Chapter 18 (BOMC)

Melchisedec is seen in Genesis when he visits with Abram. This is when he broke bread with him and they drink wine together. Abram even gave him a tenth of all he had to Melchisedec. But who is this man? It is said that he is the king of Salem and a priest of the most high God. Was he of earthly descent, having a father and mother, or heavenly descent, having no father or mother? The Book of Mormon has an answer to this . It is written, “now this Melchizedek was a king over the land of Salem; and his people had waxed strong in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray; they were full of all manner of wickedness; But Melchizedek having exercised mighty faith, and received the office of the high priesthood according to the holy order of God, did preach repentance unto his people. And behold, they did repent; and Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace, for he was the king of Salem; and he did reign under his father.” (Alma 13:17,18) So we learn that Melchisedec had a father and mother. But is this Biblically sound?

Notice how in Alma, Melchisedec reigned under his father. Pay close attention to this fact, since the Bible tells an entirely different story about this amazing man. In Hebrews, chapter 7, it states that Melchisedec is without earthly descent. He was not born of a father or a mother on earth. Therefore, he came down from heaven to the earth and visited Abraham. It is written, “for this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.” (Hebrews 7:1-3) Who has no beginning days or end of life? Jesus said, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” (Revelation 22:13) The truth is, Melchizedek is Jesus. He came down among His people in Israel many times in times past.

It was after a war, that Abram and his people rescued the people of Sodom and Lot from an ambush. During this encounter, Abram met a person named Melchisedec. However, this man was different from any other person Abram had ever met. Being the king of Salem, which translates to be the king of peace, he blessed Abram, as the Lord had done in the past also. It is written, “and Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth” (Genesis 14:18,19) This blessing is much like was said to him in Genesis 12. It reads, “and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2,3) So we have the Lord coming to bless Abram in person after he had heard His voice in the past. No wonder Abram was excited to have Him in his company and gave unto him tithes. Wouldn’t you do the same if God came to visit you? I say God, because of what we will learn next.

After Melchisedec came to Abram, Abram gave unto him a tithe of everything he had. It is written, “and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.” (Genesis 14:20) This same Melchisedec was no mere man as I stated earlier, but was the Lord, our God, in the flesh. The writer of Hebrews writes, “for this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.” (Hebrews 7:1-3) This Melchisedec is the King of peace, or we may say the prince of peace, which Jesus is. He is also the king of righteousness, having no earthly father or mother. Jesus had not been born of Mary yet, but simply came down to bless Abram in person. This is so amazing, indeed. This kind of thing happened many times in the past, He still wants to be with us now also. Amen.

Let us pray:
Oh Lord, help us draw near to You and escape the teachings of man. So many people give in to every wind of doctrine and call it Yours.  Therefore, open their eyes to what is false. Help people understand that cults only lead to hell and destruction in the next life. Only through following You can we be safe from the temptations of the devil. He surely makes things appear good on the outside, whereas on the inside it is so dark. This is what I’ve seen in the Mormon church. Their missionaries go out and share what they think is good news, but when checked with the Bible, it is a false gospel. Lord, I love to witness to them. They are so young but also caught up in their pride. So often they think that they have all the right answers. This is very sad to see that they have been brainwashed and cannot even tell. They are blinded by their false prophets, and so-called modern-day revelations, that they cannot see clearly. Open their eyes, God. I trust in You. You can do all things. Lead more people out of this false religion and to You alone for salvation. I love You, Jesus. Amen.