Melchizedek
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. (Gen 14:18–20)
In the previous study we saw that God blessed Abraham, Isaac and Jacob materially as well as spiritually, and that Jacob vowed to give God a tenth of all that he would give him (Gen 28:20–2). However, his vow to give God a tenth is not the first reference to tithing in the Bible.
Abram (whose name God later changed to Abraham) had just returned from defeating four kings and their armies and from rescuing his nephew Lot, whom they had taken captive (Gen 14:1–16). When he returned, Melchizedek brought out bread and wine for him. He then blessed Abram, who gave him a tenth of everything, ie a tenth of the plunder.
Abram's victory had been achieved with the help of God. He and the men of his household had defeated four kings and their armies. Those four kings had previously defeated five other kings, but Abram defeated them with only 318 men.
That was a miracle and was typical of how God helped his people in the Old Testament. V20 says: '…praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.' God had delivered his enemies to him, and Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything God had given him from that victory.
Mysterious Melchizedek
At this point we should ask ourselves who Melchizedek was. There are two schools of thought on this subject. Some believe he was a pre-incarnate manifestation of Jesus (Jesus appearing on earth prior to his birth at Bethlehem), and others believe he was a Canaanite king-priest who worshipped the true God. Let's look at the evidence.
Gen 14:18 tells us that Melchizedek was the king of Salem, and Heb 7:2 says that 'king of Salem' means king of peace. One of our Lord's titles is the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6). We can have peace with God only through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1).
Heb 7:2 also says that the name 'Melchizedek' means king of righteousness, and Jeremiah tells us that Jesus would be known as 'The Lord Our Righteous Saviour' (Jer 23:5–6). Since the fall, only one perfectly righteous man has ever walked on this earth, and that man was Jesus Christ, it certainly wasn't a Canaanite king.
And finally, Melchizedek could not have been mortal because Heb 7:3 says that he had no father or mother, beginning of days or end of life. Only God is immortal (1Ti 6:15–6), so I believe Melchizedek must have been a manifestation of Jesus Christ, he could not have been anyone else.
Jesus and Abram
If that is true, then Jesus met Abram 1,900 years before he was born on earth. And what did he bring with him? Bread and wine, the symbols of his sacrifice on the cross. 'This is my body that will be broken for you, Abram. This is my blood that will be shed for you.'
Paul's letter to the Galatians tells us that the gospel was announced in advance to Abraham when he was told that all nations would be blessed through him (Gal 3:8). It was also announced in advance to him when the King of Righteousness brought him bread and wine.
The Bible doesn't tell us, but I'm sure they would have eaten together, just as Jesus ate with his disciples before his crucifixion.
A tenth
We saw at the beginning of this study that Abram gave Jesus (Melchizedek) a tenth of what God had given him, and 150 years later Jacob vowed to give God a tenth of all that he would give him. Why did they do this? They did it because they were under the Old Covenant, of which tithing was a part. It was God's will for them, and he led them to do it by his Spirit.
Michael Graham
September 2005
Revised April 2022
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version (Anglicised edition). Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica (formerly International Bible Society). Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved.