Page 27 - Pentateuch - Student Textbook

All this happened in approximately the year 2000 B.C., about 500 years before God gave the law to
Moses at Mount Sinai and consecrated the descendants of Aaron to be priests. The book of Hebrews
makes much of Melchizedek. He is “without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of
days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever” (7:3).

Commentators have speculated for centuries about this mysterious character. Some have identified him
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as Shem, one of the sons of Noah. He would have survived the flood by some 500 years (Gen. 11:11).
Others, taking note of phrases such as “without father or mother” and “without beginning of days or
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end of life,” suggest an angel or even the Son of God in human form.

Yet the writer of Hebrews is simply contrasting the priestly system given under Moses to an earlier
model. The priests under the law were required to prove their genealogy. They could not be “without
father and mother.” They passed on the right to be a priest to sons after them. They had a beginning
and an end in life. They did not remain a priest forever. This was the Levitical system. The implication in
Genesis is of a system established before Moses that was superior to the Mosaic system, even though
the Mosaic system was given by God.

Melchizedek was a true priest of God in an older sense. He is an illustration of a cultural memory that
had preserved instructions on how to approach God given to Noah at the time of the flood. Such cultural
memories are reflected in the passages about Pharaoh (12:10-20) and Abimeleck (Ch. 20). The truths
about sin, the need for a sacrifice to approach God, and a coming Savior had been passed down through
the centuries in many different cultures. Sometimes by word of mouth, sometimes by myths, and
sometimes by specific practices, core truths stayed alive from one generation to the next. Depending on
other cultural values, the truths may be embellished with details or they may be sidetracked into
significantly different expressions.

“Melchizedek stood in the Valley of Shaveh as a figurehead or type of God’s general revelation to
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mankind. [General revelation] influences 100 percent of mankind instead of just a small percentage!”
As God was working with Abraham in a new and clearer way, other nations at the same time retained a
memory of God’s work in previous generations, although these faded with each passing generation.

15:2 – “Sovereign LORD what can you give me?” The interaction between God and Abraham surrounds
God’s ability to give him a child since he is old. The name “Sovereign LORD (Adonai YHWH)” reflects
Abraham’s humble, although questioning, trust in God. We might also add God’s initiation of the
conversation as he assures Abraham. “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, and your very great
reward” (15:1). Ultimately God Himself is the best gift Abraham could ever have.

16:13 – “I have seen the One who sees me.” Indirectly Abraham learns about God’s omniscience and
great care. Through a chain of events, Hagar runs away into the wilderness. God calls to her, making
certain promises. She learns about the God who sees and returns to Abraham who has the opportunity
to learn the same lesson.
yD;v; la – El

31 F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Erdmann, 1991), p. 161, n. 26.
32 Arthur W. Pink refers to a variety of suppositions in Exposition of Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1954),
p. 360.
33 Don Richardson, Eternity in their Hearts (Ventura: Regal, 1984), p. 31.

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