When we consider God coming to earth in human form, our first thought is usually of Jesus in the New Testament. Remember though, that there are no themes in the New Testament that are not foreshadowed through Old Testament types. The Bible is, after all, a book of completed Jewish theology.
    There are several instances in the Tanakh where God seems to visit earth in human form, these are referred to by theologians as “Theophanies”; from the Greek “theo,” meaning “God”, and “phaneia,” meaning “to reveal.” Before we go farther, let’s familiarize ourselves with this concept by looking at some theophanies from the Tanakh;

——The Lord  appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. -Genesis 18:1-3

Abraham approaches three men, but addresses them in the singular. Three, and yet one….sound familiar? By the end of chapter 18, Abraham has plead the case of his righteous nephew, Lot, whom God agrees to spare from the destruction of Sodom and Gemorrah. Chapter 19 opens with our mysterious men walking to Sodom, but one of them is missing;

——When the Lord  had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home. The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. -Genesis 18:33-19:1

    Another famous theophany occurs in Genesis 32 with Jacob wrestling a “man”;

——Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”-Genesis 32:28-32

                             MELCHIZEDEK

   With an understanding of theophanies; I want to approach now the enigmatic King of Salem and High Priest, Melchizedek. His entire story is comprised of only two verses from the Torah, but these two verses have enormous significance to the early Jewish believers in Yeshua the Messiah. By decoding the mystery that is Melchizedek, All believers can come to a better understanding of the relationship between Christians, Jews, and the Law. Here is the entire story of Melchizedek from the Torah;

——Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. -Genesis 14:18-20

Initially, these two verses pose some important questions. Abram is the Patriarch of the Jewish people. At the time of this account, there is no covenant between God and Abram or his descendants. The nation of Israel, the Hebrew people, are not yet even established. Moses, the Law, the Levitical priesthood, the tabernacle and temple, are all centuries away from existence. Yet here we find a priest of God Most High, and not only a priest, but a King as well. Who is this first High Priest? Where is his Temple? Where is this kingdom of Salem, over which he rules? Why does Abram pay him a tithe? Before any of these questions are answered, the story changes subjects and moves on. We are left with two verses, many questions, and no inkling that this Priest Melchizedek will have a huge impact on the way we view our relationship to Jesus Christ. Shall we investigate together?
      
                                            A KING

   In Hebrew, names mean everything. Melchizedek is derived from the Hebrew “Malech” meaning King, and “Tsedek” meaning righteousness; his name translates as “King of Righteousness.” So the King of Righteousness rules over Salem, this idea is later echoed by the Psalmist;

——God is renowned in Judah;
in Israel his name is great. His tent is in Salem,
his dwelling place in Zion. -Psalm 76:1-2

Here, the Psalmist refers to Jerusalem as “Salem.” There is another translation of Salem from the New Testament, in the book of Hebrews;

—— First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” -Hebrews 7:2

So by studying the Hebrew language, and certain passages of Scripture, we can now give Melchizedek three Kingly titles; King of Righteousness, King of Peace, and King who rules from Jerusalem. Now we’re getting somewhere, we’re beginning to decode the two verses from Genesis. Let’s continue on.

                                                    A PRIEST

   The fact that a priesthood existed before the Levites and the Law of Moses is an important concept for us to grasp. The idea that God’s Law exists outside, as well as inside his covenant with Israel is what brings Jew and Gentile together as one new man in Christ. The union of Jews and Gentiles is not merely a New Testament idea. This fact is established with two verses in the first book of the Torah, but it is reflected elsewhere in the Tanakh Here is a Messianic prophecy from the Psalms;

——The Lord  says to my lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.” The Lord  will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of your enemies!” Your troops will be willing
on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor,
your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning’s womb. The Lord  has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.” -Psalm 110:1-4

Since the Levitical priesthood were the administrators of Mosaic Law, a priest outside the order of Levites would denote the administration of a different law. A priest in the order of Melchizedek would be the administrator of a law that existed long before, and presumably would exist long after the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses was imperfect.  Jesus came to fulfill the law, and to perfect it; a perfect law with a perfect priest, in the order of Melchizedek. This is explained perfectly in the letter to the Jewish believers in Yeshua;

—— If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. -Hebrews 7:11-14

                                                      God In Human Form

    We’ve discussed priesthood and perfect law, and now we are back to the idea of the theophany. Who was this “Priest of God Most High,” and how is it that the Son of God is a priest in his order? These are questions pondered by many theologians more qualified than I, but I can’t help but take a crack at it, based on Scripture of course.
   Besides what we have gleaned from what Scripture says about Melchizedek, we can also learn from what it does not say about him. Genealogy is extremely important in ancient Jewish tradition, and this is fairly evident in the book of Genesis. The Bible gives us comprehensive genealogies of all the main characters in Genesis, and yet for the first recorded High Priest, we know nothing. This fact is reflected again in Hebrews;

——Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever. Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! -Hebrews 7:3-4

This passage seems to give Melchizedek some very God-like attributes here; no father or mother, no birth or death, resembling the Son of God. The passage continues to imply the eternal quality of both this priest, and his priesthood;

——This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living.-Hebrews 7:6-8

The implications made by the author of Hebrews here seems quite clear, but there is one last observation I would present to you before I close this piece. Consider Jesus gathering with his disciples for their last supper, the Passover meal. He uses the traditional Passover elements, the bread and the wine, to signify his own sacrifice on our behalf;

——And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. -Luke 22:19-20

So the Father sends his own Son to be the perfect sacrifice, the sinless body and the shed blood represented by the bread and the wine. This brings us all the way back to the book of Genesis, where we immediately recognize the symbolism in our two enigmatic verses concerning the very first priest;

——Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. -Genesis 14:18-20

So Abram gives a tenth of everything to the King of Righteousness, who has given him the bread and the wine, and a blessing. Like Abram, we also receive our blessings from the King of Righteousness. When we take Communion, or sit down with our families for the Passover Seder, we accept the bread and the wine in remembrance of all that our God has done for us. He delivered his people from slavery, and gave us Yeshua, our Messiah, a priest in the order of Melchizedek.

                                     Shalom,                     Tony