KING OF SALEM

KING OF SALEM

                “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High and he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand” and he gave him a tenth of all.” Genesis 14:18-20

                Wait a minute! Hold the phone! Who is this Melchizedek and where did he get his credentials? How is it that he is a priest of the Most High God? Why did he serve bread and wine over a thousand years before Christ? And while we’re at it, how did Abram know to pay tithes to him? And again, how did Noah know clean animals from unclean animals when he brought 7 clean animals and only two unclean animals into the ark? Genesis 7.

                The wacky Bible scholars of higher criticism will try to tell you that Moses borrowed the concepts for his Jewish religion from the Egyptians, or some such hogwash. They conveniently forget that Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and he died at the ripe old age of 950 years which means he lived 350 years after the flood. Then Shem lived well into the time of Isaac who was 50 or 60 years old when Shem died. And according to the book of Jashe, Melchizedek was none other than Shem.

                And Jasher, a historian around the time of Abram tells us that Shem was Abram’s uncle and that Abram went to visit Noah and Shem in the mountain country and spent time there with them and it was after that time that Abram left his father’s Idol making business and heeded the call of God to come out of Nimrod’s kingdom. Well, the book of Jasher is not a part of the Cannon of Scripture, but it is quoted at least twice in the Bible as being historically authentic.

                Are these scholars trying to tell us that these men that lived 800 or 900 years, who were of the seed line of faith would not have handed down the stories that had come from Adam to Enoch and on down to Noah? Are they really trying to tell us that the stories of Adam and Eve and Enoch and Noah were fables? The truth is everything that has come down to us from before the flood had to come from Noah and from Shem. And since eh story of Adam is verified throughout the New Testament scriptures in which Christ becomes our new Adam in restoring to us the Tree of Life, we can’t really doubt the story of creation without also denying Yeshua Himself.

                And if there were any traces of truth in the religions of Egypt it is most likely because the stories had trickled down to all of humanity after the flood and it was Nimrod who had corrupted their religions by seeking to contact and worship the pre-flood gods that had corrupted the world necessitating the flood in the first place. Nimrod was the source of all pagan religions and the worship of fallen angels.

                And pagan religions to this day still worship those same gods. After all, Nimrod and Semiramis became Isis and Osiris of Egypt and Tammuz and Ishtar in Rome. My reference books are now packed so I may not have the names exactly right, but let us suffice to say, that the pagan gods that are worshipped today all came by way of the different cultures dating all the way back to Nimrod. They are the gods that ruled the pagan nations behind the scene and we get a glimpse of one, the prince of Persia that tried to block Gabriel from answering Daniel’s prayer.  

                But this is only background to what I am talking about here. It is not legalistic to pay tithes. It is not legalistic to eat kosher meats. It is not legalistic to keep the Sabbath, or to meet with God on His appointed times. All of these things existed many centuries before Moses came along and all Moses did was to restore the Hebrew faith that had been partially lost during their times of slavery in Egypt. But we need to remember that Moses spent 40 years with his father-in-law Jethro, who was also a priest of the Most High God and more importantly, Moses spent many days on Mt. Sinai, face to face with God, who undoubtedly did a DNA correction on truth so that it would come forth unadulterated to His chosen people Israel.

                I say “DNA correction” as a mere expression, but in fact God had chosen Israel to be the carriers of the oracles of God. He spoke to Moses directly for a reason and He created for them a symbolic religion that would perfectly carry the DNA of the truth that would produce the Torah and preserve it as an infallible record. Then the Word would become flesh and dwell among them, thus bringing the Truth to life in the God/Man, Yeshua who would then in turn take the living DNA of Truth and transform if from symbols into living reality. In other words, the types and shadows built into Israel’s religion formed the most perfect way to carry the oracles of God until they brought forth the Messiah, Yeshua.

                We can still use these oracles to this day to provide DNA corrections in the Gospel that has often been contaminated by pagan philosophy. And I believe that God has raised up the Messianic Jewish people at this time to call the church back from the great falling away that is taking place as much of the church returns to its pagan roots rather than to its Judeo/Christian roots. After all, this falling away is going to make way for the antichrist to come onto the scene and God’s true Remnant that keeps the commandments of god and holds to the testimony of Jesus is going to be hated and persecuted for carrying the oracles of God in an otherwise paganized matrix.

                So when Yeshua offered His disciples bread and wine at the last supper, do we think He was instituting something new? NO… God had designated Him as a High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek before the foundations of the world and so Yeshua simply confirmed a covenant that came prior to Moses and He Himself became the Lamb of God whose Body was broken and whose blood was shed for our sins.

                Yes, Yeshua brought us a new covenant in His blood and it is superior to the Old Covenant simply because that which was written on stone and prefigured in symbolic form has now been written in our hearts by the Holy Spirit so that we too become living oracles of God.

