – He must increase.”
9. We have the Highest Blessing upon us and a holy legitimacy to what we’re about. It is an anointing that is not of this world. It is the blessing of Melchizadek upon us.
10. This calling of Yah is something very great, holy and heavenly; to reconcile others to Him, bring forgiveness, open doors.
11. This is not something to be taken lightly
12. We serve an awesome God! His power, love and forgiveness to change lives is REAL!
(Special thanks to Jonathan Cahn of Beth Zion in Garfield, NJ)