Melchizedek was a king and priest who ruled the ancient Jerusalem region. He appeared to Abram as he returned from war, blessed him, and received a tenth of Abram's income, which is the first tithe mentioned in the Bible. He is a mysterious figure whose origin is unclear because he appears only once briefly in Genesis 14.
War in the Ancient Near East
This war occurred when Abram and Lot separated, and Lot was living in the land of Sodom.
The allied war between the four city-states of Shinar, Ellasar, Elam, and Goiim and the five city-states of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela ended in victory for the four allied nations. This is sometimes interpreted as God caring for Elam, which belongs to the Messiah's lineage established by God (there is a view that the aforementioned nation Elam was founded by Elam, the son of Shem, who was the son of Noah).
In the aftermath of this war, Lot, who lived in Sodom, was captured. Upon hearing this news, Abram gathered his trained men and attacked, rescuing Lot.
And on his way back, he met Melchizedek.
Melchizedek, King of Salem
The Bible records Melchizedek, who appeared at this time, as the king who ruled the Salem region (an old name for Jerusalem) and the priest of God Most High.
And he brought bread and wine and blessed Abram. In fact, this is a very unusual sight when compared to the religious customs of the Near East at that time. At that time, the most important issue in religion was "how to appease the wrath of supernatural beings?", and one of the solutions was generally in the form of sacrificial offerings where various offerings were "voluntarily presented." However, Melchizedek was a priest who "blessed humans" with his own possessions. This unique aspect of Melchizedek becomes one of the most important core grounds for directly refuting the "mythical origin theory" that Judaism was merely a patchwork of various religions popular in the Near East at that time.
Some scholars say that this Melchizedek was Shem, the son of Noah. Other scholars have said that Melchizedek was Jesus Christ who appeared in the Old Testament. This is because the content of his appearance is so short that research is difficult, and nothing has been clearly recognized yet. However, even considering his appearance of blessing humans with bread and wine, and his role as both ruler and priest, there is no problem in viewing him as a prefigurement of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament.
Jesus Christ in the Order of Melchizedek
The Bible says that Jesus Christ is a priest in the order of Melchizedek. Here, the word "반차 (ban-cha)" is the expression in the Revised Korean Version, and in the Revised New Korean Version, it is expressed as "서열 (seo-yeol)" (order/rank).
However, the words "서열 (seo-yeol)" and "반차 (ban-cha)" do not seem to fit modern expressions. If we had to choose, "Line" would be appropriate.
In the Psalms, David specifically states that the coming Messiah will not be of Aaron's