This High Priest is of another order, not of the order of Aaron but of the order of Melchisedec. Melchisedec was a king, and his name means the king of righteousness. In Isaiah 32:1 we see that the title, king of righteousness, also refers to the Lord Jesus. Christ is the King of righteousness, today’s Melchisedec. As the King of righteousness, Christ has made all things right with God and with one another. He has reconciled man to God and has appeased God for man. Righteousness issues in peace (Isa. 32:17). By His righteousness Christ has brought forth the fruit of peace.
Melchisedec is also the king of Salem, which means the king of peace, signifying that Christ is also the King of peace (Isa. 9:6). As the King of peace through righteousness, Christ has brought in peace between God and us. In peace He fulfills the ministry of His priesthood, ministering God to us for our enjoyment.
Neither Aaron nor any of his descendants has ever been a king. They were just priests. They were not of the kingly tribe but of the priestly tribe. The kingly tribe was the tribe of Judah, and the priestly tribe was the tribe of Levi. Christ came out of the tribe of Judah (7:13-14). So we should not rank Him with Aaron, for He does not belong to Aaron’s tribe. Christ is a kingly Priest.
Christ is the High Priest, but His status is that of a king. As He functions as a Priest, He is a King. He is the King to be the Priest; so His priesthood is kingly, royal (1 Pet. 2:9). He combines the kingship together with the priesthood (Zech. 6:13) for God’s building and for His glory. Christ’s kingship maintains a peaceful order through righteousness. This peaceful order is necessary for God’s building. The building of God’s house is in a situation of peace. Christ’s priesthood ministers all the supply needed for the building of God. In this His glory is manifested.
A priest who offers sacrifices for pitiful sinners does not need to be a king. In order to have such a priest, you do not need a king of righteousness or a king of peace. But, in order for the High Priest to minister the processed God to a victorious fighter, He must be both the King of righteousness and the King of peace.
Do you believe that before Melchisedec came to Abraham and ministered the processed God to him, God did not come to Abraham? I have already said that in the evening you need to spend some time with Melchisedec. But this does not mean that during the morning and afternoon God does not come to you. Genesis 14:20 says, “And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.” Do not think that Abraham was able to slaughter Chedorlaomer and the other kings by himself. He did not do it by himself. According to Genesis 14:22, before Abraham went out to fight the battle, he lifted up his hand to the Most High God. This means that before he fought with the enemies, he contacted God. So it was not Abraham who slaughtered the enemies but God.
When Abraham lifted up his hand to God, the situation was without righteousness and peace. There was no righteousness because Lot and all of his things had been captured by the enemies. There was no peace because the enemies had not been defeated. But as Abraham went out to fight the battle, he trusted in God. After Abraham had slaughtered the enemies and Melchisedec had come to meet him, there was righteousness and peace. Who brought in this righteousness and peace? Melchisedec, the priest of the Most High God. While Abraham was slaughtering Chedorlaomer and the other kings, Melchisedec must have been praying. It must have been through his intercession that righteousness and peace were brought in.
Do you believe that while Abraham was fighting Melchisedec was sleeping? Do you believe that after Abraham won the victory, Melchisedec suddenly awakened and came in a hurry to minister the bread and wine to Abraham? I do not believe this. I believe that while Abraham was fighting the enemies, Melchisedec was praying for him. The Most High God answered Melchisedec’s prayers and delivered Abraham’s enemies into his hands. After this intercession and Abraham’s victory, Melchisedec appeared. Perhaps he said, “Abraham, how are you doing? I know that you are fine because I have been praying for you. Are you tired? I have come to minister bread and wine to you.”
If you read Hebrews 7 again, you will see that the Christ who ministers as the High Priest is the interceding One. As you are fighting during the day, slaughtering the negative things, Christ, the High Priest, is interceding for you. This is clearly mentioned in 7:25. At the end of the day, when you have finished your fighting and He has finished His interceding, He comes to you with bread and wine to have a good time with you. This is our High Priest. While the victor was fighting, Melchisedec was watching and interceding. He saw Abraham’s victory and knew when to come with the bread and wine. The Bible does not need to tell us certain things because if you see the front side you automatically know the back side. If you see the front of my face, you know something about the back of my head. The ministering Melchisedec must also have been the interceding high priest. This is the kind of High Priest that we have today in Christ.
