In this message we will continue to consider the experience and enjoyment of Christ as the One better than Aaron.
In Hebrews 7 we see that Christ as the High Priest is typified by Melchizedek. According to Genesis 14, after Abraham defeated God’s enemies, Melchizedek came to meet Abraham, bringing out bread and wine. At the Lord’s table meeting, Christ as Melchizedek comes to us with the processed Triune God as bread and wine for our enjoyment.
Hebrews 7:1 speaks of Melchizedek as “priest of the Most High God.” Melchizedek is a type of Christ as the Priest of the Most High God. In Psalm 110 we are told that God’s anointed One, the Christ, is the Priest according to the order of Melchizedek (v. 4), an order which is prior to that of Aaron. Before Aaron came into the priesthood, Melchizedek was already God’s priest.
The Aaronic priesthood dealt with sin, taking care of things on the negative side. The ministry of Melchizedek, on the contrary, is positive. Melchizedek did not come in to take away sin. He did not appear because Abraham had sinned but because Abraham had gained the victory. Melchizedek did not appear with an offering to take away sin but with bread and wine to nourish the victor. Nearly all Christians consider Christ as the High Priest who takes care of sin, but hardly anyone pays attention to Christ as the High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. As such a High Priest, Christ does not take care of sin but ministers to us the processed God, signified by the bread and wine, as our nourishment.
After Abraham gained the victory, Melchizedek appeared. Before his appearing, Melchizedek, a priest of God, must have been interceding for Abraham. It must have been through his intercession that Abraham was able to slaughter the four kings and gain the victory (cf. Exo. 17:8-13). Today Christ, our High Priest, is interceding for us in a hidden way (Rom. 8:34b; Heb. 7:25b) that we may be His overcomers to defeat God’s enemies so that through our victory Christ can be manifested openly in His second coming. Today we all need to echo the Lord’s intercession. If we turn to our spirit and contact Him, forgetting our environment, enemies, and even ourselves, we will echo His intercession, gain the victory, and slaughter the kings.
Melchizedek’s coming to Abraham was an indication of Christ’s second coming. What are we, today’s Abraham, doing here? We are slaughtering the enemies. Some of God’s people, like Lot, have suffered defeat after defeat. By God’s mercy, some others need to be today’s Abraham who experience victory after victory. We need to learn the basic lesson that our God, the One who called us, is the Possessor of heaven and earth. We are living for Him on the earth, and we are His testimony. We should not tolerate any damage to God’s interest on earth. When we hear of such damage, we need to defeat the enemy and to slaughter the kings.
We need to slaughter some kings daily. We need to slaughter the kings in our mind, emotion, and will. We need to slaughter the kings in our environment, families, and schools. After we have finished our slaughter of the kings, our Melchizedek will come to us, meet with us, and celebrate our victory. The Lord will not come back until we have slaughtered all the kings. Then He will return and drink the fruit of the vine with us, as indicated by His word in Matthew 26:29: “I shall by no means drink of this product of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of My Father.” Melchizedek interceded for Lot and Abraham. Today Christ, our High Priest, is interceding for all the overcoming ones. While He is now interceding for us in heaven, we are slaughtering the kings on earth. After the overcoming ones slaughter all the kings, our Intercessor, the High Priest of the Most High God, will appear with the full taste of the processed God.
Melchizedek’s coming signified that Christ had come. Our victory always makes Christ manifested. The people in our environment may find it difficult to see where Christ is. However, if we gain a victory, that victory will declare Christ to them. Our victory will bring in Christ in a new way. It is interesting to see that in chapter 14 of Genesis Melchizedek, whose name means the king of righteousness and who was the king of Salem, which means the king of peace, suddenly appeared. This signifies that Christ will be declared to people and brought to them by the overcoming ones. One day the whole earth will be surprised by Christ’s appearing. The people in the world do not even believe that there is a Christ, calling such belief nonsense. But after we have slaughtered all the kings, Christ will suddenly appear. Christ will be made manifest by our slaughter of the kings, and the whole world will be surprised at His coming. To the overcomers, Christ’s second appearing will not be a surprise, but to the worldly people it will be a great surprise. They may ask who this One is, what His name is, and where He comes from. The overcomers may answer by declaring that His name is Christ, the real Melchizedek, and that He comes from the heavens where He has been interceding for centuries.
Abraham’s victory in chapter 14 is not insignificant. When Melchizedek came to Abraham, he not only blessed Abraham with the Most High God, the Possessor of heaven and earth (v. 19) but also blessed God for Abraham’s victory (v. 20). Our victory always causes our Melchizedek to grant us blessing and to give blessing to God. Our victory brings in more blessings in Christ, both to us and to God. Having the qualifications of His divinity and His resurrected life, Christ as the High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek is able to minister the processed God with the divine blessing, not to sinners but to those who fight for God’s interest, as Abraham did (vv. 18-20).
At Melchizedek’s blessing, Abraham gave him tithes of all, the tithes of his choice spoils (v. 20; Heb. 7:2, 4). This also proves Melchizedek’s greatness. Our victory gains the spoils, and the offering of our spoils to Christ always declares the greatness of Christ. Without victory, we have nothing to offer to Christ, and His greatness will not be declared.
At the end of our slaughter of all the kings, our Melchizedek will appear to us. That will be the second coming of Christ. When Christ comes in, the whole earth will know the Most High God. Then all the earth will realize that God is the Possessor of heaven and earth. The earth is not possessed by any king, president, statesman, or politician; it is possessed by the Most High God, the Possessor of heaven and earth. This fact can be declared to the earth only by our slaughter of the kings.