                There were some idioms among the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. They taught that if you misinterpreted the law, you were destroying the law, but if you interpreted the Law correctly then you were fulfilling the Law. The Pharisees thought that Yeshua was destroying the Law with His interpretations, when in fact He was correcting the DNA of truth so to speak… sidestepping the traditions that had crept in over the years. So Yeshua, told them saying, I did not come to destroy (misinterpret) the Law, but to fulfill it (to correctly interpret it), then He went on to explain that not even the least little jot or tittle would pass from the law until all is fulfilled. And when will that be?

                Well, we are told that during the coming millennial reign of Christ, from new moon to new moon and Sabbath to Sabbath shall all flesh come to worship the Lord Isa. 66:22, 23. Verse 20 speaks of the regathering of Israel and verse 24 speaks of a time after the judgment of the wicked.

                Not only is it not legalistic to observe these ancient truths in their new and living form, but God is calling a people out of Babylon today, even as He called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees and Israel out of Egypt. He is calling us back to the purity of His Word.

                Yeshua did not misinterpret the Scriptures. In fact, He opened them up to His disciples when “Beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. (Luke 24:27) And as the book of Hebrews so aptly tells us, Yeshua has become our eternal High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.

                 In Him, truth moves from symbolism, from types and shadows into living realities as we become the temples in which the presence of God now dwells. We partake of His covenant of bread and wine now as if partaking of His blood and His broken body. And this practice was carried out by Melchizedek long before the days of Moses, but saves our lives just as surely as the blood on the doorposts of Egypt saved the Israelites from the death angel and just as their partaking of the whole lamb strengthened them for their journey out of Egypt.

                God did not throw anything away when Yeshua instituted the New Covenant. Yeshua did not misinterpret the Law. He fulfilled it… He correctly interpreted it so that not one jot or tittle would in anywise pass from the Law. And just as Paul confirms it, “The Law is fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Rom. 8:4. We have become the living oracles of God for His Shekinah glory now resides in us.

                Paul says things that shake some people up. He says, “Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day- things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” col 2:16, 17.

                I think that any good Messianic Jew would tell you that we don’t earn salvation by keeping Sabbaths or Feast days. We do it in respect for God’s appointed times and more than that, I think that God has drawn our attention back to these things, in order to correct some of the pagan DNA that has made its way back into the church.

                Our salvation is not in the Feast days, nor is our true rest found in the Sabbath. Our true rest is in Yeshua, for in Him we cease from our own labors and trust in His. In Him we die to our own works of the flesh and we invite Him in to live His life in us. That is why the Sabbath commandment says, “In it thou shalt not do any work.” It is a picture of our rest in Christ. It is a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

                This is true of every truth in the Bible. Everything finds its fullness in Christ. The Law is most definitely fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, but think about it. Is it now okay to commit murder… to steal…to commit adultery… to worship Idols? Of course not! So the Law is not done away is it? No! Rather it is fulfilled in us as we are filled with the Spirit of Christ. It is fulfilled in us when we walk according to the Spirit of God rather than according to the flesh. It is fulfilled in us as the fruit of the Spirit is manifested in our lives by His power.

                Truth never changes. Truth was truth long before the Law was given at Mt. Sinai. Truth will still be truth long after our time on this earth is over. Truth is reality and God’s reality never changes.

                Marriage is another one of those things that have literally come down to us from the creation of the world. Satan is doing his best to pervert it today as he seeks to pervert every truth of God’s word, but Marriage too is a reality that can never be changed, for it says in Hebrews 13:4-8:

                “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Let your way of life be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said,’ I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.’ So that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?” Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the outcome of their way of life, imitate their faith. JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER.” Hebrews 13:4-8.

                The King of Salem, the King of Peace is soon to return… this time not as a lamb, but as King of kings and Lord of lords. He is coming to judge the world and to take with Him all who have lived His Word and walked in His Spirit and who have loved His appearing. Don’t let the world sway you from God’s everlasting truth. Let them say what they will. Let them mock us and treat us with scorn. To those for whom fundamentalism has become a dirty word, He will yet come. They will yet face the King of Peace and He may not find them fit for the world to come. He offered them His body and blood EVEN AS He offered Himself to us, but they have rejected the only means by which men might be saved… extracted from Satan’s matrix… transferred into the kingdom of God’s only begotten Son by rebirth.

                And as you decide what you will believe to be reality, remember that truth is eternal. Truth has always been… long before the Law… long before the cross… Yeshua was and is the eternally self-existent One and He will forever be called, “Wonderful, Counselor Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. On the throne of David and over His kingdom (He will) establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.” Isaiah 9:6b-7a. Worship Him.