Our High Priest, Christ, is not according to the order of Aaron but according to the order of Melchisedec. Aaron is past. I am sorry to say that many Christians still hold on to the past Aaron. But how many Christians have the present Melchisedec? Very few. We need to be occupied with the present Melchisedec. Melchisedec is not a High Priest for the purpose of offering sacrifices to God for our sins but for ministering the processed God as grace into us. Now sin is over and grace is here. Sin has gone and the enjoyment of God has come. It is no longer a matter of offering sacrifices for sin but of ministering bread and wine for our enjoyment. This is the priesthood in the book of Hebrews.
While so many Christians still stay with Aaron, we need to be recovered back to Genesis 14. Hebrews is a continuation of Genesis 14. Between these two books is a bridge— Psalm 110. Psalm 110 is the bridge that brings us from Genesis 14 to the book of Hebrews, passing over the book of Leviticus. The book of Hebrews, being concerned with the heavenly Christ as our High Priest, refers to this psalm a number of times.
Before our Melchisedec ministers the processed God to us, He intercedes for us, praying that we may take up our sword and slaughter the enemies. We must slaughter the self, the natural mind, the wild emotion, the stubborn will, and other enemies. While we are slaughtering the enemies, He is interceding for us. After we have finished our slaughtering, He will change His interceding to the ministering of bread and wine. The proper Christian life is to slaughter the enemies during the day and to enjoy the ministry of our Melchisedec with the bread and wine in the evening. At the end of every day, when the slaughtering and interceding have been accomplished, He and we, we and He, may have a good time enjoying the bread and wine in righteousness and peace.
Melchisedec was the king of righteousness and the king of peace. After he came, there was righteousness and peace. It was in such an environment and condition of righteousness and peace that Melchisedec ministered the bread and wine to the victor. It is the same today. We need to fight for righteousness, and righteousness will issue in peace. Eventually our environment and condition will be full of righteousness and peace, and our Melchisedec will appear to have a good time with us. This is the ministry of our kingly High Priest.
Our kingly High Priest is perpetual, eternal, without beginning or ending. Hebrews 7:3 says of Melchisedec that he is “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, abides a priest perpetually.” According to Genesis 14, Melchisedec suddenly appeared and then disappeared. He seems to have had no coming or going, no beginning of days or end of life. Because our Melchisedec is eternal, He has no genealogy. For all the important persons in Genesis there is a genealogy, but not for Melchisedec. In the divine writing, the Holy Spirit sovereignly gave no account of the beginning of his days or of the end of his life so that he might be a proper type of Christ as the eternal One to be our High Priest perpetually. This is like the presentation in the Gospel of John of the Son of God, who, being eternal, has no genealogy (John 1:1). But as the Son of Man, Christ has genealogy (Matt. 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38). It is such a Christ who is the kingly, royal High Priest ministering the processed God to us as our daily supply. He is the perpetual One, the constant One, the eternal One, having no beginning of days or end of life. He may come to us in the evening and, while we are experiencing Him, He may seem to disappear. He never says good-bye to us, and we never say good-bye to Him. But when we awake the next morning we find that He is still there. With Him there is no coming or going. He abides the High Priest perpetually.
Our High Priest, Christ, is great, much greater than Aaron and all the Levitical priests. He was also greater than Abraham. This is proved by the fact that Abraham gave tithes of the choice spoils to Melchisedec (7:4, 6; Gen. 14:20). When Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec, the Levitical priests, who, as descendants of Abraham were in his loins, also paid tithes to him in Abraham. Therefore, all the Levitical priests are lesser than Melchisedec, and the order of Aaron is inferior to that of Melchisedec.
Melchisedec blessed Abraham (7:6). Verse 7 says, “But without dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater.” This also indicates the greatness of Melchisedec. He was greater than Abraham and he blessed him with God as the blessing (Gen. 14:19).
Christ is very ancient, much more ancient than Abraham. John 8:58 proves this: “Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham came into being, I am” (Recovery Version). We see by this that Christ is greater than Abraham. Before Abraham was, Christ was there already. Christ is not old, but He is ancient. As our Melchisedec, Christ is more ancient and greater than Abraham. Hence, He is greater than all the Aaronic priests. Our High Priest, Christ, today does not offer sacrifices for sin but ministers the processed God to the victorious fighters. This is the kingly priesthood in the book of Hebrews.